Savoury Cheese Patties

Dough:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs
˝ teaspoon salt
˝ kg all purpose flour
˝ cup water

Filling:
˝ kg grated kefalotyri cheese *
4 eggs

Combine the ingredients for the dough and make a firm mixture. Cover and refrigerate for half an hour.

Whisk the eggs and mix in the cheese. Roll out the dough and cut circles the size of a saucer. Put in 1 - 2 teaspoons of filling on each circle. Fold in two to make a semi-circle and press down the edges so that they stick. This can be done with a fork’s prongs.

Fry the patties in very hot olive oil and serve sprinkled with grated cheese.

* Kefalotyri: A hard yellow cheese that is used either as table cheese or grated on various dishes.

Pancakes

1 cup water
˝ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup flour
˝ cup grape juice syrup or honey or sugar
Ground cinnamon
Chopped walnuts or sesame seeds

Mix water with salt, lemon juice and flour to achieve a thick batter. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Drop spoon-size amounts of the batter into the pan. Fry both sides and then place on kitchen roll in order to drain.

Transfer on a plate and pour grape juice syrup or honey diluted with 2 - 3 spoons of water over them. Sprinkle with walnuts or sesame seeds and cinnamon. They can even be sprinkled with sugar. You can also add ˝ cup of sour mizithra cheese or crumbled feta cheese to the flour mixture.

Small Pies with Greens

Dough:
1 cup water
˝ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
˝ kg flour

Filling:
1 kg greens (spinach, fennel, mint, parsley, leeks, spring onions)
˝ cup olive oil
Salt, pepper

Prepare the filling: Wash and finely chop the greens. Put olive oil in a pan, heat it and sauté the greens for 10 minutes, adding a little water if needed. Season with salt and pepper and leave in a colander to strain. (They may need quite a few hours; therefore you’d better prepare them the day before and keep refrigerated).

Prepare the dough: Use the above ingredients and knead until you obtain hard dough. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Roll out the dough to 2mm thickness, cut out circles the size of a small saucer and fill each one with a teaspoon of the filling. Fold each circle in two and press down the edges with the prongs of a fork. Fry in very hot olive oil.

Tomato Keftethes

3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1 grated medium onion
1 teaspoon salt
˝ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried rubbed oregano
1 tablespoon parsley or mint, finely chopped
1 cup self-rising flour
Olive oil for frying

In a large bowl, put onion, tomatoes, oregano, parsley or mint, salt and freshly group pepper. Add flour and knead until the ingredients are well combined and have the consistency of a thick batter.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and when it’s ready take tablespoons of the batter and drop carefully into the pan. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Dry on kitchen roll and serve immediately. One egg, 3 tablespoons cheese and one more tablespoon flour can be added to the batter, if desired.

Courgette Keftedes

1 kg courgettes
2 grated medium-sized onions
2 eggs
1 cup finely chopped parsley
˝ cup grated cheese
˝ cup ground toasted bread
Salt and pepper
Flour and olive oil, for frying

Wash courgettes, grate them and place into a colander with 1 tablespoon salt to drain completely. For better results, place grated courgettes in a piece of cloth and squeeze off all liquid.

In a large bowl, mix courgettes, parsley, onions, beaten eggs, cheese, pepper and toasted bread. Knead well until the mixture is as thick as a paste, adding more bread if needed. Heat olive oil in a frying pan until it almost smokes. Take heaping tablespoons of the mixture, shape into patties, dredge with flour and fry on both sides until golden brown. Dry on kitchen roll and serve.

Spinach Pancakes

1 kg spinach
2 medium dried onions or 5-6 spring onions
˝ cup finely chopped dill
˝ cup finely chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
1 cup self-raising flour
Olive oil for frying

Wash spinach and put it in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and chop it finely. In a large bowl, mix spinach, onions, dill, parsley, salt and pepper.

Make a thick batter with 1 cup flour and 1 cup water and add to the mixture. Combine well, adding a little more salt, if needed.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan almost to the point of smoking and put in tablespoons of the spinach mixture. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Dry on kitchen roll.

Scrambled Eggs

2 finely chopped green peppers
2 finely chopped onions
3 grated ripe tomatoes
5 eggs
˝ cup crumbled feta cheese or any other cheese
1 teaspoon dried rubbed oregano
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and soften onions and peppers. Add tomatoes and simmer until almost all liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.

