Kalofagas - Greek Food & Beyond » Herbs

Marianthe’s Baked Octopus and Eggplant

Peter Minakis — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:00:09 +0000

Last year when I visited the Gerovassliou winery in Epanomi (near Thessaloniki), it was my second time for a tour of the winery and museum. As you will recall the first visit was cut-short because I arrived late and the winery was closing. I had to wait one whole year to come back tho this gorgeous winery and take in the tour in a more relaxed manner.

This time I got to meet Evangelos Gerovassliou and spend some time in the kitchen with his mother Marianthe who prepared a simple, local and delicious lunch of baked octopus and eggplant. Most of the octopus you and I see in the market is either frozen or was previously frozen. Frozen octopus is perfectly fine to use and few of us have the luxury of eating fresh-caught octopus. A visit to Greece this summer perhaps?

Fresh octopus is pounded on the rocks by the sea and then rubbed in a circular motion to tenderize and remove the sand that’s trapped in the suckers. The octopus you’ve purchased at your fish monger will have no sand but it still needs to be tenderized. The best way to do that is to braise the octopus in its own liquid – no need to add any other liquid as the octopus will release plenty of its own liquid. It’s a gift from the octopus – releasing it’s moisture to allow you to braise and tenderize the octopus and hence enjoying one of the most delicious creatures from the sea. You may add herbs, spices ( or both) but any extra-liquid is unnecessary.

After the octopus has braised in its own liquid until fork-tender, once can turn it into a salad, grill it, make a strew or baked it with pasta along with the delicious braising liquid or toss some vegetables and bake it in the oven. The combo of eggplant and octopus is an ages-old Greek favourite and the next time you see some octopus, try this recipe out and be transported to Greece through this simply preparedand delicious main.

With Marianthe Gerovassliou and her octopus dish

Marianthe’s Baked Octopus and Eggplant

1 whole octopus, beak removed

4 large tomatoes, passed through a box grater

1/2 cup olive oil

4 small eggplants, thickly sliced & fried (Japanese eggplants are fine)

2-3 bay leaves

4-5 allspice berries

salt and pepper

1 cup of chopped parsley

fresh thyme or oregano

Pre-heated 400F oven

To tenderize your octopus, rinse it and place in a pot large enough to contain it and cover. Place on your stove-top over medium heat and after 5-6 minutes uncover to see if the octopus has began to release moisture. Once you see about 1 inch of liquid place the cover back on, reduce the heat to medium low and braise the octopus in its own liquid for about 45-60 minutes or until the tentacles are just fork-tender. Take off the heat and reserve.
Slice your eggplants into thick slices, season with salt and pepper and add some olive oil to a pan and lightly fry on both sides then reserve on paper-towel lined plate.
In the same pan, add the remaining olive oil, the grated tomatoes, bay and allspice and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the sauce has slightly thickened. Take off the heat and reserve. Pre-heat your oven.
Use a knife to separate the eight octopus tentacles and place in a roasting pan along with the fried eggplant and pour in the tomato sauce and stir. Season with some salt and pepper and place in your pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the sauce is thick and the octopus has turned to a deep burgundy colour.
Remove from the oven and garnish with chopped fresh parsley and fresh or dried Greek oregano and serve with good crusty bread and a Gerovassliou Evangelo.

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© 2012, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

Spinach-Stuffed Flounder on Braised Lentils

Peter Minakis — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:37:10 +0000

I’ve been very busy of late with a lot of my time in the kitchen being devoted to making phyllo pastry by hand and selling these creations to many here in Toronto. Often times I’ve found myself without an iota of an idea about what to have for dinner and that has to change. I don’t like to eat on the fly and you can be sure some thought will be taken for some quality menu planning.

This past week I took some of the chopped spinach that was left from making a Spanakopita filling and reserved it for dinner. Dinner was going to be flounder fillets stuffed and roll with spinach. Frozen spinach is a wonderful convenience product, it’s affordable, comes in small packages and easy to handle: thaw, squeeze excess water and chop (if necessary). I sweated some scallions and added some chopped fresh fennel fronds – this mild anise flavour goes well with fish.

