Pastitsio (pasta dish)

Pastitsio
Ingredients

Krema Besamel ("Cream")
1/2 cup Butter (or Margarine for Lenten version)
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
8 tablespoons Flour Salt
4 cups Milk White Pepper
4 To 6 Egg Yolks (use equivalent amount of soy milk for Lenten version)
Pastitsio Noodles
8 ounces Macaroni (2 c raw) -- cook and 1 tablespoon Olive oil -drain

"Meat" Filling
1 ounce Butter (or Margarine for Lenten version)
Salt 1 lg Onion -- finely chopped
Freshly ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 pounds Ground beef (Tofu Hamburger Meat can be used instead for Lenten version)
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
2 tablespoons Simeon's Homemade Tomato sauce recipe (see Simeon's crazy Pizza recipe below...)
1/2 cup Dried breadcrumbs (left over dried pita bread works)
3/4 cup Dry Red Wine (If you have nothing else, sweet wine with a dash of red wine vinegar works too)
1 1/2 cups Grated Kefalotiri OR 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg Parmesan Cheese OR 1 1/2 cups Grated SOY CHEESE for Lenten version

Serves 8 people!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1 oz of butter (or Margarine) in large skillet and saute onion til soft and transparent. Add the meat (or Tofu Hamburger Meat), cook until browned. Mix tomato paste with wine and add to meat. Continue cooking, adding nutmeg, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Cook about 15 minutes, take off heat, cool and mix in half the breadcrumbs and half the grated cheese. Set aside. Do not allow meat to "bulk", keep it separated. Cook the macaroni in boiling water with oil til soft. Drain and set aside. Make crema ("cream"). Stir in 1/4 c. cheese.

To Assemble:
Grease a baking dish (LIKE A LASAGNA PAN) and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs. Spread half the cooked pasta over the bottom of the dish and sprinkle it with 1/4 c reserved cheese. Spread all of the meat over the pasta. Pour half the sauce over the meat and spread the rest of the pasta over it. Sprinkle it with 2 TB. of cheese. Pour the rest of the sauce on top and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and breadcrumbs and bake in the preheated oven 50-60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

Serve with lots of Greek salad, homemade bread with a dish containing a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and some homemade Greek wine to drink:)

And no, I don't eat like this all the time :( Its only when I get fed up with waiting for my sister to cook that I give in and cook up a storm lol

God Bless,
Sim

Simeon’s Pizza Recipe

Tomato Sauce

2 Cans of Tomato paste

1 and half Cans (use the empty tomato can) of water (keep adding, to the tomato paste, until it’s a nice sauce like mix)

Half a head of Chopped Garlic

2 Onions chopped and fried

Add Salt, Pepper, Oregano and Paprika to taste

Half a can (use the empty tomato can again) of Red Wine

One capful of Red Wine Vinegar

Add the olive oil, which you used to fry the onions and garlic, to the sauce to your own personal taste

Warm it up in the frying pan, till it simmers and smells good:)

Pizza Dough

3 and a half cups flour (1 Cup white flour, 1 Cup unbleached flour, 1 Cup potato four and Half a cup rice flour)

1 cup warm water (between 95° and 115° F.)

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 Tablespoon honey

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the dough in your bread maker on the pizza mix setting.

Cheese and Toppings Mixture

Take the Feta, Mozzarella cheeses and all of your favorite toppings and mix them in a large bowel.

Final Directions

Roll out the pizza dough to your liking (Throw it up into the air for good measure if you must lol).

Sprinkle the bottom of the rolled out dough with potato flour.

Spread the freshly made tomato sauce onto the rolled out dough.

Add the Toppings.

Drop some specs of tomato sauce over the toppings (just a tiny bit).

Pre-heat the oven for 350 then put the pizza in. Should take 20-25 minutes to cook.

Dim the lights, light some bees wax candles (not the petroleum ones) and put on your favorite Dean Martin CD. Pour yourself a glass of red wine, and enjoy! :)

Yorkshire Pudding Cockaigne

It was customary to cook this delicious dish in the pan with the roast, letting thedriping fal upon it. As many of us no long want extravagant drippings, we recommend cooking Yorkshire pudding separately in the hot ove requtred to put if up almost instantly.

