Greek ideas

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On one hand it is so easy to send a person to Google something , on the other, when I/you/anybody comes and asks a question here, I bet they've been to Google already and have not found anything they like. Whatever the reason. I bet rickell is looking for something that has been tasted and is simple to make, for something we can walk her thru step by step insted of faceless recipe one finds in Google.

So, come on, people, help (is rickell a female or male? sory i haven't got a clue here) her/him. Oh yeah, i haven't got the clue about greek food either. :ermm:
 
CharlieD said:
On one hand it is so easy to send a person to Google something , on the other, when I/you/anybody comes and asks a question here, I bet they've been to Google already and have not found anything they like. Whatever the reason. I bet rickell is looking for something that has been tasted and is simple to make, for something we can walk her thru step by step insted of faceless recipe one finds in Google.

So, come on, people, help (is rickell a female or male? sory i haven't got a clue here) her/him. Oh yeah, i haven't got the clue about greek food either. :ermm:

It would be helpful to know what kinds of food he likes to eat. What if he doesn't even like lamb, and someone posts a recipe for lamb? I have no problem with helping anyone who has questions, but I'm not playing post tag just to find out any basics.
 
You've come to the right place for recipes and suggestions. I applaud people for wanting to try new dishes/cuisines. One of the dishes I like is spanokopita - a feta and spinach pie -- an easy dish to start with. PDS has some great lamb recipes. You can also do a search on this site and key in Greek.
 
HI!
Some of our favorites....


Greek Zucchini!!

Ingredients:
zucchini, sliced about ¼ inch thick
olive oil
green peppers
sliced black olives
onions
parsley, ground cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, dash sugar, garlic
canned tomatoes or tomato sauce

Directions:
Sauté onions, parsley, garlic in olive oil
add zucchini and green peppers,olives, and ground cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and sugar
stir for a few minutes and then add tomatoes or tomato sauce
cover and cook over low heat until soft.






Great Greek Meatballs!!

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger or ground lamb
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 parsely
1 small onion, greated or chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Directions:
mix all ingredients together

shape in to balls

roll in flour

fry in good olive oil!!

eat

enjoy

ask for more




Leek and rice

3-4 good sized leeks
1 cup rice
olive oil
1-2 cups water
1/2 tomato sauce
salt, pepper, paprika

Directions:
cut green part off of the leek.
slice the white part in half... wash well and then cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
Put olive oil in pan and saute leek for 5 to 10 minutes (should be nice and soft)
Add 1-2 cups water and cook for 5 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, rice, salt, pepper and paprika...
Bring to a boil, stir, cover and reduce heat. Continue cooking for 20 minutes or until liquid is gone.



Greek Beans and tomatoes


1 can green beans ( drained, I use home canned ones but you can use the store bought)
1 can tomatoes ( undrained, I use the home canned ones here too)
onions
garlic
olive oil
Salt, pepper, oregano and parsley

Sauté diced onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil until soft
add beans and tomatoes. Mix well. Add salt and pepper. Add spices either fresh or dried may be used.
Cook until liquid is almost gone.


Greek salad

Peel, seed and slice cucumbers
cut tomatoes into wedges, seed
dice onion
dice red pepper ( can use green but red is much better)
Mix all the veggies.
sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano
pour some white vinegar and olive oil over the top of the veggies
Mix well.

Feta and olives may be added or served on the side.




 
Don't forget that yummy baklava. :) AND greek gyros and Kapama, AND dolmathes, and Patatokeftedes and Zorbre Katasha, and soupa fasolia, yummmmmmmmmmm....now I am hungry. When you live close to Tarpon Springs, then you can eat LOTS of greek food. :)
 
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I cannot find my recipe off hand, but I love spanikipota. It's basically layers of phylo dough, feta cheese, spinach, onions and some seasonings. I googled it and found one on foodnetwork by Rachael Ray, but I'm sure there are many recipes out there for this. It's good served at room temperature.
 
Here's a couple recipes I have. The first recipe, the Boreks, basically is the same as Spanikopita. I have idea why it's called a Borek. I got that recipe out of my culinary textbook in college. I've made it once, and it's great.

Spinach Boreks
Yields: 50 pieces

2 # spinach
3 sticks butter, in all
4 oz onion, diced
1 oz scallions, diced
1 oz fresh dilled, chopped
1 # feta, crumbled
salt and pepper
25 sheets phyllo dough

Clean and blanch spinach. Drain, cool, and squeeze dry. Chop the spinach fine. Heat 1 stick of butter in a sauté pan. Sauté onion and scallions until soft. Remove from heat, adding in the spinach and cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Melt the remaining butter. Thaw phyllo if frozen. Cut phyllo in half lengthwise. Keep covered with a damp towel to keep from drying. One sheet at a time, brush phyllo with butter. Fold in half and brush with butter again. Place a small amount of spinach mixture at one end of phyllo. Fold up like a flag or paper football. Arrange on baking sheets with loose ends on bottom. Brush with butter. Bake @ 375°F until golden brown, about 20 - 25 minutes. Serve warm.

I got the Spanakopita recipe from somewhere else, and I can't remember where. It actually makes a small pie or tart. As much as I love Spanakopita, I'd rather have the big ones.

Remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where the two families got together for the first time? The one crazy aunt was talking about something weird, and had a spanakopita in her hand that was about 6" across. That's a good-sized one. The ones I made were only about an inch across, as are the frozen ones I get at work.