The braised lentils were an inspiration from Chef Emily Watkins who served seared duck breast with them. I’ve done braised lentils before and mine are a little different but Watkins did give me the nudge. Fish and spinach with herbs, baked and served on a bed of braised lentils? Healthy, healthy, delicious, delicious!

Spinach-Stuffed Flounder on Braised Lentils

(serves 4)

4 flounder fillets (or other white fish)

1 lb. pkge. of frozen chopped spinach, thawed

3-4 scallions, sliced

2-3 Tbsp. of chopped fennel fronds (or tarragon)

extra-virgin olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp. sweet paprika

fine sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Garnish

chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest and wedges of lemon

Pre-heated 400F oven

Braised Lentils

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup of dried green lentils, well rinsed

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

1/4 cup finely diced carrot

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 bay leaves

5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

approx. 2-3 cups of vegetable or chicken stock

red wine vinegar to taste

Place a medium pot on your stove-top over medium heat and add the olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, bay and thyme and sweat while occasionally stirring for about 5 minutes. Now add the lentils, some salt and pepper and stir for a couple of minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed. Now add enough stock to just cover the lentils and simmer uncovered and stir occasionally. Add more stock as needed and continue to simmer while stirring until the lentils are just soft. Remove from the heat, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add red wine vinegar to taste (remove thyme sprigs and bay).
Pre-heat your oven to 400F, middle rack. In a small skillet, add some olive oil and the scallions and sweat for about 3-4 minutes then take off the heat and allow to cool. Mix the scallions with your thawed chopped spinach and add the chopped fennel fronds and salt and pepper to taste.
Rinse your fillets and pat-dry. Drizzle both sides of the fillets with olive oil and sprinkle lemon zest on both sides of the fish, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the sweet paprika. To ensure your fish fillets do not unravel when baking, you’re going to place the stuffing on top part of the fillet (the side where the skin would have been, its smooth). Place the spinach on each fillet and roll up starting from the widest end and your roll will end-up at the tail. Use a toothpick to secure each roll and place in a baking tray.
Drizzle with some olive oil and place in your pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and place a ladle of lentils on to each plate and using a spatula, carefully lift and place a fish portion on top. Mix the lemon zest and chopped parsley and sprinkle on top of each fish, spoon some pan juices along with some drops of olive oil and a wedge of lemon. Serve with a Domaine Tselepos Mantinia, 100% Moschofilero.

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Braised Rabbit With Mushrooms and Orange

Peter Minakis — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:43:16 +0000

For a few years now there’s been talk of “sustainable” sources of fish, produce and meat. Today I ask you to consider the rabbit – mild in flavour (like chicken), lean, healthy (no skin) , sustainable and delish. Before I get any comments from the Philistines, the rabbit you see in recipes is not “Fluffy” at the pet store but farmed for consumption.

My earliest recollection of eating rabbit was back in 1974 when I visited Greece for the first time. There were rabbits in a barn and although back then I thought they were pets, I soon found out they’d be used for sustenance. The most popular Greek dish with rabbit is Stifado…a stew of rabbit, wine, vinegar, spices and lots of onions. Tomatoes are the base of the sauce and this stew simmers until the sauce is rich and the rabbit meat just falls off the bone. Stifado is sublime when using a wild hare or jack rabbit (love to get some from any local hunters).

Today’s recipe goes in another direction, a light brown sauce that’s perfumed with thyme, bay leaves and slices of orange peel. There’s also onions, garlic, wine and stock and some carrots for some sweetness balanced by savory mushrooms.. This dish is a wonderful winter meal: oranges in season, rabbit plentiful and delish!

