Your Dreams Coming True In The Kitchen

Tahini Photo Courtesy Of Wikipedia On Google T ahini is a paste made from Sesame seed. The oil you see floating on the top is the sesame oil which is an integral part of the tahini.  This is exactly like peanut butter where sometimes the oil floats on the top (if it is not made in U.S.A.). Tahini is very much used in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin from Greece Eastwards, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, and Iraq. Tahini is used as a complement to shish kebabs,  meat, chicken, fish, and salads and even alone as a dip in western countries by people who lived in the middle east. Tahini is extremely good for the health and contains a number of vitamins, fiber, and other.

A lthough broccoli and cauliflower are basically from the same family, only cauliflower can be eaten raw. Unfortunately it is not as healthy as broccoli.  As I was washing our cauliflower today for lunch, I suddenly felt very hungry so I had one or two flowers of the cauliflower which was crunchy and delicious....

A s we have already mentioned in the passed posts that Camembert is a cheese from the Normandy in France. It is usually round and you can cut it in eighths, coat them with flour, beaten egg, and fine bread crumbs then fry it in very hot oil. The secret here is that the camembert should be very cold, and oil very hot so they get nice and crispy. Stick a toothpick in each, and you have a nice appetizer. Note: You can do this with any cheese you like as long as it is hard on the outside and soft in the inside. Enjoy! Stelio

A s I am proceeding towards the end of my Odessy and finally reaching my Ithaka .  An Ancient Greek proverb says that every person on this Earth is a Ulysses searching for Ithaka " and when this man succeeds in life, is content and happy, he can say that he has finally reached 'his' Ithaka ." I find this saying so romantic!! I am proposing easy recipes so I will be remembered as the "Guy with the hot food but easy recipes". This Tappas, finger food, appetizers, meze, whatever you would like to call it is easy, quick, and inexpensive....

Kayseri or Caesarea is the capital of Cappadocia pronounced (Kappadokia) in Antalia region of Turkey. The word Caesarea comes from the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, who was born by Caesarian Section (non natural way to deliver a baby). During his reign many areas of the Roman Empire were named after him including Caeserea in Israel. It is known that all that region was once Byzantine, then fell under the Ottoman Empire which later became Turkey. And to think all that all these places might still have been Greek if the Byzantines knew how to take better care of their affairs and not try to stab each others backs as the Greeks do now. Kayseri was well known for its culinary delights such as the Pastirma (dried meat) not Pastrami which is a totally different food, and Socuk (sausage). Today we are going to make a Kayseri Pie similar to the Basterma pie made on August 7th 2011 but with a difference : this one contains tomatoes....

T oday I would like to share with you some information regarding European Hams. France, Italy, Spain and Portugal have some kind of raw ham. By ham I mean the hind or front leg of a pig, dry or wet cured under controlled conditions for a number of months until it is fit to be consumed. When the time comes, it is very thinly sliced to the point of being nearly translucent then served as a meze, appetizer, used in sandwiches, salads or sometimes to coat certain roasts.  This little journey will begin from Portugal, where the Presunto do Chaves comes from and the most well known in Portugal then we will continue to France, Italy and finally to Spain with a richer variety. To be honest I only heard of the Presunto during this little research. Well it's never too late...

D ear friends a few days ago we had baked filet of salmon on a bed of leeks. The filet was taken from a frozen, headless, wild Pacific pink salmon. Being left with the backbone, the tail, the fins, and lots of debris,  I boiled them all together to obtain the stock and the fish meat left on the backbone etc. which I froze in -18 degrees Celsius. Curiously enough, the day I wanted to use it,  I got about three hundred grams of fish meat out of this operation, and about 300 ml of fish stock...Nothing should go to waste in the kitchen. A tartlettes filling was prepared out of nothing. I had 12 tartlettes shells in my deep freeze from 3 weeks ago and so I was all set to make an appetizer.

Harissa From Tunisia Courtesy Of Wikipedia On Google I am referring back to my Tapenade posting of August 28th 2011.Tunisia is the land of olive trees, olives and olive oil but it is also the land of spicy food. In fact all of North Africa is known for its spicy dishes...