Greek Style Potatoes with Oregano and Lemon

  
These potatoes will knock your socks off! I have always loved the moist lemony/garlicky potatoes you get in the Greek restaurants along the Danforth in Toronto. This recipe will give you a replica of those delectable treats and they are so easy to make and go with many entrees.  If you are bored of baked, mashed, and boiled add these to your potato repertoire!


Ingredients and Preparation: Serves 4
Recipe from The Curious Cook at Home by dee Hobsbawn-Smith

• 1 lb round potatoes (Yukon gold, Russet etc.)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano (I use more - about 1.5 tbsp)
• 1 lemon, juice only (I use 2 lemons - love the lemony taste!)
• 1 cup water (more as needed)
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375F.  Peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Put remaining ingredients in a bowl and whisk.  Toss the potatoes in the liquid mixture. Spread on baking sheet uncovered at 375F until tender about 90 minutes (less time if using convection). Stir often, so that all the potato surfaces are coated. Add more water as needed - there should always be moisture in the pan.

Serve with skewered meat, grilled calamari, braised lamb or what ever is for dinner!

Jamie Oliver's Evolution Cucumber Salad

I admit it - I watched Rachael Ray yesterday. Anyway, it was okay because she wasn't very screachy and it was rather lucky actually because there was Jamie Oliver in all his Britishness speaking about good food and easy recipes. I copied his recipe down with the PVR on slow-mo and made the cucumber salad the other night for dinner (as a side). Since my own notes are quite basic, I will copy the recipe from RR's website and post it here for you. Go here http://www.rachelrayshow.com/food/recipes/jaime-olivers-evolution-cucumber-salad/ for a video and picture of the salad - my salad looked EXACTLY the same! It was a very, very good salad. So easy and honestly, much nicer than cucumber salad sounds. I am trying the Evolution Potato Salad tomorrow.

Jamie Oliver's Evolution Cucumber Salad - Serves 4

Peel 2 cucumbers, using a speed peeler, chop off the ends, and halve them lengthways. Use a teaspoon to gently scoop the seeds out, and discard them. Chop the cucumber into irregular bite-sized chunks and place in a bowl. Seas with a good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix well. Pick some leaves off a few sprigs of fresh mint and roughly chop them. Add them to the salad and toss together. Serve the salad simply as it is, or let it evolve…

Add a large tablespoon of natural yogurt to the cucumber salad. Toss until well coated and serve drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Put a large handful of black olives on a clean surface and press down on them with the palm of your hand to remove the pits. Discard the pits and add the olives to the salad. Toss together well.

Halve 1 fresh red chile lengthways, seed, and finely chop. Scatter over your cucumber salad and serve drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Fried Red Tomatoes

I saw this recipe the other day when flipping through daytime TV. I couldn't find the recipe so I made mine the best I could from memory (I posted the original recipe below). I pretty much got things right but I did not do the garnish as 1) I don't eat red meat and 2) I had no sour cream. I did buy some turkey "bacon" and may try these again tomorrow with some of that cooked to be crispy and prosciutto-like. A really delicious way to eat your veggies!


Courtesy of: Chuck's Day Off - Episode: The Bro Show
 

 Ingredients and Prep:

• 1/2 cup white flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 3 firm ripe tomatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Dollop of butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Garnish:

• A dollop of sour cream
• 3 slices prosciutto, fried till crisp
• A few sprigs of chives, finely chopped

Instructions:

1. Cut tomatoes into ½ inch slices.
2. Sprinkle with coarse salt & cracked black pepper.
3. Place flour, eggs, and crumbs in separate shallow bowls.
4. Heat oil with a dollop of butter in a medium skillet on medium heat.
5. Dip tomato slices in flour, then eggs, then crumbs.
6. In the pan fry half the coated slices at a time for about 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown.
7. Bread and cook remaining tomatoes.
8. Remove to a serving tray. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream, crumbled crisp prosciutto and a sprinkle of minced, fresh chives.

Cheesy Cauliflower Gratin

Wow. I never would have believed it but my husband has managed to amaze me with this one. He has claimed that this VEGETABLE recipe is now firmly planted on his top 5 list for favorite meals. Admittedly, this dish is so delicious that you completely forget it is cauliflower, but I am still quite shocked!

In my continued effort to not eat meat (again, a post is needed for this - soon, soon!), I am trying some new ideas at the dinner table. I saw this recipe on French Food at Home, with the ever delightful Laura Calder, before our vacation and vowed to try it when we got back. The episode was "Truckstop French". I changed a couple of things just slightly. The results? Amazing comfort food.

Link here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauliflower for everything you don't know about cauliflower.

Ingredients & Preparation: (from Laura Calder's French Food at Home, Food Network TV)

Serves 4 as a side

• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim and it was perfect)
• 1 x bay leaf (I used 3 as they were a bit old and not very fresh)
• 1 clove garlic split
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup grated gruyère cheese (I used extra old white cheddar and mozzarella)
• Sea salt and pepper to taste (I used white pepper - love the flavour)
• 1 lb. cauliflower florettes
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used Japanese panko crumbs instead - excellent!)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Make the sauce: Bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan with the bay leaf and garlic. Cover, turn off the heat, and let infuse, about 15 minutes. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute to remove the raw flour taste. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook, stirring, until thick. Stir in the cheese, season with salt and pepper, and reserve.

Heat the oven to 425°F/210°C. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Salt it, as for pasta, and blanch cauliflower until just shy of being tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well. Pat dry with a tea-towel. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with the sauce and dump into a gratin dish. Scatter over the breadcrumbs (or panko) and Parmesan and bake until bubbling and gratinéed on top.

I served the gratin with some Indian-inspired lentils and a green salad. Supreme!

Morrocan-Spiced Roasted Vegetables

The spices certainly gave these veggies a new depth. While I didn't use all the vegetables suggested in the original recipe, I will list them all below for those who wish to try the dish as written. I used shallots, onions (red & white), red peppers and sweet potatoes. There were quite a few comments on these veggies - all positive!

I didn't cook the veggies as directed, instead I cooked them at 425 for 45 minutes in the middle of the oven, mixing them up twice. I did not bake the shallots first either. Next time, I won't add as much butter.

Ingredients & Preparation: (From Epicurious, Original Gourmet, February 2000)

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr
Servings: Serves 12

• 2 lb shallots, halved (or quartered if large)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 4 large red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• 2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into bits

Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss shallots with 1 tablespoon oil and roast in a shallow baking pan in lower third of oven 25 minutes. Toss together squash, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, salt, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Add roasted shallots and divide between 2 large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pans. Dot vegetables in each pan with half of butter and roast in upper and lower thirds of oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through roasting, until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes total.

Cooks' note: Vegetables may be roasted 1 day ahead, then cooled before chilling, covered. Reheat in a 350°F oven until hot, 15 to 20 minutes.