Moustokouloura (nutmeg cookies)

• ½ cup oil

• ½ cup molasses

• 2 cups water

• 2 cups sugar

• 2 tablespoons cognac or ouzo

• juice of half a lemon

• 1 tablespoon of baking soda

• 1 tablespoon of baking ammonia or baking powder

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon clove

• 1 whole nutmeg seed finely grated with zester

• about 8-8.5 cups of flour

• sesame seeds

Combine oil, molasses, water sugar, cognac, lemon juice in a bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar. In another bowl combine baking soda, baking ammonia or baking powder, cinnamon, clove, grated nutmeg and 4 cups of flour. Mix the dry ingredients with a fork, and then add to wet ingredients. Transfer the mixture to a standing mixer, and add flour about a half a cup at a time. The mixture will pull together and can be shaped with hand, but still soft.

Using about a tablespoon amount of dough shape the cookies into whatever shape you want…circles, twisted etc. Dip them into sesame seeds.

Bake at 335 deg for about 20-25 min. Checking after 18 min. Nicely golden on the outside, but still a bit of give.

Traditional lent cookies. Great with coffee or tea!

Recipe from Maria George ❤

Tzatziki

1 pint greek yogurt (Fage Total 2% is what I use)

1 large or 2 med cucumbers

1 large clove garlic, finely diced

1 tbsp olive oil

bunch of fresh dill finely chopped…about a ¼ cup loosely packed

squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

Peel and grate the cucumbers into a colander or strainer using the large holes of grater. Sprinkle the grated cucumber with about a tsp of salt and mix a bit with your hand. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then press out excess water but don’t let it get too mushy. While the cucumber is sitting, in a bowl combine yogurt, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice if desired. After the cucumber is drained, add it and the dill to the yogurt and stir to combine. Cover and place in the fridge. The flavors become more pronounced after 2-3 hours, so it is best made ahead. The next day the garlic will be stronger. Serve on the side of burgers/ meatballs, on sandwiches, with roast chicken. Adapted from Andromache ❤

Kouklourakia

• 4 eggs separated
• ½ lb butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup whipping cream
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 3.5 tbsp vanilla
• 6 cups flour
• sesame seeds

Beat egg shites until stiff and set aside. Beat yolks until thick and lemon in color. Add softened butter and beat until creamy and looks white in color. Add powdered sugar, beat thoroughly. add vanilla. Add egg whites alternating with baking powder. Add flour in batches until dough is soft. Refrigerate overnight. Shape into twists and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 350 for 13-14 min. Can add orange zest or lemon zest if desired.

Blueberry Jam

• 18 cups blueberries (pick out stems, leaves)
• 2 boxes low sugar pectin
• 4 tbsp lemon juice (or lime juice)
• 2 cups sugar
• ½ tbsp butter

This recipe makes between 6-7 pints of jam.

Wash enough jars for the amount of jam being made. Boil jars in canning pot half full of water for a few minutes and set aside. Have enough lids and bands ready. Place the lids in very warm water (not boiling)– I just put them in a small pot on low heat. With canning tongs, remove the jars from the water and have a place ready for the filling step. A wide mouth funnel is very helpful to have.

Measure out the sugar and set aside. Mash the blueberries well, or pulse them in a food processor–18 cups fruit will make a bit more than 10 cups of mashed berries. Place the mashed berries in large soup pot. The volume will expand so be sure to use a large pot. Add the lemon juice and pectin and butter (helps to reduce the amount of foaming). Heat with stirring until mixture is clearly boiling. Add all the sugar at once and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Return the mixture to a good rolling boil and boil for 1 min with stirring. Be careful –it can splatter. Once the minute is up, remove the pot from the heat. With a ladle and widemouth funnel, fill the jars to about 1 cm from the top. Wipe the rims clean and place a lid on, and screw a band on, place the jar back in the water in the canning pot. Boil the batch of jars for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the boiling water and set somewhere to cool. As they cool you will hear the seal forming when the lid pops.

Fight over who gets to lick the pot and spoons clean!

this many berries, makes this much jam…..

Kourambiedes

• 4 sticks butter softened (kerrygold butter would be fantastic to use)
• 1+ cups coarsely chopped almonds (without skins–if they have skins, toss them in boiling water for a few minutes, drain, then skins will slide off)
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar (plus another cup or so for sprinkling on top at the end)
• ⅓ cup light brown sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• ½ cup cognac (I have substituted a mixture of amaretto and bourbon)
• 3+ cups flour
• 1 cup almond flour (can substitute regular flour)
• 1 ½ Tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Saute chopped almonds in about a tbsp butter until they start to brown a bit. Set aside. In mixer or with beaters, beat together butter, powdered sugar and brown sugar. Add egg yolks, cognac, and vanilla and beat again. It may be watery, don’t worry. Add almonds, flour(s) and baking powder in batches blending in well after each addition. Extra flour may be needed–the dough should hold together and will be a bit dry, it should hold a shape when rolled in the hand. Should be more firm than a chocolate chip cookie dough.

Shape the cookies (about a soupspoon of dough per cookie). Can place them close on a cookie sheet, they will only expand slightly. Traditionally a moon shape. Bake at 350 for around 17 min. Cookie should be slightly golden on the bottom.

