Falafel

Ingredients

1 16oz Can chickpeas

1 Large lemon, juiced

1 Large onion, roughly chopped

4 Cloves garlic, roughly chopped

¼ Cup parsley, roughly chopped

7 Tablespoons all purpose flour

1 Teaspoon baking powder, heaping

½ – 1 Teaspoon kosher salt, to taste

¼ Teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 Tablespoons tahini paste

½ Teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted

½ Teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted

3 Tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
2 Teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)

Canola oil for frying

Directions


Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a small dry skillet over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before grinding. I use a coffee bean grinder to grind all of my spices. I only use this grinder for spices and have it clearly marked.


In the bowl of a food processor add all ingredients, and pulse until Falafel mixture is ground but not completely, mixture should be “chunky” with some lumps. Before removing mixture from the food processor bowl, fold in the sesame seeds. Transfer falafel mixture to an airtight container, and place into the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour, this will allow the flour to do it's job and absorb some of the moisture and thicken the mixture.


Heat 1 inch of oil in a cast iron skillet or another heavy frying pan to 350° F, over medium heat. With 2 teaspoons (not measuring teaspoons, but flatware teaspoons) spoon falafel mixture with one spoon and use the other spoon to slide it off into the oil. Continue spooning the mixture into the skillet, be sure to not over crowd the pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with Pita bread, yogurt sauce and salad. ENJOY!!

Greek Gyros

Ingredients

1 Large onion, shredded

2 Pounds lamb, ground

2 Tablespoons garlic, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon dried marjoram

1 Tablespoon dried rosemary

2 Teaspoons kosher salt

2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening

½ Teaspoon black pepper

Tzatziki Sauce, recipe follows

Greek Salad, recipe follows

Directions


Preheat oven 325° F


Shred onion with a box grater or food processor. Place onion into a tea towel and squeeze almost all of the liquid out of the onion, discard the onion juice. In the bowl of a food processor place the onion, herbs, garlic, shortening, lemon juice and the lamb. Process mixture for 3-5 minutes, or until well mixed and meat is slightly “paste” like. Remove from food processor and form into a loaf (as if you were making meatloaf). Place into a loaf pan which has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 160-170° F. Remove from loaf pan (save the juices from the pan) and place on a cutting board, let stand for 15 minutes at room temperature to cool down slightly. Slice into thin slices and serve with Tzatziki sauce, Greek salad and traditional Greek pita bread that has been heated up in a skillet with a little butter. 


I generally make the gyros meat 1 day ahead of time.   I put the pan juices into the refrigerator so the fats can solidify.  I put some of the fat into a skillet on medium heat and add the strips of gyros meat, and slightly brown them.  This gives the gyros a more authentic texture and taste.  Enjoy!!

Tzatziki Sauce & Greek Salad

 

Ingredients

18 Ounces Greek yogurt

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Large cucumber, peeled and seeded

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

2 Tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped

3 Teaspoons red wine vinegar

Black pepper, to taste

Greek Salad, recipe follows

Directions

Cut cucumber in half length wise and with a small spoon scoop out the seeds.  Dice the cucumber and place in a strainer over a bowl, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon kosher salt, this will draw out excess water so your sauce won't be too liquidy.  
In the bowl of a food processor add all ingredients and process for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Refrigerate until ready to use.  Also before serving I usually mix in 1 tablespoon of crumbled feta cheese to give the sauce extra flavor.
Enjoy!

Greek Salad

Ingredients

8 Cups of lettuce, hand torn

1 Large ripe tomato, roughly chopped

1 Large cucumber, peeled seeded roughly chopped

1 Small red or sweet onion

8 Ounces feta cheese

1 Cup kalamata olives

½ Green pepper

Greek dressing, recipe follows

Directions


In a large salad bowl mix all the above ingredients, toss with Greek dressing 20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!

Greek Dressing

Ingredients

¼ Cup red wine vinegar

1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

6 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 Teaspoon dried oregano

Directions


Place all ingredients into a plastic container with tight fitting lid and shake until slightly thickened.

