Melomakarona

Baking Sweet Greek Cookies

Pinelopi shares another Greek delight with us, melomakarona, a honey dipped, walnut covered oval shaped cookie. They are made year round, but especially as part of an assortment of treats which Greeks the world over make for the Christmas holiday. The cookie also offers Christians now fasting for Easter a treat that is okay to eat.

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Melomakarona

Melomakarona are a part of the Greek Christmas tradition. Although they are one of several great treats for Christmas, we enjoy them throughout the year. They are great also for lent, since they contain no dairy or eggs. Try making this recipe and enjoy.

Kali Orexi!

Ingredients:

• 1 glass (8 ounces) of virgin olive oil
• 1 half glass of sugar
• 1 half glass of lemon and orange juice combined
• 1 glass of roughly chopped walnuts
• 3 glasses of soft flour or a little more if needed
• 1 demitasse cup of cognac
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• Cinnamon for sprinkling


• Syrup:
1 glass sugar
1/2 glass of water
1 glass of honey

Baking the Cookies:

• In a large bowl, sift the flour and baking powder.
• In an electric mixer, at medium speed, mix sugar and oil for half an hour.
• Add the cognac and the juice.
• Next add the flour slowly until it comes together as a soft dough.
• Take a piece of dough about the size of a full tablespoon. Then make it into a cylinder shape and flatten the cylinder cookie with the back of a fork. Besides a fork we like to roll the unbaked cookie over a cheese grater to form a design.
• Place on cookie sheet about a half inch apart.
• Bake in a preheated oven for twenty to thirty minutes at 350 degrees.
• Syrup: Pour the sugar, water and honey into a pot to come to a boil several times.
• Skim off the impurities as they surface.
• Lower the heat.
• Place three to four cooled cookies into the syrup.
• Remove them with a slotted spoon.
• Place onto a serving platter.
• While still hot sprinkle cookies with walnuts and ground cinnamon.
• Present them in paper and foil cupcake holders.

The amount of cookies is determined by their size. My husband appreciates a larger cookie, whereas I like a smaller one. It is only a matter of preference, after all the taste is one and the same. This will make a nice sized batch for you.

My mother would use the ash from burnt clean pine or olive tree branches, boiled in water and strained into one demitasse cup, to give the cookie a grittier texture besides affecting the flavor. This is dying wisdom now, as we live in a world where we cannot do this simply. We also do not do it since we cannot know if the wood is free of toxins either.

These cookies are always a well received treat. Enjoy. They happen to be our first grandchild's favorite Greek cookie. When we give little Georgie one he will inevitably ask for three more.



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Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Lentil Soup Recipe

Lentil Soup for Thanksgiving

Are you kidding me Pinelopi? Lentil soup, really? You must think I'm insane, but each of us is serving a stubborn guest or two on Thanksgiving who refuses to eat meat. There are various reasons why folks will not conform to the traditional and tasty turkey dinner, and I say, to each his own! So today I'm offering you my Greek Lentil Soup Recipe to save you from disgrace. Kali Orexi!

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Greek Lentil Soup Recipe

Vegetarians, pious people and stubborn relatives who just want to be a pain in your rear are some of the types you'll find at your Thanksgiving table this year. Believe it or not, many Orthodox Christians are fasting now for Christmas, and have celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with a turkey feast weeks ago. They will need something to eat today. Our Greek lentil soup recipe is so good though that it might even have the meat lovers at your table asking for a bowl.

A Little on Lentils

Beans are harvested in their natural state. Thus, even with the most careful attention and the best processing equipment available, we still must screen through the lentils closely to pick out any foreign substances such as stones, soil particles etc. Rinse the lentils with water several times before proceeding to cook them please.

Start Cooking

Boil enough water to cover the lentils before adding them to the pot. Then take the pot off the stove, and add the lentils to soak, while covering the lid for 15 minutes. Trust me, this speeds the cooking time and makes for a more fluid process. Strain the lentils and replace the initial water with 8 cups of new water for cooking. This will make up your soup. As you cook the lentils, take a spoon and skim off the top of the pot, as this will catch any remaining unsavories.

