Paximadia With Anise

Paximadia have been enjoyed prior to any memory I have of when biscotti started appearing in cafes and coffee houses.

Greeks will often enjoy a Paximadi as part of a breakfast or as a side with a Greek coffee. Since the autumn of last year, I've been enjoying my Greek coffee each morning and some Paximadia on the side is always nice for dunking.

With a a little Greek twist, my mom's basic recipe has the addition of pounded anise seeds (just enough to release their flavours).

For those not in the know, anise seeds are used to flavour and aromatize Greece's national booze of choice, Ouzo.

If you have your own Paximadia recipe, try adding some anise seeds into the mix. The aroma of these cookies baking will send you floating and the hint'O licorice flavour against the strong brew of Greek coffee is a simple joy.

Paximadia With Anise

4 cups of all-purpose flour
(approx. as the dough should be dense yet easy to roll).
1 cup vegetable oil
1 shot of Ouzo
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup chopped almonds
2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. of cracked anise seeds

(preheat your oven to 350F)

1. Using your hands, mix the oil, Ouzo, sugar, vanilla, anise seeds and eggs (add 1 at a time) and incorporate well.
2. In another bowl, add your baking powder and sifted flour and mix well.
   
3. Add your wet to dry and knead with your hands for about 5 minutes. You should at this time have a soft dough.
   
4. Form your loaves on parchment paper and leave as much empty space between each loaf.
   
5. Bake on the middle rack of your oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off your oven. Let cool until you're able to safely handle them.
6. Slice your Paximadia widthwise (serrated knife) and lay them back out on the cookie sheet. Place them back in the turned-off oven for at least an hour to dry out. The residual heat of the oven will do the rest of the work.
   

Baklava For Breakfast?

Well, almost. Baklava is a rich dessert of nuts and spices, sandwiched by thin sheets of phyllo and finished off with a lemony syrup.

Who would imagine having such a decadent dessert for breakfast? Why, it would be Elly of Elly Says OPA!

Elly is much like myself, a first-generation Greek who grew up outside of Greece but held onto her culture, religion and cuisine.

It was only yesterday that Elly posted her take on a breakfast baklava. She incorporated the fundamental flavours of baklava into a French Toast.

Here in Canada, it's a long weekend and we're celebrating Victoria Day, a testament to this country's Anglo beginnings. What does one do when you have an extra day off?

Make a decadent breakfast!

Breakfast Baklava French Toast
(for 2)

4 slices of bread, crusts trimmed off
3 large eggs
splash of orange juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
splash of vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. of honey
splash of milk
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
butter
Maple Syrup

Baklava filling
1 handful of nuts (I used walnuts)
1 tsp. of ground clove
1 tsp. of honey

1. Using your food processor, add the nuts and ground cloves and pulse until you get a granular consistency (like that of coarse salt. Remove contents and add to a bowl and and mix in the honey with a spoon and reserve.
2. In a bowl large enough to hold your slices of bread, add the eggs, orange juice, honey, milk, vanilla and cinnamon and whisk until incorporated.
3. Pre-heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Place some baklava filling in between two slices of bread to form a sandwich (reserve some filling for garnish).
5. Carefully dunk the both sides of your "sandwich" into the egg mixture and make sure enough liquid has penetrated the bread (this makes for a moister French toast).
6. Add some butter to your skillet and when it starts to sizzle, place your French toast in the skillet and fry each side for a couple of minutes or until golden-brown. Keep warm and fry off your remaining French toasts in batches.
7. Carefully cut your French toast diagonally in half (this emulates the usual diamond shape of a piece of baklava). Plate your French toast, finish with some reserved baklava filling, good Maple Syrup, a sprinkle of cinnamon and icing sugar and some lemon peel for garnish.
   

Mmmmm Muffins

Muffins have to be one of my favourite North American breakfast rituals. It's true, we work too hard, we could learn something from the Europeans about taking it easy and we do have to slow down.

In our busy lives, it's all rush, rush, rush. In Europe, people actually sit in a cafe, order and leisurely have their coffee and treat.

In North America, all I see is people lining up at a coffee shop or waiting in the drive-thu lane of Tim Horton's.

Muffins were practically made for this busy morning go-go-go ritual. We all see the co-worker sipping a coffee and nibbling on a muffin in their office.

Why not make the time to enjoy your coffee and muffin at home? I did.

