Sweet and Sour Eggplants with Nuts, Raisins, Basil and Mint

Saturday August 29th, 2020Saturday August 29th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

I love melanzane alle noci e mandorle, the sweet and sour Calabrian eggplants that are crunchy with nuts and fragrant with basil and mint. They are great as a side dish with any cold meat, with grilled lamb chops or chicken legs. Traditionally, though, they are an antipasto (appetizer) served on the sideboard.

They also make a wonderful bruschetta if spread on toasted bread with shavings of parmesan, thin slices of mozzarella, manouri or sprinkled with crumbled feta. I often add grilled peppers –either home made, or store-bought– with the eggplants, and in the winter diced roasted squash is another interesting companion. Adjust the spicing of the sauce accordingly.

Adapted from my Mediterranean Hot and Spicy.

Makes 6-8 appetizer servings

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Yogurt Bread Stuffed with Cheese or Chocolate

Sunday April 12th, 2020Monday April 20th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

This is a delicious, moist and very easy bread dough.

I describe here how you can make it into savory or sweets treats.

No need to make them both the same day, though. Just keep half the dough in the fridge to stuff and bake within the next 2-3 days making the sweet or savory version.

You also can form into loaves or small buns and eat instead of any other bread; it makes wonderful sandwiches.

The cheese-stuffed bread is a lovely accompaniment to soups and vegetable dishes, or served as meze with drinks. The chocolate bread can be part of breakfast or accompany soft cheese or served with tea, and coffee.

Yields 2 round loaves
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Tomato-and-cheese-topped Lagana (Flat Bread)

Friday August 2nd, 2019Friday August 2nd, 2019 aglaia Leave a comment

We make this bread all the time, especially when we have guests. The dough is the one I use for my everyday breads, sometimes adding yogurt if I have leftover that is going too sour or any kind of mashed vegetables or greens. In the summer I use a tomato-onion-olive oil mixture, the leftovers from our daily tomato salad, pulsed in the blender, to make my Tomato Salad Bread which can also be topped with cheese and tomato slices. Tomato Bread S

See also the Smoked Cheese and Kumquat Bread which is basically the winter version of my topped breads. For a more spicy-aromatic topping spread Zaatar mixed with olive oil over the tomatoes.

Yields 2 laganes (focaccia-like flat breads), each serving 6-8 people as appetizer

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Yogurt and Herb Pies Wrapped in Grape Leaves

Thursday July 4th, 2019Wednesday March 17th, 2021 aglaia 1 Comment

In this unusual recipe from northern Greece, a cornmeal-thickened yogurt is flavored with scallions and herbs, and baked or fried wrapped in tangy grape leaves; thus becoming a sophisticated “pie” with complex aroma and unexpected flavor.

In an earlier version, I made a large pie that I baked in the oven. It was good, but difficult to divide into portions. Paula Wolfert suggested small fried “packets,” which worked much better. Now I propose something in between: individual little pies, baked in tartlet pans or shallow muffin tins. When finished under the broiler, the grape leaves caramelize beautifully! Serve with risotto or any grain pilaf.

My friend, David Tanis has created and published in the New York Times his own brilliant version of the recipe using chard leaves instead of the grape leaves.

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Homemade Fresh Myzithra (ricotta-like cheese)

Monday June 10th, 2019Monday June 10th, 2019 aglaia Leave a comment

Here on Kea we make it with the milk our neighbors often give us. It is probably the first and simplest cheese ever made, and today the various commercial myzithra we get sometimes come from Crete –where is called anthotyro. Cheese makers make it now by adding fresh milk to the whey left from the first, usually the hard cheese they make, adding rennet to the milk.

If you can get leftover whey add fresh milk and do not add lemon or vinegar, just boil the whey with the milk and cream. Needless to say that if you make it with the usual cow’s pasteurized milk you get from the supermarket, combine it with goat’s milk, if you can, and add some cream –more or less, depending on how creamy and lush you want your myzithra.

Serve this delicious fresh cheese plain, as appetizer, sprinkling it with chopped herbs, shallots and garlic, or as dessert, drizzled with honey or jam. You can also use it to make savory myzithropita (cheese tart), or combine it with some feta cheese to make a Greek version of the cheese cake.

Makes about 1 pound soft cheese (you may double the quantities for more)

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