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Vegetarian Grape Leaves, Appetizer style (dolmadakia)

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  Stuffed Grape Leaves -  Vegetarian  Appetizer Style I attended a dolmathes class led by Gayle Hurmuses in Cowichan Bay. My husband Paul and I enjoyed the village of Cowichan Bay so much that I wrote this article about it for my own blog: I was reading a Facebook post by Gayle Hurmuses seconds after she posted her inaugural Greek cooking class on the Greek Recipe Exchange site. It was my lucky day because I belong to a number of Greek recipe sites and don’t read them in any logical or consistent order.  Something about her post drew me to the idea that I needed to take her class on dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves) even though I make them all the time with my husband Paul too, who knows how to roll them well. I'm currently in the process of updating the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of Long Beach , Grecian Festival by the Sea , edited by my late mother, Coula Kootsikas. "Why not", I thought? Vancouver, B.C. is only a 3-hour flight from...
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Meatball Soup (Youvarlakia Avgolemóno)

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  Meatball Soup with Egg-lemon Broth (Youvarlakia Avgolem ó no ) Cook: 30-40 min Prep: 8 - 10 min Makes: 15-20 meatballs   Meatball Ingredients                         1 pound ground beef 1 small onion, chopped 1 tablespoon dried parsley Salt and pepper to taste         1/4 cup long-graine rice, uncooked 1 whole egg Flour for coating meatballs                     Combine and mix beef, onion, egg, parsley, salt and pepper in a large bowl (or use left-over meat from making dolmad á kia) . Cover and refrigerate for 30-35 minutes to overnight. Make medium size balls and cover with flour....
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  Shredded Pastry Rolls (Kataifi) Cook: 30 min Prep: 45 min Makes: 18 rolls   Kataifi, a cousin of baklava, is a shredded fine-like pastry made with walnuts, pistachios or almonds   Syrup 1 1/2 cups water 1/8 cup lemon juice, fresh 1 cup honey 1/4 cup sugar 1 stick of cinnamon     Suggest making the syrup a day ahead of making the baklav á or allow enough time for the syrup to thoroughly cool down. Combine water, honey, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon stick in a small sauce pan (1.5 quarts). Bring to a boil stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to simmer for at least 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Discard cinnamon stick and securely cover syrup with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Bring syrup to room temperature two hours in advance of preparing the baklav á .   Kataifi Roll...
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Avocado Salad (Avokánto Salata)

Avocado Salad ( Avokanto Salata) Bake: none Prep: 5 minutes Serves: 2-3   Question: What does city of Chania, located on the Greek island of Crete, and Long Beach, CA have in common? Answer: They share a similar Mediterranean climate ideal for growing avocado trees. Avocado trees were introduced to Southern CA from Central America in the early 1800’s and found their way to the town of Chania in the 1960’s when many visitors to Greece noted the climate similarities and the lack of avocados. Now about 90% of the avocados in Greece are grown in Crete. The recipe below was developed in honor of the avocado . 1 large avocado, cubed 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 large orange, cubed 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped* Salt and pepper, to taste   Peel and cube the avocado and orange. Make dressing by combining olive oil, lemon juice, dill, salt and peppe...
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Greek Salad (Horiátiki Saláta)

  Greek Salad  (H oriátiki Saláta )   Bake: none Prep: 10 minutes Serves: 4-6   A traditional Greek salad is made with locally sourced ingredients such as tomatoes and cucumbers. Lettuce is not traditionally included. Tomato seeds were first brought to Europe from South America by the conquistadors making their way to Italy in about the 16th century and introduced to Greece in the early 1800’s. Tomatoes are now a staple of Greek cooking.   6-8 medium red tomatoes 1 medium red onion 1/3 cup olive oil Salt, to taste 1 large cucumber 8 - 12 kalamata olives 5 - 7 ounces Greek feta 2 teaspoons fresh oregano   Cut tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Halve the onion and cut into thin slices. Peel and cut cucumber into thin slices. Place tomatoes, onion, cucumber and olives into serving bowl. Add 1/3 cup olive oil with oregano and mix into vegetables well. Cut feta into str...
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  Wild Greens  (Horta)   Boil: 10-15 min Prep: 5 min Serves: 2-4   A favorite modern Greek dish is wild or cultivated greens, boiled and served with olive oil and lemon juice, to taste. Wild greens were even eaten in ancient Greece and served with honey mixed with wine or water. Today, many think of boiled dandelion greens with olive oil and lemon juice when making horta. There are many available dandelion varieties ranging from sweet (blito) to bitter (radikia). If you should find a dandelion plant showing up in your rose pot after the rains, they will mostly like be sweet and wonderful tasting.     1 bunch of greens Lemon juice Olive oil Salt, to taste     Thoroughly clean your greens of choice such as dandelions, spinach or swiss chard. Boil for 10-15 minutes. Once desired tenderness is obtained, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and salt t...
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Chicken Pilaf (Kotópoulo Pilafi)

  Chicken Pilaf ( Kotópoulo Pilafi )   Cook: 60-90 min    Prep: 8-10 min     Serves: 4-5       8-10 chicken thighs with skin on 4 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste 2 onions, chopped   18-ounce can tomato sauce 33 cups water, divided 11 cup rice                 Wipe chicken thighs dry with a paper towel and then salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in an 8-quart stock pot over medium heat. Braise chicken by browning each side for 3-4 minutes. Set chicken aside. Sauté onions for 3-4 minutes and then add tomato sauce with ½ cup water. Add chicken back into pot and simmer for about 1 hour. Once chicken is tender, set aside by removing from pot with some of the sauce to keep chicken warm. Chicken s...
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