dates in bacon

Dates in bacon are the ideal Tapa or Mezze. They go perfectly with wine. Ideally you serve them right out of the oven when the bacon is crispy and the dates are still warm inside.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Baking time: 10 minutes

difficulty: very easy

Preparation:

Heat up the oven to 392 F.
Cut the dates up length wise with a small knife and remove the stone.
Cut the bacon slice into half’s. Wrap a piece of bacon around a date and secure it with a tooth pick. Place on a baking tray. Repeat until all dates are warped.
Bake for 10 minutes until the bacon is crisp. (Air and broiler)

This recipe in German.

Currently is probably the best time to eat fish and seafood in Greece. During the summer months when the country is flooded with tourists the quality of the fish goes down and the prices go up.
The best time for squid is now in winter and the people on the islands might even have the time to go and catch some themselves. So it happens that the neighbors might make you a little present and give you some squid.

Of course you could fry the squid but that is not necessary. This recipe with fresh spinach is healthy and easy to cook.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Dice the onion and fry it in a large pan with some oil. After a few minutes add the chopped garlic. Fry lightly.

Meanwhile remove the head from the squid. I do not use the head for cooking but I use the tentacles. Cut the squid into rings and put it into the pan. Fry for some minutes then add the wine and the bay leaf. Now let the squid simmer for 40 minutes until it is tender. Add some liquid if necessary.

Wash the spinach well. Cut the big leafs. When the 40 minutes have passed, add the spinach and cook it for another 10 minutes with the squid. Season with salt, pepper and some olive oil.

Hummus? Again chick peas? Yes, but again a new version. This time I have mixed some of my favorite ingredients to a mezze or dip. Beet root, chickpeas, garlic and Tahini. The result is a Hummus with beet root which dies not only have a great color but also a fantastic taste. The hummus gets a sweet and earthy touch from the beets, which fits very well.

Preparation time: 5 minutes + soaking the chickpeas in water over night

cooking time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas over night, then drain them. Boil them in water for 10 minutes until they are soft. You may add the unpeeled garlic cloves to the boiling water to take the edge off the garlic.

Drain the chickpeas and put into a blender. Peel the garlic and add. Add as well the Tahini, the lemon juice, some olive oil and the beet root.

Mix until you have a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper.

Tip: You can also add some cumin for seasoning.

Al classic dish of the Greek Cuisine and a must during lent. The Stifado with Octopus is one of my favourite Greek dishes. Stifado can be made with chicken, lamb, or veal but the verison with octopus is the most delicious, at least for me.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 100 minutes
easy recipe

Preparation:

Let your fish dealer prepare the octopus. Place the octopus in a pot that fits it easily ant place a lid on top. Do not add any water and bring to boil on low heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Take the octopus out and let it cool down on a plate. Save the juices in the pot for later.

Use the same pot to fry the peeled small onions in olive oil until they have some colour. Add the sugar after a few minutes. Let it caramelize then add the vinegar. A thick sauce will develop on the bottom of the pot. Now add the bay leaves, the cinnamon, the chili, salt and pepper. Cut the tomato into the pot, add the tomato paste and a glass of white wine as well as the liquid form boiling the octopus. cover and let it boil for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cut the octopus into small pieces. Then add the octopus to the pot and let is cook on very low heat for 40 minutes, the pot not covered so it thickens.

Tip: To store it I remove the cinnamon stick. It may turn a bit bitter when kept for a while.

This recipe I found in a cookbook called “flavours of the mediterranean” which I had gotten form my almost mother in law for Christmas. Finally I had gotter arround to cooking from it. A great dish for eggplant lovers with a touch of anchovies. The eggplant slices are boiled as well before being fryed which prevents them form drawing lots of oil. This makes the dish very light.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

baking time: 15 minutes

easy recipe

Preparation:

Cut the eggplant along its long side into slices of half a finger. Boil the slice in water for 2 to 3 minutes, then place them in a drianer to loose some water. Now fry them in a pan with a little bit oil. You want them to get some nice colour.

Menawhile blend the onion in a mixer to a fine puree. Mix it in a bowl with some ground almonds, the egg, the olive paste, the tomato paste, the thzme and the oregano. Season with salt and pepper.

Lay the eggplant slice on a cutting board and spread the mix evenly onto it. Place an anchovy on one end of the slice and roll it up from this end. Stick a tooth pick into it to stabelize it and place into an oiled baking tray.

Repeat the last step until the eggplant and the filing is used up.

You can sprinkle some cheese over the dish if you wish.

Place in the oven and broil for 10 to 15 minutes at 180 degrees.

I love leek. A fairly simple way of preparing leek is the following. Simply combined with Mozzarella di Buffola and good olive oil brings out the full flavour of the leek. A truly plain and delicous warm Mezze.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

easy recipe

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Bring water to boil in a small pot.

Wash the leek very well. Cut into 2 to 3 cm thick slices. I use the white as well as some of the leek.

Boil the leek int lightly salted water for about 10 minutes.

Take out the leek and let the water drain. Place into a small baking dish. Salt and pepper, then pour a little bit of olive oil over it. Put the Mozzarella cheese over it, crumle some rusk on top of the cheese and put the dish into the oven. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes.

