That’s a good reason to go back to the basics. I will prepare, for today, a classical potato salad, with mixed vegetables and home-made mayonnaise sauce…

Summer Potato Salad

for 2 persons

3 medium potatoes – washed

1 carrot – blanched (read below)

1 cucumber

Emmentaler Cheese

1 spring onion

…you can also add for garnishing tomatoes, pickles, olives or whatever suits your taste.

1. Put the potatoes in boiling water for around 45min. or until tender (fork test)

2. On the same time, de-seed cucumber and cut into long stripes. Cut Emmentaler cheese julienne. Cut onion in small stripes or dices.

3. Blanch technique: Put the washed carrot in boiling water for 3-5 min. When ready put it in a cold bath for the same time duration. Cut it into julienne stripes.

4. When the potatoes are cold enough to handle them, cut into 2-3 cm dices and mix all together with all the other vegetables.

Herb Mayonnaise

1 egg yolk

100 ml sunflower oil

5 ml red vinegar

2 ml lemon juice

1 tsp. mustard (taste of your choice – piquant, mild, tarragon)

herbs TT (dried or fresh)

salt, pepper TT

warm water

1. Put the egg yolk, together with mustard, half of vinegar, herbs, salt & pepper.

2. Hit like crazy, with a whisker the eggs until it becomes really fluffy.

3. Pour the oil, drop by drop, until it emulsifies with the egg!

4. Now you can pour the remaining vinegar, a bit of lemon juice (slowly), and continue to add olive oil until you achieve the consistency you want.

Note: The more oil you add to the sauce, the more thick it becomes. If you want to make it lighter, add a bit of warm water, vinegar or lemon juice –depending on the taste you want to achieve.

Baked Apples with Marmelade

for 2 persons

1/2 teaspoon cinammon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
a bit of fresh ground black pepper

1. Take the apple halves and put in a 200 oC prepared oven.

2. Put the raisins in the holes that were left by the seeds.
Top it up with some of the marmalade, sprinkle brown sugar around and pour
the sweet wine in the roasting pan (and maybe add a another glass of water!)

3. Leave for about 45 minutes until the apples are golden. Add the spices before serving.

Enjoy with hand made ice-cream!! and have a nice time everybody…

Love
y.

Anyway, I was saying about the flavours! I fell in love with Imagine Whirled Peace one!! An ice-cream with fudge peace signs? Impressivo..

After all these do you really need a milk-shake recipe? Just put milk and one of these flavours, crushed M&M’s or Smartie’s and maybe some heavy cream to top….You can also add some alcoholic liquid like Baley’s or a fruit liquer (banana, kirsch, tangerine, etc) if you use the classic vanilla ice-cream!

Have a lovely summer!!!

It’s time to try.

Moroccan Vegetable CousCous

for 2 persons

salt and fresh ground pepper
turmeric
moroccan spice mix

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, hot pepper, garlic and spices until golden colored (about 1min).

2. Add the remaining vegetables (whichever you are using), the almonds and the raisins to the pan and saute for 4-5 minutes.

3. Pour into the vegetable stock and leave for 5-10 minutes or until everything is tender!

4. Prepare the couscous (just soak it in boiling water for 10 minutes)

5. Strain the cousoous. Put in in a plate. Serve the vegetables on top and enjoy!! )

It was a great experience…a week between artists of every kind! A music group from Palaistine, a theater group from Greece (Alogi), performances, exhibitions and a very hard time for me (I was very sick, with high fever, headache, aphtous ulcers…(!))

But I am happy I was there! Here’s the link!

Kagianas is a traditional Greek recipe from Peloponnese region. It’s like the English “Scrambled Eggs”. Probably the main difference is, that it is cooked on a tomato sauce, onions and herbs.

Enjoy with fresh bread and potato chips!

Kagianas

for 2 persons

salt and fresh ground pepper
a mix of dried herbs (oregano, chilli, marjoram, thyme, rosemary)

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the chopped onions until they get a nice golden colour (about 1min).

2. Grate the tomatoes and put in the pan together with 1 tbsp of ketchup sauce, salt and pepper and one tsp of dried herbs mix.

3. Leave the tomato sauce for about 15 minutes and wait until it’s thick and firm.

4. At the same time beat lightly the eggs with some salt and pepper.

5. Put the egg mixture in the tomato sauce and mix with a wooden spatula. Leave for 4-5 minutes.

6. Serve hot with crumbled feta cheese on top, the potato chips and more fresh pepper if you like! Enjoy…

Falafel is a very popular dish for vegetarians. It’s made from fava beans or chickpeas, with spicy herbs and is a very common dish in Middle East. Every patty has about 2g of protein and 3g fat. Let’s make it (or you can buy a ready-mix from organic/health food shops!)

Also, this dish is highly recommended to be served with arabic (or plain) pita bread! Bon Apetit!

Falafel (from epicurious.com)

about 20 patties

1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 5 cm. Let soak overnight, then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.

2. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.

3. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.

4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts, or use a falafel scoop, available in Middle-Eastern markets.

5. Heat enough oil to cover the balls (180 oC) in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Lemon – Mint CousCous

for 2 persons

100 gr instant cous cous
2 tbsp lemon (lime preffered) juice
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
a bunch of finely choped fresh mint
salt and fresh ground pepper

Prepare the cous cous according to package directions. After it’s ready (about 5min), add and stir well the remaining ingredients! Now you have a very fresh side dish, exactly what you need for a hot sauce like the one following!

Harissa-Yogurt Dip

Harissa is a very (!!) hot sauce made from red peppers and spices like cumin, paprica…It’s very common in Middle Eastern countries -

for 2 persons

1 tsp harissa sauce (maybe more but becareful because it’s really hot!)
about 150 gr of greek yogurt
some finely chopped fresh mint
a pinch of salt and pepper

Stir all the ingredients together. Garnish with mint leaves.

Ok. I know. I cheated you. But before you start yelling, taste it and instantly you will change decision!

Taramosalata without Tarama

for 3-4 persons

1/2 can of red (kidney) beans
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp Organic Red Vinegar
Drops of lemon juice
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Put in the blender the beans, the garlic and enough olive oil (2cm above the beans). Add some drops of lemon juice and enough red wine vinegar to boost the acidity (use about 2tbsp or according to the taste). Ground fresh pepper and salt and pulse the dip until smoothy!

Just a note. All the work in this site (except otherwise noted) is done by me, including thinking, photography, recipes, etc. All of the above is licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.

I am on the team! I was chosen to represent Greece for the Biennale of Young Creators of Europe…More info about my menu is coming..
Until then, a vegetarian version festive recipe for a Greek dip made from fish-roe, TaramoSalata.