Last week I decided to fry the tomatoes, and instead of mixing in the eggs, I nestled them in the pan, and after 2-3 minutes, I moved the pan to a 200 C oven and baked for 5-8 minutes, until the eggwhite was opaque. We enjoyed it enormously with fresh crusty bread. 

Plain scrambled eggs are not a common Greek dish, but a huge egg and tomato scramble, as you might find in a Greek diner in America, is still a national institution. Some people add crumbled feta in the pan, but I much prefer to sprinkle it at the end; I enjoy my strapatsada with toasted bread or with olive-oil-fried potato slices, a heavenly combination!

Serve with toasted multi-grain, whole-wheat bread and a green salad, or with roast vegetables I often serve it with toasted bulgur pilaf, but simple sliced potatoes fried in olive oil are still my favorite complement.

See also the Scrambled Eggs with Fava beans which is another somewhat different, yet equally delicious combination. 

Menemen, the Turkish version, has diced peppers, both sweet and hot, along with tomatoes and chopped scallions. The Provençale bruillade à l’Arlésienne (scrambled eggs from Arles) has grated zucchini, tomatoes and garlic (see variations). Much like classic scrambled eggs, strapatsada needs to be soft and creamy, not dry or too watery. I use my own tomato confit or add a few sun-dried tomatoes to the pan to get the intense tomato flavor I remember from my childhood. 

Serves 2-4 as a main course, 5-6 as part of a meze spread

12 ripe plum tomatoes, confit (recipe follows) or 6  canned plum tomatoes (best quality), drained, plus 6 sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2-3 tablespoons olive oil (less if you use tomato confit)

4-5 eggs

Salt

1/4 cup thick Greek yogurt

1 good pinch Maraş pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste

Feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

Good fruity olive oil, for drizzling

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or thyme (optional)

2-3 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley (optional)

Toasted whole-wheat bread slices, for serving

If you use tomato confit, place in a skillet together with their oil and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often to thicken.

If you use canned and sun-dried tomatoes, warm 4 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet, add the tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often for 10 minutes or until thickened.

In a bowl beat the eggs lightly with a pinch of salt and the yogurt.

Lower the heat and add the eggs to the tomatoes, sprinkle with the pepper and cook, tossing often with a wooden spatula until the eggs are just set. Be careful not to overcook the eggs.

Transfer to a shallow bowl and serve warm or at room temperature.  Sprinkle with Feta, if you like, drizzle with fruity olive oil, and add fresh oregano, thyme, or parsley, if you like.

Alternatively, you can spread tablespoons of the strapatsada on toasts and serve as bruschetta.   

VARIATIONS:

Menemen (Turkish Tomato and Pepper Scrambled Eggs)

Sauté 1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced, until soft. Add the tomatoes to the pan and proceed as above.

Bruillade à l’Arlésienne (Scrambled Eggs from Arles)

Grate a small zucchini and sauté in 1 tablespoon olive oil until soft. Add a small, minced garlic clove with the tomatoes and proceed as above.

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This very simple, absolutely irresistible meze is a somewhat recent addition to the summer menu of Greek taverns. It probably has its roots in the fried or grilled peppers with batzos – a quite pungent, semi-hard cheese from Thessaly and Macedonia. The irresistible meze was probably first served in Thessaloniki taverns and the surrounding areas, and was eventually adopted by home and restaurant cooks all over Greece.

Serves 4

1 large, vine-ripened tomato

4 slices Feta cheese (about 2/3 pound total)

1 medium green bell pepper, sliced into thin rings

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped or a few pinches Maraş pepper or crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

About 1/2 cup good olive oil

1 tablespoon Greek oregano or more, to taste

Thick slices of fresh, crusty bread

Preheat the oven to 430˚F (220 C).

Spread a double layer of kitchen paper on a large dish. Core the tomato carefully, slice horizontally into 5-6 pieces and spread them on the paper to drain.

Oil a shallow 8 or 9-inch baking dish, or 4 individual ramekins, and spread the tomato slices at the bottom, reserving 4 nice slices for the top. Sprinkle with some jalapeno and bell pepper slices. Arrange the feta pieces on top, place one tomato slice on each piece of cheese and finally 2 or 3 bell pepper rings on the tomato.

Drizzle liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with oregano and the rest of the jalapeno and transfer to the middle of the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes or more, until the feta turns a light golden color and the oil is sizzling. Serve immediately with warm bread. 

The post Bouyourdi: Grilled Feta, Tomato, and Pepper appeared first on Aglaia's Table οn Kea Cyclades.

You can whip them up in minutes.

