Green & White

As I’m sitting in front of my computer writing these words, I can hear S upstairs playing his guitar. He's improvising, working on a track. In a little while, he will come downstairs and ask me to come up. He'll want my opinion on the music, ask me if it inspires me to write lyrics and sing to it. And then, perhaps, I will ask him to read what I've been writing here and tell me what he thinks.

I love these habits we have developed, the moments of communication on a creative level and beyond. These small realities of our everyday life are precious and revitalizing.

Another sort of habit we have involves Saturday and Sunday morning treats. Sometimes it’s croissants from the bakery with homemade jam and French press coffee, others it’s something from The Hague open market, in the form mainly of bread rings covered in sesame seeds that they sell at the Turkish stalls and that resemble the Greek ones.

Most of the times, it includes eggs. A brunch of sorts, just for the two of us. During the winter it’s fried eggs with feta. Now, at springtime, it’s poached or boiled eggs with asparagus or avocado, sometimes simply with a sprinkling of sumac and other times a little more complex and adorned, with a lemony, homemade mayonnaise sauce.

This creamy sauce is essentially a thin mayonnaise made with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and egg yolks. It is delicious. It’s sharp, rich and full-bodied and complements perfectly the nutty green and white asparagus, the soft-boiled egg and the slices of ham served over a nicely toasted slice of rye bread.

It’s a good brunch dish to have with friends on a Sunday or even for lunch on a less busy day spent at home.

Green and white asparagus on toasted rye bread with ham, soft-boiled eggs and a creamy, lemony, homemade mayonnaise sauce

This time I blanched/boiled my asparagus, but they’re also quite tasty grilled.

Cook your eggs to your liking. I usually prefer mine runny in the middle (6-minute egg, which I need to share how it’s done with you at some point), but this time I opted for a little firmer (8-minutes).

This homemade mayonnaise contains raw egg yolks so be careful not to serve it to people with compromised immune systems, infants, the elderly, or pregnant ladies. Make sure to use eggs of trustworthy origin and as fresh as possible.

Yield: 6 servings / 1½ cup creamy mayonnaise sauce

Ingredients

for the creamy mayonnaise sauce
4 medium egg yolks
Juice of 1 lemon (70-80 ml)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
150 ml extra virgin olive oil

350 g fresh green asparagus
500 g fresh white asparagus
Extra virgin olive oil
6 thin slices ham
6 large eggs, boiled to your liking
6 rye bread slices, toasted
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: small food processor (or blender), vegetable peeler


Preparation

for the creamy mayonnaise sauce
In the bowl of a food processor (or in a blender), add the egg yolks, lemon and a little salt and pepper, and pulse 2-3 times to blend. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil at a very slow pace through the top of the lid, until incorporated. In the end you will have a thin mayonnaise sauce that resembles a thick dressing rather than the classic stiff mayonnaise, the recipe of which you can find here. Taste and add more salt or pepper if you think it needs it.
Keep the mayonnaise sauce refrigerated and covered until ready to use. Use it the same day you prepare it.


Peel and trim the woody stems of the green asparagus (read in this post how to trim them).
Peel the white asparagus and trim 1 cm off the bottom part of each spear.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil over high heat, add the white asparagus and boil them for 6-8 minutes (depending on their thickness) or until tender, without putting the lid on the pan. Test them by inserting the tip of a knife into one of the spears.
Remove them with a slotted spoon, draining them well, and place them in large plate.

In the same water, add the green asparagus and blanch them for 2-4 minutes (depending on their thickness) or until they are tender, without putting the lid on the pan. You can test them by inserting the tip of a knife into one of the spears. Be careful not to boil them for too long, they need to be a little crunchy.
Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the large plate with the white asparagus.
Toss them with a little olive oil.

Note: Blanching means to plunge raw vegetables or fruit into boiling water, and boil them for a few seconds to a few minutes (depending on the fruit/vegetable), until they slightly soften but still retain their crisp texture and vivid color.

To serve, place the toasted bread slices on plates. Fold on top a slice of ham. Lay 3-4 whole asparagus on top and drizzle some of the mayonnaise sauce over the top. Cut in half the eggs, place them on top and season with salt and pepper. If the eggs are runny, it’s best if you let each person cut open their own egg to watch the yolk ooze out.
Put the mayonnaise sauce in a bowl at the table and let everyone help themselves to more.

