Mediterranean Lamb recipe.

 Whenever I eat lamb I am reminded of home. Lamb is a very Mediterranean dish and I personally prefer it over pork. This is a simple recipe but it takes some time for the lamb to cook. Time required to prepare; 15 minutes. Cooking time; 2-3 hours.

We spiced the lamb up with some herbs of our choosing. In this case they were rosemary, pepper, salt, daphne and thyme.

We cut up some potatoes and placed them in a deep pan and we filled the pan with enough water so that it reached the mid-point of the potatoes and lamb. After that we poured some extra virgin olive oil (around half a cup) so that it covered the surface of the water.

The reason for doing that is so we can get the lamb nice and juicy on the inside while crispy on the outside. The oil traps the water from evaporating during the cooking time so the meat isn't dried up.

Place the pan in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Farenheit and let it cook for 2-3 hours, occasionally checking it to make sure it's not burning! I say 2-3 hours because my oven is not the best, heat escapes and the cooking time varies.

 To go with our lamb, I made a nice Greek-style salad. I tore some iceberg lettuce, chopped up some red and orange bell peppers as well as some green onions and lastly, some pine nuts and black olives. I dressed it up with some olive oil, oregano and some freshly-squeezed lemon juice. The lemon juice really goes well with the lamb so it was a perfect match.

 I'd love it if you would spread my blog around to people you know, or pin it and like it on stumbleupon! It totally makes my day.

Thanks for the support guys, see you on the next recipe. :)

Lamb kofte with mint salad wraps and capers.

Well hello there, I shan't delay you with futher excuses or apologies for the delay in my updating the blog.

 Rather, I'll just go ahead and post the recipe for this little delight!

 The recipe is simple. I used the same mixture as with the Greek style gyros. For those who aren't bothered to go check that out (you should!), i'll post it here as well.

Ingredients (enough for 2 people, plus seconds)

• 1 kilo lamb minced meat
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cinammon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp parsley powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp oregano

Fry them in olive oil for 3-5 minutes on each side on medium-high heat. Cut into one to check if it's ready.

Fun fact
Kofte is a Middle Eastern dish. Each country has its own variation. It varies from Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and reaches as far as Morocco. There is not right or wrong way to kofte ( which also has different pronunciations according to the region). In Cyprus, kofte is usually fried, or at least that's how my grandmother makes it. When she doesn't fry it she usually puts it in the oven with tomato sauce and some potatoes, but we call it bifteki.

 Now because the kofte have quite a bit of garlic in them, we pair them with some tomatoes and some mint salad. Where is the salad you may ask? Well, we put a salad mixture (lettuce, alfa alfa sprouts, cucumber, carrots and parsley) in some rice wraps along with mint... Tada! Fresh spring rolls!

You should eat the kofte first and the salad last, because that's the best way to get rid of garlic breath! No one wants garlic breath; it's vile. The mint, parley and tomatoes are natural ways to get rid of garlic breath. They are odor fighters and because you swallow them and they go down the throat, they get rid of the remaining garlic that's left there. No toothbrush or mouthwash will ever reach down that far!

Last but not least, we added some capers to the dish. These particular capers were marinaded and very salty. So we just soaked them in water to drain some of the salt out.

In Cyprus, we use the baby shoots of the plant as well as the capers and the 'cucumbers' and we pickle it. The caper bush can be found nearly everywhere on the island and it is a very nice companion to the main meal. The only downside is the thorns, which you usually clean off before marinating, or else you hope they will have softened and wont injure your mouth (ouch!).

 Benefits of capers
Capers are so good for you. They offer such a big punch for something so little. They contain vitamins A,K, riboflavin and niacin, as well as antioxidants. They help in stomachaches and can help lower LD cholesterol due to the niacin. The antioxidants they contain are rutin and quercetin, which  have anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties.
And this isn't even all! Iron, copper and calcium are also in capers.

In short, they are a superfood. So eat them up and enjoy!

 Yum.. look how nice it looks inside! It's crispy on the outside while juicy and so flavorful on the inside!

Give it a try and let me know how you fared.

Until next time.

Keep an eye out!

I was just looking on my blog for the first time in forever and i realised that i haven't posted a recipe in over 2 months!

I'm so sorry, time flies by and with a new job, school and life in general i haven't found the time or energy to sit down and post one.

Here's a list of recipes that i have waiting to be written up for you guys:

• greek-style squid
• suvlaki -
• halibut rolls
• greek halva (or semolina pudding)
• Kofte with mint salad spring rolls

and many more!