Braised Rabbit With Mushrooms and Orange

(serves 4)

1 whole rabbit, butchered into piece

coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper

all-purpose flour

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

the peel of 1/2 orange, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2-3 bay leaves

2 tsp. of fresh thyme leaves

2 cups of sliced mushrooms

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into rounds

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 – 1 1/2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse your rabbit and pat-dry. Season with salt and pepper and lightly dredge in flour. Place a large skillet on your stovetop and add the oil. Over medium-high heat, brown both sides of your rabbit pieces then reserve.
Now add the onions, garlic, carrots, bay leaves, thyme and stir. Add some salt and pepper and stir in then sweat for 5-6 minutes. Now add the tomato paste and stir-in and cook for a minute.
Now the rabbit pieces go back in the sklllet along with the wine and enough stock to come up halfway up the meat. Bring up to a boil then reduce to simmer and place the lid on (slightly ajar) and cook for about 45 minutes or until the rabbit is fork-tender. Remove the lid and simmer uncovered until the sauce has thickened and adjust seasoning one last time with salt and pepper.
Serve on a bed of hilopites (Greek egg noodles) and pair with Carras Limnio white from Halkidiki.

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Islim Kebabi

Peter Minakis — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:11:17 +0000

For those that have been to Istanbul, you know what I mean when I say it’s surreal: the density of the city, the endless traffic, boats and ships running up and down the Bosphorus, the seemingly endless city filled with historical landmarks and everywhere…I mean everywhere – there’s food to be had.

When you’re a city of 20 million, you have to feed the citizens and tourists alike. There’s street vendors for those in a rush, high end restos catering to the rich with haute Ottoman and European dishes and then there’s the open kitchens which are found throughout the city. Much like in Greece, these open kitchens offer seasonal, fresh dishes that are presented in the front windows or counters of the store. One walks through Istanbul enticed by the aroma and sight of these dishes, presented with panache yet still very rustic.

One of the dishes that drew me in was Islim Kebabi, the recipe I’m sharing today. Essentially its a dish made of an eggplant-wrapped meatball topped by tomato and pepper. There’s a few techniques used here but nothing overly tasking and this a great presentation dish for family and friends.

Essentially, Islim Kebabi requires some lightly fried eggplant to wrap the meatballs in, fried meatballs, a quick tomato sauce and finally the dish comes together in the oven.

Islim Kebabi

(serves 4-6)

1 recipe of Keftedes

3 eggplants, 1/2 in. sliced lengthwise

oil for frying

Sauce

1 cup tomato purée

1/4 cup olive oil

1 med. onion, finely diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1 tsp. dried Greek oregano

pinch of cinnamon

2 tomatoes, pulp removed & quartered

1-2 banana peppers, halved & cut into 1 inch pieces.

toothpicks

Pre-heated 350F oven

Slice your eggplants lengthwise to about 1/2 in. slices and sprinkle with salt and place upright in a strainer to allow the bitter liquid to drain for 30 minutes. Pat-dry with paper towels and add about 1 cm. of vegetable oil in a skillet and fry the eggplant slices over medium heat until just soft and pliable (about 2 minutes). Reserve on paper towels and drain off/discard oil.
In the meantime, mix your ground beef (or lamb) with the remaining ingredients then fry-off a small meatball to taste-test then, form into palm-sized meatballs. Lightly dredge in flour and add about 1 cm. of olive oil in a skillet and brown on both sides, reserve on paper-lined platter.
In the same skillet, add some more olive (if needed) and add your onions, garlic, tomato purée and bring up to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and reduce until the sauce is thick. Add the dried oregano, a pinch of cinnamon and set aside. Pre-heat your oven to 350F.
Place three slices of fried eggplant into a medium-sized ramekin (or like-sized bowl) with . Now place a meatball inside and bring the eggplant up toward the top of the meatball and affix with one or two toothpicks and top with a tomato quarter and green pepper.
Place the sauce in a baking dish that with snugly hold the eggplant and meatball bundles. Drizzle with some olive oil and place in your pre-heated oven for 30 minutes or until just golden on top.
Serve with a rice pilaf and place the Islim Kebabi to the side with a spoon or two of sauce. Serve with an Amydeon Oenos red from the Amyntaio Wine Co-Op.

