What's for Br-egg-fast?

I am a true believer in the idea of tasting everything and eating in moderation. I like to try different foods and use a variety of ingredients in our meals. Although I believe kids should themselves choose what they want to eat, I also believe in exposing them to as many different ingredients as possible. Only when ingredients appear in our diet in moderation and not in excess can they truly benefit us. Too much of something is always bad.

Egg souffle for brunch 

Since day one my son has had a problem with eggs and/or bread as part of his breakfast. It is usually porridge or wheat-flakes that take him to cloud nine but nothing else will do; especially eggs. Since he could eat solids, eggs never really tasted good. No matter how I tried it eggs was a 'no-no'; no omelette, sunny-side-up, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled or poached eggs did the trick

For a while I felt quite disappointed since one of my childhood favorite breakfast options involved eggs. I still remember my mother's  egg-in-a-cup breakfast.  She would soft-boil an egg, place it in a coffee cup, add small pieces of bread and a pinch of salt and scramble those together with a fork. Bread mixed up with the white and liquid yellow of the egg was a delicious breakfast option and I enjoyed every spoonful.

Lately my son started getting interested in helping out in the kitchen. Every time I approach the stove to cook something he always offers to help out. One morning I decided to boil an egg for me and he insisted on helping out; so he did. Once at the table he asked if he could taste some. Since then I offer him the option of a boiled egg for his Sunday breakfast and he accepts gladly. I am happy again :)

Eggs are known for being rich in protein but they also include many other vitamins; namely folicic acid, vitamin B6 and B12 and iron. Also, eggs help with muscle strength, provide important vitamins to during a pregnancy, promote better eyesight and help with the brain development of a foetus.

Having open the 'egg' gates with my son, I decided to add it little by little to his weekend breakfast. Another favorite of mine through the years has been αυγόφετες (avgofetes). Avgofetes is my family's version of french toast sans the sugar. So, it is simply toast dipped in egg and milk and then fried lightly in sunflower oil. Heavier than a boiled egg but delicious nonetheless  To my surprise my son loved it too!

Navigate through the 'breakfast' section of my blog for great 'egg' related recipes.

Enjoy :)  

Home-made fast-food with a healthier twist. Come again?

Eating fast-food meals isn't considered healthy. Burgers, chicken nuggets, pizzas or hot-dogs (whether bought frozen and cooked at home or eaten at a fast food restaurant) belong to a league of foods people are advised to scarcely consume.

Nevertheless, a fast-food meal can be turned into a good home-made dinner when cooked at home with your choice of healthier ingredients and a bit of love.Why not create your own chicken nugget or burger  recipe kids will salivate over, instead of having them beg for a visit to the local fast food restaurant?

We never really know the quality of meat used in the nuggets, burgers or even pizzas at our local fast-food restaurants. Take matters in your own hands and be the one to choose what goes in your family's belly. Choose  the quality of meat to create your burgers and the type of oil to fry/bake your chips/wedges. Compliment you dishes with fresh vegetables and regulate the amount of salt in every portion.

From time to time I prepare home-made burgers which everyone enjoys. Each one can add their own choice of ingredients and sauces. I keep mine simple. I compliment my beef burger with green salad leaves, tomato, pickle cucumber, pineapple slice and cheese all tucked in a toasted burger bun accompanied by home-made potato wedges.

Check out this wonderful recipe (under main dishes) and enjoy a healthier burger meal at home.

Recipes that work

I was recently watching the animated film 'Ratatouille' with my son. The film is about a mouse interested in French cuisine. The mouse dreams of becoming a chef and ends up fulfilling it. The story shows us how the mouse can follow a recipe but also use some of its imagination to alter the recipe to make it its own.

