Theresa, thank you! This sounds great. With cooler weather now here, it seems like just the things to go with hot coffee and sitting out in the back yard to watch the leaves fall. I'll let you know how I do.

Rienne, the peppers add crunch and colour mostly. They don't add too much flavour because the stronger green bell pepper is balanced by the sweeter yellow and red bell peppers.

Options:

1) Try as is and taste. If you go "bheaughhhh" and spit it out, just omit the peppers entirely.
2) Try chopping up roasted red peppers. These are not crunchy, but they do add colour and are not strong at all. Most people who do not like the green peppers, can handle these.
2) Try using red onion instead of the yellow. This will add more red colour. Then substitute a combination of yellow crookneck squash and cooked green beans. Make sure the beans are still crisp--not soft--and that should take care of the crunch.

Let me know how it turns out, if you try it.

If you enjoy the combined flavours of coffee and chocolate, this recipe should please you. It would go well with a generous slice of the Nisu (see earlier post).

I developed this for our coffee bar back in 1995! Yikes! That WAS almost in another life. The bar was in our one year restaurant endeavour, Despina's International Cafe & Salon Gallery. It will yield 10-12 mugs of yummy beverage. If you are more delicate and dainty in nature, this will supply you (and lots of your friends and family) with about 20 6 oz teacups.

COMBINE AND HEAT:
1 1/2 CUPS SUGAR
8 CUPS STRONG COFFEE,
1 CUP SWEETENED MINIATURE CHOC. CHIPS
1 TBSP. WHOLE CLOVES
1 STICK CINNAMON

STIR AND WATCH AT A SIMMER FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES

ADD:
5 CUPS MILK
1 CUP HEAVY CREAM

HEAT WELL, STIRRING CONSTANTLY.

SERVE WITH TOASTED SLICED ALMONDS ON TOP.

Where do you find toasted almonds? In your kitchen. You buy the sliced almonds, place in a non-stick pan and toss or stir over medium heat until lightly browned. Not only do they look better, but they taste better too.

Patitsio
(Greek Pasta and Meat Sauce Casserole)

Pastichea takeoff, imitation or spoof
Pasticciohodge-podge, a mix of various bits and pieces

Well, I dont know who invented this Greek word, but I do know that whoever invented this dish should be canonized! This is one of those comfort foods that I grew up with in Greece. Now it reminds me of the Italian Bolognese sauce and I realize that, here, in the U.S. it would be called a casserole...so its not quite the foreign food that I once thought it to be.



Heres my version. Its easy to prepare, once youve made the sauces, so my recommendation is to make twice as much meat sauce, use one batch and freeze the other half. This will make it easier to prepare next time. Sometimes, I just have time to prepare the sauce. I cook up two batches and freeze. When I have time to do the rest, I pull out one batch and get to cooking. Life is much easier this way. Not a bad thing.

There are three layers of flavour and texture here.
1) Spicy (not hot) meat sauce to chew on. Lots of flavour elements here. The mouth says, ooooooooohh
2) Creamy and cheese-filled white sauce. Makes your mouth say, aaaaaaaaah
3) Al dente pasta, perked up with parmesan cheese and grated nutmegchewy but brilliantly alive! You mouth says, ahaaa!

Meat Sauce:
2 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 T. oregano
1 stick cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
salt & pepper
1 T. chopped Italian parsley, fresh
cup red wine
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes with juice. Crush tomatoes by hand or chop.
2 lbs ground beef
cup olive oil

Heat cup olive oil and saut onion and garlic over low heat. When onion is transparent and soft, remove everything with a slotted spoon. Add rest of oil, turn up heat to med-high and brown the ground beef. When completely browned, add all other seasonings and the onion-garlic mixture. Stir well and enjoy all the aromas. Pour in wine and stir. Add tomatoes and juice, stir well and add enough hot tap water to bring liquid level to 1 over the meat mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover with lid. Allow to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and the meat sauce is now a thick but still juicy mix; this may take one hour or maybe a little more. Set aside.