Sauté the carrots, celery and onions in one-half cup of olive oil. Sauté until the onions are translucent and carrots and celery are half-cooked. They'll cook the rest of the way later on. Then add bay leaves, minced garlic, tomato paste, salt and pepper (ingredients listed below). After a short bit (don't burn the garlic), add the mixture to the pot of lentils just as they come to a boil in their 8 cups of soup water. You can add more hot water if the soup seems to thicken too much. You can cook it to the thickness of your liking, but don't make mush please and ruin my good name in the process. Add salt and pepper to taste!

The Secret Ingredient

When serving the soup, drop a splash of vinegar to the individual bowls. A teaspoon to a tablespoon should do the trick. Sometimes I simply use the cap of the vinegar bottle as a metric. This enhances the flavor of the soup, and you control how much influence the vinegar has to your liking.

Lentil Soup Ingredients:

1 Pound Lentils
1 Medium Onion Minced
2 Stalks Celery
2 Carrots
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
½ Cup Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic Minced
2 Bay Leaves (Remove after soup cooked)
8 Cups of Water (Add More if Thickens Too Much)

Enjoy my Greek Lentil Soup Recipe and Kali Orexi!



Remember, we are accepting readers' Greek cooking recipes, so please feel free to send us your family's favorite. Simply email your recipe, two photos of the dish, a photo of the chef and a brief write up about the recipe, the cook and/or the person who taught you the wonderful dish to recipes @wallstreetgreek.com.

Relevant tickers include Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD), Brasil Foods SA (Nasdaq: BRFS), Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN), Hormel (NYSE: HRL), Seaboard (NYSE: SEB), Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE: PPC), Sanderson Farms (Nasdaq: SAFM), Industrias Bachoco (NYSE: IBA), Balchem (Nasdaq: BCPC), Zhongpin (Nasdaq: HOGS), Bridgford Foods (Nasdaq: BRID), Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE), Pepsico (NYSE: PEP), Unilever NV (NYSE: UN), Unilever plc (NYSE: UL), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), Kellogg (NYSE: K), Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE: MJN), J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM), McCormick (NYSE: MKC), Green Mountain Coffee (Nasdaq: GMCR), Ralcorp (NYSE: RAH), Del Monte (NYSE: DLM), Corn Products (NYSE: CPO), Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO), Treehouse Foods (NYSE: THS), Gruma S.A.B. (NYSE: GMK), American Italian Pasta (Nasdaq: AIPC), Diamond Foods (Nasdaq: DMND), J&J Snack Foods (Nasdaq: JJSF), Lance (Nasdaq: LNCE), B&G Foods (NYSE: BGS), Seneca Foods (Nasdaq: SENEB), Smart Balance (Nasdaq: SMBL), Farmer Brothers (Nasdaq: FARM), John B. Sanfilippo (Nasdaq: JBSS), China Marine Food (Nasdaq: CMFO), MGP Ingredients (Nasdaq: MGPI), China Nutrition (Nasdaq: CNGL), Overhill Farms (AMEX: OFI), Omega Protein (NYSE: OME), Key Technology (Nasdaq: KTEC), Tasty Baking (Nasdaq: TSTY), Inventure Foods (Nasdaq: SNAK), Golden Enterprises (Nasdaq: GLDC), Kroger (NYSE: KR), Companhia Brasileiria (NYSE: CBD), Safeway (NYSE: SWY), Delhaize (NYSE: DEG), Whole Foods (Nasdaq: WFMI), SuperValu (NYSE: SVU), Casey's General Stores (Nasdaq: CASY), Ruddick (NYSE: RDK), Weis Markets (NYSE: WMK), Winn-Dixie (Nasdaq: WINN), Blue Square Israel (NYSE: BSI), Ingles Markets (Nasdaq: IMKTA), Village Super Market (Nasdaq: VLGEA), Pantry (Nasdaq: PTRY), Arden (Nasdaq: ARDNA), Susser (Nasdaq: SUSS), QKL Stores (Nasdaq: QKLS), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Target (NYSE: TGT), Costco (Nasdaq: COST), BJ Wholesale (NYSE: BJ), Coca-Cola Hellenic (NYSE: CCH), OTE Telecom (NYSE: OTE), National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG), Darden (NYSE: DRI), Brinker (NYSE: EAT), Dryships (Nasdaq: DRYS), Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE: NMM), Navios Holdings (NYSE: NM), Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE: TNP), Genco Shipping (NYSE: GNK), Danaos (NYSE: DAC), Paragon Shipping (Nasdaq: PRGN), Top Ships (Nasdaq: TOPS).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Shrimp and Rice Pilaf Recipe

