Those Summer Nights (Corfu, Greek Island Romance) (34 page)

T
he restaurant Halloumi
was inspired by a real restaurant called Lavender on Beach Road Three, Acharavi, Corfu, run by Mandy’s friends Michelle and Lee Chapman and Melinda Jacobs. They have kindly shared some of Lavender’s usually top secret, special recipes for you to try at home!

Ouzo Prawns

I
ngredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 small onion, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon crushed dried chillies

1 x 400g and 1 x 200g can chopped tomatoes

3 tablespoons
ouzo
, plus extra for sprinkling

1kg large, raw, shell-on prawns

A little olive oil, for brushing

175g feta cheese, crumbled

Small handful of wild fennel tops, roughly chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Wild fennel tops, to garnish

Method

1. Pour the olive oil and garlic into a frying pan and place over a medium-high heat. 
   
2. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle around the edges, add the onion and crushed dried chillies and cook gently until soft but not browned.
   
3. Add the tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of the
   ouzo
   and simmer for 7-10 minutes until thickened slightly. Season well with salt & pepper and keep hot.
   
4. Peel the prawns, leaving the last tail segment of the shell in place. Put them into a bowl and toss with the remaining
   ouzo
   , ½ teaspoon salt and some freshly ground pepper. Set aside for 5 minutes.
   
5. Turn grill on 10 minutes before you are ready to grill the prawns. Thread the prawns onto pairs of parallel thin skewers – this will stop them from spinning round when you come to turn them. Brush them lightly with olive oil and grill for 1½ minutes on each side until cooked through.
   
6. Stir half of the feta cheese into the tomato sauce with the chopped wild fennel tops and spoon it over the base of 1 large or 4 individual warmed serving dishes.
   
7. Push the prawns off the skewers onto the top of the sauce and sprinkle with the remaining feta. Garnish with the fennel tops and serve hot.
   

Corfiot-inspired Pot Roast Chicken

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 x 2kg chicken (portion the chicken into 2 breasts and 2 legs/thighs to brown in the pan)

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

60g sun-dried tomatoes 

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp dried oregano

A generous pinch of crushed dried chillies

150ml of chicken stock

400g orzo pasta

25g butter

50g finely grated
kefalotyri
(Greek hard cheese) or, if not available, Parmesan

A small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper

M
ethod

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
   
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large casserole dish and add the chicken and brown on all sides over a medium heat.
   
3. Remove the chicken to a plate and add the remaining oil and the onion to the casserole and cook until soft and lightly browned.
   
4. Add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and tin of tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano, dried chilli flakes, chicken stock, 1 teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.
   
5. Bring to a simmer, replace the chicken and cover the casserole with a tight-fitting lid. Transfer the casserole to the oven and bake for 1½ hours until the chicken is tender.
   
6. Bring a large pan of salted boiling water to the boil in a large saucepan.
   
7. When the chicken is cooked, lift it onto a carving board and leave it to rest covered in foil for 10 minutes.
   
8. Skim the excess fat from the surface of the sauce, place the casserole over a medium heat and simmer until the sauce is reduced and thickened.
   
9. Cook the orzo for 7 minutes until
   al dente
   .
   
10. Drain and return to the pan with the butter and grated cheese and toss together well.
    
11. Remove the cinnamon stick from the sauce, stir in the parsley and season to taste.
    
12. Carve the chicken.
    
13. Spoon the sauce onto warmed plates and place the chicken on top.
    
14. Spoon the orzo alongside and serve.
    

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients

F
or the pastry

225g/8oz plain flour

175g/6oz butter

45g/1¾oz icing sugar

1 large free-range egg, beaten

F
or the lemon
filling

6 lemons, zest and juice

65g/2¼oz cornflour

250g/9oz caster sugar

6 free-range egg yolks

F
or the meringue
topping

4 free-range egg whites

225g/8oz caster sugar

2 tsp cornflour

M
ethod

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas 4.
   
2. First make the pastry. Measure the flour and butter into a food processor and blend together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
   
3. Add the icing sugar, egg and 1 tablespoon of water and whizz again until combined to a ball.
   
4. Tip the pastry onto a work surface and roll out to a 3mm thickness.
   
5. Use the rolling pin to lift the pastry up and transfer it to line a 23cm/9in loose-bottomed flan tin. Be careful not to stretch the pastry as you tuck it into the corners.
   
6. Cover in cling film and place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
   
7. Take the pastry-lined tin out of the fridge and trim the excess pastry.
   
8. Press the top edge of the pastry so that it stands slightly higher than the top of the tin.
   
9. Line the pastry case with parchment and fill with baking beans.
   
10. Bake for about 15 minutes then remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
    
11. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 170˚C/340˚F/Gas 3½.
    
12. For the filling, mix the lemon zest and juice with the cornflour and stir to form a smooth paste.
    
13. Measure 450ml/16fl oz of water into a pan and bring to the boil.
    
14. Add the lemon cornflour mixture to the hot water and stir over the heat until the mixture has thickened, then remove from the heat.
    
15. In a bowl, mix together the sugar and egg yolks and carefully whisk into the lemon mixture in the pan. Stir over a medium heat until thickened.
    
16. Set aside for a few minutes, then pour into the baked pastry case.
    
17. For the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a free-standing mixer until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed.
    
18. Add the caster sugar a little at a time, still whisking until the meringue is stiff and glossy.
    
19. Add the cornflour and whisk again.
    
20. Spoon on top of the filled pastry case and spread the meringue to completely cover the lemon filling. Then create a swirl on the top of the meringue.
    
21. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until the filling is completely set and the meringue is lightly golden and crisp.
    
22. Serve warm or cold.
    

P
ublished
by Bookouture

A
n imprint of StoryFire Ltd
.

23 Sussex Road, Ickenham, UB10 8PN

United Kingdom

w
ww.bookouture.com

C
opyright © Mandy
Baggot 2016

M
andy Baggot
has asserted
her
right to be identified as the author of this work.

A
ll rights reserved
. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

T
his book is
a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

T
ruly
, Madly, Greekly

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