Pasta:
1 lbs ziti or penne pasta, cooked al-dente and drained. Can be hot cold.
2 cups grated parmesan or romano cheese OR mix of both
2 tspns. grated nutmeg

Bchamel Sauce:
6 T. butter (not margarinebutter)
10 T. all purpose flour
8 cups hot milk
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cups grated parmesan, romano or mix of both
salt and pepper

This is actually a simple white sauce. When you add the nutmeg and cheese, it becomes a dreamy, creamy calorie-laden French sauce. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.The Italians have a name for it tooBalsamella. Youll be working with medium heat here, but turn it up or down as needed, making sure never to leave the pot unattended. You are committed to this portion of the recipe, until it is done! Youll need a heavy pot (non-stick, if available), a wooden spoon and a good whisk.

Heat the butter until it begins to foam, add the flour and stir with wooden spoon. Continue to stir until this mixture has a golden colour. Slowly pour in about 1/3 of the milk, now using a whisk to combine. Once milk has been incorporated, add the other two thirds, whisking away madly. Allow this to cook and thicken, then mix in the beaten eggs. Move the pot off the heat while you work to incorporate into the flour mixture. Mix in the cheese and nutmeg and place back on low heat, continuing to stir until the sauce is heated through. This will be a thick mixture. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to suit you. Cover and set aside. You may want to wait until the sauce has cooled for about 15 minutes before beginning assembly.

Assembly:
Youll need a very large baking dish or two large casserole dishes. Oil, grease or butter the pans.

Mix the pasta with nutmeg and cheese. Pour in 1/3 of Bchamel sauce and mix to coat. This will keep pasta connected when you slice to serve the pastitsio. Now add 2/3 of the meat sauce and mix roughly. Pour half the pasta mix into the baking dish/es, top with remaining meat sauce and pour the rest of the pasta mix over that. Press down with a spoon and cover completely with remainder of the Bchamel.

Now, as if there were not enough calories jam-packed into this dish already, lets find half a stick of butter and just cut off bits to dot the surface of the Bchamel with. The butter will melt and give the top of the dish a lovely golden-brown color.

Place the whole thing into a 375F pre-heated oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven. You want to see a golden-brown colour on topthis will be your sign that the dish is ready.

Remove from oven and set aside for 20 minutes. The dish has to cool long enough for the sauces to set a little, before serving. Plus, this gives you just enough time to prepare a lovely vinegary salad to balance out the creamy rich Pastitsio. Yin and Yang at work!

This is a great dish to serve hot, cold, room temperature, freeze or to take to a picnic. How versatile, and oh, so tasty! Mmmmmmmmmmm.

That sounds great! I think I'll have to print out all these recipes and add them to my recipe box.

I finally had the chance to make Nisu. A couple things: It took about 35 minutes in my oven. Also, following the recipe, the braided loaf turned out to be nearly 20 inches long and 10 inches wide (at the widest part). I baked it on a baking pan. The next time I make it, I think I may use the original recipe's proportions but make 2 or 3 small loaves....

My, I HAVE been busy with sickness and death and healing and too much work and father's worsening health and such...normal family stuff these days. Glad to say that I'm moving through it all with eyes wide open for all the lessons and, thanks to a girls' night out periodically, have maintained a good sense of humour.

First, a quick dinner: I'm sure Rachel Raye would approve. Cook up a batch of multi-grain or whole wheat pasta, grill/broil/saute a salmon steak per person and get your favourite bruschetta mix (there's a good one in a large jar that I get at Sam's) and a very large bowl. Drain the pasta well and pour into the big bowl. Add a generous amount of parmesan cheese and toss, then pour in a large (serving size) spoon of bruschetta mix per person and toss well. Top with the grilled salmon and you've go a healthy, quick and delicious dinner.

Now, the Ratatouille.
I understand that the classic way of doing this requires many pots and braising vegetables on the stove.



I have blended the classic French Provence-style dish with a Greek braised vegetable dish, for a much easier roasted version.

I wash, peel, chop, slice, dice. When everythings ready, into the oven it goes at 425F for about one hour. The vegetables should be cooked through and those on the top should have dark brown edges, on the softer side of crispy.



