Greece A to Z: K

Serves

4 as meze

Time

Prep 20 min, cook 10 min

Ingredients

• 800g whole squid, cleaned, fresh or frozen and thawed
• 95g plain flour
• 95g fine cornmeal or semolina
• 1 tsp fine salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sunflower oil for deep frying, about 1.5 litres
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges
• Flat leaf parsley to serve

Method

1. Slice the cleaned squid bodies into rings about 1cm wide and leave the tentacles whole in small clusters.
2. Drain the squid thoroughly and pat it as dry as you can. Wet squid will steam instead of crisping and will spit in the oil.
3. Mix the flour, cornmeal, salt and a good grind of pepper in a wide bowl.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 180C. A cube of bread should brown in about 40 seconds.
5. Toss a handful of squid in the flour mixture, shake off every loose crumb, and lower it into the oil.
6. Fry in small batches for 2 to 3 minutes, until pale gold and crisp. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and makes them greasy.
7. Lift out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper and salt lightly while still hot.
8. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and chopped parsley. Squid toughens as it sits, so it goes straight from pan to table.

Serves

Makes 24

Time

Prep 40 min plus 30 min resting, cook 20 min

Ingredients

• 400g plain flour
• 60ml olive oil
• 120ml warm water
• 2 tbsp raki or white wine
• Half a tsp salt
• 500g mizithra or well drained ricotta
• 1 egg, plus 1 beaten egg to glaze
• 1 tbsp honey, plus more to finish
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp dried mint
• Ground cinnamon or sesame seeds, to finish

Method

1. Work the flour, olive oil, salt, raki and water into a soft dough and knead for 8 minutes until smooth.
2. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
3. Beat the cheese with the egg, honey, lemon zest and mint.
4. Roll the dough out to about 2mm and cut 9cm discs.
5. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling on each. Either fold into a half moon and crimp the edge, or pinch the sides up into an open star, leaving the middle showing.
6. Brush with beaten egg and sit on lined trays.
7. Bake at 180C, 350F, for 18 to 20 minutes until golden.
8. Drizzle with honey while still warm and dust with cinnamon or scatter sesame.

Serves

12

Time

Prep 25 min, bake 40 min, plus 2 hr soaking

Ingredients

• 250g walnuts, coarsely ground, plus 8 halves to decorate
• 150g fine semolina
• 100g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• 200g caster sugar
• 200ml sunflower oil
• 4 eggs
• 150ml brandy or orange juice
• Zest of 1 orange
• For the syrup: 400g sugar, 400ml water, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 strips of lemon peel, 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Make the syrup first so it has time to cool. Boil the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel for 5 minutes, stir in the lemon juice, then take it off the heat and leave it to go completely cold.
2. Heat the oven to 175C and oil a 23 by 33cm tin.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, about 4 minutes.
4. Pour in the oil in a slow stream, still whisking, then add the brandy and orange zest.
5. Mix the walnuts, semolina, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves in a separate bowl.
6. Fold the dry mixture into the wet in two additions, stopping as soon as no flour is visible.
7. Spread into the tin and bake for 40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and the top springs back.
8. Ladle the cold syrup slowly over the hot cake, a little at a time, letting each addition sink in before the next.
9. Leave for at least 2 hours to drink up the syrup, then cut into diamonds and set a walnut half on each.

Serves

Makes 24

Time

Prep 35 min plus 4 hr standing, cook 45 min

Ingredients

• 400g kataifi pastry
• 250g walnuts, chopped
• 60g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• A quarter tsp ground cloves
• 1 egg white
• 200g butter, melted
• 400g granulated sugar
• 350ml water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 strips of lemon peel
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp honey

Method

1. Make the syrup first. Boil the granulated sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon peel for 8 minutes, take off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and honey, and leave to go completely cold.
2. Tease the kataifi apart with your fingers so the strands separate.
3. Mix the walnuts, caster sugar, cinnamon, cloves and egg white.
4. Take a bundle of strands about 15cm long, put a spoon of filling at one end and roll it into a tight log, tucking in the sides.
5. Pack the logs side by side in a buttered tin, seam down.
6. Pour the melted butter evenly over the whole tray.
7. Bake at 170C, 340F, for 45 minutes until deep gold and crisp all the way through.
8. Ladle the cold syrup over the hot pastry. Cold on to hot is what keeps it crisp.
9. Leave uncovered for at least 4 hours before cutting.

