Phillo triangles

What will now follow has happened a long time ago. Most living things were still merely a clump of primeval soup, although some had already started adding letters as well. The Universe itself was, in cosmic terms of course, only a teenager: it had recently had its 17 millionth birthday. And the story that's about to unfold happened at just that birthday party.

Naturally, Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon had been invited to the party. It was a magnificent event. Had you been there, you would have been able to see innumerable gods and goddesses, all dressed in the then-current fashion: they all wore silly freckled either white or red paper party hats and blue Hawaiian skirts. Some of the more osé divinities even sported underwear, while the kinky ones among them--for you must not be fooled: even gods are kinky--wore a green ribbon tied to a lovely knot on their left arm. But the Universe did not care, not really. "After all," it thought, "they'll be all dead soon, relatively speaking. In the End, I will remain alone anyway. So let those funny gods do whatever they want and have some fun as long as they can. Eternity doesn't last forever, now does it? I'm on a horse." At that precise moment, Divine Cherry walked up to the Universe to present her heartfelt wishes. Strangely enough, she did not carry a cake with her. Indeed, flour had not yet decided whether it wanted to exist or not, so there was no way to bake a proper cake. Instead, she brought Phillo pastry triangles. The Universe was about to blow out its candles when Divine Cherry showed them to him. As it is often the way with things, one followed another. Just when the Universe had exhaled the first blow of cosmic gas, its eyes wandered off to Divine Cherry's offering. Of course, its breath followed its gaze, and soon all the Phillo pastry triangles were scattered all around the Universe (do not bother with the paradox of external vs internal existence--just assume that it works).

And so it was that when the Universe had its 17 millionth birthday party, Divine Cherry's Phillo pastry triangles were scattered all over the universe. In order to console her, and also so that they would be more easily discernible, Celestial Dragon alighted every poppy seed on every triangle. The result were the stars you see in the night-sky. Now you know; the great secret has finally been revealed. Stars are not humongously huge gaseous masses, but in fact the poppy seeds on Divine Cherry Phillo pastry triangles that Celestial Dragon alighted out of love and compassion.

Phillo triangles (for 72 triangles)

- 3 packs of ready made phillo pastry

Spinach filling: same filling as the greek pie, but with spinach instead of spring greens.

Cheese filling:

- 1 egg

- 100g robiola (or soft cheese)

- half a glass of milk, but you'll probably need less

- 200 g feta

- a pinch of grated nutmeg

- salt and pepper

- 50 g butter to brush the pastry

Prepare the two fillings. Follow the instruction and quantities indicated here for the spinach filling.

Prepare the cheese filling: mix together the egg,  robiola, crumbled feta, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Add a bit of milk to make the filling spreadable.

Cut 6cm wide stripes from every phyllo  sheet.  Take one stripe at the time, and keep the rest under a cloth in order not to let them dry. Brush the strip with melted butter. Put one spoon of filling on one bottom corner and fold it over the other corner in order to form a triangle, then fold the triangle over and over itself till the end of the strip. Do the same with the rest of the stripes, alternating the fillings.

Put the trinagles over a tray lined with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 30 min or until golden brown.

Triangoli di pasta fillo

- 3 confezioni di pasta fillo

Ripieno di spinaci: ingredienti indicati nella ricetta delle torta greca, sostituendo alle biete gli spinaci.

Ripieno ai formaggi:

- 1 uovo

- 100 g robiola

- mezzo bicchiere di latte, ma forse ve ne servirà meno

- 200 g feta

- una grattatina di noce moscata

- sale e pepe

- 50 g burro, per spennellare

Preparare i ripieni. Per gli spinaci, seguire le istruzioni qui.

Preparare il ripieno di formaggi. Mescolare l'uovo con la robiola, la feta sbriciolata, la noce moscata, sale e pepe. Aggiungere un po' di latte per rendere il composto spalmabile.

