My everyday bread, inspired from traditional Greek island recipes. See at the end my recent variation with heirloom Emmer (Farro, or Dicoccum Tricoccum) whole-wheat flour from Trinity Farm in Thessaly, Central Greece. You can keep the dough in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days, gradually taking out pieces to make laganes, stuffed breads, or lachmacun –topped with Spicy Ground Meat, etc.
Yields 2 medium loaves, or 2 flat laganes (more…)
I remember this peasant dish as skordomakarona (garlic macaroni) or makaronia bloom (flooded macaroni) because it was somewhat soupy. My mother made it occasionally for dinner –our secondary meal. For lunch she often made the more elaborate Greek makaronada: a platter of macaroni –usually overcooked– topped with rich, cinnamon-scented tomato sauce, sprinkled with copious amounts of grated kefalotyri cheese and then drizzled with sizzling sheep’s milk butter that partly melted the cheese, creating the desirable cords… My father loved this makaronada and usually ate more than he should, then blamed my mother for his stomach ache; she should have removed the platter from the table after serving, so he couldn’t have helped himself again and again, he shouted. I don’t think we witnessed this recurring argument for any other family dish, and I remembered it yesterday, as I kept adding to my plate more and more One-Pot-Pasta. (more…)
Adapted from Food 52.
I remembered my mother’s skordomakarona as I came across the very precise recipe for convenient One Pot pasta. (more…)
After reading the detailed recipe for the aromatic and complex fig jam we created three years ago, scroll down for a description of the plain, chunky new version Costas and I made last week.
I have found that soft, refrigerated figs that ceased to look attractive make a better jam. For that reason I feel that even the soft, dried California figs would work here instead of the fresh fruit, although I have not tried them yet…
MAKES ABOUT 4 QUARTS (8 one-pint jars)
3 1/2 pounds (1.750 lt.) figs, any kind, purple or green –preferably a mixture of soft and firm fruits
1 cup sweet red wine, preferably Mavrodaphne of Patras (see Note for substitutions) (more…)
My less sweet version of fig jam, made with a fair amount of lemons –my favorite fruit.
See also the more traditional Tipsy and Fragrant Fig Jam.
MAKES ABOUT 4 QUARTS (8 one-pint jars)
About 2 1/2 pounds (1.250 Lt.) figs (more…)
