Kalofagas - Greek Food & Beyond » Meze

Greek Easter Recipe Round-Up

Peter Minakis — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:06:24 +0000

Many of you have visited my Recipe Round-Up for Lent and I hope that I’ve helped you find some interesting dishes to break-up the monotony of the usual Lenten fare. We’re fast approaching Greek Easter and preparations are already beginning in my household! Greek Easter is centered around lamb or goat and the whole day is filled with celebration, eating, cooking, dancing, celebrating some more, drinking and eating some more!

Ouzo usually makes its rounds on Easter and I recommend you buy a bottle or two. The wine should flow on Easter and if there was ever a day you should drink Greek wine, Easter Sunday is a as a good of a day to try some wines out. If you’re looking for lamb, I recommend those living in the Toronto area to visit Kostas Meat Market. Kostas’ shop is in Scarborough and he brings in only farm-raised Ontario lamb.

Below are some links to recipes that I think you may want to have as part of your family’s Easter celebration. Greeks do Easter in a BIG way and I think you pull-off your own celebration just like we do!

Tsoureki (Greek Easter Brioche)

Easter Koulourakia

Magheritsa (Easter Soup)

Neo-Mageritsa (without offal)

Asparagus and Roasted Red Peppers

Beans With Roasted Garlic, Capers and Parsley

Patsavouropita

Grilled Halloumi With Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Grilled Lamb Burger

Feta & Herb Pull-Aparts

Homemade Pita Bread

Tzatziki

Lamb Ribs

Cheese-Stuffed Souvlaki

Pork Butt Gyro

Tangy Maple-Mustard Lamb

Endless Summer Pork Cutlets

Grilled Pork Steakettes

Grilled Pork Belly & Halloumi

Lamb Souvlaki

Pork Souvlaki

Grilled Lamb Chops

Roast Lamb in Parchment

Rack of Lamb With Lemon Verbena

Spring Salad

Greek Salad on a Stick

Raw Asparagus Salad

Vine-Leaf Wrapped Lamb

Lamb Lemonato

Rotisserie Leg of Lamb

Oven-Roasted Leg of Lamb

Lamb on the Spit (Souvla)

Creme Brulee with Mastiha

Lemon Merique Pie

Touloumbes

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.

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© 2013, 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.

The post Greek Easter Recipe Round-Up appeared first on Kalofagas - Greek Food & Beyond.

Greek Easter Recipe Round-Up was first posted on April 24, 2013 at 6:06 am.
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Grilled Halloumi With a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Peter Minakis — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:29:13 +0000

Grilled Halloumi With a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

(appetizer for 6)

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic, smashed

1 roasted red pepper, peeled, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup of hand-crushed plum tomatoes (from good quality canned variety)

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of Boukovo (chilli flakes)

1/2 tsp. dried Greek oregano

1 block Halloumi cheese, cut into 1/4 inch slices (makes about 12 slices)

Pita bread, cut into triangles (about the size of your Halloumi slices)

In a small skillet, add your olive oil over medium heat and add your onions and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes to soften. Add your chopped roasted red peppers and crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil.
Reduce back to medium and simmer. Add some salt and pepper to taste and simmer for another 7-10 minutes or until thick. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit. Add the sauce to a food processor or blender and puree. Adjust seasoning, add your pinch of Boukovo and dried Greek oregano and keep warm.
Pre-heat your gas grill or stove-top grill pan to medium-high heat. Brush your slices of Halloumi cheese with olive oil (but leave the pan dry). When the grill surface is hot, grill your cheese for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes a side.
Place your pita triangles on your serving dish and them top with the grilled Halloumi slices and a ribbon or dollop of the warm roasted red pepper sauce. Serve immediately.

Note: If you have any leftover sauce, this is great with some pasta and shrimp.

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Grilled Halloumi With a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce was first posted on April 2, 2013 at 8:29 am.
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Greek Salad on a Stick

Peter Minakis — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:45:02 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of catering an evening of Greek & Mediterranean nibbles on the occasion of a client’s 50 birthday. I was instructed to make appetizers, perfect for people who want to stand and mingle or sit and chat.

