Hello My Friends,
Many heart felt thanks for all your wonderful caring replies, and I shall revisit here before I leave for my next trip abroad this upcoming week.
I stopped in now to post my Easter menu as I know some will enjoy it and are interested in my meal preparations when entertaining and otherwise. I also posted the Easter Menu on the Kitchen bb which is the bb I most frequented in the past.
Again Happy Easter to all my friends, along with my hugs and many blessings for all your continued kind caring good wishes and support.
For those interested this is my Sunday Greek Easter Menu serving 8 people
Appetizers are Greek Fried Meatballs, Greek Fried Squid, and Greek Fried Salt Codfish Balls, Greek garlic & mashed potato spread called Skordalia, fish roe egg spread called Taramousalata, and Greek Cucumber dill spread called Tzaziki. Will also have handmade Greek stuffed grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice with herbs. Greek Kalamata Olives and Sliced Feta Cheese in abundance.
Soup served for those who requested it will be my Greek Egg Lemon Soup.
Will also serve my well requested Greek Villagers Salad which is comprised of various freshly washed greens, red sliced diced onions, sliced diced green peppers, cherry tomatoes, sliced and diced kirby cucumbers, anchovy fillets soaked in milk to remove most of the salt, Dressing will be Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Red Wine Vinegar with Dill, Greek Oregano and Mint, as well as my Greek red Dyed Easter Eggs, and my homemade Christo Bread with Dyed Red Eggs.
I picked up the real red food coloring for red dyed eggs while recently in Greece and it comes in envelopes and is a very rich red egg dye which can be used in both hot or cold water.) Eggs are hard boiled first and best recipe for good fool proof hard boiled eggs is this one I always use which never fails.
Fool proof hard boiled egg recipe:
Use a large enough pot to accommodate all your eggs.
Place eggs gently into water and make sure water completely covers the eggs. Bring to a gently boil then cover and shut heat off. Place a timer on 17 minutes and leave eggs alone to steam. When 17 minutes expires take to sink and gently let cold water run in the inside of the side of the pot. Now when the water is very cold set your timer for 15 minutes and keep adding cold water into the pot periodically. The cold water bath ensures easy peeling of the egg shells.
(When the timer completes remove eggs to a deep dish carefully and prepare your egg dye). When eggs are prepared this way and if they do not crack when in the water there will be no green ring around the egg yolks and the yolks will be a brilliant lemon yellow color and the whites will be very bright. (Gorgeous when the eggs are cut in half and placed on a round egg tray for display).
Desserts are my mother’s personal recipes of her Greek Baklava, which is a honey filo filled pastry, Greek Galatoboureko which is a filo custard Greek dessert and her Greek crescent shaped sugar cookies all served with Greek Coffee or Tea. I cried when I made the desserts, and still cry now as I prepare all this Easter Food, as they were also my deceased Husband and Mother’s Favorites. I feel the holidays are always the most painful for me since losing them both. .......but I have learned that Father Time stops for no one, and life still marches on.
Also serving Godiva Chocolates to celebrate Easter.
Wine Choices are Ouzo, Greek White Retsina Wine, and Mavrothaphne sweet red wine. Lemonade, Iced Tea, Soft Drinks, and Various Tea’s.
Greek Oven Roasted Leg of Lamb with Lemon Potatoes
Yield: 8 - 10 servings
Ingredients:
• 1 leg of lamb, bone in, trimmed of excess fat (mine was about 9 lbs.)
• 5 lbs. yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
• For the Marinade:
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• Juice of two lemons
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped from stem
• 2 tbsp. coarse salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• For the potatoes:
• Olive oil for drizzling
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Touch of paprika
• Juice of two lemons
• Zest of one lemon and I use a microplane to get the zest off of the lemon
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. dried Oregano
•
Preparation:
Make the marinade: Add the ingredients to a blender or food processor and process until smooth. The marinade should be thicker in consistency so it doesn’t run off the meat while cooking and forms a bit of a crust.
