The Odd Fork

When life gives you lemons, make lemon jam with pink pepper!

It is the best “recycle” recipe so that empty lemon shells from squeezed lemons can also be used! Just boiled them till they’re tender changing the water 2 - 3 times, puree them in your blender, measure the pulp and add equal amount of sugar.

Simmer in low heat with some pink peppercorns until it thickens. You can add in the end some brandy or your favorite liqueur. 

Ready to enjoy with cream cheese and your favorite coffee or tea!

As named above, this frozen treat is definitely of ice and fire! The mingling of sweet and hot is common in sauces such as ketchup or barbecue sauce, so the Odd Fork thought it would be a good idea to add curry in the basic recipe of vanilla ice cream.

A summer dessert which is sweet, frozen and spicy! This ice cream is also egg-free and you don't even need to use full fat milk cream -important, if you watch your diet!

For about 900 ml of ice cream, you 'll need:

- 500 ml whole milk

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder or vanilla extract 

- 1 & 1/2 Tbsp corn starch

- 250 g mix of evaporated milk and fresh, unsalted Greek Mizithra cheese*

- 1 to 2 Tbsp curry (depending how strong you want the flavor)

- 1 Tbsp good quality Greek honey

- a shot (or two) of dark rum

Whisk together 1/2 cup of the cold milk with the corn starch, making sure that there are no remaining lumps and set aside. In a pot, over medium to low heat add remaining milk, sugar, vanilla and corn starch - milk mixture. Boil whisking constantly for about a minute, until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and cover cream with plastic wrap, pressing it flat across the cream’s surface so no skin forms. Let it cool completely.

*For the milk cream substitute, just measure 125 grams of Greek Mizithra or Anthotiro cheese cut into pieces and 125 grams of evaporated milk and process in your food processor until the mixture is smooth and thick, like fresh milk cream. Add this mixture in the previous cold milk - corn starch mixture, mix well to combine and place in the freezer. If an ice cream machine is not available, you can remove the ice cream every hour to process it in your food processor. This will give a better, smooth texture. On the second to the last time (the Odd Fork did this process 8 times, so it was on the 6th time) add into the ice cream mixture curry, honey and rum. Process everything together to incorporate and the color turns from white to dark yellow.

On the next day, the Odd Fork tasted the ice cream. The flavor had a slight hint of coffee, at least according to the Odd's Fork taste buds. The Odd Fork served its hot, spicy ice cream with some extra Greek honey and it was lovely, a scoop of ice and fire indeed!
Even Khaleesi heard the news and asked for the recipe 😉

Chamomile tea may be consumed for its relaxing effects or before going to bed to improve sleep quality, but fresh or dried chamomile can also be used as a spice, especially in cake and cookie recipes. Dried chamomile flowers made these common butter biscuits something special, with a special aroma of course! 

To make them, you 'll need:

- 175 grams good quality milk butter, softened

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (and some extra sugar for rolling biscuits)

- 2 Tbsp dried chamomile flowers
- 1/4 cup Kumquat Liqueur
- 2 & 1/3 cup soft flour
- 1 tsp baking powder

Start by processing sugar into your food processor together with the dried chamomile flowers, until sugar becomes fine and chamomile flowers turn to powder (as much as possible).
In a large bowl, add the softened butter, the chamomile-flavored sugar and Kumquat Liqueur. Whisk with a hand wire whisk (no need for electrical) until the ingredients are well blended. Sift flour with baking powder and add into the bowl, mixing softly with a spatula and hands just to combine and a dough forms. The dough should be soft, smooth and it should not stick to your hands, so shape it into a ball, cover well with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius / 325 Fahrenheit. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out to 0,5 - 0,7 thickness. Using your favorite cookie cutter, cut out the biscuit shapes and place them on your prepared baking sheet. Optionally, you can roll them in extra granulated sugar before placing them onto the sheet. They will have a chunkier texture this way.

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes (depending on your oven), until they have taken on a golden color. Remove them carefully from the baking sheet, 10 - 15 minutes after. Enjoy them with chamomile tea or any of your favorite tea. Of course they are lovely with coffee as well, especially if you' re an unrepentant coffee addict, just like the Odd Fork 😏

This cookie recipe combines two big loves, coffee and Corfu! Well, not the island itself but a great local Corfiot product, Kumquats! Bittersweet candied kumquats balance perfectly with the coffee intense flavor. These brown babies are chewy, moist and addictive as hell!

For about 48 small cookies:

- 1/2 cup butter, melted

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/4 cup white sugar

- an egg

- 3 tbsp Kumquat Liqueur

- 5 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 and 1/2 cup flour

- 1 cup candied kumquats, chopped

Preheat oven to 180* C (350* F) Fan. In a large bowl, mix butter with the sugars until well-combined. Stir in kumquat liqueur, coffee mixture and egg until incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix dough until just combined.
Dough should be soft and a little sticky, a little thicker than cake dough. Stir in candied kumquats and mix softly to incorporate.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 5 - 10 minutes or until cookies are set around the edges but still soft in the center. Don't over bake.

Let the cookies cool and enjoy them with -what else- coffee of course!

Red, ripe, sweet strawberries... Strawberry is more than a fruit, is the symbol of spring! The Odd fork got the season's first strawberries, so it made these lovely strawberry - chocolate whole grain muffins. Oh, they are vegan and sugar-free as well!

To make them, just blend a ripe banana with some non dairy milk of choice together with 8 - 10 small, ripe strawberries. Add self rising whole grain flour and some coconut. Mix well and add into the cake dough some extra chopped fresh strawberries and some sugar-free black chocolate pieces. Divide the dough evenly among muffin tins filling them with batter up to 3/4.
Bake in a preheated oven, air setting, at 350 C, for 20 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry.

Enjoy them warm with coffee or tea for breakfast, or anytime!

Fasolakia in Greece is a common, very popular, vegan comfort food. It is actually green beans cooked in tomato sauce with chopped onion, parsley or dill and potatoes or carrots.

As usual, the Odd Fork had the idea of stepping out of the ordinary and ended up adding... strawberries! The result was the most spring green beans ever!

For 2 to 3 servings:

- a big onion, finely chopped

- 3 carrots chopped into thin rounds

- 400 g canned chopped tomatoes

- 450 g green beans, fresh or frozen

- 1 bay leaf

- 3 whole cloves

- 3 grains allspice

- salt, pepper 

- 1/2 bunch fresh dill chopped

- 10 strawberries cut in cubes

Place a pot over high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add onion and sauté until it softens. Add carrots and 1 - 2 minutes later, add tomatoes, green beans (thawed, if using frozen), a glass of water and all the spices. Cover pot with lid, lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until beans and carrots are tender. 

Then increase heat to medium-high, take the lid off and cook stirring often for another 15 - 20 minutes so that the excess water evaporates and sauce thickens. About ten minutes before the end of cooking add dill and strawberries.

The dish is better served lukewarm or even at room temperature and it is definitely a spring meal, full of aroma and colors!