Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Very tasty Sun-Dried Tomatoes are made from mature regular tomatoes or from anhydrous tomatoes (a special variety of tomatoes, which is common in many islands in the Aegean Sea and resembles the Italian pomodori or roma variety). Dried under the sun they evaporate the water they contain. On drying, tomatoes lose 88% of their weight while larger tomatoes lose 93%.
Sundried tomatoes have the same nutritional value as fresh and to produce a kilo of sun dried tomatoes need about 14 kg of fresh tomatoes. They are rich in lycopene, antioxidants and vitamin C. They are preserved in sterilized jars in olive oil and various aromatic herbs and spices, like coriander & cardamom.
Sundried tomatoes have a great variety of colors, sizes and flavors. They have many uses in the Mediterranean Cuisine. Traditionally they are served with olive oil, feta cheese & basil for a very tasty meal.

work: 20′

time: 2-3 days

very easy:

Aromatic Pickled Caper

We meet the plants of Caper to grow freely in nature. It is a magical plant that grows in places full of sunshine and hot to very hot summers and in very poor soils almost without water. But it insists on being and giving its little flowers -her immature buds- to become the Golden Apple of Discord among humans, birds and ants.
In order to make pickles, we collect, with respect to the plant, its flowers when they are small before they are blooming, its tender leaves and its fruits, and those small, tender, crisp, which are created after the flower is fertilized & inside there are the seeds of the plant.
Yours!

work: 1h:00′

time: 2h:30′

very easy:

Vine Leaves Maintenance 2-DIY

In an earlier post we saw a dry way of Vine Leaves Maintenance. Today Kitchen Stories suggests another way to boil the leaves and then freeze them.
The season of fresh leaves is in May and June, depending on which area we are talking about. Find and cut your own fresh spring vine leaves, the first ones that Greek vineyards make or buy ready-made cuts from your neighborhood and prepare them to get into your cupboards so you can use them at any time. And do not forget the best leaves are gathered when they are still tender only by the climates of the Sultanina variety or Debina variety.
The suggested method is simple and very easy. Packaged this way, they will keep perfectly in your freezer. Yours!

work: 45′

time: 45′

very easy:

Sweet & Spicy Apple Chutney

Chutney or Chatni is a sauce/spicy jam from Kitchens of India, which can vary… One offshoot has rooted in Anglo-Indian cuisine to gain even as many variations and adapt to another flavor culture.
It is usually with vegetables and fruits, such as onion, garlic, rhubarb, apples, peaches, orange, plum, etc. with which one can make a milder pickle. Add vinegar or apple cider vinegar in recipes of Chutney English style, aimed traditionally give long life, so as to maintain for use throughout the year. Brown or dark sugar (usually Demerara to replace the jaggery in some Indian sweet chutney) and spices, which are usually used, fenugreek, coriander, cumin, cinnamon.
The whole produces a sweet and spicy pickle, with sweet and fruity flavors, with a strong presence of ginger, but a softer product, which in Western Kitchen is built to accompany savory dishes. Usually eaten with Cheddar cheeses or cured meats and poultry, usually in cold meals a pub.
Yours!

εργασία: 15′

χρόνος: 30′

πολύ εύκολο:

Pickled Octopus

Octopus!
The King of Meze in the Greek Summer and Lenten Days, with accompanying ouzo par excellence!
Here it was prepared to be pickled, to be closed in our most transparent jars and to be able to enjoy it as a precious meze whenever we want!

Octopus boiled and flavored in a Court-bouillon, meaning «short broth». This is an intensely flavored vegetable broth, spices and aromatic herbs (bouquet garni) and which contain an acidic ingredient such as vinegar, wine or lemon juice. Court-bouillon is usually for poaching, need not be elaborate, used for the preparation of crustaceans (lobster) and other seafood and is very simple, because the broth is not generally served as part of the end plate.
Yours!

work: 20′

time: 40′

easy:

Peppers in the Pan with Capers

So aromatic, so tasty and with minimal effort, a perfect taste!
Colored peppers, lots of garlic, olives, capers, coriander, cardamom and natural vinegar. Strong vinegar good wine that will give the final "touch" the takeoff of their flavor. That's all! Following? After the spread to fresh bread and our glasses full of ouzo and enjoy a super appetizer.
Yours!

