keeping it simple..

Cooking is really an easy and very enjoyable task that has the end result of satisfying your taste. In a more formal way cooking is a creative art, and as long as you like ..cooking, the creations never end. Your reward for that, satisfaction..by trying something you've personally created, fun during the process and of course your pleased guests.

In writing this blog I am terrified to let go of these recipies, but if I succeed in making people who say 'I can't cook' to be able to join in the fun..then its worth all the effort! Everyone can cook. People who say 'I can't cook' in fact should say 'I don't want to cook'. To be honest, since my divorce, cooking has been my most pleasurable past time activity. Topping it all up with the surprise of tasting the food afterwards..and believe me every time is different.

I must admit that even now I do not have my mums flare in feeding lots of important people, but my kitchen can host anyone in my family or circle of friends. Sometimes I find myself finding excuses to feed people..like the old fashioned greek woman..type.

Now, in the honour of the french croque monsieur, and the italian flavour in a drop of oil, there's a little snack recipie that is actually going to satisfy the most demanding taste.

A piece of bread only!

Cut rounds of crusty bread
Cheese any
Tomatoes
Dried thyme
Salt and pepper
Sliced olives

Put a pan with a bit of olive oil on the hob and fry both sides of the bread round, one minute of frying altogether. Sprinkle some cheese on top of each slice and cut up tomatoe on top. Sprinkle some thyme and add sliced olives if you wish. Put under the grill till the cheese looks golden. Take them out and eat carefully. A glass of red wine will also go very well with it. Molto gusto!

my very special Kokkinisto

This is a meat dish, a man's favourite, and it can be cooked at very low heat for maximum tenderness. It is a beef stew flavoured with vine ripe tomatoes and loads of onion.

Let's Cook it:

500gr tender beef steak
2 large very ripe vine tomatoes
A tin of canned tomatoes
2 large onions
2 bay leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
A splash of red wine


At first dice the steak. Pour half a cup of olive oil in a large non stick pot, and grate the onions in it too. Put on medium to high heat. Put the diced meat in and turn slowly till the meat is slightly brown.splash a bit of red wine. Grate the tomatoes and put in the casserole together with the tin tomatoes, the bay leaves and salt and pepper.pour in, a mug of water or two and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook for hours with half the lid on, and please check it out often for safety. (Although my nan would shoot off to the veg market at this moment, letting the stew to cook on its own, while she was doing her shopping, an action which is to be avoided by you at all costs!).

When the meat is 'shreadable' and the sauce has eliminated down to the bottom, then stop cooking;

This dish can be part of a...' party of flavours' when you add homemade chips and feta cheese as side dishes and of course loads of crusty bread and a glass of red wine ! ' Mmmmmm' as the greeks would express at this moment, which means: 'yuuuum!'

Its about time for..Tapas

Only a few months ago I came across a Tapas cookbook, not that Tapas was something new to me, especially when living in London. There's a very nice tapas bar/restaurant in Greenwich. Where you can also drink unlimited Coronas or Del Sol with lime pieces squeezed through.

Like meze, tapas are better enjoyed in a restaurant, for their obvious characteristic: many small plates served straight from the kitchen fresh. But..after trying many from the tapas cookbook, I found my true favourite: the different types of enchiladas. Unless you are spanish you won't know what that is. Enchiladas are little pies, usually made with puff pastry.

My favourite one is the ones made with goats cheese, quires ather esos?

Puff pastry
Goats cheese
Garlic
Challot
Smoked Paprika
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Melted butter.

They are very easy to make. Roll out the puff pastry and use a glass to cut through lots of circles. Put a small pan with a bit of olive oil on medium heat. Crush a couple of cloves of garlic and put in the heated pan. Cut a shallot into cubes and put that in the pan too. Fry for 2 mins. Empty in a bowl. Put the goats cheese in there too. A good pinch of paprika will give it the Spanish flavour. You can add salt and pepper but only a bit for sweeter taste. Mix the ingredients in the bowl using a fork. Then, using a spoon, pick out some of the cheese mix and place it on the buttered rounds of pastry. Pick one side of the round and close the mixture in. Using a fork seal the semi- circle of pie, by pressing the fork on thepastry semi circled edge.

Rub butter on a roasting tin and place your enchiladas with a bit of space in between them. Bake in the oven for 20 mins, keep an eye for the enchiladas not to burn.

take out of the oven and let cool a bit. Open ur corona and enjoy as a..small snack..or a Tapa xx

My favourite Greek desert from..Turkey!

