Your Dreams Coming True In The Kitchen

C hards are delicious, green leafed and excellent for the health....

Eggplant season is during summer in Greece and therefore tasty and inexpensive. Yes we can buy eggplant all year long but the quality and taste is not the same. Greeks use eggplant in many recipes... one of the most known is the famous Moussaka, internationally known. When handling eggplant it is important to work quickly to prevent oxidation . This is caused by the iron. Eggplant is very rich in iron and therefore very healthy. A very common salad in Greek restaurants is the Eggplant Salad...

I love American food because I nearly grew up with it ever since the age of 15. Today I would like to share with you a typical American lunch menu which I am sure many of you will like. It is composed of...

B lack noodles are very tasty, interesting, and impressive. They are made with the black "ink" of cuttlefish. The coral red color of the Alaskan Pacific wild salmon roe, or caviar if you wish, makes a beautiful antitheses in colors almost as interesting as Stendhal's (real name Marie-Henri Beyle) book "Le Rouge et le Noir" in French, the Red and the Black in English.

H ere is a delicious and fresh salad for a pool-side snack on a hot summer day.

A maranth is a sweet (not bitter) type of foliage vegetable which, when boiled properly, is delicious and very good for the health, lots of fiber, and all sorts of vitamins. They usually appear in the super markets in summer. The only way we eat it is plain boiled, and strained.

C od fish and artichokes are good for you. So why not combine the two to make a nice, fresh, healthy dish served cold for summer days.

D uring summer we have to wrack our brains to think of new salads to make because they are light, and refreshing. Since beans are good for you, here is an idea I came up with...

T he following my friends is not a recipe but an idea I would like to share with you for a very lazy day.

W ell, as I said yesterday, salads, salads, salads.  Today I will share with you yet another dish with lentils.but this time it is cold. You will need: -  200 gms of lentils plainly cooked with a little branch of fresh rosemary. -  285 gms of drained sweet corn -  1 Orange bell pepper roughly cubed. -  1 red sweet pepper roughly cubed. -  1 big tomato cubed. -  1 inch worth of fresh ginger cut Juliénne style -  ¼ cup roasted pine nuts. -  Salt, pepper, some chili powder if you wish. -  Olive oil. -  Or a dressing by Maria -  1/3 cup apple vinegar. -  1 whole egg -  1 Tbsp. sweet paprika. It can be normal paprika or smoked paprika. -  1 Tbsp. light brown sugar. -  1 tsp. salt. -  1 pinch chili powder to taste. -  1/2 cup olive oil. -  1/2 sunflower oil. Method for Maria's sweet paprika dressing. -  Mix all the dressing ingredients in a blender. -  ...

Tunisian Sala T his is the season for salads I suppose, no more those heavy dishes with sausages, sauces, etc.   I don't like salads, never did.  That why I guess I weigh 150 kgs!! This is the point of blogging no?? Is to express ones feeling and thoughts. So Maria comes along and suggests this Salad which we used to eat very often when we were based in Tunisia. How to cut the vegetables Just two words about it:  it consists of cucumber, green sweet pepper, yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, tomato, radishes, and canned tunafish.mixed up all together. The catch here is that all the vegetables have to be cut very very small, nearly into a  brunoise  .  Please see photo above. You will need: Serves 4 -  4 cucumbers medium size cubed very small. -  3 big tomatoes cubed as small as possible.  Juice and seeds included. -  1 yellow bell pepper cubed very small. -  2 green sweet peppers cubed ...

Taboulé Courtesy Of Wikipedia On Googl T aboulé is definitely Lebanese and is pronounced  «Tabbóulé» where the accent is on the "o " and the ending is as it is written with an " é ".  My aunt Mary from Roum, near Beirut, showed me how to do it when I was a little boy. It can be a meal by itself specially when eaten with whole leaves of lettuce. To make a proper Tabbouleh, you need a lot of parsley. This is the base. Then you need to cut everything very very small with the Makhrata as is called in Arabic or the Mezzaluna. These are the two secrets of Tabbouleh and of course the Bulgur (cracked wheat). You will need : Serves 8 -  4 bunches of parsley very very thinly cut with the mezzaluna. -  150 gms of cracked wheat soaked in cold water for 2 hours in the fridge. -  5 big tomatoes seeds taken out, and finely chopped with the mezzaluna. -  2 large onions thinly chopped with mezzaluna. -  Juice of 3 lemons. -...

 Brass Sous-Plat Setting Of The Table Seat With Birthday Hat Was Barbara's. Wow !! I've been away a long time...seems like ages!! I missed you guys. Well dinner was an absolute success,  Sous-Plats and all!! lots of back rubbing in our small kitchen, fun, drinks and music while cooking (loud speaker in the kitchen from the main stereo in the living room), heat! but then they say "if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen". In this episode of my blog I will just mention the 4 course menu planned; and this is to tickle your appetite for what's to come.

