​This is probably my favourite discovery so far in our Eating Around the World adventure. This Pita Bread is something we love, making this brings a little excitement into our house. This bread is tasty and goes with just about every thing.

I am a member of a few food groups, surprise, surprise, and for a long time I had seen people commenting that they make bread with greek yoghurt and flour, I didn't pay much attention to it, as I usually made yeast based bread, until I hit Greek week, when I decided to make pita bread. Well now I can see why everyone was making it, it is easy and there is no waiting time to allow it to rise, you just mix, roll and cook these. Super easy, super tasty.

The original recipe said this makes 12 pita breads, I prefer them smaller, so I make about 15-16. Roll them out quite thin as they puff up while cooking.

This bread reheats well, just pop them in the oven wrapped in aluminium foil until warmed through.

Super easy, super tasty and you will never not have bread in the house again.

​Recipe adapted from Helena and Vikki Moursellas' cookbook Taking You Home xx

Makes 12-16

500g self raising flour, plus extra, for dusting
500g Greek Yoghurt
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
½-1 tablespoon sea salt
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
​

Place the flour, yoghurt, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Add a little water if the mixture seems too dry, or more flour if the mixture seems too wet.
 
Tip the dough onto a clean work surface and dust it with a little extra flour. Knead the dough for 1 minute then divide into 10 equal portions.
 
Dust a rolling pin and your work surface with flour and roll the pieces of dough into small circles (about 14cm diameter). Roll them out thin as they puff up when frying.
​
Place a frying pan over medium heat, spray the pan with the cooking spray, place the pita in the pan and spray the pita. Repeat this process for every pita bread. Cook each flatbread for a couple of minutes on each side or until lightly chargrilled, and serve hot.

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​Six weeks ago I started our Eating Around the World adventure which this week led me to Greece.

Now Eggplant dip made an appearance during Egypt and South Sudan week also, but this is by far my favourite dip of the three. And I have figured out why, each of the other two dips were lovely but each time I felt it was missing something and now I know what, a fresh element, the addition of onion and tomato to the eggplant is ingenious, it is exactly what was missing from my other dips.

I served this as an addition side to my gyros night, but this would be delicious as a dip on a meze platter.

Simple, yet delicious, a dip worth trying, especially if you love eggplant, as I do.

​Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'Greek"

Makes 2 1/2 cups

2 medium eggplants (600g)
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
½ small red onion (50g), chopped finely
1 medium ripe tomato (150g), chopped finely
1 tablespoon lemon juice
​

​Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced. Place the eggplants in a baking paper lined baking dish, roast for 1 hour. When eggplants are cool enough to handle, pull away and discard the skin.
 
Coarsely chop eggplant flesh; combine with oil in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients; season to taste.

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​These are the best spinach and cheese spirals. I know that is a big claim, but they are absolutely delicious.

This one makes me laugh a little as it has been placed in my breakfast section, why, because this is something I would eat for breakfast. 

Growing up, if you ever watched the movie Wog Boys, that was my life, you take to school the mortadella and ajvar sandwich and tell the other kids it was devon, as that is what the other kids were eating. Or you take a chicken schnitzel sandwich and everyone wants to trade you, I actually would trade it for a bread roll, butter and chips, how I wanted the 'Aussie' food, as the Croatian food I had at home. These days gourmet food is the food I grew up on, my kids today take the cool lunches to school, but now as kids are exposed to more and more foods, nothing is weird anymore, their friends will try anything, mind you my kids won't trade their lunches.

I digress, back to the spirals, the filling is delicious, you can vary this recipe, this morning I was cleaning out the fridge, post party, so I used what I had, in all honesty I measured nothing. But the pastry, this pastry tastes like you made it yourself, I'm not talking about the brand, but the pastry as you roll it up, some of it is not exposed to the heat in the oven, so it doesn't puff up, it goes soft and delicious, and it honestly tastes like you made it yourself.

This can be eaten for lunch, for brunch, heck I'd eat it for dinner. I love eating it by unwinding the scroll.

It can be eaten hot, warm or at room temperature, but it is best eaten hot.

Simple and tasty, you have to try this.