BACLAVA is a turkish word for a desert but..all greeks know what it is and they call it the same.!

It is one of my favourite deserts and I usually make it during the hot summer months!

Loads of melted butter
500 gr of phylo pastry
150 gr chopped walnuts
150 gr chopped almonds
1 tbs ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

For the syrup:

2 cups of caster sugar
1 cup honey
1 cup of water

Mix the walnuts, almonds,cinnamon and cloves in a bowl.
Use a deep stoneware baking tray. Brush up butter all over the inside of the tray.lay two phyllo sheets and brush them with butter. Sprinkle the nut mixture and lay another sheet of phyllo, buTter it and sprinkle some of the nut mixture again. Do the same till you have two phyllo sheets left. Put the last two phyllo sheets and brush them with lots of butter. Use a sharp knife and cut the top into diamonds, but don't cut the shapes down to the bottom of the tray. In a way you cut the shapes but you will cut portions after its baked. Before you put it in the oven sprinkle some water on top of the baclava and then bake on high heat for about 40 mins, or until it becomes brown on top.

While it bakes, start preparing the syrup :

Put a large pot on the kitchen hob. Throw all the ingredients for the syrup in and with a wooden spoon stir and leave to boil without stirring for 5 mins.at this point grate some lemon zest.

Make sure you make the syrup when the baclava is almost fully baked.

Take out the hot tray of baclava and put it on the kitchen top. Take the pot of syrup and lather carefully on the baclava, till the point that the tray is full.

Let it cool for an hour and then put it in the fridge. After a couple of hours, and this is the max anyone can wait before their..turn to try this. It can keep in the fridge for about 4 days for maximum pleasure.

I usually cut a tiny piece and serve it in a bowl with some chocolate ice cream and a bit of whipped cream..careful not to eat a lot of this, although you want to..its far too fattening xx

the Ouzo nights and picking on meze

What I miss more about Greece is the Ouzeris, ie. the small and tacky restaurants that serve the little plates of meze and get you carafs of wine or Ouzo and shot glasses. Ouzo is the national drink and it is also available in UK..in Asda. It is similar to Sambuca..so take it easy!

There are so many types of meze, a bit like the Spanish tapas, but I will guide you through my favourite ones :

Saganaki cheese

Take a few thick slices of graviera, dip each one in egg and then in bread crumbs. Meantime you heat up olive oil in a small pan. Put each slice of the 'battered' cheese in the pan, turn on the other side and take it out on a plate. Squeeze some lemon on it and serve immediatelly.


Prawns

Boil the prawns with the shells on. Not more than 5 mins. Take them out and start peeling them completely. Put the peeled off prawns on a plate and pour some olive oil and lemon. Add a pinch of salt.

Calamari

You can find fresh calamari in the fish markets here. I prefer the frozen ones as you can cut them in small rounds a lot easier. Put all the rounds in flour and throw them in heated oil in a large pan. Cook a few mins and take out and put on a plate. Again, as with many other mezes, squeeze lemon and a pinch of salt.

Meatballs

250g beef mince
1 onion grated
Breadcrumbs
1 egg
Fresh parsley cut up
A bit of fresh mint
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Start taking little pieces of the mixture and roll them into little balls. Roll them in flour and put all of them in a pan of medium heated olive oil. Cook and take them out on a plate. Pour some of the pan oil on them with a spoon. Squeeze lots of lemon on them and eat them ALL. Very tasty with homemade chips. And...

Tzatziki

1 tub of greek yoghurt
1 clove of grated garlic
1 cucumber grated with the skin on and squeezed with your hands to take all the water out of it.
A bit of lemon juice
A sprinkle of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Mix all of the above with a fork and serve in a liTtle bowl.


Feta meze

Cut a large piece of feta cheese and put on a plate. Sprinkle lots of olive oil on it. Add a couple of pinches of oregano.

The plates of meze are served as cooked and most of the time come on your table one at a time. At this point , I'd pass on the Ouzo and for me a large Heineken please! Yiamas!

with an honour to Jamie Oliver

I have recently bought Jamie's America and the flavours of all the dishes tried were out of this world. However, I found some of the dishes were a bit 'different' to what I ve tried so far. There are also recipies in there which,when eating the food, makes you feel..posh and looked after a true chef. The dishes I strongly recommend from this cook book are:

The killer Mac'n'Cheese- this is unbelievably tasty!
The burgers and slidders
The mountain meatballs

Bread pudding and dark chocolate beer sauce-complete star!
Peach Cobbler
chocolate mole tart
Awesome pancakes
And maybe..the Cinnamon Swirls

Thanks to Jamie his cookbooks are neverending.. Yummy!

greek style and improved Greek potatoe salad

This is a sort of lukewarm salad but absolutely a comfort dish with lots of added flavour. Usually enjoyed on its own..or with a side dish. It truly reminds me of the period before Easter in Crete.

