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Main dishes
By Aglaia Kremezi
Roasted Lamb with Pasta
GIOUVETSI
Any kind of meat or poultry can be used to make Giouvetsi, but I prefer lamb. One can also use any kind of pasta (spaghetti, elbow macaroni, penne), but Greeks generally use kritharaki, the rice-shaped pasta that Americans call orzo.
This dish is best when made with fresh, ripe tomatoes and when eaten piping hot, sprinkled with freshly grated mizithra, the hard and tangy Greek goat's milk cheese.
3 pounds boneless shoulder or leg of lamb
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4-5 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
3-4 cups chicken stock
1 medium onion, minced
1 small fresh chili pepper, minced
31/2 cups chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
Sea salt
2 cinnamon sticks
1 pound orzo
1 cup grated mizithra or other tangy hard cheese
SERVES 4-5
Preheat the oven to 475o F.
Rub the lamb with the lemon juice, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Peel 3 cloves of garlic and cut each clove in half lengthwise. Cut slits into the flesh on all sides of the lamb and insert the garlic halves.
Place the lamb in a deep earthenware baking dish and brush it with olive oil. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350' F. and continue roasting for 30 to 40 minutes more, or until almost done, basting frequently with the pan juices. If there isn't enough juice, use a little chicken stock.
In the meantime, make the tomato sauce. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet and saute the onion over low heat until soft. Peel and mince the remaining garlic and add it to the onion. When soft, add the chili pepper, chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt, and cinnamon sticks. Cook for 5 minutes.
Transfer the lamb to a heated dish and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Pour the boiling tomato sauce into the baking dish and stir to mix with the cooking juices. Add 2 cups chicken stock and the orzo and stir again. Return to the oven and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally because the pasta tends to stick, until the orzo is cooked at dente and has absorbed most of the pan juices. Add more chicken stock, if necessary.
When the pasta is almost cooked, remove the cinnamon sticks and place the lamb on top of the orzo. Baste with the tomato sauce, then return to the oven and continue roasting until the orzo is cooked to your taste.
Serve immediately, sprinkled with the cheese.
Note: The exact cooking time and the amount of liquid the pasta needs depend on the brand used.
Fish Soup
KAKAVIA OR PSAROSOUPA
This is the way fish soup is made in the islands, and it goes without saying that the taste depends entirely on the freshness of the fish, as well as the quality of potatoes and the ripeness of tomatoes. At home, my mother used to make a fish and vegetable soup by boiling leeks, zucchini, carrots, and fennel bulbs before adding the fish to the stock. The cooked fish was removed from the stock and boned, and the cooked vegetables were passed through a food mill. The vegetable -enriched broth was served with the pieces of boned fish on the side.
This simple version of fish soup is sometimes thickened with avgolemono, egglemon sauce, at the end, which makes it richer and alters its taste a little.
5 cups water
4 large potatoes, each cut in 4 lengthwise pieces
4 medium onions, halved
3 medium tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup olive oil
3-4 pounds rockfish, sculpin, searobin, or sea bass, cleaned, with heads left on
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Juice of 2 large or 3 small lemons
SERVES 6
Put the water in a large saucepan and add the potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes, then add the tomatoes. After 10 minutes, add the oil and fish, and season generously with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for 15 minutes, then add the lemon juice. Cook until the flesh comes away from the bones of the fish.
Remove the potatoes, tomatoes, and onions with a skimmer and set on a plate. Strain the soup and reserve the broth and solids. Bone the fish and reserve meat.
Serve the broth in individual bowls. On a separate plate, serve the fish and vegetables.
Barbecued Fish
PSARI PSITO STA KARVOUNA
Panagiotis Patiniotis, the owner of a small hotel and tavern in the village of Maltezana on Astypalaia, grills fish better than anyone else does I know-in Greece or elsewhere. Panagiotis loves to grill fish, and he looks happy only when he stands by his old and rusted outdoor grill, turning his hinged fish grills over and over again, basting the fish and occasionally spraying the burning charcoal with water, to reduce the heat.
It is difficult enough to grill one- or two-pound fish and to keep the fish moist and lightly scented with the wild oregano Panagiotis uses in the oil and lemon basting sauce. But he manages to grill eight- and nine-pound fish in this way, without letting them dry out at all. His trick is to turn the fish every couple of minutes, never letting one or the other side gets overcooked.
