Tequila Chicken

There's just one more night before I head off to sunny, inviting, satiating and glorious Greece. Like anyone about to go on vacation, my days are filled with tying up loose ends at work, tidying up around the house and eating what I have left in the fridge.

To those that can look into your fridge and whip up an almost gourmet meal, I tip my hat to you! I'm faced with this challenge this week but I had all the ingredients needed for this simple marinated and grilled chicken dish.

If you take a look around the plate.....we have three flavours everyone should consider when prepping a dish.

The chicken represents heat. I don't mean by blow your head off heat but heat as in some spice. Next up is what I call an accordion potato, which represents the savoury part of the plate.

I throughly washed a whole potato and then cut the spud downwards but entirely to the bottom, thus keeping the potato in tact. I melted some butter, poured it over the potato (ensuring butter got into each crevice) and then seasoned it well with a Montreal Steak Spice mixture. Wrap her in a foil blanket at 425F for 30-40 minutes and you have a delish spud with a neat presentation.

Finally, there's a corn on the cob. If you've had corn here in the Americas, you know how naturally sweet the corn is here. This corn represents the sweet side of the plate.

I simply soaked the corn (with it's husk on) in water for a few hours and then I grill for a few minutes side, rotating the corn to grill evenly. No butter, seasonings or spices...just the natural sweetness of the corn.

Don't worry, here's the chicken recipe...it's quick marinade, it's easy and it's delicious.

The marinade makes use of some Mexican ingredients and I think my blogging amigo Ben of What's Cooking would very much approve.

Tequila....Jalapeno, citrus, cilantro. Break out the Mariachi band...we're having Mexican tonight!

Tequila Chicken

1 1/2 lbs. of chicken drums
2 good shots of Tequila
2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded & minced
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
juice of 1 lemon (or lime)
1/4 cup of honey
a few good splashes of hot sauce
1 heaping tsp. of ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup vegetable oil
sea salt

1. Rinse the chicken thoroughly and pat-dry.
2. Add all your marinade ingredients into a zip-lock bag and before you add the chicken, taste to make any adjustments to your marinade and reserve about 1/3 of it for basting later.
   
3. Add your chicken, seal and squish the contents so that the marinade coats all the chicken drums. Place in your fridge for at least 4 hours.
4. Bring your chicken back to room temperature and pre-heat your grill to a medium heat. Season your chicken with salt & place your drumsticks on the grill for about 10 minutes a side or until crispy. Don't forget to brush some reserved marinade on the chicken while grilling.
5. Serve immediately with your favourite summer side dishes.
   

Frying Oysters

I do enjoy eating raw oysters on the half-shell but I admit, I'll pay someone else to shuck them. However, one can enjoy oysters in other ways and frying them up has to be one of the tastier alternatives.

The neighborhood Asian market always sells tubs of shucked oyster meat and from reading the label, this batch came from Washington state and I was pleased to see a "best before" stamp on the tub.

What ya get here today are fried oysters as an appetizer and then in the form of a sandwich. My craving for fried oysters was ignited by a "caesar salad with spicy fried oysters" dish.

The origins of the dish are bounced around between Kincaid's in Washington, DC, Louis's in South Carolina or Magnolia in Durham, NC. All three eateries are owned/operated by James Beard Award winners so it appears even the top dogs in food-dom seem to borrow ideas from each other!

The recipe calls for some Casear salad dressing but my gut was telling me "tartar sauce...yeah-yeah, go make some tartar sauce". I have a wonderful homemade tartar sauce from last year. It's easy, contains usual pantry items and tastes great.

Both dishes are simple...you'll need some hearts of Romaine lettuce, oyster meat, your favourite tartar sauce, a good toasted bun and some flour and spices.

My frying method uses the Greek taverna method of frying seafood by using a simple seasoned flour mix, then dunking in ice cold water and finally into the hot oil. The result is a thin breading where you actually see what you're eating and the crispyness is akin to a tempura.

