Greek Style Oven Fried Chicken

I was craving some fried chicken the other day. So I decided to make it with my usual Greek twist in it. The oregano, the cumin and the lemon juice shouts Greek. This dish can easily be made gluten free. Use gluten free all purpose flour (like King Arthur's) and gluten free breadcrumbs.

Makes 8 servings (approximately 6.2 oz each serving)

2 ¼ lbs chicken pieces
½ cup flour
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cumin
2 eggs
1 tsp water
2 cups bread crumbs
2 tsp oregano

Wash and skin the chicken pieces or you can buy them skinless and boneless. I used a whole chicken that I cut up into pieces. Whatever chicken I had leftover I boiled it for my little shih tzu and kept the chicken stock in the freezer for future use.

In a bowl, mix together the flour with the ground pepper, salt and cumin. Set aside. Beat the 2 eggs with the water in another bowl and set aside. Mix the breadcrumbs with the oregano into a third bowl and set aside.

Coat the chicken pieces with the flour mixture first. Then dip them into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumb mixture. Place them on a cookie sheet, lined with aluminum foil, into a single layer. Bake at 400°F preheated oven for about 1 hour. Turn once. Remove from the oven, place the chicken in a platter and squeeze some fresh lemon juice. Serve and Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 6.173 oz (175g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 395
Calories from Fat 109
Total Fat 12.1g
Saturated Fat 3.3g
Cholesterol 154mg
Sodium 471mg
Total Carbohydrates 25.9g
Dietary Fiber 1.6g
Sugars 1.8g
Protein 42.8g

Before it goes into the oven

Ready to eat! Enjoy!

Greek Almond Macaroons - Ergolavi or Amygdalota Gluten-free

You can find these cookies at the sweet shops all over Greece. I always loved them, and wanted to make them. Since I can't find them in North America, the closest recipe I came up with, tasting anything close to these cookies, were the coconut macaroons that I used to make every Christmas while we were in Canada. When a neighbor in Greece told me that the only thing these cookies needed were some egg whites, ground almonds and sugar, ...well then, I had to try to make them on my own. With a little of experimentation I perfected the recipe ingredients and here they are: the Greek Almond Cookies or Ergolavi (I have no idea where the name "Ergolavi" came from, and I don't think anyone in Greece does either*) or Amygdalota (meaning made from almonds) as they are called in Greece. They are easy to make and they are gluten free. Enjoy!

Makes 27 servings approximately 1.2 oz each

3 cups finely ground almonds - pulverized
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 egg whites
½ tsp vanilla
1¼ cup slivered almonds

Melted butter for the cookie sheets and the palms of your hands to roll the cookies -- about 6 tbsp.

Beat the egg whites with the sugar. Add the pulverized ground almonds, and vanilla. Mix well together. Grease 2 cookie sheets generously with butter. Also, grease your palms with butter while shaping the cookies. Shape them into 1 1/4" balls. Roll in slivered almonds. Place on cookie sheet far apart. Cookies will spread.

Before they go in the oven

Bake at 325° F oven for 20-25 minutes till the edges are brown and they are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven. Let them cool before removing them from the pan, and place them in an airtight container or they will dry out.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1.097 oz (31.1g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 134
Calories from Fat 67
Total Fat 7.4g
Saturated Fat
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 6mg
Total Carbohydrates 15.6g
Dietary Fiber 1.8g
Sugars 13.0g
Protein 3.6g

Ready to serve!  Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

*Note: If anyone looking at my website knows where the name "Ergolavi" has come from, please feel free to email me or put it in the comments below.



If you try this recipe and like it please comment below. If you like what you see on this blog, feel free to follow it and share with your friends.  If you have any questions post them in the comments box.

Gluten free Oatmeal Cookies with Craisins and Walnuts

As the holidays are upon us, we rush to finish our Christmas shopping and our baking. When a big snowstorm hits us, we await anxiously for it to pass so that we can finish our shopping. Some of us welcome the onset of a snowstorm that might leave us home-bound. On those days, we take out our baking pans and begin experimenting on recipes. That’s how I came up with this Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookie recipe. I had this recipe in my files along with some of my other old recipes that I have kept over the years. This time I wanted to try making them with gluten free flour. I substituted regular flour with King Arthur gluten free all-purpose flour. I added dried cranberries (craisins) and chopped walnuts. The cookies turned out full of flavor, chewy and crunchy. They go well with coffee or tea during an afternoon break, or as a morning treat. Enjoy!

Gluten free Oatmeal Cookies with Craisins and Walnuts

Makes 30 servings approximately 1.4 oz each

½ cup butter + 6 tbsp. butter melted
½ cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ cups King Arthur gluten free all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups Quaker oats old fashioned (the ones you cook)
1 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt the butter. Combine the butter with the sugars in a bowl till creamy. Add the eggs and the vanilla and beat well. Combine the gluten free all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Add to the mix and blend well. Add the oatmeal, the craisins, and the walnuts. Blend well together.