Lemon juice=20
Red or gray mullet, goatfish, red snapper, sea bream (porgy), striped bass, or any other kind of white fish, preferably no smaller than 1 pound each, cleaned and left whole (about 3/4 to 1 pound for each portion)=20
Sea salt
OIL AND LEMON BASTING SAUCE
2 parts olive oil
1 part lemon juice
Oregano
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
0ne hour before cooking, pour lemon juice over the fish and turn them so they are moistened all over. Salt generously and set in a cool place or in the refrigerator.
Make the basting sauce by whisking the oil and lemon juice in a bowl. Add the oregano, salt, and pepper.
Prepare a charcoal grill. When ready, place the fish in a well-oiled hinged grill, baste them well with the sauce, and grill about I to 2 inches from the heat. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the fish, and you must be very careful not to let them overcook. As a rule, fish need 10 minutes of cooking for every inch of thickness.
While cooking, turn the hinged grill several times and baste the fish, so that they cook on both sides simultaneously.
When the fish are done, transfer them very carefully to a plate, pour a little of the basting sauce over, and serve immediately with the remaining basting sauce on the side.
Spinach Rice
SPANAKORIZO
Leek Rice
PRASSORIZO
Cabbage Rice
LAHANORIZO
Vegetables and greens combined with rice are a very common theme in everyday Greek cooking. Because cabbage, leeks, spinach, and other wild or cultivated greens are readily available, they can be combined with rice to make easy and inexpensive lunches or dinners. You will even find these dishes in village restaurants, especially on Wednesdays and Fridays, the days Greeks are supposed to abstain from meat according to Orthodox tradition.
1/2 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh chili pepper, or 1/3 -1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
2 1/2-3 cups water or chicken stock
2 1/2 cups fresh spinach, wilted and chopped; or sliced leeks, sauted in 2 tablespoons olive oil; or cabbage, briefly blanched and chopped
Sea salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill (optional)
1 cup thick yogurt, sheep's milk if possible (optional, see mail-order Sources)
SERVES 4-5
In a deep, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and saut=E9 the onions until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the chili pepper and the rice. Stir for a few seconds to coat with oil.
In the meantime, heat the water or stock with the vegetable of your choice in a separate saucepan. When it starts to boil, pour it over the rice and reduce the heat. Season with salt; mix well with a wooden spoon, and cover. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked but still moist. Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped dill and with a dollop of yogurt on each plate.
Note: Instead of using one green in this recipe, you can use a combination of spinach and leeks or cabbage and leeks.
Fish Steaks in Tomato Sauce with Currants
FETES PSARIOU ME DOMATA KE STAFIDES
This recipe from Kalamata, in the Peloponnese, originally called for salt cod, the cheapest fish and the only one available all over the country, even in places far from the sea. Soaked in water overnight, salt cod is used in a number of Greek dishes. But now that there is electricity in nearly all Greek villages -bringing with it refrigerators and frozen fish-all kinds of fish steaks or fillets are used for this dish.
The currants sweeten the tomato sauce, making it more interesting in taste and texture than the tomato sauce sweetened with sugar, which Greeks usually use.
4-6 small fish steaks, such as swordfish or tuna
Olive oil, for frying
Flour, for dredging
SAUCE
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2-1 teaspoon minced fresh chili pepper, or 1/3-1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups fresh or good quality canned tomato puree
1 cup dried currants
Sea salt, to taste
4-6 thin slices fresh tomato
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Rinse the fish steaks and dry. Heat the olive oil over high heat in a skillet. Dip the fish in the flour and shake it to remove any excess. Brown the fish on both sides, just to seal their juices. They don't have to be cooked through, as they will continue to cook in the sauce. Transfer to paper towels.
Preheat the oven to 375' F.
In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and chili pepper, and pour the wine over them. Bring to a boil, let the sauce simmer for 1 minute, then add the tomato puree. Cook over high heat until the sauce thickens slightly. Add the currants and remove from the heat. Season with salt.
Arrange the fish steaks in a glass or clay baking dish and place a tomato slice on each. Pour the sauce over and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until fish flakes.
Sprinkle with the parsley and serve warm or at room temperature. |