Spotted Dog Soda Bread

(Spotted Dog because of the Raisins)

Ingredients

3 ½ Cups all-purpose flour

4 Tablespoons vegetable shortening, cold

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ½ Teaspoons baking powder

¾ Teaspoon baking soda

½ Teaspoon salt

1 Cup + 1 table spoon buttermilk

¾ Cup raisins

2 Tablespoons caraway seeds, optional

Directions


In a large mixing bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Add the vegetable shortening and rub into the flour mixture with your hands or a fork, until it resembles sand. Add buttermilk slowly and mix well until it forms a dough, it is better if the dough is a bit wet/sticky since you will be kneading it and adding some flour. Turn the dough out on to a well floured surface and knead dough until it’s smooth and no longer sticky. Form dough into a ball and flatten just a little bit (don’t worry it will rise in the oven). With a serrated knife cut a large X into the top of the loaf, about ½ inch deep. Let loaf sit on counter top for about 10-15 minutes before transferring it into the oven. Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes, or when tapping on the bottom of the bread produces a hallow sound. Enjoy!!

Corned Beef & Cabbage

This process takes roughly 3-4 hours, so if you’re looking for a quick meal this might not be for you… but I assure you it’s well worth the cooking time!

Ingredients

4 ½ - 6 Pound corned beef brisket

1 Teaspoon black pepper corns

1 Teaspoon mustard seeds

3 Dried bay leaves

2 Teaspoons mustard powder

1 Medium head white cabbage, thickly chopped

1 Pound carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch thick slices

1 Large sweet onion, thickly sliced

3-4 Sprigs fresh thyme

3-4 Sprigs fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Remove brisket from packaging, do not rinse.  Place in a large stockpot or Dutch oven.  Add enough water to cover the brisket plus and additional inch.  Add pepper corns, bay leaves, mustard seed and powder.  Tie the thyme and parsley into a bunch with butcher’s twine and add to the pot.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for approximately 2- 2 ½ hours.  Be sure to continuously skim off any residue that floats to the top of the pot.  At this point the meat should be easily pulled apart with a fork.  To the pot add the vegetables, and cook for an additional ½ - 1 hour.  Remember to cut the vegetables into large pieces since you will be cooking them for a considerable amount of time, and they will dissolve. 

Remove the meat from the pot and allow to cool slightly on a cutting board before slicing it.  You should always cut beef, lamb, and pork against the grain, which will give the meat a tenderer cut.    Remove the bay leaves and the herb bundle.  With a slotted spoon remove the vegetables from the pot and add to the serving dish that you have place the corned beef in.  Pour some of the pan juices over the meat and vegetables and serve.  Some people like to eat corned beef with a lot of pan juice like a soup, so don’t throw the left over juice just in case. 

Banana’ mite Cake

Ingredients

¾ Cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Cup granulated sugar

1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

2 Teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 Large eggs

½ Teaspoon salt

2 Cups over ripe bananas, smashed

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 Teaspoons banana extract, optional

1 Cup of buttermilk

3 Cups all-purpose flour, shifted

2 Teaspoons baking soda

1 Batch Banana Cream Cheese Icing, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven 350°F

Grease and flour 2 eight or nine inch cake pans, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. 

Add sugars, and continue to mix. 

Add Lemon juice, eggs, salt and extracts, mix well.

Add bananas and buttermilk. 

Once the banana mixture is well mixed begin to add the dry ingredients slowly.

Be sure not to over mix or your cake will come out tough.

Divide the batter evenly into the 2 cake pans, and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow cakes to cool in the cake pans and once cool to the touch remove from pans and place on a wire rack until completely cooled.  I usually allow the cakes to cool down over night before applying the icing, as to avoid any melting.  I usually make the icing while waiting for cakes to cool and place in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Banana Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

¼ Cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 8oz package of cream cheese, room temperature

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Teaspoons banana extract

3 ½ - 4 Cups confectioners sugar

¼ Cup walnuts, finely chopped

Beat butter in a medium mixing bowl, add cream cheese and extracts.  Once mixture is creamy add the sugar and mix until well incorporated.  Place in refrigerator until ready to use.  I usually trim off the excess on the cake layers to even them out before I begin to ice them.  I take the  pieces of cake I trimmed off and place them onto a cookie sheet and place in the over at 250°F for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until crispy.  Once cooled, place in the bowl of a food processor with the walnuts and pulse a few times until mixture is crumb like (this is what you will use on the sides and top of the finished cake).