This dish is great hot, cold or room temperature and its a wonderful and healthy way to eat in the hot summer weather. I serve it hot, topped with crumbled feta cheese with a couple of crunchy French bread slices on the side. I serve it on top of French baguette sliced in two. I crumble a generous amount of creamy goat cheese on top and put it under the broiler, just long enough to get the cheese to melt, and pop on the other piece of bread. What a tremendously interesting and delicious sandwich! Its also an easy side dish to grilled chicken or shrimp. We keep the leftovers in the refrigerator to eat for lunches and a second dinner later in the week.

Get your biggest roasting pan. Fill it with an assortment of the following, add all the seasonings, stir lightly and put in the bottom rack of a pre-heated oven. No need to stir again, just a peek every now and then to make sure everythings cooked and browned appropriately.

Red peppers, seeded and cut lengthwise.
Yellow squash, tops cut off, cut in half and then cut into long pieces (like potatoes for fries)
Zucchini squash, prepares like the yellow squash.
Eggplant--I peel off strips, leaving some skin on to help it hold up during the cooking. Cut the tops off, cut in half and then into long wedges.
Brussels sprouts, either fresh or frozen.
Fordhook lima beans. These are the big ones with that lovely creamy texture.
Okra, frozen or fresh. If they are fresh, be sure to choose very small ones. They will be more tender than the large ones.
Green beans, any variety, left whole, with just the tops snapped or cut off. If they need stringing, be sure to do that. Ive use frozen, and they turn out beautifully.
Potatoes* You can use the small fingerlings with skin still on or Yukon Gold, cut into long and slender wedges.
Red or yellow onions, sliced
Several cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped finely.
Large bunch of fresh basil, chopped.
Large bunch of fresh Italian parsley, chopped.
Canned tomatoes, chopped. Add the juice too.
Extra-virgin olive oil
Water.

*optional

Thomas is my 18-year old stepson. He's a great kid, even with all the typical teenager-itis issues. He was so excited about his graduation dinner and came to us with a menu in place. Need I say that it was rather ecletic?

Grilled Steaks
Bobby Flay's Cauliflower Casserole
Despina's Greek Collards
Greek Salad

He also wanted Bobby Flay's Gingerbread Lemon Curd Trifle, but we had to put the brakes on. With all the other things in our life to tend to just now, that would have been too much! So, Thomas' mother brought a lovely cheesecake from the local Outback restaurant.

I will post the collards and salad recipes here. If you go back a bit in this blog, you'll find a link to the Bobby Flay recipes, even the wonderful trifle.

Despina's Greek Collards
2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes (with juice)
1 big bag of collards (about 8-10 cups)
1 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled and chopped
cup Italian parsley, chopped
cup balsamic vinegar


MY COLLARDS OVER BROWN BASMATI RICE

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic and cook until lightly browned. Toss in collards, allowing some to wilt before adding the remainder. Remember, they do reduce in volume once theyve wilted. Now add the tomatoes and parsley, stir to coat well, add vinegar, salt and pepper (I like lots and lots of pepper. It seems to suit the strong flavour of the greens.) Fill the pot with enough hot water to cover the greens and come up one inch beyond.

Turn up heat to high and bring to a boil. Put the lid on the pot and reduce heat to low or simmer. You want the greens to be somewhere between simmering and boiling. Check periodically for doneness and to add water, if it should cook out too quickly. The cooking should take about one hour, sometimes a little more, depending on the collards.

Ideally, when the collards are cooked through, there should be just enough liquid left in the pot for a biscuit or a good piece of French bread to dip into.

These collards are great with a couple of grilled or fried pork chops or even a roasted Boston butt roast. Yummmmmmmmmmm.

Greek Salad

This is an authentic Greek Salad or peasant salad. The way it works is this--picture a typical Greek landscape, dry and rocky with fig trees and olive trees. There are people with donkeys carrying baskets filled with the new olives and figs; they will carry the figs to racks where they will dry and then be sold to packaging companies. The olives will be worked on further and allowed to sit in alternating baths of brine and vinegar. Eventually, after much work, they will be deposited in vats of olive oil and left to enjoy year round. In the middle of such a typical day, people will take a break to eat. There will be good crusty bread, lots of feta cheese, perhaps some radishes and olives on the side and a wonderful blend of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onion, salt, oregano and olive oil. That's the real salad. My salad is a slight variation, adapted to suit Western eating habits.

