Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads belong to the fern family of plants and from my knowledge, they only grow in the northeast of Canada and the United States.

Their growing season is relatively small and yesterday I bought them for $3.99/lb. - not exactly cheap.

From what I've read, they are best picked when they just emerge from the damp soil, four or five inches in height, tightly coiled to resemble the tuning head of a violin.

I like eating these with a simple preparation: Salt, pepper, minced garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

Fiddleheads

1 lb. of fresh fiddleheads
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

1. Rinse them several times(usually 3-4 times works), to clean off the remaining brown scales.
   
2. Chop off the yellowish or brownish ends of the stems. Bring a pot of water to boil and add some salt.
   
3. Add the fiddleheads to the boiling water. Cook until they are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Dress with minced garlic, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve hot.
   

Tangy Maple Mustard Rack of Lamb

This recipe is about ten years old. My ex and I would have these wonderful days of shopping, cooking, eating with each other. When picking up wine, we'd often also collect recipe cards that were produced by local Ontario wineries.

To this date, I cannot find the recipe card but I've made this dish enough times to remember the ingredients and with some playing around with the measurements, I've got it down.

Before anyone excuses me of snapping up a recipe as my own...let it be said that I only recall that this recipe was in a booklet of dishes presented by the winery Jackson-Triggs. If anyone recognizes the recipe and remembers the chef who created this dish, please let me know so that I can give due credit.

There are many who are "iffy" on lamb. This is the dish that will convert the lamb-hater. Worried about lamb's gamey flavour? Not here.

Looking for a lamb recipe that's moist and succulent? This is the one.

Want to impress someone on a date or dinner guests with minimal effort? Try this recipe.

Preparation need only be done one hour ahead of time. I like to serve couscous and some type of seasonal green with the lamb. As you can see in the photo, fiddleheads were the chosen green.

Without further adieu, here's the marinade for these succulent lamb chops...guaranteed to be fingah-lickin' good!

Tangy Maple Mustard Rack of Lamb
(for 4)

2 racks of lamb loin
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of Maple syrup
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. sea salt

Pre-heated oven, set to broil

1. Rinse and pat-dry your racks of lamb. Turn the racks to their underside and using a knife, scrape some of the silver skin to loosen enough of it to be held by your fingers. Tear if off the racks and discard it.
2. In a bowl, add all the ingredients together, mix with a spoon and spread the marinade all over your racks of lamb. Marinate at room temperature for an hour.
3. Pre-heat your broiler and place your oven rack to the position closest to the broiler. Reserve any excess marinade and place in a small sauce pan and gently heat up and reserve. Season your lamb racks with some coarse salt and fresh ground pepper.
   
4. Set your racks of lamb face up (bone side down) on the tray and place under the broiler for 5 minutes a side for medium-rare. Brush reserved warm marinade over the top of the racks of lamb.
   
5. Allow your racks of lamb to rest for 5 minutes before carving.
6. Serve with fluffed couscous and some seasonal vegetables.
   

Amygdalota

Today is the Patron Saints' Day for Constantine & Helen in the Greek-Orthodox calendar. For those of you who are Greek or those who are friends of Greeks, you'll know that we have alot of Constantines and Helens out there.

My brother plus three first cousins share being named after my maternal grandfather, Konstantinos. My mom's sister is named Eleni. My uncle's wife is named Elly (from Helen). One of my first cousins just gave birth to a baby girl who will be baptized Konstantina. We have friends of the family who also have Constantines & Helens in the family.

The phones will be ringing off the hook in our household and in Greece. It is a modern custom to give family or friends a phone call to wish the person who's celebrating their "Name Day" a "Hronia Polla"!

This modern custom is an extension of a fading tradition where friends and relatives would drop by the home and pay their respects with their presence. However, the custom is that on this day, guests DO NOT bring gifts. The celebrant (or family) is responsible for treating guests to an offering of food, snacks, a drink or a coffee with sweets.

