recipes from my first cooking class

As I promised before leaving for Greece, I would post the recipes from my cooking class over the semester. Enjoy! And once back in Williamsburg, I will have an "Erin cooks Greek food for everyone" party :)

Here are 3 recipes:

LENTIL SOUP (FAKES)

INGREDIENTS ( FOR 4-5 PERS.)

½ kg of lentils

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

3 carrots

2 sticks celery

2 spoons tomato paste

200gr. Tomato peeled

1 cup olive oil

salt

pepper

vinegar

METHOD

We place the lentils in a pot and we add water up to the half.

Then we chop the onions, garlic, celery.

We pass the carrots from the grater and put all in the pot.

We add the tomato paste and the rest of the ingredients.

We cook for appr. 40 min. in medium temp.

We taste to see if the salt is ok and we add some vinegar.

( we can add one potato to make the soup thicker)

SOUTZOUKAKIA (MINCE MEAT )

INGREDIENTS ( FOR 4-5 PERSONS)

1kg beef mince

2 onions

3 cloves of garlic

2 eggs

1 bunch of parsley chopped

1 bunch of mint chopped

½ cup olive oil

2 cups of breadcrumbs

salt

pepper

paprika

cumin powder

oregano

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

1 onion chopped

1 clove of garlic chopped

2 cans of tomato peeled

1 teaspoon sugar

some salt and pepper

2 cups of water

some olive oil

METHOD

We place the meat in a bowl and we add all the ingredients.

We chop very fine all (onions, garlic, parsley, mint)

We use another bowl to mix the breadcrumbs with water until soft.

When the mince is ready we form into small oval shape meatballs and place them into a baking tray.

We cook in the oven 225C for about 25 min.

In the main time we prepare the tomato sauce.

In a fry pan we put some olive oil and we brown fry the onion and garlic.

Then we add the tomato, salt , pepper, sugar and cook for a few minutes.

We add the water and cook for about 15min.

Then we add the tomato sauce in the tray with the meatballs and we cook for about 15min more in the oven.

We remove from the oven and we serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

TZATZIKI DIP

INGREDIENTS FOR 1 ½ KILO

STRAINED YOGHURT 750gr

CUCUMBERS 800gr

GARLIC 5 cloves

FRESH MINT 1 bunch

FRESH DILL 1 bunch

OLIVE OIL ½ tea cup

WINE VINEGAR 2 table spoons

SALT ¾ of a tea spoon

PEPPER ¼ of a tea spoon

OUZO 2 table spoons

METHOD

First we pass the cucumbers from the grater and leave them for an hour in the strainer.

We make sure that all the juices have gone.

Then we chop the mint the dill and the garlic very fine and we mix them together with the yogurt and the cucumber. Now we add the salt-pepper-oil-vinegar and ouzo and mix again until make sure that is ready. We cover the bowl and keep it in the refrigerator. We can serve it with vegetable sticks and pitta bread.