RECIPES:

Greek salad - (Horiatiki)            3 - 4 tomatoes ~ 1 onion ~ Feta cheese ~ 1 cucumber ~ olive oil ~ salt ~ olives ~ oregano.

Cut the tomatoes, the onion and the cucumber in slices. Mix them, add salt and some pieces of feta cheese, oregano and at the end pour some olive oil.

Greek salad #2 - (Horiatiki salata)           2 - 3 Tomatoes, peeled and wedged ~ 1 Cucumber washed and cut in thin slices. Do not peel the cucumber! ~ 1 green pepper, cut finely in thin stripes ~ 1 large onion, sliced ~ 4 oz (113 gr) hard feta cheese ~ Black Kalamata olives ~ Capper (Optional) ~ parsley (Optional) ~ oregano ~ Thick Sea Salt ~ Extra virgin olive oil ~ A good wine vinegar.

Place all ingredients on a salad bowl, add salt then pour in vinegar and oil and mix very well. Place tomatoes, 1cucumber green pepper onion, feta, olives, capers, parsley and oregano.

Greek Vinaigrette Dressing           3/4 Cup Olive Oil ~ 1 Tablespoon Oregano ~ 1 Teaspoon Pepper ~ 1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar ~ 1 Teaspoon Salt ~ 1 A Little Sugar (To taste, or honey).

In measuring cup add red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and oregano and whisk together. Add olive oil and whisk with vinegar until blended well. Whisk in sugar or honey to sweeten and cut the acidity to your liking. Serve with Greek salad, Tomato/Cucumber salad, or a chef's salad.

Eggplant salad dip - (Melitzanosalata)               2-3 medium sized round eggplants ~ Some parsley leaves ~ 1/2 garlic clove, chopped (optional) ~ Drops of grated onion (optional) ~ Vinegar ~ Oil ~ Salt ~ Pepper

Place the eggplants in a thin pan and bake them in the grill or in kitchen's fire. When they are baked on all sides and have started smelling like burned remove from heat and cool them. When they cool remove the outer skin and the burned surface. Remove most of the seeds and cut the eggplants in thin pieces. Place in a deep bowl, add parsley and optionally the onion drops and the garlic clove. Gradually add one part of oil and one part of vinegar and stir the mixture continuously. Stop adding oil and vinegar when you feel that the mixture is fine. Add salt and pepper for taste and preserve in the refrigerator. Serve cold as an appetizer.

Fish roe salad - (Taramosalata)         125 gr fish roe ~ 4 slices stale bread ~ 1 medium onion (optional) ~ lemon juice ~ parsley ~ 150 gr olive oil

Remove crusts from bread, soak and drain it. Place the fish roe and the onion (chopped) in a mixer and beat well. Add gradually the lemon juice, the bread and the olive oil and continue beating the mixture until it becomes soft and creamy. Serve in a bowl and garnish with parsley.

Tsatziki         1 Cucumber ~ 1 Pinch Dill (diced/ to taste) ~ 4 Clove Garlic (pressed) ~ 2 Tb Olive Oil ~ 1 Pinch Pepper (to taste) ~ 1 Pinch Salt (to taste) ~ 1 ts Vinegar ~ 2 Cup Yogurt (Pressed through a cheese cloth)

Grate the cucumber. Strain tightly using a cloth until very dry. Mix in all other ingredients.

Stuffed Vine Leaves with Rice - (Dolmades yalatzi)          1/2 kg spring onions, finely cut ~ 2 tea cups olive oil ~ 200 gr rice ~ 1/2 kg vine leaves ~ salt ~ pepper ~ Sprigs of dill ~ Sprigs of parsley & Spearmint ~ Juice of 2 lemons.

Drain the vine leaves. Sautee the onions in half the oil until they get a golden color. Add the rice, salt, pepper, parsley, dill and spearmint and half a glass of water. Cook until the water is absorbed. Use a tea spoon to count the portion of the rice mixture required for each leaf. Place on each leaf the appropriate portion of rice and then fold each leaf to make a little parcel. In a large sauce pan place the vine leaves one close to each other. Put a plate on top of them in order to prevent them from opening. It is better to cover the surface of the saucepan with some vine leaves to avoid burning of the dolmades during cooking. Add the remaining oil, 2 cups boiling water and the lemon juice. Cook in low heat. The vine leaves are served cold with strained yoghurt.

Stuffed Grape Leaves with Meat #2             1 1/2 lbs. uncooked ground beef or ground lamb ~ 16 oz. can of tomato sauce or 2 1/2 cups peeled, diced tomatoes ~ 2 cups uncooked white rice ~ 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped ~ 1 Tb coriander ~ 1/2 ts salt ~ 1 ts black pepper ~ 2 Tb of lemon juice ~ 1 16 oz. jar grape leaves or 1 lb. fresh vine leaves ~ 1 lemon sliced

Remove grape leaves from jar and soak for a few hours in cold water. If not soaked properly, they have a very salty taste. While grape leaves are soaking, mix together ground beef, tomato sauce, rice, parsley, coriander, salt, pepper and lemon juice. This is best done with your hands. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to stuff leaves. Drain grape leaves and dry with paper towels. Remove stems. Place leaves shiny side down and have you meat mixture ready. Put about a teaspoon of mixture towards the bottom of the leaf. Fold in sides and roll upwards tightly. Do not roll too tightly. The rice does expand during cooking and may tear the leaf. Repeat with remaining leaves and mixture. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, place them side by side in circle layers. Place two lemon slices between the layers of grape leaves. Put a weight on top of the last layer of stuffed grape leaves. I use a ceramic plate. This ensure that the leaves to do not move around during cooking. Fill with pot with water, covering the leaves. Simmer and cook for 30 minutes on low until the rice is done. When rice is tender, remove vine leaves from pot and serve.

