Kathara Deytera - First day of Greek Lent

Today is a big day in Greece. It is the first day of Greek Lent after the carnival and it is also a bank holiday. Traditionally families gather together and fly kites and then sit down for a huge meal to celebrate the start of lent. This meal involves 'lagana' bread, a fairly flat bread, covered in sesame seeds, lots of taramosalata, prawns, octopus, calamari and maybe some halva for dessert. Or at least that's what I remember it being like, as I haven't spent 'Kathara Deytera' back home for 10 years now!

In Greek lent you are allowed to eat a variety of seafood (prawns, octopus, mussels, fish roe etc), as long as it is not actually fish! Something to do with containing blood, or a technicality like that. In any case, it makes for a delicious first feast in lent. Obviously no other animal products are allowed either, so it does make sticking to it for the whole lent quite tricky, especially as I love dairy so much. I think I have managed proper lent it once in my life and it really isn't easy!

Today I shall be enjoying some taramosalata with bread - no 'lagana' I'm afraid - and some prawns baked in a tomato and garlic sauce. Very simples, but that's all I could justify for my mini family of three. I hope my family in Greece is doing this day justice with some 'proper' food!

Anyway, Happy Lent to all and I 'll be blogging again soon with my meal at the Sportsman from last Friday! x

'Naked' Cheesepie - 'Avrakoti' Tyropita

So it seems this is the battle of the pies! Tyropita (cheesepie) and Spanakopita (spinachpie) are the two most popular pies in Greece. This is your chance to take sides! Personally I have always been on the Spanakopita side, but a good Tyropita can be quite a treat too!

This version isn't quite the classic Tyropita you will find in Greece. For one it has no pastry and is therefore a bit of a cheat as far as pies go. But it is one of my Nona's recipes and one of the family favourites! It is something between a cheesepie filling and a souffle. And it is a very safe fool-proof recipe in that there isn't too much that can go wrong, provided your oven works!

My brother made this recipe for my daughter's birthday party - yes I didn't do much of the cooking! - and this, too, went down a treat with adults and babies! It is possibly a little too salty for young babies, but I gave mine some as a treat, along with plenty of water!

Serves 4-6 people

500g feta, crumbled
250g of other hard cheese (gruyere, cheddar or other), grated
500g of Greek yoghurt
6 eggs
150 self raising flour
130g of butter, at room temperature
1 tsp nutmeg
pepper

Preheat the oven to 160 (fan oven). Beat the butter till soft and creamy. Beat the eggs and add gradually to the beaten butter. Add the crumbled feta and half of the cheese and the nutmeg and a few grinds of pepper to the butter and egg mixture. In a separate bowl blend the flour with the yoghurt and then add to the rest of the ingredients. Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until risen and golden brown. Enjoy with a nice fresh salad on the side.

Spanakopita - Spinach Pie

Spanakopita is always a hit in Greek households. A good friend of mine can eat a whole tapsi (baking tray) if she puts her mind to it - yes you know who you are! My future sister in law (yes, I might be trying to confuse you) cooked it for my daughters birthday and it went down a treat with all the fellow babies too.

It is a healthy and delicious dish, full of flavour if done properly. I find most versions in the UK really don't do it justice. Spanakopita should have loads of fresh herbs in it - not just feta and spinach! Its all about making it taste like a day out in the Greek fields over Spring. Don't laugh! It really should smell and taste like that!

There is also the matter of what pastry you should use for Spanakopita. At home we usually use home made short crust. It is a Greek short crust which is not as crumbly as British short crust pasty - it has a slightly doughy texture to it. In any case, I quite like to use filo - which funnily in Greek means 'pastry'.

When cooking Spanakopita you have to make sure you have at least two of the three herbs listed in the recipe in order for to be worthwhile. Also, don't be shy with the herbs - the more the better. My version of spanakopita also has other vegetables, like leeks, but feel free to add other greens depending on the season and availability. Spinach should be the main ingredient though - hence the name of the dish!

Serves 4-6

1 kg of Spinach (or 500g of spinach and 500g of leeks or other greens)
8 Spring onions, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
150g of feta, crumbled
2-3 tbs of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
6 tbs of fresh dill, chopped
1 tbs of fresh mint, chopped
pepper
2 packs of pre-bought filo pastry or 1 quantity of home made short crust

Wilt the spinach in a saucepan without adding any liquid. If using leeks, lightly fry them in olive oil, until softened. Drain the spinach, allow for it to cool slightly and mix with all the other ingredients. Add some pepper for seasoning.

Oil a baking dish. Add layers of oiled filo pastry. Work fairly fast if using filo pastry so that it doesn't dry out. Once you have added half the pastry, fill the dish with the filling, then top with oiled filo pastry layers. Fold over the edges, to make it look more presentable.

Bake at 170 (fan oven) for 30 - 40 minutes, or until pastry is nice and golden. 

Enjoy as a main course, starter or side dish.

Cuttlefish in Tomato Sauce

Seafood; You either love it or you hate it. As you may have guessed, I love it! I 'm convinced that people who don't like it haven't had good seafood, otherwise they would like it. I mean, whats not to like? Its sweet and salty and so soft in texture. Talking about it now, I could just live on it! If I were ever told that I could only ever eat meat OR seafood for the rest of my life, I think it would have to be seafood - though during my pregnancy the answer would weirdly have been meat!

I love everything about seafood and I love all seafood. But when I was young, I think calamari was my favourite! Any time we went out to a taverna, I would check if they had it. And one of my favourite days of the year was 'Kathara Deytera', which translates as 'Clean Monday' and is the first day of Greek Easter lent. On this day we basically eat all the seafood we can - octopus, calamari, prawns! It seems seafood - as opposed to fish - doesn't have blood and is therefore allowed during lent. Clever Greeks!

This recipe with cuttlefish often featured during lent and is simple, yet delicious. It is usually served with rice and is another recipe out of my mother's cookbook. I know cuttle fish is different to squid, but they are similar and I actually made it with squid this time - as the fishmonger didn't have any cuttlefish on the day.

Serves 4

1 kg cuttlefish or squid (after cleaning, so probably 2 kg of uncleaned cuttlefish)
4 medium onions, chopped
750g passata
2 tbs finely chopped celery
250 ml dry white wine
3-4 tbs of olive oil
salt
pepper

Clean the cuttlefish or squid, or ask your fishmonger to do it (much quicker and easier to have it done!). Cut into strips of around 1-2 centimetres. Fry the cuttlefish/squid with the onions, until all the juices dry up. Add the wine, celery and passata and some pepper. You can add some salt too, but we had ours salt free so the little one could also enjoy it - which she really did! Simmer gently for 1,5 - 2 hours. Serve with rice - normally long grain, but I only had basmati on the day. Talk about adjusting a recipe!