loukaniko (greek sausage)

One of my favorite homemade sausages!

my version:

1 lb. ground pork (or any not-lean meat)
1 lb. ground chicken (or any lean meat)
as much pork fat as you feel comfortable adding (calls for a cup; i add maybe a quarter of this, but it does dry out, so keep this in mind. fatback is the best, if you can source it.)
1.5 T grated orange zest (orange rind only, no white pith underneath – you can buy dehydrated orange zest if you can’t grate)
1.5 T kosher salt, less if fine, more if extra-coarse
1 T sugar
2.5 T minced garlic
0.5 T ground coriander
0.5 T cracked black pepper
1 T fennel seed
0.5 T dried oregano
1 t dried thyme
0.25 cups of red wine (some recipes call for white) with a splash of red wine vinegar
(I will also sometimes add some Chinese garlic chives from my garden; some recipes call for sauteed leeks)

if you’re not me, here you would feed the ingredients through your sausage grinder, stuff them into casings with your sausage machine, and set them to cure.

if you are me, or similarly lazy-yet-broke & without Official Sausage Machine Infrastructure, you will mush all these ingredients together until your hands hurt, then leave in the fridge overnight. keep everything as cold as possible. (you can use a stand mixer if you own $500 kitchen infrastructure.) it will come out crumbly if you use your hands – but if you’re like me, you probably don’t mind that much, haha.

the next day, shape into your preferred shape (i like kofte-style “cigar-shaped” or cylindrical patties formed by squeezing) and pack up to freeze or refrigerate.

recipe by friedsig & based mostly on a recipe by Hank Shaw at Honest Food

---

I think I have made this…. three times? It’s a winner every time. Obviously, like all sausages, the possibilities are endless here. Loukaniko can be cooked like any sausage. Form it into a patty and make burgers. Make gravy. Saute a big mess of apples and onions with the sausage, like a cassoulet. Stew it down with white beans. Fry it off and cook some fish in the leftover loukaniko grease. It’s amazing with pasta and a bit of feta. Bake them into savory muffins. Fry them up with eggs and hash browns for breakfast. Bake it into a casserole with veggies, potatoes, or whatever you like. No surprise I love it fried off into a pot of cornmeal mush for an ultimate comfort food. You can grill them, fry them, bake them, even microwave them (although the browned crispy bits are so wonderful that I would advise against it unless you have to.)

Check out the original recipe from Hank Shaw at Honest Food – especially if you want to make real sausages and not my DIY MacGyvered version – and if you like making your own sausages, check out my other favorites, including Lebanese style sausages, chorizo, and maple breakfast sausages!

Advertisement

chicken salad with spinach, apple, and dill

breast meat of 1 whole roasted chicken (stuffed with half a lemon, fresh oregano, and a few cloves of garlic), shredded with 2 forks
1 small package organic dill
1 sour green apple, like granny smith
1 pinch crumbled feta (optional)
1 spoonful sliced kalamata olives (optional)
minced raw garlic and/or minced scallions or onions, to taste
washed raw spinach leaves, torn into small pieces

salt to taste

combine all.

add a bit of mayo, then slowly add enough plain (unsweetened!) yogurt to lightly coat, and lemon or apple cider vinegar to taste
if dry, add a splash of vegetable stock or chicken broth.

melitzanosalata (greek eggplant dip)

this vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo, and super-healthy dip from lemon and olives sounds very much like a tahini-free baba ghanouj. it doesn’t get much more healthy than this.

2 medium sized eggplants
⅛ cup chopped parsley (optional)
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup olive oil (or desired amount)
Salt and pepper to taste

Pierce eggplants with fork a few times and place in broiler until soft (and turns black) OR on BBQ for 10-15min turning every few minutes.
Remove and let cool.
Remove outer skin (black part) by hand.
Cut the eggplants into pieces.
Place in a large bowl and add parsley and garlic
Slowly add olive oil and lemon and crush with fork.
Mix in salt and pepper.
Serve with bread!

OR

simply roast eggplants til black, strip skin, and throw all ingredients into food processor or blender.

+

from lemon and olives

5 minute warm chickpea and feta salad

preheat frying pan to med-hi

while it is heating, open 1 big or 2 small cans of chickpeas & rinse em in a colander. slice up a hot and a mild red pepper (or whatever you have in the house). slice up some spring onions/chives/green onions/ramps/whatever. slice a fistful of cherry tomatoes in half.

add 2t olive oil to the pan

separately, in a jar, mix up the juice of half a lemon, a half-teaspoon of smoked paprika (borrow some from me!) and a teaspoon of olive oil.

now the pan is hot! throw in the peppers and green onions. stir-fry 1-2 mins. add everything else. cook 1-2 min.

take off the heat, put it in a bowl, crumble lots of feta on top, and serve over salad greens or just like it is.

