Marinated beef stir-fry with Savoy cabbage and cashews

You couldn’t tell by the recipes you see on this blog of mine, but I have a deep love for Asian cuisines; Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Indonesian. I cook and eat dishes from these countries quite often and I’m not sure why my love for these cuisines is not reflected here. I will try to rectify that, however, and share with you my favorites.

When I was about seventeen, I became obsessed with Chinese food that was not particularly popular or widespread in Greece at that time. I bought cookbooks which were actually among the first cookbooks I have ever purchased, I persuaded my mom to buy me a wok and chopsticks, and my adventure in the kitchen began. Up until that time, I had learned everything about cooking from my family—my mom, my grandmother and grandfather—so this was the first time I was venturing out on my own and exploring other flavors, aromas and way of cooking. It was thrilling!

I was intrigued by the exotic ingredients, those I could find that is, and the unique flavors, and apart from the basic dishes I learned how to cook, like fried rice, stir-fries, noodles and spring rolls, I also taught myself how to eat with chopsticks. I never gave up until I learned how to use them properly, no matter how difficult it was for me, and I remember I ate every kind of food with chopsticks in order to practice. It was hilarious.

I used to invite my friends over for dinner to show off my skills and introduce them to Chinese cooking and they were so impressed. They found it delicious and I was so proud. I guess I have always had that deep-rooted need to feed people and see the satisfaction on their faces.

Then my obsession moved to the subcontinent of India and the intoxicating flavor of spices and herbs that were not so unfamiliar to me since my family’s style of Greek cooking (Politiki cuisine) is very much dependent on similar spices.

When I moved to Holland a few years ago, I discovered even more Asian cuisines, and since there’s a huge Asian community in The Hague, with shops that have everything I could ask for, I began experimenting and learning more about them. My love blossomed as I began discovering the Indonesian cuisine, very widespread here in Holland, as well as the Vietnamese and Malaysian.

I can safely say that I cook at least once a week an Asian or Asian-inspired recipe, and it’s about time I shared some of them here as well. This one is Chinese-inspired and based on the technique of stir-frying.

Beef, very thinly sliced, is marinated in a mixture of fresh, fiery, red chilli peppers, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and Chinese five-spice, and then is added to a piping hot wok and stir-fried. The majestic and beautifully deep green Savoy cabbage, cut into long strips, is added to the pan, along with some cashews and the juices of the marinade, and a few minutes later the dish is served with rice noodles and a good squeeze of lime. The zingy, bright, salty, sweet and spicy flavors blend to create a sumptuous and light dish with various and interesting textures.

Chilli and ginger-marinated beef stir-fry with Savoy cabbage and cashews
Adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

I discovered Savoy cabbage when I moved to the Netherlands; I have never seen it in Greece. You can substitute it with Chinese cabbage or kale if you can’t find Savoy cabbage where you live.

Stir-frying is a method of Chinese cooking where ingredients are fried quickly in very little oil in a hot wok and stirred continuously. To successfully stir-fry, it is crucial that you have your mise-en-place ready so that you don’t need to stop halfway through the cooking and chop or prepare an ingredient.

Use a tender beef cut like fillet, topside or top rump that doesn’t have fat or sinews, cut into thin strips as it will only cook for a few minutes.

Apart from rice noodles, you can also use egg noodles, soba (buckwheat) noodles, or rice.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

for the marinade
1 fresh red chilli pepper, finely sliced (keep seeds if you don’t mind the heat)
1 large garlic clove, mashed or grated
2 tsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
1 Tbsp soft dark brown sugar

300 g lean beef (fillet, topside or top rump), cut across the grain into thin strips
50 g unsalted cashew nuts
4 large leaves (about 150 g) Savoy cabbage, central veins cut off
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
Juice from 1-2 limes
Salt

100-150 g rice noodles (cooked according to package instructions), to serve with the stir-fry

Special equipment: wok (or deep frying pan), colander


Preparation

In a medium bowl, add all the ingredients for the marinade and mix well with a spoon. Add the beef strips and mix well to coat with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes and up to 4 hours. The longer you have time to marinate the beef the better the flavor will be.

Heat your wok over medium heat. Without adding any oil, and once hot, add the cashews. Toast them, stirring frequently so they don’t burn, for about 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove them from the wok and onto a plate.

Stack the leaves of the cabbage one on top of the other and roll them up. With a large knife cut them into strips and place them inside a colander. Place colander in your sink, boil 1 liter of water in a kettle (or as much water as your kettle holds) and pour it over all over the cabbage to wilt it. Leave to drain.

Cook the noodles at this point, according to the packet instructions, and while they are cooking, heat the sunflower oil in the wok over high heat.

