Moustalevria (grape must pudding) of Rethymno

For every 6 cups of cleaned must:
1 cup flour
½ cup grated walnuts
½ cup sesame roasted and slightly grated
2-3 cinnamon sticks about 5cm
2-3 leaves apple geranium (optional)
To garnish:
Crushed walnuts
Sesame
Cinnamon powder

Set aside enough flour to dissolve the must. Boil the cinnamon sticks and apple geranium tied in a bunch. Dissolve the flour in the must. Right before boiling point, seive the flour mixture so there are no lumps and stir with wooden spoon. Wash the sieve so all the mixture drops into the pot.

Remove from heat and serve in bowls or plates. On top, sprinke crushed walnuts, sesame and a touch of cinammon powder.

Moustalevria (grape must pudding) of Rethymno

4 cups grape must
1 cup flour
Coarsely cut walnuts
Cinnamon powder
White sesame

Heat the grape must in a pot and bring to a boil. When it starts to boil and thicken, add the walnuts, the sesame seeds and the cinnamon.

Let cool and serve.

Nettle pie

For the filling:
1-1/2 kg nettles
4 fresh onions
2 fresh garlics
1 large onion
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Juice of one lemon

For the dough:
500 gr all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast
2 ½ tablespoons vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
2 tea cups lukewarm water
½ tea cup sesame seeds

In a bowl, put the flour, salt, vinegar, oil and dissolved yeast. Knead until the dough is soft and even. Cover and let rest. Clean and rinse the nettles wearing plastic gloves and place in a saucepan with salt to boil for 10 minutes. Remove and drain. Clean the onions and garlic and saut? the onions with oil in a saucepan. Add the nettles, salt and pepper and cook for five minutes. Divide the dough into two parts. Spread a sheet in an oiled baking pan and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Pour in the filling, open a second sheet, which is smaller but covers the filling. Fold the edges inward without pressing. Brush the pie with oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 50 minutes at 180 ° C. When the pie is ready, cool and carefully raise the top sheet and pour in the lemon juice.

Oats Carioca with Sykomaida (fig paste) of Corfu

Sykomaida:
2kg dried and fresh figs
200gr walnuts
50gr ouzo
20gr pepper
30gr cinnamon powder
20gr cloves powder
50gr sesame
30gr anise carioca:
1kg almonds, chopped.
100gr dark chocolate
150gr coconut
100gr walnuts
100gr hazelnut
20gr vanilla powder
20gr cinnamon
100gr raisins
200gr honey

Cut the figs finely with a pair of scissors and place in a medium sized bowl and add the ouzo to soften. Add the anise, cinnamon, clove, pepper and sesame seeds. Knead the mixture. Mould into salami shape using wrap. Refrigerate for an hour. Carioca: Melt the dark chocolate in bain marie, add the finely chopped hazelnuts and walnuts, coconut and raisins. Pour the melted chocolate into a mixer, adding the honey, cinnamon, vanilla and blend.

Cover the outside of the fig tart with the carioca chocolate and refrigerate until hard.

Melachrino of Zante

1 cup grape must
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
½ teaspoon clove
1 tablespoon cognac
1 cup raisins
1 ½ tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon anise
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Beat the sugar and the olive oil until slightly white, add the must, orange juice and the cognac. Stir all solid ingredients together, mix lightly and add the raisins. Brush with oil and flour the baking pan, pour the mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake at 180 C for 50-60 minutes.

Marmarites

½ kg chickpeas
2 red hot peppers
2 bay leaves
Fennel
Aniseed
Flour

For the filling:
Red pumpkin
Myzithra cheese of Skyros
2 large onions
Pepper
Mint
1 cup oil
Cinnamon
Sugar

Grind half a kilo of chickpeas. Add the water and boil over very low heat. Add two red hot peppers, bay leaves, fennel and anise. Boil and when the mixture starts to foam, remove the pot from the heat, skim the foam and place in a bowl with the flour and knead. As the chickpeas re-boil, skim the foam again and add more foam to the mixture. Repeat 2 – 3 times. This makes the yeast. Cover, set aside for a few hours until it rises. Knead the yeast with the flour and hot water and prepare the dough. For the filling, boil the red pumpkin, drain very well, and add the myzithra cheese, cooked onions, pepper, peppermint, oil, cinnamon and sugar. It becomes a spicy filling. Cut the dough in small balls and roll out to small round pies. Spread the filling in all the pies and close triangularly.