• have all ingredients at 75 degress (including eggs, I just run them under warm/hot water for a few minutes to bring them to room temperature)

Stir into a bowl:

• 7/8 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Make a well in the center, into which pour:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water

Stir in the liquid, beat until fluffy and add:

• 2 eggs

Continue to beat until large bubble rise to the surface.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees f.
In 2 muffin pans, scrape about 1/2 a teaspoon of shortening into each cup. When oven is hot, place muffin pans in and watch until the shortening is melted and bubbling. Take pans out and immediately fill with batter (I usually use a large ice-cream scoop, this is just the right amount, I also use the same scoop for muffins).
If you have a convection oven (hot air circulating oven) you can place both pans in. If not, don't risk it, just put in one pan at a time (in which case, only prepare one pan at a time with the hot oil, as it should be bubbling hot when you pour the batter in).
Bake 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer.
They are ready when they are puffed up like in the picture, and golden brown.
Yummy fatty goodness!

Spinach Feta Twist bread

Biss will want this recipe, as will anyone with their head screwed on right! I'm assuming you have a breadmaker.

Add to breadmaker:
1 cup water
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons oil
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons yeast

-select "dough" setting. Set it and forget it!

Filling:
10oz/300 g (one whole bag) fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped not too small!

-wilt it in the microwave by putting in on high for 2-3 minutes, stirring in halfway through. And don't use canned spinach--it made an former roommate gag! (He moved out soon after!)

1 Tablespoon melted butter
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 teaspoons oregano

-mix these together.

Have ready:
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced (you may have to do it yourself!)
white from 1 egg
1 Tablespoon paremsan

Method:
1. Let the dough rest on a floured surface for 15 minutes.
2. Roll it out into a rectangle.
3. Spread the filling over the dough, and then sprinkle on top the feta and olives.
4. Roll the dough up like a cinnamon bun (lengthwise)
5. Take a knife or scissors and cut the roll in half lengthwise so that it is spilling its guts. Place the two strips side-by-side, filling facing up, and braid them together.
6. Shape into a ring in a greased tubepan.
7. Let rise 45-60 minutes (until doubled).
8. Brush the top with a mixture of egg white and 1 Tablespoon water. Sprinkle parmesan on top.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes (until bread sounds hollow when you tap on the bottom of the pan).

This recipe takes a lot of ingredients, time and a little bit of bread-baking knowledge. But it's worth it. Just ask anyone.

Korean Pancakes

A great way to use up that leftover kimche!

I often got fed this wonderful treat while tutoring my much-beloved students, Joesph, Alex, and Soon-Ja.

Mix:
one or two eggs
a bit of flour and water
(you want a fairly runny pancake batter)
Add:
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
3/4 to one 1/2 cup finely chopped kimche
a dash of salt

Fry thin pancakes in an oiled skillet until bottom side is browned. Flip over to brown the other side.
Enjoy!

Moussaka

Ingredients:
5 large eggplants, about a pound and a half each
Salt, Pepper, Paprika and Oregano
10 tablespoons of Olive Oil
3 pounds ground beef (Or Soy based hamburger)
1 and a half cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup grated kefalotiri (Ask for it at your local Mediterranean food store) or Parmesan cheese. Or Grated Soy cheese works just as well.
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (or crushed milk biscuits)
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups hot milk (Water works just as well)
3 eggs, lightly beaten (Optional)
More Olive Oil for brushing eggplant

Preparation

Peel the eggplant lengthwise. Cut into 1/2 inch rounds (or 1/4 inch thick length-wise slices), sprinkle with salt (to remove bitterness) and let stand in a colander (preferably under a heavy or weighted plate) for 1/2 hour. Rinse and dry the eggplant rounds.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan and then proceed to sauté meat (or soy hamburger) and onion until brown. Add tomato paste, parsley, wine, salt, pepper, oregano, paprika and water. Simmer until liquid has been absorbed. Cool. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese (or Soy Cheese) and half the breadcrumbs.

The Sauce

Melt 6 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan over low heat. Add flour and stir until well blended. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk or water. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until sauce is thick and smooth. Add salt and pepper. Cook over very low for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Eggplant Preparation

Preheat the broiler.

Lightly brush eggplant slices with Olive oil on both sides. Place on an un-greased cookie sheet and broil until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sprinkle bottom of a 10 x 16-inch pan with remaining breadcrumbs. Place a layer of eggplant slices on the breadcrumbs to completely cover the bottom of the pan, then spread meat mixture over eggplant slices (an option here, to ensure a more cohesive bottom, is to add a layer of cheese, or soy cheese, on top of the eggplant before topping with the meat mixture). Cover meat (or Soy Hamburger) with remaining eggplant slices. Spoon sauce over eggplant; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup grated cheese (or Soy cheese). Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm. This particular recipe will serve up to 10 to 15 people.