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Re: Mushroom soup

Am happy you liked it.  It is one of my favorite dishes!

Dix Love,

Mushroom soup

Ingredients:
3 big lettuces, washed and cut in strips of 2cm
1 bunch green fresh onions, washed and chopped
500 grams pleurotous mushrooms, cut in thick slices
5-6 big portobello mushrooms, cut in thick slices
A handful dried Porcini mushrooms that we have put in hot water of 5 minutes.
100 grams finocchio, finelly chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 cube chicken stock
1 1/2 lt boiled water
1/2 cup rice
salt
pepper
olive oil
The juice of 2 lemons (or 3 if we want it more sour)

Preparation:
In a big cooking pot we put 5-6 tbps olive oil in strong heat and we saute the green onion and the finocchio for 1-2 minutes. We add the lettuce and we stir till it wilts. Following we add the 1 1/2 lit of boiled water to let the volume of the lettuce 'sit' in our pot. We continue adding he rest of the lettuce until we have used it all. We add the mushrooms, the stock cube, the turmeric, the porcini along with the water they were put in (after we have drained anything porcinis must have left in there). We add salt as per wish and let our food boil for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes we add the rice and we lower the heat so that it simmers for another 15 minutes. We add the lemon juice, we let it boil for another 15 minutes. We serve our dish hot and steamy with fresh bread.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Greek Rice Pilaf with Leeks and Saffron

Ingredients
5 cups vegetable stock
6 - 8 Tbs. extra-virgin Greek olive oil
2 large leeks finely chopped
1 small fennel bulb finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 cup rice
1 cup dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
15 - 20 red saffron threads
3 - 4 Tbs. grated mild Greek or Mediterranean sheep's milk cheese

Preparation:
We heat the stock in a pot and we keep it aside, simmering.  In a large, deep skillet we heat half the oil and we sauté the leeks, fennel bulb and garlic. We add the rice and we stir for 1 to 2 minutes.  We lower the heat.  We pour in half the wine and as soon as it steams off, we add the remaining wine. When that is absorbed, we add half a cup hot broth.  We continue to stir until all the liquid is absorbed.  We repeat the procedure until the rice is tender but al dente using up most of the hot broth. We season to taste with salt and pepper.  About 5 to 6 minutes before removing the rice, we mix the saffron with one tablespoon of hot broth and we add it to the risotto.  We stir to distribute evenly. When the rice is ready, we remove and we stir in the grated cheese.  We serve hot.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Healthy potato salad (Ikaria island recipe)

Ingredients:
750 g boiling potatoes peeled, washed, and quartered
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ cup extra virgin Greek olive oil or more, to taste
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard optional
Salt and pepper to taste
3 scallions or spring onions trimmed and cut into thin rounds
1 small red onion halved and sliced
½ cup snipped fresh dill

Instructions:
We place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by two inches / 5 cm.  We bring to a boil over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of salt to the boiling water.  We lower heat and simmer the potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes.  We drain the potatoes in a colander and rinse with cold water.  We whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard, if using.  We toss the potatoes with the scallions, onions and olive oil mixture.  We sprinkle with fresh dill and toss gently. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Dix Love,

Re: Greek-style green peas in olive oil and tomato sauce

Been trying to get the edit function but I don't seem to be able....

Dix Love,

Baked Eggplant with Feta Cheese

Ingredient
1 kg eggplant, long slender type
Olive oil for frying
500 grams ripe tomatoes, cut in cubes
5 tbsps fresh basil, chopped
5 tbsps fresh parsley, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
Dash sea salt (or to taste)
Dash freshly ground black pepper
250 grams feta cheese, crumbled

Preparation:
We preheat the oven to 175C.  We wash the eggplants and we remove the stems.  We cut them lenghwise into 2cm thickness slices.  We pour oil into a frying pan and we heat it over medium heat.  We lightly fry the eggplants till they become soft and gently browned.  We layer the eggplants in the bottomm of a baking dish.  In a bowl we combine the tomatoes, the basil, the parsley, the garlic, the salt and the pepper and we spoon the mixture over the eggplant slices.  We top with feta cheese (or white cheese) and bak for 45 minutes.  We serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Dix Love,