The recipe

Peppers in the Pan with Capers

can be found in the book «Μεζέδες».

work: 20′

time: 45′

easy:

Octopus Baked in Parchment Paper

Octopus makes delicious seafood, that professional and amateur anglers bring in our kitchen, ready to cook. The seafood, which together with the shrimp and other seafood, is almost inescapable condition to prepare the table of Greek Clean Monday.
Cooked in various ways and always remains tasty. The proposal here is to bake it closing in parchment paper. So close the juices and aromatic sea properties, achieving an excellent result.
This way baking in the oven, sealed with wax paper and aluminum foil, so as not to let air go out, octopus braise without burning or to stay wet, juicy and soft, cooked through to its own juices along with extra spices and its fragrances.
Yours.

work: 15′

time: 2h:15′

easy:

Tomato Sauce

Tomato Sauce, classic, delicious and for varied uses, flavored with oregano and basil. An easy sauce that accompanies perfectly meat and vegetable dishes. But also pizzas, bruschetta, sandwiches and of course pasta, any kind of pasta, where it takes off with its presence the flavor of the dish.
Tomatoes are rich in flavor, have high liquid content, have very soft flesh which breaks down quickly, and are a suitable composition to thicken in the sauce when cooked. All these properties make it ideal for a simple and attractive sauce.
Auguste Escoffier ranks it among the five basic sauces (mother sauces) of French Cuisine with:

• Béchamel
• Spanish Sauce
• Velvet
• Dutch sauce

work: 15′

time: 45′

easy:

Vine Leaves Maintenance

There are several ways to maintain vine leaves in order to have them for the whole year, without the cooling devices of our time. The drying, the bottles, the brine, the jars. Since ancient times yet, since they stored them in small clay pots, covered with olive oil since they did not have refrigerators, until our days with freezing.
The best time of harvesting the leaves is the months of May and June. The vine is preferably sultanas, which has the most tender and delicious leaves, and of course not sprayed.
Today's maintenace is called dry maintenance and is simple and quite easy. Prerequisite: the leaves are completely dry, otherwise you risk to make black spots from moisture and spoil.

work: 30′

time: 30′

very easy:

Octopus Carpaccio

The term Carpaccio refers to an Italian dish, which includes almost transparent thin slices of raw or poorly cooked beef or fish. Consumed seasoned with olive oil, lemon, parmesan flakes, spices and sometimes with white truffle (mushroom).
Also the term Carpaccio is often used to include recipes cooked. This is the case, for example, of Octopus Carpaccio. The recipe involves cooking the octopus before the Carpaccio process of production/cut.
I suggest you try to build and serve a dish of octopus meze, tasty and with interesting visual effect. With our classic snack with octopus in vinegar it will not leave many untouched. A delicious snack …
Yours!

The recipe

Octopus Carpaccio

can be found in the book «Μεζέδες».

wokr: 45′

time: 12h:45′

medium:

Oven Dried Tomatoes & Maintenance: Homemade

Dried tomatoes in the oven. This a straightforward and quick recipe, with endless possibilities to liven and spice every meal.
Add them in sandwiches, in sauces for pasta, in salads, savory cakes and of course as a spread for crostini or anything else you can think of.
Since they are often referred for home sufficiency or domestic luxury, lets make homemade dried tomatoes. I guarantee that they have nothing to do with those you tried from the S/M.
Try them!

work: 15′

time: 1h:45′

very easy:

The recipe

Oven Dried Tomatoes & Maintenance:Homemade

can be found in the book «Μεζέδες».

Olives in Vinegar

The most delicious olives that we have ever tasted. The reason is very simple, it is the homemade olives we have built ourselves, with our hands, very easily.
With simple procedures starting from the selection of olives -best if we have our own- even after the scribe, we add the oil, vinegar, herbs and orange slices. Do not miss, giving them the ethereal aroma. In a few days they are ready to enjoy.
This is all, a little bit to domestic self-sufficiency!

work: 1h:00′

time: 10 ημέρες

very easy:

Watermelon Rind Pickles

Peel sweet watermelon in spicy pickle!
It's very simple to do, using the peel of watermelon, which we throw.
Is very special sweet and spicy at the same time because of the spices with a little bite of chili pepper in the aftertaste.
If you are interested in new dimensions in taste, dare to try even a small amount, just to test!

work: 40′

time: 3 days

easy:

Strawberry Freezing & Preserving

Strawberries in light syrup, flavored with cinnamon and lemon.
Freeze and preserve this spring fruit, to enjoy the fruit and its syrup, any time of the year, in cakes, ice cream or in cheesecake.
With a very simple way you can have whole, bright red, sweet and tasty strawberries whenever you want them.
Try it!

work: 20′

time: 20′

very easy: 1/5