Recipes from the Greek Festival
Thanks to everyone who came along to the cooking demonstrations at the Lonsdale St Festival this year.
Also a very big thank you to the organisers for doing such a fabulous job in making the festival happen and inviting me to take part!!
In case you missed a copy of the recipes or didn't get there, here they are:
Kolokithokeftedes – zucchini fritters
Ingredients
4 medium zucchini, grated (about 600g)
6 spring onions, finely chopped
½ cup each of dill and mint, chopped
½ cup grated mitzithra, parmesan or pecorino cheese
250g feta cheese, crumbled
2 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
Olive oil for frying
Method
Grate zucchini and squeezed all excess water from the flesh. In a large bowl, add the zucchini, spring onions, cheeses, herbs and eggs. Mix well and season with black pepper.
Add the flour and mix through. Let the mixture rest for 30 minutes.
Heat a heavy based non-stick fry pan and add olive oil, so the base is well covered.
Using a tablespoon, add dollops of mixture and cook until golden, keeping the heat on medium otherwise if it is too hot they will not cook through. Turn over until cooked.
Remove and place on kitchen paper to drain. Continue with remaining mixture.
Roast eggplant with feta, spices and herbs
Ingredients
1 large eggplant
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbs of finely chopped parsley or fresh coriander
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
50g feta cheese
Lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil
Method
Heat oven to 200C. Place whole eggplant in a baking tray, make a few (5 or 6) small cuts all over with the tip of a knife and drizzle with olive oil. Bake until the eggplant is soft and just starting to char.
Cut the eggplant open to reveal the flesh but do not remove from the skin. The idea is to serve this in the eggplant skin (a bit like a boat). Leave it in a colander so juices can drain.
Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small fry pan until just fragrant and then crush the seeds.
To assemble, place the eggplant (in its skin) on a serving plate and add the crushed garlic, salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and half the spice mix and gently mix into the eggplant flesh with a fork.
Sprinkle with the herbs; crumble the feta on top and sprinkle remaining spices.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.
Grilled Stone Fruit with Yoghurt & Honey
This is too simple for a full recipe, so I'll just describe it. Take your favourite stone fruit, halve and remove stone.
Grill flat side down until slightly charred and heated (you could also just bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes).
Place in a small dish or glass, add a dollop of Greek style yoghurt (the Procal Dairies we used was fabulous!) drizzle with honey and sprinkle with some toasted almonds.
Simple, delicious, easy and healthy!!!