Boiled potatoes
Hard boiled egg
Spring onions
Fresh dill
Olive oil
Lemon squized
Salt pepper

Cut the just boiled potatoes into chunky pieces and put in a bowl. Cut up the egg and throw in. Chop up the spring onions and dill and sprinkle over. Pour lots of olive oil and squeeze the lemon on the salad.season well and toss well. Easy but very..friendly to your appetite xx

A very amateur bread with herbs

When I cook pasta or macaroni I tend to fancy the olive bread or generally Italian flavoured doughs. This bread is actually made by inspiration and my 5 year old daughter mixes it and kneads it for me..she loves that! Sooo...if its a rainy Sunday, and there's no bakery open, then try this easy but rich flavoured bread:

Plain flour - enough to make an elastic dough
1 tbs dried yeast
1 large knob of butter
One sprinkle of dried thyme
A good sprinkle of oregano
Salt and pepper
Warm water

You have to judge the flour and water portion by actually pouring in the warm water at the end of the ingredients adding. And knead to make a thick but elastic dough. Leave it a bit to rise and knead on a floured surface. Then shape into a long and sort of thin bread shape. Cut the top into cross shapes and rub olive oil on top gently. Put in the oven at high heat and watch it turn into a loaf, while the kitchen smells of .. Italian bakery!

You can eat with a salad or with pasta of all sorts .. Gusto perfecto!

The chinese special fried rice\ quick and easy

This is one of my student era favourites. You can use a wok or a pan.Shall we?


A cup of easy cook rice.
2 spring onions cut up.
A tbs cooked sweetcorn
Veg oil
1 clove of garlic

2 eggs

A cup of boiled prawns OR chicken shreads
Soya sauce

Boil the rice as indicated on the packet. Drain and put aside. Put a few drops of veg oil in a pan or wok and put on med to high heat. Put the grated garlic in the hot oil. Add the cut up spring onions. Throw the cooked rice in. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add the prawns or the pieces of cooked chicken and stir. Finally drop the sweetcorn in .  Add the cooked scrambled eggs and finish with a tbs of soya sauce and season. Stir and put on a big plate. It goes well with chinese main dishes but I like to eat it with buttered slices of baguette and a couple of glasses of white dry wine!

My favourite lettuce salad

This is very easy to make but I find it as the most tasty fresh salad of all!
It does remind me of my mum's one. She used to make it for our winter's lunches. Usually accompanying fish dishes, my dad's favourite. Let's do it!

A large soft lettuce
Spring onions
Fresh dill
Lemon
Olive oil
Salt and a bit of pepper

Use a wooden choping board and cut the lettuce very thinly. Put it in a large bowl, cut the spring onions and dill and put together with the lettuce. Pour lots of olive oil in the salad and squize a whole lemon in it too. Sprinkle the salt and a bit of pepper. Toss well. The flavours are amazing, and a plate of home cooked chips go with it very well.

my stuffy greek omelette

It's normally accompanied by a greek salad. Both are a Wednesday lunch for a greek family during summertime. Again, in honour of Crete specifically, the village eggs are giving the omelette an 'out of this world'flavour. But let me tell you how you make the omelette including my own creation on this..


5 very fresh eggs
Homemade chips
1 large tomatoe
1 onion
1 slice of ham
Lots of grated cheese
Salt and pepper

First of all, peel 2 potatoes,cut them in large rounds and then cut them lengthwise and fry them in lots of oil in a deep pan. When they are cooked,take them out of the pan and put on a plate. Put a large pan on medium to low heat, drop a bit of olive oil and put the cooked chips in. Quickly crack the eggs and put them in a large bowl,cut the onion in slices and drop them in too. Cut up the tomatoe and ham and put in the bowl too. Finally add grated cheese and season. Mix all the ingredients and pour in the pan with the chips in. Let it cook slowly at the bottom but be careful not to burn it. Usually after 3 mins its cooked underneath. Be prepared to do something great, put a flat lid or plate on top of the pan, that actually is bigger than the pan. Hold and push tight with your palm and take the whole thing above the sink- just in case ! Then be brave and turn the pan upside down using the handle with one hand and still holding the plate which is now having the omelette on it. Then put the pan back on the heat and let the omelette slide from the plate into the pan to be cooked on the other side. It is a risky art but you can try the movements without the omelette, ie pan and plate. Good luck on the turning but honestly it isn't difficult!