In a greased cookie sheet or lined with wax paper cookie sheet, drop the dough by 1 tablespoon. I used an ice cream scooper. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes till the edges are browned. Remove from the oven and wait to cool before removing from the pan.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 serving (40.4 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 166
Calories from Fat 78
Total Fat 8.7g
Saturated Fat 3.7g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 25mg
Sodium 124mg
Total Carbohydrates 19.7g
Dietary Fiber 1.3g
Sugars 7.2g
Protein 3.1g

Baklava with walnuts and almonds and its History

The History of Baklava

Many will argue about the origins of Baklava. Greeks will attest it’s their own creation. Turks will say that the Greeks claimed it since it was perfected while Greece was under the Ottoman Empire for 400 years. Lebanese will make their own version of baklava by using an array of nuts like pistachios, walnuts, cashews or pine nuts. In other areas, they will use dough with eggs, or plain dough, unlike the “phyllo” dough. Greeks perfected the use of dough by inventing the “phyllo” dough, paper-thin sheets of dough (“phyllo” in Greek means “leaf”). A baklava recipe with the use of syrup with rose water and cardamom and a filling variety of nuts will most likely be from the Arab countries. The use of syrup with cinnamon and cloves with walnuts and almonds filling will be from the Balkan countries.

Even with all these declarations, it is believed that it was the Assyrians who came up with this dessert in 8 B.C. Greek seamen travelling to Mesopotamia, brought it to Athens and eventually they perfected it by developing the “phyllo” dough. Baklava reached the kitchens of the Byzantine Empire until its fall in 1453 A.D. Under the Ottoman Empire, baklava was served to the Pashas and the very rich. Eventually, the dessert reached the western world and was brought to America by Greek immigrants, or as others might say, by Turkish or by Lebanese immigrants. I’d like to believe that it was the Greeks who brought it to the Western world and since the Greeks perfected the paper-thin dough, I’d say it’s more of a Greek origin than any other.

There are areas in Greece that they use olive oil instead of melted butter to make baklava. I remember my mother and grandmother making baklava while I was young and they used clarified butter. The butter was made from pure cow’s milk. The color of the butter was white and not yellow like the butters we see here in the US. The ingredients, of course, were more organic back then.

I’ve seen and tasted many versions of baklava while here in the US. I tried the pistachio filled baklava, baklava drizzled with chocolate, baklava with pecans, but I’m partial to the Greek baklava with walnuts and almonds, or just plain walnuts as I remembered it from my childhood. This version of baklava is the way my mother and grandmother used to make with the only difference that I added the chopped almonds to the filling. I still use butter to brush between the phyllo dough sheets.

This is also a very traditional dessert to make during the Christmas holidays and Easter. With the Christmas holidays upon us, here is my version of Greek Baklava. Enjoy!

Baklava with walnuts and almonds

Makes 30 servings

8 oz phyllo dough
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
3 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cloves
6 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup butter

30 whole cloves (optional)

MIx together the chopped walnuts, chopped almonds, sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Brush a 12x7.5 pyrex pan with melted butter. Remove one of the two packages of phyllo dough from the box. You can refrigerate or freeze the other package. Open up the phyllo dough and cover it between two clean kitchen towels. Phyllo dough dries quickly, so it is best to keep it covered while working on the baklava. Take a sheet of phyllo dough and lay it on the pan. Brush with melted butter. Continue to layer the pan with approximately 10 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing them in between layers with butter, and extending the ends over the pan (like the Spinach Cheese pie (Spanakotyropita)).

Pour the walnut, almond/sugar mixture and spread evenly. Fold over the extended phyllo dough and layer the rest of the phyllo dough sheets, one by one by brushing in between with butter. Cut diagonally and place it in a preheated 350° oven for 45-50 minutes till golden brown. If desired you can place a whole clove in the middle of each piece before baking.

  Ready for the oven

The syrup

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
Rind of one lemon

Bring to a boil 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water. Add the cinnamon stick and the lemon rind. Boil for about 5 minutes till is slightly reduced and clear. Remove from heat.  Remove the cinnamon stick.

As soon as the baklava is cooked, take it out of the oven and pour the syrup over baklava while it's still warm. Wait for it to cool and serve.

Ready to serve

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 serving (49.8 g) approximately 1.8 oz
Amount Per Serving
Calories 148
Calories from Fat 59
Total Fat 6.5g
Saturated Fat 1.4g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 4mg
Sodium 49mg
Total Carbohydrates 21.5g
Dietary Fiber 1.2g
Sugars 16.0g
Protein 2.4g

...or ready to give as a gift!