Artichokes in Olive Oil (Carciofi Sott’Olio)

Tuesday May 21st, 2019Tuesday May 21st, 2019 aglaia Leave a comment

The recipe is inspired from the traditional Italian way of preserving in olive oil—and not just artichokes, but also pearl onions, green garlic, peppers, fresh fava, peperoncini, and more.

I always have jars of artichokes in the refrigerator, using my garden’s crop of small, thorny, purple Kea artichokes. In the spring, when you find the best artichokes at the farmers’ market, dedicate a day to peeling and preparing them, filling jars with delicious artichokes that can become the base for all kinds of dishes. Add them to salads, appetizers, grains, or pasta recipes. I stuff small breads with the leftovers from the bottom of the jar and use the olive oil in sauces and dressings, or keep it for next year’s artichoke preserves.

Makes a 1-quart (960-ml) jar

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Melomakarona – Honey-Infused, Olive Oil, Orange and Spice Cookies

Tuesday December 11th, 2018Wednesday February 17th, 2021 aglaia 5 Comments

The traditional, fragrant, old-fashioned Christmas cookies are my favorites! They are vegan because people ate them during the days of Lent that precede Christmas. I have updated my mothers recipe, adding ground nuts in the dough.

You can also use the dough as pie crust, filling it with cooked apples, quince, or to make a lemony tart with Lemon Curd.

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I think you will find these cookies irresistible. If you manage to save them for later, they will get even better the next days.They keep for up to 1 month so you may want to double the recipe, especially if you bake melomakarona with friends, as we usually do.

Makes about 45 cookies

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Basic Tomato Sauce (Saltsa Domata)

Thursday November 9th, 2017Wednesday September 16th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

Make it when you have plenty of vine ripened tomatoes. But in the winter, when good, ripe tomatoes are not available, use canned, or slice and roast the pale tomatoes available to intensify their flavor.

Instead of sugar, I sweeten the sauce with currents.

Beyond pasta, the sauce can be used on flat, breads complemented with crumbled feta or any other cheese. It is the basis for the vegetarian mousaka, and also for the stuffing for papoutsakia (eggplant slippers), with the addition of chopped, sauteed bell peppers and feta, graviera or any other cheese, with or without walnuts, or other nuts.

Yields about 3 cups sauce, enough for 1 pound pasta

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Pickled Huevos Haminados (slow-cooked Eggs in Onion Skins)

Tuesday April 11th, 2017Sunday April 14th, 2019 aglaia 1 Comment

The recipe is from my book Mediterranean Pantry (Artisan 1994), which is lavishly photographed the by the late Martin Brigdale –who also had photographed my Foods of Greece— and it is illustrated by the painter Sophie Kelly, who created the trompe-l’œil backgrounds that the multi-talented Martin had imagined. 1a-eggs-pickle-jar1-small The pickled eggs taste better if they are slow-cooked with onion skins. But plain, hard-boiled eggs work well too. Serve as appetizer, drizzled with good, fruity olive oil, sprinkling with salt and pepper, or add to any salad of fresh, boiled or steamed vegetables. They complement beautifully bean, chickpea or lentil soups.

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6 eggs ( 6-12 appetizer portions) (more…)

Slow Cooked Eggs (Huevos Haminados) Decorated with Leaves

Tuesday April 11th, 2017Tuesday April 11th, 2017 aglaia Leave a comment

Two years ago, with eggs from our neighbor’s hens, I made these onion-skin-colored Easter eggs, most of which I later pickled, because what I like most is pickled huevos haminados, which are simply delicious!

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Sephardic Jews who live in Salonika, and all around the Mediterranean, prepare huevos haminados (baked eggs) as they were called in Ladino, the dialect of the Jews who were expelled from Spain. Prepared on Fridays to serve on the Sabbath, they were originally placed in a covered clay pot filled with onion skins and water and baked in a communal oven, hence the name. Later, the eggs were simmered for hours on top of the stove. The onion skins darken the white shells and give the eggs a distinctive flavor and creamy texture.

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