Remove the beef from the marinade, shaking it so the marinade drips off back into the bowl, and place it on paper towels to dry a bit. Reserve the marinade.
Add the beef to the hot wok and stir-fry it for about 2 minutes or until it has browned all over. Add the cabbage and the marinade juices to the wok and stir-fry for further 2-3 minutes. Add the cashews at the last minute.
Squeeze some lime juice on top, give it a taste and add salt if you think it needs it. Take it off the heat.
Plate the noodles and the beef with the cabbage in individual bowls.
Squeeze more lime juice on top if you want and eat straight away!

The Greek Mousakas

There is a lot of dispute among Greeks over what is a proper mousakas and even greater over what constitutes the perfect one.

Mousakas’ roots are not Greek—you can find versions of the dish in Arab/Middle Eastern and Balcan countries. It was Greek-ified in the first half of the 20th century by the French-trained Greek gastronomist Nikolaos Tselementes, who added the delicious, yet so un-Greek at the time, béchamel sauce on top of the layered dish and introduced it to Greek home-cooks through his cookbooks. Mousakas became part of Greek cuisine ever since, as did the béchamel sauce, that made its appearance on top of other Greek dishes like pastitsio.

Greek mousakas (μουσακάς) is commonly made with minced beef/veal sauce, fried eggplants, kefalotyri cheese and is topped off with an egg-enriched béchamel sauce. But then there are other versions including eggplant and potatoes, or eggplant and zucchini, or all three. My family’s version is the last one.

You will find many versions of mousaka among Greek homes and in restaurants or tavernas. A lot of them will not be good, most of them will have the wrong type of béchamel sauce that’s too thick, others that will be filled with grease and an inordinate amount of olive oil. Mousakas must be anything but oily and greasy and unsavory. It should be characterized as meaty, honeyed rich and luscious.

The meat sauce is traditionally rather rich in sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves, but my version is a little lighter. It is mostly tomato based rather than spiced, and it lends itself to a lighter mousaka. The eggplants, potatoes and zucchinis are all fried but yet are not as heavy as you would expect. Of course, being Greek and having grown up with this dish, I’m used to eating it, so to be honest, there will be some of you who may find it heavy.

To me this is the better mousakas—of course every Greek cook will say the same thing about theirs but, oh well. The different layers of potato, zucchini, eggplant, alternating with meat sauce and a good sprinkling of kefalotyri cheese, make for a more interesting combination of flavors that work together beautifully and harmoniously. The very strict, traditional moussakas of just eggplant and meat sauce, is to me just a tad one-dimensional and even though I enjoy it, I prefer this one more.

The béchamel sauce on top is creamy and rich but not heavy, rather airy as it soufflés up in the oven. Granted, to make a good béchamel is not easy, you need to practice, however, once you get the hang of it and feel for it, then you’re okay. Following the recipe always helps.

Mousakas is the ultimate home-cooked dish. I certainly feel sorry for all those tourists having to suffer through eating mousaka in many touristy areas around Greece, eating those awful specimens of mousaka that are oily and heavy and not at all what a mousakas should be. So for those of you who would like to taste the real thing, do make this one and let me know how you liked it.

Greek Mousakas

Mousakas is all about balance of layers. The most important element/layer of mousaka for me is the béchamel. It shouldn’t be too thick nor too thin, and it should be rich and creamy.

Even though eggplant and zucchini are summer vegetables, this dish is made all year round in Greece. It is super comforting on a chilly autumn and winter evening.

Traditionally, the cheese used in this dish is Kefalotyri, a hard, yellow Greek cheese made from raw goat or sheep's milk that has a slightly salty, sharp flavor and aroma. If you can’t find it, use Pecorino or Parmesan.

Greeks always choose veal over beef, we don’t particularly enjoy the mature flavor of beef, but you can use either.

Yield: 6-8 servings / for a medium-sized baking dish 31x25cm, 6-7cm deep (the size of the dish is important so try to use a similar-sized dish)

Ingredients

for the meat sauce
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
500 g minced veal or beef (it shouldn’t be too fatty)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp sweet paprika
Pinch of sugar
½ cup passata (tomato pulp)
2 heaped Tbsp tomato paste
½ cup hot water

for the vegetables
4 medium-sized potatoes, cut lengthwise into 5mm slices
2 medium-sized eggplants, cut lengthwise into 5mm slices
2 large zucchini, cut lengthwise into 5mm slices
Sunflower oil, for frying

for the béchamel sauce
100 g unsalted butter
100 g all-purpose flour
1 liter fresh whole milk
2 medium-sized eggs
White pepper, 3-4 grinds of the mill
3 Tbsp grated Kefalotyri
Salt

More grated Kefalotyri (about 5 Tbsp), for sprinkling on top of each vegetable layer and on top of the béchamel (50-60 g cheese in total for the whole dish)