​Recipe adapted from Helena and Vikki Moursellas' cooking Taking You Home xx

Makes 14

½ bunch fresh English Spinach leaves, roughly chopped (or 250g baby spinach leaves)
Fresh dill, finely chopped, to taste
3 spring onions, finely chopped
180g greek feta
300g ricotta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten, plus 1 extra
1 tablespoon salt-I did not add this much salt, add it to taste
Pinch of white pepper
5-7 sheets frozen puff pastry, at room temperature


​Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the spinach for 4 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool a little. (If using baby spinach just pour kettle boiling water over it and all it to sit in the water until it softens, then drain and cool).

Place the dill and spring onion in a medium sized bowl. Add the feta, ricotta, egg, salt and pepper. Add the spinach, using your hands, mix the ingredients to combine.

Take a sheet of puff pastry and cut it in half. Spoon the spinach mixture along the long edge of the pastry, Don’t overfill, it will be hard to roll. Make sure the pastry has softened. Roll away from your body to create a tube, then roll inwards to form a snail like shape. Your pastry should now look like a small rolled bun. Repeat until you have used all of your mixture.
​
Arrange the spirals in a prepared baking dish and brush with a beaten egg. 

​Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes, or until golden. Leave 10 minutes before eating.

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​I love Greek food, but if you had asked me 2 weeks ago if I liked Greek food, I would have said not really, I mean dolmades, souvlaki, sickly sweet baklava, that is what I had in my head about Greek food, so I thought, it's a bit boring really. Well was I wrong. Greek food I have found out is amazing.

Since starting my Eating Around the World adventure I have dedicated a month to Greece, this is the first country in six weeks that I decided to turn a week into a month, why, there is just so much food I want to make that I just can't fit it into a week.

Now this dessert, what can I say about this dessert, this is delicious. Perfect custard, with a hint of citrus, wrapped in filo and baked to produce a dessert that for me is perfect. I love this and I will add, my non dessert eating husband loves this.

It is one of those desserts where you can make the custard in advance, just keep refrigerated until needed, then just assemble the dessert, just before you need to bake it.

Eat it warm or at room temperature, just eat it.

This is a dessert you have to make.

​Recipe adapted from Helena & Vikki's cookbook Taking you home xx

Makes 10
 
3 eggs
125g caster sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
125g semolina
2 cups milk
100g melted butter, plus extra, for brushing
10 sheets filo pastry
Ground cinnamon, for dusting
Icing sugar, for dusting
​

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced. Lightly grease two baking trays and line with baking paper.
 
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and caster sugar for a few minutes using an electric mixer. Add the lemon juice, orange zest, semolina and milk, and stir to combine.
 
Pour the mixture into a deep saucepan and place over low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is thick (about 15 minutes), then add the melted butter and mix to combine. (You can now place plastic wrap on the custard, so the plastic is touching the custard, and refrigerate until needed).
 
Cut the filo pastry sheets in half and brush 2 sheets with butter, place on top of each other. Place 4 tablespoons of the custard mixture in the centre of the pastry. Fold the top over the custard, then roll up, folding in the edges to form a parcel. Continue making parcels until all the custard has been use up.
 
Place the parcels, seam side down, on the trays and brush the tops with butter. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

​Allow the parcels to cool, then dust with cinnamon and icing sugar.  

To save the recipe to your favourites go to​ www.whatscookingella.com/bougatsa-parcels.html 
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Greek Lemon Chicken:
 
½ cup (125ml) olive oil
½ cup (125ml) lemon juice
1.5kg chicken thigh fillets
2 teaspons dried oregano
2 teaspoons coarse cooking salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 medium lemon, cut into wedges

Pita Bread: 

500g self raising flour, plus extra, for dusting
500g Greek Yoghurt
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
½-1 tablespoon sea salt
Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Tzatziki:

Makes 3 cups
​
3 cloves marinated garlic
2 small Lebanese cucumbers
1 tablespoon chopped dill, to taste
500g plain Greek Yoghurt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Tomato and Cucumber Salad:

3 tomatoes , desseeded and diced
3 cucumbers , diced
1/2 red spanish onion , peeled and finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
Salt and pepper
​
Make the tzatziki: ​Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced, place the garlic on a tray and roast for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
​
Grate the cucumber, squeeze out as much juice as you can.

Place the cucumber, dill, yoghurt, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mash the garlic cloves on your chopping board and add the bowl.

Mix the tzatziki to combine. Refrigerate to chill.

Marinate the chicken: Blend or process oil and juice until thick and creamy.
 
