• Eat Your Books

  This is a reissue of Vefa's Kitchen published in 2009.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Mussel fritters (Midokeftedes)

  • Kaycee on January 23, 2011

    taramosalata p.157 makes 2 cups crispy bread or crackers

  • Kaycee on January 23, 2011

    Also in Party Food p.31

• Broiled [grilled] or fried peppers (Piperies psites i tiganites)

  • bernalgirl on August 28, 2024

    What a great way to prepare summer peppers! I did not peel them, just fried them like padrón peppers and dressed them with the vinaigrette. These are great as a side or part of an antipasti platter — or whatever the Greek version is. Lovely with a crisp white wine. I’ll definitely be making this for the rest of the summer.

• Fried triangles (Bourekakia tiganita)

  • pattyatbryce on August 26, 2020

    Big errors in this recipe in my book version. No discussion of addition of multiple ingredients. Also, how do you not cook the ground beef?

• Eggplant [aubergine] dip (Melitzanosalata)

  • Agaillard on August 06, 2021

    I just made this and it is a nice little dish, what you would expect of an aubergine dish and super simple. I didn't manage to cook the aubergine without them browning a little but that isn't important. I found also there is no need to finely cut the garlic since all goes to the blender anyhow. Vinegar and parsley are important as well as salt...

• Braised red beans (Barbounofasoula)

  • bernalgirl on January 13, 2023

    This is a wonderful bean dish as a side or a veg entree. I used Ranch Gordo scarlet runner beans and cooked them half-way before adding the tomatoes and tomato paste to avoid toughening. I also added a pinch of chile flakes and a bay leaf as I cooked the beans. It all cooks down to tender beans with a savory broth the consistency of gravy, and is perfect topped with feta and chopped olives.

• Baked mushroom casserole (Giouvetsi me manitaria)

  • sarvani_arehlj on May 30, 2026

    Added some toasted bread crumbs on top for extra crunch, this recipe is excellent!! love it so much

• Cracked potatoes tossed with coriander from Cyprus (Patates antinahtes)

  • sometimes on October 18, 2025

    Had to sub dry white wine but otherwise made as written. A little too tart and off in flavor but I’m sure that would be fixed by using the called for dry red, or at least a rose. I’ve made this dish several times before with other recipes or just by eye, but only with some variation of shallow fry or sauteeing, and mostly made this to try the more or less deep fry for cooking the potatoes. They get did nicely browned inside all the cracked bits which isn’t really possible when using a more reasonable amount of oil. But since most of the crispness is immediately lost when cooking down the wine, I didn’t think it made enough of a difference to bother adding the hassle to this otherwise simple dish. Recipe is a little vague and DIY but that’s what I expect from most of these Phaidon books and it’s hardly the worst offender

• Potatoes roasted with lemon or tomato (Patates fournou lemonates i me domata)

  • a2cook on June 10, 2016

    This is just okay (3.5/5). The long marinating time didn't add much to the flavor. Could use more lemon and oregano. Much prefer Aglaia Kremezi's roasted potatoes (http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/392604/roasted-potatoes-with-garlic-lemon)

  • ldtrieb on August 02, 2018

    Made in a pan on the barbecue because of the heat. Finished on stove top. Really delicious.

• Black-eye pea [black-eye bean] and green pea stew (Mavromatika fasolia giahni me araka)

  • Jaybak on July 09, 2015

    Black eye beans only needed a few hours soaking and about 30 minutes cooking before becoming tender.Used some tinned tomatoes and tomato paste instead of fresh also had some stock to use up so used that instead of water. Tasty dish from simple ingredients.

• Pasta with meat sauce (Makaronia me kima)

  • mcvl on February 03, 2015

    V. good, should come out a little soupier than an Italian pasta. The indexer has lister only Parmesan cheese -- the recipe called for "mizithra, kefalotiri, or Parmesan." Tsk tsk.

  • Deborah on February 03, 2015

    Thanks, MCVL -- I fixed that cheese ingredient error and added a substitution comment. Deborah

• Mackerel baked with eggplants [aubergines] from Pontus (Kolios me melitzanes sto fourno)

  • Three_Quarters on July 20, 2013

    I used fresh eggplant, parsley and basil from the garden, plus canned tomatoes. I also substituted tuna for the mackerel, because it's what I had — I would reduce the baking time by about 10-15 minutes if using tuna steaks. It was so simple and delicious, like most of the recipes from this book.

• Charcoal-grilled chicken (Kotopoulo sta karvouna)

  • twoyolks on July 10, 2016

    I didn't like the flavor the marinade imparted. It was too heavy on the brandy flavor. I don't have a rotisserie so I grilled it over indirect heat which cooked the chicken well.

• Meat-stuffed grape [vine] leaves (Dolmadakia me kima)

  • schambers on August 28, 2010

    Goat is an excellent choice for the meat. The lemon sauce really makes it.

• Lamb with aromatic greens (Arni me mirodika horta)

  • amoule on April 03, 2015

    pg.427

• Stuffed lamb roll in grape [vine] leaves (Arni rolo se klimatofila)

  • shonaghd on April 15, 2013

    Although it takes time and an extra pair of hands helps to roll the lamb, this recipe is delicious. I have substituted swiss chard for the vine leaves on occasion when vine leaves were not available. Highly recommended.

