Tag: Greek

Beef stifado

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Beef and onions. But make it more aromatic, fragrant and flavourful. A Greek-style stew to warm the cockles of your heart on a frosty day. Feeds 4.

  • 500g stewing steak (I like beef shin), cut into chunky pieces
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 150ml red wine
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 300g shallots, peeled and left whole
  1. Sprinkle the flour over the beef and turn it around so the pieces all get coated
  2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan over a high heat until the butter froths
  3. Put the meat in and leave it to brown on the bottom, then turn and brown the pieces all over
  4. Remove the meat from the pan and turn the heat right down
  5. Pop in the onion and garlic and saute gently until soft
  6. Add the cinnamon, allspice, oregano, beef stock cube, tomato puree, red wine and vinegar
  7. Stir together and cook for 3-5 mins until the wine is reduced and the whole thing is thick, deep brown and sticky
  8. Add the tinned tomatoes, red wine vinegar and bay leaves. Fill the empty tin with water and pour that in too
  9. Bring to the boil, scraping the pot with your wooden spoon to make sure all the delicious brown bits on the bottom are incorporated
  10. Stir in the beef and the shallots. Season well with salt and pepper
  11. Reduce the heat as low as possible (and use a heat diffuser if you’re using a gas stove), stick the lid on and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally

Serve with wodges of crusty bread, or rice or orzo pasta. And maybe some greenery on the side for contrast and vitamins.

Tzatziki/raita

~ Sophie ~ 4 Comments

There are over 3000 miles between Greece and India, but it seems the combination of yoghurt, cucumber and herbs either evolved independently in both places because it’s amazing, or travelled between them. Who knows? What I do know is that it’s delicious enough that you might be tempted to eat it all on its own.

  • Half a cucumber
  • 300g Greek-style plain yoghurt
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • Pinch of salt
  • Chopped mint (or dill for tzatziki/coriander for raita)
  • Squeeze of lemon
  1. Slice the cucumber lengthways and remove the seedy core. Eat it because it’s nice!
  2. Grate the cucumber and squeeze out as much liquid as possible
  3. Mix the well-squeezed cucumber with the yoghurt, garlic, salt, lemon and herbs

If you fancy a different raita, I highly recommend the incredible smashed pineapple and turmeric raita from Meera Sodha’s Fresh India.

Pastitsio

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

The Greek answer to lasagne. I’m genuinely not sure which I like best. Maybe both…

Top 3 pastitsio facts : 1) it uses lamb rather than beef 2) it features the most unwieldy pasta in the known universe and 3) you beat eggs into the white sauce so it sets gently in a layer on top of the savoury concoction below. The pasta is like 30cm-long tubes of macaroni, apparently used for nothing except this dish. If you can’t find it, just substitute with regular macaroni. Feeds 6-8 and takes a couple of hours, from start to finished dish

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 500g lamb mince
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of allspice
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 250ml red wine
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 lamb stock cube
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 400ml milk
  • 200g halloumi, grated
  • 200g cheddar, grated
  • 2 eggs
  • Nutmeg
  • 300g pastitsio macaroni
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Heat the oil in a large thick-bottomed saucepan over a high heat
  2. Brown the lamb mince, breaking it up with the spoon, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the oil behind
  3. Drop in the onion and garlic and saute for around 8 mins until soft
  4. Add tomato puree, crumbled lamb stock cube and wine. Cook, stirring, for 5 mins
  5. Add chopped tomatoes, herbs, spices, half a tin of water, sugar, salt and pepper
  6. Simmer over a low heat for 45 mins, stirring every now and again to make sure it doesn’t stick. Add a bit more liquid if needed as it cooks
  7. In the meantime, make a roux with butter and flour (melt the butter and whisk in the flour, cooking for a couple of mins)
  8. Pour in the milk, whisking it as it warms to make smooth white sauce
  9. Over a low heat, add the grated cheddar and halloumi
  10. Grate over a few grates of nutmeg and season well
  11. Take off the heat and beat in the 2 eggs
  12. Preheat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  13. Cook the pasta for 8 mins in salted boiling water
  14. In a deep ceramic oven dish (rectangular will be simplest because the pasta wants to lie in straight lines), layer the meat sauce and pasta – keeping the pasta tubes all lying in the same direction
  15. Pour the cheese sauce over the top, sprinkling with a bit more grated cheddar
  16. Bake for 30 mins until golden and bubbling on top

To serve, cut slices across the pasta so the cross-section shows all the hollow tubes like a honeycomb. Serve a crispy, lemony salad alongside

Spanakopita

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Spinach pie. Wholesome – because so much iron in spinach! – prettily greenly herby, crunchy on the outside, and mouthwateringly yummy. An excellent vegetarian main course for 4.

  • 500g fresh spinach 
  • 1  onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed 
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 8 sheets of filo pastry 
  • 4 tbsp of butter, melted 
  • Grated nutmeg
  • 200g pack of feta cheese, crumbled 
  • 2 eggs, beaten 
  • Handfuls of fresh parsley, dill and mint, chopped 
  • Salt and pepper 
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Wash the spinach and chop it. In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp of the oil and cook the spinach until wilted
  3. Transfer it to a sieve and squeeze out as much water as possible
  4. In the meantime, add the other tbsp of oil into the same pan, drop in the onion and garlic, and saute until soft – about 5 mins
  5. Put the spinach, onion and garlic into a bowl and add eggs, herbs and feta. Grate a few gratings of nutmeg over
  6. Season and mix well until everything is combined
  7. Time for the butter! Best to apply it using a pastry brush if you have one. Butter the inside of a ceramic oven dish then place in a layer of filo pastry, letting the edges drape over the sides. Brush the filo with melted butter and then put the next sheet on. Do this with 5 sheets of filo altogether. You don’t need to butter the top one because you then fill your filo-lined dish with the spinach mixture
  8. Cover with the remaining filo sheets, buttering each one in turn, then flip the trailing edges over onto the top of the pie. Scrunch and crinkle them before also brushing them with butter for an extra crunchy top. (With hindsight, I know I called this dish wholesome – and I stand by that – but it’s also buttery and cheesy and eggy, so definitely not a diet food!)
  9. You can scatter the top with sesame seeds if you want to make it especially tempting and crunchy
  10. Bake for 20-30 mins until the top is golden brown and crisp
  11. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 mins before serving straight from the dish

A tomato salad goes really beautifully with this dish – incredibly simple to make. Beautiful, refreshing and delicious to eat. Just cut up some lovely ripe tomatoes (slices or wedges or whatever you like), sprinkle with salt, a good grind of black pepper, a large pinch of sugar and some decent extra virgin olive oil. That’s it.