Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Regional recipes





I am never punctual when it comes to my blog (or life in general, for that matter), but I come through in the end. So here I am with some traditional recipes, from the island of Lesvos or Agiasos in particular.




Cabbage rolls filled with cod





makes 4 average-sized portions


Ingredients:


  • 1/2 cod (here we sell each piece of fish individually, they are really salty and you need to put them in cold water from the night before, in order to get them ready to use. Change the water 3-4 times.)
  • 1 big cabbage, separated into cabbage leaves
  • 1 cup white rice
  • 2 onions, minced
  • 1 tomato, grated (made into tomato pulp)
  • a handful of fresh parsley and spearmint
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • pepper to your liking


Preparation:
  1. Cut the cod into tiny pieces and place it in a bowl.
  2. Add the rice, onions, tomato, parsley, spearmint, pepper and 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the bowl and mix well with a spoon.
  3. Boil some water into a large pot and dip the cabbage leaves in it, for about 2 minutes. Drain.
  4. Take each cabbage leave, fill it with some of the bowl mixture and close it, forming a roll.
  5. Place your rolls into a large pot, add the olive oil, enough water so that all are covered, and cover the pot with a dish, turned upside down. Cook for about an hour, in low temperature.

Sfougato (oven-baked zucchini omelet)







Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 kg grated zucchini
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 1/2 cups feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 1/2 cup hard cheese (like parmesan, for example), grated
  • a bunch of fresh parsley or dill, chopped
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
  • 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
  • salt and pepper to your liking

Preparation:

  1. Place the grated zucchini in a colander, add salt and let them drain for about an hour, occasionally pressing them with a spoon.
  2. Place them in a bowl and add the feta cheese, the parmesan, the parsley/dill, 2 tablespoons flour and some pepper.
  3. Beat 5 eggs with heavy cream/evaporated milk and gradually add them to the bowl too.
  4. Butter a medium-sized pan and add the bread crumbs at the bottom.
  5. In a small pot, melt the rest of the butter with the olive oil and combine it with the yolk of the 6th egg.
  6. Put the bowl mixture into the pan, top it with the butter/olive oil/egg yolk mixture, sprinkle with some water and bake at 360 F for approximately 50 minutes.


Bon apetit!



So... now that you know the procedure, what do you say? Does it seem easy or hard? What hit you as weird/unfamiliar? I have to add that the Greeks are generally non-measure cooks, but I tried to be as precise as possible, when it came to ingredient amounts.

In my next post, I will be posting the recipe for giouzlemedes and anthoi. Until then, eat well and have fun!

11 comments:

  1. What a yummy recipe! I've never tried these... looks great!

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  2. These sound great! I love that they are one dish meals. Thanks Gracie!

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  3. yum!
    I am going to make the second one... it sounds similar to a quiche recipe... which I happen to love!
    it sounds very rich and decadent with the cream and all the cheese... which is what I LOVE right now... I'll let you know when I make it! : ) Thanks!

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  4. Gracie,

    Thank you so very much for stopping by my blog & commenting. I am here to return the favor & am totally wowed by all of your culinary talents! I am not a whiz in the kitchen, but I am learning slowly.

    Oh, and I'm your newest follower!
    ;-)

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  5. Hi, Gracey! So glad you stopped by my place yesterday. I've just caught up on your posts, glad to see you are blogging again--following now so I can keep up with your posts :)

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  6. These dishes look fabulous! I'm really intrigued with the idea of wrapping fish with cabbage. I'll have to try it!

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  7. Yum, the fish wrapped in cabbage sounds SOOO good! I happen to have some fish in my freezer, too!!

    And the zucchini omelet sounds amazing too! Anything that has feta cheese in it...I'm SO there!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog..hope you'll be back again soon!

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  8. Yum! Gracey, they both sound awesome! Can't wait to try them both

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  9. i was at sara's place and saw you found her from my place and i was like, who is this gracey girl, and now i am here and i see you have your thing labeled MY BIG FAT GREEK LIFE and i am doing a series with the same name except nothing to do with food b/c i suck at the stove. and there ya have it. following you now. thanks for visiting the crib.

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  10. Nice! My husband just made his own Greek yogurt. His manager is Greek which I think inspired him.

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  11. Hi, catching up with you a little late! Thanks so much for the recipes. I'm definitely trying the sfougato, and hopefully the fish too. Thanks again for the interesting posts :)

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