Bake until golden brown in a fireplace or in a wood stove.

Marmarites

500gr flour
A pinch of salt
A little sugar
4 eggs

Pour all the ingredients into a bowl and make porridge. Separate into small pouches.

Fry with a little oil in a frying pan until golden brown. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Mageria

2 cups corn flour
4 cups water
1kg sugar (approximately)
2-3 bitter orange leaves
1 cup walnuts (crushed)

In a bowl, pour the corn flour and water and stir well. Put the mixture in a pot, add the bitter orange leaves and sugar and boil. Stir continuouslywith a wooden spoon. After a few minutes lower the heat.

When thick, serve the “mageria” on a platter and sprinkle with the cinnamon and crushed walnuts.

Melekouni of Rhodes

350gr honey
600gr sesame
100gr sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅓ teaspoon nutmeg
½ orange zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
20-30 blanched almonds for garnish

In a baking pan, roast the sesame seeds and crush. In a pot, heat the honey and let simmer until losing some of the moisture. Add the sesame seeds, lemon juice, orange zest and spices. Stir well and spread onto a wet marble surface. Press the almonds into the mixture while still hot and cut into thin strips.

Set aside and let cool. Once hard, cut the “melekouni” into diamond-shaped pieces.

Milina

½ pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup corn oil
A little flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
Cinnamon
Baking powder

Cut the pumpkin into thin slices. Beat the eggs and sugar until white and add half cup of oil and the milk. Continue beating and add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon until the dough gets a thick consistency. Spread a little oil in a baking pan, sprinkle with a little sugar and cinnamon. Place two layers of floured pumpkin slices in pan and sprinkle again with sugar and cinnamon. Spread another two layers of pumpkin and pour the dough on top. Sprinkle with a little oil, sugar and cinnamon.

Bake at 200 C for 40 minutes and serve.

Milk pie of Chios

2 lt fresh milk
2 ½ cups fine semolina
2 ½ cups sugar
Lemon skin
Mastic of Chios, powdered
5 eggs
2 tablespoons butter

For the garnish:
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Boil the milk with ½ cup of sugar, butter and the lemon skin. Bring to the boil and add the semolina while stirring with a wooden spoon. When the mixture thickens, remove from heat. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, the remaining sugar and mastic powder. Pour into the mixture while still hot, stirring briskly.

Pour mixture into a buttered baking pan and bake at 170 C for 45 minutes until golden brown. Cut into squares and top with crystallized sugar and cinnamon.

Milk pie of Crete

1.1 litre fresh milk
100gr butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
260gr sugar
2 eggs
110gr flour
Store-bought traditional phyllo dough
Cinnamon
Fine sugar

Filling: Start with the butter and flour and add the remaining ingredients until the dough becomes solid. Roll out the traditional phyllo dough in a baking pan, covering the sides of the pan as well and pour the filling evenly on top. Roll the sides of the dough downward as one would with a pie.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake at 170 C for 35 minutes. Garnish with cinnamon and fine sugar.

Milk pie of Epirus

2 liters milk
320gr fine semolina
300gr sugar
5 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
Fine sugar
Ground cinnamon

Place a large pot on high heat and pour in the milk, sugar and vanilla, stir until it starts to boil. Add the semolina and stir a little more until all ingredients are mixed together well. Remove the pot from the fire and let cool for about 5 minutes. Add the eggs. Place non-stick paper on a baking pan and pour on the mixture evenly.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes at 200 C. Cover with a generous amount of fine sugar and cinnamon and serve warm.

