one-pot dish

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes and Paspalas, the Kea ‘pork confit’

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The name of the dish, as well as the bits of pork that are simmered until tender and then fried in their fat are called ‘papspalas’ in the local dialect of the island.

READ more about it. 

 

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Because I make these scrumptious scrambled eggs mostly in the winter, I roast the pale, greenhouse tomatoes to give them more flavor. In the summer, diced fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes are perfect for this, as for any other dish. You just need to cook them a bit longer in olive oil until their juices become syrupy. See also Bonnie S. Benwick’s version at the Washington Post. 

 

Serves 2-3 as a main course, 5-6 as part of a meze spread

 

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Rice and Herb Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmades Nistisimi)

aglaia 1 Comment

Most Greek women use fresh or home frozen grape leaves and this makes all the difference. During our spring and early summer Keartisanal cooking classes we pick them from the garden. This is one of the very first dishes we cooked together with our guests when we started our programs on Kea and it is still one of our guests’ favorite; much like all over the Eastern Mediterranean, this is often prepared by a group of family and friends, as it is somewhat time consuming. 

The vine leaves toughen as the days get hotter, though, so later in the summer we use our home-frozen ones which work equally well. If you can get hold of even a few fresh grape leaves, use them as flavoring, placing them between the dolmades. Fresh leaves need to be blanched for about 3-5 minutes, while frozen tender leaves can be used directly after thawing, or need to be blanched just for a few seconds.

Make the dolmades one or two days in advance, let them cool in the pot, and then store in the fridge. They taste better the next day.

 

To serve 8-10 as an appetizer

 

 

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