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Open sandwich

I don't have actual quantities but I will describe...

A fresh, crispy baguette is cut open and then each half is cut in two so that we have 4 "bases".

We spread hummus sauce on the bread.  We do not use butter or mayonaise.

We add grilled pleurotus (oyster) mushrooms and sliced fruit, such as apple or pear. 

We cover with fresh rocket leaves and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.

Itadakimasu!!!

Dix Love,

Perch fish fillet in beer batter and orange, lime and mint yogurt sauce

Ingredients
Perch fillet in beer batter:
500 grams perch fillet
90 grams flour
45 gram. corn flour
5 grams salt
230 grams cold beer that we leave open for sometime before the use
10 grams baking poweder
flour to cover the fish
sunflower oil for the frying
salt

For the sauce:
300 grams yogurt
10 grams fresh orange juice
10 grams fresh lime juice
5 grams orange zest
3 grans fresh spearmint, finely chopped

Preparation:
In a bowl, we put the ingredients, except the fish, the sunflower oil, the orange juice, the lime juice, the yogurt and the orange zest, and we mix well till they have combined fully.  In a cooking pot, we add enough sunflower (so that the fish fillet can deep fry) and we put on high heat.  We bring the olive to the 180C and we maintain so.  We dry the fish fillet well and we salt it from both sides.  We cover the fillet with flour and then we dip it in the batter till fully covered.  We hold over the bowl for a little while so that excessive batter leaves.  We fry the fillet till it has taken nice golden/light brown color.  We take it of the oil and we put on a plate with absorbing paper to leave the extra oil out.  We salt, if needed.  We serve with the yogurt sauce that we have made with the yogurt, the orange/lime juice, the zest and the spearmint.

ps: We can use any kind of white fish, such as sole fish, cod fish or anything else we like!

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Re: Sausages with peppers and onions (Spetzofai)

I love this kind of food
I especially love peppers and sausages
I think it will fit very well with white rice

Sausages with peppers and onions (Spetzofai)

Ingredients:

300 grams green peppers, seeded, cut in thick slices (color peppers are fine, too)
400 grams greek country sausages, cut into pieces 4cm long (italian sausage or Kielbasa are fine, too)
2 medium sized onions, cut in thick slices
3 tbsps tomato paste
175 grams fresh tomato, drained and grated
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup wine
1 tbsp hot paprika
salt
pepper

Preparation:
We put the olive oil in a large frying pan on medium to high heat. We add the sausages and saute for 1 minute.  We add the peppers and the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly.  We pour the wine, cook for 3 minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate and then add the tomato, the tomato paste and the paprika.  We lower the heat to medium-low and we cook until the sauce thickens.  We serve with fresh bread and feta/white cheese!

Notes:
1. We can serve this dish as starter, too, not only as main dish.
2. We can serve with some white rice, if we like.
2. It can be served in room temperature, as well.
3. We can add chopped eggplants, if we want.  In this case, we increase the olive oil and we add the eggplant along with the onion.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Shredded carrot in syrup (spoon sweet)

Ingredients:
300 grams shredded carrot
300 grams sugar
1 lemon, its zest

Preparation:
In a small cooking pot, we put the shredded carrot with the sugar and the lemon zest oven low heat.  We sitr well and when sugar starts melting and creates syrup we let it boil for about 10 minutes. 

Notes:
1. The sweet is perfect on top of straigned yogurt.
2. The sweet is kept in sterilized jar.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Re: Zucchini-feta/white cheese tart

Looks delicious
  I also want to do

Easy icecream

Ingredients:
1 can vegetal cream
1 can condensed sugar milk
1 can condensed milk
400gr. biscuits, cut in pieces
optional:
2 Vanilla sachets
3 tablespoons nutella

Preparation:
We beat the vegetal cream till it becomes thick whipped cream. We add the condensed sugar milk and the condensed milk and we continue the beating. When thick enough, we add the biscuits in pieces and leave in deep freezer overnight. In case we prefer we can add some vanilla and/or the nutella so that we get a chocolate tasty, creamier home made ice cream.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Zucchini-feta/white cheese tart

Fyllo pastry:
5 cups of flour,
2 teaspoons of baking powder,
1 1/2 cup of olive or corn oil,
1 cup of water or fresh orange juice,
1 teaspoon of salt.
Making of the pastry:
In a basin, we mix the dry ingredients first and then we add the liquid till it has all become one. This pastry does not actually need kneading. When all liquid has been absorbed we let the pastry rest for about 30 minutes.