Special equipment: kitchen paper, medium-sized baking dish 31x25cm, 6-7cm deep


Preparation

make the meat sauce
Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions for about 5 minutes, until they become soft and translucent and then add the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute and add the minced meat. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring continuously with a spoon or spatula, until browned. Season with salt and black pepper, add the sweet paprika and sugar and stir well. Then add the passata and tomato paste and stir well. Add the water, stir well and let the mixture come to the boil, uncovered. Once it does, cover and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the minced meat is almost cooked.
While the filling is cooking, you need to keep an eye on it, stirring occasionally, because it might need more water. Once cooked, the sauce should not be dry. It must have an average amount of liquid in it in order to permeate the vegetables and give the dish extra flavor.

fry the vegetables
In a wide, shallow frying pan, add as much oil to fill it by ¼. Heat the oil over medium-high heat and when it’s very hot, add the potato slices on one layer and fry them on both sides. Add more oil if needed.

Important note: The potatoes (as well as zucchini and eggplants) need to be cooked by ¾ as they will continue cooking in the oven. Be careful though, especially with the potatoes because you don’t want them to be hard.

Remove the potatoes and place them on kitchen paper to absorb the extra oil. Continue with the rest.
Fry the zucchini and eggplant slices in the exact same manner as the potatoes, placing them afterwards on kitchen paper.

make the béchamel sauce
In a small, heavy-based saucepan, add the butter and melt over a low heat. Add the flour and using a whisk, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes until you have a white roux.
While whisking, pour the milk in the saucepan, turn heat up to medium and allow the mixture to come to the boil, whisking continuously to prevent lumps.
Once the béchamel comes to the boil, turn heat down to low and simmer for 6-7 minutes, stirring with the whisk regularly, until it thickens, being careful that it doesn’t become lumpy or catches. Remove pan from the heat and add the two eggs, whisking vigorously and quickly to incorporate them in the sauce. You need to be super quick doing this because you don’t want your eggs to scramble. You can do it one egg at a time if you prefer. Add the kefalotyri and white pepper, season with salt to your liking and mix well.

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

assemble the mousaka
Eyeball the division of the meat sauce into three portions in order to spread it equally over the three different vegetable layers.

Lay the potatoes on the bottom of the baking dish in one layer. Sprinkle with a little salt and 1 Tbsp kefalotyri. Cover with one portion of meat sauce.
On top of the meat sauce, lay the zucchini slices, in one layer but making sure not to leave gaps between the slices. If some overlap, that’s okay. Sprinkle with a little salt and 1 Tbsp kefalotyri. Cover with another portion of meat sauce.
On top of the meat sauce, lay the eggplant slices, in one layer but making sure not to leave gaps between the slices. If some overlap, that’s okay. Sprinkle with a little salt and 1 Tbsp kefalotyri. Cover with the last portion of meat sauce.
Spread the béchamel sauce on top evenly and smooth the top. Sprinkle with 1-2 Tbsps kefalotyri cheese.

Place the baking dish on the low rack of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes, then transfer dish to the middle rack and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the béchamel has taken on a golden brown color.
Remove baking dish from the oven and leave to cool before serving. If you try to cut pieces of mousaka while it’s hot, the layers will collapse.
The next day the mousakas will taste even better.

You can keep refrigerated for 2-3 days or in the freezer (in an airtight container) for 2-3 weeks.
You can reheat individual pieces.

Greek fried calf’s liver with onion and parsley

Calf’s liver two days before Holy Week? Yes, because if you have low iron levels and your doctor tells you that either you start eating more red meat or you start taking iron pills, well, I chose meat, calf’s liver to be exact as it’s been a favorite treat of mine since childhood. Now, unfortunately, I neglect to buy it. How come this never happens with chocolate?

So I finally got some liver the other day from the butcher and of course I ended up eating it alone as S is notoriously anti-liver of any kind. I didn’t complain. Don’t go thinking however that I ate all the liver you see in these photos, no, these were taken back in October when I was home in Greece and the pictured liver was cooked lovingly by my grandmother.

This is my favorite way of eating calf’s liver; in the style of Greek cooking I was brought up with, the “Politiki cuisine” (read about it here). You cut the liver into cubes, flour and shallow fry it in olive oil. You serve it with a good amount of finely sliced red onion mixed with chopped flat-leaf parsley and you’re set!

The liver needs to be pinkish inside otherwise you end up with a chewy mess and you don’t want that. It should be eaten freshly fried accompanied by a small glass of ouzo, some hand-cut fried potatoes and a horiatiki (Greek) salad.

I don’t know if any of you are fasting or not, and trust me I don’t want to be the one who tempts you to break your fast, so I will suggest you have this dish on Easter day. It makes the perfect, pre lamb-feasting meze.

Sikotaki Politiko (Greek Fried Calf’s Liver with Onion and Parsley)

This for me is the best way to cook calf’s liver, not to mention one of the simplest.
There are no specific measurements for this recipe as they are easily adaptable to the amount of liver you want to serve.

