This veal roulade is a very untypical recipe for my blog as it hat nothing much to do with Mediterranean food. Still I need to post some Austrian or German food as well. It was a cooking evening with Ralf and at least we tasted some Greek wine while cooking and later on with the food.

The only Mediterranean ingredient is the anchovies that we have added to the recipe. Unusual for this this but it tastes great.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

difficulty: advanced

Preparation:

Have your butcher cut the schnitzel really thin.

Wash the carrots and cut them into sticks. Also cut the pickled cucumber into sticks.

Put the schnitzel onto a plate. Spread a table spoon of mustard on in. Now lay some pickles, some carrot, some capers and one anchovy on top of the mustard and role the schnitzel. Pin the roll with a tooth pick, so it stays. Repeat these steps for all the 8 schnitzel.

You can pepper the meat. Usually it won’t need much salt as the anchovies are containing enough salt.

Heat up a heavy pan and fry the roulades in the clarified butter for a couple of minutes from all sides. They should get some color. Then remove them from the pan and put them aside.

Meanwhile dice the onions. Add them to the pan and fry them until brown. Add the wine and let it boil for a minutes. Now add the beef stock and return the roulades to the pan. The meat should be just covered in liquid. Let the dish boil uncovered for 30 minutes on low heat. The sauce should have reduced by then and the meat will be tender. Rotate the roulade occasionally.

I served this dish with home made pasta.

A nice combination is always a piece of fish with a lemon risotto. The fish as such dies not need any additional lemon as the risotto has enough acidity. I have added some spinach this time a there was great fresh spinach at the market.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

In order to prepare the risotto dice an onion and put it into a pot with some olive oil. Fry the onions for a couple of minutes then add the rice. Stir and fry a bit then a add the white wine and the soup. Let it boil on low heat. Stir occasionally. You might have to add a bit more liquid later on in the process.
When the risotto is done (after approx 20 minutes) you can add lemon zest and the juice of half the lemon.
Add the Parmesan and stir well.

Wash the spinach and dry it off. Peel the garlic and dice it. Fry the garlic in a pan with some olive oil. Add the spinach bit by bit. The volume of the spinach will reduce drastically. A few minutes of frying are enough. Salt and pepper the spinach and keep warm.

Dice the tomatoes and add them to a small pot with the curry powder a sip of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. let it boil for a few minutes then puree it with a mixer.

Fry in a hot pan with some olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the side dishes and the sauce.

This is a recipe from my mother in law. She promised me that the chicken would be easy to prepare and taste delicious. I gave it a try and must say considering the fact that the recipe uses ready made products it is truly delicious.

Preparation time: 3 minutes

cooking time: 60 minutes

difficulty easy

Preparation:

Have the butcher cut the chicken for you.

Oil a baking form with olive oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Place them in the form.

Peel the potatoes, cut them in quarters and place them with the chicken.

Pour the onion soup powder over the chicken and potatoes, then add the can of apricots. Cover the baking tray and place it in the pre heated oven for an hour at 180 degrees centigrade. for the last 15 minutes of baking time, remove the cover and turn on the broiler.

This salad awakens childhood memories in me. My mother used to make this salad for my father who came home for lunch. He always was into salads a lot and this one was one of his favourite ones.
Though it has lots of apple in it and also some honey in the dressing it is not a very sweet salad. Certainly not a desert. The addition of Greek yogurt with honey as a dressing is my creation, a Mediterranean variation.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

very easy recipe

Preparation:

Grate the beetroot and the peeled apple into a bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over it an mix well.

For the dressing dissolve the honey and the salt with the lemon juice. Then dissolve the yogurt.

Crush the hazelnuts with a knife.

Place salad on a plate, pour some dressing over it and sprinkle nuts on top.

I am currenly a lot into fish as you probably have noticed. This time I caught some salmon at my local fish store. I just love salmon, preferably with a nice sauce to it. This time I tried something new. A puree of onion and orange. It goes well with the fish and adds a hint of summer to the dish.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

cooking time: 40 minutes

easy recipe

Preparation:

For the “au gratin potatoes” cut the peeled potatoes into thin slices and layer half of them into a baking tray. Sprinkle some of the grinded cheese over them and add some salt and pepper.

Now layer the remaining potatoes over the others and again add cheese as well as salt and pepper. Now pour the cream into the pan. You also can use milk, if you prefer the dish to be lighter. Bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Towards the end of the baking time you may want to activate the broiler in order to give the gratin some colour.

Mince the peeled onion in a mixer until it is very fine. Then fry it in a pan with some olive oil until brown. Add the juice of the oranges and let it simmer on low heat until the liquid has reduced and you have a puree.

Season the fish with salt and pepper. When the Gratin is about to be ready fry the fish from all sides in olive oil for about 4 to 6 minutes.

I was stunned when I discovered these magnifficant strawberries in the vegetable store, where I usually shop. I was a bit suspicious but the lady that owns the shop assured me that these were Greek strawberries. They must originate from a Cretan glas house I thougt and tried one. They were sweet and juicy which convinced me to take them along. Earlier on I had decided upon risotto, as the dish of the day, so it turned out to be a Strawberry Risotto.

Preparation time: 5 cooking time

Cooking time: 25 minutes

easy recipe

Preparation:

Peel and cube the shallots. Fry them in some butter until they changed colour. Add the white wine and let it boil for a couple of minutes. Now add the beef stock, stir well and let it boil on low heat for 20 minutes (depending on the rice).