Spanakopitas
Greek Cheese and Spinach Pies
Serves: 4

2 T olive oil
6 green onions, chopped, optional
9 oz fresh young spinach, stemmed and rinsed
¼ c cooked rice, optional
¼ c chopped fresh dill, optional
¼ c chopped fresh parsley, optional
¼ c pine nuts, optional
2 T raisins, optional
2 oz feta cheese, drained and crumbled
1 - 2 t nutmeg
Pinch cayenne, optional
40 sheets phyllo (filo) dough
About 1 c + 2 T melted butter
Black pepper to taste

Heat the oil, then add the green onions, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the spinach, and cook, stirring, until wilted. Transfer to a bowl, and cool. When the spinach is cool, squeeze dry (this is best done in cheesecloth). Stir in the rice, herbs, pine nuts, raisins (if desired), and the feta. Add the nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.
Cut the phyllo into 40 6” square pieces. Cover the phyllo with a damp towel to keep the phyllo moist, as it will dry out and crack if left uncovered. Remove 8 slices, and, using a 4” cookie cutter, cut the slices into 4” rounds. Cover the phyllo rounds with the towel. Brush a 4” tart pan with removable bottom with butter. Place one of the phyllo rounds into the tart pan and brush with butter. Repeat this step five more times, for a total of six pieces of phyllo in the tart pan. Do not push the dough to fill in the ridges/riffles of the tart pan. Spoon ¼ of the filling into the shell and spread to smooth it. Top the tart with the remaining two sheets of phyllo, brushing each with butter. Fold excess phyllo over to seal the pie and brush with butter. Repeat this assembly process 3 more times to make 4 pies.
Bake on a cookie sheet at 350°F for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let stand for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm.
 
Good to have you with us rickell ... and don't mean to sound like I'm picking on you ... I am certainly NOT .. but .. here goes ...

I'm going to go with IronChef on this ... if you are looking for a recipe for something that you can't find when you Google ... then ask here and somebody will probably either have a recipe or will research it for you. Just asking for Greek recipes is a little broad of a question ... if you go to Google and just type in "Greek recipes" they suggest you narrow down the search a bit (same thing happens with other cuisines).

As for what is "simple" ... I have a great Moussaka recipe, it's not difficult, but it takes some time (about 2 hours) and requires several steps. Spanakopita and Baklava have significantly less steps and ingredients ... but unless you have worked with phyllo/filo dough before ... they can be far more complicated.

I've had Souvlaki that was nothing more than cubes of lamb, coated with olive oil and grilled over a charcoal grill, to being served with Tzaziki and other condiments in a pita bread like a gyro ... sometimes it was cubes of lamb and sometimes it as ground lamb. I've also seen Beef and Chicken Souvlaki - sometimes it was just a kebab with alternating meat and vegies on a stick ... brushed with olive oil and herbs/lemon juice.

CharlieD said:
On one hand it is so easy to send a person to Google something , on the other, when I/you/anybody comes and asks a question here, I bet they've been to Google already and have not found anything they like.

I'm going to have to start keeping statistics on this Charlie ... but, when someone in another Forum was looking for a Corn and Spinach Casserole recipe ... YOU posted a Google link to recipes :chef:
 
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Seems I Have Upset Some Folks

For Asking For Ideas, I Do Know How To Use Google,
Just Thought It Would Be Better To Ask People Who
Love To Cook And Try New Things.

For Those Who Have Asked I Am A Female, Not
Sure Why Anyone Would Think With A Name Like Rickell
I Would Be Male. Doesn't Everyone Know Who Raquel
Welch Is? My Name Is The Same
My Mom And Dad Just Spelled It Different.

Thank You For All Your Ideas I Will Be Trying Some Of
These This Weekend.
 
As has been explained 'Greek recipes' is a pretty wide brief.... a bit like saying 'American' recipes.... where to start?!

As for your name..... hmmmmm, I was pronouncing it (silently, of course, cos I am reading it, not saying it) as rickell to rhyme with tickle.... how would we possibly know that it is pronounced the same way as Raquel, when the spelling is so different?

Don't take offence at comments here, most people will certainly try to help if they can, and if they cant... they will normally direct to a site, such as google, that probably CAN help.
 
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Not to mention my all-time favorite - Spanokopita. Even tho we're Czech, my grandmother used to make a kick-*** Spanopita strudel. It was a given that she'd bring it for the Easter dinner appetizer.
 
Michael in FtW said:
Good to have you with us rickell ... and don't mean to sound like I'm picking on you ... I am certainly NOT .. but .. here goes ...

I'm going to have to start keeping statistics on this Charlie ... but, when someone in another Forum was looking for a Corn and Spinach Casserole recipe ... YOU posted a Google link to recipes :chef:

It has always been my understanding that it is appropriate to post a link to a recipe (even on another site) when assisting a member in finding a specific recipe.

Not to ruffle anyone's feathers... but I thought the goal here was to encourage people to visit this site & all it has to offer & stick around, exchange ideas, and make some friends along the way.

Sometimes the written word doesn't always convey what someone's true meaning/intentions are, so the response(s) may appear apathetic or cocky -- which I am sure no one intended. But, it did come off a bit that way. Just my opinion. :)

And, not to pick on YOU Michael, or any site helpers, but recipes have been removed and replaced with links...and some recipes remain - even though they are quoted from i.e. this is from Gourmet Magazine -- and those 'recipes' remain.

Thanks for all the recipes pds, I do appreciate your time and effort in sharing them with us.
 
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mudbug said:
Used to live near Tarpon Springs, Icy, and totally agree with you. I am especially partial to the bakeries in T.S.

I stay far away from TS when I am hungry. I have a tendency to get more than I should and then I feel miserable. :) Have you ever gone out on the party boats there Mudbug? I use to go out every weekend and always brought home nice fresh grouper. :) Now they have limits so isn't as easy and I also ended up with skin cancer so can't get in the sun. ...period. :(
 
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