Category: Recipes

Farro with arugula pesto

Here is my quick and easy recipe for farro with arugula pesto dressing. It can be served warm or chilled, as a side dish or as a salad. Farro is the grain of a type of wheat, and there seems to be a bit of controversy over what type of wheat.

Served as koliva, farro is sweetened with powdered sugar, mixed with pomegranate seeds, and sesame seeds. It is decorated with the Sign of the Cross in little silver candies, blessed and given to parishioners after Greek memorial services to symbolize the cycle of eternal life.

Farro ingredients

I use organic Italian pearled farro that I buy at Costco. You should rinse the farro and also let it soak in fresh water for at least 20 minutes before cooking.

TIP: use a fine mesh colander when you are soaking it. This makes transferring it into the pot of water much simpler. Using 2 1/2 to 3 cups of salted water and 1 cup of farro, bring it to a boil, and let simmer for 20 minutes until al dente or until the desired level of chewy-ness. Usually, there are cooking instructions on the packaging.

Farro soaking

My arugula pesto dressing is simple. I use arugula instead of basil or parsley because it has a wonderful peppery taste. I whiz 3 large garlic cloves, 1/2 of a cup of EVOO and 1/2 of a cup of lemon juice in my mini processor, (it’s an attachment to my hand blender) and salt and pepper to taste. You can also use a mortar and pestle if you want a little exercise. (Yianni gave me the small marble one in the photo of the ingredients above.)

Arugual pesto for farro

Farro is very versatile. I have used it in place of rice or quinoa many times. Here I used it with lentils; cooked with onions, carrots, Swiss chard and lots of lemon.

Farro and lentils

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Pumpkin Bread… because PUMPKIN!

Are you sure that you haven’t been inundated enough yet with PUMPKIN? If not, then keep reading because I am jumping on this squash’s bandwagon! I’m using a recipe from the Taste of Life Greek Food Cookbook.Pumpkin Bread collage

I used Pumpkin Spice in place of cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s a mixture of both those spices and also ginger, allspice, mace and cloves. Mace is made from the covering of nutmeg seeds.

Pumpkin Bread -pumpkin spice

I made a little change in the recipe from the original. I fold the dried cherries into the dry ingredients, before combining with the wet. It’s a tip I learned watching Ina Garten. It keeps them from sinking to the bottom.

Pumpkin Bread mixure

Here is what the mixture looks like before it is transferred into a loaf pan.

Pumpkin Bread loafpan

The loaf pan should be greased. I used butter.

Pumpkin Bread - done

The bread is done baking when the skewer comes out clean.

Pumpkin Bread - cooling on rack

This recipe will make your kitchen smell yummy! Happy Pumpkin Season!

Pumpkin Bread
 
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Pumpkin Bread recipe from the Taste of Life Greek Food Cookbook by the Ladies Philoptochos Society of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Grand Rapids MI
Author:
Recipe type: Bread
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ cup nonfat dry milk
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice)
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. nutmeg (I used pumpkin pie spice)
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup raisins ( I used dried cherries)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, dry milk, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg
  3. Fold in raisins (dried cherries)
  4. [My little change in the instructions from the original: I fold the dried cherries into the dry ingredients, before combining with wet. It's a tip I learned watching Ina Garten.]
  5. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, pumpkin,, brown sugar and oil
  6. Add wet ingredients into dry, mixing just until combined
  7. Pour batter into a greased 9x5 inch load pan
  8. Bake at 350° for 60 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
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Feta Lamb Burgers & Mint Aioli

Here’s my recipe for grilled feta burgers with fresh herbs, topped with mint aioli.

Feta Lamb Burger Ingredients

The ingredients are easy to find at your local grocery; ground lamb, fresh herbs, onion, and feta. I buy Dodoni feta at Costco, but 2 or 3 brands of crumbled feta are in most markets now. These herbs are from my garden. I have a decent size patch of Greek oregano, but I used dry oregano in this lamb mixture. Fresh oregano can be a very strong and over powering herb.

Feta Lamb Burger Patties

This recipe will make 4 to 6 lamb burgers, depending on the size you want.

Mint Aioli Ingredients

The mint aioli is a really quick recipe. You can make aioli from scratch, whipping eggs and olive oil. I took the easy route and used Hellmann’s mayonnaise as the base. The mint is from my garden. I have it contained, so I let it flower. The bumble bees love it.

Mint Aioli

I like to make this aioli with a lot of flavor, so add the garlic and dry mustard slowly. Taste it as you mix, to make sure it has just the right amount of zing for your taste buds. You know the rule. You can always add more, but you can’t take away.

Feta Lamb Burger 2

It’s an easy recipe for a delicious alternative to ordinary hamburgers. Enjoy!

Feta Lamb burgers & mint aioli
 
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Recipe for grilled feta lamb burgers with fresh herbs and topped with a mint aioli.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Greek / American
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • LAMB AND FETA BURGERS
  • 1½ pounds of ground lamb
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • ½ large onion diced
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons for vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste (remember the feta is salty)
  • FRESH MINT AIOLI
  • 1 cup mayonaisse
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or if you prefer, 3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced and smashed into a paste)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. LAMB AND FETA BURGERS
  2. Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, toss in the diced onions
  3. Bring the pan to medium-high heat and cook the onions for 5 to 10 minutes
  4. Turn the heat off and let cool.
  5. In a large bowl, add the ground lamb, onion, feta, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, soy sauce and vinegar
  6. Mix well with your hands
  7. Form the lamb mixture into 4 to 6 patties (depending on the size you want)
  8. Grill the burgers to your desired doneness, 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
  9. FRESH MINT AIOLI
  10. In a small bowl , mix together well the mayonnaise, chopped mint , dried mustard, garlic, salt and pepper
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Freelance food writing

I did some freelance food writing work recently and contributed to “In Good Taste” magazine for Spring. Check out page 9 for the article: “How to Make Your Life More Fruitful”. It was a fun experience and I hope to do more writing for this local publishing agency that focuses on custom food marketing for many high-end grocery stores and markets.

Are you looking for a food writer? I have quite a few articles that have been published online. I would love to write for you. Ping me! I’ll send you links to the work I have done.

Freelance food writing for In Good Taste Spring 2015