Enjoy!!

Vegetable Dumplings

 

Ingredients

Dough

2 Cups All purpose flour

4oz Frozen chopped spinach

¼ cup fresh Italian parsley

Water

1 Teaspoon kosher salt

Filling

2 Carrots, shredded

½ Cup cabbage, shredded

¼ Red bell pepper, finely diced

3 Scallions, finely diced

1 Cup button mushrooms, finely chopped

2 Celery stalks, finely chopped

3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger root, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 Tablespoons lite soy sauce

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

2 Tablespoons Mirin (rice wine)

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 Large egg, well beaten

Salt

Directions

In a small sauce pan cook the spinach in enough water to cover it. Simmer for 20 minutes, remove spinach and reserve the water(keep hot).

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, spinach and parsley. Run the food processor and slowly add approximately 1 cup of the reserved spinach water.

Dough should pull away from the sides of the food processor bowl.

On a lightly floured surface begin to knead the dough, it will be sticky, so be sure to continuously add flour. Dough should be soft but not sticky.

Cover with a damp towel for 10 minutes, allowing dough to rest.

Cut dough into 3 equal parts, and form 3 balls. Return 2 of the 3 balls to the damp towel, and begin to roll out the 3rd ball into a long rope like form. The dough should be approximately 1 inch in diameter. Slice the dough into ½ - ¾ inch pieces. Roll dough into small balls and place under the damp towel. Only remove 3-4 dough balls at a time to avoid the dough from drying out.

On a floured surface flatten the dough balls into disks. Take the disk into your hands and crimp the edge of the dough with your fingers as you turn it. This takes some practice so don’t worry if the first few don’t work out. Now with a rolling pin, flatten the disk, be sure not to apply too much pressure and to continuously turn the dough so that you get a full circle. Flour the disks and stack the one on top of the other, cover with a damp towel.

Time to work on the filling… Place all the vegetables into a strainer and add 1 tablespoon of salt, mix it throughout all the vegetables and allow to sit for 20 minutes. This will extract the extra moisture from the vegetables so you won’t have soggy dumplings.

Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat and add the sesame oil. Add the vegetable mixture, garlic, ginger, hoisin sauce, mirin, soy sauce and sugar. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, place in a mixing bowl and let cool for approximately 30 minutes. Once mixture has cooled, add the egg and mix well.

With your finger dampen the edge of the dough (with water), place disk in the palm of your hand and spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of the filling into the center of the dumpling. Fold the disk into a ½ moon shape and begin to crimp the edges with your finger tips. You and make the dumpling as simple or as fancy looking as you like. Once you get the hang of making dumplings you can try pleating the dumpling like in my photo.

Always remember to cover the dumpling or the dough with a damp towel when not working with them. If you place the finished dumplings on a parchment lined baking sheet you can place the baking sheet into the freezer until the dumplings are frozen then transfer them into a zip top bag and store in freezer for future use.

Cooking the dumpling… Heat 1-2 tablespoons to a non-stick skillet on medium-low heat. Arrange your dumpling, making sure they do not touch (they tend to stick together and are next to impossible to take apart). Add ½ cup of water and place a lid on the skillet. Once all the water has evaporated, remove the lid so the dumplings will brown on the bottom. Once browned, remove and place on a plate. Serve with a simple dipping sauce (recipe follows)

Dipping sauce

6 Tablespoons lite soy sauce

1 ½ Tablespoon rice vinegar

2 ¼ Teaspoon fresh ginger root, grated fine

1 Large garlic clove, grated fine

1 ½ Teaspoons granulated sugar

1 ½ Teaspoons sesame oil

Dash of black pepper

Mix all ingredients and serve with dumplings.

**TIP**  You can buy either wonton or gyoza skins from your local supermarket, but more often then not they will not be spinach skins.  Buy the wrappers would make the dumpling process a lot faster, since making the wrappers is the most difficult part.