Any Greek chefs on the site - Kleftico and Afelia

[JerryM]

worth a punt - is there anyone with pukka recipes for Kleftico or Afelia.

these along with souvlaki and moussaka are what i feel to be the best of greek dishes. i'm sorted on the other two but have never managed to get any legit recipe for the Kleftico or Afelia.

needs to be a 10/10 recipe something as good for example as 976bar's piri piri.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Nothing in "Traditional Recipes : Greek Cookery", I am afraid (a present from an Athenian friend).

** Phil.

[Malc.]

I'm sure I remember rick Stein doing this on his Mediteranean Odysee but so far I can not find it. I did come across this that I beleive we might do for tonight's dinner.

http://youtu.be/Zfzs97BPyM0


EDIT: Changed my mind Jerry, going to try this Kleftiko instead:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/601804/displayVideo/Hi

[Malc.]

Jerry,

http://youtu.be/zz_iDEwkbDM

Made this tonight and was blown away! It's a delicious dish and one I will be doing again. I used Lamb Shanks and followed the video as is. My only comment would be watch the salt levels as it is easy to get carried away. Otherwise, we had four entirely empty plates, apart from bones.

Served it with some gently roasted Charlotte potatoes done in a little olive oil, mixed salad, olive bread, those little feta stuffed peppers and a red pepper dip.

I don't know if this is what your looking for or how authentic it is, but it is certainly worth making. May try the other one I posted next time, but it will be hard to ignore this recipe.

Cheers,

Malc.

[Peripatetic Phil]

http://youtu.be/zz_iDEwkbDM

That was one seriously confusing video, Axe.  I started it playing with the sound muted, just watching the sub-titles, then found the anti-mute button and turned the speakers on.  Now I don't speak Greek, although like most people I know a few polite words, but there was this guy talking about "In Greece we don't eat mutton", yet the words coming out of his mouth didn't seem to be saying that at all ... It took me at least 30 seconds to realise he was speaking Polish, and only then because I heard "prosze bardzo"!  What is going on ?  How come a native Polish speaker is telling is how to cook Kleftiko ?!

** Phil.

[Malc.]

I must admit, I had similar reservations. However, having watched the video several times and comparing this to the other Kelftiko videos and recipes, I decided that the Garlic influence in this dish was worth a try. I have a garlic indulgence that is comparable to your liking of salt.

All I can say is that the dish we made tonight was damn good. I've never eaten Kleftiko so I do not know where the goal posts are, but I am happy to endorse this recipe as worth the while.

[JerryM]

Axe,

stirling effort.

that Bomi Delikatesy ie the recipe you made looks the real deal. i will certainly give it ago.

i'm not convinced on the cooking temp. it should be more like 140C for several hrs c/w 180C stated.

pitty he did not say more on how he deals with the water "sauce". the video suggested something was done with it but was just poured off and left.

you can put more root veg in the dish ie carrot, turnip to suit your likes.

the devil as allows is in the detail. he put too much of that garlic butter in for my liking but i think that block is much more than garlic and butter - its must be where the rest of the "critical" herb spicing is.

nevertheless its a good starting point and clearly an impressive dish as is.

as said in the other video it can be made in a large pot which would be my preference. the foil is certainly used in holiday destinations for visual impact.

it's a tad confusing now though for me on what the difference is between Klefticao and Afelia other than the type of meat. pork being for afelia. it's why i was hoping for a budding greek member to put us straight.

many thanks - much appreciate the help.

[Malc.]

I'll try and answer some of your comments with my observations:

Cooking temperature was fine at 180c for a 2 hour cook. You could lower the temperature but would have to increase the cooking to 3 hours.

The water/sauce was a master pierce. Tightly packed in foil, the juices from the lamb and extra garlic butter, have no where to go other than to find a route out of the foil.  This may have something to do with the higher oven temp too. The water prevents the juices burning when they hit the roasting pan. At the end of cooking, your left with a perfect jus to pour over the succulent meat. You need to keep an eye on the amount of water keeping it topped up if necessary. I also rung out the foil to extract as much juice from them.

If your not too keen on garlic you could leave out the fresh garlic and just use the butter. I used plain Garlic Butter (Lurpack) but he used Garlic & Herb Butter which is generally a mix of Basil, Chives & Parsley.

The critical element to this dish has to be the oregano and the bay leaves. I used fresh Bay leaves picked from the garden and used dried Wild Oregano (Tesco). The oregano worked well and didn't over power the dish as I had feared it might.

Two schools of thought moving forward: 

1. Use a different bone in cut like a leg steak to create individual parcels as seen in the first linked video. Adding the garlic and herbs as I did for the one I made, but with the addition of a drop of white wine to provide the jus.

2. Use shanks again but straight in the roasting pan and nestled with extra veg.to make a snug fit. A couple of glugs of white wine and foil over the top.

I think this is a forgiving dish that can be 'messed' around with, or left fairly rustic with 'basic' ingredients, such as the first video. I generally like rustic foods so will definitely be trying the other one.

Reading up on Afelia suggests that the main difference apart from being pork, is the cooking method. Kelftico is baked, whereas Afelia is braised in red wine.

Talking of Pork, did you see the Pirgos? http://youtu.be/tTiyWNPsYJo

Found a site this morning, I think your gonna love Jerry:

How About Something Greek

[Peripatetic Phil]

2. Use shanks again but straight in the roasting pan and nestled with extra veg.to make a snug fit. A couple of glugs of white wine and foil over the top.

This is the only point where I would beg to differ.  I was taught to cook Kleftiko many years ago (too many to recount !) by a Greek chef, and he taught me that Kleftiko was traditionally cooked underground over a very slow heat and left overnight.  It was invariably wrapped to keep the meat moist.  So although there is no doubt that you could put lamb shanks in a pan with extra veg and produce an extremely nice dish, I do not think you could in all fairness call the result "Kleftiko".

** Phil.

[Malc.]

That is a fair point to make and whilst I usually like to make things as easy and simple as possible, there is something to be said about presenting individually wrapped bundles of food. The sense of anticipation and fun to be had opening your own personal package of food at the meal table, makes the occasion. We've done this with other dishes and my children love it.

I'll be visiting the butcher during the week to see what cuts of meat he suggests to use. This is a dish where cheap cuts would work well.

Incidentally Phil, are you able to share what you were taught by the Greek Chef?


Tonight we are trying the Rosto Chirino listed on the website I posted, accompanied with something called Bryam. I have the pork on a slow cook and the smell coming from the kitchen is devine. The fact the sun is beaming through the windows is just adding to the Greek aromas. I am about to uncork a chilled bottle of white.

Cheers everyone.