mid-week.

Today it's gray outside, yes, even in Greece we miss the "light" sometimes..I'm having my meetings with the architect and a worker to see how we can make a fence around the house. I love to reach out to the world, be a good/better person, but I do want to get rid of uninvited people late at night at my door! Then I'll visit the gym, cause it's been a while and it will be good for my mind as well.. I feel like keeping things simple today. When I think like this pasta comes to mind...What sauce should I make?
Pasta with spinach? With fish? With minced meat? I think I'll just make a sweet tomato sauce, my son loves that , so it's always okay. I just buy some ripe tomatoes, chop them up in the blender, fry some garlic in a bit of butter,add the tomatoes, some salt, sugar, oregano and thyme and I let this sauce simmer for about an hour. If you want the perfect sauce, throw in a piece of pork meat, preferably with the bone attached to it and let it do it's work... After one hour you take out the bone, check the seasoning and boil your favorite pasta. Always keep a bit of the water you've boiled the pasta in...It's a fine tip from my Italian friends..
Pour the sauce over the boiled pasta, stir well, so the sauce sticks to the pasta (together with the water you have kept) and add freshly grated parmesan... Serve with extra parmesan and pepper..
With a glass of red wine and a fresh green salad this is great ! Dessert will be Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts..
Love that meal !

with love,
esther.

December is here !

The Holiday season is getting closer, may we all have a perfect month!!!
It's the time of the year when I want to cook everything...from homemade cookies to grilled deer..Where to start ? I'll kick off this month by decorating the house with lots of candles (the ones that smell like cinnamon and vanilla) and for the garden I have some beautiful little lights..The house already looks wonderful, smells like Christmas...I've made some gingerbread cookies last ight, my son's favourite and today I'm so much in the mood for a slow roast pork belly with lentils...might have nothing to do with Christmas, but you know what? This is what I'll cook toady...The pork can bubble away by itself while we set up the tree and listen to Frankie, who's dreaming of a white Christmas...and so are we...!!

1-1,5 ribless pork belly.
1 tbsp sea salt
1tbsp fennel seeds
2 red onions, cut into wedges
5 garlic cloves
200 gr. lentile
250ml white wine
250 ml chicken stock
handful of parsley, chopped
3 tbsp double cream

Unroll the pork belly, pat it dry and rub it with the salt and fennel seeds.
Place the rest of the ingedients except for the parsley and the cream, in a slow cooker and mix.
Place the pork belly on top of the lentils, skin side up, cover with the lid and cook on a low heat for 6 hours.
Stir the cream and parsley through the lentils and serve with the pork and dig in !

Have a great meal and don't forget to share it with your loved ones...


with love,
esther.

rough start of the day...

My day began with lots of noice..the workers next door are proceeding with the second floor of a future huge building and I also had a few workers in my house, trying to fix a wall that had a crack in it. I tried to figure out what to cook today and tomorrow, but my doorbell didn't stay quiet for a minute. First one worker came and told me he saw a dead cat in my garden! Then a second one came to take the cat and bury it somewhere..Then my workers showed up to fix the wall, next fed-ex came with some books I had ordered and when I finally set down to write my shopping list I had 35 mails to answer to...That's how life is in Greece, fast and unpredictable. I cooked beans with pasta, a nice winter dish, followed by some fried fish (once in a while it's a good thing to fry!) and for tonight I'll make some chocolate chip cookies to have with a glass of milk.
Nice and easy, and by the way, it's finally quiet in the house. The workers went home and now I can sit with my new books, joepie!

with love,
esther.

weekend treats.

