Easter bits

With Easter fast approaching, it was time to bust out some Spring style cakes. We thought an Easter basket filled with eggs would be a nice idea along with little ladybirds leaving a trail around the tourta. Easter wouldn't be Easter without an Easter bunny tourta, so here's my first attempt at cutting shapes out!

Getting Eggy

Fast forward almost a week later and I can honestly say everyday feels like groundhog day. Yes, I actually feel like the dude who wakes up, the same time every morning and has the same experiences day after day. Only today it feels like i'm getting closer to the end of decorating each egg individually. Yay! I have countless paper cuts, have become a pro with the glue gun and am beyond tired.
Although there's a few more boxes to finish off, here's a sneak peek of where we're at with the chocolate eggs bunnies and roosters. I believe sometime next week we'll be starting on the Tsoureki...

Easter Eggs by the dozen...

Easter, only one of the biggest celebrations in the Greek calendar is only a mere 4 weeks away, eek. The only reason i'm totally freakin' out is because i've been left with chocolate Easter egg, bunny and hen decorating. Yup, it's a big job that requires patience and not liking the smell of chocolate, which is well difficult for me (as chocolate is my Kryptonite) and i just so need to get into the creative groove right now as the clock is ticking. (Images above are from last year)

I picked up nearly all the bits i needed and am ready to go with the wrapping, which is the MOST arduous and fiddly job ever. I started in the morning and with almost over 180 chocolate whatevers in need of wrapping, ribbon tying and decorating, i think i won't be done til Saturday at the earliest. Woah!

The difference between these little chocolate beauties than the 'Cadbury's' version or shall i say Supermarket version is that they are handmade and the chocolate used is of a much higher quality (higher cocoa content for starters),we're talking at least 70% cocoa indulgence for all you chocolate lovers out there. Next is the fact that they are carefully hand decorated, some with gorgeous sugar art (from fondant) and each are hand wrapped too. Ok, some of you may think the deco is a bit garish, but these guys love it here, I worked out that they're big on anything sparkly too.

Getting there, these are the big kuhuna's weighing upto 600g! Yum!

I decided to add more pink princess action with the stefana (Greek wedding crown) and wand

In Greece you can't have an Easter Egg wrapped in Green without sticking a Panathinaikos logo on it.

Pastitsio with Penne

I heart pastitsio big time. This is a typical Greek favourite dish equivalent to lasagne basically with layers of meat, pasta & a thick, fluffy béchamel layer on top, what's not to like? Whilst working and having the tv on in the background, my whole focus switched from laptop to tv in a nano second, they were halfway through making pastitsio on cooking show on Star channel. I was drooling at this point. The version the cooks were making was with penne pasta as opposed to the usual long tubular macaroni and a different kinda Bechamel sauce.

Here's the recipe in Greek, will translate in a short while!

Υλικά για ένα ταψί 24 Χ34 εκ.