Milk pie of Ioannina

2-2 ½ liters sheep milk
1 cup flour or semolina
8 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Set aside 4-5 sheets of phyllo dough. In a pan pour milk, sugar and flour/corn flour or semolina. Bring the pot to the boil while stirring continuously until the mixture becomes a thick cream. Beat the eggs and set aside a small portion for later (about 1/8 of a cup). Cool the eggs, add to mixture and stir well. Place all the phyllo dough sheets in the baking pan, pour in mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle with the remaining egg.

Brush the surface with melted butter or oil. Serve with sugar and cinnamon.

Lemon flavored rice pudding

1 litre fresh milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup rice
1 ½ cup sugar
2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick and cinnamon powder

In a large pot bring 1 cup of water to the boil. Add the rice and cinnamon stick. When the rice starts to boil, slowly stir in the milk. Add the sugar and stir until mixture thickens, for about 15 minutes.

It is ready in 15 minutes. Serve with lemon zest and cinnamon.

Loukoumades (honey dumplings) of Rethymno

1 kg flour
500 gr lukewarm water
1 wineglass orange juice
1 wineglass raki
Dry yeast
Salt
For the syrup: water, sugar, a little honey, lemon peel

Mix all ingredients togeher to make the dough, let rise. Drop the dough into the hot oil using a spoon and careful not to stick.

Drain honey puffs on kitchen paper. For the syrup, mix honey, water, lemon peel in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium high heat. Let the syrup cool. Dip the honey puffs in the syrup, sprinkle with cinammon and sesame seeds.

Leek pie

6 layers phyllo dough
1 ½ kg leeks
150-200 gr feta cheese
1 or 2 eggs
Salt
200 gr oil
1 ½ cup water

Prepare, wash and finely chop the leaks, add salt. Place in saucepan to prepare the filling. Add the grated feta, water, oil and eggs. Mix very well.

In a lightly buttered or oiled pan, spread a sheet of filo dough, sprinkle a little oil, and place the second sheet. Spread 1/4 of the filling on the second sheet and sprinkle the sheet with the liquid.

Lalaggites

750 gr lukewarm water
500 gr all-purpose flour
15 gr baking powder
1 packet of dry yeast (8 g)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt

In a deep bowl dissolve the yeast with the sugar, using 200 gr out of the 750 gr lukewarm water and whisk. When the yeast dissolves, alternate adding the flour and water while stirring. Add the baking powder and salt, forming a semi-liquid batter. Cover the bowl with a towel and leave in a warm place for about ½ hour to rise and double in volume. When ready, uncover and deflate the dough by shaking the bowl.

Heat a non stick fry pan and drop a tablespoon of batter in the center. Spread the dough in circular motions in the fry pan using the bottom of the spoon. Turn after one minute. It is ready to turn when the bubbles dry. Turn with a spatula and fry for another 2 -3 minutes.

Loukoumades (honey dumplings)

3 lt water
2 ½ kg flour
3 dry yeast sachets
Salt
1 stick cinnamon
Olive oil
1kg honey
Walnuts
Ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients to make a mush-like batter and let rise. Heat oil to very hot temperature. Using a glass of water scoop the dough with a teaspoon (carefully not to stick) and place in frying pan. Fry, drain on kichen paper to absorb the oil. For syrup, boil 1 kg of honey with 1 liter of water and add a cinnamon stick.

Drizzle the dumplings again with the honey and top with walnuts and powdered cinnamon.

Loukoumades (honey dumplings)

For the dough:
5gr dry yeast
800ml hot water
600gr hard flour
Salt
Canola oil for frying
Cinnamon
Walnuts

For the syrup:
1200gr water
600gr sugar
200gr honey
1 cinnamon stick
Orange and lemon zest

Dough: Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Sift the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a hole in the middle. Add the dissolved yeast and stir well. Cover with a towel or saran wrap and leave the bowl in a warm place for 3 hours so the dough can rise or double in volume.
Syrup: To make the syrup put all the ingredients in a pot on low temperature and stir well. Keep warm but do not boil.

In a large pot, heat oil to 190 C. Form the dough in small balls and using two teaspoons carefully put dough balls into the oil. Fry until golden brown on all sides. Remove from the pan and drain on a kitchen towel. Dip the “loukoumades” in the syrup, place in a bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon and walnuts.