Chili con carne / Tacos

In a pot, add:

A dab of butter

Chopped:
A whole bulb of garlic
1 onion
5 jalapeño peppers
Cilantro
2 red cherry peppers
Ground, grain fed, veal

Let brown

Add in:
Red kidney beans (not canned, make them yourself! Canned condiments have nefarious preserving agents/chemicals affecting your hormones - Seriously!!)
1 homemade can of diced tomatoes

Let simmer.

Makes great Tacos as well :) Just pour some in a Taco shell and see!

For Tacos:
Grate some cheese
Add some sour cream
And some guacamole (see below)

Homemade Guacamole:
Chop/mash a few avocados
Add finely chopped garlic
Some Lemon juice
Mix and... Olé!

Enjoy!

Greek Salad

Chop tomatoes
Onions
Jalapeño Peppers (if you like it hot)
Feta cheese
Black olives
Peperoncini peppers
Pepper
Oregano
Olive oil

Prep time: less than 3 minutes

Enjoy!

Penne Arrabiate con Salcicce

I've been sick these last few days, having eaten out. I had Mussels and I believe these were responsible for the bad case of Food Poisoning I had...

Anyways... Here we go:

Penne Arrabiate con Salcicce (Sopressatta - Forte)

(Pasta with a hot tomatoe sauce and hot, Italian [Sopressatta] Sausage)

In a pan...

Add a dab of butter
Some Sopressatta sausage slices
And then toss in the following, finely chopped;
A whole bulb of garlic
Some Cilantro
Half a green pepper
Half a red pepper
3 jalapeño peppers

Let brown and then add;
Fresh organic baby spinach
1 homemade can of diced tomatoes
A splash of red wine

Let simmer for about 1/2 hour, while you cook some pasta

Pour pan's contents on or with pasta (we prefer to mix it all in at home)

Add Romano cheese

Pour yourself a small glass of homemade red wine and then...

Salute!

Enjoy! :)

I love my professional pots!

I know it sounds silly but, here it is anyway: I love my Lagostina Commercial (Professional) pots!

These (on the picture) are just a few from the complete set I own.

I've had them since 2005 and I could never imagine cooking in anything else!

Babouskas - Stuffed Eggplant

This is a Greek Dish

You may add meat and/or Red Wine - or not - your call. Though the following recipe includes meat, the ones we're eating tonight (the ones on the picture) do not.

In bowl:

Empty out eggplants, keep shells
Chop eggplant contents
Chop a handful of olives
Chop 1/2 Red Pepper
Chop 1/2 Green Pepper
Chop 1/2 Yellow Pepper
Chop 1/2 Lemon, including Zest
Add fresh Cilantro

In pan:
Add a dab of Butter
Add whole chopped Garlic Bulb
Add ground Beef or Veal
Add some Cumin
Add Fresh Cilantro
Cook meat
Then...
Add contents of bowl in pan
Add large (Homemade) Tomato Sauce Can
Add fresh organic Spinach

In oven pan:
Put in eggplant shells
Fill shells
Sprinkle with Romano Cheese and fresh cut Chives
Cover

Cook @350 for about 30-45mins.

Serve with Basmatti Rice, Spaghetti or whatever other side dish you prefer.

Enjoy! :)

Dill Cod

Half of the previous recipe for my plate (I'm Vegetarian. The only Animals I eat are Fish so my plate holds Cod instead of Veal Liver. I know there's a better term for Vegetarians who eat Fish but I forget what it is)

In pan, in sequential order:

Garlic with a touch of butter
Cod,
Once Cod is cooked (~6-10 mins)
Add some Table cream
Add a bit of White wine vinegar
Add some Dill
Add Black Pepper
Cook another minute

Here, I waited too long, being busy serving my Family, to turn my Cod over so it fell apart. I lost my patience and just tore it to pieces in the pan.

The presentation is nicer when the piece of fish is whole but... It was my plate and I didn't have time to DILLy-dally so...

Cod with this kind of sauce is deeelish! Try it out for yourself! :)

Enjoy!

Veal Liver

In Wok:
2 Red onions
1/2 Green Pepper
1/2 Red Pepper
1/2 Lemon, with zest
Splash of Red Wine
Drop of olive oil

In pan:
Grain-fed Veal Liver

In Microwave:
Basmati Rice, with lemon juice (instead of Salt), a drop of olive Oil, and Cumin, topped with fresh-cut chives when cooked.