The challenge with a small bite menu is that there are usually twice the amount of menu items, the food has to roll out as the waves of crowds join the party through the night and the food has to be fresh and delicious.

When entertaining, one also has to be considerate of allergies, dietary needs and to simply satisfy an array of tastes. My menus are diverse in that there are hot and cold dishes, fish/seafood and meat, vegetarian options and some desserts/treats.

One of the simplest and impressive offerings is this Greek salad on a stick. A proper Horiatiki Salad (Village in Greek) consists of Feta, cucumbers, red onions, peppers, tomato and a Kalamata olive.

You may choose to serve them standing upright or on a platter – both ready for the taking. Whip up a dressing of extra-virgin olive oil (wine vinegar optional), some dried Greek oregano and drizzle on your salad on a stick.

I recommend using a firm Feta cheese that won’t split when your skewer it and use it as your base. Pick out a fancy cocktail skewer and begin with a Kalamata olive on top, followed by a cherry tomato, pepper of choice, red onion, half-moon slice of cucumber and finally a cube of Feta.

You may be wondering…how does one eat it? You may want to grab your salad on a stick and remove the veggies onto your plate then nibble away at the salad (that’s what I do)!

Kali Orexi and happy entertaining!

Note: I love entertaining and I am available to cater a birthday party, anniversary, work function or family gathering. Email me at truenorth67 AT gmail Dot COM and we can create a menu suitable to your budget.

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Greek Salad on a Stick was first posted on March 27, 2013 at 6:45 am.
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Cuttlefish Lemonato

Peter Minakis — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:17:11 +0000

Cuttlefish Lemonato

(serves 4 as a meze plate)

1 kg. of baby cuttlefish, gutted and cleaned, patted dry

1 medium onion, sliced

the tops of 2 scallions, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 cup olive oil

water

salt and pepper to taste

dried Greek oregano

juice of half a lemon

Place your skillet over medium-high heat on your stovetop and add your olive oil. Add your cuttlefish and saute for 15-20 minutes and simmer until most of the water has evaported.
Add the onions and garlic and reduce to medium. Add enough water to just cover the cuttlefish and simmer for another thirty minutes (or until tender).
Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, squeeze the lemon juice toss in the scallion tops and sprinkle with some dried Greek oregano.
Serve with some pickled vegetables, drizzle with some extra-virgin olive oil and serve as part of array of mezedes.

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Cuttlefish Lemonato was first posted on March 19, 2013 at 12:17 pm.
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Tsiknopempti – Greek Carnival Dinner Recap

Peter Minakis — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:55:01 +0000

Last night’s dinner was probably my most ambitious to date…record sold out crowd of over 60 guests, a menu with a over a dozen items and all this being cooked in a kitchen I have never worked in before.

My first Tsiknopempti dinner was a delicious success with lots of Kechribari retsina, Babatzim Ouzo, Alfa beer and Cool beer to wash down the food.

Many thanks to Paula, Amanda and Thurka for their stellar serving of guests, Cool Beer for providing the kitchen and dining area, Kolonaki Group for the wine and spirits and Acropolis Organics for donating the olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the event.

Tsiknopempti translates to Burnt Thursday and it’s a huge day of eating grilled meats during the Carnival (Apokries) period for Greek. That’s what I gave my guests. The menu was inspired by menu items often served at Greek tavernas and the dinner service was by and large family style.

I’ll allow the photos to do the talking…capturing the food, the new friendships that were made and the usual fun, casual atmosphere I try to create for each dinner. I hope to see you at my next dinner on Tuesday, April 16th where I cook up a Sarakostiano (Greek Lenten) dinner with ladera (vegetarian) and seafood dishes.

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Tsiknopempti – Greek Carnival Dinner Recap was first posted on March 8, 2013 at 10:55 am.
©2012 "Kalofagas - Greek Food & Beyond". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at truenorth67@gmail.com