The Greek Food

Tag: oven

  • Antonis Turkey Breast with Rice and mushrooms

    Antonis Turkey Breast with Rice and mushrooms

    This is one of those recipes that are created in an instant…and for some reason they have great success. A really good way to cook Turkey but also chicken I am guessing. (By the way I didn’t knew how to name it  so i took the chance to claim the recipe name…)

    Well, it all started when my brother came and told me that he needed to change his diet in order to manage and get his blue belt in Kick Boxing as he had to go through a 3 hour grading. After giving me a 10 min lecture about the types of food that we should eat … he added turkey to the foods we should eat as its much healthy.

    No problem then…we will cook something with turkey inside. Nope…we won’t do a Christmas turkey…but something different.

    As always after that …family talk…   went to Sainsbury’s in London and bought 700 grams of Turkey breast for the oven I did the most sensible thing that a Greek 30 year old would do before he started cooking… I called my mom…

    So ok…I wanted to try to cook turkey but nothing came to my mind…Luckily my mom never gets out of ideas. After 10 mins of extensive questioning on the phone (which means an increased mobile bill for me..:(.. ) this is what happened:

    INGREDIENTS

    • 500-700 grams of turkey breast. (alternatively im guessing you can use chicken)
    • A small teaspoon of Paprika
    • 1-2 lemons
    • Mustard (English?)
    • One Cup of rice
    • One red onion
    • Salt and Pepper
    • Mushrooms cut
    • A small bunch of parsley and dill (if you have fresh even better)
    • Olive Oil

    METHOD

    You take the turkey breast and slice it in pieces. Not too small but not too big so it won’t take too much time to cook it. If it has the skin, then leave it on top. Add the salt and pepper

    Take an oven pan and place on top of it aluminium foil and on top Baking foil. The baking foil will help protect the food from aluminium not to touch the food but also the aluminium foil will keep all the heat inside as the food is being cooked. The food should something like this: You place the turkey in the middle and add on top of it the mushrooms that are already cut, and the onions.

    After that…here comes the magic… In a glass you add, olive oil…. Two fingers J , one spoon of Mustard, a little bit of paprika, and the juice from the 2 lemons adding reaaaaaaaaally little water…just a zip. You pour the mixture on top of the food being careful that it is not too much and spills outside of the foil. When you are done, you carefully seal the food closing it from all sides and making sure that the mixtures is being kept inside.

    You should add water on the sides of the baking pan. So as you place it in the oven, the water outside the food will start to boil and help the turkey to cook and so will the mixture inside the foil where it will release all those nice flavours. (I sound like Jamie Oliver now..)

    Let it cook for 1 hour at least in 200-230c adding water on the pan from time to time Check it after 1 hour and if you feel it needs more time continue for 20-30 mins more. As the turkey is being cooked in the oven prepare the rice as you please and place it in the plates adding some parsley and dill on top. It should look more or less like this 🙂

  • Gemista – Greek Stuffed tomatoes and peppers

    Gemista – Greek Stuffed tomatoes and peppers

    The following is by far my favourite Greek Dish. Ok this and souvlakia which you can read here. Well, both ways Gemista is a recipe I really like to cook and one of the most traditional Greek recipes you can find.

    It takes a lot of time though and needs some preparation, so don’t start to do it if you really don’t have time.

    Nevertheless if you try it once, I am sure you will try it again… Just before we go to the ingredients, a simple note, the size of the peppers and tomatoes must be more or less the same or else its possible some of them not be rightly cooked..

    In Greece many people debate whether Gemista should be served with minced meat or without making them a purely Vegetarian food. As if we didn’t had any other reasons to fight… Thats the reason why the recipe is placed in multiple categories on my blog. The only thing that you have to do is prepare the stuffing with the minced meat and the rest is more or less the same.

    The truth is that either way its great. It is a great dish especially for the summer when tomatoes and peppers are at their best!

    INGREDIENTS FOR GEMISTA (GREEK STUFFED TOMATOES AND PEPPERS) RECIPE

    Gemista
    Stuffed tomatoes, peppers and potatoes
    • 500gr of minced meat beef
    • 4-5 beef tomatoes and 1 pepper
    • 1 cup of rice
    • 1 onion finely chopped
    • 2cloves of garlic
    • 1 small bunch of parsley chopped
    • Olive Oil, salt, pepper
    • 1 can of tomato juice.