Greek-style green peas in olive oil and tomato sauce

Ingredients:
150-200 ml olive oil
500 grams frozen green peas
1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes

1 bunch of fresh parsley, washed and chopped
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
500 grams tomato juice or fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped
Salt
Pepper
500 ml hot waterbout 

Preparation:
We heat the olive oil in a large cooking pot.  We sautee the onion and the garlic until they get translucent, for about 5 minutes.  We add the tomato, we add the parsley, we stir and we bring to boil.  We add the potatoes and the frozen green peas to the boil and we turn down the heat to a slow simmer.  We add salt and pepper to taste.  We add enough hot water to cover the peas and the potatoes and we cook in low heat, covered, till potatoes are soft and the sauce has thickened.  We stir occasionally, especially towards the end of cooking, when the sauce has thickened and may have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.This tasty dish is usually served as a main course, but it's excellent as a side dish with fish or meat, sausages, or pork/lamb chops.  When served alone, Greeks customarily serve feta cheese with "Lathera" dishes, not only for its unique taste, but also to add protein to the meal.  Slice up some fresh crusty bread, add a plate of black Kalamata olives and you have a tasty and nutritious, authentic, Greek meal.  Oh, and not to be forgotten, lashings of great Greek wine!

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Multicolor farfalle pasta salad

Ingredients:
500 grams farfalle pasta
200 grams yellow cheese, cut in cubes
2-4 tbsps cream cheese
2 tbsps mayonaise light
4-6 tbsps strained yogurt 2%
2 tbsps ketchup
1 can corn
2 red peppers, cut in cubes
2 yellow peppers, cut in cubes
8-10 cherry tomatoes, cut in two
Anise, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper

Preparation:
We grill the peppers in the 200C for about 20-30 minutes and we peel them (we put the grilled peppers in a bag and we let them "sweat" so that they can be peeled easier). At the same time, we boil our pasta as per the instructions. We drain the pasta and we light it lightly. We let it aside to cool. In a bowl, we mix the yogurt, the mayonaise, the cheese cream and the ketchup. We add the rest of the ingredients: the corn, the tomatoes, the cubed cheese, the anise, the peppers cut in small cubes, pepper and salt, if wished. We add the mixture to the cooled pasta and we stir well to allow all ingredients combine.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Easy spaghetti with tuna and capers

Ingredients:
500 gram spaghetti (or any pasta we like)
5-6 tomatoes, cut in small cubes
1 can tuna
3 tbsps capers
1 shot ouzo
1/2 cut olive oil
salt
pepper
Grated cheese (optional)

Preparation:
We make the spaghetti (pasta) as per instructions. In a bowl we put the tuna and, using a fork, we make it in small pieces. We add the cubed tomatoes, the capers, some salt and pepper. When the spaghetti is ready, we drain and immediately after that we put them in the cooking pot which we taken off the fire. We pour the mixture of tuna and capers over the spaghetti and we add the olive oil and the ouzo. We stir well and the spaghetti with tuna and capers are ready. We serve with grated cheese, if wished.

Dix Love,

Orzo pasta with champignon

Ingredients:
2 cups orzo pasta
2 cups tomato juice
5 cups vegetables broth or water
500 grams champignon
2 onions, finely chopped
1 garlic, crashed
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup nutmeg
salt
pepper
Grated cheese (optional)

Preparation:
In a pot, we sautee the onions and the champignon in the olive oil. We add the nutmeg, the pepper and the salt. We sautee them till the champignon lose their water. We add the tomato and the broth/water. When it boils, we add the orzo pasta, we stir well for a few minutes and we take from the fire. We let it sit and absorb the liquid for about 1 hour. We serve hot.

Dix Love,