Fried Oysters

1lb. oyster meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup corn flour
1 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. smoked hot paprika
bowl of ice-cold water
sunflower oil for frying

1. Rinse and pat dry your oyster meat and then cut them up into bite sized pieces (my oyster was huge).
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour and seasonings with a fork and taste and adjust seasoning.
3. Pre-heat your oil until you get an approx temp. of 360F or drop a small piece of oyster (when it floats and starts frying, you're ready).
4. Set up your frying station from left to right, starting from your oysters, flour mixture, ice water and frying oil.
5. Dredge your oysters in the flour, then quickly dunk in the ice water and then carefully drop into the fryer.
6. Fry in batches for 2-3 minutes and reserve on a paper-towel covered plate.
7. Serve as an appetizer with some Romaine hearts of lettuce or in a toasted bun with some lettuce. Both dishes contain tartar sauce.

Shrimp Saganaki

Today (July 27th) is my nameday. I was named after the patron saint Agios (Saint) Panteleimon.

I was given the name of my father's uncle who took over as the family's "father figure" as my dad's family was left orphaned when his father died at an early age.

My dad's uncle also took on the title of "Papou" (grandfather) Panteli, as he and his wife Paschalina did not have any children and therefore I was given his name in his honour.

For Greeks, the celebration of one's nameday is much more significant and feted to a larger extent than one's birthday. It's my nameday and I get to eat what I want!

On one's nameday, it's tradition that the celebrant treat friends, relatives, guests and today I'm sharing with you one of my favourite Greek mezedes.

So, I feel like Garides (Shrimp) Saganaki. Saganaki is a cooking term that's used to described many a Greek dish. It goes well beyond just the flaming the cheese dish you see served at Greek restaurants with the usual "OPA" being shouted by the well-scripted waiter.

A "saganaki" is the cooking vessel with two handles, like the one you see my photos. So, there are many saganakis out there with different ingredients and many regional twists on flavours and preferences.

You might also see this dish described as Garides (shrimp) Giouvetsi, where a similar dish of shrimp, tomato base and feta are baked in earthenware vessels. Similar dishes with subtle differences.

Today, you get shrimp saganaki....one of the most beloved of the Greek appetizers (mezedes). Being from northern Greece, we like to some some heat and in Macedonia this dish is usually spicy.

I've added mushrooms into the mix. I've had Shrimp Saganaki at Toronto's Pantheon and I really like how well mushrooms and seafood complement each other.

When you take a bite of this meze, you get the sweetness of the shrimp and tomatoes, some heat from the hot peppers, a slight tartness from the Feta.

What you have hear is a shrimp bake with a sweet and chunky tomato sauce, some peppers, oregano, Greek feta and the result is an aromatic, eye pleasing appetizer that was made for bread-dunking, Ouzo sipping and a total disregard for time.

Invite some friends over, prepare an array of small mezedes, break out the Ouzo, the crusty bread and catch up with old friends or make some new ones.

Shrimp Saganaki
(for one appetizer portion)

6 large whole shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1/4 green bell pepper, sliced
1/4 yellow bell pepper, sliced
some diced hot banana pepper
(depending how spicy you like your dish)
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
1/2 cup button mushrooms, sliced
half cup Greek feta, coarsely crumbled
1 tsp. dried Greek oregano
splash of Ouzo
Grated Mozzarella (or other white cheese)
salt to taste

1. In a saucepan, add your olive oil over medium-high heat and add your mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes or until they have browned. Now add your onions, peppers and tomatoes and simmer for another 5-7 minutes or until you end up with a nice thick sauce.
2. Take off the heat and add your crumbled feta, oregano and Ouzo and stir in. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt (if any required) and additional heat (if desired).
3. Pour the mixture into an oven-safe baking vessel (like the saganaki) and arrange the shrimp on top. Grate some Mozzarella on top and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the shrimp have turned pink and the cheese becomes a golden brown.
4. Serve with crusty bread, Greek ouzo and with good company.
   

Herbed Sea Salt

First off, I want to thank everyone who responded and replied to my Blogging Rant (see two posts down in my blog) and also for joining the chorus of pissed off bloggers on the topic of ATK.

If you haven't heard what went on, then you were perhaps on a space shuttle mission or you live in a hippie commune, cut off from the rest of the world.

I recently caught an episode of Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill and I was pleasantly surprised to see him blend sea salt and herbs to dress some lamb chops.

Although I've seen sea salt and dried oregano used as a finishing seasoning in Greece for many grilled meats, Bobby's approach is to put the mixture on the meat just before grilling. Simple, but brilliant.