Shrimp & Rice Pilaf Recipe

Wall Street Greek weekend content welcomes another homemade Greek recipe from Pinelopi's kitchen. This latest treasure of Greek cooking is Pinelopi's shrimp and rice pilaf recipe. Remember, we are accepting readers' Greek cooking recipes, so please feel free to send us your family's favorite. Simply email your recipe, two photos of the dish, a photo of the chef and a brief write up about the recipe, the cook and/or the person who taught you the wonderful dish to recipes @wallstreetgreek.com.

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Mother told me how she caught shrimp in the sea in Greece. They came close to the shore as she waded into the water fully clothed but barefoot.

The water was so pristine that she could see her feet and the pebbles below. The shrimp began to nibble at her toes. Actually that's how she discovered their presence. Her face would light up as she reminisced and it made me wish I could have been there too. Many many years later in the same secluded spot where my mother had been, Popi (pr. paw-pi), my sister-in-law, and I waded into the sea, when suddenly I felt something biting at my toes. Popi came over and told me they were shrimp. I could not stop laughing. I guess she thought I had lost it.

I had never seen live shrimp before. They were swimming and colorless. Mother was with us on this trip. I could not wait to tell her. We laughed together like children. "You see," she kept saying, "You see." Having shared the experience of one of her famous stories, to me, was a great gift and brought me so much joy.

Shrimp and Rice Pilaf Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rice
• 2 pounds medium sized shrimp
• 2 medium sized onions diced
• ½ cup olive oil
• 14 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• ½ can tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt, pepper, oregano to taste (when pushed to tell us exactly how much, Penny estimated about 1 tablespoon salt, ½ tablespoon pepper, ¾ tablespoon dried oregano)
• Parsley to decorate
• 2 stalks of celery

1. Boil the shrimp for five minutes in enough water to cover the prawns. Here is a little secret I learned from my brother-in-law Louie (God rest his soul): Drop one tablespoon of red vinegar in the water used to boil the shrimp. I'm not exactly sure why, but I believe it offsets any fishy flavor the prawns might carry while also helping the rice to fluff more.


2. Strain the shrimp and reserve the broth for later use.


3. Peel shells and devein the shrimp.


4. Sauté the onions and celery in olive oil until translucent.


5. Add crushed tomatoes to the mix.


6. Cook until the sauce thickens or condenses, then add salt, pepper and oregano.


7. Add shrimp and let the pot cook for another few minutes.


8. Bring the rice to a boil in the reserved shrimp broth with two bay leaves, and allow to simmer until the rice is cooked. It may be necessary to add water to the pot to finish cooking the rice.


9. Place the rice into a form and arrange the sauce with shrimp around and over the rice.
10. Decorate the plate with parsley to finish.


11. We serve this dish with boiled greens or a Greek salad in my house.

This shrimp and rice pilaf recipe does not traditionally include celery in most Greek homes, but mother added celery and sometimes leeks to her sauce. My nephew Felix tells me celery is good for the heart. We do not know if that is the reason mother used celery. It's something I noted growing up that other cooks did not add to their sauce. It is just not the same without the celery to me. Perhaps it is just what we come to know and the taste that signifies home and memories.