Enjoy!

Summer eating

Today was one of those days, when the craving for meat is so strong you don’t dare resist it. When the need to fire up the grill and smell the aromas of sizzling fat and searing meat is impossible to ignore.

Lamb chops are perhaps my favorite kind of meat to grill or barbecue. That small, juicy piece of meat on the bone is so tender and flavorful that can rival even the best beef steak. You can’t help but salivate even at the thought of it being served to you.

The green herb and garlic sauce with olive oil and lemon complements the strong taste of the lamb, and the sweet, cherry tomato salad with the mild red onion brings freshness and cleanses the palate between bites.

The succulent meat, the eating with your hands so indicative of summer, the pungent green sauce, the tomato salad, the cold glass of beer. That’s what summer is all about.
That, and music.

Lamb Chops with Herb and Garlic Sauce, and Tomato and Onion Salad

This is for me the best summer meal for 2 or… 102 people. Adjust the recipe according to how many people you’re cooking for.
Also, a Greek classic accompaniment to lamb chops: Rub some slices of good bread with olive oil and dried oregano and grill them on both sides.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

for the herb and garlic sauce
2 handfuls fresh parsley leaves
1 handful fresh mint leaves
2 garlic cloves, mashed
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

for the lamb chops
20 lamb chops
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

for the tomato salad
A variety of cherry tomatoes, halved
Red onion, sliced
3 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 part red-wine vinegar
Sea salt flakes (I used Maldon)
Freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: small food processor or blender, grill (you can use either a stovetop grill or a barbecue grill - this is the one I use)


Preparation

for the herb and garlic sauce
Add parsley and mint leaves to your food processor or blender, followed by the garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Process until you have a slightly coarse sauce, you don’t want a puree, and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix again and give it a taste. Adjust seasoning. You may find that it needs a bit more acidity in which case you can add more lemon juice.
Put sauce in a small bowl and set aside until ready to use.

for the lamb chops
Trim extra fat from the lamb chops with a sharp knife. They are small and cook very quickly so there’s no time for the extra fat to render. You don’t want to be chewing on uncooked fat.
Dry them on paper towels and pour olive oil over them. Rub it onto the chops and season generously with salt and pepper.

Heat your grill or outdoor barbecue. If you’re using a stovetop grill, make sure to heat it up really well before adding the lamb chops. Add chops to your grill and cook for 2 minutes on each side, for medium. Adjust cooking time depending on the thickness of the lamb chops and your personal preference.

for the tomato salad
Add all the salad ingredients into a big salad plate and toss well with your hands or two spoons. Check the seasoning before serving.

Serve the lamb chops straight from the grill. Have the salad at the table as well as the bowl of herb sauce so everyone can put some sauce on top of each chop.

Enjoy!

The meatloaf

For those of us who are home cooks and crazy about food, it's hard to find like-minded people who share our culinary obsessions.

Whenever I have conversations with friends and acquaintances regarding food, after a while they get bored. They look at me as if I'm talking about stamps whereas I can go on and on about the importance of spices in a good Greek stew for hours.

But when I come here to write or when I visit friends' blogs, I feel at home because I know that we share the same passion; we showcase our dishes, record our thoughts and ideas about food, in the hope that there will be others out there who'll be interested in what we have to say.

Based on that passion, I always get overly excited about the prospect of sharing with you a dish that surprised me with its unique taste, a dish that I immensely enjoyed and that I know you'll love as well.

This is such a dish. It has a Middle Eastern flair and its impressive and beautiful presentation is perfect for these festive days. I never expected to love it since I've never been a fan of meatloaves but let me tell you, I enjoy being proved wrong on such matters.

It is a meatloaf stuffed with quail eggs, dried apricots and walnuts but it doesn't stop there. There's spices and sun-dried tomatoes and fresh mint and all those flavors that titillate the taste buds and make you want to eat more and more and more.

