Halloumi Stuffed Red Pepper

Ingredients:

4 red peppers
200 grams block halloumi cheese, sliced into 4
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 black olives, cut into slivers
1 lemon, zest and juice

How to cook:

Halloumi is a kind of cheese (salty one) from Cyprus. I like it a lot. Especially when we make breakfast with my wife on Sundays. I just grill it and eat with fried eggs. 

Grill the red peppers until they begin to soften. Open out each red pepper by making a cut down one side and trim the tops and bottoms off so you end up with a strip. Put a slice of halloumi in the center of each strip. Sprinkle over some lemon zest and juice, divide the chilli, oregano and olive between them, then roll the red pepper around the halloumi. It doesn't matter if the cheese sticks out at each end. Tie the rolls with some kitchen string that you have soaked in water and press down with the palm of your hand so they flatten slightly. Grill the red peppers on both sides for 5 minutes. Kali oreksi!

Greek Moussaka

• Ingredients:
• 
  
• 1 onion, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 750 grams minced lamb
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 100 ml white wine
• 400 grams tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 aubergines, sliced
• 600 ml milk
• bay leaf
• 4 black peppercorns
• 75 grams butter
• 75 grams flour
• 4 potatoes cooked and sliced
• 2 eggs

How to cook:

Cook the onion in a little oil until soften, then add the garlic. After a minute, add the mince and brown, breaking up any lumps. Add the cinnamon, wine and tomatoes, simmer for 30 minutes, bubble off any excess liquid and stir in the parsley. In another skillet, fry the aubergines with sunflower oil on both sides then drain on kitchen paper. Bring the milk to a simmer with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Heat the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and gradually add the milk, stirring continually until you have a smooth sauce. Strain and season. Heat the oven to 180C. Layer the cooked meat sauce and aubergine in an ovenproof dish, top with the potatoes and season. Whisk the eggs into the white sauce and spoon over. Bake for 30-40 minutes until brown. Kali oreksi!

Greek Tzatziki

Ingredients:

200g Greek-style natural yoghurt
1 cucumber, grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
Olive oil
Fresh mint leaves, to serve

How to prepare:

Combine yoghurt, cucumber, garlic and olive oil  in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and place in the fridge for 10 minutes to infuse. Serve with pita triangles and mint leaves.

Greek Style Rice Stuffed Lamb

Ingredients:

Easy-carve legs of lamb, string removed
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Rice stuffing:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup medium-grain white rice
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

How to cook:

To make the stuffing, heat the oil in a frying pan. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring until onion softens. Add rice and stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 5-10 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed (the rice will still be crunchy). Remove from heat. Add the parsley, dill and mint, and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Place 1 lamb leg flat on a clean surface. Cut a deeper slit in the meat where the bone has been removed. Spread half the stuffing down the centre of the lamb leg. Fold over to enclose the stuffing. Use unwaxed white kitchen string to tie at 2cm intervals. Repeat with the remaining lamb leg and stuffing.
Place the lamb legs in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with stock, oil and lemon juice and sprinkle with rosemary and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 1 1/2 hours or until lamb is cooked through and rice is tender. Remove from oven. Cover with foil and set aside for 10 minutes to rest. Slice the lamb across the grain and serve immediately.

Lamb Souvlaki

Ingredients:

1,5kg lamb leg or shoulder
100ml olive oil
100ml red wine
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Zest and juice 2 lemons
2 garlic cloves

How to cook:

Put the lamb into a bowl. Add the olive oil, wine, oregano, lemon zest and juice, garlic and black pepper. Do not ever add salt to uncooked meat. This is the worst mistake. Mix together so that all the lamb is completely coated, then chill and marinate overnight.Lift the chunks of lamb out of the marinade and thread onto 10 metal or wooden skewers, season with salt and grill for 12-15 minutes. If you want to fell like you are in Greece, you can eat it with caciki. Kali oreksi!

Pastichio

This is one of my favorite Greek foods. I am going to write you the recipe but you should try it from my mother's hands :)

Ingredients:

For the meat sauce: 

200 grams ground lamb (or ground beef)
1 cup chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 tomato, chopped with their liquid
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the bechamel:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 cups whole milk
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
3 egg yolks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta:

500 grams pasta, such as ziti or penne
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 egg whites
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

How to cook meat sauce:

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and add the onions and saute about 5-7 minutes. Add the ground lamb and cook until  browned all the way through. Increase heat to high, pour in the red wine, and allow to simmer until the red wine has cooked out. Stir in the tomato paste, cinnamon, and allspice. Add the tomatoes with their juices, reduce heat, and simmer the sauce for thirty minutes, mixing occasionally.

How to cook bechamel:

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about one minute. Add the milk and continue to cook until the sauce is thick and coats the back of the spoon, about 5 - 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan and egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper.

How to cook pasta:

Cook the noodles until just barely al dente, like 8 minutes. Drain and toss with olive oil. Fold in the egg whites and Parmesan until well mixed.

In a casserole dish with tall sides, layer half of the noodle mixture in the bottom of the dish, covering the bottom completely. Spread the entire amount of meat sauce over the noodle layer. Spread remaining noodles over the meat sauce. Pour a thick layer of bechamel on top of the noodles, to the top of the casserole dish.

Bake the casserole until the top is puffy and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Kali oreksi!

Fish Soup

Ingredients:

2 large fish heads

extra fish parts and bones

2 stalks celery

2 largo carrots

1 large onion

1 green pepper

1 large tomato

1 large tomato, diced

Large bay leaf

2 cloves of garlic

Salt

Pepper

1 lemon, quartered

½ cup white wine

How to cook:

Place fish heads, bones and parts in a pot and cover with water. Add chopped vegetables and ¼ lemon.

Throw in salt and pepper. After it is boiled, cook more for 20 minutes. You have to check the fish if it

is cooked.  Remove fish and vegetables. Except lemon, keep all the vegetables. Remove as much fish

meat as possible from heads and fish parts. Place back into the pot with the vegetables and season with

the fish. If you want, you can also add some wine. 

If you try it after 1 day, the flavor will improve. the fish. 

Greek Salad (Horiatiki)

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes (medium size)
1 cucumber
1/2 red oninon
Green pepper
Capari
Olives
Cruton
Thyme
Feta (white cheese)
Olive oil
Vinegar

How to prepare:

Cut the tomatoes (1 tomato into 4 pieces). Also cut other ingredients and mix them. On top, put feta. Do not forget olive oil and vinegar. Kali oreksi.

Beef Tenderloin With Wine

Ingredients:

1 kg beef tenderloin
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper
1 cup red wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
19 peeled garlic cloves
1 tablespoon butter (for the end)

How to cook:

Cover both sides of meat with salt and pepper. Put olive oil and also butter in a pan and cook the meat. you do not need to cook them completely because we will cook for the second time. Put them on a plate. Put garlic cloves on the same pan. Stir the garlic, cook 3-4 minutes until they get golden brown. Then pour in the red wine. Let it for several minutes. Then throw the beef tendorloin inside this sauce. Add in a tablespoon of balsamic. When the sauce is getting thicker, take the meat out. Let the sauce to reduce. At the end, put little more butter, salt and pepper. Put the beef tenderloin in a plate and pour the sauce on top.

I am so sure you will love this food. Kali oreksi

Sweet and Spicy Baby Shrimps

                                                   Sweet and Spicy Baby Shrimps

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon flour

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder (you can also use cloves of garlic, this is what i prefer)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

750 grams of baby shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix the flour and the seasonings in a bawl. Put the shrimps inside this mixture until they are evenly coated. Heat the oil and fry the shrimps occasionally, like 10 minutes. It is ready to serve! Kali oreksi.

Sea Food Risotto

                                                                Sea food risotto
Ingredients:
2 cups of chicken stock
1/4 tea spoon saffron threads
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of chopped shallots
1 cup arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 glass dry white wine
1 cup of bottled clam juice
20 mussels, scrubbed, debearded
12 littleneck clams, scrubbed
12 uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails left intact
3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup of green onions, sliced
Lemon wedges

How to cook: 

Bring stock and saffron to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallots; sauté until tender, about 2 minutes. Add rice and garlic; stir 1 minute. Add white wine and stir until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup saffron stock and simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining stock 1/2 cup at a time, allowing stock to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is cooked halfway, about 10 minutes. Add clam juice, mussels, littleneck clams, shrimp and chopped tomatoes. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, mussels and clams open, shrimp are cooked through and liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes (discard any mussels and clams that do not open). Divide seafood and saffron risotto equally among 4 bowls. Sprinkle with sliced green onions. Garnish with lemon wedges. Serve, passing Green Olive Relish separately

Salt-crusted salmon

                                                           Salt-crusted salmon
Ingredient:

1 piece of salmon
Fennel fonds, thin slices of shallots, thin slices of lemon or orange
2 teaspoons olive oil
6 cups kosher salt
4 egg whites

How to cook:

Clean and rinse the salmon well, inside and out. Pat the salmon completely dry with paper towels.

Stuff the cavity of the salmon with your choice of aromatics. Rub the skin of the fish all over with the olive oil.

In a large bowl, mix the salt with the egg whites and 1/2 cup water. Spread enough of the salt mixture on the bottom of a large rimmed baking sheet to make a bed about 1/4 inch thick and roughly the same size as the salmon. Put the fish on top of the salt bed. Using your hands, coat the fish with the remaining salt mixture to make a 1/4-inch-thick crust, molding it around the contours of the fish.

Roast the fish until the thermometer registers between 135°F and 140°F, about 35 to 45 minutes (start checking at 35 minutes). Let the fish rest in its crust for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Lamb Chops

When you cook lamb chops, the most important thing is to marinate the meat. Here is what i do:

Ingredients:

1/2 tea glass of sunflowe oil

1/2 spoon of tomato paste

1/2 spoon of yoghurt

1/2 spoon of mustard

1 tea spoon of salt

1 tea spoon black pepper

1 tea spoon thyme

1 tea spoon red pepper

1 tea spoon cumin

Mix all these together and marinate lamp chops inside this sauce for 3-4 hours. Your meat is ready for grill! Kali Oreksi..

Sea bass with obergine

Ingredients:
600 grams sea bass
4 spoons of flour
Sunflower oil
Olive oil
8 pieces of pearl onion
1 clove of garlic
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 tomato
10 pieces of mushroom
For the obergine sauce:
2 pieces of obergine
Half lemon's juice
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Clean the fishes and cut into small pieces. Cover these pieces with flour and fry them in sunflower oil.
Saute onion, garlic, peppers, mushrooms and tomato with olive oil. After 3-4 minutes, add the fishes and cook them until there is no water from tomato.
Grill the obergines, clean the skin and then cut it into small pieces with a fork. Mix with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Put it on a plate and then put the fish on top.

Sea Bass Casserole With Saffron

 

Ingredients:

 

500 grams sea  bass
5 pieces of mushroom
1 tea glass of cream
1 water glass of grated cheese
1 sppon of butter
1 spoon of saffron
Salt
Pepper
2 cloves of garlic

How to cook

First all of all, you have to grill the sea bass fillet.
Saute mushrooms and garlic in butter and then add the saffron. After 30 seconds, add cream.
Place the grilled sea bass inside one cassarole and add the sauce you have cooked. Put grated cheese on top and cook it inside oven (160 degrees)
Hope you will enjot it