I am now selling Spanakopita (spinach and cheese), Tyropita (cheese) pitas, all made with hand-made, opened/stretched phyllo. The Spanakopita’s filling is made of spinach, Feta and ricotta cheeses, eggs, salt, pepper, scallions and fresh dill.

The Tyropita contains Feta and ricotta cheeses, eggs, salt and pepper and it is available in both rectangular and round trays. The round Tyropita is what us northern Greeks call a Boureki and it’s also called a Strifti pita. In English i is known as a spiral pie.

I am also offering a sweet Bougatsa…a Greek breakfast and snack offering. Adults and kids will indulge in Bougatsa in the morning be it in the store where it’s made or taken “paketo” with them. My Bougatsa is made just like in Greece with hand-made phyllo, semolina cream filling and baked until golden and flaky. All you have to is cut it into fork-sized pieces, sprinkle with icing sugar and cinnamon and enjoy with a Greek coffee, frappe or chocolate milk!

The large pies are 16″ X 11″ and sell for $30.00 and the small pies are 11″ X 8″ and sell for $15.00. The Spiral pies come in large and small sizes and again, $30 and $15 respectively. They are made and frozen in foil pans and you may either that overnight in the fridge before baking or bake from frozen (takes longer to bake).

These phyllo pies are great for entertaining, serve as part of a light lunch or dinner with a salad or soup and they always go over well at parties (they are the first to go).

Orders may be placed my emailing me at truenorth67 AT gmail.com, pick-up only (for now). Cash and paypal are accepted (firm).

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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.

This is a firm cheese, a little spongy and porous, made of sheep’s or goat’s milk and briny with a back-end tang on the palate. It has a colour that ranges from egg-white to yellow. The cheese is in essence a Kefalotyri (salty) that’s shaped like a large head after being strained in cheesecloth then it’s sliced into slabs and place in metal containers with coarse sea salt sprinkled in between each piece and topped with the whey ( or a brine).

Batzos is often enjoyed in the style of “saganaki”, that is to say it’s fried in the two-handled vessel and often flambeed with Tsipouro (local eau de vie) or brandy and finished with a good squeeze of lemon. Fried cheese is enjoyed by most Greeks and those who patronize Greek restaurants order this favourite all the time. You won’t find Batzos here in Toronto but it’s certainly avaialable in Thessaloniki and surrounding regions.

Batzos Saganaki (Μπάτζος Σαγανάκι)

1 piece of Batzo 1/2″ inch thick

1 generous Tbsp. of olive oil

all-purpose flour for dredging

optional for flambe: 1/2 shot glass of Metaxa (brandy) or Ouzo

wedge of lemon

1. Pre-heat a heavy-bottomed skillet (a cast-iron pan works very well) to a medium-high heat. Place your slab of cheese under running tap water then dredge in all-purpose flour. Shake off any excess flour.
2. Add your olive oil to the skillet. Add a sprinkle of flour into the pan to test if the oil is hot enough. As soon as it sizzles, add your cheese to the skillet and sear for a couple of minutes. Carefully flip the cheese with a spatula and allow to sear for a couple of minutes on the other side.
3. Turn off your heat source and carefully carry your cheese saganaki to your table and pour the brandy ( or Ouzo) over the cheese and ignite with a lighter. Move your head back, shout “OPA” and squeeze the wedge of lemon over the cheese.
4. Serve immediately with crusty bread, some Ouzo on ice.

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© 2011 – 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.

Many Greeks believe in the evil eye and we’ll hang charms on cars, in homes, walls and even wear jewelry to ward off the evil eye. Take your pick of which you like and give some as Christmas presents.

If I can make bread, anyone can! Ever since I bought a pizza stone I can now make killer homemade bread and pizza better than most pizzerias.

The Euro Cup 2012 is on next year and one of “good news” stories to come out of Greece is that the Greek National team has already qualified. Wouldn’t you look good sporting a Greek soccer jersey as Team ELLAS tries to repeat 200 glory?

One of the best ways to enjoy Greek coffee is to prepare it using a brass Briki...the more traditional – the better I say.

Since we’re on the subject of Greek coffee, if you want to splurge or treat the Greek coffee lover – buy a “Hovoli” where the coffee is made in the Hovoli where the Briki is placed in hot sand then once it froths, the coffee is poured into the demi tasse. Pricey but the best way to make Greek coffee.

One of the cherished items I brought back from Greece was this mortar & pestle made of olive wood. I think you should have one too!

Pamper yourself and your skin with Greek olive oil soap. I swear, you’ll stay young-looking and delay that appointment with the plastic surgeon.