It is served with a sweet tomato sauce with saffron, ginger and long sweet red pepper that is absolutely delicious. This sauce was a revelation. When I tasted it, I imagined all sorts of dishes it could work with—spaghetti, Greek meat patties, a big juicy steak,—my imagination ran wild. It's a slightly spicy sauce with heat coming from the ginger, sweet notes from the sweet pepper and a little sourness from the tomato that complements perfectly the earthy, complex, umami flavor of the meatloaf.

It's the ideal dish to serve for a celebratory dinner, a New Year's feast, or even your Sunday dinner. Make it, share it with the ones you love and enjoy it!

Stuffed Meatloaf with Quail Eggs, Dried Apricots and Walnuts
Slightly adapted from Dutch Delicious

This meatloaf is cooked inside a loaf pan which not only helps hold its shape but also cook uniformly.

If you can't find quail eggs, simply omit them from the recipe. Don't substitute with chicken eggs because they're too large.

You can prepare the meatloaf one or two days in advance, keep it in the refrigerator and bake it on the day you want to serve it.

If you want to make sure your meatloaf is seasoned well before you get it into the loaf pan, you can make a tiny patty with the mixture and cook it in a frying pan. This way you'll know the result will be perfect and you won't run the risk of serving under-seasoned food to your guests.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
200 g dried apricots
12 quail eggs
2 Tbsp olive oil plus extra for greasing the pan
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
500 g minced beef or veal
2 tsp dried mint
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 medium-sized eggs
45 g dried breadcrumbs
100 g walnuts (50 g finely chopped, 50 g whole)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fresh mint leaves, to garnish

Special equipment: loaf pan (23 x 9 x 8 cm) (1½-2 liters capacity), aluminum foil


Preparation
Place the dried apricots in a medium-sized bowl and add enough warm water to cover them completely. Leave to soak for 15 minutes and then drain them. Take half of the apricots and chop them finely, they will be added later to the meatloaf. The other half of the apricots will be added whole, on top of the meatloaf.

In the meantime, add the quail eggs to a small pan and add enough cold water to cover them completely. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes, then rinse under cold running water and peel them. You need to be careful when peeling them because you don't want to break the eggs up. The shell of quail eggs is thin and a little difficult to peel. The secret is in making sure to peel away the inner membrane of the egg together with the shell, otherwise the egg will break up.

While the apricots are soaking and the eggs are boiling, add the olive oil to a medium-sized frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. Once it starts to shimmer, lower heat to medium-low, add the onion, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and sauté for 3-5 minutes until they soften but don't brown.
Empty everything into a large bowl, scraping well the frying pan, and allow to cool. Then add to the bowl the minced beef or veal, the dried mint, the ground coriander and cinnamon, the 2 eggs, the dried breadcrumbs, 50 g finely chopped walnuts, the finely chopped apricots, salt and pepper and mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are well blended.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit.

Take the loaf pan and grease the inside all over with olive oil. Then line the bottom and the sides with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. I use two pieces of foil; one to cover the pan lengthwise and another one to cover it widthwise. Make sure your foil doesn't have any holes otherwise juices will run through and the meatloaf will stick to the pan making it difficult to remove.

Take one-third of the meatloaf mixture and spread it evenly at the bottom of the pan. Take 6 quail eggs and divide them on top of the meatloaf mixture and then add the next one-third of the mixture on top, being careful to press it firmly so it's nice and tight (be careful not to squash the eggs though). Then divide the rest of the quail eggs over the top and add the rest of the meatloaf mixture. Press it well, making sure you have an even top. Cover the top of the meatloaf with the whole apricots and walnuts and then cover with the overhanging foil.
At this point, you can place the meatloaf in the fridge and keep it for one-two days. Take it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before baking it, so it can come to room temperature.

Place the loaf pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake the meatloaf, covered with the foil, for 50 minutes. Then uncover the top of the meatloaf and bake for 10 more minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven and allow the meatloaf to cool for 5 minutes. Then, remove the meatloaf from the pan carefully by pulling it out by the overhanging foil. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then remove the foil from the meatloaf carefully so it doesn't break. Transfer the meatloaf to a platter and garnish with some fresh mint leaves.

Serve, cut into slices, with the sweet tomato sauce.

Sweet Tomato Sauce with Ginger and Saffron
Slightly adapted from Dutch Delicious

As with the meatloaf, this sauce can be made one to two days in advance and be kept in the fridge. Just reheat it before serving.

