March 28, 2024

Radio Recipes from Prime’s Editor

Posted on December 20, 2015 by in EdNote

Here are family recipes I was privileged to present on Troy Public Radio in 2015. Please copy, cook, and e-mail me letting me know how they turned out.

Sandra Polizos, Editor primeeditor@gmail.com

Sandra Polizos, Editor
primeeditor@gmail.com

Greek Roasted Potatoes (May 2015)

2 lb. potatoes large potatoes, peeled

¼ c. olive oil

½ c. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. dried oregano

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

½ c. water

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Cut the potatoes into quarters or eighths, lengthwise, and place in a large, shallow baking dish.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir the potatoes to coat.  Pour into a single row in a casserole dish. Bake, uncovered for 30 minutes, or till lightly gold crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Turn the potatoes and add another ¼ to ½ cup water to continue cooking them after rearranging them in the pan. Cook for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and browned on the outside.

You must watch the potatoes while cooking to be sure they don’t burn.  If they’re getting too dark (before they’re ready) cover with aluminum foil! Continue to cook until they are browned and soft to cut with a fork.

(OPTION: Add cut up chicken pieces to this dish by first washing the chicken and patting it dry. In a bowl add chicken, and about twice the original amounts of oil, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper to coat the chicken. Toss to mix well. Add the potatoes and cook as directed above.)

Loukoumathes: Greek Style Honey Balls (June 2015)

1 ¼ cup self rising flour

1 cup of lukewarm water

Several T. honey

cinnamon

Finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

2 c. oil for frying

Paper towels

Heat plenty of oil in a deep saucepan, about ¾ full to about 360 degrees. Take a mixing bowl and pour in lukewarm water. Slowly stir in the flour until it forms a thicker batter. Let mixture rest for 10-15 minutes.

While waiting, take honey and heat up in the microwave so it is a little more fluid, making it easier to cover the loukoumathes.

Once oil is hot, take a spoonful of flour mix and pour it into the oil. (Dipping a teaspoon in a cup of oil first helps release the dough) Put about 4-6 teaspoons of dough in hot oil at a time. Fry till golden brown (do not over brown); take them out with a perforated spoon. Frying only a few at a time is important or they will take longer to cook. Once one side is golden brown, flip over. They should take a few minutes per batch.

Place the crispy loukoumathes on a few sheets of paper towel to soak up the oil Transfer to a plate. Pour warmed honey over them. Sprinkle with cinnamon (and chopped pecans or walnuts if desired) and serve warm.

My Grandmother Alexandra’s Peasant Moussaka from Chios (July 2015)

2 T. olive oil

1 ½ lbs. ground beef, low in fat

1 large minced onion

¾ of a six ounce can of tomato paste

1 ½ pounds of yellow squash or zucchini, cut into ¼ in rings (young, small eggplant can be added or substituted — quarter eggplant and cut into ¼ inch cubes)

3 Idaho potatoes, cut in ¼ in. rings (optional)

½ T of oregano

Salt

Pepper

Feta cheese

Crusty bread

In a large 12 in. frying pan that’s been sprayed with Pam, heat a T. of olive oil and brown the onion on the stove top. Set aside.

Heat the other T. of olive oil in the same pan and brown the ground beef. Return the browned onions to the pan and stir to blend them together well. Add oregano by crushing the leaves in your hand first, to release the flavors.

Add tomato paste and enough hot water to cover the meat. Stir well to mix. Raise the temperature to medium high. When sauce begins to boil, add squash and potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook about an hour, until the meat, veggies, and potatoes are soft and the sauce is thick. If the water has cooked down, and the veggies are not cooked yet, add additional water to the top of the ingredients level and continue cooking until meat is tender, veggies are soft, and sauce is thick.

Serve in a large plate or bowl, with Feta cheese crumbled on top. Serve with hot and crusty bread.   Serves 6.

Greek Rice Pudding (Sept. 2015)

1 ½ c. water

dash salt

½ c. rice

½ c sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten

2 c. milk

1 t. vanilla

ground cinnamon

Boil water in a saucepan. Add salt and rice. Bring to another boil for about 20 min., until the rice is cooked. Let it sit as you prepare the next additions to the pudding.

In another bowl, add the sugar to the beaten eggs and mix together well. Add the milk, and pour all into the boiled rice. Put the combined mixture back on the stove, and stir constantly, over a very low heat. Simmer this mixture until the pudding is somewhat thickened, about 20 – 25 min. Stir in vanilla. Pour pudding into individual serving bowls to set and cool. Refrigerate after cooling. Sprinkle top of each pudding with cinnamon before serving. Serves 4.

Stuffed Grape Leaves (Nov. 2015)

1 jar grape leaves (1 pt.) (found in most grocery stores)

1 ½ lbs. ground beef

2 ½ t. salt

Pepper

2 T. Olive Oil

2 onions, grated

1 c. long grain rice

¾ c. water

Juice of 1 ½ lemon

¼ c. chopped fresh parsley

¼ c. fresh mint

¼ c. butter

2 c. of chicken broth

Pull leaves from jar and let stand in cold water. If leave stem or ribs seem particularly tough, simmer the leaves in water for about ten minutes. Remove from heat and let them become cool to the touch.

Mix meat with the salt and pepper, olive oil, onions, rice, lemon juice, parsley and mint. Add the water to keep the mixture soft.

Place 1 kitchen teaspoon of filling into the center of a grape leaf (on the side where you feel the ribs). Fold in the side of the leaf and roll from the top to form a narrow roll (about 2 inches in diameter. If it’s a very small leaf, you’ll end up with a smaller roll.) After you roll each one, place it in a deep saucepan to line the bottom. After you’ve tightly filled up the bottom, start another layer directly on top of the first one.

Add butter, lemon juice, and broth and put an inverted plate directly on the grape leaves. This keeps them in place as they cook, and helps them stay together.

Simmer 45 minutes or until the rice is tender. You may serve with olive oil or lemon, with tsatsiki sauce (a yogurt/cucumber/garlic sauce also served as an appetizer with bread or a topping for gyros) or with the egg-lemon sauce Greeks are famous for.

Greek-Style String Beans in Tomato Sauce (Dec. 2015)

2 lbs. fresh string beans

2 onions, chopped

1/4 c. olive oil

1 can tomato sauce

2 tsp. salt

Pepper

Chopped parsley and mint

2 potatoes, cut in quarters (optional)

2 carrots, cut in one in. sections (optional)

at least 1 c. water

Remove the strings from the beans, and cut off the tip on both ends. Cut beans into 2 inch sections.

Saute onions lightly in olive oil. Add tomato sauce, salt, and pepper, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add string beans and other ingredients. Add water, enough to cover beans, and cook on medium high until beans are boiling. Then turn heat down to medium and cook for an hour or more. If water is boiling out before the beans are tender, just keep adding small amounts of water (say a half cup at a time) until beans are tender and water has reduced to for a nice, thick sauce. Feeds 6-8 as a side dish — less if you’re making this the entire meal.

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