Use the 20 minutes to grind the Parmigiano, cut the Gorgonzola into cubes and clean and cut the strawberries.

When the rice is done, add the cheeses and mix well. Now add the strawberries, blend them carefully into the rice. Take the pot off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.

I like the strawberries to still have a bite. The longer you let the risotto sit, the softer the strawberries get.

Season with lots of pepper and some salt and serve.

I had eaten this soup many years ago at my fathers house. Now that I wanted to cook it I could not recall much but a few details of the preparation. This was for certain: Lots of parsley was involved in order to achieve this intense and unique flavour. Some cream, some butter and beef stock was part of the game.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 5 minutes

easy recipe

Preparation:

It is important not to be singy with the parsley. Parsley is loosing volume a lot once cooked, so you wan to use plenty of it. The proportion of parsley to liquid will seem out of balance.

Wash the parsley and pick all the leaves. Bring water to boil and let it boil for 5 minutes. Have some iced water standing by. Drain the parsley and instantly pour the iced water over it to keep the intense green colour.

Dice the Shallots and brown them with some butter in a pot. Add the white wine and a touch of nutmeg. Pour the soup into the pot and let it boil for about a minute.

Add the liquid and the parsley to a blender and mix on max speed for some minutes. You want the soup to be perfectly processed and fine. Now add the cream and some butter flakes. The soup will start to develop some foam on top. Season with salt and pepper and a few drops of wine.

Serve!

A simple fruity salad that gives a hint of summer. I like salads that are a bit different. This one certainly is. Fennel, prawns, orange, lime and coriander make a colourful and exotic mix. The prawns make the salad almost a main course, at least for lunch.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 3 minutes

simple recipe

Preparation:

Wash the fennel bulb and cut it into fine stripes. Peel the oranges and the line with a sharp knife. Cut off all the peel including the white layer surrounding the pulp.  Cut the fillets out of the fruits avoiding the skin separating the pieces.

Blend the filets with the fennel. Add salt and pepper and olive oil. Let it rest and marinate a bit.

Peel the prawns, remove the intestine with a small knife and fry them in a pan with some olive oil. Salt and pepper them. frying for a few minutes should be enough.

Add the prawns with the salad, pour the fryin oil over the salad and mix well. Add finely chopped coriander or dill.

The guests that are coming to the little food event I am doing here in Athens are demanding food that they can not find on the menu of the average restaurant. So I try to get a few unusual dishes together. When I was sceeming through Skye Gyngell’s cookbook, I saw that she proposed a salted caramel sauce to be served with chocolate mousse. When I saw that I was sure that this was strange and interesting enough to be served at the Secret Supper.

The fluffy, not too sweet mousse of dark chocolate in combination with a distinct but just not burnt caramel that carries a hint of salt turned out to be a perfect combination.

Preparation time: 30 Minuten
Let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours
Easy recipe

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Melt the chocolate on small flame. I do that in a non sticky frying pan, directly on the stove.

Meanwhile I mix the egg yolk well with 50 gram of the sugar.

THen take the melted chokolate off the stove and let it cool down a bit. Then, slowly pour it into the yolk-mixture. Put the mixture aside.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt. Once the beaten egg whites get stiff, add 50 gram of sugar while beating more.

Slowly mix the yolk-chocolate mixture with the beaten egg whites. BE carefull when doing so in order do result with a fluffy mousse.

Place the bowl in the fridge and let it chill for a couple of hours.

Forthe caramel sauce add 250 gram of sugar in a small pot and place on the stove. let it melt without stiring it. Once the sugar bubbles, observe it well and let it brown until it gets a mahagony coulour. Now add carefully 250 ml of hot water. Keep stiring when doing so in order to prvent little knowts form forming.

Add a good pinch of salt and stir well.

Pour sauce into a bowl and let it cool down.

For serving put some mousse on a plate and drip some of the caramel sauce over it.

the German version “Schokoladenmousse mit Salzkaramell” can be found here

This recipe is a result of a twitter survey on gnocchi recipes I did. The most tempting proposal I got form Fraufeli and she suggested the use of orange for the sauce. This recipe is the outcome. I tested the recipe with lots of guests and everybody loved it. The recipe for the Gnocchi dough I discovered at lamiacucinas blog.

Preparation time: 10 Minuten
Cooking time: 20 Minuten
very simple recipe

Ingredients:

Preparation of the gnocchi:

Pour the boiling water into a bowl. Add the potato powder, salt, pepper, and some nutmeg. Stir well and add the egg. Slowly add the flour until a dough has formed.
Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a working surface, powdered with flour.

Form finger thick rolls and cut gnocchi. (cut roll every 2 cm)

Bring salted water to boil.

meanwhile prepare the sauce:

Brown finely chopped onion in a pan. Add the chopped garlic. Stir and add the orange juice. Add some orange zest and the honey. Reduce the liquid a bit or add some corn flour.
Cube the salmon and put into the pan. Stir briefly and put the pan aside.

Now put the gnocchi into the boiling water. Once they rise in the water, put the pot aside and let them simmer for another 3 minutes. Then drain the gnocchi.
Put the gnocchi into the pan with the salmon. Heat up for a few minutes and mix all well.

Once the salmon begins to fall apart the dish is ready to be served.

The German verison of the recipe can be found here