Prosciutto Di Parma With Very Thin Slices Of Carrot And Iceberg Lettuce Q:  What could you eat for dinner when you had a big lunch ?? A:   A Prosciutto Di Parma Salad.

H ow nice would it be if you went to a fish taverva by the sea on your way to Cape Sounion to see the sunset from the Temple of Apolo and ask for a Greek Salad and fried Calamari rings. Inexpensive meal, filling, to keep you going till next morning.

By Maria. You will need: Serves 4 -6 -  1 head of Frisée Lettuce torn by hand. -  1/4 red cabbage cut very thin. -  1/2 chinese cabbage heart. The leaves are torn by hand, and the hard pieces cut julienne .   1 Florina sweet red pepper also cut junlienne . Florina Sweet Red Pepper Dressing: - 1/4 cup blond Corinthian raisins without seeds. -  250 ml sour cream. -  1/4 cup mayonaise. -  1/4 cup buttermilk. -  1 tsp. onion powder. -  1 clove garlic. -  1 Tbsp. fresh parsley. -  1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary. -  2-3 rounds of freshly ground pepper. -  1 Tbsp. permezan. -  1 Tbsp. apple vinegar. -  2 Tbsp. olive oil. -  2 Tbsp. sunseed oil. Well blended with a vertical hand held blender. Enjoy! Stelio

C rete is  one of the biggest islands in Greece.  Men from Crete are compared to men from Sicily: they will defend their honor at all cost, and the honor of their unmarried daughters!! The men are very jealous: they are ready to shoot their double barreled shotguns while the Sicilians will use their "Lupara" a home made sawed off double barreled shotgun. Home Made Lupara Used In Sicily Photo Courtesy Of Wikipedia On Google I really slipped off the subject this time didn't I.... so Dakos is very much eaten in Crete.  It is usually made of round whole grain barley rusks.  Today we are having whole grain wheat rusks as shown in the photo mixed with feta cheese, olive oil, and fresh tomatoes with oregano. You will need: Serves 4 - 6 as a salad. -  5 of the above rusks (220 gms) pulverized with a blender. -  200 gms. of extra quality Feta cheese turned into a paste. -  1 Tbsp. oregano. ...

M aria would like to share with you her salad and dressing for this Sunday. For the salad you will need: Serves 4 -  1/2 Red curly endive head washed and dried and torn by hand in bite size pieces. -  1/2 Romaine lettuce head also washed and dried and torn by hand in bite size pieces. -  1  Medium tomato cut in wedges. For the dressing you will need: - 1 Ripe Avocado. -  1 Tbsp. lemon juice. -  3 Tbsp. olive oil. -  1/2 cup pineapple juice. -  Salt and freshly ground black pepper. Method:   -  Liquify dressing ingredient into a rich greenish creamy texture. All Ingredients In Liquifier Smooth Dressing Presentation of the Salad: Dressing in Bottom Of Bowl To Be Mixed By Hand.  Ready Salad. -  Put three Tbsp. of the dressing on the bottom of the salad bowl. -  Throw in salad. -  Mix by hand. -  Add a few cashew nuts and nicel...

You will need: Serves 4 For the salad itself: -  3 medium size zucchini raw  sliced lengthwise with the potato peeler. -  1/2 small red cabbage very finely sliced. -  1 yellow bell pepper cut in slices as per photo. For the dressing: -  1 medium  beetroot. -  1 Tbsp. apple vinegar. -  3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil. -  1 Tbsp. capers. -  3 Tbsp. beetroot juice. -  1 Tbsp. lemon juice. -  1/2 tsp. prepared Dijon Mustard. -  Liquify above and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add the above dressing into the serving bowl add the fresh vegetables, and mix by hand only at the last minute before serving. Enjoy, Stelio

  I have to admit that people are now eating food with less % fat due to their awareness of the many health problems caused by eating "rich" food. Maria is going to share with you today a simple, Saturday lazy salad, with a dressing of her own using Anthótiro or ricotta  (10-13% fat) instead of Feta (40% fat). Italian Rocotta Cheese Courtesy Of Wikipedia You will need: Serves 4 -  200 grms. ricotta cheese or fresh unsalted cottage cheese (Anthótiro in Greek) cut in small triangles. -  3 big tomatoes cut in wedges. -  1 scalion (fresh onion, spring onion) finely sliced. -  1 tsp. dry oregano. -  30 grms. parsley coarsly chopped ( leaves from 3-4 sprigs or more if you like much parsley) For the dressing : -  50 gms. Anthótyro. -  1 Tbsp. from the above fresh onion. -  1 Tbsp. parsley. -  3 Tbsp. Olive oil. -  1 Tbsp. Vinegar. -  Zest of a medium sized le...