Put rice in a small bowl/glass, fill to rim and tip bowl/glass over in plate, to make rice more decorative/appetizing :)

Serve with anything else you wish: I added tomatoes.

Simple, Fast and healthy :)

Beef Roast

Beef Roast can be made in numerous ways.

I didn't really feel like cooking today so this recipe took all of five minutes to put together: I made it up on the fly.

Potatoes at bottom of pan.
Beef on top
Carrots all around
Onions all around
Pickled Hot Eggplants all around
Inject beef with serynge containing pickled hot eggplants oil
Red Wine
Sprinkle with Oregano
Cover
Oven @375
Forget about it for a few hours

Gallopita - Final Results

It slightly overcooked because I failed to account for the fact I wasn't there to take it out of the oven immediately when the timer shut the oven off - the oven's warmth, after it shut off, kept cooking the gallopita.

It's still delicious but my Family prefers it when it is a golden colour as opposed to this darker brown, on top.

Well, here you have it anyway - The final result :)

These could be cut in much smaller pieces (its presentation would actually look a lot prettier cut in smaller pieces) but I live with Ogres and I'll be really lucky to find a few crumbs when I wake up tomorrow morning as my Family really loves this Holiday Treat.

You could also add crushed pistacchio nuts, along with the almonds on top, for extra flavour. I didn't have any on hand last night.

Enjoy! :)

Gallopita

Gallopita

(Greek Milk Pie - a sort of hard Flan - Delicious!!)

In a pot, stir in:

1 Liter of Milk
1 1/2 cup of sugar (I only put 1 cup)
1 Cup of Semoulina
A dab of butter

Bring to ebullition while constantly stiring.

Put aside and let cool

Once cooled;

Add 5 whole eggs
Add essence of choice (Greeks use Vanilla, I use Almond Extract)

Bake @350 for 1 hour

Sprinkle with Cinnamon (I sprinkle mine with crushed slivered almonds instead)

Let cool overnight.

Next morning: Cut as you would brownies.

Enjoy! :)

I'll post a pretty picture of it tomorrow, once it's cut and ready to serve :)

I just put it in the oven now, timer on, and must leave for Dinner. We've been invited out to Dinner by a Friend tonight.

Have a wonderful evening, Everyone :)

Traditional HOMEMADE Italian Pizza

Tonight-a, we eat-a da Pizz-a!

For those of you who don't already know it; I'm 1/4 Italian, 1/4 Dutch, 1/4 French and 1/4 Swiss but... I grew up TOTALLY Italian! I also speak a mother-load of languages though, sadly, not a single one properly - LOL!!

This recipe is an original and traditional Italian pizza dough recipe, passed down a few generations.

Let it be my own Blood's Gift to you all for New Year's Day :)

Andiamo!

First, find a glass and pour in some-a fiiiine-a Red-a home-a made-a wine-a! :)

Then slap in an 'ambiance' CD...

 C'è la luna, mezzo...

And THEN:

Get two bowls out

In the first bowl, add:

1/2 glass hot water

2 envelopes of Fleishmann's "Active Dry Yeast" (Traditional)

1 teaspoon of Sugar

In-a da second bowl;

6 cups of flour

Annnnd... A bit of Salt

Wait 5-10 minutes,

...sing along with-a da Musica and-a then pour yourself some more-a wine-a :)

Pronto?

Ok...

Now, empty the first bowl into the second one (the one with flour)

Add 2 glasses of hot water

1/2 glass of Extra-virgin Olive Oil

Mix

Cover with a clean dishcloth and Let it all rest for ~ 2 hours.

(We Italians, we like-a to nap-a!)

Once 2 hours have gone by and the dough has risen, dig in and start-a singing again as you start spreading 1/4 of the obtained dough to make-a da pizza :)

Garnish at will

If you want to try something different (typically Italian) add a bit of olive oil instead of tomatoe sauce and add nothing else but Rosemary and freshly ground Pepper on the pizza.

Fill upp-a your glass of wine again (you like-a my wine-a, hey? I makitta myself-a!) and-a then...

Cook for ~12-15 minutes @450 degrees.

Left-over dough - this recipe makes 4 Large pizzas - can keep in the fridge for 2 days, in a bowl (covered with a humid dishtowel) or in a plastic baggie - Your call! I use the dishtowel as I feel there's already far too much plastic NOT wasting away in our environment.

Enjoy!

Salute è Buon Capo d'Anno a tutti!
("Cheers & Happy New Year to all")