Yield: about 400 ml / 6-8 servings

Ingredients
Pinch of saffron threads
100 ml dry white wine
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, mashed
3 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 long sweet red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp runny honey
400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh mint leaves, to garnish

Special equipment: immersion blender or regular blender or food processor


Preparation
Add the saffron threads to a small bowl and pour over the wine. Allow the saffron to soak for 5 minutes.

In a medium-sized saucepan, add the olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, turn heat down to medium-low, add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté for 3-5 minutes until they soften. Then add the red pepper, the cinnamon and the honey and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Add the wine with the saffron and the canned whole tomatoes and crush them with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper, bring the sauce to the boil and turn heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on.

When the sauce is ready, use an immersion blender to blend the sauce directly in the pan until you have a smooth sauce. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer the sauce to a regular blender or food processor and process there.

At this point, you can refrigerate the sauce for up to two days and reheat it when you want to serve it.

Garnish the sauce with fresh mint leaves and serve with the meatloaf.

The Pizza, Part Two: The Sauce

I used to be one of those people who slathered their pizza dough with store-bought tomato sauce. And I liked it. Or, I thought I did, because the truth is I was just used to its insipid taste.

But then I realized that there was actually no point in me making my own pizza dough if I was going to use ready made sauce. Something was amiss. It defied the whole purpose of the "eat-things-you-know-what-they-have-in-them" thing I got going on so I decided to start making my own.

I have never looked back. Especially when I can get my hands on some good tomatoes and make fresh tomato sauce. There are thankfully some good tomatoes left, until the end of October that is, and after that, I think I'll have to share with you my other tomato sauce, the one made with canned tomatoes.

Let's start with the fresh tomato sauce, though. This is pretty straightforward, as it should be, since pizza sauce must be a vehicle for carrying other flavors, those of the various toppings, and not be overwhelming and define the flavor of the whole pie. That of course doesn't mean that it has to be boring. Far from it.

Fresh, juicy, grated tomatoes, a little garlic, dried bay leaf and Greek oregano, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, salt, black pepper. That's it. Not that you need anything more. In making the sauce, what you essentially want is to slowly cook it down, for almost forty minutes, until most of the liquid from the tomatoes evaporates and you're left with that concentrated tomato flavor that is felt throughout when you eat a slice of the pizza.

The taste, to me, is perfection. It's exactly how I want a pizza sauce to be; a slightly caramelized fresh tomato sauce with sweet and sharp notes, highly aromatic, with a hint of garlic, a sauce with a deep flavor that is above all, delicious. Yes, this is the one for me. I hope it'll be the one for you too.

Fresh Tomato Sauce for Pizza

Don't be tempted to process or blend the tomatoes. It's best that you grate them because firstly, you get rid of their skin easily and secondly, you don't end up with a purée but with small pieces of tomatoes and their juices, which is exactly what you want.

Yield: enough for 4 large pizzas

Ingredients
30 ml (2 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, mashed or finely grated
4 medium-sized, vine-ripened tomatoes (500-550 g), grated on the coarse side of the grater
1 large dried bay leaf
A big pinch of dried oregano, preferably Greek
½ tsp caster sugar
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt, to taste

Special equipment: box grater


Preparation
In a small saucepan, add the olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer, add the mashed or finely grated garlic and sauté for a minute, being careful not to burn it and stirring constantly, until you start to smell its intoxicating aroma.
Add the grated tomatoes, the bay leaf, oregano, sugar, black pepper and salt to taste, and stir well with a spoon. Allow the sauce to come to the boil and immediately turn heat down to low.

Simmer the sauce for about 40 minutes, with the lid half on, stirring from time to time and making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, until most of the liquid has evaporated (you don't want a completely dry sauce) and you are left with a thick sauce.
Check the seasoning, adding more salt or pepper if you find it necessary and let the sauce cool. Then remove and discard the bay leaf.
The sauce is now ready to be slathered onto your pizza dough.

You can keep the sauce in the fridge for a day or two.

Previously: The Pizza, Part One: The Dough

Next up: Three of my favorite pizzas. Stay tuned!