In a large bowl, combine big chunks of perfectly ripened tomatoes, slices of cucumbers, sliced sweet onion (like Vidalia), crisp romaine lettuce chunks, pitted Kalamata olives and big chunks of feta cheese. Sprinkle with salt and dry oregano, toss and allow to sit for about 15 minutes. What will happen is that the salt will draw out some of the natural juices from the tomatoes and cucumber and THIS is what will add the acidity (instead of vinegar) to the dressing. At this point, you will add a good extra-virgin olive oil (I use Bertoli. It's reasonably priced and has a good flavour.) Toss everything and serve immediately.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! How much of everything do I use? This is actually very, very easy, but you do have to let go of any fear of cooking and trust me. Can you do it?

Okay, I'll hold your hand and make this look more like a recipe.

2 large (the size of a man's fist) ripe tomatoes, cut into large chunks
2 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled or in small chunks
1 medium sweet onion (like a Vidalia), sliced
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1 head romainne lettuce, cut or torn into large chunks

Toss, add salt and oregano, allow to sit 15 mins.

Add 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive, toss again and serve immediately. If you must, or if the tomatoes are not fully ripened, you may want to add a bit of white wine vinegar and omit the 15 minute wait. It's okay, the food police will not come after you, I promise.

Make sure you dunk your bread into the salad dressing--it's the right thing to do, really. A little bit of white wine and a tall glass of cold water...well, as Kurt Vonnegut's uncle taught him to say, "If this isn't good, I don't know what is."

CHICKEN LIVERS GREEK STYLE

Bleeah! I know, I know! Some of you cannot stand chicken livers. Got it! But, I also know HOW good they are in this recipe, so, for those few adventurous souls out there, let's give this a try.

1 container chicken livers
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 T. oregano
1/8 cup lemon juice

Drain the livers in a colander and then place on a plate with paper towels.

In a hot pan, saute the onion and garlic, then add the livers, moving around only as the caramelize or brown. When they've browned on all sides, add salt, pepper and oregano and toss or stir lightly in the pan. I like mine still light pink in the center, but...that's not for everyone, so when you are pleased with the level of cooking, pour in the lemon juice and, standing back a bit, shake the pan continuously. After about 30-40 seconds, remove the pan from the heat and pour the contents onto a platter or bowl.

What you've done is, instead of draining the livers on paper towels to remove the excess oil, in adding the lemon juice, you've created a dressing or sauce that you can dip that ever-present crusty bread into.

Sliced tomatoes on the side make this a lovely, simple, nutritious and delicious lunch or dinner.

Sooooooooo good and sooooooooooo bad for you, I'm sure!

Pepperidge Farms 12-Grain Bread
Real butter
Goat cheese
Extra sharp cheddar cheese

Sandwich Assembly:
Nothing but bread and cheese. Layer one is thick slices of the cheddar. Layer two is about 2 tablespoons of the goat cheese, lightly crumbled. Layer three is the same as layer one. The buried treasure is the creamy-tangy and melty goat cheese. Yes, "melty" is a good word.

Cooking:
Onto a heavy hot pan, place bits of butter. When melted, set the sandwich on top of the butter, reduce heat to medium and cook until cheese begins to melt. Melt more butter, toss sandwich onto other side and continue to cook until both sides of sandwich are nicely browned and cheddar is oozing slightly.

When you stop to think about this sandwich, it's really a nice balance between the artery-clogging cheeses and butter and the whole grains of the bread. I'm thinking they just cancel each other out, but let's take extra precautions--why don't you mix up some of that store-bought mesclun mix/baby greens salad mix, toss it in a tablespoon of vinegar, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and then you'll have the edge on the cholesterol of the cheese.

This pesto is from my restaurant days--Despina's International Cafe and Salon Gallery. Doesn't that sound so snooty and fancy-shmancy? Actually, it was a colorful, casual and happy environment...just SO much work!

I still make this in a large batch because it will keep for a bit and we use it in so many ways:



Cook multi-grain pasta, drain, toss immediately with several spoonfulls of the pesto, top with a grilled chicken breast or a piece of grilled salmon and you have a grrrrrrreat dinner.

