Trahanas, The Perfect Sunny Greek Comfort Food for SnowStorms

Bonjour, Chers Lectours! (Dear Readers!)

If you’ve arrived from Instagram, thank you for checking out my blog and stories!

This recipe for Trakhanas is perfect for these days, these weeks of January when the weather can be a bit more uh, frozen-ish. It also will be in the upcoming cookbook The Bread of Dreams, Recipes and Portraits of the Mistresses of Psomi.

Very soon on Instagram I’ll begin a very special giveaway related to the cookbook.

Grand Prize: A Bread of Dreams Seed Box with ingredients for one of the bread of dreams recipes.

Secondary Prizes: Three signed copies of the cookbook, "The Bread of Dreams, Recipes and Portraits of the Mistresses of Psomi” plus, a jar of Sourdough Levain!

In the book I have included the Tale of each Mistress. So, on to a bit about Claude, and then his recipe for Trahanas.

His Tale Claude was an innocent pawn. He was hired by the Guild’s Merchant, Auvillar, to keep Epi safe. Keep her covered. Hidden. Before Claude took on the Guild job of a Miller, he worked the barges on the Baise River in Nerac. And so when he became the Miller he got mesmerized by the water. The growing of wheat was never a delight, as he was never really a farmer. The water was his thing. He was really affected mentally when Maman Antaia left. He loved her and was on her side. But he was someone Antaia never really saw.

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who never really saw you?

Trahanas with Lemon and Olive Oil

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups sour bulgur trahana

8 cups water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

zest of a Meyer lemon

3 tablespoons lemon juice, strained

chopped fresh parsley, mint, or dill for garnish

serve with plain yogurt and grated Myzithra (Greek cheese from the Manouri family – cheese made from the whey of making feta cheese)

In a medium soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add trahanas. Stir until coated with oil, about 1 minute. Add water or stock and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring often, until trahanas is tender and nutty tasting and the broth slightly reduced. The time will only be 8 to 12 minutes and the mixture will be more like a porridge.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Ladle into bowls and drizzle each with a little olive oil, plain yogurt, chopped fresh herbs and tablespoon or so of grated cheese.

Next time: Do you have a favorite novel set on trains! “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie is a classic, but have you read “Peaces” by Helen Oyeyemi?

“Oyeyemi once again pushes the boundaries of the novel. . . A surrealist tale of love, heartbreak, and being haunted by the past.” —Kirkus Reviews

Thank you, and Happy January, Chers Lectours! (Dear Readers!)

All my gratitude to you for being along on this adventure and for reading my novel, Tales of the Mistress! I would so appreciate it if you would post a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Truth is, even a few words can help others find my book!