Easter Feast

Easter is the most important celebration for the Orthodox church and for Greeks, whose religion is almost synonymous with their identity. The Holy Week is a build up to Christ's Resurrection and a wrap up of fasting. Easter Sunday is the time to enjoy good food with family and friends. However, during the Holy Week there are many other culinary traditions which lead up to Easter Sunday's great feast and complete the festive table.

Keeping in touch with my roots, my culture and my love for cooking is enhanced during this time of year. Keeping up with some traditions is of out most importance. It is almost like a blessing for the remaining of the year. It is a blessing for good health and prosperity in the family. So, no matter what, I try to keep them.

These traditions have been imprinted in my memory ever since I was old enough to help my mother around the kitchen. A little apprentice learning while helping and mastering an art by watching. A grown up woman perfecting this art by cooking and cooking some more every year. Indeed, most of these traditions are old but, as always, I try to bring in new influences and, without spoiling them, add a unique twist.

Holy Thursday is the time to color our eggs. According to tradition the eggs represent new life and the color red symbolizes the victory of life over death and Christ's blood. However, there are many who dye eggs different colors either by using non-toxic food colors or by making natural colors from red onion skins, spinach, coffee,cabbage etc. My touch to this year's egg tradition was to dye some eggs yellow (by using Turmeric) and brown (by leaving red onion skins cook longer than the time required for red color).

Holy Friday or Saturday we bake the Easter Bread "Tsoureki" (from the Turskish word 'Corek') or "Labropsomo" (in Greek). According to tradition the bread symbolizes life (as the flour changes form and becomes bread). The word "tsoureki" was most likely adopted by Greeks during the Turkish occupation.

I have always feared making tsoureki simply because there are as many recipes as there are cooks. So, it is a bit confusing as to how much to make, how many grams of each ingredient and, in fact, what ingredients to use. I have searched and searched and also asked my mother for her recipe and I believe this Easter I have finally found the one that worked for me (check the recipe here). The result was amazing and I will most definitely do this again.


Last, but not least, comes the lamb. Traditionally lamb is prepared on Easter Sunday. I have eaten it before in other celebrations but, in Greece lamb is synonymous with Easter. Buying a whole lamb on a spit is commonplace. Fastened securely with barb wire, it is then placed on top of an open fire where it is left to spin slowly for hours and hours to cook till the meat drops off the bone. Yum! According to tradition lamb is eaten during Easter because it symbolizes the body of Christ who sacrificed himself, like a lamb, for the salvation of humanity.

As great as all these sound, our reality is somewhat different here in Finland. We live in an apartment block so we had to restrict ourselves to grilling only some parts of the lamb; the tender and yummy ones ;) Lamb sirloin and rib stakes :) And, boy, did we enjoy them!

As we say in Greece "Και του χρόνου με υγεία" (Kai tou hronou me ygeia).
May we be healthy to do this again next year!

Cooking for four!

Here I go again!! After a looong pause, I am back again with recipes, news and ideas about my favorite past-time, namely cooking :)

Since my last post, I have given birth to my second child, a beautiful baby girl. Although the whole new baby situation took me away from writing, it has not stopped my passion for cooking. In fact, it has had the opposite effect. I was able to focus more on the foods I have been cooking for my now 9-month old girl.  

My babies have a five year gap and, I must admit, I had forgotten a lot of the advice concerning baby solids, schedule, dos and don'ts, etc. I remember back in the day when my son started solids that I had the same passion for making everything fresh but that's pretty much it! Now, I have the chance to reacquaint myself with the concept of 'baby foods'.  

Moreover, through contact with other mothers, I realized just how important it is for moms to share recipes, exchange knowledge and, why not, ask for help on such important issues as nutrition.   

I am no expert but I want to share great meal ideas that have worked for my babies. For instance, this following recipe had been a hit with my daughter at first and it is basic and simple. Please note that certain foods doctors recommend for babies (6m +) in my country might not be the recommendation in other countries. 