+

adapted from bbc good food

+

phenomenal salad! highly, highly recommended! lots of flavor for such a brief ingredients list – and if you can source cheap feta and already have paprika on hand, this salad costs under $3 to make. also delicious once it grows cold.

thin crust spinach and feta pizza

Dough

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons instant yeast*
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Italian-Style Flour
3/4 cup to 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water*
2 tablespoons olive oil
*Use the greater amount of yeast if you plan on baking the pizza right away; the lesser amount if you’ll refrigerate the dough first.
**Use the lesser amount of water in summer or humid conditions; the greater amount in winter or under drier conditions.

(+ toppings)

1) In a medium-sized mixing bowl (or in a bread machine set on the dough/manual cycle), combine all of the ingredients to make a very soft dough. Knead for 5 to 7 minutes (or allow the dough to go through the bread machine’s dough cycle); the dough will gradually become smooth and cohesive, though it’ll remain quite sticky.

2) To bake pizza immediately, divide the dough in half, and let each half rest, covered, for about 15 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 450°F. To bake pizza later, transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl, and let the dough rise for 1 hour, then refrigerate it for up to 3 days.

3) While the dough is resting or rising (or just before you’re ready to bake pizza), start preheating the oven to 450°F, and prepare your toppings.

4) For spinach and feta pizza, thaw the frozen spinach, and squeeze it in your hands (or a paper towel, or a dish towel) until it’s very dry.

5) Heat the olive oil, and sauté the spinach, salt, and garlic for a couple of minutes, just until hot and well combined.

6) Divide the dough in half. You’ll be working with one piece of dough at a time. To make two pizzas now, set one half aside, lightly covered, while you work with the first piece. To make one pizza now, one later, return half the dough to the refrigerator, covered; use it within a day or two.

7) Lightly grease two sheets of parchment paper, waxed paper, or (last choice) plastic wrap. Lightly grease one or two large rectangular pans (half sheet pans work well), and drizzle with olive oil.

8) Sandwich the dough between the two pieces of paper, greased sides touching the dough. Roll the dough super-thin; the low protein in Italian-style flour will allow you to do this pretty easily. If the dough fights back, walk away for 10 minutes, then return and roll some more.

9) Peel the paper off one side of the crust. Place the crust, paper side up, on the prepared pan. Peel off the remaining paper.

10) Top the crust with half the spinach and half the feta. Spray lightly with olive oil spray, if you have it; this will help the feta brown a bit.

11) Bake the pizza on a lower rack of the oven for 5 minutes, to brown the bottom crust. Then move it to a middle or upper-middle rack, and continue to bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the top of the crust is golden and the feta is beginning to brown.

12) Remove the pizza from the oven, and transfer it to a rack immediately, so the crust stays crisp. Serve hot.

13) Repeat with the remaining half of the dough. Or return to the refrigerator, along with the remaining topping ingredients, and bake later.

Yield: 2 large thin-crust pizzas, about 8 to 10 servings total.

+

adapted from here

+

This old-school recipe turned out great. I topped the dough with just a little melty cheese (mozarella or monterey jack would be great, but all I had was cheddar and that was fine) and a lot of crumbled feta. I sauteed fresh greens (not just spinach, but a blend with arugala – use whatever you have) with olive oil and a pinch of nutmeg and salt, and squeezed it before putting it on the pizza so it wouldn’t make the crust soggy. Then I added bits of kalamata olives and pickled Greek peppers, and a little oregano from the garden.

The crust came out perfectly crispy. Remember to roll it thin! It’s a great looking pizza. The recipe is really specific, but it works. I recommend this highly if you have dry powdered milk in your pantry!

green olive and lentil dip

1/2 c dried lentils
1/2 c olives
a few lacto-fermented peas or other veggies
2 T. lemon juice
1 clove lacto-fermented garlic
1 T fresh oregano
1 T olive oil

cook lentils in 1 cup water. drain. combine with everything else in food procesor.

adapted from the detox cookbook by snowball

+

the book doesn’t discuss it, but i’m willing to bet this is a KILLER sandwich spread.

+

months later, i just tried a bunch of olives in my bean dip for the first time, along with a mess of raw onion and herbs. highly recommended!