(Real) GREEK VILLAGE SALAD

I've been posting recipes on this blog for a few years now, and I just realized I've never shared a recipe for a traditional Greek Village Salad with you yet. Hard to believe since it's a salad I grew up eating and which I enjoy so very often every summer. Please note I said summer. That's because this is a summertime salad, the time when tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are in season and when they taste good. Nothing kills me more than eating in a Greek restaurant in January and being served this salad made with bland tasting imported  un-ripe tomatoes and flavourless cucumbers. As with all good food from around the world, the key is to eat seasonally and locally for optimum nutrition and flavour. Period.

I just realized I forgot to add some olives to this salad. No worries, it's still a great salad without them!

GREEK VILLAGE SALAD

ripe organic tomatoes, cut into wedges

fresh local organic cucumbers, cut into pieces

fresh local organic green peppers, cut into pieces

fresh organic red onion, cut into thin pieces (optional)

fresh or dried organic Greek oregano

organic feta cheese

Greek black olives

Greek extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and pepper

Method: Place all the cut vegetables in a large plate. Crumble the feta cheese on top. Sprinkle with cut fresh oregano, or sprinkle with dried Greek oregano. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Add a few olive. Then drizzle liberally with olive oil. Stir gently and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes before eating a with a nice hunk of sourdough bread. Don't forget to mop up all the olive oil with bread too.

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TODAY'S TWEETABLE: As with all good food from around the world, the key is to eat seasonally and locally for optimum nutrition and flavour. Period.

CUCUMBER, APPLE, KALE, AND FENNEL JUICE

Fall is the time to get your veg on!  All the crops are being harvested and so there is no better time to eat lots of raw veggies and fruits.  This week at the market I stocked up on cucumbers, beets, fennel, carrots, apples, and lots of other fresh produce so I could make delicious fresh juices.  This morning I decided to pour the juice into a wine glass thinking it would make my husband more likely to drink it if it reminded him of his favorite beverage.  It took a little encouragement, but he drank it.  

CUCUMBER, APPLE, KALE AND FENNEL JUICE

2 organic apples, seeded

2 small organic pickling cucumbers or 1/2 of an english cucumber

3 leaves organic kale (great way to use up the kale in the garden that the slugs have been munching on)

1/4 -1/2 small organic fennel bulb

Method:  Juice all the vegetables and drink up!

DILL PICKLES

I used to think the whole joke about pregnant women craving pickles was something that would never occur to me.  In a sense it is true that I don't crave them, but I do really enjoy them now more than ever.  So, I decided to make some dill pickles with the fresh cucumbers that are in season right now.
 In an effort to use a more local product, I tried using Boate's Apple Cider Vinegar to make dill pickles last year.  They turned out, only I wasn't very keen on the appley taste.  I was really tempted to just cave and buy good old white vinegar, but realized I couldn't find any that was in a glass bottle, so I decided to try out white wine vinegar.  I'll let you know how it goes.

DILL PICKLES

8 lbs organic pickling cucumbers

14 heads fresh organic dill

7-10 cloves organic garlic, chopped

7 Tbsp coarse celtic sea salt

7 tsp organic pickling spice

3 1/2 dried organic red hot peppers

8 cups vinegar (your choice)

8 cups water

Method:  Fill boiling water canner with water.  Place 7 clean 1 litre mason jars in the canner over high heat.  Wash cucumbers, slicing off blossom ends, leaving a 1/4 inch of stem attached.  Place snap lids in boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.

     Combine vinegar and water in a large stainless steel saucepan.  Bring to a boil, boiling gently while you pack jars.  In a hot jar, place 1 head of dill, 1 clove of the chopped garlic, 1 Tbsp salt, 1 tsp spice and 1/2 of a hot pepper.  Pack cucumbers into a hot jar to within 2 cm of top rim.  Place one head of dill on top.  Add boiling pickling liquid to cover cucumbers to within 1 cm of top rim.  Remove air bubbles by sliding a rubber spatula between glass and food, readjust head space.  Wipe rim, then centre, snap lid on and apply screw band until just fingertip tight  Place jar in canner.  Repeat.  Cover canner, return water to boil and process 15 minutes.  Remove jars, cool 24 hours, check jar seals.

LAMB CURRY

My sister is getting married this weekend so my parents arrived today and were here in time for supper.  I hastily took out some lamb stew meat from the freezer this morning, hoping it would thaw in time to make a stew.  It was still a wee bit frozen when I started to make this meal, but it turned out just great anyway.  It is pretty hard to screw up a stew.
     Our freezer has been restocked with lamb from Bruce Family Farms in anticipation of a post wedding BBQ we are hosting.  We originally wanted a whole lamb, but apparently that is unavailable locally until this summer.  Anyway, so the stew meat was up for grabs and rather than my usual Irish Lamb Stew I decided to go Indian with a side of brown basmati rice.  My favorite part of this meal, aside from the big chunks of lamb, was the fresh spinach salad I made that had Indian spiced cashews that I sprinkled in.  I think we need a batch of those kicking around for snacking.

