Kalofagas - Greek Food & Beyond

Domaine Gerovassiliou & Wine Museum

Peter Minakis — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:24:55 +0000

It’s time to start thinking about summer vacations and I’m once again urging you to visit Greece. Price-wise there has never been a better time and secondly, it’s still such a wonderful place for a vacation…ignore what you see happening in Athens. There’s so much more to Greece and I promise you – once you return from Greece you will never be the same!

I will be heading back this summer, mostly staying at my family’s summer home in Halkidiki. Nearby is Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city with a reputation for having some of Greece’s best food in their estiatoria and more informal tavernas. Thessaloniki boasts of a 3000 year old history and many nearby attractions like the beaches of Halkidiki and a must-visit to the nearby Gerovassiliou winery in Epanomi.

About three years ago I attended a wine tasting where several Greek winemakers banded together to showcase their products to consumers, media and prospective representatives to distribute their wines. One of the wines I sampled was from Epanomi, Greece…a town just south of Thessaloniki (on the way to Halkidiki). That winery was Domaine Gerovassiliou and in the summer of 2009 I paid them a visit after being urged by the two reps who were manning the booth here in Toronto.

Evangelos Gerovassliou

Evangelos Gerovassliou created this winery in 1981 armed with his education in Oenology and Vinicultre in Bordeaux and experience as chief oenologist at Domaine Carras (Porto Carras, Halkidiki). The wines at Domaine Gerovassiliou are a combination of Greek varietala like Assyrtiko, Malagouzia and there’s also Syrah, Viognier (one of my faves) and more!

This winery is in clear view of the Thermaic Gulf with Mount Olympus often in view from across the gulf. The Epanomi area has a unique micro climate and all of the grapes are cultivated on the Gerovassaliou estate.

Upon arriving at the winery, you’ll see a stately stone-walled edifice with soft, rolling hills lined with grape vines and the blue sea as a back-drop. The winery has an aromatic herb garden complete with labels and there’s plenty of space in the well-groomed yard for an afternoon lunch or a glass of wine under the gazebo or in the outdoor reception space for larger gatherings.

Evangelos Gerovassliou loves to travel, explore a city’s nightlife and in particular restaurants. He’s aware of the food and wine trends (and tastes) and he feels that the current roster of wines are sympatico with what wine afficionados are looking for. When he’s out at a restaurant for dinner he can’t help but think which of his wines would pair well with that particular dish.

A visit to the Gerovassilliou winery will take you through the nearby vineyards, a tour of the winery and then down to the basement. Yes, the basement…where Gerovassiliou’s pride & joy lays – the wine museum. Evangelos began collecting cork screws in 1976 and this hobby grew to include collecting wine-growing tools, old wine presses, pruning shears and a walking, visual exhibit that takes you through the ages of wine making from BC up to present. Each tour ends with a wine tasting in a grand dining area beside the cellar but on the day I first toured the Gerovassililou winery we were cut short as the winery was about to close and I was heading back to Canada the next day.

I promised myself to go back and re-do the tour without being rushed and take my time in the wine museum and enjoy some of the excellent wines produced by Domaine Gerovassliou. Please view and enjoy the accompanying slide show.

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© 2012, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

Greek Food Gazette 03/02/2012

Peter Minakis — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:56:57 +0000

Gyhthio, Laconia

Epirus line of authentic Greek cheeses launches in US market
Symposio, a new initiative to promote Greek cuisine
Those hard-to-pronounce Greek wine labels may actually be a marketing advantage
Metaxa 12 Star Greek brandy debuts at Hellenic Duty Free Shops
Acrocorinth, one of Greece’s greatest castles is a just a day-trip from Athens

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Phyllo-Feta Cigars With Agourida & Niagara Ice Syrup Salad Dressing

Peter Minakis — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:28:56 +0000

There’s alot of good things happening with this salad, you’re gonna learn a couple of things, be frugal and fancy all in one dish! The centerpiece of the salad is the phyllo cigars filled with Feta cheese, walnuts and almonds, some lemon zest and ground anise. There’s more licorice flavour echoed in the salad greens as I’ve added some sliced fennel bulb, tossed with salad.