Tagliare da ogni foglio di fillo strisce larghe 6cm. Prendere una striscia alla volta e tenere le altre al riparo sotto un canovaccio pulito in modo che non si secchino. Spennellare la striscia con burro fuso, porre un cucchiaio scarso di ripieno su un angolo delle pasta, ripiegare l'altro angolo sopra il ripieno a formare un triangolo. Ripiegare il triangolo su se stesso più volte fino a terminare la pasta. Ripetere questa operazione con le altre strisce di pasta, alternando i ripieni. Porre i triangoli su una teglia ricoperta con carta forno. Cuocere in forno caldo a 200°C per circa 30 minui o fino a che i triangoli saranno dorati.

Enjoy,

And Spread the Mess

Torta d'Ispirazione Greca Biete e Feta - Spring Green and Feta Cake

It is a cold and dreary winter evening. Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon are sitting in the regal lounge of their winter residence. They are looking at the roaring fire, doing nothing, each holding a cat in their arms. Why? Only they know. Suddenly, however, Divine Cherry looks away and stares out of the window. Condensation has formed strange patterns on the ancient glass. One could read the history of the world in those patterns, and it would be just as accurate and correct as a reading of the future from tealeaves left in a cup. Divine Cherry (or DC to her friends) turns to Celestial Dragon (or CD to his play-us-something-friends) and, without speaking, communicates to him that she wants warmth. Celestial Dragon, ever alert, jumps up, shakes off the cat (much to Small Perfect Cloud's satisfaction) and approaches the fireplace. There he plunges one claw into the blazing flames and extracts a burning log. He walks back to Divine Cherry. Holding the hard, flaming wood before him, he blows on it. The glowing ashes spread across the entire room, painting everything in grey darkness. Divine Cherry closes her eyes, slightly worried as to what is going to happen next.
When she opens them again, she is sitting at a white-clothed table. Surveying her surroundings, she realises that they're now in a tavern somewhere in Greece. The sun is sinking behind the horizon, there, above the sea, over yonder hill. In front of her is a glass filled with delicious retsina, and the table is decked with one of her favourite dishes. The other side of the table, facing her, Celestial Dragon smiles. "You wanted warmth", he says.

Spring Green and Feta Cake

- 500 g spring greens
- 250 g feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 large egg or 2 medium
- 2 table spoons milk
- 100 g melted butter
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- half an onion, finely chopped
- 1 packet of phillo pastry (6 sheets in mine)
- 50 g of butter or half a glass of olive oil for brushing
- black seeds to decorate

Preheat the oven at 180 C. Cut in thin stripes the spring greens and steam them (or cook in a no-stick pan with salt and a little olive oil) until just tender. Squeeze the vegetables to release the excess of liquid and put them in a large bowl. Add the feta, onion, spring onions, melted butter, milk, the egg. Season with salt and  pepper and stir all the ingredients until well combined. Grease a baking tray with olive oil or butter, lie down the first phillo sheet, brush with some oil or butter, cover with the second sheet and brush again. Go on like that until you use half the phillo pastry sheets you have. Pour the filling mixture and cover with the remaining phillo sheets, brushing each one with butter. Brush the last sheet with butter and scatter some black seeds on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes: - Phillo pastry tends to dry out quickly, so open the paket at the very last moment. If some sheets break, it is not a big deal, you can use anyway the pieces of sheets.
- Usally this cake is made with spinach and it is known as Spanakopita in Greece, but is common also in Turkey.

Torta Greca di Feta e Biete
- 500 g biete
- 250 g feta
- 1 uovo grande o 2 medio-piccoli
- 2 cucchiai di latte
- 100 g burro fuso
- 4 cipollotti giovani e piccoli, tritati finemente
- mezza cipolla tritata finemente
- una confezione da 270 g di pasta phillo (la mia conteneva sei fogli di pasta)
- 50g burro fuso o mezzo bicchiere di olio di oliva per spennallare i fogli di pasta phillo
- semi neri di basilico per decorare (ma anche semi di sesamo o senza semini del tutto se non li avete)

