Indian curry requires rice or Naan bread to go along with it. I always wanted to try to bake Naan bread as it is very similar to Pita bread we know in the Mediterranean. I prefer to make the Naan without the yeast though. The dough is fast to make and I could not tell the difference from the version with yeast.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 5 minutes per Naan

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to maximum. Turn on the broiler.

Mix the dry ingredients well then slowly add the liquid ones kneading them into the dry ones.

Put a baking paper onto the baking tray.

Take small pieces of dough (fist size) and roll them out flat on a floured surface. Take the plat dough with wet hands and get it wet all over. Place in the oven and bake for 4 minutes. The Naan should be light brown and the dough should have risen and bubbled a bit. Now turn and bake on the second side for a minute.

Remove from the oven and repeat the last steps until the dough is used up.

Spread a bit of Ghee onto the hot Naan. This adds flavor and smell. Serve warm with the food.

This simple onion pie is easy to prepare. It is really tasty and you don’t have to wait much for the dough as it is made with baking powder. The onion pie serves as a great light lunch served with green salad.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

baking time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Peel the onions and cut them into rings. Fry them in a pan on medium heat with some olive oil until they brown lightly. Wash the spring onions and cut them into rings as well. Add them to the pan. I am also using all the green part.

For the dough knead the curd cheese with the baking powder, the flour, salt, pepper, some oregano and a bit of water to a dough. Use as much water as you need in order to get a dough that it similar but a bit smoother than bread dough.

Grease a baking tray with some olive oil. Roll out the dough and lay it out in the tray. The edges of the dough should overlap with the edges of the tray. Spread out the Creme Fraiche onto the dough. Now add the onions. Season with the Ras el Hanut, Salt and Pepper. Drizzle some honey over it and bake it in the oven at 392 F for 20 minutes.

This is a recipe from my aunt Sue. She is a big fan of Italy and Italian cuisine. She often prepares Piadina Romagnola to accompany a meal or as a snack with a sip of wine. It is easy to make and you don’t even need an oven. The Piadina is pan fried.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 15 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

I use a kitchen aid to make the dough.
Mix the dry parts of the dough together. Then add the water slowly while kneading the mixture. Add the lard and the bacon and make sure it is all kneaded well. The dough should be compact and not too wet. It should not stick very much on your hands.

Now take pieces the size of your fist and roll them out on a floured surface. Heat up a coated frying pan. Add a little bit of lard and fry the flat, pita like bread on each side for 3 minutes.

This classic Greek dish is very popular throughout the country. It is often eaten as a snack and you can find it in every bakery. I would even say it is a common as a slice of Pizza in other places.
In taverns it is served as Mezze or first course to accompany a glass of wine or Ouzo.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

baking time: 60 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Defrost the filo pastry.

Wash the spinach and dry it in a spinner. Cut it into stripes and put it in a big bowl.

Peel and chop the garlic and the onion. Chop the dill. add all to the spinach. Add 2 eggs and crumble the feta cheese into the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix all well.

Spread half of the filo pastry into an oiled baking form. Spread out some oil in between the sheets. Make sure that your form is not too big, the sheets should exceed the form at the sides.

Place the filling in the middle of the baking tray and spread it out. Now cover the filling with the remaining sheets. Make sure you spread some oil in between the sheets. Fold the ends of the upper sheets with the ends of the lower sheets so the filling is enclosed.

Whip the remaining egg in a small bowl and spread it over the filo. Bake for 60 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade.

Before returning to Athens, I wanted to make use of the fresh rosemary in the garden that grows in large bushes. I love the smell that rosemary produces while baking so I decided to make a rosemary bread.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

baking time: 40 minutes

easy recipe

Preparation:

Mix the flour with the yeast, salt and sugar. Add the water and work the mixture until the dough is smooth. This should take approx. 8 minutes. towards the end add a few spoons of olive oil. Make sure that you use lukewarm water.

Cover the dough and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then knead it once more, this time add the finely chopped rosemary. Let it sit again for 30 minutes.

Dust the loaf with some flour and place it on a baking tray. Put the tray into the preheated oven (220 degrees centigrade) and let it bake for 40 minutes.

Remove the loaf from the oven and let it sit to cool down.

Not only Mark Bittmans “the minimalist” is featuring this recipe, but also one of my favourite cooking magazines Lust auf Genuss. At “the minimalist” they are called Matzo, in the magazine simply Flatbread.

The crusty little breads go great with some wine or dips but as well with soup. they store easily and are perfect for parties. I can only recommend them.

Preparation time: 5 minutes + 30 minutes resting
baking time: 10 minutes
easy recipe

preparation:

Mix the flour with the water and a pinch of salt and turn it into a smooth dough. Knead for 5 minutes of so. let it rest for 30 minutes.

Turn on the oven to 250 degrees centigrade.

Cut the dough in small pieces, form small balls and roll them out flat. You should be able to “see through”.

Place the dough sheets on a baking paper and oil them with a brush. Now salt them lightly and add a seasoning. (Cumin, chili, sesame, oregano…)

Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let them rest.