• Cornmeal pie from Epirus (Batsaria i kalabokopita)

  • a2cook on October 23, 2016

    Wow, this is good! And, it tastes even better the next day, so try to resist eating it all or double the recipe to have enough for leftovers. I tweaked the recipe slightly by adding 1/2 tsp of fine sea salt to the batter to counteract the natural sweetness of cornmeal. The recipe calls for a 16 inch round pan, which I don't have, so I used a 10 x 13 Le Creuset roasting pan. This resulted in a slightly thin pie (a little over an inch), so I'll use a smaller pan next time for a thicker pie. Start checking for doneness at the 40 - 45 minute mark.

  • turnipgreens on August 03, 2018

    The recipe calls for a 16" round pan. I believe this is wrong for the following reasons: 1. The pan used in the picture for this recipe, on p 471 of the cookbook, is shown in several other pictures in the cookbook. This pan is 9" or 10" round, not 16" round, judging by good estimates of the sizes of items (rolls, chicken legs) appearing in the pan. 2. a2cook used a 10x13 roasting pan instead of a 16" round pan, and found the 10x13 pan produced a too-thin pie. Note that a 16" round pan has an area of 200 square-inches, a 10x13 pan has an area of 130 square inches, and 9-10" round pans have areas of 64-78 square inches. Given that the 10x13 pan was too big for the recipe as written, given that the pan pictured for the recipe is 9-10" round, I believe that the correct size for a pan for this recipe is 9-10" round.

• Mount Pelion bell pepper and onion pie (Piperopita Piliou)

  • Ladyberd on December 19, 2011

    This is one of my favorites. It's great for a crowd - I make it ahead an then heat it in the oven to crisp the phyllo.

  • Buttercups on March 10, 2026

    I’ve never met a phyllo pie that i didn’t like, and we really enjoyed this! Tastes like fresh veg and it’s creamy from the feta and egg, along with the crispy phyllo. Served with Toom sauce and the hit of garlic is perfect for this pie. Had some sliced strawberries on the side. Will make again!

• Chicken pie of the Vlachs (Vlahiki kotopita)

  • totoro on August 26, 2015

    Excellent. This was very straightfoward and inexpensive to make. Creamy but not too-wet filling with a lovely subtle flavour from the allspice. I made a half recipe using two skin-on breasts (pulling them from the onion and leek pan early and tearing up the skin with the meat) which worked surprisingly well.

• Pork with sauerkraut and bulgur wheat from Drama (Hirino me lahno toursi ke pligouri)

  • amandabeck on August 26, 2018

    This recipe might strike you as a bit odd, but it turns in a wonderful, warm, cheeseless casserole when baked! The sauerkraut and bulgur soak up all the wonderful sour tomato-y flavor. Highly recommend.

• Baklava

  • NathalieS on August 06, 2019

    Excellent results! Family even said one of the best baklava they had ever tasted (they just want me to bake more). That said, I found the recipe lacked essential details when it was time to assemble. Novice cooks would have a bit of a hard time figuring out how many layers of nuts one should end with in the end. I'm not sure if the nut measurements are accurate either between the cups and the weight. I ended up using 3 cups of each nuts although the recipe suggests 2 cups. I didn't have a scale to weigh the ingredients.

  • mdagl on July 01, 2022

    Delicious. Made the whole house smell like Christmas!

• Shrimp [prawn] casserole with vegetables from Thessaloniki (Garides plaki)

  • Petrakisses on October 24, 2020

    Cooked to Vefa's instructions, most of the prawns were still raw. This recipe confirmed for me, prawns are their best not messed with, and ought to be barbecued or fried alone.

• Cashew pilaf (Pilafi me kasious)

  • bernalgirl on August 30, 2023

    It’s absurd to make cashew pilaf without cashews, but I wanted a wild rice pilaf and this was the only club cookbook that offered a recipe where the wild rice is parboiled so it can be cooked together rather than mixed in at the end. This is a delicious side for grilled or braised dishes.

• Beef stew with pasta from Corfu (Pastitsada Kerkiraiki)

  • bernalgirl on May 24, 2024

    Is it the recipe if you change out the seasonings? I decided I didn’t want cloves so I went with oregano. I added chile flakes. I used leeks and green garlic instead of yellow onions. But I followed the recipe structure, served it over macaroni and topped with ricotta salata — we don’t get a lot of Greek cheeses other than feta — and it was a nice bowl of comfort.

• Milk pie with rice (Galatopita me rizi)

  • askazzie on October 04, 2025

    Delicious rice pudding pie. Why can’t I add a photo!?!?

• Easter bread with chocolate and almonds (Tsoureki me sokolata ke amigdala)

  • Erin_Cooks_Good_Food on April 06, 2026

    Good flavor but not very enriched, came out a bit dense.

• Stuffed sea bass (Lavraki gemisto)

  • lottie_fnst8p on May 16, 2026

    Olive oil White wine

• Chicken with scallions [spring onions] and fennel (Kotopoulo me kremidakia ke maratho)

  • jordanb on May 29, 2026

    I think this recipe was meant to use a fennel bulb rather than just the fronds. I used just chicken thighs+legs, the cooking time was the same as what was indicated in the recipe. Overall this was a very tasty dish, especially the sauce.

• Food52

  Picked for Food52's August 2018 Cookbook Club.

  Full review