This recipe has a variation in which after cooking the sauce and shrimp, and cooking the rice, we combine the two together and serve with sprinkled parsley on top. This is what we usually do in our home, and the family likes it better this way.



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Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Souvlaki Recipe - Lamb Shish Kebab

Summer barbecue season means souvlaki for our family

Greek Cooking Columnist, Pinelopi, offers her favorite Greek family recipes as part of Wall Street Greek's weekend content. Please feel free to share your family's favorite Greek recipe (or near Greek) by submitting them (with a photo and brief description or bio of yourself) to this email address: "recipes @ WallStreetGreek .com". We will very likely publish your recipe and photo. Now please enjoy Pinelopi's lamb souvlaki recipe, which you may know better as shish-kebab.

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The traditional start to the American barbecue season is Memorial Day, though I am sure most Americans fire up the grill much earlier than that. Greek-American tradition has extended Greek families the size of some small nations cooking out as early as Easter, and the object of our desire is lamb. Tomorrow, June 21st, marks the first day of summer, so by now nearly all of us are cooking out. Independence Day is just around the corner, so another big barbecue party is queueing up for our home. I initially authored this article for Memorial Day, and I describe that holiday's scene in our home in the paragraphs that follow. My souvlaki recipe can be found below.

After visiting our loved ones at the cemetery with the offering of prayers and flowers, our family prepares to celebrate the holiday with a good old fashioned barbecue. Our flag is already raised, and whether it is still or waving with the passing of a gentle breeze, it is always a stirring feeling to see. Dad has the watermelons lined up on the kitchen floor, and has given each one a thump to decide the first to be cut and placed to chill. Dad takes Odi (short for Odysseus), our brittany spaniel, out for his morning run. He's been bathed the day before. Odi seems to sense good things are coming today, and becomes his master's shadow, not wanting to miss a thing.

As a puppy, we had no inkling that Odi would grow to become like his namesake. He escapes by climbing over the fence or by sneaking under it to seek his adventures. He runs by the house once or twice, just to see what's happening there, but he never comes in for at least three hours. We cannot know what he has done, where he has been or what he has seen, but he returns spent.

The vegetable garden has been planted since before Mother's Day, and is growing nicely. Our three fig trees have already set tiny figs. Two are the mission figs and one produces white figs. The pear tree is in blossom, as well as the dwarf Meyers Lemon Tree, though it has some lemons growing as well. Our grape vine has a few tiny white grapes showing, and we have already cut some leaves for stuffing (see our future article on stuffed grape leaves).

After a morning coffee, we begin to prepare the food for the grill.

We are making Souvlaki of leg of lamb, also known as shish-kebab!

Souvlaki Recipe - Lamb Shish Kebab

Making souvlakia is a family affair. Many hands get the job done quickly, and the work tends to bring out memories and stories of the past and sometimes present. Perhaps it's because it provides time without worries or stress, since we are all concentrating on the job at hand. For instance, how many of each product did we place on each skewer? Such a simple task can be very relaxing, and may well be the factor that encourages the story telling, which most times creates joy and much laughter.

Cooking brings families together before we even gather around the table. If you would care to hear a suggestion, make a date to cook with someone soon – and then "Kali orexi!" or bon appétit. This is the fruit of your labor.

Ingredients:
(Feeds a large family plus some, and should be enough for 25 to 30 skewers)

• 2.5 pounds of leg of lamb
• 4-5 firm plum tomatoes, or an adequate amount of cherry or grape tomatoes
• 4-5 green peppers
• 1-2 large onions (Dad likes red onions)
• 1.5 pounds of mushrooms (button mushrooms)
• Marinade for the meat:
• ½ cup of pure olive oil (Dad leaves the oil out)
• 1 quart of red wine of your tasting (I like Mavrodafne)
• 2-3 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 table Spoons Oregano
• 2 table spoons of salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• Stir it all up and marinade meat for 1 hour or overnight if you have time

Let's Get to Cooking the Lamb Souvlakia!