Place the meat in a large roasting pan. Brush the marinade on in thicker layer covering as much meat as possible. Refrigerate until ready to roast.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Add the potatoes to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic powder, oregano, paprika, and rosemary and toss the potatoes well to cover.
Place the potatoes in the bottom of the roasting pan and make a well in the center. Lay the leg of lamb on top of the potatoes.
Roast at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature the 350 degrees and continue to roast uncovered. A 9-pound leg will take approximately 3 hours to cook.
Be sure to baste the potatoes and the lamb with pan juices while they are cooking.
It’s best to use a reliable meat thermometer to gauge doneness because ovens tend to vary.
I like to remove the lamb from the oven when a thermometer inserted into the meatiest part of the leg reaches 155 degrees (F). (I use my thermo pen for accuracy).
Remove the leg of lamb to a platter, cover, and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
While the lamb is resting, you can increase the heat of the oven to a low broil setting and give the potatoes a little extra color if needed. Otherwise, remove the potatoes to a platter, give them a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of salt and then serve with the sliced lamb.
2nd Entree requested below:
Braised Veal With Artichokes in Egg and Lemon Sauce
This is one of the best Greek Veal recipes and my favorite to use during the Greek holidays as it is always requested by many.
Aglaia Kremezi Apr 22 2010, 6:45 AM ET
Serves 4 but I doubled recipe to serve 8
For the main dish: • ½ cup olive oil • 1½ pounds boneless veal shank cut into 2 -inch cubes • 2½ cups coarsely chopped scallions, white plus most of the green part • 1 cup white wine • 1½ cups chicken or beef stock • 8 medium artichokes, peeled and halved (see note) • 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice • 1½ cups chopped fresh dill • salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the egg and lemon sauce (avgolemono) ? • 2 large eggs ? • 1 teaspoon cornstarch • 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste • salt and freshly ground black pepper
Prepare the artichokes: Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze the juice of two lemons into it (reserve the lemon halves). Snap off several layers of leaves from each artichoke, pulling them downward to break them off at the base. Rub the cut parts often with the lemon halves as you work, to prevent discoloration. Cut off the top of each artichoke and trim the broken parts of leaves around the stem with a sharp knife, again rubbing the cut surfaces with lemon. Halve the artichokes and remove the center chokes with a knife or grapefruit spoon; drop each prepared artichoke into the bowl of lemon water. Drain just before adding to the pan.
Prepare the main dish: In a large, deep skillet or a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat and sauté the meat in batches, turning often, until golden on all sides. Add the onions and jalapenos and sauté for two to three minutes more, or until they are soft. Add the wine and as it boils pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the artichokes and a little water if needed—the liquid should almost cover the meat and artichokes . Place an inverted heatproof plate over the meat and artichokes to keep them submerged. Cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the artichokes are tender and the meat is fully cooked.
With a slotted spoon transfer the meat and artichokes to a platter. If the sauce is too thin increase the heat to high and boil for three to four minutes to reduce. You should have about two to two-and-a -half cups broth.
Make the sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and two tablespoons water. Dilute the corn starch in the lemon juice and add to the egg mixture. Whisking constantly, pour slowly with a ladle about half the sauce from the pan into the eggs. Slowly return the egg mixture back to the pot with the cooking liquid, whisking constantly, to prevent the eggs from curdling. As the sauce thickens, add the meat and artichokes to the pan, taste and adjust the seasonings with lemon juice, salt and pepper, or pepper flakes. Add the rest of the dill, reserving a tablespoon for serving, and simmer for two minutes more, to warm through. Serve sprinkling with dill.
Now I am resting since everything is almost completed and the lamb and potatoes are still cooking in the oven. Veal Dish is ready and I will make the egg lemon sauce items just before Easter company is due to arrive.
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Bless you and hope to hear more about your travels. Godspeed.
