Cookbook # 64 The Olive and the Caper

Happy Easter!!!

Oh Greece. I keep saying this will be my next trip and something else always comes along. How can you pass on a country where “your nose takes in the aroma of aged olive groves and the perfume of caper blossoms?” That’s just seduction at its finest.  

Greece, where something as simple as an egg cooked in extreme olive oil entices the senses….

This cookbook is as much an adventure for the eyes as it is for the foodie. While the photos are few and far between, the ones that are present are enough to make this girl kick herself for not having planned that trip to Greece yet. Sad.

The recipes are not so bad either…eggplant a bazillion different ways, cardamom in everything—including your veggies, beet tzatziki, and of course a bit of baklava. It’s definitely good stuff if you skip over the few recipes that involve the words “1 lb of lamb innards” or marinated lamb’s livers. That is of course unless you are an innards kind of person.

My recipe of choice this year was one that I’d actually planned last year but something about my vacation prevented it. This year though, I was all over the Greek Easter Bread recipe. It’s a sweeter, enriched bread recipe and the addition of cardamom makes the entire kitchen smell quite exotic. If you haven’t tried cardamom, it’s tough to explain. Some say it’s like a cinnamon clove spice, but truthfully, I think it smells exactly like a henna tattoo—but tastier.

The dough is braided up Challah style right before you add the red hard boiled eggs. Or pink in my case. Having an aversion to red dye #45, I attempted coloring these eggs with the help of a good friend.

I can’t explain my love affair with beets—they are just so absolutely perfect. Oui?

And the bright red water from the steamer always made me wonder what I could dye with it. The answer is eggs apparently. I kind of like the pink better than the bright red of the food coloring.

And really, grownups shouldn't have all the easter fun.  Take a bit (2 cups) of whole grain oatmeal , milk and organic coconut and ruin it all with half a stick of butter, 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of cocoa.  Cook together on stove and then form into bird's nests and let cool. Then fill the nests with malted milk "eggs" and Peeps to look over the eggs in the nests.  Don't pretend you didn't eat peeps.  As my Dad says, "Peeps are the candy you left in your easter basket until the rest was gone.  Then you ate the Peeps, because, well, they were still candy." 

 

 

Greek Easter Bread

adapted from The Olive and the Caper

6 cups of flour

1.5 tablespoons of active dry yeast
1/2 cup of melted butter
1/2 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tablespoon of mahlab (or ground cardamom)
 1/2 cup of water
2-3 pieces of mastic, crushed with 1/4 teaspoon of sugar (or grated peel of 1 orange)
3/4 cup of lukewarm milk
3/4 teaspoon of sea salt
egg wash - 1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
blanched sliced almonds (optional)

hard boiled dyed red eggs (optional)

Preparation:

Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk. Add a few spoonfuls of flour to make a paste. Cover and set aside in a warm place to rise.

In a bowl, combine 2.5 cups of the flour and salt, and add melted butter. Boil mahlab (mahlepi) in 1 cup of water, strain, and add the liquid to the flour.

Add the eggs, mastic, sugar, and the risen yeast mixture. On a floured surface or in a mixer, knead the mixture well, adding in remaining flour until it becomes a malleable dough, about 15-20 minutes (or 10 minutes with a mixer). Cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (1 1/2 - 2 hours).

Divide dough into thirds and shape into ropes, each about 15 inches long. Braid s 3 ropes to form loaves, tucking ends in underneath the loaves. For the traditional Easter loaf, tuck one or more red eggs (choose eggs that have no cracks) into the braids.

Place the loaves on greased cookie sheets or baking pans, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with almonds.

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes or until golden brown. (Tap on the bottom; they should sound hollow.) Cool for 5 minutes, then move to racks to cool completely.