Mezze recipes

Dolmades:

Ingredients:
1 packet grape leaves
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
750g lean ground beef (or lamb)
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup feta (crumbled)
1 lemon (zest)
1 bunch of green onions (sliced)
1/4 cup dill (chopped)
1/4 cup mint (chopped)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
* chicken stock
2 eggs
1 lemon (juice)

Directions:
1. Separate the grape leaves and place them in a large bowl.
2. Cover the grape leaves in boiling water and let soak for 20 minutes.
3. Drain the water and rinse the leaves a few times.
4. Heat the oil in a pan.
5. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
7. Mix the onions, garlic, ground beef, rice, tomato puree, feta, lemon zest, green onions, dill, mint salt and pepper in a large bowl.
8. Place a grape leaf on a flat surface with the vein side up.
9. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the leaf and fold the sides over the filling and roll the leaf up. Repeat until all of the filling is used up.
10. Place stuffed grape leaves into a baking dish in layers and just cover with chicken stock.
11. Bake in a175C oven for about 1 hour.
12. Whisk the eggs in bowl over a small pan of simmering water until frothy, about 3 minutes.
13. Slowly pour in the lemon juice while whisking.
14. Add some of the liquid from the baking dish and continue whisking until it thickens.
15. Mix most of the avgolemeno sauce into the dish with the dolmades reserving some for garnish.
16. Serve the dolmades garnished with the reserved avgolemeno sauce and some chopped dill and or mint.

(Courtesy of my old mate, Dimple Dots, in Canadia (sic))

Pide recipe:

Mix 250g of Self Raising flour and 200g of natural yoghurt. knead until elastic. Place in a bowl, cover and allow to sit for 30 mins.

Divide into rounds, roll out until 3-4mm thick and dry fry in a cast iron pan, or on a BBQ grill.

Ginger glazed shallots:

500g shallots, peeled and left whole.

Bring a pot of water to the boil, Turn off as soon as it hits boiling point and throw your shallots in. Leave for 4-5 mins, drain and run under cold water to refresh. Allow to drain well.

In a wok, bring 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil to smoking point. Add the shallots, Fry for 3 mins, or until golden.

Add a grated 2inch knob of ginger and 4 tablespoons of honey. Continue tossing in wok for another minute or so, until shallots are glazed with thickened mixture.

Allow to cool to room temp before serving.


Roasted Lemon Potatoes:

8 med Coliban potatoes (approx) halved
I cup water
Half cup olive oil
Half cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbs oregano
Salt and pepper to flavour

(I also add a clove of garlic, minced and some paprika for colour)

Preheat oven to 220c
Add all ingredients to potatoes and mix well
Bake approx 45-50 min (turn potatoes over half way through)
Add more water if needed

ginger honey glazed shallots.

I wasn't really thrilled with these when the came out of the pan. A bit too sweet for my liking. But as the cooled they transformed from sickly sweet lollies, to tempting morsels of complex lusciousness.

And they're bloody easy to make, too.

500g shallots, peeled and left whole. (I had a couple of extra cocktail onions lying around and I added them too)

Bring a pot of water to the boil, Turn off as soo as it hits boiling point and throw your shallots in. Leave for 4-5 mins, drain and run under cold water to refresh. Allow to drain well.

In a wok, bring 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil to smoking point. Add the shallots, Fry for 3 mins, or until golden.



Add a grated 2inch knob of ginger and 4 tablespoons of honey. Continue tossing in wok for another minute or so, until shallots are glazed with thickened mixture.

My recipe says to serve straight way, but I left them to cool, and had them as part of an Asian-inspired tapas platter



Enjoy!!