antoant
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2010
- Location
- Nicosia...
The wood oven that is. This a semi traditional cook my dad and I did this past weekend for family and friends.
So here we go. First you have to light up a wood fire in the oven using any wood you want. Traditionally olive and carob wood is used, we used olive and pine.
There are three ways to tell if your oven has reached the proper temperature. Use a thermometer, too scientific, throw a glass bottle in the oven to see if it melts, too cool or you check out the "brow" of the oven.
Not ready yet
Ready to go
Once you reach hell like temps and you have all embers from your fire, you spread the embers out and you are ready to put the food in the oven.
We used lamb shoulder and leg but you can really use any part of the lamb or goat you want as long as the animal is one year old or older. (The older the better, no point wasting baby lamb for a long cook). Add some potatoes and onions for taste and season with celery leaves, black pepper, salt and dry oregano. The traditional way would be to put the food in serving portions in wax paper poaches or in baskets made out of carob tree branches but you get a mess in the oven from all the juices so ....
Seal up the oven and wait for 4-5-6-7-8 hours. Only experience can tell you when to break the seal.
Five hours later and after breaking the seal the oven still holds temps over 200
And finally the finished product with the side dishes. (Some greens with pomegranate, walnuts, ricotta style cheese and balsamic vinaigrette along with some saganaki and potatoes from the oven.)
Thank you for looking.
So here we go. First you have to light up a wood fire in the oven using any wood you want. Traditionally olive and carob wood is used, we used olive and pine.
There are three ways to tell if your oven has reached the proper temperature. Use a thermometer, too scientific, throw a glass bottle in the oven to see if it melts, too cool or you check out the "brow" of the oven.
Not ready yet
Ready to go
Once you reach hell like temps and you have all embers from your fire, you spread the embers out and you are ready to put the food in the oven.
We used lamb shoulder and leg but you can really use any part of the lamb or goat you want as long as the animal is one year old or older. (The older the better, no point wasting baby lamb for a long cook). Add some potatoes and onions for taste and season with celery leaves, black pepper, salt and dry oregano. The traditional way would be to put the food in serving portions in wax paper poaches or in baskets made out of carob tree branches but you get a mess in the oven from all the juices so ....
Seal up the oven and wait for 4-5-6-7-8 hours. Only experience can tell you when to break the seal.
Five hours later and after breaking the seal the oven still holds temps over 200
Thank you for looking.