I've tried this "method", if you will on three instances...once with a grilled fish, another time with chicken on the barbecue and most recently grilling lamb chops.

Each time I was left with a deeply flavourful dish that's been simply seasoned with sea salt and your choice of fresh herb(s).

All one has to do is add some coarse sea salt and the herb of your choice in to a food processor and then pulse the mixture until it's well blended.

The other day I tried Bobby Flay's flavouring of sea salt with fresh rosemary and I simply brushed some olive oil on the lamb chops, sprinkle the rosemary salt on the meat and grilled the chops for 2 minutes a side for a nice, pink finish to my meat.

People, this is my summer grilling method of the year. Take your sea salt, food processor and pulse away with your favourite herbs. You'll find the herbs really flavour whatever you're grilling and this another one of those instances where you smack yourself on your forehead (okay, I did it twice) and say DUH!!!

Linguine με πάστα ελιάς (Linguine With Tapenade)

Here's another dish from that little gem of a book on olives called"Cooking With Olives and Their Oils".

This gleaming black sauce resembles a caviar, don't it? The French have a habit of giving a rustic dish a chi-chi-frou-frou name and then charging an extra 4 euros for the dish!

How much would you pay for a plate of this pasta?

The olives that work best here are black, oil-cured olives. In northern Greece, in the Prefecture of Halkidiki where my family's summer home is, these olives are widely produced and enjoyed. We call them Throumpes and I love them so.

If you can't find Throumpes, no fear. The French have their Nyons and I quite often see the Moroccan oil-cured olives here in many stores. Look for the black, shiny wrinkled olive.

If you want filling, rich, flavourful...this quick and easy pasta dish is easy to prepare and the ingredients are easily accessible.

My only word of caution is to seek out a milder white cheese to grate on. A Greek Kasseri, a Spanish Manchego or Italian Toscanello would do fine. The salt in this mixture is suffice in this pseudo-caviar looking plate of linguine.

Linguine με πάστα ελιάς (Linguine With Tapenade)

1 cup loosely packed oil-cured olives
2 Tbsp. of capers, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
1 clove of garlic, smashed
2 anchovy fillets
1/2 tsp. sugar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pkge (675gr.) dried linguine
chopped fresh chives
Grated Kasseri (sheeps milk cheese)

1. Place the first six ingredients, along with the 2/3 cup of olive oil and pulse until well chopped & combined. Scrape down the sides during this process.
2. Cook the linguine to "al dente" in a large pot of boiling salted water and then drain and toss your linguine with some olive oil (prevent sticking).
3. Arrange the pasta in a large platter (or individual bowls) and grate some cheese, spoon the sauce on to the top and garnish with your chopped fresh chives.

Blogging Rant

Yesterday, through the miracle of my Google Reader came the title of an entry called "illegal or not", from Melissa of Alosha's Kitchen.

Please read her saga here and then come back and tell me how you feel.

I'm about to tell you how I feel. Melissa, like any good food blogger went on a search for a potato salad and she found one she liked at Cooks Country, part of the conglomerate of America's Test Kitchen and Cooks Illustrated.

Although she made many changes to potato salad recipe, she still gave credit to the original inspiration (Cooks Country). Now imagine the shock and disbelief when Melissa received an email from them that they do not allow their recipes to be modified in print.

Yep...you read correctly.

Let me get this straight...the folks at America's Test Kitchen make their careers out of re-tooling food classics and they swear that their recipes are refined, tested and flawless. Bullshit!

Years ago, before my blogging days, I had made their Jambalaya and to my horror, it tasted like shit, looked like diarrhea and rightfully ended up being dumped down the toilet.

As food bloggers, the extreme case of plagiarism and passing off work and recipes as one's own is the extreme and rare case but by and large, most of us will link to an inspiration or laud with pride how a dish we made had turned out fantastically.

As true food lovers, we want to share our experiences with other lovers of food. It's our nature.

I can assure you I will not watch America's Test Kitchen (locally on PBS Buffalo), buy any issue of Cooks Illustrated or peruse Cooks Country for a recipe. Their attitude has left a bad taste in my mouth and until I see some serious reversal of policy on their behalf, they've been 86'ed.