5 months + 

Carrot-Potato Puree 

carrots

1 large carrot

1 large potato

left over formula milk or breast milk

Peel and wash the vegetables. Place them in a deep pan. Fill in the pan with water just enough to cover the vegetables. Boil till soft. Do not drain the water. Rather take the pan off the heat and place it aside to cool. once cooled add some formula milk or breast milk and mush with an immersion blender. The puree is ready. 

At first you can make small quantities as you don't know whether the baby will develop any allergies. It is, however, recommended you try one food or combination of foods at least three times in a row (for three days in a row) before you can move on to another. Therefore, the one portion of each veggie might be already a big quantity. Moreover, at first you might not want to keep cooking for just one portion so it is better to make enough for you to just take out of the freezer and use when needed. I suggest you store the food in the freezer after having placed it in ice cubes or ice-cube-type containers for baby foods. 

Other variations of this recipe are possible. Instead of carrot you can combine the potato with other veggies like zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, parsnip, leek or corn.  In addition, instead of potato one could try to combine some veggies with sweet potato. Later on you could start trying out spices like pepper or fresh parsley, dill, oregano etc. 

Another alternative to boiling is steaming, which is recommended for better retention of vitamins. Just add a bit of boiled water and the necessary formula or breast milk and repeat the process.  

Once you have tested one simple combination of foods you can keep on adding to the puree mixture. For instance, I started with sweet potato. I just mushed sweet potato and after three days with no signs of allergies I added the second veggie. Then after three days the next and so on. This way you keep track of what the baby has tasted and whether or not he/she is allergic to it. 

Check the section on the right hand side of the screen, under the 'Baby Foods' page, for more ideas. 

Happy cooking :D

What's for Br-egg-fast?

I am a true believer in the idea of tasting everything and eating in moderation. I like to try different foods and use a variety of ingredients in our meals. Although I believe kids should themselves choose what they want to eat, I also believe in exposing them to as many different ingredients as possible. Only when ingredients appear in our diet in moderation and not in excess can they truly benefit us. Too much of something is always bad.

Egg souffle for brunch 

Since day one my son has had a problem with eggs and/or bread as part of his breakfast. It is usually porridge or wheat-flakes that take him to cloud nine but nothing else will do; especially eggs. Since he could eat solids, eggs never really tasted good. No matter how I tried it eggs was a 'no-no'; no omelette, sunny-side-up, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled or poached eggs did the trick

For a while I felt quite disappointed since one of my childhood favorite breakfast options involved eggs. I still remember my mother's  egg-in-a-cup breakfast.  She would soft-boil an egg, place it in a coffee cup, add small pieces of bread and a pinch of salt and scramble those together with a fork. Bread mixed up with the white and liquid yellow of the egg was a delicious breakfast option and I enjoyed every spoonful.

Lately my son started getting interested in helping out in the kitchen. Every time I approach the stove to cook something he always offers to help out. One morning I decided to boil an egg for me and he insisted on helping out; so he did. Once at the table he asked if he could taste some. Since then I offer him the option of a boiled egg for his Sunday breakfast and he accepts gladly. I am happy again :)

Eggs are known for being rich in protein but they also include many other vitamins; namely folicic acid, vitamin B6 and B12 and iron. Also, eggs help with muscle strength, provide important vitamins to during a pregnancy, promote better eyesight and help with the brain development of a foetus.

Having open the 'egg' gates with my son, I decided to add it little by little to his weekend breakfast. Another favorite of mine through the years has been αυγόφετες (avgofetes). Avgofetes is my family's version of french toast sans the sugar. So, it is simply toast dipped in egg and milk and then fried lightly in sunflower oil. Heavier than a boiled egg but delicious nonetheless  To my surprise my son loved it too!

Navigate through the 'breakfast' section of my blog for great 'egg' related recipes.

Enjoy :)