my recipes

Home-made Greek style yogurt

2008-08-06T18:16:00.000+01:00

Making your own yogurt at home is very easy.

You will need
1 liter of whole milk,
5 spoonfuls of organic bio yogurt from the market (the one with live bacilli inside)
2 spoonfuls of powdered milk
food and drink thermometer

Boil the milk in a pan, and let it cool until it reaches about 45 K degrees. When ready, mix the milk with the yogurt from the super market, and after having placed the mix into a ceramic or pottery ball, put it in the oven (not more than 50 K degrees, for 2,5 hours). After taking it out of the oven, mix the powdered milk inside but try not to disturb it a lot. Place in a worm place over night, covering the pot with a clean plastic bag or a clean towel and with a blanket on top, to keep it worm. Next morning you will have delicious, bio-style yogurt for your breakfast. Store in the fridge.

tip: If your yogurt is watery, drain it with the help of a sieve and a clean pillow case inside it (or straight in the pillowcase). Do this procedure while yogurt is in the fridge.

I am sure you will love this yogurt as much as I do

xxxxxx
Marsia

redbrick

2007-06-25T16:15:00.000+01:00

REDBRICK is the University of Birmingham's student newspaper since 1936.

You can read Redbrick either on paper, or. . . (for those who are off campus) . . . online, at

http://www.redbrickonline.co.uk

If you follow the link and go to the 'food & drink' pages, you will discover some of my new recipes . . .

Thank you REDBRICK!!!

Marsia Sfakianou

exotic couscous salad

2007-04-22T15:17:00.000+01:00

you need:

couscous for 2 portions
1 avocado
1 lime
parsley
2 carrots
a handful of black raisins
a handful of walnuts
spring onions
1 red onion
salt
pepper

Boil the couscous for 3-4 minutes and let it get room temperature.
Chop the avocado, red onion, spring onions and parsley and add them to the couscous. Trim the carrots and walnuts. Add them to the couscous with a handful of black raisins. Add the juice of the lime, salt and pepper and enjoy this tasty salad.

recipe by Marsia Sfakianou, as always

papaya sauce

2007-04-11T14:05:00.000+01:00

Try something different.

Have you ever tasted fresh papaya fruit with lime juice on top?
The best combination ever!

You can even make a nice sauce, mixing a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt, lime juice, fresh papaya (1 fruit), salt and pepper in your food processor.
Perfect as a dip for your crisps and snacks.
Also, for the ones with very spicy tastes, you can add some jalapeño peppers and chilly.

A recipe of Marsia Sfakianou, as always. Enjoy!

Announcement:

2007-03-04T19:02:00.000Z

The Anglo Hellenic Club, Worcester, UK, presents:

Greek cuisine. From antiquity to modern recipes.

Marsia Sfakianou, archaeologist, PhD student (University of Birmingham)

Thursday 29th March
20:00pm
at Worcester Golf and Country Club,
Bransford Road, Worcester.

For more information call David Leggott (01905 21886) or email dleggott@aol.com.

Spicy pasta

2007-01-14T13:12:00.000Z

You need:

Pasta

A can of chopped tomatoes

3 chopped peppers (1 red and 2 yellow)

1 choped chilli

3 chopped mushrooms

Garlic

Chopped broccoli

Chilli powder

Salt

Pepper

Mixed herbs

Oil

Cheddar cheese

Boil the pasta in salty water. Prepare the spicy sauce.

Add a little bit of oil in a pan. Fry the garlic in it. Then add salt and pepper, mixed herbs, chilli powder and chopped chilli, chopped broccoli, chopped mushroom, peppers and tomatoes. Boil well. Then microwave pasta (in separate dishes) with cheese on top, and add the sauce.

By Marsia, as always.

2006-12-31T20:12:00.000Z

Stuffed duck with orange, potatoes and wild mushrooms

You need:

-A medium duck (serves 4)
-a boiling potato
-2 big wild mushrooms (chopped)
2 oranges (juice)

For the stuffing you need:

Mince (a quarter of a kilo)
Pine nuts (half a tea cup)
4 dried apricots (chopped)
Corinthian raisins (half a tea cup)
Jest of half an orange
A tin of chopped tomatoes
2 chopped onions
Dried mixed herbs
Salt
Pepper

Necessary:

Oil (olive oil, if possible),
Garlic

Preparing the stuffing:

Preheat a little bit of oil in a pan. Add pine nuts and chopped onions, chopped apricots, Corinthian raisins, jest of orange, herbs, salt and pepper and let them cook. Stir well; add mince, the tomatoes and a little bit of water, until the liquid covers the stuffing ingredients. Add more oil if necessary.

