Semolina Cake
Ravani
(Makes 24  2"-squares)

1 1/3 C flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 C sugar (divided)
3/4 C plus 2 T butter (softened)
1 orange (grated zest and juice)
1 C semolina or Cream of Wheat (see Tips & Glossary)
6 eggs (separated)
3/4 C sliced almonds
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Syrup
1 1/4 C sugar
1/2 C water
2 tsp. rosewater (see Tips & Glossary)
1 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, sift together first 3 ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate large bowl, cream together butter, 1/2 the sugar, yolks, and orange zest. To this mixture, add the sifted flour mixture. Then add semolina, orange juice, and almonds.

In a third bowl, beat egg whites till stiff, gradually adding remaining 1/2 sugar. Gently fold egg whites into flour/semolina mixture and pour batter into a greased 13 x 9 baking pan. 

Bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Cool in pan. When cool, pour hot syrup over cake. Cut cake into 24 squares and serve. 

Syrup: bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Boil 5 minutes, and add rosewater and lemon juice.  Pour over still-hot cake.

Tips & Glossary: Greek

You may not have a number of ingredients used in Greek cooking in your spice shelf, but you can find them at Mid-Eastern food stores. So to avoid frustration, make a list of the items you need before trying out the recipes.

Toss any old, even unopened, spice jars because they’ve probably lost their distinctive flavors. Put them on your shopping list.

Filo: aka phyllo, paper-thin sheets of raw, unleavened flour dough. Purchase frozen in most grocery stores and follow directions on package for thawing. When working with a sheet, keep others covered with a damp towel to prevent drying out.

Grape Leaves:  Grape leaves are sold canned in salted oil. Rinse off the salt before using. If you want, prepare your own: find fresh, tender young leaves and plunge them for 1 minute into boiling water (with 1 or 2 T lemon juice). Then proceed with recipe. After blanching, you can freeze them for later use. Here’s how: blanch as above, dunk in iced water, pat dry with towels, and seal in an air-tight plastic bag. They're safe for 6 months, but use quickly when thawed.

Nutmeg: Use small whole nuts and store them, tightly covered, in a dry dark area.  Grate what you need using the smallest grating edge or grind in a food processor.  What a difference from store bought nutmeg!

Pine Nuts: edible seeds of pine trees used in many Greek dishes. Before cooking, release flavor by lightly browning in a heated skillet. 

Skewers: Use metal or wooden skewers for kebobs.  If wooden, soak 30 minutes before using to prevent them from catching on fire.

Rosewater: distilled from rose petals and used to flavor Mid-Eastern and Asian cooking. You can make your own. But, seriously, why would you? Purchase it at Asian or Mid-Eastern stores.

Semolina: aka farina or Cream of Wheat; a coarsely ground wheat grain. You also know it as couscous. If made from durum wheat, it is used to make pasta.

Tarama: poor-man's caviar. From carp roe, it is pinkish-orange and is what (along with food dye) gives taramasalata its lovely color. Buy it jarred in Mid-Eastern food stores.