Split a crusty baguette, mix one cup good mayonnaise with one teaspoon of the pesto and spread on both sides of the bread. Instead of lettuce, use alfalfa sprouts, top with sliced juicy tomatoes, red roasted peppers (from a jar to make it easy), grilled portabello mushrooms or sliced grilled chicken breast and yum, yum, yummmmmmmmmm.

Cook up a batch of your favourite vegetable soup, cook it a little longer with the lid off (to reduce the liquid and make it a little thicker), then (at the end, right before serving) scoop in about a cup of the pesto. What you've got is a cheater's version of the French soup, Pistou! How's that for making French cooking easy?

Cook a pot of creamer potatoes or fingerlings. When they're done, drain, place back on the heat, add a good bit of heavy cream, salt and pepper and let that cook down a bit. Pour into a big bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of pesto and mash lightly. You want to have big chunks of potatoes left when you're through; not perfectly creamed potatoes. This is great with a side of grilled flank steak or rare London Broil or even grilled lamb or salmon.

9 large garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups basil leaves, pressed down
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup pine nuts, almonds or walnuts

Puree in blender or food processor until very smooth. Refrigerate immediately.

For years I've wanted to find the perfect (and authentic) caesar dressing and green goddess dressing.

The caesar dressing was so that I would not have to hear my husband tell me ONE MORE TIME about the time he had it made table-side and how good it was and how it wasn't the same since...blah, blah, blah...

The green goddess dressing--well, I've craved it since a chef friend, Larry Johnson served it to us at a local restaurant. He said he put everything green in it that he could find.

I do believe that I have an authentic and extremely delicious caesar dressing now. The green goddess? I'm going to post as is, because it is really wonderful, BUT, I'm going to try it again with more basil and more garlic. You will need a food processor. A blender won't do the same work.

SASSY CAESAR DRESSING

2 (2 oz) cans anchovies
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped
2 t. dijon mustard
1 whole egg and one egg yolk, coddled *
2 dashes hot sauce
juice of two lemons (1/4 cup)
1 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated parmigiano regiano cheese

1 cup grated or shredded parmigiano regiano chees
2 heads romaine lettuce
croutons (oh, go on, make your own)

Process the first three ingredients, add the eggs and process well. Combine liquid ingredients (except for the oil) and pour one third into the processor as it's running. Slowly pour in one third of the oil and continue to process. Alternate between the two until everything is used up. Refrigerate at once.

Wash two heads of romaine lettuce, drain, cover in a dish towel and refrigerate for at least an hour to absorb the excess liquid and crisp up.

To assemble, tear up the lettuce into a huge bowl, sprinkle in the cheese, drizzle with the dressing and toss well. Serve and top with your croutons.

*Some recipes recommend doing this, in order to ensure a bacteria-free egg. I did this, but cannot say that I'd recommend it. I've made mayonnaise and aioli and never "treated" the egg. Please use your own judgment. To coddle the eggs, drop them into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds and remove.

GREAT GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

1 bunch green onions, cleaned, chopped, tough green ends cut off (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup lightly packed basil leaves
1/2 cup lightly packed tarragon leaves
1/2 cup lightly packed Italian parsley
4 anchovy fillets
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped
pinch of salt
1 T. capers
2 T. lemon juice (one lemon)
3 T. extra virgin olive oil

Put it all in the processor and run until everything is blended. Add the following and pulse until lightly combined.

2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream

We steamed a huge bunch of asparagus for dinner tonight and topped it liberally with this dressing. Whoa! Even the kids liked it. I'ts all gone, except for enough for me and for Thomas to take to work for lunch. Yummmmm...

This would make a great topping on a simple grilled burger or salmon-burger.

Okay, so we are going to be eating grilled everything with a huge side of caesar salad...every day this week! Anybody want to join us?

That Caesar dressing--my favorite--looks just wonderful...I'll let you know when I try it!

Riene...I'm having some right now! Leftover dressing from Saturday on crisp fresh romaine. Mmmmmmmmmm...

Believe it or not...we're still finding new ways to use that Green Goddess Dressing!

Tonight we made a HUGE sub sandwich.

Split Italian bread, spread Dijon mustard and top with ham and turkey. Then layer on thinly sliced onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, asiago cheese, romaine lettuce and lots and lots of the dressing on top. Cover with the second piece of bread and cut into serving pieces.

Serve with fried okra.