    HOW TO COOK GEMISTA

    • First of all we need to make the stuffing that we are going to fill in the vegetables.
    • We need to cut the tomatoes making a little “hat” on top of them and with a spoon to remove all of its inside. Dont throw it away,we will need it!
    • So go ahead and grab a deep frying pan and add 2 tea spoons of olive oil and in medium heat throw in the onions and the garlic. Let them sizzle a bit and stir them. Be careful not to burn them.
    • Throw the minced meat in and stir it well until it becomes brownish.
    • Add Salt, pepper and 2-3 teaspoons of oregano. Pour the tomato juice and the inside juice from the tomatoes you have removed. Let it cook for 5-6 minutes making sure you stir it in the mean time.
    • Add the rice and then fill the frying pan with water and let it boil. Let it cook and taste it in the mean time to make sure that the rice is cooked..
    • As it is being cooked the water will evaporate and a lit bit before its done you should add the chopped parsley removing it from the heat
    • You need to stuff the tomatoes and the peppers with the mixture.
    • Take a spoon and simple add the mixture inside but dont over do it because that might crack the tomatoes.
    • When you fill them, you need to close the tomatoes and peppers with the tops.
    • Bake it in a preheated oven for around an hour…an hour and a half. Make sure that your pan, has always a bit of water in it. For the pan i have on the picture i just added a glass. The water evaporates making sure the tomatoes are getting softer.
    • When the vegetables become slightly blackened on the sides then it’s ready. Don’t serve it immediately but let it “mellow” for some minutes.
    • It is best done with oven baked potatoes which you can add in the same pan.

    This is typically a summer food that you can have even cold. Hope you enjoy it!

    Gemista
    Our Stuffed tomatoes and Peppers are ready!
  • Oven baked pasta

    Oven baked pasta

    The following is a recipe that is…pretty basic. Nevertheless, it adds a little spice in it and makes everyone believe that is really special and gourmet when …it isn’t 😀

    For some reason, if you put some extra care to it you might make something really special. After all oven baked pasta always reminds me of food coming from my grandmother for some reason. Or at least cooked in the country side rather than the center of London

    So…here we go..

    OVEN BAKED PASTA INGREDIENTS

    • 500gr of lazagne
    • 1 single cream
    • 400gr of feta cheese
    • 100 gr of regato cheese
    • 150 gr of bacon sliced
    • 8 slices of Gouda cheese

    Ok, now that you have seen the ingredients you realized that is not something low on calories right? 🙂

    Either way, it is so simple that you will be amazed. Well, at least i was when i did it the first time.

    Boil the lazagne like you would always do and when they are ready just drain them and add them in a big baking pan.

     

    just came out from the oven!
    just came out from the oven!

    Add on top of them the crumbled feta cheese and the regato cheese as well as the bacon.  Make sure, using a spoon that you stir them and they go everywhere.

    Now pure the cream and  add the slices of Gouda cheese on top so they cover the pasta from top.  Put it in the oven for 30 minutes on 180c and you are done.

     

    Different versions

    Usually I like to put things like bacon or peppers, but sausage will do also ..it will make it however a little bit more “heavy” for some. In any case it depends on you…the melting cheese will make the difference either way.

     

    Oven-Baked-Pasta

     

  • Fast Recipe: Chicken with potatoes

    Fast Recipe: Chicken with potatoes

    Well, anyone wants to make a reaaaaally good impression on a first date, and you know what they say… love must to pass first from the stomach. So lets imagine the following situation…you promised your loved one food… and he or she is coming in 45 mins to 1 hour ….Aw…how unlucky…you don’t have anything in the fridge… You need something fast that will leave you time to do other things in the mean time… shower…clean up the mess in the house… etc etc..

    Ok lets get down to business!

    /rocky music playing on the background

    INGREDIENTS

    400grs of Chicken (any part you like)

    2-3 big potatoes cut in various sizes

    1 glass of olive oil

    1 spoon of mustard

    Salt and Pepper

    METHOD

    Easy Peasy.

    In a big oven tray. Add the chicken and the potatoes.  In a glass, add the olive oil, the mustard, salt and pepper and stir well.  Pour the mix all the ingredients.

    Heat up the oven and  cook it for around 45-1 hour in high heat.

    Open up a beer!