Why not take advantage of a beautiful sunny saturday without deadlines? I did and bought fresh tulips, salmon, some brioche, Greek Gruyere cheese and a bottle of Prosecco. I mixed up some cream cheese with a hard boiled egg, then I added some yoghurt and seasoning to that mixture. I covered my brioche with this and just lay the salmon on top. This is a great starter for any meal and also a great way of making easy finger food. Decorate this with a bit of dill for some color and taste and you're fine!
Then I grated some carrots, mixed them up with olive oil, a handful of salty peanuts and added a bit a balsamico to that for extra taste. After this snack and a glass of Prosecco I had the Gruyere cheese as a dessert, not too much, cause tonight we're going to my favourite Italian restaurant, so I want to be hungry ! I'll have a bath, while listening to Carla Bruni and her "quelqu'un m'a dit " song, I'll put on my little black dress a la Italia and I'll cover myself with Jo Malone's Orange perfum to feel sexy and sweet at the same time.Can't wait to dig into my pizza with truffle, followed by pasta with lobster and to finish the meal with the best tiramisu in town!
Have a wonderful Saturday evening with your loved ones...
with love,
esther.

busy Athens.

I know the city of Athens was chosen by the ancient Greeks as a base and I do understand why. The climate is great, it's usually sunny and warm and there's little humidity. Of course I also think that those Greeks would freek out if they would witness the way this place has become over the many years.. Chaos is a Greek word and that is exactly the expression that comes to mind when one has to move around. Every day I spend hours in my car to get from one place to another, not taking into account the time I loose by getting lost... If I have to take a taxi it's like taking the last helicopter out of Saigon, you just stand on the side of the road and scream your destination at any yellow cab that comes into your vision...Most of the taxi drivers ignore my screaming and it's a matter of great luck to catch one that goes into the direction I want to move... To shop for food needs a lot of thought before departure, since the best shops are scattered around town. So when I finally arrive home to cook I can only think of putting on some soft music,of lighting my candles and then to disappear into my cosy kitchen for some stirring in my pots.
This is called cooking therapy and oh it works !!! Today I made gouvarlakia, a Greek soup with tiny meat balls, I love this kind of comfort food...
Let me give you the recipe, so you can also enjoy the meaning of home made food after a day of struggling with the world out there... It will take you thirty minutes to prepare and you can buy a country loaf to have on the side.. With a glass of red wine this should be just perfect !
You need:
500gr. minced meat(preferably beef)
1 grated onion
50gr. rice
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
700ml beef stock
1 tablespoon ketchup

Mix the beef, onion, rice parsley, oil and seasoning into a bowl. Knead it and shape into little walnut sized balls.
Bring the stock to boil in a large pan and add the gouvarlakia. They should be covered with the stock. Add more if you have to.
Simmer for 30 minutes, stir every now and then, open the wine, set the table and then make the avgolemono sauce.
For this you need:
juice of one lemon
2 eggs, lightly beaten.
Add the juice to the eggs, then add 100ml of the cooking liquid to this. Pour this over the gouvarlakia and shake the pan.
Serve with freshly ground pepper.

Bon apetit,
with love,
esther.

And if you're not allergic, add a handful of pinenuts to the pesto when you blend it !!! The taste will be divine, i promise !!!

I love to be creative !

My producer from Norway is here and we've been doing a lot of brainstorming about the concept for our next show...This means that we are talking about food all the time, but not much cooking is done to be honest...
There is so much to discuss: Who will sponsor the project? Which places in Greece will we visit ? Which foreigners will come along on this culinary tour? We are talking to a Greek Production company for a possible co-production..it's all very exciting, but time is also pressuring us..We should do the shootings during the summer or at least late summer, cause the weather should be perfect..So, we have to hurry up ! After hours of discussing the show we crash at a local coffeeshop, eat a sandwich with mozarella and pesto...it's so, so...Think the pesto is from a jar, I hate that! It's so easy to make pesto, you just take a bunch of fresh basil leaves, 2 garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons full of grated parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and throw all this in the blender.Give it a good stir, add more oil to make a smooth paste,then stir again. Make more if you want and put the pesto in the freezer, so you can enjoy it any time with your pasta,on sandwiches or in your minestrone soup!
Even those who never cook can make this, it's so easy and quick! cook your favorite pasta, drain it and keep 2 tablespoons of the boiling liquid. add pesto to the pasta( with the liquid), stir and add more parmesan, fresh pepper and dig in!!!

with love,
esther.