CONSTANTINA MAUD

It’s that time of year and if you reside in a foodie-driven corner of the world, it’s also a time when highly creative levels of cooking are trending. Therefore, I’m indulging today in a more frivolous post by sharing with you three simple recipes widespread in Greece, which are my own personal pick too for Christmas or New Year’s Day. The holidays are of course the perfect occasion to try them out, but in no way are they exclusively festive recipes. So, here we go!

⭐Bougiourdi⭐

Time of preparation: 6min

Procedure: Cut the feta cheese in a few chunks and place them in the type of ovenware that you prefer. On top of them place the tomato/es either sliced or diced, and finally add the bell pepper, also in slices. You can cover all the ingredients with grated cheese, although personally, I skip this step because it alters the feta flavour. Bake the bougiourdi in the oven at 200° C for about 15 minutes. Once out of the oven, sprinkle it with oregano, drizzle with olive oil and serve (either as it is or after stirring it a bit).

⭐Potato salad⭐

Serving: for 6 people

Difficulty: near 0

Things you’ll need:

• 6 medium-sized potatoes
• 2-3 carrots
• a medium-sized bowl of snipped parsley
• 450g low-fat mayonnaise
• 4 tbsp. mild mustard
• 2 tbsp. vinegar
• salt & pepper

Time of preparation: around 50min

Procedure: Peel the potatoes, cut them in half and boil them until you can cut through them with a knife effortlessly. Then, take them out of the pan, put them into a large bowl and let them cool for a bit. Meanwhile, you can snip the parsley and grate the carrots. After the potatoes have cooled, cut them into smaller pieces and add salt and pepper to your liking (depending on how salty, spicy etc. you want the dish to be). Add 2/3 of the grated carrots and 2/3 of the snipped parsley. Stir the mixture, so that the ingredients mix well with each other. Then, take another, small bowl and pour in 2/3 of the mayonnaise, adding 3 tbsp. of mustard (if you’re fond of more spiciness, add more mustard). Stir the sauce until it’s homogenous and then pour half of it in the vegetables’ mixture. Stir gently, for the ingredients to mix well again, but you don’t want the potatoes to become mashed. Add the rest of the sauce and the vinegar and stir again. Finally, pour the mixture into the bowl you intend to serve it in.

Decoration (optional): mix the remaining mayonnaise and 1 tbsp. of mustard thoroughly and cover the mixture in the serving bowl with it. For a final touch, create whatever décor you like with the remaining carrots and parsley. Here are my examples:

And now on to the dessert ~

⭐’Yule log’⭐

Difficulty: 2

Things you’ll need:

• 125g hazelnuts
• 200g baking chocolate cover in the form of chips/drops
• 150g low-fat (dairy) cream
• 250g butter
• 100g icing sugar
• 3 tbsp. brandy (cocoa flavoured, preferably)
• 50g cocoa powder
• 250g petit beurre biscuits

Time of preparation: around 50min (plus around 2h in the freezer)

Procedure: Put the hazelnuts in a food processor and grind them until their mixture is quite fine and even. In a bowl, break the biscuits in pieces, but try not to crumble them. On to the baking chocolate drops next, to perform the bain-marie procedure. Then, add the liquid cream to this mixture (preferably, the cream shouldn’t be very cool i.e. straight out of the fridge). Stir well and then let the mixture cool for about 25 minutes.
Continue by adding the cocoa powder, icing sugar and the butter in a new bowl and mix them well with a food mixer. Add the previous chocolate mixture into this one, along with the biscuits, hazelnuts and brandy and stir gently with a utensil, taking care again not to crumble the biscuits completely.
Finally, spread the mixture on a piece of baking paper and roll it with the paper as if trying to make a tube. Even it out, wrap the ends of the paper and put the ‘Yule log’ in the freezer for about 2 hours. Here’s how it looks when served:

I hope you enjoy these recipes and have loads of fun making them! And, while you’re at it, I’ve got you all covered as well as to…

…What tunes to listen to:

Or which films to watch!

                 

Bookish bonus (well, because~):

Did you know that you can listen to Orson Welles performing A Christmas Carol? Check it out as well as an abundance of other Christmas stories in this Spotify playlist!

Wishing you the Merriest of Christmases, may it be as dream-filled and magic-sprinkled as you want it to be. 🎄

Film poster sources:

It’s a Wonderful Life – Miracle on 34th Street – A Christmas Carol