Feta in Phyllo

I first had this feta package in Eumelia, the Organic Agrotourism Farm in southern Peloponnese. Marilena, the owner, cook, and instructor, served us a large, home-rolled phyllo and feta package, which as she explained, she prepares in advance, freezes, and then briefly fries in hot olive oil whenever she needs to present a quick snack or meze. Her twist on the common phyllo triangles served at most taverns is that the thin slices of feta inside the frozen package are adequately heated through as the package is fried, becoming particularly delicious. The soft cheese does not disintegrate inside the crunchy phyllo, as in the most common versions of this appetizer. Uri Eshet at Kea Retreat serves the packages with sliced figs, and you can pair them with various fresh fruit and or fruit preserves.

Drizzled with honey or any syrup, and sprinkled with sesame seeds or nigella, I bet that this very easy, convenient, and amazing morsel, whipped up with commercial phyllo, will become your next favorite appetizer.  

Bouyourdi

This absolutely irresistible meze is a somewhat recent addition to the summer menu of Greek taverns. It probably has its roots in the fried or grilled peppers with batzos – a quite pungent, semi-hard cheese from Thessaly and Macedonia. The irresistible meze was probably first served in taverns in Thessaloniki and the surrounding areas, and was eventually adopted by home and restaurant cooks all over Greece.

The name of the dish is itself significant in its insignificance – it really means nothing and has no relation to the meze or its ingredients. Bouyourdi – from the Turkish buyrultu (petition or written order) – is a word that has been incorporated into our vernacular since Ottoman times and has a quite unpleasant ring, mostly used in expressions like ‘I got the tax bouyourdi,’ implying that one must pay lots of taxes.

But this bouyourdi has nothing to do wuth taxes, and everyone loves to place and receive this meze order!

RECIPES:

Feta Fried in Phyllo Packages     

Bouyourdi: Roasted Feta with Tomato and Peppers

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Chef Uri Eshet at Kea Retreat serves the packages with sliced figs; you can pair them with other fresh, seasonal fruit and/or with fruit preserves. Drizzle with honey or any syrup, and sprinkled with sesame seeds or nigella, if you like.

I bet that this easy, convenient, and delicious morsel, whipped up with commercial phyllo, will become your next favorite appetizer.  The pieces are quite filling, so one per person is enough.

To make 9 feta-phyllo packages

About 1 pound feta, or more, cut into somewhat less than 1 cm (about 1/3-inch) slices –no need for perfect slices, it doesn’t matter if fata breaks into smaller pieces

6 sheets phyllo dough, preferably thick

1/3 cup or more Olive Oil, as needed, to brush the phyllo

Honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup for drizzling

1/3 cup Sesame or Nigella seeds to sprinkle (optional)

Fresh mint leaves, for serving

Spread a piece of parchment paper on a light a cutting board that can be transferred to the freezer.

Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on the work surface and brush with olive oil. Place another sheet of phyllo on top of the first, brushing with olive oil as before.

Cut the sheets crosswise in two and then cut each half lengthwise into three equal strips.

You now have 6 strips, each about 3 inches wide. (Note: When working with phyllo, keep the sheets covered and moist. To do so, stack the phyllo sheets on a work surface and cover with plastic wrap and then a damp kitchen towel.)

Place 1 or more pieces of feta, to make about a 7 cm (3-inch) square on one end of a phyllo strip. Gently roll it over to wrap the cheese in phyllo. The wrapped piece will have two exposed sides. Now place it on a second strip of phyllo and roll up to completely encase the feta in phyllo.

Repeat with the remaining feta slices and phyllo. Lightly brush the tops with olive oil and transfer to the freezer. After 24 hours you can transfer the frozen, hard phyllo packages to a zip log bag. They keep for up to 4 months.

Just when you want to serve, brush a nonstick skillet with olive oil, heat it and fry the packages about 3 minutes on each side, until well browned. Serve immediately drizzled with honey or any syrup, and sprinkled with seeds, if you like, and fresh mint leaves.  

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Unlike the boldly flavored cacik, the Turkish yogurt-cucumber-garlic soup, common throughout the Mediterranean –an ancestor of tzatziki– this older, fragrant Persian soup has no garlic.

I use almonds or pistachios instead of the walnuts the original recipe calls for, and I add preserved lemon, which enhances the soup with its salty-tangy flavor. I suggest you double the recipe and enjoy it the next morning for breakfast.

Serves 6

1/4 cup (25 g) dried rose petals, crushed

1/3 cup (40 g) almonds, or pistachios

About 1/8 of a  preserved lemon piece, briefly rinsed

2 cups (500 g) Greek-style yogurt

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) ice water

1/2 cup (80 g) golden raisins, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, finely diced cucumber (one small or 2/3 of a large cucumber)

1/4 cup (10 g) finely chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup (10 g) finely chopped fresh dill

1/4 cup (25 g) finely chopped chives or scallions, white and most of the green parts

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Sumac

2-3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios (optional)

Garlic Blossoms (optional)

In a small bowl, soak the rose petals in slightly warm water until softened and cold, about 20 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Spread the almonds or pistachios on a baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes, or until fragrant and lightly colored. Let cool and chop finely in a food processor together with the preserved lemon.

