Fava with Thyme, Shallot & Red Vinegar Dressing

I recently invested in George Columbaris' second cookbook, and it did a wonderful job of bringing me back to memories of the delicious food served up at Hellenic Republic in Brunswick. Much more approachable than his first book, this one really gets down to good, flavourful Greek cuisine without the 'fancy stuff'.

This recipe comes from the book, and is a moorsih dip that i served with heated flatbreads. The base of the dip is provided by the split peas and olive oil, with hints of garlic and a twang of thyme and red vinegar.

Do make sure you taste for seasoning and remember that you need a little bit more salt than you might think when something is not being served hot.

Zucchini & Haloumi Fritters

Last Sunday i met up with a friend for a quiet picnic at Fitzroy gardens. Amongst proscuitto wrapped asparagus, bruschetta, soggy cannoli and a bottle of red, sat these fritters. I'm thinking he must have liked these, because they were the only dish that was pretty much polished off.

The lemon and dill really pick up the flavors in these fritters and make the dish alot lighter and fresher than your standard zucchini fritter.

Ingredients:

• 300gm zucchini, seeds removed, and then grated
• 200gm haloumi cheese, grated, available at the supermarket near the feta. 
• 1 onion, grated
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 tbs fresh, chopped dill
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• Oil for frying

Method

Squeeze as much excess liquid from the zucchini as possible.

Place in a large bowl with the onion,lemon zest, haloumi, dill and eggs.

Mix through, and then add the flour and stir until well combined.

Add a bit more flour if needed though the mix should be kind of goopy.

spoon the mixture onto a floured baking tray in heaped tablespoon sized balls. 

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to help firm.

Heat enough oil in a frying pan on medium heat to come about 2cm up the sides.

Add the fritters, a few at a time, and cook about 2 minutes on each side until golden.

Transfer to a plate covered with paper towel to drain.

Serve warm, with sea salt and aioli.

'Traditional' Tzatziki.... sorry George!

I've poached another recipe from George Calombaris, however i've changed it up a bit to suit my tastes! Tzatziki is equally my favorite dip, along with French Onion, and 'New Zealand Dip' which my friend Darryl introduced me to (ill see if i can nick the recipe sometime). 

George called this 'Traditional Tzatziki' and it certainly tastes markedly different from the stuff that i am used to. I actually prefer regular tzatziki, however this one is worth a try for something different. I was hoping that this would be the rich, creamy tzatziki that is served at Hellenic Republic. But i'm still on the hunt.

Ingredients

500gm greek natural yoghurt

1 cucumber

1/3 cup olive oil

1tbs white vinegar (though i prefer the zing of lemon)

1tbs maluka honey (George says double the amount, but it was too sweet for me)

1tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Method (kinda basic!)

Split the cucumber in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then dice into 1/2cm cubes. 

Add all other ingredients and mix

Refridgerate until very cold. 

The dip will improve overnight.

Serve with bread, crackers, or sticks of carrot and celery!

Raspberry Truffles cure what ails ya

Raspberry Truffles! My second favorite truffle from Koko Black (first is the caramelized coconut and white chocolate... that will come soon!)

I was prowling through cooking websites today looking for something to satisfy my sweet tooth, the hungry hoardes at work, and as medicine for some niggling emotional hangups i've been having lately. With a broken cake pan, a broken food processor, and a broken whisk, my options were limited. Slice? Meh. Cookies? Bleh. Truffles? Oh yes indeed.

This is my first foray into the realm of chocolateering, and horror stories abound of the agony of tempering chocolate, having it curdle, having it grainy, having it burn. In the end, i didn't see what the big deal was. If you can make ganache... hell if you can boil and egg, you can make truffles.

Ingredients

• 600gm semi sweet chocolate (use a chocolate you would happily eat plain)
• 300gm frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup double cream
• Cocoa and icing sugar, to coat

Method

Chuck the raspberries in a blender and blend into a fine puree.

Pass this through a sieve into a saucepan and simmer with the caster sugar, stirring regularly, until the mixture is beginning to turn from syrup into a thicker goop.

Set aside.