While we're on the subject of linking to recipes and giving credit, here's my take on it...any dish that you see here is from myself, family or friends and the remaining dishes are linked back to the cookbook, chef, website, blogger, article or TV show.

One peeve I have is when people link to a recipe and they merely post something to the effect of "I got my recipe from here".

Why do the bare minimum? The inspired dish was good enough for you to try, make, eat and blog about it - why not give that dish it's 5 minutes of fame?

I'm delighted and humbled that many of my dishes have been cooked, enjoyed and blogged about by my peers here. All I ask is that you let me know you're going to post about the dish, link to my original post, citing myself and the site, "Kalofagas" and the courtesy will be reciprocated.

If you haven't gone over to Alosha's Kitchen by now, here's your second chance and don't be afraid to state your opinion. Melissa did and I salute her!

A Taste of Crete - Snails

This dish has been a long time comin'. Remember when I picked and jarred my own grape vine leaves for dolmades? Well...that same patch also was rampant with snails.

After consulting Maria of Organically Cooked, I went and harvested a bucket of snails which would have to be plumped and purged of any food they may have eaten of late.

Ideally, this process takes 4-6 weeks but it really wasn't that difficult and the final, delicious result was well worth the wait.

First off, I found and used a plastic hamper-type crate, the ones often used to cart and transport fruits and the holes in the crate were small enough to not allow the snails to escape and I covered it with a wooden board.

I placed the snails in my garage with some of the grape vine leaves, some corn meal and pasta to feed the snails.

Each week (wearing plastic gloves) I removed as much fecal matter as possible but this task became easier with each passing week as the snails were mostly now in their dormancy stage and food did not have to be replenished and little additional poops were to be found.

Yesterday, time was up for my snails. I removed them from the plastic crate and placed them in my kitchen sink. I plugged the drain and filled the sink with water up to about 1 inch high.

Almost immediately upon submerging the snails did they realize they were in cold water and they did awake from their dormancy and started peeking out of their shells...trying to crawl out of the sink!

At this point, it was time to ascertain if there were any dead snails in the lot and I started plucking any snails (most) that had peeked out their shells and showed signs of life and I placed then in a nearby colander (with a cover on top).

Out of the 70 or so snails, perhaps a dozen were devoid of life, they felt lighter than the rest and upon close inspection, I could see that the opening if the the shell had a dark discolouring to it...YEP, they were dead and they got chucked.

Before I go on to the dish at hand, I'd like to thank Maria of Organically Cooked for her immense patience in educating me, hand-holding and encouragement throughout this process. I've given you the abridged version of the preparation of snails but you may source, with great detail how to find, prepare, clean and cook snails.

Part A, Harvesting Snails

Part B, Cleaning & Cooking Snails

From here on...I'm on my own.

In order to rid the snails of any remaining impurities, I was instructed to boil the snails in in salted water until little or no scum was floating on the surface. I was lucky, as I only had to boil the snails two times (sometimes you need to repeat this process three - four times).

Before I get on to the dish, I must address the challenge of eating snails which for a novice like me, came with some difficulty at first.

I tried using a fork but that didn't work. I could have bought snail utensils but I don't eat snails that often to justify the purchase so...in a typical and resourceful Greek way, I used a wooden souvlaki skewer to poke, twist and pluck out the succulent snail meat from within the shell.

Eating snails are a delight. It's a messy affair but if you're like me, a "Kalofagas" who's in pursuit of delicious foods, then you'll want to give snails a try.

It's a messy affair but the flavour, the eating with your hands, the frequent sips of Raki in between bites along with many a dunking of bread in the sauce makes it all worth the trouble of harvesting, plumping and preparing snails.

I have never visited Crete but after enjoying this dish, I just got a little closer to enjoying a vacation on Crete.

Until next year, I leave you with Snails Stifado.