Baked beans and spinach is another fasting dish I want to present. This combination of beans and spinach surprised me with its taste and texture. The beans are melting, the spinache is jusicy. The onion and the garlic give a nice falvour to the vegetarian dish. In later posts I will also present some fish dishes that are part of the fasting tradition. Those dishes are rather the exeption, vegetarian food is the rule.

Preparation: 30 minutes & soaking the beans for a couple of hours

baking time: 30 minutes

very simple recipe

Preparation:

Soak the beans over night. You can also use canned ones. Peel the carrots, the onion and the celery. Cut the celery in stripes and put it with the carrots and the onion into a pot with water and bring to boil. Add the beans and boil them until soft. Drain the liquid but make sure you collect it when draining. Put the liquid aside. Take the carrots and cut them into small cubes. (in case you used canned beans, you do not need to boil them. Just boil the veggies for 15 – 20 minutes)

Take a large frying pan and add some olive oil. chop the onion and the garlic and fry both in the pan. Add the well washed spinach. Fry lightly while tossing it.

Spread the beans out in a casserols. Put a layer of spinach over it. Layer the boiled veggies over it (carrot and celery root). Then again a layer of beans, the a layer of spinach. The layering should end with a layer of spinach. Now season with salt and pepper. Finally poor some of the boiling water over the ingredients. Toss some flour over the dish and put the casserole into the oven. Bake at 200 degrees centigrade for 30 minuts. At the second half of the baking time I turn on the grill to give the dish some colour on top. Keep an eye on it though.

Before servinf sprinkle some good olive oil over the dish.

TIP: If you are not fasting you can add some Feta Cheese on top of the dish before putting it into the oven.

Beim Servieren mit gutem Olivenöl beträufeln.

Seven weeks befor Easter Lent beginns in Christianity. So with also here in Greece. For those who take fasting verz serious certain rules apply according to the day of the week and the week you are in. Some of the days vegan food is in demand, on other days the consumtion of oil, wine and molluscas are allowed. Other days again allow fish. I will get back with a more detailed explenation in a later post.

Quite a few people here in Greece follow the rules of Lent, event restaurants change their menu for those who want to fast.

I want to dedicate a few posts to the topic of fasting as I am fascinated by the fhought of cleansing your body and mind with sticking to certain foods.

I will start my series of fasting food with Melinzanokeftedes, a meatless burger made aout of eggplants.

The cheese on the photo would not be allowed if we were fasting already, but we sitll have some days to go before it all beginns.

Preparation time: 40 minutes

cooking time: 30 minutes

simple recipe

Preparation:

Bake the eggplants in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade. When they throw bubbles and you can poke them easily with a fork, they are done. Take them out of the oven and put them aside to cool off.

Soak the bread in some water. Squeeze it well and crumble it into a bowl. chop the ontions and fry them in a pan with some olive oil. Add the minced garlic. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add to the bowl.

Chop the mint and the parsley and add it to the bowl. Cut the eggplants in half and scoop out the meat. Cut the meat into cubes and add to the bowl.

Add a few spoons of flour and mix all ingredients well. Let the mixture rest for a couple of minutes.

Heat olive oil in a pan. take a table spoon and scoop some of the mixture into the pan. Spread the mixture in the pan until it has the size of a small burger. Repeat this step until you have a few burgers in the pan frying. Fry on medium heat, flip after a few minutes, when the bottom side has gotten crusty. Fry well on both sides.

I serve these vegetarian burgers with some Feta cheese.

Escaping the busy new year time in Athens I have escaped to Hydra. Here in the Saronic golf things are going slow and quiet. This is exactly what I was looking for. The weather is fabulous and I could enjoy lunch in a t-shirt. Being a chickpea lover I have prepared chickpeas with spinach. A delicious simple dish that tasted even better after all the rich Christmas food.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

soack chickpeas over night

cooking time: 15 minutes

very simple recipe

preparation:

Soak the chickpeas over night. Drain and then boil them. Boiling them for 15 minutes should do. You could also use canned chickpeas.

Wash the spinach well and chop it into pieces.

Cube the onions very fine and fry them in a pot with olive oil. Add the finely chopped garlic.

After a few minutes add the honey, salt and pepper. Add the spinach and fry for a few minutes. Now add the chickpeas, the lemon juice and some water. The ingredients should be just covered with liquid.

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Crush some chickpeas with a fork. The liquid will reduce and you will result with a thick sauce. The spinach will have become creamy.

TIP: Serve with a slice of Feta cheese.

The German Version of the recipe is here.

With the weather cooling down warm salads are more and more welcome. At this time of the year, I prefer a hearty, warm plate to a cold salad. This cauliflower salad con be served as a side dish, but it can serve as well as a whole meal, especially for lunch. I served it with crusty oven baked potatoes. The tomato in combination with the cumin and the garlic gives the dish a mediterranean flair.

Preparation time: 3 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
very simple recipe

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Skinn the tomatoe and cube it. You can also used canned tomatoes, depending on season and geography.

Fry the cubed onion in a bit of oil. Then add the chopped garlic. Stir and fry for a minute or two. Now add salt and pepper and saffron.

Now add the caulyflower and the tomato. Add a bit of water if needed. The vegetables should be just covered with liquid.

Cover the pot and let it boil for 15 minutes. Then let it boil for another 5 minutes without covering it in order to loose some liquid. The cauliflower should be done by now.

Place on a big serving plate and put lots of parsley over it. Ready to serve.