400 γρ. πένες ή άλλο κοντό ζυμαρικό - 400g Penne

1 κρεμμύδι ξερό ψιλοκομμένο - 1 onion chopped finely

2 σκ. σκόρδο ψιλοκομμένες - 2 cloves garlic chopped

800 γρ. κιμά ανάμεικτο (χοιρινό και μοσχαρίσιο) - 800g minced beef

½ φλ. λευκό κρασί - 1/2 cup white wine

400 γρ. ντοματάκια κονσέρβας - 400g tomato conserve/tinned tommies

1 ξυλάκι κανέλλα - 1tsp ground cinnamon/1 stick

1 δαφνόφυλλο - 1 bay leaf

1 ματσάκι δυόσμο - 1 bunch of spearmint

½ φλ. κεφαλοτύρι τριμμένο - 1/2 cup grated Kefalotyri cheese

2 κ.σ φρυγανιά τριμμένη - a bit of fine breadcrumb

Αλάτι, πιπέρι, - salt & pepper

Για την κρέμα - Krema/Bechamel sauce

1 κ.σ μαργαρίνη ή βούτυρο - 1 spoon margarine/butter

1 φλ. αλεύρι για όλες τις χρήσεις - 1 cup all purpose flour

1 λίτρο ζεστό γάλα - 1litre hot milk

2 αυγά - 2 eggs

½ φλ κεφαλοτύρι - 1/2 cup grated kefalotyri cheese

Μοσχοκάρυδο - nutmeg

Διαδικασία

Σε αντικολλητική κατσαρόλα καβουρδίζουμε το κιμά , προσθέτουμε το κρεμμύδι ,2 κ.σ ελαιόλαδο . αφήνουμε να σοταριστούν όλα μαζί και προσθέτουμε το σκόρδο. Σβήνουμε με το κρασί. Βάζουμε τα ντοματάκια ψιλοκομμένα , το δαφνόφυλλο, τη κανέλα. Αλατοπιπερώνουμε ,βάζουμε και 1 φλ. νερό και αφήνουμε τον κιμά να βράσει. Όταν το μίγμα μείνει με λίγο ζουμάκι το αποσύρουμε από τη φωτιά και προσθέτουμε το κεφαλοτύρι και το δυόσμο.

Παράλληλα βράζουμε αλ ντέντε τις πένες . σουρώνουμε τις πένες και τις ενώνουμε με το κιμά. Ετοιμάζουμε τη μπεσαμέλ με το ελαιόλαδο: ζεσταίνουμε το γάλα σε ένα κατσαρόλι. Σε άλλο σκεύος ζεσταίνουμε το ελαιόλαδο ,ρίχνουμε το αλεύρι και ανακατεύουμε σε χαμηλή φωτιά ώσπου το μίγμα να σκουρύνει ελαφρώς. Προσθέτουμε σταδιακά το ζεστό γάλα ανακατεύοντας διαρκώς για να μην σβολιάσει. Αφήνουμε τη σάλτσα να πήξει και νοστιμίζουμε με αλάτι, πιπέρι και μοσχοκάρυδο. Αποσύρουμε από τη φωτιά και προσθέτουμε τα αυγά –ελαφρά χτυπημένα- και το κεφαλοτύρι.

Στρώνουμε στο ταψί το μίγμα ζυμαρικά, κιμάς . Από πάνω στρώνουμε τη σάλτσα και πασπαλίζουμε με την τριμμένη φρυγανιά. Ψήνουμε σε προθερμασμένο φούρνο στους 200 βαθμούς μέχρι να χρυσίσει η επιφάνεια , περίπου για 40 λεπτά. Αφήνουμε το παστίτσιο να κρυώσει λίγο πριν το κόψουμε σε τετράγωνα κομμάτια

Ok, I'm not going to translate this literally word for word as my Greek is terrible, the basic instructions are as follows:

Preparation:

Make the Meat Sauce

Sauté the onions until translucent in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed frying pan. Add meat and continue to stir until lightly brown. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, salt, and pepper and stir well to combine. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid has been absorbed, about 30-35 minutes. This is very important - the meat mixture should be as dry as possible without sticking to the bottom of the pan. Set meat mixture aside, uncovered, and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a baking oven dish 24x34

Prepare the Pasta

While the meat is simmering, prepare the pasta. Cook until slightly underdone, drain, toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside.

Making the Krema/Bechamel sauce

Heat milk up, spoon a cup full into a bowl and add flour, whisk until flour is combined and thick, add more milk if necessary (ie mixture is too dry). Pour thick milk flour mixture into the pan of hot milk and whisk away until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat, whisk in the 2 eggs, add the grated cheese and add salt & pepper if required.

Spread the breadcrumbs evenly on the bottom of an oven proof dish. Use 1/2 the pasta for the first layer and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese mix in a little of the meat sauce. Add remaining pasta. Remove bay leaves from the sauce, add the meat sauce evenly over the pasta, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Carefully pour the béchamel over the top and use a spatula to spread evenly.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top of the sauce is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool before cutting the pieces or it will not hold!

Penguin Iceberg Tourta

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDO!

Something for the weekend: Banana Coconut Muffins

The weekend always starts with a wholesome, slightly lardy breakfast of smoked ham, fried eggs and lashings of syrup. Ok, maybe not every weekend... but we prefer to have naughty food to kick start the mornings.


I've got a whole loada ripe banana waiting to be used in my usual banana nut muffin, but I feel like mixing it up a bit and use coconut instead of nuts and oats. Yum!

Found an awesome recipe which had lots of positive reviews from Recipezaar. This recipe turned out perfect, moist, and simply delectable!

Ingredients (yields 8 muffins)

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Direction:

• Preheat oven to 375°/180. Line muffin cups with paper muffin liners.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.
• Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.
• Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

Happy Valentines Day & Happy New Year (Tiger)!

Have a Happy Valentines Day!