I had a fennel bulb left over and was more into baking then cooking. I decided to use the fennel in a rather unusual way. Fennel in a cake, I had never tried before but the thought was tempting. Smelling a fennel bulb allows you to imagine eating it sweet.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
baking time: 25 minutes
easy recipe

Preparation:

Wash and dice the fennel bulb. Melt half of the sugar in a small pot until it turns into Caramel. Add a cup of water and dissolve the caramel. Add the fennel and boil for 10 minutes.Remove and drain.

Mix the flour, the eggs and some olive oil in a blowl. Add the remaining sugar, a pinch of salt, the cinnamon, the baking powder and mix all well.

Now add the fennel and put the dough in to baking forms. I used small Muffin-like forms.

Bake in the preheated oven at 180 Degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

I discovered this delicious apple cake at Smiten Kitchens blog. It seemed to be a fairly easy recipe and the thought of caramel in connection with apples and molasses was convincing me. A moist gingerbread batter combines perfectly all wintery flavours.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

baking time: 50 minutes

simple recipe

Ingredients:

Preparation of the toping:

Melt the sugar with the butter in a small pot on the stove. Save some butter to grease the pan.

Let the sugar boil for a moment, it will caramellize. Now add the salt.

Pour the butter sugar mixture into the baking pan. Now make cirkles with the apple wedget ontop of the caramel. This is crucial for the visual appearance of the cake later on as this part will be faving up.

Preparing the batter:

Mix Butter and sugar in a bowl until creamy.

In a seperate bowl mix the egg, the honey, the buttermilk and the molasses.

In a third bowl mix the flourer, the baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and salt.

Now you start mixing ingredients into the butter mixture. Tage a few spoons of the egg mixture and blend it into the butter mixture. then take some o the flour mixture and blen it into the butter mixture. Repeat these steps until all ingredients are mixed. Step by step.

Now pour the batter over the apple nd spread out well.

Bake in the pre-heated oven at 160 degrees centigrade for 50 minutes. (mine took a bit longer). You cn always poke with a tooth pick into the cake. When the toothpick comes out dry, the cake is done.

TIP: You can serve the cake with ice cream, creme fraiche or whipped cream.

The German version of this recipe you can find here.

These little, soft cookies that are dipped into a Honey syrup you can only find around Christmas here in Greece. Melomakarona are made form late November on, they are the classic Greek Christmas cookie. You can find them in bakeries but also may of the small grocery stores around the neighbourhood sell these home made sweets on big trays. I love this juicy cookie so I had to try to make them. Melomakarona, as well as Ravani, are sweets that a baked dry and then dipped into a Syrup from honey, orange, cinnamon and cloves. The trick is to make them soft but not soggy, light but not falling apart.

A great french language version of this cookie I found at en direct d´Athenes as well as a “Greek moms version” on Yannis blog, my little baklava.

Preparation: 15 minutes

baking time: 25 minutes

have to sit over night

medium difficult recipe

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Mix the olive oil with the sugar and the orange juice.

Blend half of the flour with the baking powder. Mix the fower mixture with the olive oil orange juice mix.

Add the metaxa, the wallnuts and the semolina adn mix well. Add orange and lemon zest to the dough.

This should result in runny bur thick dough. Now you have to knead the remaining flower into the mixture until you have a hunid, non sticky gough.

Let it rest for an hour.

Now you can form the little oval cookies that are just like oversized olives. Place them onto baking paper on a tray. Press them with a fork jsut a loittle bit, so they get an inprint. This the typical pattern of the cookies.

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 25 minutes. Then let them cool down.

Fpr preparing the syrup you have to just put all the ingredients into a small pot and let them simmer for a few minutes.

Dip the cookies into the syrup and let them soak for a couple of minutes. Then place them on a roasting tray. They should sit on the roasting tray over night in order to soak perfectly. You can check on them occasionally and even dip them once more. It is good to use up all the syrup that you made. The cookies need some time to soak and will develop their taste fully over night. This is true slow food!

Be careful though that the cookies never sit for a long time in the syrup in order not to get soggy.

The next day place the cookies on a plate and sprinkele some crushed wallnuts over them.

The cookies will be good for approximately 10 days.

The German version od this recipe you will find here

Nothing is more delicious than the smell of fresh baked bread in a flat. Especially this bread has a appetizing scent because it is loaded. It is loaded with Parmigiano and fried onions. But not only the aroma is gorgeous, they also taste heavenly. These buns I bake in a muffin form in order to give them this handy shape.

preparation time: 60 minutes
baking: 30 minutes
easy recipe

Ingredients:

Preparation :

Chop the onions finely and fry them in a pan with some oil until they are brown but not too dark.
Meanwhile mix the flour, a pinch of pepper, the yeast and the baking powder in a bowl and mix well. Add the water and knead for 6 to 8 minutes until the mixture turned into dough.
Let the dough sit in a warm spot for 40 minutes.

Switch on the oven on 180 degree centigrade and let it preheat.

Then mix the onions and the cheese into the dough. Portion the dough and place it into the muffin forms. Cover them with a towel and let them rest for another 20 minutes.

Bake the bread for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and let the buns cool off.

The German recipe “Parmesan Broetchen” you can find here.