Ingredients
Calf’s liver slices
All-purpose flour
Olive oil, for frying
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Lemon, for squeezing juice on top

Red onion, thin half-moon slices
Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped


Preparation
Remove the outer membrane from the liver slices as well as any nerves. Cut the liver into bite-sized pieces.
In a large plate or round pan, add flour and add the liver pieces. Toss to coat them well with the flour.

In the meantime, in a large frying pan, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Once the oil heats well (it needs to be very hot but not smoking), add the liver pieces in batches, shaking off the extra flour and being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Fry 1 minute on each side but not more, otherwise it will be chewy.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the liver pieces from the pan and onto a platter, sprinkle with salt and pepper (salt is not added before cooking as it makes the liver tough), and squeeze some lemon juice on top.

In a small plate, mix the onions and parsley.
Serve liver immediately, with a good amount of onion-parsley on top or on the side.

Chili con carne

When it comes to meat stews, Greeks are unrivaled. From the simple and everyday tomato- and lemon-based meat stews (the two traditional types of Greek meat stews), to the more special kinds like Pastitsada and Sofigado hailing from the Ionian islands, Tas Kebab from Constantinople and Spetzofai from Pilio, they are like oases in the culinary desert of insipid and uninteresting meat stews from other countries, mostly Northwestern European, but let's not name names.

Greek meat stews may be wonderfully delicious but even I stray every once in a while from my culinary heritage when I become enchanted by new flavors and different combinations and by the promise of sensational gastronomic travels.

This time, the culprit is the chili con carne (chili with meat). A dish with American origins, that is mistakenly considered Mexican. It certainly has its roots in Mexican cuisine with its extensive use of chillies but it was a dish first cooked by the American settlers in the Southwest regions of the United States.

This is a dish whose versions are numerous with almost every part of the U.S. having its own special kind. With minced or cubed beef, with or without beans, beer and chocolate, with different levels of spiciness, I could go on and on.

This version here, I’d say is the least complicated because it doesn’t involve a lot of chillies, which I am unable to find here in the Netherlands, although it still contains several spices. I’m aware that chili connoisseurs (hi David!) will probably not fully approve of my chili con carne as it hasn’t got the hot Mexican chillies and it includes beans but hey, I love beans.

The white rice, avocado, lime and sour cream counterbalance the spiciness of the dish and complement it beautifully, making it a worthy rival of my all time favorite Greek meat stews.

Chili con Carne

Use fairly fatty meat which will add flavor to the dish and become tender when cooked. Chuck or blade roast are the ideal cuts of meat to use.
For those reading from the Netherlands, sucadelappen or schouderlappen are the ideal Dutch cuts of beef to use.

A Mexican beer like Corona or Sol will be a perfect pairing for this dish.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 kg beef chuck or blade roast, cut into 3-4 cm cubes and patted dry
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 fresh red chillies, chopped (seeds not removed)
1½ tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 tsp hot chilli powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground allspice
1 large cinnamon stick
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp tomato paste
800 g canned diced tomatoes
450 ml boiling water
Salt
1 Tbsp soft light brown sugar
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Handful of coriander (or if you don’t like coriander like me, use parsley)

To serve
White rice
Sour cream
1 lime
2 avocados, sliced

Special equipment: colander


Preparation
In a large and wide heavy-bottomed pan or preferably in a Dutch oven, add the olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. When it starts to shimmer, add enough beef pieces to cover 2/3 of the bottom of the pan (do not overcrowd the pan otherwise the beef will boil rather than brown) and brown the pieces on both sides. Remove pieces from the pan with a slotted spoon and place them in a bowl. Brown the rest of the beef pieces in the same manner and place them in the bowl.

Add the onions to the pan and sauté them over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes or until they soften, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate the caramelized brown bits that are stuck on there. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Then add the red chillies, all the spices and the oregano and sauté for a couple of minutes just until the spices start to give off their aromas. Don’t sauté them for longer otherwise they will burn and they’ll give a horrible taste to the dish.
Then add the browned beef, the tomato paste and canned diced tomatoes and pour the boiling water over the top. Stir well and turn heat up to high. When it comes to the boil, turn heat down to low and put on the lid.

Let the meat stew for 2-2½ hours or until it is tender. Check the meat every 20 minutes or so, stirring it around a bit.
About half an hour before the meat is done, season with salt. The reason you're adding the salt now is because if you add it at the beginning of the cooking process, the beef becomes tough.
Fifteen minutes before the meat is done, add the sugar and kidney beans and stir well.
Once ready, turn heat off and let it stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve the chili con carne garnished with fresh coriander or parsley, and with white rice, slices of avocado, a squeeze of lime and sour cream.