We love to eat this vegetarian, olive oil gratin all year round, especially these late fall days using locally grown, deliciously tender and flavorful broccoli, and the last long peppers we gather from the garden.
The tanginess of yogurt accentuated by the crumbled feta beautifully complement the sweetness of the broccoli and the peppers.
Serves 5-6: 12X9-inch (30X20cm) glass casserole (more…)
Bouyourdi hardly needs a recipe. One or two slices of good tomato, a lavish slice of Feta cheese and pieces of bell and hot pepper are doused with olive oil, generously sprinkled with oregano and grilled in a very hot oven. Bouyourdi is brought to the table directly in its baking dish, often individual clay pots, and enjoyed with plenty of fresh crusty bread to sop-up the scrumptious oil. Although served as a meze in Greece, it can also be a wonderful breakfast or brunch dish for the whole family …Read more.
This very simple, absolutely irresistible meze is a somewhat recent addition to the summer menu of Greek taverns. It probably has its roots in the fried or grilled peppers with batzos – a quite pungent, semi-hard cheese from Thessaly and Macedonia. The irresistible meze was probably first served in Thessaloniki taverns and the surrounding areas, and was eventually adopted by home and restaurant cooks all over Greece.
Serves 4
I first had this clever and simple version of feta package in Eumelia, the Organic Agrotourism Farm in southern Peloponnese. Marilena, the owner, cook, and instructor, served us a large, home-rolled phyllo and feta package, which, as she explained, she prepares in advance, freezes it, and then briefly fries in a hot oil skillet whenever she needs to present a quick snack or meze. Her twist on the common phyllo triangles served at most taverns, is that the thin slices of feta inside the frozen phyllo are adequately heated through as the package is briefly fried, becoming particularly delicious. The soft cheese does not disintegrate inside the crunchy phyllo, as in most versions of the appetizer.
Chef Uri Eshet at Kea Retreat serves the packages with sliced figs; you can pair them with other fresh, seasonal fruit and/or with fruit preserves. Drizzle with honey or any syrup, and sprinkled with sesame seeds or nigella, if you like.
I bet that this easy, convenient, and delicious morsel, whipped up with commercial phyllo, will become your next favorite appetizer. The pieces are quite filling, so one per person is enough.
To make 9 feta-phyllo packages (more…)
You never quite outgrow this Balkan comfort food. My late cousin Leonidas Harvalias, who lived on Kéa long before we decided to move here, got the original recipe from one of the first Albanian immigrants who worked on the island.
I have changed it very slightly, and it has become part of our family’s permanent repertoire, one of our favorite casseroles. The name briani or briami, probably comes from the Persian biryan, which is also the ancestor of the more well-known Indian biryani. In the traditional Greek briami there is no rice, just a medley of summer vegetables baked in the oven.
My late cousin Leonidas Harvalias, who lived on Kéa long before we decided to move here, got the recipe from one of the first Albanian immigrants who worked on the island. It has become part of our family’s permanent repertoire and is one of our favorite casseroles. The name briani or briami, probably comes from the Persian biryan. Maria Kaneva in her book The Melting Pot: Balkan Food and Cookery, describes a rice, potato and tomato briani, and writes that there are many versions, which can be traced to the Balkans in the Middle Ages.
Makes 6 servings (more…)
