Potato Tortilla

This classic apparently is found at many a Tapas bar in Spain. 'Tis a dense and satisfying large cake, or a frittata or omelet? Call it what you want but it's delicious, easy to make and certainly another way to eat spuds.

Potato Tortilla

1 lb of small potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly with a mandoline
1 Tbsp butter + 1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 large tomato, diced
1/4 each of red, green, yellow pepper, sliced
1/2 cup of mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp of fresh thyme
4 large eggs
1/4 cream + 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup grated smoked Gruyere
salt & pepper
flat leaf parsley for garnish

Using a mandoline, slice your peeled potatoes into thin slices. Now do the same with your onion. Heat your oil & butter in a heavy, ovenproof frying pan.

1. Add the onions, peppers and mushrooms, some salt & pepper over a low heat to soften for 5-10 minutes. Add your potatoes and cook over low heat for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are just tender. Add your thyme and mix well.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, milk and cheese. Add it to the pan with the potato mixture and mix well.
3. Place the frying pan into a pre-heated 375F oven for 30 minutes or until the tortilla's set (should wiggle a tad).
4. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Grilled Pasta Salad

Did I mention I'm going to Greece soon? I have one more agonizing week until I fly off to my Mediterranean retreat. No phones, no clients, no traffic, no humidity...no stress. Has anyone seen the Italian-made movie called Mediterraneo? It's about a boatload of Italian soldiers who are sent to the Greek island of Kastellorizo to occupy the island as part of the Italian WWII campaign. The Italians' boat gets bombed and they end up stranded. At first they resent being stuck in a backward Greek island but soon they mix with the locals, enjoy the simple life.

Rapt in their new Greek way of living worry-free, the war ends and they are collected by their new British allies to be taken back home. They are sad, reluctant and sentimental about leaving such a beautiful life behind. I get this sentiment every time my Greek odyssey comes to an end.

On to the dish. I'm trying to use up what I have in the fridge and I'm careful about what I buy for the remaining week (I hate throwing food out). I watched an episode of Licence to Grill and Rob Rainford made an interesting pasta salad. I had all the ingredients except for the yellow zucchini and tortellini. I simply used penne and good ole' green zucchini. This salad has a balanced flavour, not too tart like many pasta salads and it's backyard/picnic safe as there's no mayonnaise in it.

Click here to follow the instructions for the Grilled Pasta Salad

Paximadia- Greek Toasted Almond Cookies

Paximadia are akin to Biscotti. My mom's being making these for years but I haven't had a real appreciation for them until as of late.

Paximadia are often served with coffee. They are dry and great for dunkin'. I'm a guy and baking isn't my strong suit but I was relieved that these cookies turned out real well, were easy to make and as good as any biscotti I've had in a cafe.

Don't hesitate to make lots as they hold up very well in the freezer.

Also, use them as part of a "thank you" gift to a co-worker. Buy a mug, place some Paximadia in there and wrap them with cellophane and tie it with a ribbon.

Paximadia

4 cups of all-purpose flour (approx. as the dough should be dense yet easy to roll).
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup chopped almonds
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp almond extract
(preheat your oven to 350F)

1. Using your hands, mix the oil, eggs and sugar, vanilla & almond extracts and incorporate well.
2. Add your baking powder and flour and mix well. You should at this time have a soft dough. Add your almonds and mix again.
3. Form four loaves. Using wax paper, pour a cup of sesame seeds and wrap the paper around the loaf so that the sesame seeds coat the entire loaf. Repeat this process for each loaf and place them on a cookie sheet that's been treated with cooking spray.
4. Bake on the middle rack of your oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off your oven. Let cool until you're able to safely handle them.
5. Slice your Paximadia widthwise and lay them back out on the cookie sheet. Place them back in the turned-off oven for at least an hour to dry out. The residual heat of the oven will do the rest of the work.
   

Ratatouille

Most of us bloggers have links to our favourite blogs or links to those blogs we think are of interest. One such blog I think you should all take a look at is Burku's "Almost Turkish". Her dishes are always exquisitely presented, they sound tasty and as a Greek, I'm always interested to see what our neighbors and rivals are up to.

If you're looking for a Greek/Turkish duke-out, look elsewhere...there's none of that in the kitchen!


Burku recently presented her Ratatouille and I just had to try it myself. I assembled it like hers but I made a smaller version, used less tomato for the sauce and substituted her dill for my thyme and added some sliced onions.

The result was a dish of brilliant colours, a peppery vegetable side dish that's fitting for warm or cool months.

What's remarkable is that this pretty dish was very easy to assemble. Have a go & try your own Ratatouille!

Ratatouille (Click here for Burku's recipe)