Basically a fancy, dessert version of crepes.

Yiayia’s crepe suzettes
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs butter

mix everything together (if you make a bunch, hand mixer=happy!)
let rest for about 10 minutes
put vegetable oil in a bowl, and dip a paper towel into it and rub on the bottom of the pan to oil it. (You will do this in between almost every crepe, depending on if you need to.)
ladle in some batter
flip when slightly golden
fold and put onto plate
repeat
enjoy with jam, maple syrup, etc.

Pastitso is very similar to lasagna, and moussaka is the same but with eggplant instead of noodles.

Yiayia’s moussaka and pastitso
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants
2 lb ground beef
salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil
onion
tomato paste
1/4 cup bread crumbs
oregano
garlic
sauce-
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup flour (or 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c corn starch)
4 cups milk
1/2 cup parmesan (or a little more)
3 eggs

slice eggplants about 1/4” thick and bake till translucent and slightly browned
cut off any dried/crispy parts

400 degrees, brown the meat with salt and pepper and olive oil and garlic and oregano
once browned, add tomato past and water (1 can paste=2 cans water)

melt butter in pan
add flour, whisk till well blended
add milk 1 cup at a time and stir out clumps
whisk until it thickens (a little thicker than pancake batter) (if it gets too thick, add a little more milk)
turn off heat and add parmesan and eggs, one at a time, once it cools
stir well

pour a little evoo in bottom of 9×13 pan so nothing will stick
sprinkle bread crumbs in bottom (helps get out at end)
preheat oven to 350 degrees
lay eggplant on the bottom of the dish, overlapping a little
add 1/2 the meat on top of the eggplant (you can use the rest for something else-spaghetti=yum)
another layer of eggplant
pour the sauce over the eggplant
sprinkle parmesan and paprika on top
bake for 45 minutes
enjoy!!

For pastitso, it’s basically the same, except instead of eggplant, you use noodles (elbow macaroni/penne)
1 lb noodles
1/2 cup parmesan
2 eggs
cheese
butter
cook the noodles
mix with other ingredients
layer as for moussaka

Tiganopitas are like crispy tortillas that you roll up with feta and parmesean–absolutely ddelicious!!

Yiayia’s Tiganopitas
Ingredients:
6 cups flour
1/4 stick cisco (if you want them crispier, add a little more)
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cups water

Tools:
mixer
rolling pin
knife
frying pan
oil

Blend flour and crisco in mixer (use dough hook)
add 4 eggs
add 1 tsp salt
add milk
add water
mix well
take dough out of mixer and put in bowl
knead well (should be very thick, so it bounces back a little, and not sticky)
let rest a minute
sprinkle table with flour, take approx. half the dough and roll into tube and cut into pieces about golf ball size
flatten out a little
flour the rolling pin
roll out ball till about 1/8” thick
put oil in pan and heat up
stretch the dough even more so it is super thin
put into hot oil and fry
flip when golden brown
put into colander over plate
sprinkle with feta and/or parmesan
eat!!
*you will need to add oil as you fry more*

I finally had some time to sit down and type up the recipes I learned from my Yiayia. I’m pretty sure that everything makes sense, but if you catch something, please let me know!! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. I’ll post each recipe separately, to keep it organized.

Yiayia’s Koulourakia Recipe
for dough
1 lb Land o’Lakes butter
1/2 cup crisco
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup orange juice
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
7-8 cups flour

for topping:
Sesame seeds
1 egg
1/2 tsp water

Mix 1 lb butter and 1/2 cup crisco for 3(to 5) minutes in mixer
Mix in 2 cups sugar for 3 minutes (until fluffy)
break 4 eggs into small bowl, and pour into mixer one at a time
add 1 tsp vanilla into mixer
measure out 1/2 cup orange juice in measuring cup
add 4 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda into orange juice
mix
add orange juice concoction to mixer
mix everything for a few minutes
scrape down the sides
slowly add 5-7 cups of flour
put 1/2 cup of flour in the bottom of a big bowl (so the dough doesn’t stick)
take dough out of mixer and put into bowl
knead in the remaining flour
add (at most 1/2 cup) flour as needed to get the correct non-stickiness–dough should be soft, but doesn’t stick to your hand when you roll it around
let dough rest in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes
take a ball of dough the size of an egg yolk/walnut and roll it into a tube approx. 4” long, then fold in half and twist ends gently (roll out on table–you can wash it later)
preheat oven to 350 degrees
mix one egg and 1/2 tsp water
brush onto cookies–just enough to make seeds stick
dip first 2 fingers into egg mixture, then sesame seeds
tap the cookies–seeds will stick to cookie
push cookie sheets to the back of the oven
bake for 12 minutes, then switch the top and bottom baking sheets so it bakes evenly
bake another 12-ish minutes, until light brown on top
wash table with soap and water TWICE
EAT!!! If you are in a good mood, you can share…