Snails Stifado

1 kg. of large snails
1 bunch of scallions, diced
1 large onion, sliced
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 pints of cherry tomatoes, roasted in the oven
7-8 cloves of garlic, roasted along with the tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup of water
salt and pepper to taste
splash of balsamic vinegar

1. After boiling your snails to remove any remaining impurities, get a large pot on your stovetop and over medium-high heat, add your onions, scallions, bay leaves and rosemary and lower to medium and saute for about 5-10 minutes.
2. Now add the snails, roasted tomatoes and garlic, wine and water and bring to a boil. Adjust seasoning with some salt and pepper, cover with a lid and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
3. Ajust seasoning with salt & pepper and throw in a splash of balsamic vinegar to balance the sweetness from the onions and roasted cherry tomatoes.
4. Serve in bowls as an appetizer with good crusty bread and some Raki, Ouzo or Tsipouro.

Braised Lentils With Olive Rouille

Us Greeks commonly use lentils to make an oft' enjoyed soup called Fakkes. Yes, it sounds like you're swearing so, practice saying it...Fakk-es...Fakk-es...Fakk-es. Okay, lesson over.

When I recently met up with Judy of No fear Entertaining, I had a braised lamb shank that sat on a bed of braised lentils and I had a craving for it again.

One of my recent food book buys was "Olives, Cooking With Olives and Their Oils", by Ford Rogers. If anyone wants a primer on olives, picking, curing and of course, cooking with them - then this book's for you. It's inexpensive and it actually has some decent recipes , like the one I'm about to show you now.

It's a simple braised lentil dish, good warm or room temperature and it made a fine bed for my red snapper of yesterday.

The process is simple, lots of flavour gets coaxed out of the lentils but what makes this a standout is the accompanying red sauce called a Rouille.

A Rouille is a spicy French paste that's usually made to accompany a fish but contains no olives. This version provides the flavour and depth and it was reminiscent of a Romesco sauce.

If you're looking for a healthy, flavourful and guilt-free side dish, try these braised lentils and don't forget the Rouille!

Braised Lentils With Olive Rouille

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
2 cups of dried lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups of chicken (vegetable) broth
1 bay leaf
a few sprigs of fresh oregano
a few springs of parsley
salt and pepper to taste

For the Rouille
2 Tbsp. of red wine vinegar
2/3 cup of soft bread crumbs
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup of pitted green olives
2 red chili peppers
1 small roasted red pepper
4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar

1. Heat the oil in a pot over medium-high heat and then add your shallots, carrots and celery until soft and translucent (about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the lentils, herbs and broth and bring to a boil. Now cover and reduce to simmer for about 30-40 minutes or until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Discard the herbs and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.
3. While the lentils are cooking, make the rouille by combining the all the ingredients in a food processor except for the olive oil.
4. Process to chop everything and scrape down the sides to ensure all the ingredients get blended well. With the machine running, pour in the oil in a slow & steady stream until it's all incorporated and smooth.
5. Serve lentils with a small dollop of rouille on each serving.
   

Red Snapper Seared in Sesame Oil With Cilantro

Last month, my Apricot and Pistachio cake was voted as the top entry in the monthly Royal Foodie Joust, hosted by Jenn the Leftover Queen.

Each month, the victor chooses the three ingredients that must be included in the dish and then anyone who belongs to the forum may then vote for their favourite dish.

As the victor in last month's competition, I was awarded with (other than bragging rights) the coveted "Apron".

As part of my coaxing of votes, I promised (threatened) to wear nothing but the apron, should I win the Joust. I said it - I did it!

The three ingredients I've chosen for this month's Joust are seafood, cilantro (coriander) and sesame.

I found a very interesting recipe in a book called The Food of Korea and this red snapper dish jumped right out at me.

It's very simple...red snapper (or other white-fleshed fish) fillet, toasted sesame oil, salt and cilantro.

As a side, I braised some lentils with a bay, parsley and fresh oregano and and finished it with a French Rouille (more on that another day).

The original recipe called for the fish to be grilled but any hope of using my BBQ went out the window, what with over 30mm of rain yesterday.

I sauteed the fish in a non-stick pan over high heat and I must say...the result was an aromatic fish that was seasoning perfectly, succulent and flaky at the same time.

For those not keen on cilantro, parsley would work just fine here.