One of my favourite comprehensive Greek cookbooks has to be Tessa Kiros’ “From Many Greek Kitchens”. The photography is beautiful, nostalgic, the recipes easy and delicious.

Mastiha is a spice that comes from the island of Chios, in the northeast Aegean Sea. My friends at Mastihashop NY have created these gorgeous gift sets that include some products with mastiha, olive oil and other Greek food stuffs. Below are just some of the gift sets available and you can call or email them for prices, gift descriptions and prices.

Rosa Eskanazi was the Queen of Rebetiko music and this movie “My Sweet Canary” about her life and music is my favourite “foreign film” of the year and the soundtrack is amazing too!

Here’s a couple of book giveaways: The Mastihashop has donated the cookbook “Mastiha Cuisine” by my friend Diane Kochilas. This book’s recipes all contain the unique spice from Chios – mastiha.Earlier this year I met cookbook author Maria Speck when she came to Thessaloniki to visit her mom. Her book “Ancient Grains for Modern Meals” was included in the New York Times’ Notable Cookbooks of 2011 list! I am giving away her book as my Christmas present to my readers.

To be eligible to win one of the two cookbooks, all you have to do is leave a comment and tell me which cookbook you would prefer to receive. One comment only, draw to be held Dec. 18th, 2011. Book giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only. Good luck!

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© 2011 – 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.

Your usual pork chops have all the fat surrounding the meat but the pork butt contains fat within the meat as well. Dare I say some marbling? Much like beef steaks, pork butt chops render fat when cooking, creating a kind of self-basting and protecting the meat from drying out. This cut of meat is forgiving, hard to screw up but not without some precautions:

• Grill over medium-high heat as you’re dealing with pork – you want well-cooked meat and to allow some time for the fat to render;
• Ensure you are giving pork butt – not shoulder. These two cuts are connected to each other on the pig but they are very different: pork butt contains fat in the meat and pork shoulder’s fat is only located around the meat;
• In Greece this cut is called “laimo” (lemmo) and all the butchers will know what you’re talking about

Pork butt is also very diverse! Other than in being my preferred cut for pork chops it’s also used to make pork Gyro, souvlaki, an ideal cut for grinding for sausage use and I also use pork butt to make a Greek specialty: Kontosouvli!

This past summer I rushed from the center of Thessaloniki to catch a bus back to my family’s summer home in Halkidiki and I just missed my bus by 5 minutes. It was lunch time and I had an hour to kill so I headed towards the food concessions in the terminal and found the Gyro joint also offered thin-cut pork chops wrapped in pita bread with your favourite toppings.

Think deconstructed Gyro as you get a whole pork chop, sliced thin and grilled and slapped in pita bread with fixins’. So simple yet so brilliant! Head to your favourite butcher and ask for pork butt. For thick-cut pork chops ask for bone-in and if you want to make souvlaki, Gyro, kontosouvli or pork butt Gyro, ask for boneless so you can easily cut the pork the way you like it.

I’m hungry all over again and I could go for a pork butt Gyro sandwich right about now.

Pork Butt Gyro (Γυρο με Μπριζολα Λαιμου)

(makes 4-6 sandwiches)

approx. 1 lb. boneless pork butt

1 small onion, passed through a box grater

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp. sweet paprika

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. dried Greek oregano

lemon juice

warm pita bread

your favourite souvlaki condiment/toppings: tomatoes, sliced onions, fries, Tzatziki, ketchup, mustard

1. If your butcher hasn’t already done so for you, place your pork in the freezer for about an hour so that it hardens enough for you to be able to slice it thinly. Once firm enough, take out of freezer and slice the pork but into approx. 1 cm. slices.
2. In a bowl, add the pork butt along with the oil, onion, salt, pepper, paprika and oregano and toss to coat. Cover and place in your fridge for about three hours. Remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before grilling.
3. Pre-heat your gas or charcoal grill with the intent of attaining a medium-high heat. Brush your grill surface free of any residue and wipe the surface with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil. Lightly season the pork with salt and over medium high heat for 3 minutes a side and once cooked, remove from the heat.
4. Squeeze some lemon juice and sprinkle some Greek oregano. Place the pork chop in the warm pita bread then add your favourite condiments and roll up. Have an ice cold Fix Hellas beer and enjoy!

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© 2011, 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.

Cockles are a type of clam that’s found in the Mediterranean and “it warms my cockles” when my good friend George brings me some from when he goes diving. Had I received more I would have made a simple pasta with white wine, garlic, lemon zest and juice and fresh parsley. I only received a handful so I simply shucked them and squeezed lemon juice on them and slurped them down…naughty noises and all. All the meat inside is edible and there’s no sand sac to be found. Delicious!

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© 2011, 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.