Filling:
4-5 pcs of zucchini cut in cubes,
2-3 pcs of spring onions finely chopped,
2 soupspoons of anise finely chopped,
2 soupospoons of parsley finely chopped,
Some spearmint or basil, fresh or dry,
250 gr. feta cheese cut in cubes,
3 eggs,
A little salt (the feta/white cheese already has),
A little pepper.
Making of the filling:
In a skillet, using a dash of olive we simmer the zucchini, the spring onions, the anise and the parsley till zucchini is soft enough. We let it aside to cool a bit. Meanwhile, in a basin we have beaten the eggs adding the feta cheese cubes, the spearmint or the basil, the pepper and the salt. When the zucchini mix has cooled enough we add it in the egg/feta cheese mix and we stir carefully till the egg mix has covered all.  We get a tartpan and using our palms and fingers (we do not need stick for the pastry) we cover the bottom and sides making sure all has been smoothly covered. We add the filling we have ready and bake in a 180 degrees Celsius oven for 40 minuntes approximately.

ps1: We cut when it has cooled enough so that the filling can stand better.
ps2: There is no need to butter the tartpan as the pastry does contain oil.
ps3: This pastry can be stored in deep freezer too, so if the quantity we have made is bigger, we simply put the quantity we have not used in the deep freezer for some other time.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Risotto with strawberries and shrimps

Ingredients:
350 grams rice for risotto
300 grams strawberries, relatively ripe
1 onion, finely chopped
100 grams butter
1 glass of white wine
100 grams fresh cream
18 shrimps
1 lt fish broth or vegetables broth
100 gram grated parmesan
Some salt
Pepper

Preparation:
We wash the strawberries and we cut in small pieces.  In a cooking pot, in low heat, we melt the butter, we add the onion and saute well till it turns transparent.  Then we ad the rice and we saute it for 3-4 minutes, we add the 100 grams strawberries, the white wine and 10 shrimps cut in thick pieces.  We saute the rest 8 shrimps whole in some oil, brandy, salt and pepper and keep them warm.  In another cooking pot, we have put the broth to boil and we start adding it little by little in the rice, always in high heat.  Every time the broth evaporates we repeat stirring all the time.  Two minutes before the boiling stops, we add the 200 grams strawberries.  In 20 minutes from the moment we have added the rice, our risotto is ready.  We take off the heat, we add the parmesan, some pepper and stir.  We cover for 2-3 minutes to let the risotto rest.  We serve in deep dish, adding 2 whole shrimps per person and 2-3 drops of balsamic vinegar

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Greek stuffed tomatoes and peppers

Ingredients:
4 large ripe tomatoes
4 large red, yellow, green or orange peppers
¾ cup long grain rice (Jasmine yields the best texture)
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
4-6 leaves kale (can use chard too, see note)
½ cup parsley, chopped
½ cup pine nuts 
½ cup currants, optional
½ cup low sodium veggie broth or water (use broth for more flavor)
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into two inches pieces
¼ teaspoon salt , plus a few pinches (may need to adjust if using broth)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus a few pinches
¼ cup olive oil or use ½ cup broth or water to keep oil free

Instructions
We preheat the oven to 175C.  We cut the tops off of the tomatoes and peppers and remove the insides.  We save all of the tops to cover them later but discard the inside of the peppers and keep the inside of the tomatoes.  We sprinkle the cavity of the tomatoes and peppers with a pinch of salt and pepper.  We chop the tomato pulp well using a pimmer but we can use a knife, also.  We ake out half and set aside for later, then add the kale and the parsley into the processor or onto your cutting board.  We chop again until everything is mixed well.  In a pot, we our 1/4 cup broth/water or 2 tablespoons of the olive oil if using oil and we sauté the chopped onions on medium heat.  We may need to add more broth/water if not using oil.  When the onions look transparent, we add the rice, mix with the onion, add 1/3 cup broth/water, cover and simmer over low heat until the water is absorbed, about 5-7 minutes.  We add the chopped tomato pulp that has been mixed with the kale and the parsley.  We add pine nuts, currants (if using), ¼ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Let it simmer until most of the liquids have evaporated, about 3 minutes.  we taste and make sure the rice is half cooked, add more broth/water if needed and cook longer if it is not half cooked.  In the mean time, we peel the potatoes, cut them into 2 inch pieces and sprinkle them with a pinch of salt and pepper.  We arrange the tomatoes and peppers in a 9 x 13 baking dish.  We stuff them with the half cooked rice mixture until they are 3/4 of the way full.  We cover them with the saved tops and brush the top with olive oil if using oil.  We arrange the potatoes between them.  We sprinkle the remaining chopped tomato pulp over the potatoes and we drizzle with the leftover olive oil if using.  We make sure there is enough liquid to cover the bottom of the pan and we add the leftover broth/water if needed.  We bake for 45-60 minutes, checking periodically to see if more liquid is needed, we don't want the bottoms to burn. If we need to add broth/water, we make sure you heat it first. We taste as we go to check the rice, if the rice is cooked then we pull them out of the oven. 

Recipe Notes
Kale is the best leafy green to use as it is the sturdiest. Chard could also be used as a second choice but beware of spinach as it will melt into the rice.
We can use water instead of broth but broth will give more flavor, we adjust amount of salt if we use broth.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,