Combine chicken, oregano, salt, pepper and half the lemon mixture in a snap lock bag, reserve the other half for basting while cooking. Mix it all together, let it marinade for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile make the salad: Combine ingredients in a bowl.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to  www.whatscookingella.com/greek-lemon-chicken-gyros-with-tzatziki.html 
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​Tzatziki, is a sauce served with grilled meats (beef, lamb, chicken, it really goes with anything) or it is served as a dip. 

If I serve it with grilled meats, I serve it as is pictured above. If I was to serve it as a dip or as meze, just drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and dust with a sprinkling of paprika as pictured below.

Tzatziki can last up to one week in the refrigerator, but in our house, my daughter makes sure it doesn't last that long.
​
You can find the marinated garlic recipe here.

This has become one of my favourite things to eat.

​Recipe adapted from Helena and Vikki Moursellas cookbook Taking you Home xx

Makes 3 cups
​
3 cloves marinated garlic
2 small Lebanese cucumbers
1 tablespoon chopped dill, to taste
500g plain Greek Yoghurt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced, place the garlic on a tray and roast for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
​
Grate the cucumber, squeeze out as much juice as you can.

Place the cucumber, dill, yoghurt, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mash the garlic cloves on your chopping board and add the bowl.

Mix the tzatziki to combine. Refrigerate to chill.

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​Week 6 of my Eating Around the World Adventure led us to Greece. On this trip of ours, we spend a week eating food from our randomly picked country. After going through my six Greek cookbooks (which I didn't even know I had, as I have so many cookbooks, it is hard to keep track of all of them), I decided there was no way I could cook all the food I wanted to try in one week, so Greek week has turned into Greek month.

First recipe up was this Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder. Now my mum has always made great slow roasted lamb, and she always loved using the shoulder, so I grew up on this, but this Greek version was just amazing. The garlic, the rosemary, the oregano, the seasoning, it was perfect.

I served it with homemade pita bread and an assortment of dips, tzatziki, eggplant dip, Bean Skordalia and a Capsicum and Feta dip. This was one of those meals where you just watch your family eating your food and the fact they loved it so much, brought joy to my heart.

This dish is salty, but I felt it needed it, adjust the salt if you prefer to use less.

If you don’t have a cast iron pot, don't fret, just use a baking tray and cover it with foil.

If you love Greek food this recipe came from a cookbook by Helena and Vikki Moursellas. If you love Greek food, this is book worth buying, simple, tasty recipes. 

If you are looking for a simple, yet tasty meal to serve your family, look no further.

Recipe adapted from Helena and Vikki Moursellas cookbook Taking you Home xx

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2kg lamb shoulder with bone in and shank attached


Preheat oven to 170C/150C fan forced. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper and oregano. Add the olive oil and mix to combine.
 
Rub the marinade over the lamb and place in a cast iron pot, then cover. Roast in the oven for 2 hours.

Add ½ cup water and reduce the oven temperature to 150C/130C fan forced , then roast for a further 2 hours.
 
Remove the lid and roast for a further 40 minutes to brown the top.
 
There is no need to rest the lamb shoulder-eat it hot.
 
I shredded the meat and then after removing the fat/oil that was at the bottom of my pot, poured the sauce over the meat.

Serve it with Pita Bread and assorted dips as mentioned above or a simple salad.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/slow-cooked-lamb-shoulder.html 
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​Roasted capsicums are amazing, they are so full of flavour and need to be served with any antipasto platter.

This to me is not only food for entertaining, I am quite happy to top a slice of bruschetta bread and eat them as a snack or as a light lunch.

When capsicums are in season and quite cheap I like to buy them in bulk and roast the capsicums, peel the skins, allow them to cool, then place in snap lock freezer bags and freeze. When needed, simply defrost, dress it and serve.

You can roast just red capsicums, or use half red and half yellow capsicums or even some orange capsicums, for additional colour. They look amazing when the colours are mixed.

​Simple and tasty.

​Recipe adapted from a Family Circle cookbook

4 medium red capsicums (800g)
4 medium yellow capsicums (800g)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and pepper
​

Quarter capsicums, remove and discard seeds and membranes.

Roast under a hot grill or in a very hot oven, skin side up, until the skin blisters and blackens. The skins need to be black to be able to be removed from the roasted capsicums easily.

Place the capsicums in a bowl or plastic snap lock bag. Cover the bowl with cling film or close the snap lock bag. Leave the capsicums covered for 5 minutes to steam a little.

After 5 minutes the blackened skin should be easy to peel off. Peel off all of the blackened skin.

