Greek Burgers

This is what Mom makes when she says she's making hamburgers...

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1 Tablespoon dried mint, or fresh mint chopped fine

1 large onion, chopped or better yet.. pureed

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

Directions

Put all ingredients in a big bowl and mix together.

Form patties.

Grill or broil until done to your liking.

Mom’s Meat Slurry

This is a favorite in our house. It's got everything... meat, vegetables, rice. It started out as stuffed peppers, but since the first thing everyone did after spooning the peppers onto their plates was moosh them up, we decided we'd do the mooshing on the stovetop...

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef

3 green peppers, chopped

1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 or 2 zucchini or yellow squash, chopped

1 or 2 cloves of garlic (your preference)

1.5 cups shredded or grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup rice

1 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes

2 cups water

Salt, pepper and oregano to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F

On stovetop, brown meat; drain and set aside

In a deep frying pan, saute onions, peppers and squash until soft.

Add meat, rice, tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and water to pan and mix well.

Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked.

Add 1 cup of cheese and mix in well.

Pour entire mixture into greased baking dish. Top with rest of cheese.

Cover with foil and cook for 15 minutes; remove foil and cook another 10 minutes or until cheese is browned and casserole is bubbling.

Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Fishstick Crab Cakes

These are an excellent treat if you're craving that delicious Maryland Blue Crab Cake taste, but find yourself, say, at a college in North Carolina.

Ingredients:

14 fish sticks

1 egg

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon Accent (MSG, "Flavor Enhancer")

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Old Bay Seasoning to taste

Oil for frying, or as needed

Directions:

1. Cut fish sticks in thirds, and mash in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with Accent.
2. In another medium-size mixing bowl, combine mashed fishsticks, egg, mayonnaise, mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil to a high heat. Form mixture into a patty, and place it in the hot oil. Flatten lightly with a spatula so that the cake is 1/2 inch thick. Fry the cakes, flipping to ensure both sides get browned.
4. Serve.

Not an original recipe, source unknown, found on the internet.

Lunch With Papou

Papou loved to sit down to a nice lunch with a sandwich and a plate of fresh vegetables. When the grand kids ate lunch with Yia Yia and Papou, they had the healthiest meal of their day...

Ingredients

Celery

Green pepper

Radishes

Baby carrots

Wheat bread (2 slices)

Mayonnaise

Lettuce

American cheese

Ham, turkey or other deli meat

Directions

Wash and cut up green pepper, radishes and celery. Arrange on plate with the carrots and put on the table.

Toast bread.

Spread mayo on bread; add cheese and meat.

Add 2-inch pile of lettuce.

Sit down at table with your sandwich and the part of the morning paper you haven't read yet.

Enjoy!

Little Hot Dog Sausagettes

I'm not sure what these things are considered, but they are tasty and easy to make. They aren't really a side dish by themselves, but I've put them in omelets, on sandwiches, and in salads. They are little bursts of flavor, and that's about it.

Ingredients

Three hot dogs, preferably beef.

Butter

Juice of half a lemon

Directions

1. Slice hot dogs thinly, into about 15 tiny pieces per dog.
2. Add enough butter to a frying pan to coat the bottom.
3. Dump slices of hot dog into pan, fry until brown on both sides.
4. Add lemon juice, stir hot dog slices. Watch out, there will be steam!
5. Serve, or add to omelet, etc.

Yia Yia's Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

The classic, handed-down through generations, Greek family recipe for the greatest food you will ever encounter.

Ingredients:

1 jar grape leaves (or 20-30 fresh leaves, parboiled to soften; remove any long stems)

1-1/2 lbs. ground beef or lamb

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup mint leaves

1/2 cup raw rice

1 egg

Chicken broth (enough to cover dolmades in pot)

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Egg-Lemon Sauce:

3 eggs

Juice of 3 lemons

Directions

Combine beef, onion, mint, rice, egg and salt & pepper. If using leaves from a jar, drain the brine from the grape leaves and rinse under cold running water. With stem end facing you and vein side up, place about 1 teaspoon meat filling on the leaf. Fold the stem end up to cover the filling. Fold the sides in and roll.

When all leaves are stuffed (if you run out of leaves, you can made naked "porcupine balls" to finish off the meat mixture), pack the rolls tightly in a pan, seam side down, in layers, and carefully pour the chicken broth over them to cover them all. Put a heavy glass pot lid or plate on top to keep the dolmades from opening. Simmer approximately 40 minutes. Take out the glass lid and remove from heat.

Egg-Lemon Sauce:

In a blender, beat the egg until frothy and add the lemon juice. While still blending, slowly add enough hot broth from the pot to fill the blender. (Yia Yia wisdom: adding hot to cold keeps the mixture from curdling). After blending, carefully pour the mixture onto the dolmades, which are still in the pot. Put the pot back onto the hot burner and heat uncovered on low temperature until (this is the tricky part) you see the mixture "bloop" once (if the egg sauce does boil, it will not be foamy, but this only affects the looks; taste is the same). Then remove from heat and serve right away—with lots of bread for sopping up the delicious sauce. Best eaten with a greek salad.

This is a dish best served to your family directly from the pot. If you can't bear to put the pot right on the dinner table, you'll have to dish out each portion from the stovetop.