theodora's batsaria (batsaria tis theodoras)

this is a recipe i've been wanting to make for a long long time....i remember standing in my mother in law's kitchen in athens watching her make batsaria and she made it for us a few times when she and my father in law came to australia to visit..fortunately i wrote the recipe out as i watched her making it in my kitchen on that visit nearly 30 years ago..older greeks like my mother in law never followed recipes but learned to cook by watching others and following their instincts so i knew when i was making it to do the same and not adhere strictly to the quantities listed..

theodora's batsaria

ingredients

filling

1 large bunch of spinach

1 medium onion grated

6 spring onions cut fine

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped dill

125 gms feta crumbled

1 tablespoon (tbs) yoghurt

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup rice

1/2 cup trahana

2 eggs lightly beaten

2 tbs olive oil

2 teaspoons (tsp) pepper

2 tsp salt

dough

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

2 tbs yoghurt

2 tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt

flour

semolina

water

extras

olive oil

125 gms feta crumbled

method

filling

~ wash spinach well, place in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and leave to drain while preparing the other ingredients

~ squeeze the spinach well, chop into medium pieces, and place in a large mixing bowl along with the other filling ingredients

dough

~ mix eggs, milk, yoghurt, salt and oil and add enough flour and semolina (adding a smaller proportion of semolina to flour) to make a thick batter

assembly

~ oil a baking dish well and place half of the batter on the bottom spreading it out with a wet spoon

~ add filling

~ add a few tablespoons of water to the remaining batter, mix well, and drizzle on the top of the filling

~ sprinkle with the feta and drizzle with olive oil

~ cover with foil and bake at 180 deg c for half an hour, remove foil, continue to cook for a further 30 minutes or until the pie is well browned

comments:

my batsaria did not resemble my mother in law theodora's pie in appearance or texture but it did have the flavour i remember loving so much..i remember her pie having more dough on the bottom and top (even though i doubled the recipe) and hers was quite chewy..i also don't remember her pie having as much feta on the top of it and my pie was not nearly as oily as hers either but i always use less oil than a greek cook would use..i don't buy unseasonal vegetables so i didn't add the zucchini listed in the recipe but i will certainly add this ingredient in summer when i have them growing..

next time i make it i will try using a smaller baking dish to see if that makes a difference to the dough layer and i'll use less feta on top too..and maybe just a little bit more oil!

for my children

katerina

alexandra

nicholas

random things

from the last few days..

left to right:

op shop doily purchased for $1 to be used in patchwork

op shop purchased johnson brothers plate from a set of 6 bread and butter and 6 dinner plates bought for $8

flowers picked from along a railway line heralding spring

roast pumpkin and capsicum soup garnished with yoghurt, parsley, chilli flakes and marigold petals

young's double chocolate stout, chilli and mushroom beef stew (served with champ)

sourdough bread

orange, currant and pistachio cous cous salad

i first came across this salad when i was working in a cafe while i was studying for a degree as a mature age student..along with typical cafe work we were also required to cook, make salads and do a lot of ingredient preparation..for instance on a sunday i'd make scones first thing in the morning before opening the cafe and throughout the day in between the other work we'd make omelettes in electric frying pans for anti pasta or make and cook terrines..we'd also do a lot of chopping and grating of various vegetables according to the future needs of the chef or ourselves..

navel oranges are fantastic at the moment..the ones i prefer are the thicker skinned variety and at the moment they are $0.68 c/kilo at my local shop so i bought a whole lot yesterday and i used some to make this salad..i don't follow an exact recipe but to make it you need couscous, finely cut parsley, orange rind (i like long thin curls), orange segments, orange juice, currants and pistachios..just make sure you prepare all the ingredients first before adding the juice because it's hard to mix them all in once the juice is added and add enough juice to make a fairly wet mix..after sitting for a while it will be absorbed..oh..and i like to add the pistachios at serving time otherwise they go too soft..

 i even like to eat it for breakfast!

watercress

years ago when i was on a summer bush walk i came across watercress growing at the junction of the shaded side of the path and a small slow trickling stream..i picked a few sprigs and wrapped them carefully in a damp piece of paper to preserve them with a view to growing them at home..we didn't eat any of it at the time because it's not advisable to eat watercress that's been growing in an area of potential contamination..the sprigs of cress were a bit wilted when i eventually got home at about midnight but i popped them in a glass of water hoping that they'd resurrect..i was really happy to see the sprigs develop root filaments after about a week and so i planted them in a pot and because cress likes indirect sun i placed them on the southerly side of my garden..there were times over the years through a combination of neglect and hot weather that i thought i'd lost it but fortunately it's a prolific seeder and so it would always reappear..it's now growing better than ever in my new garden..once again it's in a southerly position but it's planted directly into a garden bed and in an area that receives a lot of rain and run off from a disconnected down pipe..having such a prolific amount of cress growing led me to read up about it recently and to my surprise i learned that it's a particularly nutrient dense green..as a result i've been thinking up ways to incorporate it into more meals..one of the things i've been making a lot is watercress pesto which like other pestos is really versatile..