Break the eggs and put into the skillet one at a time stirring with a wooden spoon until they are cooked and combined with the rest of the ingredients in the skillet. Add cheese, salt, pepper and oregano and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring often until liquid is cooked off. Serve warm.

Fried Fish with Vinegar (Savore)

1 kg medium-sized fish (red mullet, smelt, horse-mackerel etc) or large fish cut into thick slices
Salt, pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup flour
Olive oil for frying

For the sauce:
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons rosemary, either dried or fresh
1 tablespoon flour
2 - 3 cloves garlic (optional)

Clean, gut and wash fish, baste with lemon juice and salt and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Heat olive oil in a frying pan almost to the smoking point, dredge fish with flour and fry on both sides until golden brown and crispy. Place in a serving tray.

In another pan, heat 4 tablespoons olive oil and slightly brown garlic. Remove it and add one tablespoon flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it gains a little colour and then put in vinegar, water, rosemary, a little salt and pepper. Simmer for 2-3 minutes and pour over the fried fish. Turn the fish on the other side after a few hours.

The fishes that are used for this recipe have a thin skin and can be soaked in the vinegar. For this reason they can be kept in the fridge in the marinade for quite a few days. Tomato can be added to the above marinade, if desired.

Omelette with Boiled Potatoes

2 medium-sized potatoes
4 eggs
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons grated cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil

Boil the potatoes or cook under the grill. (You can use boiled or grilled potatoes that have been left over).

Peel them and mash slightly with a fork. Mix with beaten eggs, cheese, mint, salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan and pour the mixture into it. Cook for 5 - 6 minutes and carefully flip omelette to cook on the other side.

Fried Mussels

1 kg mussels
Olive oil, for frying

For the butter:
˝ cup flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
˝ teaspoon baking soda
1 beer or water

For the Yoghurt Dip:
300 grams strained yoghurt
3 mashed garlic cloves
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
˝ cup roughly ground walnuts

First prepare the yoghurt dip by combining yoghurt, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice and walnuts.Prepare the mussels: Wash and remove the hairy edges.

Boil them in a large pot with enough water for 5 minutes until the mussels have opened. Discard those that have not opened, as they are dead. Separate the mussels from their shells and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Make a thick batter with the beer or water, beaten egg, salt, baking soda and flour.

Dip mussels, one at a time, in the batter and fry in very hot olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Drain on kitchen roll. Place on a serving tray with yoghurt dip in the centre.

Fried Pumpkin

1 kg pumpkin in slices2cm thick
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
Olive oil, for frying
3 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar

Season pumpkin slices with salt and place into a colander to drain.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan almost to smoking point. Dredge pumpkin with flour and put into the hot oil. Fry over high heat on both sides until golden brown and crispy.

Serve immediately sprinkled with lemon juice. If you prefer vinegar then you have to proceed as follows: After frying the pumpkin, discard olive oil leaving 1/3 of it. Add carefully 3 tablespoons vinegar into the hot olive oil and pour this blend over the fried pumpkin.

Fried Vegetables with Yoghurt or Tomato Sauce

2 aubergines
4 courgettes
4 green peppers
Salt
olive oil for frying

For the batter:
1 cup beer
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt, pepper

For the yoghurt dip:
˝ kg strained yoghurt
2 mashed garlic cloves
˝ teaspoon salt

For the tomato sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion sliced into rings
˝ kg peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
2 tablespoons vinegar
Salt, pepper

Wash aubergines, remove stems and cut into 1 cm slices. Sprinkle with salt and put aside for half an hour. Do the same with courgettes, only cut them into thinner slices. Wash peppers, remove stems and seeds, cut into two and sprinkle with salt

Mix beer, olive oil, salt, pepper and flour and make a thick batter. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, dry aubergine and courgette slices, dip in the batter and deep fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on kitchen roll.

Deep fry peppers and put in a serving tray. Place the courgettes and aubergines on top of peppers.

Serve fried vegetables with yoghurt which has been combined with garlic and a little salt or with the tomato sauce which is made as follows: Sauté the onion in olive oil in a pan, add tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce thickens.

Eggs with Tomato Sauce

1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
Salt, pepper
2 tablespoons grated cheese (optional)
2 eggs

Fry onion and pepper in olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and when the sauce thickens, stir in cheese. Break the eggs in the sauce, sprinkle with a little salt and fry until the egg whites are cooked.