canarygirl.com

Yeah, so earlier in the week I had posted about staring at Peter’s (of Kalofagas) delicious Eggs Benedict recipe…Staring at Peter’s recipes is nothing new for me.  His site is a daily read.  He has a wonderful sense of humor, and is a phenomenal cook.  You should SEE some of the delicious things he cooks up!  He is of Greek descent, and, luckily for us, he shares his mouthwatering recipes, and the fun stories of Greece and his heritage that go along with them.  Not too long ago he had posted his recipe for Cheese Stuffed Keftedes (couldn’t you just *die* at how good those sound?)…well, I knew I had to put those on the menu.  I mean, Come ON!  Keftedes?  Stuffed with Cheese?  I may have fainted into my keyboard.  Actually, I’m pretty sure I did, because I had these weird square bruises on my forehead. This week, I could wait no more.  Monday I bought the ingredients to make his hellaciously good recipe. 

I’m not going to post Peter’s recipe, because I actually followed it pretty much to the letter…I had to substitute Gouda cheese (see it trying to escape there? lol) for the Greek cheese, though, since I can’t get the types he recommended for the recipe.

To go along with these delicious morsels of Greek joy, I decided to make a fresh tzatziki (pictured here) and hummus (pictured below).

 

Tzatziki Ingredients:

2 cups plain Greek yogurt, strained overnight
1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded, diced
1 smaller bunch of mint, minced (about 1/4 cup)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients.
Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Drain any excess liquid thay may have formed before serving.

The hummus was an excellent dip for both the keftedes and the pitas.  I tell you, this is perfect summer food, you guys. The next time you plan on grilling plain old burgers? Forget that idea, and make these instead! Seriously, they are amazing.

Hummus Ingredients: 

1 jar garbanzo beans (14 oz, 800 grams), mostly drained
2-3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:

Using a food processor, mince garlic first, then add garbanzos and process until semi-smooth.
Add tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and continue to process until creamy.
*If mixture still seems a bit thick, add a tablespoon or two of water to help it along.

Las Recetas en Español:

Keftedes de Peter (traducido directamente de su página web), Ingredientes:

1 kilo carne molida
2 cebollas, ralladas
4 rebanadas de pan, humedecidas con agua y desmenuzadas
1 cucharadita de ajo en polvo, o ajo fresco majado
2 huevos
1 cucharadita orégano
1 cucharadita perejil picado
1 pizca de comino
sal y pimienta al gusto
queso en lonchas para rellenar (Vlahotyri o Kasseri) (yo utilizé Gouda)

Elaboración:

Mezclar todos los ingredientes en un bol (mejor con las manos).
Formar hamburguesas finas, y reservar en un plato.
Tapar con film transparente y meter en la nevera durante al menos 4 horas.
Antes de asar, dejar que los keftedes vuelvan a temperatura ambiente. Cojer una loncha de queso y
ponerla en el centro de una hamburguesa. Ahora, tapar con otra hamburguesa y presionar por los lados a cerrarla bien.
Procurar cerrar los keftedes muy bien por los lados para evitar que se escape el queso cuando los ases.
Asar a fuego medio unos 5 minutos cada lado.
Servir con mostaza, mayonesa, Boukovo (chilis picantes molidos), ensalada y pan.

Tzatziki, Ingredientes:

2 vasos (de Nocilla) yogur Griego, escurrido durante una noche
1 pepino grande, pelado y con las semillas retiradas, en daditos
1 manojo pequeño de hierba huerto, picadito
2-3 dientes de ajo, majado
sal y pimienta al gusto

Elaboración:

Mezclar todos los ingredientes.
Tapar y dejar en la nevera varias horas o una noche.
Si se haya suelto algo de líquido, escurrirla antes de servir.

Homus, Ingredientes:

1 bote de garbanzos (800 gramos), escurridos
2-3 dientes de ajo
2 cucharadas tahini (crema de sésamo)
zumo de 1 limón
2 cucharadas aceite de oliva virgen
sal al gusto

Elaboración:

Poner todo en el robot de cocina y procesar hasta que esté cremoso.
Si te parece un poco espeso, añadir unas cucharadas de agua para ayudarlo.