This past weekend when Sam from Greek Food, Recipes & Reflections dropped by, my mom was in the midst of making some Greek Amygdalota cookies in anticipation of friends and relatives dropping by.

Amygdalota are a fabulous little cookie. Think Amaretti but the almonds are not roasted. Think Macaroon, but with ground almond. The first time I had these cookies was in the small, postcard perfect Greek island of Hydra.

It's located in the Saronic Gulf, not too far from Athens and it's town bylaws prohibit the use of automobiles (save for municipal services) on the island.

Through my travels to many Greek islands, I've noticed that a few other islands have jumped on the Amygdalota bandwagon and go on to produce their own island's version.

Today, these almond cookies can be found all over Greece and can be bought in practically every bakery. There are nuances to the recipes, like the use of different essences, orange blossom being the most common.

My mom's recipe stick's to the key ingredient, almonds and she adds a few drops of almond extract to underline this delicate cookie's main ingredient.

Amygdalota

4 cups of blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups of white sugar
4 tsp. of almond extract
4 egg whites, room temp.

A large handful of of almonds, cut in half

1. In a blender or food processor, pulse in batches into a fine grind.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients until well-mixed and stiff.
4. Drop 1 inch mounds (1 inch apart) onto the sheet. Gently place an almond half into the center of each cookie.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until firm at the edges but still soft in the center and golden.
6. Remove from the oven and foil or parchment to a wire rack to cool. When cool, peel off and store in a tightly covered container.
   

Broiled Red Mullet With Garlic and Herbs

Can you tell which pair of fish are Red Mullets and which are the pretenders? These two species of Mediterranean fish get mixed up all the time and often, one gets ripped off with the poorer, harder to clean cousin.

Red Mullet is a prized fish of the Mediterranean, ever costly and like much of the tastier fish, harder to find. It's imposter is the Koutsomoura(goatfish).

Although both fish taste good, the red mullet is prized for it's red colour, tastes great and I think most importantly, for it's large spinal column structure. In short, this fish is easy to eat - as their are fewer pin bones for the eater to fuss about with.

I know the suspense is killing you all, right? Riiiiiight!

The top pair of fish are Koutsomoures (goatfish) and the bottom pair are Red Mullets (Barbounia). Bottom line? Recognize the difference if you see them at your fish monger.

The red mullet is expensive for a reason - it tastes good and it's easy to clean and bone. The goatfish is an imposter who's a tough customer when it comes to cleaning. Don't get ripped off by paying a high price for goatfish.

I was quite lucky to find some red mullet this week at one of the fish mongers I frequent. It's been a couple of years since I last ate them and I bought them without thinking twice about the price.

My preference would have been to grill them but Toronto's had another bout of cold weather and I really wasn't in the mood to shiver. Solution? The broiler.

Again, when available fresh, I always opt for bone-in, whole fish as I find them tastier and moist. If one visits Greece, one should indulge in the bounty of the sea and ask your waiter for the catch of the day.

Today, I recommend red mullet.

Broiled Red Mullet With Garlic & Herbs
(for 2)

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
sea salt and pepper
2 red mullets, scaled & gutted
1 tsp. of lemon thyme
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Finishing garnish
extra-virgin olive oil
coarse sea salt
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried Greek oregano
lemon wedges

1. Pre-heat your broiler. To a bowl, add your lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper, parsley and thyme and whisk together. Brush the mixture inside & out of the fish and place on a greased baking sheet.
2. Broil the fish for about 5 minutes, baste again and turn over and broil for another 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix the the garlic, parsley and oregano and sprinkle over top of the just cooked fish. Finish with some good extra-virgin olive oil and coarse sea salt.
   

Caesar Salad

My eating diet can be summed up in two seasons: Soup season and salad season. With the exception of the cold soup, it's salad days indeed. The only other exception I make when it comes to eating a salad 'year 'round is a Caesar Salad.

We've all had Caesar Salad and surely we've all had a bad Caesar Salad. Your quest for the ultimate Caesar Salad ends here. I have, what I consider to be the ultimate Caesar Salad.