Slice capsicums into thick strips. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the garlic and parsley, drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil. Toss to combine.

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Week 5 of Eating Around the World led us to South Sudan.

I can honestly say the only thing I knew about this country prior to this was that it was in Africa. Now I know exactly where it is Africa and the kind of food that is eaten there. I know a few more things, but this blog is about the food after all.

I searched for recipes and came up with the list below. The people who posted these recipes actually omitted many steps along the way, so I found I had to improvise or combine two recipes to complete a dish. Rarely were there accurate measures, everything was, to taste. So I would add spice, little by little until I got the right spice mix for my liking.

The food I found to be very flavoursome and I quite enjoyed eating the different spice mixes.

The dishes we tried were

Mahshi (Stuffed Capsicums)
Tamayya (Broad Bean Falafel)
Al Aswad Salad-Eggplant Dip
Kofta Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
​Sudanese Chicken Mafe

Overall Sudanese food is something we enjoyed. Some dishes I would definitely make again.

​Mahshi (Stuffed Capsicums): I grew up on the Croatian version of stuffed capsicums and when I made these, I can tell you, except for a few different subtle spices, they were very similar. So much so that my husband actually said if I didn't tell him they were south sudanese, he wouldn't known. I'll share the recipe here as I had to combine two recipes for this one, it is not easy finding well written, complete recipes for south sudanese cooking.

Here is the recipe:

Mahshi (Stuffed Capsicums)

9-10 capsicums, combination of red, orange, yellow and green

Meat filling
1kg of ground beef
1 red onion, chopped
 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground Coriander, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground Cumin, to taste
black pepper, to taste
½ cup white rice

Tomato Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil
340g tomato paste
350ml water
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
 
Prepare the capsicums: With a small knife take out the top stem, make a hole big enough for you to be able to remove the seeds and membrane. 
 
Make the tomato sauce:
Place butter and oil in a large frying pan, add your roughly chopped tomatoes, saute for 4-5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to release their juices and start to soften.
Add the tomato paste, stir for 30 seconds, add the water, salt, cinnamon and garlic powder.

Simmer the sauce, gently over low flame for 10 to 15 minutes until sauce is cooked. Pour into the base of your baking dish.

Make the filling:
Place 1/2 cup of white rice in water, bring to a boil, simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, drain.

In a large pan add 1-2 tablespoons oil. Add onion, saute over low-medium heat for 3-4 minutes, add the garlic, saute for 1 minute,  increase the heat , add the minced beef, fry just enough to remove the redness, breaking it up with your spoon.

Now add the salt, pepper, coriander and cumin, cook stirring for 1 minute.

Add the rice to the mince mixture and mix well.

Stuff the capsicums with the mince and rice stuffing.

Place over the tomato sauce in the baking dish pan.

Place in a preheated oven 175C/155C fan forced and bake covered for 1.5 hours to 2 hours, until the  peppers are soft and roasted. During the last 10 minutes of baking, remove the cover and roast.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

​Tamayya (Broad Bean Falafel). I do like falafel, they are quite nice. It isn't something I would want to eat regularly, just a kind of sometimes food. The recipe for this dish came from www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/broad-bean-balls-tamayya I served it with tahini and a yoghurt and cucumber salad, fresh tomato and sliced onion.

​Al Aswad Salad-Eggplant Dip. I love eggplant, truly one of my favourite vegetables, so when this recipe came up I had to try it. I really liked it. I eat it as is, but it is lovely as a side dish or in a sandwich.

​Here is the recipe: 

​Al Aswad Salad-Eggplant Dip

1 large eggplant, diced
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 green onion, diced
1 teaspoon lime juice, to taste
2 teaspoon peanut butter
water to liquefy peanut butter
Oil for frying

Shallow fry the eggplant in oil and keep stirring until it is golden brown, set aside.

Place the tomatoes in food processor or blender, and pulse.

Pour the tomatoes in a saucepan, bring the tomato sauce to a gentle boil.

With a fork, mash the aubergine, then add to the simmering tomato sauce.

Add lime juice and garlic, stir and remove the pan from heat.

Liquefy the peanut butter in some water and add to the eggplant mixture.

Add the diced green onion and mix well.

Chill in your fridge and serve with pita bread.

Enjoy!

