My name is Despina and I come from a long line of all-Greek people (doesn't quite have the ring to it that all-American does). Now, what this means is that I have a lot in common with Maura because, as we all know, Greek people love to come together to argue--sorry, discuss--to sing old songs, to drink and, my personal favourite (yes the 'u' does belong there...I grew up in Australia), to eat!

I have kept an eye on "Cuisine Mo" for quite some time now and I do believe that Mo and I have similar taste in food.

In her Blog, Maura talks about her hopes for this forum and one of the things she says is that if you were in her home she would offer you some tea (or something stronger) and then she'd force you to eat something. Well, I like that concept, so I would like to begin offering up recipes for yummy foodlets.

Yes, I have experience in food preparation. I am Greek, which everyone knows means loads of experience with food, and I was at one time chef/owner of Despina's International Cafe & Salon Gallery. (Coffee house, art, international cuisine and live music.) Rather ambitious project that did not survive a small conservative southern town! The town is growing, but the growth is slow and people's tastes do not change overnight...I did learn my lessons.

Now, on to the good stuff--food.

I will leave you to contemplate this chunk of information and I will return to post a recipe some time this week. If you would like to do the same, please, please do so. Additionally, if you would like to make a request for a certain type of dish, let me know and I'll seek it out for you.

F.Y.I. If you visit Tim O'Brien's web site, read his on the road log--it has great descriptions of food he's eating on the road. Guinness, goat and bacon & eggs were mentioned in the one I read this morning.

Cheers,

That is a cool idea...

I will have to find a recipe... I must admit...I am not sure Maura and I have simlilar ideas in food. I am not a big fish or bean eater. I remember looking at recipes that had some of those things...
I always like the names though (like Salmon Chanted evening)!

I like your idea Despina... I have a few possible additions. I am not a great cook, but I try.

Mike

Mike:

No problem! Just share something--if you like it, why wouldn't others like it too.

Having grown up Greek I tend to like all kinds of strange things, so lentils are favourites...I have recipes for a traditional lentil soup, for a lentil salad that we use as a side to a good steak or pan-seared salmon or even roasted chicken.

Perhaps you'll try some of my recipes...whenever I post them?

Until then,
Despina

Despinas Onion Marmalade

16 yellow onions, sliced thinly
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup blonde raisins
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
2 cups tomatoes with juice, chopped (canned are fine)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup bourbon
1 tsp oregano
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water

On high, heat oil and butter in large pan and add all onions at once. Stir well and continue until onions have browned lightly. Reduce heat to medium and continue to watch and stir, allowing the natural onion juices & sugars to be released. When the onions have been reduced by about half, add salt, oregano, chili powder, tomatoes and sugar. Stir and allow to cook 10 minutes further, stirring as needed. Add the bourbon, vinegar, raisins and water and reduce heat to low. Continue to cook for about 15-20 minutes, stirring as needed.

If the mixture becomes too dry, add water in 1/4 cup increments. Allow onions enough time to cook down to a very soft texture. Remove from heat and refrigerate.

Ideally, should be served at room temperature over roasted or grilled meats. May be served hot, if preferred. Great as a topping for grilled bratwurst or Italian sausage, even on a hot and spicy sausage biscuit for a brunch offering.

Will keep well under refrigeration for about two weeks.

It may be obvious to all that this makes a lot of onion marmalade. Please feel free to reduce quantities, but it's so yummy, you may not want to.

PLEASE...let me know how you do.

I would like to try this recipe... I will try it at some point before my next party, etc. that I will be going to. Hopefully, soon. It sounds like a very good recipe.

I have a great recipe for penne a la vodka.....Also, I have a recipe for some kind of steak in a red wine sauce. It is very good. I will post soon.

Thanks for the recipe. Sounds very appetizing (No fish for me.!)

Mike, I'd love to see that recipe for Penne. Will be watching.

Take care.


Mmmm...I am feeling hungry already and it's only a little after 8:00 am.

Okay, I must admit that this recipe is not mine ( I "borrowed" it from the website "www.epicurious.com"). My recipe did not come with me when I moved a couple of years ago.

However, I did try this recipe and it is very, very good. By the way, Penne a la vodka is probably one of my most favorite dishes.

PENNE DELICIOSO A LA VODKA

This recipe can easily be made low carb or low fat by substituting the penne for low carb pasta and using fat free 1/2&1/2 for the cream.

2 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, cut in half
1 large or 2 small chicken breasts, cut in chunks
6 oz. italian sausage
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil
1/4 c. vodka
1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream, half and half, or fat free half and half
1 12 oz. package penne pasta
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a large skillet over medium heat olive oil, then saute chicken and sausage until no longer pink. Add garlic and red pepper. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until garlic is soft but not brown. Stir in tomatoes (including juice), breaking up a bit with fork, and 1/2 of the basil, reserving the other half for garnish. Add salt and pepper and simmer 5-10 minutes.Stir in vodka and cook 15 minutes more.