One of my favourite muffins is the Lemon Poppyseed muffin. It's sweet, a little tart and I love the crunch of poppy seeds in my mouth.

I finally found a good recipe for these muffins at What Geeks Eat. Vanessa has a myriad of great dishes on offer and her blog also features a "print recipe" button (which I'm getting around to).

I made these muffins yesterday and the dozen is down to two. I'm assuming they were good.

I also made the icing but i think I'll skip it next time. The muffin "as is" is simply wonderful and a joy when taking my time reading the paper, sipping coffee and nibbling my muffin.

Melomakarona (μελομακάρονα)

Greeks like to have an array of sweets, cookies, appetizers out for offering to the revolving door guests during the Christmas holidays.

I've already shown you Kourabiedes and now you get to see the other standard offering, Melomakarona. I'm sure you can read the ingredients list but here are the flavour tags for this simple cookie...orange, walnut, honey, clove, cinnamon....a party in the mouth!



Melomakarona (μελομακάρονα)
(makes 100)

10 cups pastry flour
3 cups vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup walnuts (roughly pounded)
zest of 1 orange
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove

1. Into a large bowl, add the zest, honey, sugar and use your hand to mix all the ingredients.
2. Pour in the orange juice, cloves, cinnamon and mix well (again with your hands).
3. Add the eggs and mix well.
4. Combine the flour with the baking powder and baking soda and then add your dry ingredients to the wet. Once again, mix well with your hands.
5. Using your hands, roll the dough into small balls (about the size of apricots), then form them into quenelle shapes.
6. Take your box grater (the side used to zest) and place a cookie on top of it. Press the cookie down a bit to form a grid pattern on the top of the cookie. Repeat this process for all the cookies.
7. Place your cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake in a pre-heated oven (middle rack) for 30 minutes.

Syrup Coating

2 cups of sugar
2 cups honey
2 cups water

1. To make the syrup, add all three ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Using a large slotted spoon or Spider, drop the cookies in batches into the syrup for 3 minutes to absorn the syrup. Reserve on a cooling rack and repeat until all the cookies are dunked in syrup.

Walnut Topping

6 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground clove

1. Add the above ingredients in a bowl mix well with a spoon.
2. Brush each cookie with the remaining syrup and then sprinkle each cookie top with the walnut topping. Allow to cool.
3. Store in a cool, dry container for up to 6 weeks.

Kourabiedes (κουραμπιέδες)

This Greek cookie is an almond shortbread cookie. Christmas time is coming and every home will certainly have Kourabiedes on offer for visiting house guests.

These cookies are fantastically simple in ingredients, not too difficult and I don't think I've met one person that doesn't like them. What's not to like about butter, roasted almonds and icing sugar?

Kourabiedes (κουραμπιέδες)
(recipe is for 2 baking trays/80 cookies)

1 lb. clarified butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups of roasted almonds, coarsely chopped
1 shot of brandy
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 heaping Tbsp. of baking powder
5 cups of of all purpose flour
Extra icing sugar (for powdering)

1. Using a mixer and a large bowl, cream your butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks and continue to mix.
2. Slowly pour in the vegetable oil while still mixing.
3. Add your brandy to a large glass and then add your baking powder and stir it until dissolved. Now pour this mixture, along with the vanilla extract and continue mixing until blended in.
4. Start kneading with hands the mixture and s-l-o-w-l-y add the flour to the mixture until all the flour has been absorbed. Add the almonds and knead them into the dough mixture.
5. Using your hand, grab a piece of dough the size of a walnut and form them into the shape of choice (I made crescents). Place each formed cookie on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat process until all dough has been shaped into cookies.
6. Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven (middle rack) for 30 minutes for each batch. Allow the cookies to completely cool (on the tray is fine).
7. Place about 2 cups of icing sugar in a large bowl and roll the cookies in the sugar to powder them.
8. The cookies should be stored in a sealed container, in a cool, dry place and they'll keep for 3 months.

ΚΑΛΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ!

Easy Trail Mix Bars

I like snacking and I think we're all looking for something healthier and of course homemade. I receive Kraft's What's Cooking quarterly and I've been more attracted to their dessert & sweets recipes.

Here's the recipe: http://www.kraftcanada.com/EN/Recipes/RecipeTemplate?recipe_id=86964

I found this to be both easy and tasty...enjoy!