Greek Easter Cookies

Easter Cookies - and not only Easter - with a different approach but with all the aromas of Greek Easter, such as Chios Mastic, Mahlepi, Kakoule (Cardamom) and the aroma of orange.
Light, tasty, soft, digestible and special. They are made very easily with their wonderfully velvety dough, which is given by the addition of pure yogurt and the light corn oil. They are relatively sweet with a little sugar added because our opinion is that this is how a cookie should be in order for a savory platter of cheeses and cold cuts to accompany our drink.

Happy Easter!

work: 1h:20′

time: 2h:30′

easy:

Pasta Soufflé

A timeless souffle with basic pasta the striped penne (penne rigate) to wrap beautifully around the ingredients and their taste. This soufflé has a very "sinful" content, so sinful that we make it, eat it and do not approach the scales again for a couple of weeks… However I give the ingredients and their proportions and if you are "brave" you make it and enjoy it.
It remains a very tasty pasta dish that few will resist trying. Ideally eaten hot, like all soufflés. We have said that Souffle is not waiting, we are sitting at the table and we are waiting for it.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

easy:

Yogurt Hazelnut Cake

Velvety and fragrant this cake, with traditional yogurt and hazelnut flour, is a thin, without much sugar but very soft dessert, ideal for breakfast and snacks. It has a beautiful dark color from the hazelnuts and the intensity of their taste. Greek traditional yogurt makes it particularly fresh and tastes good. If you then sprinkle it with icing sugar, it will also be perfect at the end of a meal combined with a wonderful aromatic coffee. Children will love it and it is ideal to consume dairy products without even realizing it.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

easy:

Classic Spaghetti Carbonara

Never has a dish given us so much flavor with just a handful of ingredients as this one! Italian Carbonara, if done properly, becomes a fantastic dish full of flavor and it’s a thing of beauty.
Of course the Italian Carbonari (Furnace Charcoals and Miners) who were the original inspirers of this dish but also all their descendants, did not use sour cream to make the pasta of this most famous pasta dish, juicy and creamy.
There is a hypothesis on the origin of the name, which connects the existence of black grated pepper on the pasta, so that it "blackens" their surface as if it were coal dust, a fact that can reasonably be considered to have happened to the miners who used to this dish, due to the easy finding of its ingredients for that time. A dish that we know historically was very popular in the popular neighborhoods of the time.
Yours!

work: 10′

time: 15′

very easy:

Ham Cheese Pie with Cream

Everyone likes this pie, I always make it with a puff pastry sheet to keep all the delicious, soft and fluffy filling inside. A sheet at the bottom, a sheet at the top and in between a filling based on a light béchamel cream, made with corn flour and which makes it look like a millefeuille.
We choose plenty of favorite cheeses & hams. I chose to put smoked turkey fillet but also any other ham, that you like, does to make it delicious. Make holes in the puff pastry to remove the moisture inside the pie and not to wipe the sheet, so that it becomes crispy.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

easy:

Greek Style Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Back to basics: Greek Style Spaghetti with Meat Sauce!
In our Kitchens it was for years the dominant and almost the only dish of pasta with minced, made in another era by the grandmothers and mothers cooks of the house on demand young children & adults alike. It has nothing to do with the well-known sauce bolognese , with its many ingredients and long preparation, which arrived much later in our Kitchen along with some other famous Italian spaghetti or pasta. Another peculiarity of Greek Spaghetti is that it is served with pasta well cooked in contrast to al-dente but also with its few ingredients, which were in our poor homes.
The Spaghetti with Minced Meat of mom, with minimal ingredients and the incomparable taste! Minced meat seasoned with cinnamon & simmer for a while to soften and mash nicely to include the spaghetti and flavor them. The grated mizithra or kefalotyri or grated parmesan, which will be added on top, will take off its taste! This Greek dish has become a staple and a favorite in our home.
Yours!

work: 15′

time: 1h:30′

easy:

Brioche Burger Buns

Brioche dough tends to be heavy, as it is an enriched dough. This means that, in addition to the usual suspects to make bread, such as flour, water, salt and yeast, brioche dough includes egg, butter & full-fat milk. These buns, however, are light, airy, soft. So we have an enriched dough with a great taste, and not a heavy dough, with which brioche is usually made.
Making these homemade buns, with a neutral taste, so that they can be made sweet or savory choices and to enjoy them in many different ways:
☛ Plain to accompany a meal or make sandwiches & hamburger. Since they are not sweet at all by choice.
☛ Plain to accompany a meal or make sandwiches & hamburger. Since Cut in half and spread with butter and jam for a pleasant, hearty breakfast, they are not sweet at all by choice.
☛ Filled with chocolate, praline, jam of our choice or chestnut cream spread, like the ones here, to make them more festive… and which are our preference for Christmas Day.
You decide, choose and make the most delicious fluffy brioche buns for incredible combinations.

Yours!

Merry Christmas!

work: 1h:00′

time: 4h:00′

medium:

Almond Pie-Birthday Cake

Cake with Almonds, syrupy and flavored with liqueur. Whitened & grated almonds make this almond pie very tasty. The syrup at the end (and in the right amount) flavors it wonderfully and makes it tender, soft and delicious.

We made it a Cake / Birthday Cake because… because we like it that way… and to simplify the procedures we sprinkled it with a little icing sugar. Alternatively we can put almond slivers on top or just grated almonds.

Yours!

work: 20′

time: 1h:00′

easy:

Parmesan Cookies

Savory miniature cookies with lacy edges and unique taste. The savory Parmesan cookies, a small "luxury" of taste, are perfect as an appetizer or a wonderful snack / accompaniment for our favorite drink, whatever it is. They are small, they are addictive, they are a bite, they are made quickly and easily, with minimal ingredients and within 20 minutes we enjoy them. Of the few recipes, that something is so rich in taste and with so few ingredients.
I promise you, once you make them once you will want to repeat them soon…
Yours!

work: 10′

time: 20′

very easy:

Hazelnut Cookies

We make beautiful hazelnuts, buttery biscuits and enjoy them with coffee and a book. They are consumed in moderation because they become really addictive, we can comfortably eat a lot of them, a lot! They contain a little sugar but they are still made with plenty of butter. They are made mainly from hazelnut flour for all lovers of this delicious nut.
We spend some quality time with our children, making these wonderful cookies together.
Yours!

work: 50′

time: 1h:10′

easy: