Meze with baked red peppers

Under the 42o C and the percentage of humidity hitting the 52%, well, I need something exotic!
I heard that there was a cute guy named Christopher Columbus, after fighting with the seven seas and monsters and the distant Mayas* people, he brought the red peppers from South America to Europe and since then we, the humble, have the pleasure to cultivate them (in particular in Greece at the west part of Macedonia - Florina).

Cute story! Now let's bake the peppers!

Baked red peppers

Clean your red peppers, dry them, and put in the oven pan, over a baking paper. Bake them at 220o C, untill they start having bubbles on the top and getting black signs like if they get burnt. (around 30 minutes - depending on your oven and your peppers)

Take them out of the oven, put them in a bowl and cover it nicely. After 10 minutes, the peppers will be "sweaty" and that will make it easy for you to peel them off. So take their skin off, cut the stalks, open the each pepper in half and remove the seeds.
Now you can either let them at this shape or you can cut the into smaller pieces.
Put them in a plate, add some olive oil, vinegar and salt and you have a perfect starter!

NOTE
You can store the peppers in the freezer for as long as you want! After completing the procedure with the peeling and seeds, take your peppers and put them into plastic bags, seal them thoroughly (removing the air) and put them in the freezer. When you feel like eating them, take them out the night before and the next day they will be waiting for you ready and soft!

Enjoy!!!

*Remind yourselves that at the end of 2012, the red peppers will save us all!

Spinach pie

You remember the pies some posts below, right??
Now imagine that you're dying from boredom but due to the fact that you don't wanna die from hunger, eh you have to eat something... So you can easily bake one of the amazing spinach pies that you can find pre-made at the supermarket!!! mwahahaha

Spinach pie from the supermarket

But, since I am a nice person, I will give you the recipe for the original mixture..

Original Spinach Pie

Take 1kg of spinach, wash it nicely, chop it and after adding a pinch of salt, squeeze it so as to remove its water. After that, let it aside for 15 minutes to "rest" and get ride of any remaining water.
In a bowl, mix the spinach, with 2  handfuls of dill, 2 fresh green onions, chopped nicely, 500gr crumbled feta cheese, 2 eggs and pepper. Make a beautiful mixture and spread it on your fillo (if its the first time that you hear this word, either google it or refer to the recipes Bougatsa-Cream Pie and Cheese Pie).
For this recipe, use the thinner kind of fillo - 4 at the bottom, 4 on the top of the mixture. And don't forget to spread some olive oil in between the filla and to make holes with a fork of the top before baking it.
1 hour at 190-200o C.


Enjoy!!!

Pork in the casserole with oregano

Now that's a dish that everyone loves and enjoys! With a fresh slice of bread as the dish has amazing juice to dive in, you can luxuriate a relaxing lunch break! Po po po... I can still smell it!!!

Pork in the casserole with oregano

In a casserole, fry 1kg of pork cut into cubes in a bit of olive oil, until the meat gets the nice brown colour all around. Salt, Pepper, Oregano, plenty of lemon juice (2-3 lemons).. Let it "boil" in its juices for 15-20 minutes and you're ready!

NOTE
There should be left some juicy olive oil-lemon-pork fat sauce in your casserole.

Enjoy!!!

Calamari

Well, the one that I have here is not fresh by the sea calamari, rather than a pre-frozen edition of it, which is as good and cute and ready to cook!

Prepare a mush using around 1 1/2 cup of flour, 2 cups of water, 2 tbl spoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. This quantity should be enough for 500gr of calamari. The mush will creat a crunchy crust outside while the flesh will remain soft and juicy! Alternatively, you can only pass the calamari through flour and fry it straight after. The result will be similar.

Calamari

Season the calamari with salt and pepper, pass it through the mush and fry it in hot oil (using olive oil will give it a nice and a bit more light flavour). Pour on the top plenty of lemon juice and you have a delicious dish, ready in 20 minutes!

Enjoy!!!

Meze with eggplant

I'm sure you are all familiar with tzatziki dip.. the one with yogurt, cucumber and garlic. It's one of a kind and you sometimes find yourself willing to die for it (or because of it!*)

Meze with eggplant

Here, we have another dip, or meze would be more accurate.

Take a big eggplant, wash it nicely and put it in the oven. 200-220o C on a baking paper. The baking time will depend on the size of the eggplant; try to squeeze it with a fork and if it is soft and easily squeezable, it's ready. The eggplant takes a unique smoky flavour that makes it unforgettable!

Now, it's time to take it off the oven, let it cool until you feel comfortable to touch it and then peel the skin off. Melt the eggplant with a fork and add one melt clove of garlic, parsley, one red pepper cut into really small pieces, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. Mix everything together and then you have a delicious creamy dip or side dish or whatever. Try it on crispy break and keep this secret for you!

Enjoy!!!


*For the record, my sources (googling the key phrase "deaths from tzatziki") indicate that no one has ever died from that.. so consume it with no fear!

Grilled Sea Bream (Tsipoura)

Look at that beautay!! Woo hoo!!!

Grilled Sea Bream

Take this gorgeous lady bream, season it with salt and pepper, pour some olive oil and cook it in the grill. 

Make sure to turn it from the other side as well so as to be baked nicely.

Prepare a sause of olive oil and lemon juice (the so-called ladolemono) using the same quantity of both. 

Olive Oil and Lemon sauce (ladolemono)

Here, I serve it with potato salad.

Clean from the dirt 3-4 potaoes and boil them until they become soft when putting a fork in them. Peel them off and cut them in pieces. Add some nicely chopped onion, parsley, and then pour the sauce that you're gonna make, using olive oil, mustard and lemon juice. Finish it with a pinch of salt and you're ready!

Enjoy!!!

The original Greek Salad

So healthy! So famous! So delicious!.. yet been caught many times on the wrong outfit!
So here it is.. keep it safe and pass it on to your grandchildren!

The original Greek Salad

Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Green peppers
Onion
Parsley
Olives
Capers
Feta cheese
Salt, Pepper, Oregano
Olive Oil
Vinegar

That's it... no lettuce, no iceberg, no lemon, no macaroni... The only thing that I may allow you to add is crackers, type of rusk. Nothing else!!!

Enjoy!!!