Allow cookies to cool, then using a sifter, generously sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Vasilis says always sprinkle more. Store at room temp, They taste even better after a day or two!

Adapted from Andromahi ❤

Breakfast Casserole

• 1/2 loaf potato bread cubed (or bag of potato bread stuffing, or 1/2 loaf of challah)
• 1-1.5 lbs loose breakfast sausage (I like sagey flavor for this)
• 8-12 ounces grated cheese–cheddar, monterey jack, any combo
• 8 eggs
• ~2 cups milk
• ~2 tbsp maple syrup
• pepper
• (can add in hashbrowns, green or red peppers, whatever’s in the fridge)

Prepare the night before. Cook the sausage in a skillet. Spray 9×13 pyrex pan with cooking spray. Place bread in pan and drizzle with maple syrup. Put sausage on top of bread, then cheese on top of sausage. Beat the eggs well with a fork, add the milk and beat a bit more. Pour the egg over everything in the casserole. Grate black pepper on top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 deg. Bake 45 min or so, until top is golden.

adapted from soup kitchen recipe.

Phyllo with Yeast

This recipe makes a light phyllo and is a little less work. There are less layers, but they can be rolled out a little bigger than the pan so the layers can be folded (diplonei)

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• 4 cups of flour
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp yeast
• 2-2.5 cups water
• 2 sticks of melted butter (or 1 stick of butter and 1/2 c olive oil) for brushing layers

Put flour in bowl and make a dent in it.  Pour the olive oil and salt and yeast into the dent. Gradually add the  water stirring with a wooden spoon until all flour is gathered up and it holds together.  Then knead it on a floured surface until dough is smooth.  Sprinkle with flour if it sticks. Divide dough into 6 pieces and set aside.  Take one of the six pieces and cut it in half, knead each half into a soft and smooth ball.  Roll out each half into small circle about 4-5 inches in diameter.  Brush with butter/oil and sandwich the two halves together (butter/oil in the middle) and wrap in plastic wrap.  Repeat this with other 5 pieces.  Wrap each sandwiched layers in plastic wrap and allow to sit for 20 min or so before rolling open.

When rolling out, work on floured surface. Rotating and rolling evenly.  Stretch dough over rolling stick being careful to try not to tear.  (It will tear sometimes—keep going).  Use the biggest sandwiched layers for bottom layer…this is the biggest one.  Roll it out so that it will overlap the edges of the pan.  Brush generously with butter/oil.  Roll out the subsequent layers as large as possible and drape them accordian-wise over the previous layer and brush with butter/oil.  The folds make extra layers.  Three or four layers on the bottom, put in filling, and then three or two layers above the filling.  Brush the top layer w butter/oil and sprinkle with water before baking on lowest rack.

From Andromachi ❤

Brownies with Almond Flour (not too sweet and super chocolate flavor)

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• ½ + 1 Tbsp cup almond flour

Preheat oven to 350 deg and spray 8 or 9 inch square pan with cooking spray or butter it. In a saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together. When melted, remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla. You want the sugar to essentially dissolve–so the chocolate appears smooth–not gritty. Let the chocolate cool a few minutes and then thoroughly whisk in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the almond flour and blend until the batter is smooth.

Transfer the batter into the baking pan and bake at 350 deg for about 20 minutes until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean.

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

Fish with tomato, caper and raisins

6 white fish fillets (I have used flounder, cod, tilapia)

chopped tomatoes (three large, or canned, or frozen)

1 medium onion cut into strips

3 large cloves garlic

bay leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp oregano

olives if desired

1/4 cup raisins

2 tbsp capers

1 jalapeno chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

Heat olive oil in skillet over med high heat, add onions and stir for 1 min, add garlic and stir for 1 min. Add tomato and cook for 2 min. Add bay leaf, parsley, oregano and turn heat down to med. When sauce begins to thicken, add olives, capers, raisins and jalapeno. Simmer about 10 min until sauce is thickened.

Heat oven to 425 and spread 1/4 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 pyrex dish. Arrange fish fillets on top of sauce. Salt and pepper the fillets and then put the remaining sauce on top of the fish. Bake uncovered for about 18 min until fish is just cooked through.

this recipe is adapted from https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/red-snapper-veracruz-style I do not use olives, and substitute any white fish I have for the snapper. It is great with jasmine rice and salad and a crisp white wine.

Pretty-n-Pink Pomegranate, walnut, honey goat cheese spread

• 1 large log goat cheese (11 oz)
• Seeds from 1 large pomegranate
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp honey

Set aside half of the pomegranate seeds.  Put the other half  of the seeds in a sieve and press with the back of a spoon to gather the juice in a mixing bowl–throw the mash away.  Add the cheese to the juice and mix well until the consistency is a soft spread–if it is not soft and spreadable add a teaspoon or two of water. Mix in honey. Fold in walnuts. Gently fold in the set aside pomegranate seeds–gently–you do not want to smash them.  Serve with your favorite mild crackers.

Every time I make this I get pomegranate juice splattered everywhere!  I basically end up cleaning the kitchen afterwards!