If you want me to post a specific one first please let me know!

Cheers!

Greek Gyros-spiced lamb with pumpkin rice.

Hello all.

It's time for something more traditional.

Greek gyros is meat that has spices infused to it. Usually it's set up on a rotating vertical spit and adjusting the heat from the broiler and the amount of fat in the meat is used to control how juicy the gyro is. It is usually sliced off and placed in pita with tzatziki and salad. It's similar to shawarma and donairs.

In this case, we do not have a rotating spit, so we made gyro cakes out of lamb meat. Foregoing with the tradition though, we had it with some pumpkin rice. Because hey, pumpkins are plentiful here so why not take advantage of their benefits?

And so, here is the recipe!

Ingredients (enough for 2 people, plus seconds)

• 1 kilo lamb minced meat
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cinammon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp parsley powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp oregano

Looks simple, right? The only thing you need to do is to mix the lamb minced meat (or any meat of your choice) with the spices above. And if you think there's another spice that would go, don't be afraid to add it!

Form it into lamb cakes and grill it or fry it. We put it in a skillet on very low fire and let it cook.
That was actually the most time consuming part. The actual cooking time was the worst, because you can smell the delicious gyro cooking but you know it's not done yet.

Pumpkin rice

• 2 cups chopped pumpkin (we used butternut squash)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tbsp soy sauce 
• 1 cup chopped asparagus
• 1 cup red bell pepper - chopped
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1tsp cinammon
• 1tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup rice (your choice - we used basmatti)
• 1/2 water

We put all the ingredients in the slow cooker from the morning and left it to cook 4-5 hours until we ate.
It was really good!!

Give it a try guys!

I'll also post a recipe on how to make some good tzatziki and not that sour cream crap you find in stores.

Let me know what you think :)

Zucchini omelette

Hey everyone!

This is a quick little recipe, I've got a lot of them lined up for you people so keep an eye out!

This is perfect for any time of the day, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner.

 Just a plain zucchini omelet as breakfast is yummy.

This is pretty easy and delicious. It's not really an omelet, more like scrambled eggs. 

We put in:

• sliced zucchini
• leek/green onion,
• tomatoes
• red peppers
• dried pork loin (homemade Cypriot lountza) marinaded over a month in red wine.
• salt and pepper to your liking
• 1 egg per person (we had jumbo eggs so that meant 2 yolks per egg)
• feta cheese

Lightly fry the zucchini with the red pepper and then when it's sufficiently browned to your liking, add the rest of the ingredients and start mixing until the eggs are cooked and there's no visible uncooked egg-white around your pan.

Keep in mind to taste your omelet before you put in any salt. Feta cheese is pretty salty already, as well as the dried pork loin that we put in.

Also, for any Costco members out there, i really recommend the EPIROS feta cheese they sell. It's the best feta cheese I've had in Canada.

It's made of sheep's milk rather than cow's or a mixture of cow and sheep milk, it's authentic and much healthier. It's also the most popular feta cheese brand in Greece.

But if you want to make it a lunch dish, all you need to do is add some rice or anything else that is to your liking. Here we added black rice!

Please help support me by spreading this recipe around, on facebook, twitter, googleplus and by liking it on stumbeupon!

You can also subscribe on the sidebar so you can get email updates whenever I post a new recipe!

And that's it! Enjoy :)

Salmon accompanied with blueberry salad.

The bottom picture is Haddock. The top is Salmon. Just make what you prefer!

Ingredients

• salmon fillets
• leek
• frozen vegetables
• blueberries
• coconut milk
• 1/2 cup tomato juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Start by preheating the oven at 300 degrees F (150 Celsius).  Cut your salmon fillets to your desired size and place in your cookware along with 1/2 cup tomato juice, 1 tablespoons olive oil and some cut up leek.

We put half a can coconut milk (condensed, not the watered down stuff) with frozen veggies and a handfull of blueberries in a pot and put it to warm up a little. The coconut milk gets that blue hue from the blueberries as well as a distinct aroma. It's such a good combination.

Meanwhile put the salmon in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes in 300 degrees F.

If your vegetables are thawed then you wont need to leave them as long in the pot. Be the judge and do the taste test. Get the pot off the burner when you think it tastes best.

And that's it. Simple and fast and absolutely delicious.

Honey chicken

Hello all! Remember the sneak-peak to the honey chicken i had?

Well, here is the recipe for it. It was simple but time consuming, and it turned out great!

Here it is:

You dont need a lot of ingredients for this recipe.

