3/4 of staled bread
100gr do tarama to do that we could find in the oriental or Yugoslav groceries. It is cod eggs
1 glass of olive oil
2 to 3 lemons.

Put the bread in a jar with water, let it being wet for 30mn. Wring the bread out of the water (to do it correctly, put your wet bread into a towel and turn and press it, the water will goes away, put your towel into water after use, if the bread dries it will be hard to remove !!
In a mixer, put the tarama, bread, lemon juice, taste it, if you find it dull, add some more lemon juice, if you find it too strong add some olive oil.
I prefer with a lot of lemon, it has to be pink but not flashy as you can find in supermarkets !

4 cups pressed yogurt
1/2 glass of olive oil
1/2 cucumber
4 cloves garlic (grated)
salt, pepper
parsley

Put in a jar the grated cucumber + the yogurt + the grated garlic, 1/2 glass of olive oil, salt, pepper and et parsley. Mix it and taste it, if you find it dull, add some more grated garlic, if you find it too strong add some olive oil and some yogurt. Put the jar into the fridge. Eat it with bread at the mézés. (starters)

Keuftés (meat balls)

3/4 of staled bread
300 gr of ground beef
1 egg
1 onion and 2
4 cloves garlic (grated)
salt, pepper, Provencal herbs
parsley

Put in a jar the bread with water, wring it correctly out of water (same way than for the tarama, see above the advises)
In another jar : put and mix the bread, the meat, herbs, parsley, salt, pepper, onion, garlic well grated, the egg (not cooked).
Take 2 plates : 1 to put the flour, the other to do some ball with the flour. Do some balls with the meat, roll them  inside your palm and put them into the flour, then put them in the 2nd plate. When your balls are finished, take a saucepan, put a lot of sunflower oil, and start to cook them, get them fried for 8 minutes about, turn them, cook the other side. When they are cook put them in a plate with some paper towel to absorb the surplus of oil. Eat them hot with a salad ! it is delicious !

1 glass of olive oil
1 onion
4 cloves garlic (grated)
salt, pepper, Provencal herbs
green pepper
4 eggplants
1 tomato

Wash the eggplant and stick into the eggplants with a fork, and put them in the oven for 1 hour to they are soft. Let the peelings become black. Peel the eggplants, cut them in little pieces, add the tomato, oil, green pepper, herbs, salt and peppers, and cut and mix everything together.
Put the "cream" in a plate in a fridge. Eat it with bread at the mézés.

 

You can eat your keuftés with a tomato sauce. Put in a saucepan olive oil, garlic, onion, tomatoes + water, herbs, salt, pepper), cook it for 30 minutes. Take a dish, put your keuftés on and cover them with the tomato sauce, add some cheese, and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.

HORIATIKI Greek salad

200g of Feta (cheese from goat)
2 tomatoes
1/2  green salad
1/2 cucumber
1 onion, 1 garlic
Oregano
Greek Olive (Kalamata) or others !

Very easy to realize, in a big jar, put all of the ingredients in slice. Put some dressing with olive oil and vinegar or lemon.

Moussaka

We were very surprise to see their moussaka !ours, the one that my family transmitted me, and the one that I found in every books, has nothing to see with it. They put some potatoes and a lot of béchamel !? it was not good at all ! let me give you mine, which is delicious !!

1/2 kilo ground beef
1kg eggplant
1 onion
2 garlics
1 carrot
5 tomatoes + concentrated
1 cup of olive oil
parsley
Salt, pepper

For the topping:
2 glass of milk
1 cup flour
1/2 cup of butter
Grated cheese (Emmenthal OK)
 

The evening before , wash, and cut the eggplants in slices. Put the in a draining rack, salt every slice. All the night long the water will goes away from the eggplants. The following day, take a saucepan, put some olive oil and fried your slices. When it is done, put the fried slices in a plate with some paper towel. Take a second saucepan, Fry the onion + garlic in the oil , add the ground beef, wait 10 minutes , add the tomatoes, carrot, parsley, salt, pepper , oregano,  and then add 1/2 cup of water. When the water is absorbed, remove from heat.
In a big pan, put the fried slices of eggplants (do as if you were preparing some lasagne), the meat, cover again with the eggplants.
When every ingredients is in the pan, do the topping.
Do a béchamel
1- Put your milk in a saucepan and add the flour, mix it.
2- put the butter
3- when its become thick, remove from heat, put salt and pepper
Cover the pan with the béchamel, add the Grated cheese (Emmenthal is OK)
Put in the oven 45mn
 

Baklava

1 kilo phyllo pastry (approx. 40 sheets)
500g finely chopped walnuts
500g finely chopped almonds
400g butter
cinnamon

For the syrup
2 Kilo sugar
6 glass of water
2 cup of honey
1 lemon

Put in a saucepan the butter, melt it slowly, mix the almonds and nuts with the cinnamon
Take a pan, put some butter at the bottom, put 5 phyllo sheets inside. put some melted butter on every sheet with a brush it. Then add the mixed nuts on it, cover it with the melted butter between each sheet. Finish to cover it with the rest of the phyllo
Bake at 400° until brown and crisp, about 30 to 35 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sugar, honey, water, and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Boil baklava syrup for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, pour over baklava. Cut the Baklava with a big knife inside the pan.
 

Christmas Pastries: Melomakarona

500 ml olive oil
175 gr sugar
185 ml orange juice
2 teaspoon of cognac /brandy
800g flour


For the syrup
500 ml honey
400 g de sugar
500 ml water

Ina mixer, put the oil, sugar, orange juice, cognac or brandy, add the flour slowly.
When you have a dough, do some pieces about the size of an egg with your hands, place on an ungreased baking sheet.
bake in a preheated 180° C (350° F) oven for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, boil together the honey, sugar and water in a small saucepan for 5 minutes
once the pastries come out of the oven, immerse the pastries into the boiling syrup for less then a minute. When it is finish, pour the rest of the syrup over them

GALAKTOBOUREKO

 
500 grams (1 lb) semolina (a type of yellow flour)
1 litre / 1 quart milk
1 kilo phyllo pastry (approx. 40 sheets)
250 grams melted butter
7 eggs
1 cup Sugar

For the syrup
2 packages of vanilla essence
500 grams  of sugar
Peel of one orange, grated
1 litre / 1 quart of water

Same as Baklava, byt replace the mixture of walnuts, honey and cinnamon with milk-semolina.
Bring the milk with the vanilla to the boil gently, and gradually add the semolina to the milk while stirring continuously with a wooden spatula. Return to a gentle heat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously, until the mixture has thickened. Take off the heat, mix in the butter and let it cool for 10 minutes. Beat the eggs with the sugar untit they get pale and fluffy and gradually add to the cooled mixture while stirring. Return to a gentle heat for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously, then withdraw from the heat. While working with the pastry, stir the mixture occasionally to prevent a crust forming on top. Butter a roasting dish . Prepare the fyllo pastry and fill in exactly the same way as described in the baklava,  with the melted butter between each sheet. Add each one of the phyllo pastry sheets. Put the mixture add the remaining of the pastry sheets, buttering each one of them until you have added them all. Put in the oven and cook until brown. Remove and let cool. In the meantime, prepare the syrup : sugar + water, the vanilla essence and the grated orange peel. Bring to boil and let cool. Pour the surup over the GALAKTOBOUREKO and place in fridge. This is a delicious desert and well worth the effort. Must be kept in the fridge as it contains milk.