One of the dishes the mouse cooks at the end of the film is the famous 'ratatouille', a traditional Provincial dish. I got really interested in the dish itself and looked up the real recipe for ratatouille on the net. There are many different alternatives to follow. None of the pictures on the pages I visited presented the dish in the same way as the mouse in the film. I found out that ratatouille is actually a very complicated dish consisting of very simple ingredients. After having done my research, I tried to recreate Ratatouille's ratatouille dish á la Marianna :)

With a little improvisation and common sense plus some tips from the animated film itself I created the dish. To my surprise it looked and tasted great and it was not as time consuming as a real ratatouille dish. Here is my result:

Before baking 

After baking

But it not just Ratatouille-the film which inspires me to try new things and add my own twist. Great Chefs like  Gordon Ramsay, Chuck Hughes and Jamie Oliver have been an inspiration. I mostly follow their recipes without changing a thing but sometimes there is space for improvisation. Some of the best recipes I have tried from these great chefs are Chuck's homemade Chicken Nuggets, Jamie's Chicken-bacon skewers and Gordon's basic lasagna. I tried Gordon's lasagna recipe which I followed word for word and this is the result:

Lasagna

No matter if you follow a recipe word for word or you decide to add your own personal twist always remember to make it fun! Also, try recipes which will work for the whole family and can be cooked again and again. All three recipes mentioned above are ones I tried and have, since then, cooked many times :D

    

yogurt-cool

Feeling the heat from the warm summer days, I started thinking of all the possible cool lunch meals one can enjoy. The choices were endless but one product kept coming up; yogurt!

Arjani-drink, yogurt and tzatziki

Many of my yogurt recipes come from my mother who got them from her grandmother who got them from her Asia Minor ancestors. These foods have a long history and have been enjoyed by generations. Although yogurt is a basic and modest ingredient it scores a lot of 'good-for-our-health' points. 

Yogurt is better than milk; not only it includes the same calcium properties as milk but it also gets digested easier than milk. Yogurt is a great option for recovering digestive illnesses such as diarrhea as it helps recover important elements lost through the illness. Unlike milk, yogurt helps other foods and their properties be absorbed more effectively by our system. 

Whether one wishes to help support their system and improve their health or just needs something cool and fresh, yogurt is an excellent and healthy choice. 

Try some of my traditional recipes like 'mantu' (yogurt with pasta) and 'purani' (yogurt with courgettes) or simply enjoy a glass of 'arjani' (cold yogurt drink).  

Give yogurt a chance and enjoy the goodness it provides. 

Fresh summer food

I recently traveled to my home country, Greece. Due to limited internet access I was unable to blog on the spot. However, now I am back at my base and able to share with you the fresh food ideas from back home.

The hot summer days in Greece do not allow heavy eating. In fact the less the better since digestion and scorching heat are not a good match. While for some a cold coffee or milk chocolate is enough as a start up 'breakfast', others marry them with cheese pie (tyropita) or other Greek pies. Around 10am the mercury rises to 30 degrees Celsius and the last thing on one's mind is food. Consumption of water and other beverages is preferred and recommended throughout the day. A dive to the cool waters of a nearby beach is the best weapon against the blazing sun. Nevertheless, all the 'splishing' and 'splashing' somehow helps our appetite. 

At lunchtime the mercury has already risen to 38 -and sometimes 40 degrees Celsius- which means only one thing; being next to a hot stove is the last thing on ones mind. A Greek salad or Green salad (marouli) and feta cheese are good and light lunch options. One of the favorites is fresh fish like nnular seabream (sparos) or Gilthead seabream (tsipoura). The first one can be fried in sun-flour oil and the second one is excellent baked in the oven. Here below is a gilthead seabream my dad caught on one of his fishing trips_

Of course many people like grilled food. The best options are homemade sausages with leaks from the village and pork fillets (psaronefri). If one bothers enough to heat up a grill one should not forget to grill green or red peppers and other veggies like aubergines and courgettes. Grilled food is healthier. In addition, vegetarian options like lady fingers (mpamies), fasolakia and stuffed green peppers are excellent options for a hot summer's day. Last but not least, side dishes such as boujiourdi, strapatsada and tzatziki paired with lovely Greek bread will do the trick as well. 

All in all, I was happy to eat more vegetarian food, fish and occasionally some grilled meat like the fillets we grilled a few days before I left Greece. 

If you visit Greece don't hesitate to ask for some of those dishes. 

Enjoy!

   

Bite-Size Home-Made Chocolates

The other day I was browsing for books and cooking ideas in one of the bookstores in the city center of Helsinki. There is a plethora of beautifully illustrated books on cooking and baking available. Bookstores are my heaven and I could easily loose track of time when I am in one.

Like a kid in a candy store I don't know which book to grab first and which next. I end up with a bunch of books in Finnish or English in my hands wondering which one to buy. Looking down I realize that although I entered my heaven to get an educational gift for a friend's kid I, surprise-surprise, am holding more cook books than gift options.