In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt with the ice water. Add the raisins, cucumber, mint, dill, chives, rose petals, and almonds. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning, then serve in glasses or in shallow bowls, sprinkling generously with sumac, pistachios, and garlic blossoms, if you like.

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Potatoes, carrots and a couple of onions are boiled first, in a pot with 1-2 teaspoons salt, until tender and easily pierced with a fork. 

We discard nothing in our part of the world, and we have learned that for example the root-ends of spinach are delicious when fresh, especially from ours, or the local gardens, so we carefully wash them, and boil them for a few minutes longer than we boil the large fleshy spinach leaves. Baby spinach is not what you need for this delicious salad. 

We boil zucchini  by themselves, usually, in a separate pot, with their hard stems still attached. We discard them when done, because if we cut them before boiling, the water seeps into the zucchini flesh, making the tender zucchini  unacceptably soggy.  

Boiled zucchini are often made into a salad/side dish by themselves, all through the season, as gardens all over Greece are overflowed by this beloved early summer vegetable.  And of course zucchini feature in lots of meze and main course dishes, of which my favorite is Zucchini Fritters, as well as the fabulous Crustless Zucchini Pie.  

Finally the boiled vegetable salad, after being drizzled with fruity olive oil and some lemon juice, is complemented with tangy Tahini Yogurt Sauce, the same that flavors the Roasted Squash and Bread Salad.

I serve the boiled vegetables with some chopped, pickled hot peppers, and plenty of fresh mint leaves. 

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It is inspired from a dish served by Semsa Denizsel, the celebrated chef and former owner of Kantin Lokanta in Istanbul. She has now moved to the Aegean coast, and teaches cooking in her beautiful home, amidst olive trees.

Serves 4-6

Four 1/2-inch (1.2cm) slices day-old sourdough bread, torn to about 1-inch (2.5cm) pieces–remove only the very hard crusts

2/3 cup olive oil

About 2 1/2 pounds (1 1/4 kilo) butternut squash, kabocha, or any other squash with dense flesh; peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes 

2 teaspoons dry Greek oregano or thyme

Salt to taste

A few pinches Maraş pepper or crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Yogurt-tahini sauce

1 1/2 cups (375 g) thick Greek-style yogurt

2/3 -1 cup (160 ml) tahini

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt, to taste

3 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste

To serve:

A bunch fresh mint, coarsely chopped or a good pinch dried mint (optional)

Fruity olive oil for drizzling

A handful of toasted pine nuts

Finishing salt

Preheat the oven to 400º F (200ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl toss the bread with half of the oil, spread on the baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes or more, until golden brown and dry. Transfer to a tray.

In the same large bowl add the squash and toss with the remaining olive oil, adding oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

Spread on the parchment-lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or more, until tender. Let cool a little.

Meanwhile make the sauce: In a bowl, stir the yogurt with the tahini, and add the garlic, salt, and lemon. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons water to thin the sauce just to the point that is only just pourable. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Spread half the yogurt-tahini sauce on a shallow serving dish. Arrange alternating pieces of squash and toasted bread on the sauce, sprinkle with the fresh and dried mint, if using, drizzle with fruity olive oil and sprinkle with the pine nuts and some finishing salt.

Serve warm or at room temperature, passing the rest of the yogurt sauce on the side.

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Obviously, whoever first combined these basic ingredients created a salad delicious enough to be copied, improved upon and even exported and become a household dish all over the world!

Probably the famous Greek Salad was actually inspired by the summer salad-meals of the peasants. Its main ingredient, the juicy vine-ripened tomatoes, complemented with onions and all kinds of garden vegetables and greens –cucumber, purslane, or some flavorful pickled green, like kritama (rock-samphire) that was originally a Chios island addition, and now has become part of the ‘exotic’ creative salads served in Mykonos and Santorini.

The salad has sweet and sometimes mildly hot peppers, and it is always topped with feta.  In its original village past the salad/meal could have any kind of local cheese, as well as olives, and maybe capers or caper leaves. Horiatiki is scented with dried, wild oregano or savory, and doused with plenty of fruity olive oil. It might also contain salted sardines, and was often made more substantial with the addition of stale bread or crumbled paximadia (barley rusks), which soak up the delicious juices.