All you need is your choice of meat; it can be pork, chicken etc.

Some water, olive oil (a few tablespoons) and honey.

The salad was a spicy mexican salad. It had the dressing in it and all we did was mix it all together.

For some extra taste, we cut up an orange. It really paired well with the honey chicken.

Put 2  tablespoons or so of olive oil in your pan or pot and then add water to it. Put it on your oven coils on very low heat.  Add the pork/chicken and let it slow cook for 30  minutes or until fully cooked through. The low heat will make sure that your pork doenst burn and the water will not evaporate as fast. If you aren't sure whether it's fully cooked through, cut it through the thickest part and if there is any red or raw meat showing, keep it on the fire.

When your meat has fully cooked add the honey to your pan (while the pan is still on the low fire) and mix it with the remaining water/oil, while making sure you are coving your choice of meat with the honey mixture. The oil and water will help the honey stick on your meat better.

And that's it! It was so good!! The salad was a surprise for us because we didn't see that it was a pre-made one when we bought it. We decided to try it out and mixed the dressing with the vegetables and it turned out really  tasty.

Hope your guys enjoy this.

Let me know what you think.

Haddock curry cakes.

Hello! Sorry I've been MIA. I know I haven't posted the honey-chicken recipe but I'm afraid I didn't have so much time on my hands.

This is something I had tonight. It was so good I had to share it with you guys!

I know I've posted another haddock recipe. But this is completely different. You are going to love it if you try it out!

Here it is.

Ingredients/Directions:

Haddock cakes
2 haddock fillets

• cook the haddock in the oven prior to doing anything else. Cook it according to your taste/preference.

1/2 yellow corn mill
2 eggs
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp butter
vegetables - chopped

• Mix all these ingredients listed above into a nice smooth paste. This does not include the haddock! As for the vegetables, it really depends on what you want to put in it. We had some peppers, leek, parsley etc that we chopped up in it. You can put in something totally different!
• Add the haddock now. Cut it up/flake it and put in on top of the paste. To that, add:
•  2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 1/2 tbsp yellow curry powder
• Proceed to mix everything together until you have your ingredients evenly distributed throughout.

Place in the oven at 350 degrees F for 5-10 minutes, just so the eggs are cooked through.

Salad:
frozen vegetables - thawed
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
a drizzle of olive oil
2 tbsp honey-mustard sauce. OR 1 tbsp mustard and 1 tbsp peanut butter

 With your thawed vegetables, place all the ingredients in a pan or pot of your choice and give them a light stir-frying.

That's it!

So simple. And so delicious! I urge you to give it a try!!
Let me know what you guys think.

:)

Honey Chicken Sneak peak!

This sneak peak will go away when i post the actual recipe up!

Here's what you have to look forward to when i post the next recipe up.
It's a yummy honey chicken recipe with spicy salad, served with a slice of orange on the side.

 Looks delicious, right?

I'll be putting this up really soon, probably by tomorrow, so check back them!

Choco-Rice Pudding

Hello everyone!

Sorry about my not updating lately. I had final exams and then I started a new job; needless to say I did not have that much time in my hands to sit down and write up recipes.

But, the Christmas break has begun and I have some delicious recipes to share with you.

Here is some rice pudding made for desert. The difference from the conventional rice pudding is that this isn't made with any milk.

Instead, it's made with almond milk and coconut milk. The choice is up to you, both almond and coconut milk is really good.

Also, you can add some raw brown sugar and cocoa powder in it, making it even better!

The rice used is glutinous rice (sticky rice), which makes it more sticky and much MUCH better for making any sort of rice pudding.

Start by cooking the rice in some water, half the dosage you would usually put and when it almost absorbs all of it, add the coconut or almond milk in it.

You can add the rest of the dosage you would add as water, but in reality you can keep adding as much as you want because the rice will keep on absorbing it, be the judge, it depends how firm you want your pudding to be.

 Keep on a medium fire and occasionally stir so as to prevent the rice from sticking to the pot. Add your sugar (2 tablespoons) and cocoa powder. Also, add a teaspoon or so of cinnamon, as well as some raising and dried cranberries.

And thats all folks. It's simple, lactose-free and a delicious desert for those who want a 'healthier' desert.

More recipes coming soon!

Let me know what you think and feel free to give this a try!

Haddock delight.

 This is really simple. Using the leftovers from yesterday's pork dish (aka wine sauce and potatoes and whatever else you may have), we added 4 small haddock fillets in our crock-pot along with some vegetables and tandoori powder. Let it cook for 4-6 hours, turn it on high until it warms up and then back to low.