1. Place wooden skewers in a pan of water for a half hour so the wood does not burn
2. Cut the lamb into cubes the size of a walnut and place in marinade if not already done
3. Cut the vegetables the same size as the meat
4. If the mushrooms are small, leave them whole; if not, cut them in half
5. Before putting the souvlakia together add the vegetables to the maranade and stir gently
6. Start putting the souvlakia together (start and finish each skewer with meat to keep the souvlaki together):
   * 1 piece of meat
   * 1 tomato
   * 1 meat
   * 1 pepper
   * 1 meat
   * 2 slices of onion
   * 1 meat
   * 1 mushroom
   * 1 meat
7. Cook on the grill, turning occasionally until the meat is cooked through.

Souvlaki Serving Options:

1. With a side order of rice pilaf and a couple tablespoons of Greek yogurt on top or tsatsiki sauce beside (also tzatziki)
2. You can heat pitas and place the souvlaki within it, and add tsatsiki sauce

Kali Orexi!

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Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Cooking Greek Recipes

Cooking Up Greek Recipes

with our

Executive Chef Pinelopi

Pinelopi's (pee-neh-law-pee) mother of the same name had eight children, of which Pinelopi was the youngest. Pinelopi's mother designated the young girl as her kitchen aid, which she rather enjoyed. As they cooked up Greek recipes for family meals together, Pinelopi's mother would share colorful stories of her childhood in Greece, and of the favorite Greek foods she had learned to prepare there. These were Greek recipes that were passed down through generations, and the young girl studied attentively. Little Pinelopi vowed to herself to always replicate these treasured Greek meals to the best of her ability.

Pinelopi's mother enjoyed a natural luxury of Greece, a perivoli or grove of many trees that thrived on the family property, including a variety of fruit and citrus trees, as well as olives and almonds. As a result, Pinelopi tells us, "Mother would make many "teaspoon sweets", which were always served with a cold glass of water. These were made for presentation to visitors, as a requisite offering of Greek hospitality."

Pinelopi (Penny) still views her mother as the best cook ever. She loved cooking Greek food, and inherently passed this passion on to her daughters. Penny says, "Mother not only loved cooking for the family; she loved cooking for everyone, because, simply put, she loved everyone." A sweet example of this generosity was her habit of saving mayonnaise jars, which she would have Pinelopi wash out for her. "Mother would fill the jars with soup for the hobos who rode the railroad." Penny and her mother would pack them in paper lunch bags and leave them for the men to find on the front porch.

"These homeless strangers would inform one another of mother's warm offerings of welcomed homemade soup and sustaining bread. On occasion the men would see mother sweeping the porch or watering her plants, and they would tip their hats to her and call out, "Thank you Mrs." Mother would reply in her broken English, "You welcome.""

Pinelopi has carried on her mother's passion for cooking and also sharing her wonderful dishes and sweets with family, friends, neighbors and strangers. Like many Greek families, hers also endeavored to create entrepreneurial restaurants and diners, but Penny mostly just cooked at home and for family celebrations. Penny wants to share her wonderful treats now with you.

Pinelopi looks forward to sharing her mother's passion for Greek cooking within her new column here. Our Executive Chef will author a series of articles offering these wonderful Greek food recipes, which will warm the pages of Wall Street Greek.

We also invite readers interested in sharing their own Greek recipes or variations of Greek cuisine with us via email to recipes@ WallStreetGreek.com. It will be our pleasure to publish your recipes here and give credit to you, and we will also publish a photograph of you with the dish if you like.

Pinelopi's Greek Recipes:

• Melomakarona - Greek Honey Walnut Cookie
• Vasilopita - Greek New Year's Bread
• Lentil Soup
• Shrimp and Rice Pilaf
• Lamb Souvlaki or Shish Kebab

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Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.