Recipes

Kleftiko is a tender and hearty lamb dish that is a standard part of traditional Greek cuisine. Flavor is infused through a long and slow marinade that usually includes garlic, cinnamon, and lemons.

While the most traditional Kleftiko is prepared using a bone-in leg of lamb, there are many different styles of preparing the meat that have long and gentle cooking in common.

Legend has it that lamb Kleftiko, meaning stolen lamb or lamb in the style of the klephts, originated in the thievery of bandits known as the klephts.

Since the klephts were wanderers and did not own flocks of their own, they would steal sheep and cook them in a sealed pit to trap smoke and to keep their meal hidden.

Today, kleftiko is a dish enjoyed across Greece and Cyprus. One of the more popular variations is to wrap the lamb and marinade in a parchment packet to seal in flavor during the roast.

The method below uses the convenience of a slow cooker to capture the traditional kleftiko tenderness and flavor.

Its short hands-on preparation time makes it ideal for a hot meal for a family to enjoy together at the end of a busy day.

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Ingredients

• 1 leg of lamb
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 3-4 large potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 3 bay leaves
• 500mL lamb or vegetable stock (16 oz)
• Feta or plain yogurt for serving

Directions

1. Create a mixture using the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, oregano, rosemary, cinnamon, garlic, salt, and black pepper.
    
2. Rub the mixture into the leg of lamb and allow to rest covered in the refrigerator overnight.
    
3. Dice the potatoes and onion and place along with the lamb and the marinade into a large slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and the stock.
    
4. Cook on low-medium heat for at least 8 hours.
    
5. Remove bay leaves. Serve with feta or plain yogurt.

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Arguably, the best known Greek dish, moussaka is a vegetable (traditionally eggplant) casserole covered and held together by a bechamel sauce. Other vegetables that can be used include potatoes and zucchini.

The vegetables may be used instead of or alongside the eggplant. There are versions of moussaka in Turkey and the Balkans, those versions include ground beef while the Cypriot versions can be made with lamb or beef.

Moussaka is thought to have originated with the Arabs and reached Greece and Cyprus via Turkey. The evidence of its Arabic origins comes from a Medieval cookbook called The Baghdad Cookery Book that includes a recipe that is strikingly similar.

The Greek name for the dish comes from the Arabic musaqqa’ah. The word translated from the Arabic means chilled.

In the early 20th century, the attempt was made to make the dish more European with the addition of bechamel sauce. Thus, the version in use today is the modernized version, not the traditional version from the Levant.

Ingredients

Preparation:

Trim the ends off the aubergines and cut into quarter inch (5mm) slices then lightly sprinkle with salt, and leave to stand in a colander for 60 min.

Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a saucepan, heat, then add onions, cook over low heat for 5 min, until golden. Increase the heat, add meat and cook over moderate heat until brown.

Add the wine, bring to the boil, whilst stirring.

Add tomatoes, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon of parsley, stock, cinnamon, allspice, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

Simmer for 30 minutes until liquid has evaporated, then cover and set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, add a layer of aubergines to the pan, fry until golden on both sides.

Remove and drain on paper towel.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and fry another layer and repeat, set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and stir until smooth.

Heat over a moderate heat for 2 minutes.

Gradually add the milk, and stir, bring to the boil, remove.

Add the cheeses and nutmeg and stir into a sauce. Stir in well-beaten eggs, a little at a time, mix well. Season to taste and set aside.

Preheat oven to (180°C), (350°F),(Gas Mark 4).

Layer a 4 inch (10cm) baking dish with aubergines. Cover with a third of the meat, cover the meat with 4 tablespoons of sauce. Repeat this twice.

Top with aubergines and cover with remaining sauce, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered for 60 minutes.

Garnish with parsley and serve hot.

Serves:8

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Flaounes are sweet pastries (sometimes referred to by foreigners as pies) filled with cheese. The word flaounes comes from a Greek word for sorrow. They are prepared both by members of the Greek Orthodox Church and by Turkish Muslim Cypriots. For Orthodox Greeks, they are served to break Lent on Easter Sunday; for Muslim Cypriots, they are eaten at Ramadan.

Preparation of flaounes is traditionally an activity for the whole family. Families often make large quantities of this pastry, with the grown-ups handling the measuring and mixing and the kids taking care of the assembly.

The Orthodox Greeks often eat flaounes in place of bread after church service on Easter Sunday. Easter marks the most important celebration of the Greek Orthodox religion. Flaounes are also typically eaten over the two or three weeks following Easter Sunday.

It is common for them to be frozen so that they can be eaten at different times of the year. Some people simply make them all year round.

Ingredients:

Yeast dough

• 1 ½ lbs (750gr) strong plain flour
• 1 sachet easy bake yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• water to mix

Cheese filling

• 12oz flaouna cheese or 8oz (250gr) cheddar cheese
• 4oz (100gr) halloumi
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon crushed dried Mint
• 4 eggs lightly beaten

To finish

• 1 egg beaten
• sesame seeds

Preparation:

For the dough, sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the oil and enough water to make it firm. Knead for at least 5 minutes until it has a smooth and elastic feel. Put the dough into a plastic bag and leave in a warm place for an hour to rise.

For the filling, coarsely grate the cheeses, add the flour and baking powder then gradually stir in the beaten egg and seasonings until you have a stiffish paste (if the mixture becomes runny don’t use all the beaten egg).

Divide the dough into egg sized pieces and roll these into 4” (10cm) discs.