Serves

8

Time

Prep 1 hr plus 2 hr soaking, cook 2 hr 30 min

Ingredients

• 1.5kg lamb offal: liver, heart, lungs and sweetbreads
• 1 set of lamb intestines, from a butcher
• Juice of 3 lemons
• 150ml olive oil
• 3 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper

Method

1. Turn the intestines inside out and rinse them repeatedly under running water, then soak for 2 hours in water with lemon and salt. This is the whole job and it cannot be rushed.
2. Cut the offal into 3cm pieces and trim any hard tubes.
3. Toss the offal with the olive oil, lemon, oregano, salt and pepper and leave for 1 hour.
4. Thread the pieces on to a long skewer, alternating soft and firm, packed tightly against each other.
5. Take the drained intestine and wind it round the skewer from one end to the other in tight overlapping turns, tucking both ends underneath so nothing unravels.
6. Roast over medium charcoal, well away from direct flame, turning constantly for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours.
7. The casing should be crisp and mahogany and the inside cooked through. On a home rotisserie, 180C, 350F, for the same time.
8. Rest for 10 minutes, then cut across into 2cm rounds.

Serves

8

Time

Prep 20 min plus overnight marinating, cook 2 hr

Ingredients

• 2kg pork shoulder, in 5cm chunks
• 2 onions, in thick wedges
• 2 peppers, in large squares
• 150ml olive oil
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 100ml red wine
• 3 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp mustard
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Whisk the olive oil, lemon, wine, oregano, paprika, mustard, salt and pepper together.
2. Turn the pork through it, cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Thread on to a long spit, alternating meat with onion and pepper and pushing everything tightly together. Gaps dry the meat out.
4. Cook over medium charcoal, set well back from direct flame, turning slowly for about 2 hours.
5. Brush with the marinade every 20 minutes for the first hour only, then leave it alone to form a crust.
6. The outside should be dark and crusted while the inside stays juicy.
7. Rest for 10 minutes, then carve straight down the skewer on to a board.

Serves

4

Time

Prep 15 min, roast 1 hr 15 min

Ingredients

• 1.5kg chicken pieces, thighs and drumsticks on the bone
• 1kg floury potatoes, peeled and cut into thick wedges
• 120ml extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of 2 lemons, about 100ml
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp dried Greek oregano
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 250ml hot chicken stock or water
• 1 tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, sliced into rounds

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C.
2. Put the potato wedges and chicken pieces into a large roasting tin in a single layer, skin side up.
3. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper together and pour it over everything.
4. Turn the potatoes and chicken with your hands so every piece is coated, then set the chicken skin side up again.
5. Pour the hot stock into a corner of the tin rather than over the chicken, so the skin stays dry.
6. Lay the lemon rounds over the top and roast uncovered for 45 minutes.
7. Turn the potatoes, baste the chicken with the pan juices and roast for another 25 to 30 minutes, until the skin is deep gold and the potatoes have caught at the edges.
8. If there is still a lot of liquid, give it 10 minutes more at 220C to reduce.
9. Rest for 10 minutes and serve straight from the tin with the juices spooned over.

Serves

Makes 8

Time

Prep 30 min plus 1 hr 30 min rising, cook 15 min

Ingredients

• 500g strong white flour
• 7g dried yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 and a half tsp salt
• 300ml warm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp grape molasses, petimezi, or honey
• 100ml warm water, for the dip
• 200g sesame seeds

Method

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, then add the 300ml of water and the oil and bring together.
2. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and springy.
3. Cover and rise for 1 hour until doubled.
4. Divide into 8 and roll each piece into a rope about 45cm long, then join the ends firmly into a ring, pinching hard.
5. Thin the grape molasses with the 100ml of warm water in a shallow dish.
6. Dip each ring in the molasses, then press both sides into a tray of sesame seeds until completely coated.
7. Sit on lined trays and rest for 30 minutes.
8. Bake at 200C, 400F, for 14 to 16 minutes until deep gold.
9. Eat the same morning. They are not a keeping bread.

Serves

Makes 30

Time

Prep 30 min plus 30 min chilling, cook 20 min

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 100g icing sugar, plus 300g for dusting
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp brandy or ouzo
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 400g plain flour
• Half a tsp baking powder
• 120g blanched almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
• Rosewater, optional

Method

1. Beat the butter on its own for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is white and looks like whipped cream. This step is the entire recipe.
2. Beat in the 100g of icing sugar, then the egg yolk, vanilla and brandy.
3. Fold in the flour and baking powder, then the almonds, to a soft dough. Do not knead it.
4. Chill for 30 minutes.
5. Shape into crescents or balls and sit them on lined trays.
6. Bake at 160C, 325F, for 20 to 22 minutes. They should stay pale. Colour means overbaked.
7. Sprinkle with rosewater while hot, if using.
8. Sift a thick layer of icing sugar over them while still warm, then a second layer once cold.