The dressing is where we get creative. Ever buy some grapes only to find that they are so tart that they make your face pucker when you taste them? You want those grapes for what we’re making here…verjuice or agourida in Greek. When one makes a salad you need fat (olive oil) and acid, which is usually vinegar or lemon juice. The acid in this instance is the agourida made from tart white grapes and made by simply plucking the tart grapes off the stems, placing them in a food processor and then straining them. What you’re left with is a tart green-hued liquid called verjuice or agourida in Greek!

So, if life gives you no lemons, make an agourida – same dressing ratios…I like 3 parts oil to 1 part acid and I always add a little mustard to emulsify the dressing. Keeping with the grapes, we’re going for balance in the salad as I’m using a unique ingredient from the Niagara wine region called ice syrup.

Ice syrup was created by Steve Murdza who instead of making ice wine with the frozen grapes he turned them into ice syrup. Much like with ice wine, the grapes are left on the vines through part of the winter and when the temperature hits -8 Celicius, they can be picked then turned into sweet grape juice with the fermentation being bypassed (that’s when ice wine is made).

This salad is about contrasts: crunchy baked phyllo filled with soft Feta cheese, tart agourida balanced by the sweet nectar of Niagara ice syrup. Greek extra-virgin olive oil, walnuts and almonds, sliced grapes and some sultana raisins, ground anise in the cheese filling and some sliced fennel in the salad. I loved this salad and I’m looking forward to making it for family and friends in the near future!

Phyllo-Feta Cigars With Agourida & Niagara Ice Syrup Salad Dressing

(serves 4)

4 sheets of thawed commercial phyllo

1/2 stick melted butter

Filling

4 sticks/batons of Feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

zest of 1/2 lemon

ground anise

Dressing

2 Tbsp. verjuice (agourida)

1/2 tsp. Dijon-style mustard

1/4 cup extra-virgin Greek olive oil

1 small clove of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives

fine sea salt and fresh ground pepper

garnish

sultana raisins

halved grapes

sesame seeds

Niagara ice syrup

4-6 cups of mixed salad greens, rinsed and spun-dry

1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

Ensure you’re using tart, unripe grapes to make the agourida (verjuice). Rinse the grapes, pick off the stems and place in a food processor and whiz until a purée. Pass through a strainer and you’ve your tart verjuice/agourida.
Take your thawed phyllo out of the fridge and pre-heat your oven to 350F. Cut your phyllo vertically into two, brush each sheet of phyllo and place one sheet on top of the other.
Cut your sticks of Feta to about 1 inch smaller than the width of your phyllo and place near the bottom of sheet. Sprinkle the chopped nuts above the cheese, grate some lemon zest and sprinkle some ground fennel. Now fold the bottom flap of phyllo over the cheese and tuck-in the sides and roll-up. Brush with butter and place on a baking sheet and bake in your oven for about 15 minutes or until golden.
In the meantime, wash and dry your salad greens, slice the fennel and place in a bowl. Place your verjuice, mustard, olive oil in a jar along with the garlic, chives, salt and pepper and place the lid on and shake to emulsify. Taste and adjust seasoning, oil to acid ratio.
When the phyllo cigars are golden, take out of the oven and now toss your salad with the dressing. Cut your phyllo cigar in half on the bias, place on your plated greens. Garnish with grape halves, sultana raisins, sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with Niagara ice syrup.

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Reel Eats – Eat Drink Man Woman

Peter Minakis — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:25:13 +0000

Last night I attended the first Reel Eats dinner event, created by Mary Luz Meija and Mario Stojanic of Sizzling Communications. The Reel Eats concept is a dinner menu focused on a food-centric movie and story-telling is interspersed between courses. Although the movie is playing in the background, it’s hard to pay close attention to the movie (what with dining with friends and making new ones) so it’s advised that you watch the flick beforehand.

