Juicy pork chops (sweet and kinda spicy)

Juicy pork chops (sweet and kinda spicy)

One of the main problems with pork chops is finding a way to cook them in the oven that doesn’t result in them becoming like a sock.

And while good cooks just know how to cook pork chops properly I just ended up making up a recipe to keep the pork juicy. They end up being sweet and spicy, quite nice.

You will need: 

• Two pork chops (the ones with the fat outside)
• A medium to big onion (I love the red ones for this)
• A big tomato or two smaller ones
• A pepper (I had red but it’s better to use yellow or green so that you’ve got a bit of a contrast)
• Olive oil
• A bit of water
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chilli (seeds or ground)
• Paprika

Let’s go see it step by step.

By Sofia

Roasted chicken with mustard marinade and winter vegetables

I uploaded a pic of our dinner today on Google+ and Stavros asked for the recipe. That is to say he actually threatened that he would have a heart attack if I didn’t share it. Fine. You know me, I’m here for my friends.

What you need to know about this recipe is that roasted chicken with potatoes is one of the most frequent things we have in Greece. It is considered ideal for a family Sunday lunch so after a few years you are sick and tired of it. So I just gave the recipe a little twist to make it more interesting.

Additionally I had various winter vegetables at home today which were near their expiration date and a whole chicken so it was worth the try.

Lo and behold, I ended up with roasted chicken with mustard marinade and winter vegetables

By Sofia 

Making kokkinisto (Greek beef stew) in a pressure cooker

Kokkinisto literally means ‘reddened‘ in Greek. It’s basically a stew which you can make with all sorts of meat – even though each cut and animal have their littler secrets. It’s a bit different than your normal stew – it comes up with a spicy and cinnamon-y taste. Come to think of it that’s very common in my kitchen.

Anyway. Kokkinisto was the first recipe I really wanted to learn and it took quite a while. I’ve had to get rid of whole pots crying (even though it was better than what I had to deal with when I was learning to bake a cake).

So. Your fundamental issue with pot beef is that it goes blooming hard when you boil it. Old cooks tend to not divulge their secrets – which is kinda annoying. I’ll just note down any ones I know.

The interesting bit with kokkinisto is that the sauce is not cooked separately. So you get those wonderful beef juices all in one go (plus there’s less washing up to do)

This recipe is for a pressure cooker – even though you can use a normal pot, but it will take a lot longer. Also, by using a pressure cooker you’re cheating a bit since the pressure really makes a diference in making the meat soft. Plus with a pressure cooker you just throw everything in and you’re done.

Βy Sofia 

Italian Pasta Names: Way Beyond Spaghetti

IItalian Pasta Names: Way Beyond Spaghetti

 By Jessica 

Back when I was teaching Italian language basics to people who were planning trips to Italy, I used to like to bolster their confidence from the start by saying, “Well, even if you forget everything I teach you, you’ll never starve in Italy.” And it’s the truth. With so many Italian (and pseudo-Italian) restaurants serving up Italian food around the world, there’s always going to be at least one thing on a menu in Italy that looks at least a little familiar to you. Still, if you thought the Italians were one-trick-ponies when it came to pasta, you’d be sorely mistaken.

Most people have heard of spaghetti, ravioli, and lasagne – in fact, these words are so common outside Italy that they’re hardly even thought of as Italian anymore. But there are so many words for different pasta shapes in Italy, it’ll make your head swim. Even more to the point, Italians will insist on certain sauces going with certain pasta shapes, and some will never deviate from these traditional pairings. While you clearly don’t have to be limited to only using the prescribed pasta shape with that sauce you’re cooking, you might want to broaden your pasta horizons a bit from the shapes you’re already familiar with. Here’s a little Italian pasta primer to help you learn about some of the more than 350 different kinds of Italian pasta out there. Check your local market to see how many are available where you live!

• Agnolotti (ahn-yo-LOH-tee) – This is a stuffed pasta that’s typically a half-circular or circular shape and stuffed with meat.

• Bigoli (bee-GOH-lee) – This is a whole wheat or buckwheat pasta that’s essentially like thick spaghetti, and found mainly in the Veneto region.


• Bucatini (boo-kah-TEE-nee) – This is also basically exactly like spaghetti in shape, except that it’s hollow in the middle. The name means “little hole.”


• Cannelloni (kahn-nel-LOH-nee) – These are large tubes that can be hand- or machine-made and be smooth or ridged, and are usually filled with meat before being covered in a meat sauce and then baked.


• Cavatappi (kah-vah-TAHP-pee) – This name means “corkscrews,” and it’s perfectly indicative of the shape. They’re hollow like maccheroni, but twisted.


• Cavatelli (kah-vah-TEL-lee) – These are short pieces of pasta with a rolled edge, so that they look like they’re small, hollow tubes.


• Conchiglie (kohn-KEE-lee-eh) – This will be a familiar shape to most people, even if the name is hard to pronounce. This is that seashell-shaped dried pasta.


• Farfalle (far-FAHL-leh) – This is another familiar shape; it’s the bow-tie dried pasta, and the word actually means “butterflies.”