I decided to purchase the book Kotona tehdyt Suklaat published in Finnish by WSOY and written by C.Jausserand. At first the book caught my eye due to its rather unusual packaging. It comes in a plastic see-through box along with 30 silicon cooking molds. Reasonably priced, this little discovery turned out to be a treasure! 

The book includes ideas on some 20 chocolate recipes with illustrations and clear instructions. I had a go as soon as I had time to allocate to cooking. They are easy to make although one has to pay close attention to the temperature of the perspective chocolate used (i.e. dark, milk, white or 70% etc). 

I put to the test one of my favorite types, the dark hazelnut ganache chocolate. My little dark temptations turned out just great! 

You can find this recipe in the desserts section.

Have a go and enjoy the rich flavors of pure dark chocolate made at home.  

Happy Birthday .....to the cook!

It is birthday time...for the cook! If I don't cook a cake myself I will most likely be presented with a ready made one from some bakery (usually as delicious as mine..if not better!).
Frequently people dream of large delicious cakes for their own birthday too. As we grow older cakes take a secondary role and some people don't even want a cake or candles.    

My husband, when asked if he wants a cake, will almost always ask for a strawberry cake; his favorite! This year my boy asked for a McQueen cake and got his wish granted. In my case, and I am sure for other people as well, the cake is not the most important element of the celebration. Being around people who love you and cherish you is of out-most importance. Nevertheless, food does play an important role in my life. Consequently, a lemon tart is in order even though I have to prepare it myself. 

You will find my favorite lemon tart recipe under the dessert section. 

Have a try and enjoy the freshness of the lemons :) 

Celebrating asparagus

During the spring months we are blessed with the presence of a wonderful vegetable on our supermarket selves; asparagus!

(picture from worldcommunitycookbook.org) 

Asparagus has been around for a few hundred thousand years. Ancient Greeks and Romans used it in their cooking either fresh or dry. Greeks also discovered some remedy qualities in it. This is not a surprise since it is known for being an excellent source of vitamins A, C and high fiber. It is also a good antioxidant. It cooks fast and could potentially lose its flavor and color unless cooked properly.

Asparagus can be used in cold or warm salads, as a main or side dish, as cocktail food on canapes as well as in soups. I love asparagus because it is a tender, fresh, vitamin-rich, colorful vegetable that cooks easily. I always use it in salads, risotto and grilled. It goes well with many beverages but I prefer a good dry white wine.

I have added a wonderful asparagus risotto recipe in this site.

Enjoy!

McQueen Strawberry cake

I recently decided to try my luck at making a Lightning McQueen strawberry cake for my son's fourth birthday party. I knew how to make a strawberry cake but had no clue as to how to carve a cake and use marzipan. As with everything I do in life, I conducted a research and found a few good options on how to do it; some easier than others. Here is the result of my effort. This cake made one little boy very happy!

Lightning McQueen Strawberry cake



Vegetarian options in Greek cuisine?

I often meet people who are vegetarians and have been left disappointed by the lack of vegetarian options in the Greek cuisine. My immediate reaction is 'no way', 'we have so many wonderful vegetarian dishes'. Having said that I totally understand their point of view. Visit any taverna during the hot summer months and you will find a plethora of grilled meat dishes. There is also a wide range of side dishes and salads on offer which vegetarians usually go for. Of course, one could argue that for the fish-eating vegetarians there is always a great selection of fresh fish. Regardless, it is often true that the 'home-made' dishes on taverna menu lists are limited. So much so that even those dishes are usually meat based.

To name a few, here is a list of wonderful vegetarian dishes you can prepare (some of these can be found in Greek restaurants but often could include meat). You can find some of these dishes in my blog.

Fasolakia (Greek beans in tomato sauce_some include chicken but I cook it without)
Bizelia (or 'arakas'/ Green peas)
Fakes (Lentil soup)
Psarosoupa (Fish soup)
Fasolia gigantes (Butter beans in tomato sauce)
Spanakorizo (spinach and rise in egg-lemon sauce_some might include pieces of meat)
Revithia (chickpeas)
Piperies gemistes (stuffed peppers_ many add minced beef but in my family we did it without)
Tiropita (cheese pie)
Spanakopita (spinach pie)
Prasopita (leek pie)
...
and many more :)