I vaguely remember my parents snubbing horiatiki, as an overpriced salad created by sly tavern owners. Up until then in the summer one ordered a tomato salad, with or without onions and cucumber, and separately a slice of feta cheese which came drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano.

My parents, along with other people we knew, had come to the conclusion that horiatiki’s cost exceeded that of the usual salad and feta combination.  It was a gimmick for the tourists, according to my father, but also later on some of my friends, who refused to order it; they thought that even when the salad became cheaper and a kind of standard all over Greece, taverns adopted it as a way for to serve inferior quality, and  smaller pieces of feta; my parents kept on ordering tomato salad and feta, separately.

Eventually, though, the horiatiki invention backfired. Budget tourists were feasting on this horiatiki/Greek salad, ordering it as a main lunch or dinner and tavern owners started to complain about ‘the horiatiki tourists’ who were almost ruining their business during high season…

Of course the taste of Greek salad depends entirely on the quality and freshness of its ingredients. The traditional Greek winter version, not called horiatiki, is based on crunchy leaves of Romaine lettuce, that are complemented with spicy wild arugula, and fragrant herbs (fennel, dill, mint, borage and plenty of scallions). This salad seldom has tomatoes, and never depends on the tasteless, pale green-house tomatoes sold in supermarkets…

RECIPE: Paximadia Horiatiki or Greek Salad with Rusks, Feta and Capers

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Of course, I made quite a few changes, using local green olives instead of the black from Provence, and scallions, instead of the chives that are not available here. As I always do, I substituted olive oil for the butter, and grated aged graviera cheese for the parmesan, I increased the amount of pine nuts and sunflower seeds and added rosemary which gave a lovely aroma to the cake.

I baked it in a pan with a hole in the center, but you can of course use a loaf pan, or a simple round 8-inch pan. This meze cake is best slightly warm, or just cooled.

At least 8 generous appetizer pieces

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup olive oil

5 eggs, lightly beaten to mix

1/3 cup white wine

150 grams grated parmesan, or aged graviera or cheddar

About 1 cup (180 grams) pitted, sliced green olives –you can use black, if you like

5 scallions, white plus most of the green, finely chopped

1 small red pickled pepper chopped (optional)

About 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves, or more, to taste

1/3 cup (about 50 grams) toasted pine nuts

½ cup sunflower seeds

Line the pan you intend to use with parchment paper. And preheat the oven to 375 F (200 C).

In a bowl toss the flour with the baking powder. Add the olive oil, the eggs and the wine and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula, just to incorporate.

Add the cheese, the olives, the scallions, and the pepper, if using, along with the rosemary. Keep some pine nuts to top the cake and add rest to the mix, along with the sunflower seeds. Stir a few times to mix all the ingredients together, and transfer to the prepared pan.

Even the top with a spatula, sprinkle with the reserved pine nuts, and bake for about 35 minutes or more, testing with a knife to see if it is done, as you do with the sweet cakes.

Let cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes, before unmolding and cutting to serve. This meze cake is best slightly warm, or just cooled. But you can wrap the leftover in plastic wrap and refrigerate, then warm a bit in a low oven covered with parchment paper.

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In Israel you will most often find the vivid pink ‘borani’, made with beets and beet greens instead of spinach (see variation). 

As an alternative to the traditional pita bread, I prefer to spread it on toasted whole wheat or multi-grain bread, rubbed with a clove of garlic.

It can also be a side dish, accompanying poached or grilled fish or chicken.

Makes about 3 cups.

1 1/2 pounds spinach leaves, washed and coarsely chopped

1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

½ cup cilantro chopped

3 cups thick yogurt

2-3 garlic cloves, minced, to taste

1-3 jalapeňos, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Borage flowers, and mint (optional) 

Place the spinach in a saucepan over high heat, cover, and let it wilt without adding more water than what clings on the leaves. It needs only 2 to 3 minutes. Toss once or twice while cooking, and be careful not to let it burn. Remove the spinach from the heat, place in a colander, and let cool and drain. Press with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible. Chop finely.

In a bowl, combine the spinach with the parsley, cilantro, yogurt, garlic, and chilies, stirring well. Add a little salt and taste. Adjust seasoning with more salt and a little black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Spread on toasts, sprinkle with walnuts and serve as an appetizer, or transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with walnuts, or decorate with borage flowers and mint.

VARIATION:

Pink Borani with Beets

Dice 4-5 large cooked and peeled beets (together with their cooked stems and greens, if you like) and mix with the garlic, yogurt and jalapenos (as above).

Omit the parsley and cilantro, and flavor with ½ cup chopped dill, some chopped fresh mint, and the zest of ½ lemon. Sprinkle with sumac, if you like. 

I add 2-3 tablespoon lemon juice, as beets are quite sweet for my taste, but you may not agree with me…

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