LAMB CURRY

2 pounds organic lamb stew meat (with bones)

30 g fresh ginger

5 cloves organic garlic, peeled

1 can organic crushed tomatoes

1 Tbsp organic coconut oil

1 Tbsp organic sunflower oil

2 organic onions, peeled and chopped

2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp organic ground cumin

1 tsp organic coriander

1 tsp organic paprika

1/2 tsp turmeric

fresh organic black pepper, ground

5 organic potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 organic carrots, chopped

1 cup organic peas

fresh organic cilantro, chopped

Method:  In the bowl of a food processor, puree the ginger and garlic.  Heat the oils in a large saucepan over medium heat and brown the meat in two or three batches.  Remove from pan and set aside, then saute the onion and salt until translucent.  Stir in cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric,  pepper, garlic and ginger, saute for one minute.  Add the tomato, lamb, potatoes and carrots.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat, cooking gently for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  If it gets too dry add some water.  At the end of cooking stir in cilantro.  Check for saltiness and add more if necessary.  Serve with steamed basmati rice,  raita and mango chutney.

SPINACH SALAD with Spiced Cashews, Radish and Cilantro

1/2 pound organic spinach

4 organic radish, sliced

1/2 cup organic cilantro, ripped

1 cup organic cucumber, sliced

1 cup organic cashews

1/2 tsp organic cumin powder

1/2 tsp organic coriander powder

1/2 tsp organic turmeric powder

sea salt

drizzle of organic sesame oil

e.v olive oil

1/2 organic lemon, juiced

organic pepper

Method:  Toss the cashews in the cumin, coriander, turmeric, pinch of sea salt and sesame oil.  Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium heat and then saute the nuts, stirring until they start to brown only slightly.  Lower heat if necessary to prevent scorching.  Remove from heat and set aside.

     In a large salad bowl, combine the spinach, radish, cucumber and cilantro.  Drizzle with some olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Add cooled nuts and toss.

Fish and Gratin

Our menus around here are dependent upon many factors - what is seasonally available, what the weather is like, what needs to be used up in the fridge and on and on and on.  This weekend I forgot to bring my cooler and ice when I went urban foraging, so the frozen hook and line haddock I bought defrosted by the time I got home.  Sooo, we had fish for supper tonight.

P.S- both dishes in this post are very yummy but I highly recommend making them separately as they didn't really go well togethere.  I would have liked to eat a nice raw coleslaw with the fish and maybe baked fish with the gratin or something light like a tofu dish.

CORNMEAL CRUSTED HADDOCK with Cucumber Pickle Tartar Sauce

Every summer I pickle and can produce for the winter.  One of my favorite recipes is for a Cucumber Relish.  I love to make a quick and yummy tartar sauce with it when we eat fried fish.

1 pound hook and line haddock, cut into 4 pieces

1/4 cup organic cornmeal

1/4 cup organic unbleached white flour

sea salt and pepper

organic butter

Method:  Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Combine the cornmeal, flour, sea salt and pepper in a bowl and toss the fish pieces in the mix.  Melt some butter in the pan and cook each side of the fish until golden brown.  Serve with tartar sauce and a squeeze of lemon.

CUCUMBER RELISH

7 cups organic cucumbers, washed, and chopped in small dice

4 cups organic green peppers, washed, seeded and chopped in small dice

4 cups organic red peppers, washed, seeded and chopped in small dice

2 cups organic celery, chopped

1 cup organic onion, chopped

1/2 cup coarse sea salt

2 cups local honey

3 cups organic apple cider vinegar

3 Tbsp organic celery seed

3 Tbsp organic white mustard seed

Method:  Combine cucumbers, peppers, celery, onions and salt in a large stainless steel bowl. Cover and let stand 4 hours.

     Fill boiling water canner with water.  Place 7 500 ml canning jars in canner over high heat.

     Rinse vegetables well in a colander and press out excess moisture.

     Combine honey, vinegar, celery seed, mustard seed in a large stainless steel saucepan.  Mix well and bring to a boil.  Add vegetables, return to a boil and boil gently for 10 minutes.  

     Place snap lids in boiling water, boil 5 minutes.

     Ladle relish into a hot jar to within 1 cm of top rim.  Remove air bubbles and wipe rim.  Place lid and screw cap.  Place in canner and repeat.  Process all the jars in a boiling canner for 10 minutes.  Cool.

TARTAR SAUCE

3 Tbsp organic mayonaise

3 Tbsp cucumber relish

Method:  Combine the two ingredients and serve.

SWISS CHARD AND SWEET POTATO GRATIN

Ever since I started a food blog, I've been interested in other food blogs.  One I really like is Smitten Kitchen, who inspired this adaptation of a yummy gratin.

1 organic onion, chopped

2 Tbsp organic butter

1 bunch of organic swiss chard, chopped into 2 cm pieces

pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

2 cups organic whole milk

2 cloves organic garlic, minced

2 Tbsp organic flour

3 medium organic sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices

some fresh or dried organic thyme and parsley

sea salt

pepper

1 1/4 cups organic swiss cheese

Method:  In a large pot, pour in enough water to cover bottom of pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat, add chard, cover and cook until chard wilts.  Drain in a colander over the sink, pressing out excess water.  Set aside.

     Saute the onion in some butter until soft.  Set aside.

     Melt two tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour.  Cook, whisking, and then add the milk and garlic, whisking over heat for one minute.  Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

     Preheat oven to 400*.  Butter a large cast iron skillet or baking dish.  Spread half of the potatoes, sprinkle with the onion and some salt and pepper, thyme and parsley, and 1/2 of the cheese.  Distribute all of the chard, then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, some more herbs and half of the sauce.  Layer the rest of the sweet potato, followed with some salt and pepper, the rest of the sauce and end with the rest of the cheese.  Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.