Mornay sauce (Béchamel with cheese)         1/2 Cup Butter (Melted) ~ 2 Whole Egg ~ 2 Egg Yolks ~ 1 Cup Kefalotiri (Grated) ~ 4 Cup Milk (Hot) ~ 3 Pinch Nutmeg ~ 1 Pinch Pepper ~ 2 Pinch Salt ~ 3/4 Cup White Flour.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, add the flour and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the milk all at once, and stir until the sauce is smooth. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese, eggs and egg yolks.

Meat and macaroni pie - (Pastitsio)             500 gr thick macaroni ~ 1 kg minced meat ~ 3 eggs ~ 180 gr grated kefalotiri or Parmesan cheese ~ 100 gr oil ~ 1 medium sized onion ~ 500 gr ripe tomatoes ~ 1 portion Mornay sauce (béchamel sauce with cheese) ~ salt ~ pepper.

Partially cook the macaroni in salted water and drain well. Put in a baking dish and pour half of the butter over the macaroni. Beat the egg whites and mix in the macaroni. Keep the yolks. They will be used to make the béchamel sauce. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. With the remaining butter brown the minced meat and the onion. Add the strained tomatoes or the tomato paste, salt, pepper and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and add the remaining grated cheese. Stir all well. Prepare the béchamel sauce. Butter a baking dish. Lay half of the macaroni in the pan. Spread evenly with the meat mixture. Lay the rest of the macaroni on top. Pour the béchamel sauce over them and sprinkle with grated cheese and some melted butter. Bake in a moderate oven (200 C) until béchamel gets brown (40 - 45 minutes).

Moussaka                1 Batch Mornay sauce (Béchamel with cheese) ~ A Little Oil (For frying) ~ 3 Large Eggplant ~ 2 lb Ground Beef ~ 1/2 Cup Olive Oil ~ 1 Medium Onion (Diced) ~ 1 Bunch Parsley (Diced) ~ 1-2 Pinch Pepper (To taste) ~ 2 lb Potatoes ~ 2-3 Pinch Salt (To taste) ~ 2 Medium Tomatoes ~ 1/2 Cup White Wine

Prepare the "béchamel" sauce. Wrap the eggplants in aluminium foil and bake until they are soft. Slice them in thick slices. Peel the potatoes, slice them and fry them lightly. Brown the onion and the ground meat together in the olive oil. Grate the tomatoes and add them in along with the parsley and the salt & pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes. Layer the potatoes, the ground meat mix and the eggplants (in this order) in a deep pan. Cover with the béchamel. Bake in a medium oven for 30-40 minutes.

Baklava            Tools: Basting brush (Not plastic bristles), 13 X 9 pan, bowl        2 1/2 cup Sugar ~ 3 ts ground Cinnamon ~ 2 ts ground Cloves ~ 2 ts ground nutmeg ~ 3/4 cup walnuts or pecans ~ 3/4 cup Butter Melted ~ 1 package Phillo Dough ~ 2 cup sugar ~ 1/4 cup Lemon Juice ~ 2 ts Cinnamon ~ 1/3 cup Water ~ 1/4 cup Honey

Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Melt the butter. Open the phillo dough cover the bottom of the pan with butter. Place the first sheet of dough on the bottom of the pan. Butter the sheet of dough. Sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Place the next layer of dough and butter it. Continue until pan is full or you are out of ingredients. Slice length wise and then diagonally the first 3 or 4 layers of the dough. Bake at 400 for 45 min or until golden brown and flakey. Mix the last 5 ingredients in a pan Stir until it reaches boiling. Boil for 5 min. Remove from heat and pour over the baked baklava.

Persian     Kabab-e Koobideh    (4 servings)           500 g ground lamb or beef ~ 2 large onions (grated) ~ 1 garlic clove (crushed) ~ 1 egg, (beaten) ~ 4 medium tomatoes ~ salt ~ black pepper ~ turmeric ~ 1 ts (optional) sumac (optional).

Mix meat, onions, garlic, egg, salt, pepper and turmeric well and leave in the refrigerator overnight (or for several hours). Press the meat around long, thick metal skewers and shape evenly. Thread whole tomatoes on another skewer. Barbeque each side for about five minutes, turning frequently. (If skewers are not available or barbequing is not possible, kabab-e koobideh can be shaped into long, thin portions on aluminum foil and grilled at high temperature in the oven. The oven should be pre-heated and kabab-e koobideh should be placed as high as possible near the source of the heat. Again, turn a few times.) Serve with hot Basmati rice or on middle-eastern bread. If serving with rice, some sumac may be sprinkled on top. If kabab-e koobideh was made in an oven, the juice from the kabab can be poured on rice or bread

Persian Fattoush            1 large onion, cut vertically into a cross and remove each layer out from the 4 pieces ~ 3 medium sized tomatoes cut into bite sized pieces ~ 2 medium cucumbers, peeled and cut into chunks ~ 2 medium pepper, deseeded and cut into pieces ~ 1 pear, peeled and cut into chunks ~ 4-5 slices of bread, toasted till very crisp and broken into big pieces ~ Juice of one lemon ~ Freshly ground black pepper ~ Salt to taste~ Paprika to taste ~ I also added some segments of an orange.

Bring all of the ingredients together in a big bowl. Mix with your hands with gentle pressure so as to release juices from cucumbers and tomatoes. Refrigerate for an hour or so. The bread will soak up the juices from the vegetables, fruits as well as the spices and the bits of soggy bread will be the best part of the salad. However you can use the crispy bread pieces just before serving if you want to add a crunch to the salad. Serve this salad along with chips / pita bread and some hummus & Baba Gannouj for a light weekday dinner. A glass of wine won't be a bad idea.