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Showing posts from June, 2012

Zucchini fritters and choriảtiki salad - a light summer meal

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          Mediterranean summers are very hot and heat calls for light meals. In Greece we use many vegetables in our summer cuisine - in salads, in vegetable stews, grilling them, baking them,  or making fritters for more filling bite size snacks.       The most famous Greek salad among locals and tourists is choriảtiki the base of which is tomato, cucumber, and onion topped with a generous slice of feta cheese. Choriatiki is also garnished with olives, green pepper, capers and dry oregano. Olive oil is the final and most important ingredient of any salad; it has to be fresh extra virgin olive oil because salads are not cooked, and therefore all special characteristics of the oil used affect the taste.      A zucchini fritter ( kolokythokeftẻdes ) is a nice way to turn zucchinis ( kolokỳthia ) into a tasty snack. It is usually served as a first course or as a meze for your ouzo or wine. Some Greek yoghurt  is al...

Mosaico - Mum's chocolate log

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       Our country cottage is in a small village. There was no shop to buy anything, and we had to visit the nearest town to get supplies. Of course we always would buy goods in advance, but there was one thing that as a kid I was missing in summer and that thing was ICE CREAM!!!.       As you know, mums don’t like their children to be miserable, so I had a favorite ice cream substitute that my mother could easily make at our cottage with no special equipment. This was her chocolate and biscuits log; she called it mosaico. It is not her own invention; it’s actually a quite popular dessert all mothers used to make since the 70’s.       My mother makes this delicious dessert with vegetable margarine, cocoa, eggs and a couple table spoons of brandy to eliminate the egg flavor but, as an adult, I prefer to use less fat and  make it with dark chocolate and whipping cream. I will give you both recipes to decide which one fits better ...