While the sauce is simmering,
Cook pasta al dente. Strain well and return to the warm pot.

Stir cream into sauce and cook 10 minutes more. Toss with hot pasta. Garnish with remaining basil and parmesan cheese.

4 to 6

Yuuuuuum!!!

Will have to try this one soon. Cream sauces and pasta--well, you just know that there IS a God!

Thanks so much.

I am not good at describing flavors...but it is very good. You cannot taste the vodka. Supposedly it the alchohol burns off when cooking...


By the way, this is similar to the recipe that I had a few years ago..mine did not call for sausage, which I love.

It kind of tastes a little like tomato sauce...but not really... I dont know, but it is probably my biggest weakness when dining out...Then I wonder why I cant lose these last five pounds...

Vodka is just alcohol. It is there only to enhance the other flavours. While adding red wine to a tomato-based sauce adds spicy notes AND enhances the other flavours, vodka (without a flavour of its own) is there only to bring out the best in the existing flavours.

Hmmm, why is it that this blog always makes me hungry?

Well, this is right...

Hello, all!

Been on vacation in beautiful Salt Lake City area. Some in the city and some up in the mountains. Some eating and some hiking. Good balance.

Time for a recipe. How about a wonderful lentil salad to eat warm or cold? I know, I know...not for everyone, but probably something that Maura would really enjoy. We eat it often at our house. There are many variations, but this is the simple one that we enjoy the most.


LOTS OF DIFFERENT LENTILS...and some of their friends.

Pour a 1 lb bag of brown lentils in a colander & rinse under cold running water. Dump whole thing in a pot with enough water to cover lentils by 2 inches. Add 2 cloves chopped garlic and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to med-high boil and cook only until lentils are 'al dente', just like pasta. (Add more water as the lentils cook, if needed.) Drain and set aside in a large bowl. (Large bowl for tossing and you can transfer to smaller bowl later. If the bowl is not large enough here then you'll end up with mashed lentils--not a pretty thing.)

To the lentils, you may want to add more salt. Taste and adjust to suit you. Add enough freshly cracked black pepper to suit you also.

Pour in 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 1 cup extra virgin olive oil.

Chop 1/2 large red onion, 2 cloves garlic (yes, two more) and 1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley or cilantro. Throw all that into the bowl.

Cut into chunks about 6 oz (more if you really, really like it) of Feta cheese and dump that on top of the other stuff on top of the lentils.

Now, very gently and with a big enough spoon, lovingly toss all this stuff together until everything is evenly distributed.

At this point you can serve immediately or refrigerate overnight and bring to room temp. to serve. I recommend that you drink a nicely chilled sauvignon blanc and play Maura's latest cd when you prepare this. It will just make all the stress of your day melt away.

*Optional: Additionally, you can add 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, 1/4 cup chopped and pitted black Greek olives, 2 Tbsp capers or substitute the Feta cheese for that good creamy goat cheese.

Let me know what you think.

Add your own recipe to our [slowly] growing mix.

French Potato Salad

I don't know what makes this French, but I found this (or something like it) in a French Country Cooking book many, many years ago. Lost the book, but the recipe remains in my head and this is what it's evolved to.

10 medium russet potatoes with skin on, scrubbed and rinsed
9 large eggs
Dump into a large pot, fill with water, add 2 T salt, and boil. Remove eggs after 5 minutes and the potatoes when cooked through but still slightly firm. Drain potatoes and spray with cold water. Allow to cool enough to handle.

1 med-large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
cup Italian parsley, chopped
cup Dijon-style mustard (I like the kind with horseradish for the added zing)
1 cups mayonnaise (Disclaimer: Here, in the south--U.S.we only approve of one brand and thats Dukes, so unless you can substitute Dukes with your own home-made mayonnaise, I cannot be responsible for how this recipe turns out.)
2 T. white vinegar
1 T red wine vinegar
Combine all of these ingredients in a very large bowl.

Peel eggs and potatoes. Slice and chop eggs, add to bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Peel potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and slice across. Nice chunky slices. Add potatoes to the bowl and taste. If they need a little more salt, well, you know what to do; if they dont, just add pepper.

lb bacon, cooked very crisp and chopped.
Add bacon to the bowl and toss everything gently and with great love. All food tastes better when you do this love thing. Cover bowl and set in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Best when its 8 hours, so that all the flavours come together to hold hands and jump up and down around your taste buds when you eat this. Mmmmmmm.

Made some this morning for our dinner tonight to serve with a ham that's already cooking in the crockpot. As you may be able to tell from the ingredients, in my family, we cook for a lot of people. Tonight, its me, my husband, his daughter, her husband and daughter and the one thats on the wayand we all have enthusiastic appetites!

One thing that I forgot. Depending on the type of bacon you buy, you MAY need the entire pound.

Dinner went well last night. Leftovers tonight.