Place a generous tablespoon of filling into the center of each pastry disc, spreading it slightly. Pull dough up at 3 points to make a triangle, or 4 points to make a square. You should still be able to see the filling in the middle.

Press corners together to seal and leave to rise. Just before baking, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle some sesame seeds over them.

Bake at 450°F / 230°C for 12-15 minutes until cheese filling is puffed and flaounes are golden.

Serve hot or cold.

Makes about 12.

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The ultra-simple combination of yogurt that has been sweetened with honey (called giaourti me meli) is beloved all over Greece, but Cypriots are particularly fond of it.

If you have ever visited Cyprus, you have probably had this dessert. Yogurt with honey is likely to be one of the things that visitors are served at a meze feast.

You will be able to find it in almost every Cypriot tavern and restaurant. Yogurt is one of the cornerstones of Cypriot cuisine and shows up in many dishes. It may be topped with almonds, walnuts or pistachios. The nut topping adds further complexity to the dish.

Traditional yogurt from Cyprus is made with the milk of goats or sheep, though commercial producers may use cow’s milk or a combination of cow’s milk with milk from goats or sheep. Because of how simple this dish is, it is essential that the ingredients used are of the highest quality.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 – 3/4 cup of strained Greek yogurt per serving
• 1-2 teaspoons of Greek thyme honey per serving
• Crushed walnuts and/or almonds (optional)

Preparation:

In individual serving bowls, drizzle honey over the yogurt and sprinkle with walnuts and/or almonds if desired.

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Baklava is found throughout the Mediterranean region. Like every country that makes baklava, Cypriot bakers claim that it originated with them. There is not a lot of documentation on the history of baklava, but historians believe that it probably originated in Assyria.

Baklava is associated mainly with Greek and Turkish cuisine; as Cypriot cuisine is heavily influenced by those two food cultures, it is reasonable that baklava is a staple in Cyprus as well.

The Greeks refined the Assyrian recipe by rolling the dough as thin as a leaf. In fact, the phyllo in phyllo dough actually means leaf. The baklava made in Cyprus is essentially the same as Greek baklava.

For a long time, baklava was considered the food of the rich, mainly because of the amount of labor required to make it. Even for the rich, it was made only on special occasions. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that it became available to everyone.

Baklava consists of layered sheets of filo dough and chopped nuts; the assembled pastry is drenched with syrup or honey.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (4 cups) blanched almonds or walnuts or a combination of both, finely chopped
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pound filo pastry
• 3 sticks (3/4 pound) unsalted butter, melted, for brushing filo

Syrup

• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• A 2-inch strip of lemon rind
• 3/4 cup honey

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine nuts, sugar, and cinnamon.

Keeping unused sheets covered with plastic wrap, place 8 sheets of filo pastry, one at a time, in the bottom of an 8 x 14 x 2-inch non-stick pan, brushing each sheet with melted butter.

Sprinkle top sheet generously with 1/4 cup nut mixture and cover with 2 buttered filo sheets. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup nut mixture.

Continue adding buttered filo sheets, sprinkling every second sheet with nut mixture, until all nut mixture is used. Place remaining filo sheets on top, buttering each sheet.

Cut Baklava into small diamond-shaped pieces with a sharp knife. Place a pan of water on the lowest shelf in oven. Place Baklava on the middle shelf above the water and bake for 2 to 2 and half hours, or until golden, making sure that the water pan is always full.

While Baklava is in the oven, prepare the syrup:

Combine in a saucepan water with all ingredients except the honey. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add honey, and simmer 5 minutes more. Remove lemon peel and cool.

Remove Baklava from oven and pour cool syrup over the hot pastry.

Makes 30 to 36 pieces.

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Stifado is a traditional Greek and Cypriot stew that is usually made with beef or rabbit but can be made with octopus, tripe or even chestnuts.

The name stifado is thought to have originated from the Italian word stufa, which translates to the word oven. Historians believe the dish to have been brought to Greece by Venetians. The Venetians arrived after Constantinople’s fall and before the Ottoman invasion.

The name most likely has to do with the fact that prior to modern appliances like slow-cookers arriving in Greece, slow-cooked dishes were taken to the local bakery to be cooked in the oven.

Stifado is not strictly a Cypriot dish; it can be found all throughout Greece, with different regions having their own distinctive versions.

One of the most unusual characteristics of this slow-cooked dish is the fact that it uses whole onions. Usually, the onions are pearl onions but it is possible to make stifado with larger onions.

While some versions may include tomatoes, the oldest ones do not. This is because tomatoes were not brought to Greece until after the Americas were discovered.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small sprig of rosemary
• 1 kg tender beef, cut into large cubes
• 900 ml water
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• salt and black pepper
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 4-6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 700 gr. small onions (the pickling size), peeled and left whole
• 1 small glass red wine
• 5 cm cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon demerara sugar
• 5 grains allspice

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 160C. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and brown the meat in it. It will produce a lot of moisture but persevere until it has all evaporated and the meat starts to turn golden.

Slowly pour the vinegar over it, and when the steam subsides, add the wine.

Then add all the remaining ingredients except the vegetable oil, onions, and sugar, cover and cook slowly for 1 hour or until the meat is almost tender.

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and add as many onions in one layer as it will take. Sautee them gently for about 15 minutes, shaking and turning them over until they brown lightly. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and spread them over the meat, distributing them evenly.

Repeat until all the onions are done.

Sprinkle the sugar over the onions, cover and cook very gently for 30 minutes, until the onions are soft but not disintegrating. Do not stir once the onions have been added, but rotate the saucepan occasionally to coat them in the sauce.

The recipe serves 4.

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