Red Snapper Seared in Sesame Oil With Cilantro

1-2 red snapper fillets per person
fine sea salt
toasted sesame oil
chopped fresh cilantro
sesame seeds for garnish
lemon slices for garnish

1. Ask your fish monger to scale and fillet the red snapper. Wash and pat dry your fillets and with your fingers, gently rub the meat of the fish to see if any pin needles need to still be removed. Use needle-nose pliers or tweezers to remove them.
2. A half hour before serving dinner, sprinkle some sea salt on the skin and flesh side of the fish and place back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the fillets from the fish and rinse and pat dry (do not re-season, the salt penetrated the fish).
4. Brush a some toasted sesame oil on both sides of the fish and pre-heat your non-stick fry pan.
5. Over medium-high heat, saute your fillets skin-side down first for approx. 3 minutes and then for another 1 1/2 minute on the flesh side. If sauteing in batches, keep the fillets warm in a pre-heated oven.
6. Serve on a bed of braised lentils with a garnish of sesame seeds, lemon and chopped fresh cilantro.

Greek Gazpacho

I've had this Ina Garten riff on the Spanish cold soup known as Gazpacho, on my mind for ages and the time is NOW, to enjoy this refreshing first course.

It's hot, it's humid, it's Toronto in the summer. Nothing beats the heat like jumping through the sprinkler, having an ice cream or having a cold, refreshing soup to start your backyard meal.

I've added my own twists to this Greek Gazpacho. I opted to roast the peppers in the soup for some added sweetness and smokyness and I've added a garnish of an olive oil ice cube.

Serve this cold soup on a hot day, plop the olive oil ice cube just before serving and relish the summer, the outdoors, this hearty cold soup.

Greek Gazpacho

2 slices of day old crusty Italian bread
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped Greek oregano 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley
5 Tbsp. good red wine vinegar
1/4 cup of good olive oil
1 roasted red bell pepper, skins peeled and seeds removed
1 roasted green bell pepper, skins peeled and seeds removed
2 red onions, roughly chopped
1 seedless cucumber (unpeeled, seeded & chopped)
4 large, ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
3/4 cup sun-dried black olives (Throumpes)
2 tsp. ground black pepper
8 oz. Greek feta, small dice
approx. 46 oz. of V-8 or other vegetable cocktail
(depends on how thin or thick you like your soup)
salt to taste

Garnish
extra-virgin olive oil
ice cube tray or shot glasses

1. Using shot glasses or an ice cube tray, fill the ice cube tray to the top with olive oil or the shot glasses half-way up. Place in the freezer to harden.
2. In a food processor, place the bread, garlic, oregano, parsley and process everything until it becomes a wet paste. Now add the olive oil and wine vinegar and pulse until mixed in. Remove and reserve in a large bowl
   
3. In the same food processor, add the cucumber, onions, tomatoes and olives and whiz until coarsely chopped. Add to the reserved bread/herb mixture in the large bowl and add the vegetable cocktail, black pepper and stir well. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt (if any) and pepper.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for alt least 3 hours.
5. For serving, ladle soup into each bowl with some cubes of feta. Take your olive oil ice cubes out of the freezer and pop one into the middle of each soup. If you used shot glasses, place them in warm water to free up the frozen olive oil. Serve cold.
   

Loukoumades

What's a birthday party without some dessert?

One of Greece's best known sweets/ desserts/snacks/street foods has to be Loukoumades. I knew that offering these sweet fritters up for my guests would be memorable.

Every Greek has had them. Loukoumades are the Greeks' answer to donuts and both are nowhere near in the vicinity of "health food".

The first time I ate Loukoumades was during my introductory trip to Greece in 1974 at the Tottis cafe located at Thessaloniki's Aristotelous Square.

Every Greek's had them, every Greek wants them but not every Greek can make them (or bother to make them).

Loukoumades can be found throughout Greece and although many good Greek home cooks can make them, most settle for simply buying them as a treat during the evening "volta" or walk.

The recipe I have here uses shortening (Crisco) and as I said earlier, much like donuts...Loukoumades aren't going to win any heart-healthy awards.

Each cuisine has it's sinful delights and Loukoumades are one of Greece's sweet pleasures. This recipe was retained from my mother, who used to volunteer at our parish's Summer Greek Festival.

Greek festivals are held by Greek churches in the diaspora to help fund expansions, courses or for philanthropic aid. Live Greek music, folkloric dance and Greek food were all on offer for parishioners and neighboring non-Greeks.

