Going Greekish

My family loves a meatloaf made of minced lamb and filled with feta cheese, olives and tomatoes. Sort of Greekish, I would say, so I started planning our Sunday menu around that theme. 

Lamb in Ireland is always delicious and fresh and I have never had a problem to find the piece of lamb I want (leg, shoulder, rack, mince…) and when I want. Ireland sure is a lamb lover’s paradise!

Even before moving to Ireland I always visualised the country full of green fields with herds of sheep. After moving to Ireland my image changed a little as I more often seem to see myself behind the steering wheel on a narrow country road where suddenly a sheep or a few of them appear from nowhere. I do manage to brake just in time but then realize - damn - why did I hit the brakes after all, it would have been an easy-catch Sunday dinner…

The National Sheep and Goat Census from December 2011 shows that there are nearly 3,5 million sheep in Ireland. The history of herding sheep is long – even St. Patrick was a shepherd for 6 years when he was sent as a slave from Scotland to Ireland in the end of the 4^th century A.D. 

In Finland there has quite surprisingly been sheep already in the Stone Age (article about it in Finnish at tekniikka&talous website) but rather than slaughtered young and used for cooking the animals have mainly been raised for their wool. Even in the Finnish national epic Kalevala the main character Väinämöinen himself is described shearing sheep, spinning the wool into yarn and making clothes of it. - In 2011 there were only 129 000 sheep in Finland which explains not only the fact that Finns do not eat much lamb but also that 80% of all lamb meat in Finland is imported.

What comes to Greece I do not think that much of cooking lamb (other than some odd dishes like moussaka and lamb souvlaki).  My mind rather keeps wandering to the Greek mythology where I remember lamb being a highly respected sacrifice to gods. – According to Eurostat there are about 9 million sheep in Greece.  The Greek not only eat the meat but milk the sheep, and yes, traditional feta cheese is made of sheep milk.

In the current economic climate Greece may not be the word you love but Greek food is absolutely delicious so let’s praise the Greek for that if nothing else. 

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Our Sunday Menu (for 6):

Greek-Style Meatloaf 

Mashed Potatoes

Deep-Fried Courgettes

Tzatziki

Greek Flatbreads

Frozen Halva Parfait

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I started my Sunday morning with making the parfait as it needs at least a few hours in the freezer before serving.

Frozen Halva Parfait:

6 egg yolks

½ dl / ¼ cup granulated sugar

4 dl / 2½ cups cream

250 g halva

Fresh berries / raspberry coulis / jam

1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and white.

2. Whip the cream.

3. Crumb the halva and add the crumbs to the egg-sugar mixture.

4. Turn in carefully the whipped cream.

5. Pour the mixture into a loaf tin (I used an old ice cream container) and smooth the top. Freeze until firm, at least 4-5 hours but rather overnight.

6. To serve, remove the parfait from the freezer and let it soften slightly. Unmould it onto a plate and cut into slices. As halva is very sweet, berries make your parfait perfect. 

Lamb Meatloaf:

500 g minced lamb

1 egg

1 dl / ½ cup liquid (water, cream, beer)

1 dl / ½ cup dried breadcrumbs

1 tsp salt

black pepper, ground paprika, oregano, basil, chives

Filling:

100 g feta or mozzarella cheese, chopped

1 dl / ½ cup sliced black (or, rather kalamata) olives

1 tomato, chopped

1. Mix the breadcrumbs, salt and spices and add the egg and liquid. Let the mix settle for a few minutes.

2. Add the minced lamb to the breadcrumb mix. I always use my food mixer, but I know some of my friends cannot get the right touch unless doing it by hand.

3. Line a pan with baking parchment and with (olive) oiled hands shape the meat into a 1 cm/ ½” inch thick square, about 25 cm x 25 cm / 10” in size.

4. Mix the chopped cheese and tomato and sliced olives together and place them on the meat. 

5. With the help of the baking parchment roll the meat around the filling and close the ends.

6. Cook the meatloaf in the oven for about 30 min at 175°C / 390°F.

7. Cut the cooked meatloaf into nice and thick slices and serve. I love it with mashed potatoes.

Tzatziki:

2 small cucumbers

1 garlic clove

250 g Greek yoghurt

2 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp salt

pinch of ground black pepper

1. Grate the cucumbers and put the grated cucumber in a sieve to get rid of excess liquid.

2. Crush the garlic.

3. Mix the cucumber, garlic, yoghurt, lemon juice and spices and serve immediately.

Greek Flatbreads:

3 dl / 1 ¼ cup water

9-10 dl / 3½ - 4 cups strong white flour

1 bag (7 g) dried yeast

½ tsp salt

Butter for frying

1. Mix the flour, yeast and salt together.

2. Pour in the warm water.

3. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes and leave to rise until doubled in size.

4. Divide the dough into 16-18 small balls and roll them flat (about 15cm/6”) in diameter.

5. Heat a frying pan.  Melt a little butter (half a teaspoon, maybe) for each bread and cook the breads, both sides, about 1 minute per side.

Deep-Fried Courgettes:

1 medium-size courgette

1 egg

4 tbsp flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp (smoked) ground paprika

Oil for deep-frying

1. Cut the courgette into thin slices.

2. Mix the egg and milk on one plate and the flour, salt and paprika on another.

3. Dip the courgette slices into the egg mixture.

4. Heat the oil in a pan.

5. Toss the courgette slices in the flour mixture and slip them into the hot oil for about one minute.

 6. Drain the deep-fried slices on kitchen paper.

7. Serve piping hot.

 

Cook’s Notes:

*In Greece there are 0,9 sheep per inhabitant, in Ireland the figure is 0,8 and in Finland only 0,02. The more sheep the worse economy…?

*Frying the flatbreads takes some time. Make them first and warm them up before serving. I ended up having two pans on the stove as everything else was ready and half of the breads were still waiting to be fried.

*The halva parfait melts very quickly so serve it right after you take it out of the freezer.  If you want to get nice pictures have the camera ready in your hand because the parfait is not only melting fast but disappearing fast, too…

Jury’s Comments:

“Make more meatloaf next time!” (Everybody)

“The leftover courgettes are great when just fried but they get all squishy instead of nice and crispy if you heat them in the microwave.” (Husband, after enjoying leftovers for lunch the following day)