The inaugural Reel Eats showcased a menu inspired by the Taiwanese film “Eat Drink Man Woman” and Vanessa of Aphrodite Cooks led the charge with dishes that transported us to Asia. I’ve included a photo album below with some memories of last night and I’m delighted to share that the next Reel Eats will feature the movie Big Night and it will take place at the Big Ragu on Feb. 27th. Italian food is always a big draw and seats for this dinner are likely to go fast. See you there!

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Spinach-Stuffed Flounder on Braised Lentils

Peter Minakis — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:37:10 +0000

I’ve been very busy of late with a lot of my time in the kitchen being devoted to making phyllo pastry by hand and selling these creations to many here in Toronto. Often times I’ve found myself without an iota of an idea about what to have for dinner and that has to change. I don’t like to eat on the fly and you can be sure some thought will be taken for some quality menu planning.

This past week I took some of the chopped spinach that was left from making a Spanakopita filling and reserved it for dinner. Dinner was going to be flounder fillets stuffed and roll with spinach. Frozen spinach is a wonderful convenience product, it’s affordable, comes in small packages and easy to handle: thaw, squeeze excess water and chop (if necessary). I sweated some scallions and added some chopped fresh fennel fronds – this mild anise flavour goes well with fish.

The braised lentils were an inspiration from Chef Emily Watkins who served seared duck breast with them. I’ve done braised lentils before and mine are a little different but Watkins did give me the nudge. Fish and spinach with herbs, baked and served on a bed of braised lentils? Healthy, healthy, delicious, delicious!

Spinach-Stuffed Flounder on Braised Lentils

(serves 4)

4 flounder fillets (or other white fish)

1 lb. pkge. of frozen chopped spinach, thawed

3-4 scallions, sliced

2-3 Tbsp. of chopped fennel fronds (or tarragon)

extra-virgin olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp. sweet paprika

fine sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Garnish

chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest and wedges of lemon

Pre-heated 400F oven

Braised Lentils

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup of dried green lentils, well rinsed

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

1/4 cup finely diced carrot

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 bay leaves

5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

approx. 2-3 cups of vegetable or chicken stock

red wine vinegar to taste

Place a medium pot on your stove-top over medium heat and add the olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, bay and thyme and sweat while occasionally stirring for about 5 minutes. Now add the lentils, some salt and pepper and stir for a couple of minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed. Now add enough stock to just cover the lentils and simmer uncovered and stir occasionally. Add more stock as needed and continue to simmer while stirring until the lentils are just soft. Remove from the heat, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add red wine vinegar to taste (remove thyme sprigs and bay).
Pre-heat your oven to 400F, middle rack. In a small skillet, add some olive oil and the scallions and sweat for about 3-4 minutes then take off the heat and allow to cool. Mix the scallions with your thawed chopped spinach and add the chopped fennel fronds and salt and pepper to taste.
Rinse your fillets and pat-dry. Drizzle both sides of the fillets with olive oil and sprinkle lemon zest on both sides of the fish, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the sweet paprika. To ensure your fish fillets do not unravel when baking, you’re going to place the stuffing on top part of the fillet (the side where the skin would have been, its smooth). Place the spinach on each fillet and roll up starting from the widest end and your roll will end-up at the tail. Use a toothpick to secure each roll and place in a baking tray.
Drizzle with some olive oil and place in your pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and place a ladle of lentils on to each plate and using a spatula, carefully lift and place a fish portion on top. Mix the lemon zest and chopped parsley and sprinkle on top of each fish, spoon some pan juices along with some drops of olive oil and a wedge of lemon. Serve with a Domaine Tselepos Mantinia, 100% Moschofilero.

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