 

 

 

So my last post was about needing some help with my oh so very sad attempts at falafel making….someone suggested this recipe from Epicurious, and I absolutely *loved* it!  I did make some changes (I can’t follow a recipe to the letter to save my life), so I’ll post the recipe as I made it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups dried garbanzos (chickpeas)
1 red onion, quartered
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cayenne
4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon baking powder
2-3 tablespoons garbanzo (chick pea) flour
sesame seeds (about a cup or so)
sunflower seed oil for frying

Preparation:

Wash and sort garbanzos, and place in a bowl.
Cover with enough water to generously cover the beans.
Soak overnight.
Drain beans, and place in a food processor along with the onions, cilantro and seasonings.
Pulse a bit to break up the beans and onions, then process until the mixture is somewhat dough-like, scraping sides when necessary.
Add baking powder and enough garbanzo flour to make the dough hold its shape, and is no longer sticky when rolled.
Place falafel dough in a bowl, cover and refrigerate several hours. (I had leftover, and it was great the next day, too).
Roll dough into smaller sized balls, and flatten a bit with your hands.
Dip each patty in sesame seeds and remove to a plate.
Heat a generous amount of sunflower oil over medium heat (enough to come at least halfway up the patty).
Fry falafel patties about 4-5 minutes per side, or until nicely browned.
Drain on paper towels.
Serve with hummus, tahini sauce, yogurt or lebne, shirazi….whatever you like!

Yesterday we had Middle Eastern food yet again….This time I made samosas and falafel, with a side of hummus, a tomato and cucumber salad with greek yogurt and homemade onion and parsley pitas.  The samosas were excellent, (and easy thanks to my !) the falafel, not so much…it was lacking flavor, and the texture was off. They were far too dense…like little hockey pucks with sesame coating. LOL  Does anyone have a tried and true recipe to share with me?  I need help in the falafel department!  While in the U.S. my organic grocer carried these wonderful box mixes for falafel (Near East brand, maybe?), so I never really had to make them from scratch until now….my attempts have gone from disasterous to less than perfect….I’m improving, but am open to any and all suggestions, please! :)  TIA! :)  See, that’s what makes cooking fun, I think…trying new things, sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t…sometimes mistakes are a blessing, and you come up with something fabulous that you may not have otherwise thought of…Other times we try our best to get something right to no avail.  I say, “Fuggedabaddit!” and just have fun, regardless.

Ingredients:

1  lb (400 grams) ground beef (or lamb, or a combination of beef and lamb) 
1  tablespoon olive oil
1  small onion, minced 
1  clove garlic, mashed 
salt and pepper 
juice from 1 lemon
1/2  cup water 
2  teaspoons garam masala 
1 small bunch of mint, chopped (or about 2-3 tablespoons dried)
1  tablespoon cumin 
1/4  cup pine nuts 
wonton or dumpling wrappers (the amount varies depending on how full you fill your samosas, but about 25) 
oil (for frying) 

Preparation:

Heat oil in a fairly large skillet.
Brown garlic and onions a bit (3-4 minutes or until translucent).
Add beef, season with salt and pepper to taste, and brown.
Drain off excess grease.
Add lemon juice, water, garam masala, mint, and cumin.
Stir to combine and simmer until liquid has mostly evaporated.
Add pine nuts and stir to combine.
Cook 2 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Fill pastry with meat mixture, and seal edges by moistening the edges with water and pinching the edges together (or get a super cool pastry press and save yourself a lot of time!).
Heat oil over medium heat.
Brown the samosas for about 3-4 minutes per side, until golden.
Drain on paper towels.
Samosas may be frozen either before or after deep frying.
If freezing before, thaw and then deep fry as above.
If freezing after frying, thaw and reheat in 350º oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.

I’m going to go ahead and post a pic of the falafel anyway, even though it didn’t turn out that great…We all make mistakes in the kitchen…the key is to learn from them.  Becoming a great cook isn’t about perfection, it’s about trial and error, getting your hands dirty, making a mess and just having fun.  So, what the heck.  I’ll share my mistakes too.