Learn how to make these greek festival treats!

SWEET: baklava | bougatsa | frappé | karidopita
SAVOURY: avgolemono | gemistes | moussaka | tzatziki

 Avgolemono

Greek egg & lemon soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1/2 cup long grain rice
• 1/4 cup butter
• chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
• Grated lemon rind of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Stir the milk and cornstarch together and beat in the egg yolks.
2. Set aside.
3. Bring the stock to boil in a 4 quart soup pot and add the rice.
4. Cook, covered, until the rice is puffy and tender, about 25 min.
5. Remove the soup from heat, add milk and egg mixture, stirring carefully.
6. Continue to cook for a moment until all thickens.
7. Remove from the heat again and add the butter, chopped parsley, lemon juice, and finely grated lemon peel.

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 Baklava

Delectable little fillo pastry sweets with Cinnamon, Almonds and a syrup topping

Ingredients:

Baklava:
• 2 lb. 4oz. (1 kilo) sheets of fillo pastry
• 2 lb. 4 oz. (1 kilo) crushed almonds
• 2 tbsps. ground cinnamon and clove
• 15 fl. oz. (400g) buttermilk

Syrup:
• 4 lbs. 4oz. (2 kilos) sugar
• 2 pints (40 fl. oz) water
• vanilla
• juice of one lemon

Instructions:

1. Lightly brush a baking tin with buttermilk
2. In a bowl mix the crushed almonds with the cinnamon and cloves
3. Spread the sheets of fillo pastry and brush each sheet with a coating of buttermilk
4. Put a layer of 3 sheets of pastry on to the baking tin and sprinkle the top with the crushed almond mixture
5. Continue laying alternate layers of pastry and almonds in the tin leaving 4 sheets of pastry without any cinnamon mixture for the topping
6. Brush the top with buttermilk and, using a sharp knife, mark the baklava into serving pieces
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven 350F, Gas Mark 4, 180C for 60-70 minutes
8. In a large saucepan put the sugar, water, lemon juice and a little vanilla
9. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes adding water if the syrup is too thick
10. Remove baklavas from the oven, cool a little, and pour syrup over it
11. When sufficiently cool, cut out the pieces that were marked before baking

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 Bougatsa

Frosted Cinammon Filo Pastry sweets

Ingredients:

• 1 pack filo dough
• 4 cups milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup semolina
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter
• confectioner's sugar
• cinammon

Instructions:

1. Bring milk to a boil
2. Add semolina and stir until thick
3. In a bowl beat sugar, eggs and vanilla
4. Add sugar mixture to milk whisking at all times
5. Remove from heat
6. Melt butter
7. Butter a baking pan
8. Place half the filo sheets at the bottom, making sure that you sprinkle with melted butter each one after you place it in the pan
9. Place on top half the semolina filling
10. Place on top the rest of the filo leaves, again sprinkling with butter
11. Fold the ends of filo inwards
12. Sprinkle with butter and water
13. Bake in medium heat for an 30 to 40 minutes
14. When cool sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and cinammon

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 Frappé

Greek Iced Coffee

Ingredients:

• 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee
• 3/4 cup of cold water
• 1 teaspoon sugar, optional
• Milk, optional
• ice cubes

Instructions:

1. Add into a shaker the coffee and the sugar and a little water
2. Shake until the coffee comes out of the shaker all thick and foamy.
3. Strain the coffee into a tall glass and add the rest of the water, the ice cubes and milk
4. Greek Frappe coffee is often drunk with a straw, which is also used to mix the coffee and sugar as it sits on the bottom of the glass.

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 Gemistes

Delicious Stuffed Greek Peppers

Ingredients:

• 6 large bell peppers of any colour (usually green)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• olive oil (for frying)
• 1 1/2 cup of olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 4 cloves garlic (crushed)
• salt/pepper
• 1 1/2 cups white short grain rice or brown rice
• 5 potatoes, chopped into wedges
• 4 tbsp chopped basil (or more to taste)
• 2 tbsp oregano

Instructions:

1. Wash the tomatoes and peppers well. Oven should be medium (200c)
2. Remove the top (stem) end and keep aside for use as a lid-like cover later
3. Remove the seeds from the peppers
4. Arrange the peppers in a roasting tin (they must be tightly packed together) and season them inside and out with oregano, salt and pepper to taste and 1/3 the basil
5. Fry the onions slightly in a pan and add the garlic, rice, parsley, 2 glasses of water, tomato, salt and pepper, and 1/3 the basil
6. Allow to boil for approx 10 mins.
7. Fill the peppers with the rice mixture and fill almost to the top
8. Place the lids on the peppers
9. Place potato wedges between peppers
10. Pour oil, water, lemon mixture over them
11. Sprinkle final 1/3 of basil all over everything
12. Bake for approx 1 1/2 hours until the peppers are brown on top and the peppers are cooked

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 Karidopita

Moist, rich honey-sweet Walnut cake

Ingredients:

Karidopita:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or almonds)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Syrup:
• 1 cup honey
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
2. Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and orange rind. Set aside
4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy
5. Beat in the eggs one at a time
6. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated
7. Stir in the walnuts
8. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean
9. For the Honey Syrup: In a saucepan, combine honey, 1 cup sugar and water. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes
10. Once cake is out of oven, allow to cool for 15 minutes, then cut into diamond shapes
11. Pour honey syrup over the cake

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 Moussaka

A delicious rich dish for Eggplant lovers

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium eggplants unpeeled
• 3 medium potatoes unpeeled
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound lean ground beef or lamb
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic (or more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 teaspoons oregano
• 2 tablespoons basil
• dash cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 250 grams of ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten

Instructions:

1. Slice eggplants and potatoes in 1/2-inch slices. (Steps 2-5 can be skipped if you have less time)
2. In a large kettle, boil eggplant slices 5 to 10 minutes, until tender
3. Drain in colander or on paper towels
4. Sprinkle eggplant with 2 teaspoons of salt and place a layer of paper towels on top of the salted slices
5. Place a heavy casserole or bowl on top of eggplant, pressing down to squeeze out excess water
6. Arrange a layer of eggplant slices in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish

7. In a large skillet, brown ground beef; drain off excess fat
8. Add onions, then tomatoes, garlic, pepper, oregano, basil and cinnamon
9. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
10. Spread some of the meat mixture over the eggplant
11. Add potato layer and spread some meat/sauce mixture over it
12. Alternate with potato and eggplant layers, each time covering with sauce

13. In a medium saucepan, melt butter
14. Stir in flour; remove from heat
15. Gradually stir in milk; return to heat and cook until thickened, stirring constantly
16. Add cheeses and continue stirring until sauce is smooth
17. Add a small portion of the mixture to the eggs, beating quickly, then return egg mixture to sauce in saucepan, whisking in quickly
18. Pour cheese sauce over the the eggplant dish
19. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes, or until topping is set
20. Let stand 5 minutes before serving
21. This eggplant recipe serves 6

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 Tzatziki

Yogurt, Cucumber and Garlic Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 tub of strained Greek yoghurt
• 1/4 cucumber
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Strain any water out of yoghurt. Place in bowl.
2. Wash cucumber well. Grate onto a plate, using the side of the grater with the small holes.
3. Squeeze the grated cucumber with your hands, until all the water has been squeezed out. Add to bowl with yoghurt.
4. Grate the clove of garlic into the bowl, using the same side of the grater.
5. Add oil, salt and pepper.
6. Stir rigorously.
7. Serve as a starter (dip) or to accompany meat dishes.

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