​Sudanese Chicken Mafe: This one surprised my husband, when I told him what we were having for dinner, he didn't seem to impressed, but once he tried it, he really quite liked it, the whole family did. Now I love peanut butter, can eat it all the time, so I figured I would like this and we did.

Here is the recipe:

​Sudanese Chicken Mafe

  1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
   1 cup chicken stock
   6-8 chicken thigh fillets 
Cajun seasoning, to taste
   1 teaspoon oil
   1 medium onion, chopped
   1 large capsicum, chopped
   1 clove garlic, chopped
   1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
  1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
   1 large sweet potato, cubed
   1 large carrot or turnip, cubed
  230g fresh baby spinach

Put peanut butter and stock in bowl and whisk till combined thoroughly.

Pat chicken dry and season Cajun seasoning. 

Add oil in a saucepan, over medium heat, add chicken pieces in batches, brown on both sides for 2 minutes, set aside. 

 Add onion and capsicum, saute until onion begins, softens and is translucent.  Add garlic, saute for 2 minutes. 

Stir in peanut butter mixture, tomatoes with juice, and cayenne.   

 Bring to boil,  add chicken with accumulated juices and cover pot with lid. 

Lower heat and braise until chicken is tender, about 15 minutes.  Remove chicken to bowl and keep warm.

Add sweet potatoes and carrot/turnip to pot and simmer uncovered till tender. 

Add spinach, once it has wilted, add back the chicken to reheat.  Check the spice now, add more cayenne needed, season with salt and pepper.  

Serve with white rice.

Enjoy!

Kofta Meatballs in Tomato Sauce. This ones for my kids, they love meatballs. Kofta is a very common dish in south sudan. This had a lovely spice mix to it, the meatballs were not dry, and the sauce was flavoursome. I would make this again.

​Here is the recipe.

Kofta Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

700g beef mince
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup of rice, boiled in water for 10 minutes to get it halfway cooked, cooled
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Tomato Sauce:
1 teaspoon oil
1 small onion
4 large tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 green capsicum, sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley


In a large bowl add mince, onion, garlic, cooled rice, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly using hands. I now get a small amount of mixture and quickly pan fry it, taste the meatball mixture, add more spice or seasoning, if needed.

Shape into oval meatballs.

Add 1-2 teaspoons oil in a cast iron pan on medium heat, add meatballs, fry to brown the outside takes about 4-5 minutes. Remove meatballs, set aside, until needed

Make the tomato sauce: Add 1 teaspoon of oil to a pot, if needed, fry the diced onion for 3-4 minutes, add the garlic, saute for 1 minute.
.
Add the diced tomatoes, keep stirring, if it is catching, add a small amount of water to prevent burning. Cook until the tomatoes start to soften and release their juices.

Add the tomato paste and tomato sauce. Add the coriander, cumin, cinnamon and sliced capsicum. Give it a stir, taste, season with salt and pepper, add more spices, if needed.

Return the meatballs to the stew, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley, just before serving. Serve hot with bread.

Enjoy!

​​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next stop Greece.

Recipe adapted from amiraspantry.com

​Serves 10-12

500g packet penne pasta
500g beef mince
1 medium onion, diced
4 tablespoons tomato paste
5 cups milk
12 tablespoons plain flour
1/4 cup of unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1 cup tasty cheese (optional)
​
Fill a large saucepan with water, season with some salt, bring to the boil.
​
In a pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoon of oil, then sauté onion until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add minced meat and brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.

Add 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste, mixing everything well together. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

One your water has come to the boil, cook the pasta according to package directions, make sure it is al dente, as it will continue cooking in the béchamel sauce in the oven. Drain and do not rinse.
​
In a pan over medium heat, melt butter, add flour and whisk, for about 1 minute.
​
Add the milk gradually, one cup at a time whisking vigorously as the sauce thickens. When it is bubbly and thick, turn off the heat, season with salt and pepper and let it cool down.
​
Preheat your oven to 175C/155C fan forced.

​Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to the pasta and about half a cup of the béchamel sauce, season with salt and pepper, mix well.

In a 22xm x 33cm baking dish, spread another 1/2 cup of the béchamel sauce evenly on the bottom, just to cover the base.

Spread half the pasta, then layer the entire meat mixture over the pasta. Top that with the remaining half of the pasta and level.

Crack an egg over the remaining béchamel sauce and whisk well.

Pour the béchamel over the pasta and spread evenly.

Bake in oven for almost 45 minutes or until it is golden brown.

​Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve with a green salad.

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