“Islim Kebabi“

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Ryba po Grecku (Fish ala Greque)

Peter Minakis — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:14:04 +0000

Last year my brother married a gal of Polish origin which makes me automatically interested in the ways, culture and food of this northern European neighbor. This past weekend while looking for cookbooks at thrift shops and used book stores I tripped upon a a couple of Polish cookbooks which were quickly snapped up. I thought to myself, “I could make wicked Pierogies and impress the Polish folk” but then I saw a dish called Ryba po Grecku (pronounced REEba po Grets-Koo) – basically a “fish a la Greque’ dish.

Ryba po Grecku, is usually pan-fried (with our without) breading then reserved until a sauce of onions, carrots, celery, parsley (sometimes parsnip) and lemon and some bay or another herb of choice may be added to finish the sauce. As a Greek, I immediately thought of Psari (fish) Plaki where whole fish is traditionally baked on a bed of onions, peppers, tomatoes and another similar dish of Psari ala Spetsiota (Spetses style) with onions, tomatoes, wine, parsley and lemon.

I knew the Polish had to been inspired by these two dishes but my curiosity heightened when I found out that Ryba po Grecku is also served as part of a buffet for special occasion dinners, that the Polish also celebrate namedays (like Greeks) and again this Greek-inspired dish would be offered on such days.

AN old friend of Polish descent, Konrad Ejbich adds that on Christmas Eve the Polish do not eat meat and that there should be a total of thirteen courses and one should sample each of the offerings to truly welcome the New Year with promise. My question still remained…how is it that Polish would offer foreign dishes on special occasions like Christmas? Adds Konrad, “there was a time when Poland ruled a great part of Europe (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) with one of it it’s hallmarks being religious and cultural tolerance.

Food was obviously included in the Poles’ tolerance of other cultures and now that I think of it…those cookbooks I bought included a Moussaka and Baklava recipe! Ryba po Grecka is a Greek-inspired dish, made through the filter of the Polish palate and using ingredients at hand. I’ve only considered how Greeks in the Diaspora will cook traditional Greek dishes using the ingredients available or on-hand in the particular part of the world where they live. Climate, geography and the availability of Greek ingredients are all factors.

It’s comforting to know and see how much Greek cuisine is so widely loved and appreciated! Ryba po Grecku is a dish served most commonly cold/room temperature but I prefer to eat this warm.

Ryba po Grecku (Fish ala Greque)

(serves 4)

1 lb. sole fillets

cornmeal

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups of ripe tomato purée (or processed canned tomatoes)

3-4 cloves of garlic

1 large onion, peeled & thinly sliced

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup of shredded carrots (use your box grater)

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley stems

1 tsp. sweet paprika

1 shot of dry white wine

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

lemon wedges for garnish

salt and pepper to taste

If using frozen fillets, thaw overnight in your fridge, otherwise rinse and pat-dry then brush olive oil on both sides of fish and season with salt and pepper. Place back in your fridge while you’re making the sauce.
Place a large skillet on your stove over medium-high heat and add the olive oil, onions, garlic, celery, carrot and parsley stems and sweat the veggies for about 5-6 minutes. Now add the wine, paprika and tomato purée, salt and pepper and bring back to a boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the sauce is thick. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, stir in parsley and dill and reserve.
Take your fish out of the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature. Heat a large non-stick skillet on your stove-top over medium-high heat. Place about 1 1/2 cups of cornmeal in a plate and dredge both sides of the fish then drizzle some oil in your pan and place your fish in the skillet (fry in batches) and fry for about 2-3 minutes a side or until slightly golden. Remove the fillets and reserve on paper-lined plate.
Ryba po Grecka is served family style: spoon some sauce on a platter and then cut the fillets into three pieces and set on the sauce in a domino fashion and then pour remaining sauce over the fish. The polish eat this dish cold so it can be prepared a day in advance but I had it warm with a side of rice pilaf. I drank a Glinavos Primus white (from Epirus) with this.

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