In a double boiler (bowl over a pot of simmering water as per photo; do not let the water touch the bowl base), add the cream and chopped up chocolate.

Stir constantly until the chocolate is completely melted and mixed with the cream.

Add the raspberry mixture and stir well.

Refridgerate for 3 hours.

Lay out candy pans on a baking tray.

Set up cocoa and icing sugar (sifted) into two separate bowls.

Coat hands in either cocoa or icing sugar.

Scoop out a heaped teaspoon of the cold truffle mixture.

Roll into a rough ball (the longer you roll, the warmer the mixture will get, and therefore the stickier)

Drop into the coating mixture and roll around until well covered.

Place truffle into candy pan.

Repeat with half of the mixture for the cocoa and half of the mixture for the icing sugar.

Note: It's better to do all the cocoa at once, and then all the icing sugar, or vice versa. Do not alternative as the cocoa on your hands will mess up the finish on the icing sugar truffles.

Refridgerate until ready to devour!

Melitzanosalata with Balsamic Onions

Okay so i kind of stole this recipe for greek eggplant dip from George Columbaris. Anyone who has been to Hellenic Republic knows this man knows his Greek food. I highly recommend you go there sometime in summer, i was incredibly impressed by the great unpretentious Greek food there, and piles of it there is too.

Anyway i made a slight change in substituting balsamic vinegar for the red wine he uses in his recipe. I feel that the end result will be pretty similar though.

Tahini is a sesame seed paste, available at most supermarkets. At times it is in the health food aisle. Like sesame oil, it's potent stuff, so don't go adding tonnes extra because you think you like sesame seeds. If you need to be convinced, try a teaspoon of the stuff. I did. 

Ingredients:

• 3 medium eggplants
• 2 teaspoons tahini
• 2 roasted garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 150ml extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
  
• 1 red onion
• 50ml balsamic vinegar
  

Method:

Melitzanosalata

Pierce the eggplants several times with a fork and bake in an oven at 180 degrees until soft and squishy.

Remove and set aside until cool enough to handle.

split the eggplants in the middle and scoop out the goopy innards into a bowl.

Process the eggplants in the food processor or blender until a fine paste is formed.

Add the tahini, garlic cloves and vinegar and season with salt. Blend until smooth.

Gradually pour in the oil whilst blending to create an emulsification. It should take about 3 minutes to add all the oil.

Place the melitzanosalata in the fridge until cold.

Balsamic Onions

Thinly slice the onions into rings

Place in a saucepan over medium heat with a 2 teaspoons of olive oil and saute until soft.

Add the balsamic vinegar and season with salt

Simmer with the lid on for approximately 5 minutes

Remove the lid and continue to simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Transfer onions to a bowl and let cool.

Serve the melitzanosalata with a good bread (i used panna toscano) and garnish with the balsamic onions.

Spanakopita

You can probably pick which recipes i'm making for my weekly lunches! Spanakopita is a Greek dish of a yummy mixture of spinach and feta rolled up in flaky filo pastry.

Ingredients:

• 250gm spinach
• 150gm good quality feta, crumbled
• 75gm parmesan finely grated
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, roasted
• 10 sheets filo pastry
• 100gm butter, melted
  
• Pepper
• 2 eggs, lighted beaten
• 5 spring onions, chopped coarsely

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsiuis.
Saute the spinach until soft and mushy and transfer to a sieve. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the spinach to remove as much water as possible.
Mix the spinach, feta, parmesan, eggs, pine nuts, onions and eggs together in a large bowl. Season with pepper. 

On a clean surface lay out the first piece of filo.
Brush entire sheet with melted butter.

Lay a second sheet of filo over the first, and also brush this with butter.
Fold the filo in half lengthways.
Place 2 tablespoons of the filling onto across the left of the pastry leaving about 5cm at each end, as per the below picture. 

Roll the filo into a log.
Curl the filo into a rough spiral, tucking the  ends of the filo underneath so that the shape stays put.
Place onto a baking tray and brush again with butter.
Repeat for the remaining 5 spanakopita. 

Bake in the oven for approximately 20minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve warm, i think it pairs well with a light caprese salad.