Now I have never been to Greece, but it is a place I have always wanted to go . . . since I was about 10 years old and saw Haley Mills in the Moon Spinners. It looked like a fabulous country to visit and it is still my dream to one day visit. I am sorry they are having so many problems at the moment. I hope that they are able to work their way through this hard time they are having.



I have had a kebab though . . . a kebab is a very popular takeaway dish here in the UK. (Especially when all the pubs and bars start to empty out on a Friday and Saturday night!)You see them in all of the takeaways . . . big slabs of mystery meat, on a huge skewer, rotating in front of a heat lamp thingie. They slice the meat off onto a pita bread and cover it with salad and sauce. They sell tons of them . . . I have had a chicken one before and it was quite good. I have never had a mystery meat one though . . . and I somehow don't think I ever will . . .



And really . . . after having watched The Food Inspector the other week . . . I doubt that I ever will have a chicken one again either. UGH!!



These tasty Souvlaki are so much nicer . . . and healthier too. Plus you know exactly what is in them.



You are supposed to zip open the pita bread and pile all the fillings inside . . . but in all truth that has never worked for me . . . they always fall apart. I would rather just put the warm pita bread on a plate and pile everything on top of it and eat it with a knife and fork.



I know. Me = party pooper! Nevermind . . . it doesn't matter how you eat it. It's delicious. End of.



*Souvlaki in Pita*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is considered to be the Greek Equivalent of the Kebab! We sell enough Kebab's in this country on Friday night. I reckon this is a much healthier option and a lot tastier as well!

4 large pita breads
water and olive oil to moisten
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 medium onion, peeled and coarsely grated
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
500g lean pork or lamb, cut into 1 inch cubes (1 1/4 pound)

For the Salad Bits:
lettuce thinly sliced
cucumber, sliced
red pepper, sliced
tomatoes, cut into wedges
radishes, sliced
1 small red onion, tpeeled and thinly sliced
flat leaf parsley leaves, torn

For the Garlic Dressing:
100ml of thick, strained Greek Yoghurt (about 3/4 cup)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
3 inches of cucumber, coarselyated and then squeezed dry
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Metal skewers for grilling



Sprinkle the pita breads with water and olive oil. Either grill them, or bake them at 180*C/350*C/ gas 4 for 3 to 5 minutes, just long enough to soften them, but not dry them out. Place them in a warm place and cover with a tea towel to keep warm.

Put the oregano, lemon juice, grated onion and some salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil. Add the meat cubes and mix them into coat them completely. Allow to sit and marinate for at least 20 minutes. Drain and then thread onto metal skewers. Cook on a preheated barbeque, or on a stove top grill pan, turning occasionally until golden outside and cooked through. (5 to 8 minutes)

While they are grilling toss together your salad choices in a bowl. Set aside.

Whisk together the yoghurt, garlic, cucumber and salt in a bowl.

Add a dollop of this to each warmed pita bread. Top with some salad and push the meat off of the skewers on top. Drizzle with a bit more of the garlic dressing if you want. Serve immediately, while the bread and meat are hot, but the dressing and salad are cool.

PS - I don't want a lot of Greeks messaging me and telling me this isn't authentic. It's not supposed to be. This is The ENGLISH kitchen. 'Nuff said.

Just sharing my experience, that's all.  I mean no harm.The chicken parm recipe in his first book sounds and looks delicious, but with a few changes, such as the cheese/crumb coating on the chicken, rather than skin.  To be honest, once you add the sauce the skin would  lose any crispness, the crumbs stand up much better to sauce, than skin.

There are certain foods that I just have to make each Easter for us to eat here in my English Kitchen. Things like hot cross buns . . .



Baked Ham and scalloped potatoes . . . if I'm in a North American mood, or Roast Leg of Lamb, if I'm feeling decidedly British . . .



Deviled Eggs . . .



Simnel Cakes . . .

There are some foods that are just traditional for Easter Celebrations. My Aunt Thelma always used to make lovely fruit breads for Easter. All yeasty and sweet and stogged full of raisins and candied peel . . . the tops covered with a lucious icing glaze and decorated with candied cherries. We so used to look forward to their arrival every Easter Holiday . . .



These past few years I have adopted the habit of making these delicious chocolatey Easter Crispie Cakes. They're so easy to make, and scummily moreish to eat.



Kids just love them. Adults likewise . . . somewhat reminiscent of the Nestle's Crunch Bar . . . there is nothing to them but good melted chocolate (two kinds) and crisp rice cereal.

Oh, and those tasty candy covered little chocolate eggs of course!!



Bet you can't eat just one . . . and I bet you'll have to make them more than once during the Easter Holiday season. Aren't you glad they're so easy to make?




*Easter Chocolate Crispie Nests*
Makes about 15
Printable Recipe

These are so easy to do and look so pretty when they are finished. I had long heard of Marshmallow Crispy Squares, but never these chocolate delights! What a sheltered life I have lived! I wish I had known about these when my children were growing up. They would have loved them!