Another early influence on my foodie DNA has to be my Theo (uncle) Vangeli, 1st cousin to my mom. Theo Vangeli came to Canada a young man and worked the restaurant trade for all of his working life.

This man to this day is culinary gold, having worked in an age when family restaurants made EVERYTHING from scratch. Theo Vangeli was an early riser, making the morning shift his work preference. In the old'skool fashion, he'd make sauces, soups of the day, prepare daily specials like Shepherd's Pie or a big tray of lasagna. His morning was also not complete without the preparation of a big, heaping pail of Caesar Salad dressing.

Today, I'm sharing with you, my Theo Vangeli's Caesar Salad dressing. It's a keeper.

An important note: this recipe uses only fresh, farm eggs so anyone sheepish about Salmonella or pregnant women might want to coddle your eggs before proceeding with this recipe.

Another aspect (s) I'd like to point out with a proper Caesar Salad is pay attention to detail:

• wash & dry your Romaine lettuce thoroughly
• make your own Croutons
• use real bacon

Caesar Salad

Dressing
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 fresh farm egg yolks
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. anchovy paste (or 2 fillets)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp. black pepper
splash of water
1/3 cup olive oil + 2/3 cup vegetable oil
salt to taste

Romaine Lettuce, throughly washed and dried
Homemade Croutons
Crispy bacon pieces

1. Using your food processor, add all the dressing ingredients except for the oil and the salt. Start processing on a medium speed for a couple of minutes or until you have a thick, yellowish cream.
2. Slowly pour your oil through the spout until you get a thick, creamy Caesar dressing.
3. Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and sometimes, some more lemon juice. Keeps for up to 1 week in the fridge.
4. In a large salad bowl, add your Romaine lettuce and a dollop of dressing and toss to coat. If the salad is too dry, add some more dressing and toss to coat.
5. Grate some fresh Parmesan, a squeeze of lemon juice, a turn of fresh black pepper and top with Croutons and crispy bacon.
   

Baklava For Breakfast?

Well, almost. Baklava is a rich dessert of nuts and spices, sandwiched by thin sheets of phyllo and finished off with a lemony syrup.

Who would imagine having such a decadent dessert for breakfast? Why, it would be Elly of Elly Says OPA!

Elly is much like myself, a first-generation Greek who grew up outside of Greece but held onto her culture, religion and cuisine.

It was only yesterday that Elly posted her take on a breakfast baklava. She incorporated the fundamental flavours of baklava into a French Toast.

Here in Canada, it's a long weekend and we're celebrating Victoria Day, a testament to this country's Anglo beginnings. What does one do when you have an extra day off?

Make a decadent breakfast!

Breakfast Baklava French Toast
(for 2)

4 slices of bread, crusts trimmed off
3 large eggs
splash of orange juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
splash of vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. of honey
splash of milk
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
butter
Maple Syrup

Baklava filling
1 handful of nuts (I used walnuts)
1 tsp. of ground clove
1 tsp. of honey

1. Using your food processor, add the nuts and ground cloves and pulse until you get a granular consistency (like that of coarse salt. Remove contents and add to a bowl and and mix in the honey with a spoon and reserve.
2. In a bowl large enough to hold your slices of bread, add the eggs, orange juice, honey, milk, vanilla and cinnamon and whisk until incorporated.
3. Pre-heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Place some baklava filling in between two slices of bread to form a sandwich (reserve some filling for garnish).
5. Carefully dunk the both sides of your "sandwich" into the egg mixture and make sure enough liquid has penetrated the bread (this makes for a moister French toast).
6. Add some butter to your skillet and when it starts to sizzle, place your French toast in the skillet and fry each side for a couple of minutes or until golden-brown. Keep warm and fry off your remaining French toasts in batches.
7. Carefully cut your French toast diagonally in half (this emulates the usual diamond shape of a piece of baklava). Plate your French toast, finish with some reserved baklava filling, good Maple Syrup, a sprinkle of cinnamon and icing sugar and some lemon peel for garnish.