For the rice, we cooked it (1.5 cups) separately while we lightly fried one red pepper, one yellow pepper and about 10 thin asparagus chopped up.

After frying the vegetables for a minute or two, we mixed 2 tablespoons of soysauce and 1 tablespoon unrefined, raw brown sugar and stirred it together. Add a few tablespoons of the rice into the soy sauce mixture and continue stir-frying until it gets covered well.

Add that soy sauce/rice mixture into the rest of the rice and mix.

That's it, you're done! Take a look at more photos. I hope you enjoyed this, give it a try and let me know what you think :)

Rosemary Pork tenderloin in Crock-Pot.

 Here's a nice recipe done in the crock-pot. We got everything ready at night, turned the crock-pot on and left it for 6 hours on low. Today, we turned it on again to warm up for about 2 hours. It was delicious!



For the Marinade

• 1 clove garlic in the marinade used for the pork
• pork tenderloin - enough for 2 people
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup red wine

Start by marinating the pork tenderloin (sliced up) in the wine, vinegar and garlic for about an hour. When marinaded, remove the marinade, lightly fry the tenderloin cuts in a pan with olive oil and add everything (including the left over marinade) to the crock-pot, set it on high until it warms up and then turn it back to low, letting it cook for the night with the rest of the ingredients.

• 4 medium-small potatoes cut up
• 1 onion in half
• rosemary
• thyme
• bay leaf- crushed and spread out
• water
• olive oil - enough to cover the surface
• 1 clove garlic in the potatoes

 Here's the result. Pair it with a homemade salad and use the sauce from the crock-pot as a dressing.  The pork tenderloin is so juicy, soft and just melts in your mouth. The taste of vinegar is not overpowering, it adds a great taste to the meat and potatoes.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Shrimp-Herring dish

I love smoked herring. It's been an accompanying piece whenever I eat beans, black-eyed peas etc. My favourite part is the egg sack/roe. But in this case the store only sells small (really small) sliced herring fillets. Since it's so salty, we put it together in a dish containing shrimp and veggies.

• 1 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 small slices of smoked herring
• Shrimp
• Frozen vegetables of your choice

We eyeballed the vegetables and shrimp. You can put however many you want that will suit your needs. In this case, it served two.

We thawed the vegetables as well as the herring and shrimp.

Place everything together in a cookware (drizzle the olive oil and soy sauce on top) and set in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes. Just ten. We don't want all the nutrients to go away.

The result is a delicious, saucy meal that's been enriched by the aroma provided by the herring, which is hiding underneath the vegetables and shrimp. We placed 2 herring slices on each side of the dish.

Quich and easy, delicious and healthy!

Hope you like it :)

PS: There's a lot of sauce that will be left over in your cookware. Don't let it go to waste. I put it in along with the food and took some pita bread, tore it up and let it absorb the liquid. It was so good!

Tofu Vegetable Puff Pie!

Hello!! I've been MIA for about a week, sorry about that. But now I'm back and with a delicious, different kind of pie made with Tofu. You can see the tofu above, it's marinading in half a teaspoon of masala curry powder (you can pick some up at your local Indian grocery store, or at a supermarket near you). 

It was our first try doing vegetable pie (xortopita) using tofy as our dairy alternative. It turned out really good, but already we've realized that it would've been better if we had added onion and if we had let the boiled vegetables sit for a while until some water drained away.

Here's what we used.

• 2 1-inch slices of firm tofu, marinated in half teaspoon masala curry powder.
• 1/2cup spinach 
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1/2 cup kale
• 1/2 cup leek
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 package of butter puff pastry
• spry/shortening to oil our cookware so our pie doesn't stick

We boiled the vegetables, and let them sit for a bit. Put salt/pepper or any other seasoning of your choice. Meanwhile we set out half of the butter puff pastry on our oiled cookware and we started to preheat our oven at 350 degrees F.

 Put your vegetables in the pastry spreading them out.

Add the marinated tofu on top of them. The tofu will provide a spicyness due to it's masala curry taste. We also added the juice that you can see from the photo of the tofu being marinated.

 Start wrapping our filling with the pastry. Don't force it, we don't want it to tear up.

 Add the other half of our puff pastry packate on top, and continue wrapping it up until it's all covered up.

That's it! We placed it in our pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for about half an hour, or until golden-brown.

It tasted great. BUT, we also thought that next time, we'll put a medium onion chopped up in our mixture. However, unlike our vegetables, we aren't going to boil it beforehand.

What do you think?