You can put the omelete when cooked in the middle of the table. And cut it as you would cut pizza..thick triangles! Your greek salad would be perfect next to it too! Kali orexi!

A massive greek salad a la taverna style

It's true that even if you go to Greece for a holiday..today, and try 10 different tavernas throughout your stay, the greek salad is fresh and tastes the same no matter the choice of the restaurant.However, if your plane lands in Crete of all places, you will find that the greek salad is..well..better. The main reason the Cretan vine tomatoes and the Cretan cucumber, also called 'anjuri' , its smaller than others and full of flavour. Both products are shipped daily to big Athenian markets, selling very fast. Now, is that a reason to have a Cretan holiday?I would say, maybe, but when thinking of the Cretan rusks that can accompany the Greek salad, then I would definatelly recommend the salad's lovers to try it 'local'. Now, as I am in UK still,I will concentrate in preparing the Greek Salad by using whatever is available here :

Red ripe vine tomatoes
Fresh cucumber
Salad greens
Onion
Feta cheese
Olives
Olive oil
Oregano
Salt and pepper
White vinegar


Please choose a large bowl so you put it in the middle of the table for everyone to dig in x
Cut up your salad greens and put them at the bottom of the bowl. Cut up the tomatoes and place them on top of the greens. Cut the cucumber in small rounds and put on top. Cut the onion in very thin slices and spread over the salad so far. Break the feta cheese into pieces and throw on top of the salad. Throw your (whole) olives all over. Pour a lot of olive oil, but don't make it an oil pool!Sprinkle some vinegar and sprinkle oregano all over the top. Finally season and toss well. Kali orexi and don't forget: put it in the middle and try..being greek and try dipping fresh bread in the flavoured ' oilette' down the bottom of the bowl!

my very special greek beansoup

Based on my mum's recipie, this dish was very popular in the 2nd WW, also referred to 'food for the poor', as it only contains vegetables. My very own and very fit recipie is an improved version by adding more of everything for the same portion. My english close friends who tried it have all at different occasions asked me for the recipie..and that is a fact.

Let's start then:

2 cups of dried kidney beans (to be soaked in water overnight)
4 large carrots
1 large onion
1 batch of fresh celery
1 cup of olive oil
2 tins of canned tomatoes

Boil the beans, after they've been soaked ovenight,in a large pot, until they are very,very,very soft
.Try and take out the foam while they are boiling. Add water as they boil too. All you need to make sure is to have 2/3 of the pot with the beans and the water before you start adding the vegs.Pour a cup of olive oil and the grated onion while its still boiling. Follow up with the chopped into rounds carrots and the cut into small pieces celery. Add two tins of canned tomatoes, season well , try and taste half way. Add water if need throughout, but this soup should be thick when cooked. It normally takes an hour on high boil for the vegs to mix in and deliver this fantastic hot soup which can be enjoyed with lots of fresh bread and feta cheese. My mother in law likes to put pieces of bread and feta cheese on the served bowl of soup and eat..carefully as its HOT. Perfect as a winter meal..xxx

I'll start cooking my greek island favourites

When I think of a nice meal my mind thinks of a cooking book and me as a genie that can turn something traditional to a different level to be adored by the type of eater I am cooking for. Being born and raised in Greece in the large island of Crete I will do the honours to my homeplace and start cooking..simply Greek. The catch is that I have been living in the UK for almost 20 years now.Which of course meant I had to try to cook my greek dishes as I couldn't bear eating the 'strange things english people eat '.. But we' ll talk about that in another chapter.

As most houses in greece are full of cooking smells by lunchtime, greatly cooked by the woman of the household..my mum was the proud wife of a self made man, my dad, also very eager to feed his important friends at our house. My mum is now nearly 70 and still cooks and is known as the best cook in the area my parents still live in. Little me didn't want to do anything with the VIPs waiting in our dining room..but was always standing by mum to watch her cook and standing on my toes I could see what was happening in..those interesting cooking pots. I always wanted to cook but my mum wouldn't let me.

After being a student of Economics in London, I tried to cook my favourite greek dishes..and a couple of times I had to throw out my overcooked food. After a couple of months, I was the most popular girl amongst the greek students, who mostly missed greek food. All my recipies were based of course on my mum's approved receipies. Out of my anger that her cooking pride never let me cook at home, I have rebelled against her dishes and made them more 'fattening' and more..tasty!