This recipe was the one used by our parish, St. Nicholas Greek-Orthodox Church here in Toronto. For those of you who have had Loukoumades before will be satisfied in knowing these are just like the ones you may have bought while in Greece.

Loukoumades are a deep fried dough which are then dunked in syrup, followed by a sprinkled of ground walnuts and dusted with ground cinnamon.

They are eaten warm or room temperature and the outside is sticky from the syrup but the delight in eating Loukoumades comes from the crunch one gets from biting into the walnuts, penetrating the fritter and then getting a little burst of the syrup which has penetrated the inside.

Anyone interested in trying Loukoumades?

Loukoumades

For the Dough
5 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 lb. Crisco shortening (room temp)
1 1/2 cups of orange juice
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/3 cup tepid water
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast

Syrup
1 cup of honey
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water

Topping
Ground walnuts
Ground cinnamon

1. Add the shortening to the flour in a large bowl and mix with your hands until the two ingredients become one. Set aside.
2. In a pot, add your orange juice and 1 1/2 cups of hot water and mix together and set aside.
3. In another bowl, add the tepid water, sugar and yeast and allow to rise for about 5 minutes.
4. When the yeast has risen, add your orange juice/water mixture and then add your wet ingredients to the dry. Mix with your hands until incorporated into a wet dough. Set aside to rise for about two hours.
5. Pre-heat your a large pot with vegetable oil (or a deep fryer) and you want the oil to reach approx. 350F. Set up a frying station of your bowl of Loukoumades batter, a glass with water and the fryer.
   
6. Take a handful of dough in your palm and then it out onto a waiting spoon that's been dunked in water, then drop it in the hot oil until golden brown. Fry off in batches until you've fried all your batter.
   
7. Prepare the syrup by adding into a pot the honey, sugar and water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Now dunk your Loukoumades into the hot syrup and douse them with syrup a few times before removing to a colander. Repeat until all your Loukoumades are dunked in the syrup.
9. Plate your Loukoumades and then sprinkle some ground walnuts and ground cinnamon on top and serve warm.
   

Souvlaki

I don't think this blog can go on much longer without including a recipe for souvlaki. You've all had it at Greek restaurants and tavernas, at the diners owned by Greek families and at practically every eating establishment in Greece.

To truly enjoy a souvlaki, one should try it in the home of a Greek. Here, I marinade pork butt into tender grilled morsels.

I find pork butt to be the most flavourful and there's just enough fat in the cut to heighten taste and keep the meat moist. You may certainly use a leaner cut of pork but the butt (shoulder) is my preference.

Souvlaki is what I served at my Birthday party as the meat portion of the evening. As I was serving an array of dishes, I cut the pork into small, bite-sized pieces. When in Greece, you'll notice the souvlakis are smaller than what we see here at Greek restaurants, where the souvlaki and accompaniments are made into a dinner.

In Greeece, souvlaki is more of a street food. Within each block of a city, a small souvlaki and gyro shop will be present with few seats and lots of spots for patrons to stand up, eat a few "kalamakia" (sticks), with some Tzatziki, a beer and some bread.

This marinade is simple, it's got good taste and you can certainly apply it to chicken or lamb souvlaki.

Pork Souvlaki

1 boneless pork butt (shoulder)
1 medium onion, grated
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 heaping tsp. salt
1 heaping tsp. black pepper
1/4 vegetable oil
1 heaping tsp. dried Greek oregano
wooden skewers (soaked overnight)

1. Trim excess fat from your pork butt and cut into uniform pieces.
2. In a large bowl, add your remaining marinade ingredients along with the pork pieces and toss to mix and coat all the meat. Place in the fridge for at least 5 hours and for best results, overnight.
3. Place your wooden skewers in a shallow baking dish that's filled with water. Allow the wooden skewers to soak overnight (so they don't disintegrate when grilling).
4. The next day, a couple of hours before you are going to grill your souvlaki, allow the pork to come to room temperature and then start skewering your meat (it's easier when your meat's at room temperature).
5. Pre-heat your gas grill (or prepare your charcoal grill) and when you have a medium-high heat, grill your souvlakia for 3-4 minutes a side and then keep warm until all the souvlaki are cooked.
6. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on your souvlakia with a sprinkle of fine sea salt and dried Greek oregano.
7. Serve with some crusty bread and Tzatziki.