Stuffed Cabbage with Egg and Lemon Sauce

Stuffed Cabbage is one of my favorite dishes since I was a little kid. This is a Greek version of stuffed cabbage. Rice, tomato, onion, beef, lamb and lots of dill leaves are used for the stuffing. The egg and lemon sauce is called avgolemono, which is a traditional Greek sauce. It was a lot of work to make them. But it was definitely worth it!

Pastitsio

Pastitsio is one of the most popular dishes in Greece. Also this is one of my most favorite Greek dishes. I always wanted to try to cook this. But each time I decided, my husband, who is native to Greece, stopped me. He thought it was very difficult --almost impossible-- for me, non-Greek, to cook this traditional Greek / Mediterranean food. Um, my challenging sprit became awake.

When we found various goat meats (shoulder, chop and ground etc.) in the local farmers market, we were excited. Then, I suggested making pastitsio. He was too excited to say “No” to me. So he immediately agreed on me making pastitsio. Luckily I also found bucatini, pasta used for pastitsio.

I admit that it was very time consuming and a little bit tricky. But it was defiantly worthwhile. I made it in a big oven pan so that we could enjoy three times or more Unfortunately it lasted less than three times. Indeed, our appetites were more enormous than I thought.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, lamb or goat
1 large onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 large rip tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup of red wine
¼ cup of flat-leave flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of cinnamon
1 lb of bucatini (According to Wikipedia: a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. Please refer to my picture of bucatini)
1 cup and 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese1 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Béchamel sauce:
½ cup of butter
½ cup of all-purpose flour
3 cups of milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon of nutmeg powder
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a fry pan and fry the chopped onion and garlic until they become translucent. Add the ground beef (lamb or goat) and cook till well done.
2. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and stir them well. Add the white wine and bay leaf. Stir the mixture well.
3. Season the mixture with salt, freshly ground pepper, and cinnamon. Simmer for 30-40 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the parsley and cover the pan.
4. For béchamel sauce: Heat the butter on another pan. Place the butter and let it melt completely. Add flour and mix with butter well. Add the milk little by little. Stir and simmer on low heat until the mixture is thickened.
5. Turn off the heat and add the eggs, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Mix them well.
6. Boil water in a large pot and cook the bucatini in the pot for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain the bucatini well. Toss them with 2 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
8. Pour the ½ of extra virgin olive oil. Place half of the bucatini and make a layer on the large oven pan. Sprinkle the ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Pour and spread the tomato mixture. Next, place the rest of the bucatini and make a layer. Again, sprinkle the ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Pour the béchamel sauce and spread evenly over the top. Pour the rest of the extra olive oil. Sprinkle the 3 tablespoons of shredded Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake it in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes until the top is brown.

Lamp with Orzo in a Clay Pot (Youvetsi)

In Greece lamp with orzo in a clay pot is often served on Sunday, which is the special day of the week among Greek Orthodox Christians. I usually cook this dish on a special occasion too. This month I made this dish twice for serving two of my good friends.

One of them is my new friend, Akiko, who is a professional nutritionist and recently moved to the USA from Japan. She is also an expert on Japanese cooking. Her ideas and tips about cooking are always fun and useful. Also her professional advice regarding diet and many kinds of food products are very valuable.

Since Mediterranean cuisine is totally new to Akiko, I decided to cook this special dish for our lunch. Unlike her tiny figure, she ate up the big portion of a lamb chop, Greek salad that I additionally made, and a big piece of crispy ciabatta bread. She congratulated my cooking and enjoyed my dishes very much.

Therefore, when Peter, who is a good friend of mine from New York City, decided to visit me in Louisiana in the middle of June, I immediately chosen to cook lamb with orzo in a clay pot, too. He is a gourmet, coffee lover and also good cook. Furthermore, his parents and sister are amazing cooks. Their creative table settings and fabulous ways to present food are incredible and astonish me any time I visit them.

Thanks to the tender and juicy lamb chops and ripe tomatoes, I was glad that Peter liked this dish very much.

Two food experts plus my husband, who is a native Mediterranean and foodie, applaud this dish. Thus, I proudly recommend you to try for your special events.

I already decided to cook this dish for my next guest and I started thinking what I am going to cook when Akiko and Peter visit me next time.

Ingredients:
4 pieces of lamb chops
1 finely chopped onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
3 cups chopped ripe tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 and 1/2 cups of red wine
1 lb orzo
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of cloves
1/3-1/2 cup Ground Parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
1. Season the lamb chops with salt and black pepper.
2. Heat 3-4 tbsp of olive oil in a large fry pan. Place the finely chopped onion and garlic in the pan and fry them for 3-4 minutes. Add the lamb chops and fry them till the surfaces of the lamb chops become slightly brown and crispy.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Add 1/2 cup of the red wine. Season with salt, black pepper and a pinch of clove. Simmer them for 30 to 40 minutes.
4. Transfer them into a large clay pot.
5. Preheat the oven to 370 F degrees. Bake the clay pot for about 20 minutes.
6. Add the orzo, 1 cup of the red wine and about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Note that the orzo should be covered with the lamb chops and sauce.
7. Bake in the clay pot for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the ground Parmesan cheese when it is almost done.
8. Bake them for another 5 minutes. Transfer them into serving plates.

Roast Lamb with Oregano

I love the moment when I see the sign of spring in a filed after long winter. I feel like I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I sense strong optimism. In Easter, people honor hopes and confidence and celebrate new beginnings. I love this spirit of Easter. So I celebrate this holy event.
Easter is the biggest religious holiday among Orthodox Christians. This year’s Orthodox Easter was yesterday, April 19. My husband, a Greek Orthodox Christian, and I celebrated this holiday along with a guest.
Traditionally people serve lamb or kids at Easter in Greece. Unfortunately I was not able to find kids in any local meat markets but I was lucky enough to find fresh lean lamb legs.
Lamb meat is a good source of high quality protein and iron. After our one week of fasting (should be 40 days though…), this gives us a lot of energy and important nutrients, such as vitamins B1, B6, and B12 and zinc, too.
Easter morning began with a lot of cloud. However, around 11am, the sun started showing up. The time we started our Easter lunch, it became a perfect sunny Easter day. After about 2 hours of cooking, the roast lamb became very tender with astonishing oregano and wine flavor. We enjoyed this masterpiece under the sun and had a great time!

Ingredients:
1 leg of lamb (about 5lb)
3-5 cloves of sliced garlic
Oregano
Salt and freshly ground pepper
5-8 potatoes
2 cups red wine
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 F degrees.
2. Make deep cuts and insert sliced garlic in the lamb.
3. Place the lamb in an oven pan. Pour the 1-cup of wine and ¼ cup of olive oil. Turn to coat well. Season with salt, pepper and plenty of oregano all over the lamb.
4. Peal the potatoes and cut them 1/4-inch wide wedges.
5. Roast the lamb in the oven for 15 minutes and turn the lamb. Continue to roast for another 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 F degrees and turn the lamb over again.
6. After 20 to 30 minutes, add the potatoes in the same pan under the lamb. Pour the rest of the wine and olive oil over the lamb and potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and oregano.
7. Continue to roast for another 60 to 75 minutes until the meat become done and potatoes become soft. Turn over the lamb a few times.
8. Transfer to a carving plate. Slice the meat and sprinkle plenty of lemon juice. Serve with the potatoes!