i have about 2 m x 2 m of watercress growing

lots of well washed watercress, toasted pine nuts, garlic and parmesan
processed with olive oil until it forms a paste

further reading:

http://www.watercress.com/history.aspx (history of watercress)
http://www.thewatercresscompany.co.uk/superfood.php (nutritional content of watercress)
http://www.watercress.com/pdf/pot_health_benefits_of_WC_09.pdf (potential health benefits of watercress
http://watercress.co.uk/recipes/ (watercress recipes)

chocolate cupcakes with raspberries and vanilla cream cheese custard

i love wintery days when i light the fire and cook all day

yesterday was one of those days

soup and bread was made for dinner

and something sweet was called for too

chocolate cupcakes with raspberries and vanilla cream cheese custard

tea with hazel

makes 8

ingredients

cupcakes

go here for the recipe but replace the milk with 1 tablespoon (tbs) of cassis and omit mahlepi

cream cheese custard

200 mls milk
80 gms sugar
30 gms corn flour
1 large egg
125 gms cream cheese softened and cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon (tsp) vanilla

extras

1/2 cup raspberries marinated in 1-2 tbs cassis
icing sugar

method

cream cheese custard*

~ reserve 4 tbs milk and put the remainder plus the sugar on to heat
~ mix the corn flour with the reserved milk, add eggs, and mix well
~ add a few tbs of warm milk to the cornflour mix and mix well
~ take the milk off the heat and while stirring slowly pour the cornflour mix through a sieve into the warm milk
~ put the saucepan back on the heat and bring to the boil and cook for one minute stirring constantly
~ take off the heat and stir in the cream cheese and vanilla
~ spoon the custard into a bowl, cover with cling film, and leave until cool

assembly**

~ cut a cone shape from the cupcakes trimming away the base to create a flat disk and put aside
~ place 3-4 raspberries and some cassis marinade into the cupcake cavity
~ add a large spoon of custard
~ place the reserved cupcake top on the custard pressing down gently
~ dust with icing sugar

notes
*   this amount of cream cheese custard would be enough for double the cupcake recipe
** best assembled close to serving time

a packet of cream cheese in the fridge inspired me to make the vanilla cream cheese custard..i really liked it but then i'm rather fond of cheesecake and related delicacies..in future i'd like to try other flavours such as lemon, cumquat, orange, tiramisu and pistacchio and rose..just to name a few!

soul food

it's funny how our memories work

i remember my mother saying a verse a couple of times when i was quite young

and i've never forgotten it

if of thy worldly goods though art bereft

and from thy slender store
two loaves are left

sell one and with the dole

buy hyacinths to feed thy soul

from the gulistan (the rose garden)

muslihuddin sa'di

13th century persian poet

the bulb forcing vase is an op shop find 

i wouldn't have known what it was when i saw it were it not for a dear elderly english friend who used to have several of these vases on her kitchen window sill with hyacinths in them each year

i put the bulb in the vase about two months ago and placed it in a darkened cupboard

i took it out two days ago because it had started to flower

sourdough bulgur loaf

i've made this loaf three times now and it's become the one i'll be making regularly each week for general consumption..that's because lately i've become a bit concerned about eating mainly white bread..don't get me wrong i love a loaf of white sourdough but it's something i'd like to reserve for occasional consumption rather than for every day..i don't mind the occasional seeded loaf either but i don't want to feel like i'm having daily visits to the gulags..

sourdough bulgur loaf

tea with hazel

ingredients

levain

1 tablespoon (tbs) active starter
100 gms organic white bread flour
125 mls filtered water

final dough

250 mgs levain
250 gms organic white bread flour
100 gms organic wholemeal flour
50 gms fine bulgur
1 1/2 tbs crushed murray river salt
100 mls boiling filtered water
water

method levain

day 1
~ mix the starter with the water and flour, cover, and leave for 16 hours (in summer it will need to be refrigerated)

method final dough

day 2
~ pour boiling water over bulgur and leave until the water is absorbed
~ in the bowl of a stand mixer mix flours, bulgur, levain and enough water to make a shaggy dough
~ autolyse for 30 minutes
~ add salt and mix briefly, rest for 10 minutes, and then mix briefly once more
~ remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover with oiled cling film or a damp tea towel and set aside for about 3 hours
~ remove the dough onto a flour dusted bench, knead briefly to form a ball, then cover and leave for 15-20 minutes
~ do two stretch and folds with 10-15 minute rest intervals
~ shape the dough into a round creating surface tension, place in a flour dusted muslin lined colander, and leave until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an indentation
~  carefully turn the dough out onto a hot rice flour dusted cast iron surface (or baking stone or tray), dust with flour, and score a circle around the lower perimeter of the loaf
~ cook with steam at 250 deg c for 20-25 minutes, lower heat to 200 deg c, and cook for a further 20-25 minutes

this was the pattern left on my bench after proving the dough in a colander

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