Tagliare a striscioline le biete e farle appassire in padella con un filo d'olio per far perdere loro la maggior parte dell'acqua. Non stracuocerle, quando sono pronte, strizzarle e metterle in una ciotola capiente. Aggiungere alle biete la feta sbriciolata, la cipolla e i cipollotti tritati, 2 cucchiai di latte, il burro fuso e un uovo grande precedentemente sbattuto in una ciotolina. Salare e pepare e mescolare bene tutti gli ingredienti.
Imburrare una teglia da forno, adagiare il primo foglio di pasta phillo, spennellarlo bene con burro fuso o olio evo, adagiare sopra il secondo foglio e spennellare di nuovo, procedere cosi' fino ad usare meta' dei fogli di pasta che avete a disposizione. Disporre uniformemente il ripieno di biete, coprire con l'altra meta' di fogli di pasta che vi rimangono, adagiandoli uno alla volta e spennellando ciascuno con l'olio. Oliare anche l'ultimo foglio, spargere qualche semino nero e infornare in forno gia' caldo a 180 C per 40 minuti circa.

Note: La pasta fillo secca velocemente, quindi aprite la confezione solo all'ultimo minuto. Se qualche foglio si dovesse rompre, non e' grave: metteli a pezzetti comunque e spennellate sempre abbondantemente con l'olio.
- Se sotituite gli spinaci alle biete avrete la tradizionale Spanakopita greca.

Taramosalata

Legend, perhaps for the first time, doesn't remember something. It doesn't recall how a particular part of the world came to be. Of course, sitting in a cave all day doesn't help, and Legend knows it, but what is it to do? Go out and have a walk? Where's the age-old dignity in that? Nowadays Legend only lives in books, its presence is not needed under the sun anymore. The good old Memories are dwindling, and the few that remain more often than not don't have the strength to perpetuate a story. And so it is that Legend spends its days sitting morosely on the stony floor, picking listlessly at a fire with an ancient bolt of lightning, and wondering whatever happened to the past.
There's a knock on the cavern door (Legend's cavern has a door). Wondering who it is, and perhaps a little worried also, Legend gets up, shakes the dust off its clothes, spits in its hands and smoothes back its slick, still-black hair, casts a glance in the future, and opens the door. In front of it stand Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon. They bring an offering: an electric torch and a nose trimmer. Legend is delighted, it has never seen a nose trimmer before! But Legend isn't stupid. After all, it was there before anybody else. It was there before life began, and it will be the last to leave and lock the universe behind it. It knows that Celestial Dragon and Divine Cherry want something, and it also knows what it is.
Legend walks back deep inside the cave, rummages beneath old stones and brittle bones and comes back with a piece of papyrus – the object of the pair's desire.
Legend has it that this is what the papyrus contained: the legendary recipe for Taramosalata.

Taramosalata - Adapted from "Vefa's kitchen"
- 200g cured cod's roe
- 200g mashed potatoes
- 2 tablespoons of choppend onions
- 300ml olive oil
- 5 tablespoons of lemon juice

Put the cod's roe, onion, and a third of the olive oil in a food processor and blend everything for some seconds. Add the mashed potatoes a little at a time and blend everything together. Add olive oil while the motor is still on, and blend until the mixture is smooth and combined. Add the lemon juice and stir well. If the mixture is too thick, add a little water (or soda water) and stir. Serve with olives and crisp bread or pita bread.

Taramosalata, insalata di uova di pesce - Ricetta adattata da "Vefa's kitchen"
- 200 g uova di pesce in scatola, tipo uova di merluzzo
- 200g patate bollite e schiacciate
- 2 cucchiai di cipolla finemente tritata
- 300ml di olio evo
- 5 cucchiai di succo di limone

Mettere, le uova di pesce, la cipolla e un terzo dell'olio in un mixer e frullare tutto per alcuni secondi. Aggiungere le patate lesse schiacciate e frullare. Con il motore del mixer acceso versare a filo l'olio d'oliva, finchè la crema diventa liscia e ben amalgamata. agiungere il succo di limone e mescolare bene. Se la crema dovesse risultare troppo densa, aggiungere u po' di acua (o ancora meglio acqua gasata) e mescolare.
Servire con olive nere (kalamata) e crostini di pane o pane pita (tipo piadina).