Preparing the duck:

Make sure that you remove the parts of the duck that have deposits of fat. Remove the intestines. After that rinse the duck, put the bird on a tray and add salt and pepper. Add the stuffing into the cavity of the duck.

Preheat the oven at 140. Leave the duck in the oven until it is cooked (it generally takes 3-4 hours). Make sure that you pure some orange juice on top of the bird, at least once an hour.

When the duck is almost done, add some potato chips and chopped mushrooms. Add some chopped onions and garlic.

Perfect with port wine!

2006-12-10T16:22:00.000Z

Chestnuts covered with chocolate

You need:
Cooking chocolate
Chestnuts (half a kilo for a bar of cooking chocolate)
Black pepper
Baileys

A very good idea for Christmas. You simply:

a) boil the chestnuts after you have cut their shell with a sharp knife. Peal them when ready.
b) melt the chocolate in “bain marie”, adding a little bit of pepper and a spoonful of Baileys.
c) dip the chestnuts in the melted chocolate and leave them in the fridge for about an hour.
d) Enjoy your healthy X-mas toffees.

Fried pineapple slices

2006-11-10T21:14:00.000Z

It is very simple…

You need:

A fresh pineapple
Sugar (about 5-6 spoonfuls)
Ground cinnamon (a little bit)
Butter (2 spoonfuls)
Sesame seeds (half a cup)
Black pepper or ginger powder (a little bit)
Chocolate syrup

a) Cut the pineapple in slices. With a sharp knife, remove the hard brown peel from the perimeter
b) Put 2 spoonfuls of butter in a frying pan and heat it.
c) Add sugar and a tiny little bit of water (2-3 spoonfuls) until the mix becomes caramel syrup. Add more water or sugar till it becomes honey like in colour, but still liquid. Do not forget to stir all the time, while the pan is on fire. At the end, add cinnamon and black pepper or ginger. They give an interesting taste.
d) When the mix in the pan becomes harder, fry the pineapple slices in it.
e) Put the caramelized pineapple slices in a dish and pure some sesame seeds and chocolate syrup on them.

Enjoy your freshly made sweet.

Rainbow Salad

2006-11-08T00:03:00.000Z

A healthy Summer salad full of vitamins

For 4 people you need:

a cup of strawberries cut in half

a cup of blueberries

a cup of blackberries

a handfull of rasberries

a handfull of cranberries

15-20 cherries

an orange (half a cup of juice and a spoonfull of grated peel)

a lemon (three spoonfulls of juice and a spoonfull of grated peel)

a cup of flaked almonds

cinamon (half a tea spoon)

2 spoonfulls of sugar or honey
(if you wish)

a few mint leaves for decoration

half a cup of mascarpone cheese cut in pieces or grated

half a cup of riccota cheese cut in pieces or grated

crushed ice for decoration (if you wish)

Simply mix the ingredients in a bowl and enjoy. Delicious as it is or
with yogurt flavoured ice cream.

Marsia’s cross-cultural recipe for chicken

2006-11-07T23:57:00.000Z

A tasteful exotic recipe for chicken combining ancient Greek, Indian and French cuisine…

Ingredients for 2 portions:

3 chicken filets

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

200 gr Greek yogurt

Ground cinnamon

3 oranges

2 handfuls of raisins (black or brown)

2 handfuls of sesame seeds

2 handfuls of pistachios

1 spoonful of honey

Lettuce leaves

2 apples

fresh or dried mint leaves

2 papadums

Preparing the chicken:

Deep the chicken fillets into 100 yogurt making sure that the yogurt covers them completely. After an hour, fry the fillets into olive oil, as they are, covered with yogurt. Add salt and pepper.

Preparing the sauce:

In a frying pan with olive oil, fry 3 oranges in segments, 2 handfuls of raisins and the ground cinnamon. In the end, add 2 handfuls of pistachios, 2 handfuls of sesame seeds and a spoonful of honey and leave them to take colour. Deep the chicken fillets in the sauce mix.

Preparing the papadums and the salad:

Microwave ready-sold papadums for 20 seconds. They will get the shape of a nest. Put the chicken fillets and the sweet sauce into the papadums and place the papadum nests in a dish.

Cut apples in little cubes and mix them with the lettuce leaves, adding some yogurt with mint leaves. Place the apple and lettuce salad around the papadum nests.