50 grams of milk chocolate (I used Green and Blacks organic) (1/3 cup)
50 grams of dark chocolate (again I used Green and Blacks)(1/3 cup)
3 cups of crisp rice cereal
1 bag of Easter mini eggs (you will not need them all, but I am sure you will find a use for the extras, I did!)

Put a pot with some water in the bottom of it on the stove and bring it to a simmer. Break the chocolate up into bits and place it into a glass bowl, large enough to sit over the simmering water. Cook and stir until melted. Take care not to let the water boil. Once the chocolate is all melted and smooth, carefully remove it from the heat and stir in the rice cereal.

Line a bun tin with paper liners and spoon the chocolate cereal mixture in, dividing it equally amongst each cup. Place a few easter eggs on the top of each and set them aside to cool and set up. You can put them into the fridge to do this if you are in a hurry, but it may cause your chocolate to bloom. If you are a patient sort it really doesn't take that long for them to set up out of the fridge, perhaps not much more than an hour or so.

Sunday lunch/dinner is a huge tradition over here in the UK . . .  with roast dinners and all the trimmings.  In fact in most pubs on a Sunday you can't order off the menu.  It's roast dinner or nothing.  Mind you, most give you a choice or beef, pork, lamb or turkey, so it's not that bad really.   We don't eat out on Sundays and we never have a roast dinner at home.  We spend half of the day in church and to be honest  . . . when I get home I can't be asked to cook a big roast dinner then.

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Deviled eggs have to be one of the easiest things in the world to make and one of the most popular dishes on the salad table. Men absolutely love them as well. I am not sure why that is, but, it's true. If you bring a platter of deviled eggs to a pot luck party . . . you will be the most popular person at the party and everyone will be scrambling for your recipe! Tis true, cross my heart.

Some people like to put pickle relish and all sorts of other things into their picked eggs . . . but I like to keep it simple and it works. These eggs quite simply have nothing but mayo, some grainy mustard and a bit of seasoning in them. I cannot tell you the number of times a week I had to make these little babies when I was working as a Chef in the big house down south. There had to be a plate of them in the refrigerator at all times. They just loved them. They're a portable snack too.

Perfect in the picnic basket as well. You can put them together in pairs and wrap them up as a set. You just put the filling sides together and there's no mess at all. Easy peasy, lemon squeasy. I do think these are the best I've ever eaten myself. I like to garnish with a few fine-chopped fresh chives . . . the green looks so pretty against the egg yolk and the flavour is so mild it takes nothing away from the eggs themselves. Look for a few hints below on making hard boiled eggs.


Note:  If you are not serving these right away, cover and chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.  Dust with paprika just prior to serving.


Tips for Creating Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs:

1. Older eggs are a lot easier to peel than newer eggs. I always use eggs that at least one week old, if not older. If you have eggs that are close to their expiration date, so much the better. It's true!

2. Boiled Eggs, should actually NEVER be boiled! Keeping them at a steady simmer is much better. Boiling toughens the yolk. Also, never add salt to the water. I do add a tiny bit of vinegar, which helps them to peel easier.

3. Always bring your eggs to room temperature before boiling. They are less likely to crack if you do this.

4. Don't stack your eggs in the pot. Have them laid out in one layer. If you have too many eggs to do this with, you need a larger pot! You only need about 1 inch of water over the top of the eggs. More than that and it takes too long to boil. Less than that and your eggs won't stay covered.

5. As soon as your water comes to the boil, remove your pot from the heat, pop a lid on and let them set in the boiling water for (17 minutes) large eggs, (20 minutes) jumbo eggs. At the end of that time, drain and then run cold water over them until they are cooled down. Let them sit in cold water for about 10 minutes and then drain. For ease of peeling roll them around and allow the shells to crack while they are still in the water. Let sit for a few minutes.

For ease in peeling these things help alot . . . using older eggs, beginning at the large end of the egg, peeling under running cold water. I usually tap the large end on the counter until it cracks, then give the egg a gentle roll all over before peeling them under a slow running tap. You will get perfect results almost 100% of the time.

I also have one of these hard plastic egg timer thingies. They work a charm and you end up with perfectly cooked Soft, Medium or Hard boiled eggs every time.

And now for a giggle.  Here's a few things I baked over the past few days for Easter that never made the cut for the blog for aesthetic reasons.  In other words, they didn't photograph well.

To make the Sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts. DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL. Using a long tined fork, pierce the cake 10 or 11 times.  Pour the hot sauce over the warm cake.  Allow to stand and absorb for about ten minutes before tipping out onto a serving plate.  Just before serving, dust with icing sugar.

Cream together all of the frosting ingredients with an electric mixture until thick and smooth.  Spread on top of the cake and decorate as desired.

I don't think I will ever be able to find work as a Cake Decorator, lol. Happy Easter!