• Fusilli (foo-SEEL-lee) – These are similar to the cavatappi in that they’re shaped like corkscrews, but they’re flat pieces of pasta that have been twisted instead of round pieces. The word means “little spindles.”


• Gemelli (jeh-MEHL-lee) – The word “gemelli” means “twins,” and this pasta looks like two short pieces of pasta twisted together. It’s actually one piece of pasta, but it looks like twins!


• Gnocchi (NYO-kee) – These are thumb-sized pieces of thick pasta, usually made from potatoes, that actually probably come from the Middle East.


• Lumaconi (loo-mah-KOH-nee) – This word means “big snails,” and this pasta sort of resembles a snail shell. It’s basically a hollow tube that’s been folded in half.


• Orecchiette (or-eh-KYEH-teh) – These are small bowl-shaped pastas (as if you pressed your thumb into a circular piece of pasta), and the word means “little ears.”


• Pappardelle (pahp-par-DEL-leh) – This pasta is a big flat ribbon of pasta; it’s not as wide as a lasagne noodle, but significantly wider than fettuccine.


• Pici (PEE-chee) – This is a specialty in Tuscany, and it’s like thick spaghetti, only it’s hand-rolled and therefore irregular in shape.


• Radiatore (rah-dee-ah-TOR-eh) – This word means, as you might have guessed, “radiator,” and this pasta is shaped like little mini radiators.


• Rigatoni (ree-gah-TOH-nee) – This is a small tube-shaped pasta with a larger opening than penne and with straight-cut ends. The name is based in the Italian word for “ridged.”


• Stringozzi (streen-GOHTS-zee) – This looks much like a thick version of spaghetti, and the name even refers to the Italian word for “shoe laces.”


• Strozzapreti (strots-zah-PREH-tee) – This might be one of the more colorfully-named pastas in Italy, because the name means “priest chokers!” The pasta itself is similar to cavatelli, in that it’s a flat piece of pasta that’s been hand-rolled on the edges to create something of a hollow tube.


• Tortellini (tor-tell-LEE-nee) – This is a small stuffed pasta that’s shaped almost like a half-moon, with the stuffing at one side and the pointy edges of the pasta connected at the other. They’re usually stuffed with cheese or meat. (Tortelloni are just big versions of tortellini.)


• Trofie (TROH-fee-eh) – This pasta shape is similar to strozzapreti, although rather than just a rolled edge it’s actually twisted in the rolling, so the ends are pointy.


• Vermicelli (vehr-mee-CHEL-lee) – This is a long pasta like spaghetti, only a bit thinner, and the name means “little worms.”

And in case you were confused, yes, you saw the word “maccheroni” in a couple places above. What’s that, you ask? Why, it’s the Italian word for what you call “macaroni” – and it’s pronounced just about the same way!

Incidentally, you might think that the note at the top of this article about there being more than 350 different kinds of pasta is hyperbole, but all you have to do is scan the pasta aisle of an Italian supermarket to see that the selection of pasta types I’ve written about here is only scratching the surface:

Video | Making Frappé (Greek iced instant coffee)

   Here I am with the first ever Digital Scullery video in English. Cheers to all the friends of the Greek blog for the idea, by the way if people hate the video I’m blaming you 

I honestly thought about doing the Greek accent but I sound so fake that I just stuck to my own. So no funnies there I think. Anyway.

In this first ever Digital Scullery video in English the only classic recipe from modern Greece I could think of was the Frappé coffee – beloved in Greece. The actual phrase “drinking Frappé ” in Greek has become sort of like a cultural symbol. Depending on the context it could mean that you’re just chilling or – in some cases – that you are just lazying about.

So, on to some history. Frappé literally means shaken. It’s a way of preparing instant coffee. The legend goes that in 1957, at the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, Dimitrios Vakondios, a Nestle employee wanted to make a hot cuppa with their Nescafé instant coffee. He couldn’t find hot water so he used some cold water in a shaker. The rest – as they say – is history.

 by the best Greek cook Sofia

Classic Chocolate Fudge ~ recipe cook-off

Classic Chocolate Fudge ~ recipe cook-off

Can you believe, until now, I had never made fudge before?  I love fudge.  So I don't know why I waited so long to try my hand at it!  I always thought it was hard to make - it's not.  It's easy.  Very easy.

So, you want to know what I went and did on my very first time making fudge?  I didn't make just one recipe of fudge.  No, no.  I put two fudge recipes to a head-to-head fudge cook-off battle.  See, I'm cooking my way through the family cookbook I published last year for our family.  And both my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law put a chocolate fudge recipe in the cookbook.  It just seemed like the right thing to do was to put both recipes to the test, rather than picking just one.  So, that's what I did.

The two recipes were similar in method.  The differences, you ask?  Well, my mother-in-law's recipe was made with marshmallows, had a higher ratio of evaporated milk, and a bit lower ratio of chocolate.  My sister-in-law's recipe was made with marshmallow creme (as opposed to marshmallows themselves), had a lower ratio of evaporated milk, and a higher ratio of chocolate.