Dolmades - Involtini di foglie di vite ripieni di riso

Often the world wonders: who actually came up with that? Who, one day, decided that this would be a good idea? Who first thought of combining these things in such a way that the thing that would come out of that combination would be so much better than its original components? Well, world, wonder no more. For more often than not, the ones to come up with it were Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon. Granted, it is a bold claim to make, but keep in mind that this is a story and that in stories everything is possible. Just like a Hollywood movie. I mean come on, who - apart from the person in question - does a thumb up when he is gently lowered in molten iron?
Anyway, in a time when European civilisations still knew the true meaning of democracy, when many-headed water snakes lived in caves (on land!), and when bull-shaped men jumped on everything that entered their ghetto (called labyrinths at the time), Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon were having a heated discussion with Midas. It is a little known fact that King Midas was actually a very capable philosopher: he was the one who coined the phrase "don't touch your food with your hands". He also invented the fork. Be that as it may, the three of them were arguing on the possible outcome of a crossbreed between flavoured rice and sticky vine leaves. Our heroes said that it would be "bloody fantastic", while King Midas maintained that it was a "bloody stupid idea". Well, here's the outcome of that discussion: decide for yourselves.

Recipe adapted from Vefa's Kitchen
Ingredients:
-100g of vine leaves in brine
-120g of parboiled rice
-a handful of chopped parsil
-half a finely chopped onion
-1tbsp of lemon juice
-200g of boiling water
-1tsp of sultanas (optional)
-1tsp of pine nuts (optional)

Rinse the vine leaves under running water, the boil them for a couple of minutes. Drain them and carefully place them on the clean working space. Take some of the leaves cover the base of a thick pan with them. In a bowl, mix the raw rice, the finely chopped onion, the parsley, the sultanas and the pine nuts, add plenty of olive oil (extra virgin), as well as a bit of salt and pepper.
Now take the remaining vine leaves and put them on a working space with the smooth side underneath. Take a spoonful of filling and put it on the largest part of the leaf, then roll the leaf up until it covers the filling, fold in the sides, then fold them over the filling and continue to roll the leaf up until the end.
Do that with each leaf, or until you run out of filling. Or of leaves. Whatever happens first.
Now put all the roll-up leaves in the pan (the one with the other leaves in it) in concentric circles, making sure to leave as little space between each dolmades as possible. Cover with the 200g of boiling water, a generous helping of olive oil and the lemon juice. Place a dessert dish on the roll-up leaves in order to avoid them opening during the cooking process, cover the pan and bring to the boil. Cook for another 30mins as soon as it boils. Enjoy.

Ricetta adattata da Vefa's Kitchen
Ingredienti:
-100 g foglie di vite in salamoia
-120 g riso parboiled
-una manciata di prezzemolo tritato
-mezza cipolla tritata finemente
-1 cucchiaio di succo di limone
-un cucchiaio di uvette (facoltativo)
-un cucchiaio di pinoli (facoltativo)
-200 g acqua bollente

Sciacquare le foglie di vite sotto l'acqua corrente. Bollirle per un paio di minuti. Scolare le foglie di vite e stenderle con attenzione sul piano di lavoro.
Prendere una parte delle foglie e foderare una pentola capiente dal fondo spesso, cosi facendo gli involtini non si bruceranno.
In una ciotola a parte mescolare il riso crudo, la cipolla tritata, il prezzemolo, l'uvetta e i pinoli, irrorare con abbondante olio di oliva, salare e pepare.
Prendere le rimanenti foglie di vite una alla volta e adagiarle sul piano di lavoro con la parte liscia di sotto, mettere un cucchiaino di ripieno al centro della foglia nella parte piu' larga, arrotolare fino a coprire il ripieno, chiudere i due lati: ripiegando i bordi laterali sul ripieno stesso e continuare ad arrotolare fino alla fine.
Continuare cosi fino ad esaurimento degli ingredienti. Porre gli involtini nella pentola forderata, disponendoli in cerchi concentrici senza lasciare spazi vuoti. Coprire con 200g d'acqua bollente, un giro abbondante di olio di oiliva e un cucchiao di succo di limone. Appoggiare un piattino sugli involtini in modo che non si aprano in cottura, coprire la pentola con il coperchio e portare a ebollizione. Cuocere per 30 minuti dall'ebollizione.


Enjoy,
And Spread the Mess