So I set about to whipping up both.  And this method is so easy, I was done in no time.

First, bring some sugar, butter, and evaporated milk to a boil and cook it for a bit, stirring constantly, of course.

Boiling, boiling, boiling ...

Then stir in some chocolate until it's all melted.

Chocolate!

Finally, stir in the marshmallow until it's all melty and combined.

Stirring in the marshmallow

Pour the mixture into a pan, and let it cool to set up.  I used an aluminum foil sling in my pans to make removal from the pan (and clean up!) easier.

Here are my two finished products side-by-side ... I made one plain chocolate and the other chocolate-walnut, just for fun.  My mother-in-law's is on the left ... my sister-in-law's is on the right.  Which do you think won the cook-off battle?

And the winner is ...

Well, I preferred my mother-in-law's version! ~ the one made with the marshmallows themselves, the higher ratio of evaporated milk, and (surprisingly!) the lower ratio of chocolate.  To me, it had a smoother and creamier texture - just the way I like my fudge.  The other one was good, too, - but it had a slightly drier, more crumbly texture.  So, in  my book, marshmallows reign supreme over marshmallow creme!

Looks like I can cross fudge off my cooking & baking bucket list.  Well, chocolate fudge anyway.  Let's see, there's still peanut butter fudge ... Nutella fudge ... maple walnut fudge ...  rocky road fudge ...

Classic Chocolate Fudge

Source:  My mother-in-law

2 1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 stick (4 T.) butter

3/4 c. evaporated milk

1 c. (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

18 large marshmallows

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a saucepan; bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Continue to boil, over medium heat, for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour in chocolate chips; remove from heat and stir until chocolate chips are melted.  Add vanilla and marshmallows.  Stir until smooth and all marshmallow is incorporated.  Stir in chopped walnuts, if using.  Pour into an 11x7" pan lined with aluminum foil.  Cool.  Use the edges of the aluminum foil to lift fudge from the pan; cut into small squares.

Moussaka

Moussaka

INGREDIENTS 1 kg aubergines (large or/and elongated variety) 160 ml vegetable oil (about 1 teacup) 1 large onion, finely sliced 450 gr. minced beef 1 glass white wine (not retsina, but aretsinoto) 350 gr. fresh tornatoes, 1400 gr. tomatoes, drained of some of their juice and chopped teaspoon ground cinnamon teaspoon ground allspice salt and black pepper 1 teaspoon oregano 25 gr. grated parmesan, kefalotiri, or Gruyere cheese some chopped parsley Bechamel Sauce 80 gr. butter 80 gr. flour 600 ml warm milk salt and white pepper 30 gr. grated Parmesan or Gruyere cheese 2 egg yolks Topping z 60 gr. grated Parmesan,Gruyere or kefalotiri cheese 4 tablespoons toasted breadcrumbs

METHODMoussaka should be baked in the oven. Use a roasting container, eitber square or oblong, approximately 25x25 cm or 39x28 cm. It is recommended that you spread the work involved over two days for your convinience; one can easily cook the meat the day before, witbout the Moussaka suffering at all. Do not do the same with the aubergines; they should be fried on the day. Aubergines Top and tail the aubergines, without peeling them. Rinse them, cut them lengthways in 75-mm thick slices and immerse them in salted water, for 30 minutes.Take them out, squeeze gently, rinse, then squeeze them again. Drain them in a colander and pat dry. Fry them in hot vegetable oil until they become pale golden on both sides; you can either deep-fry them, which is easier but they absorb a lot of oil, or shallow-fry them. In either case, drain them on absorbent paper on a flat platter before serving, so that most of their oil will dribble away. Meat Sautee the sliced onion in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, until it looks glistening. Add the meat and sautee together, stirring, until all the lumps are broken down and the meat starts to change colour. Pour in the wine, add tomatoes, sliced finely, the spices, salt and pepper and the oregano. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time in case it sticks. Then mix in the grated cheese and parsley. Bechamel Sauce Melt the butter and, away from the heat, gradually add the flour and stir to amalgamate. Return to the heat and gradually add the milk and seasoning, stirring continuously. Simmer for 9-10 minutes, stirring, until it has thickened considerably. Withdraw the pan from the heat, let it stand briefly, then add the cheese and the egg yolks. Stir to amalgamate them. Do not let the sauce boil after this. It should by now be a thick bechamel, to enable it to sit on top of the meat mixture and form a kind of crust. To assemble, cover the base of the roasting dish with half of the fried aubergines, then spread half of the meat mixture evenly on top of them and cover neatly with the remaining aubergines. Spread the remaining meat and sauce evenly over the top and cover neatly with the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle the grated cheese all over the top, and the breadcrumbs. Moussaka from Macedonia may contain a layer of thinly sliced roun potatoes which have been fried first. Bake in a pre-heated oven, gas no.4/ 350 grades F/ 180 grades C, for 1 hour, untit a golden crust is formed all over the top. Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving, in order to be able to cut it more easily. To serve, cut into square or oblong-shaped pieces, about 8 cm thick. It should be quite dry by then and the pieces should ideally stay intact.