Escalope with Mushrooms

Quick, easy and tasty, this is a lunch recipe.


Ingredients:

• 1 escalope /pers (veal, turkey or chicken)
• 200 gr mushrooms /pers (Paris and/or oyster mushroom)
• 1 ts butter
• 1 ts cream /pers
• salt, pepper, chives to taste

1. Warm a frying pan with the butter
2. Cook the escalopes on one side for some 3 minutes, then turn it to the other side and add the mushrooms (washed and cut in pieces)
3. When the mushrooms and the escalopes are cooked (the mushroom should be 2/3 of their original size), add the spices
4. Turn the fire off and add the cream - stir until it melts. It's ready !

It can be served with rice (you also can add fried onions, or a bit of lemon juice to the creamy sauce).

Pastourmas and Saganaki

Those days I didn't have much time to cook, and since Easter is coming soon, and with it a large choice of traditional Greek products in the supermarkets [for those who didn't follow the whole thing, I'm currently living in Athens]. Well anyways: just to explain why this post, cause it's not really a recipe.

Pastourmas (παστουρμάς)
It's beef meat seasoned with pepper, cayenne pepper, and dried with salt...
It's VERY salty. A bit special. To be honnest I don't like it much^^. But I thought that it looked a bit to the beef jerky that I tried in Florida, and of which I was really fond (the seasoning was lighter and there was much less salt) - I could never buy any in Europe, though.
Pastourmas is traditional in Greece, Turkey and Armenia.

Saganaki (σαγανάκι)
Is the fried cheese. The one on the photo was not really good cause I tried to play it traditional, so just like the pastourmi, it was much too salty (I used Haloumi cheese from Cyprus). But I've already tried with other kinds of goat or sheep cheese, less salty, and it can be a good appetizer.
Just cut the cheese in slices and fry it in olive oil (ok, that's ultra-calorific!).

So, in conclusion, I'll never buy pastourmas again, but saganaki is nice if you pick the right kind of cheese (kasseri, kefalograviera and even feta will make).

Grâtin with Potatoes and Sausage

This is a recipe I made, inspired by French and Greek cooking.




Ingredients:

• 800 gr potatoes
• 1 country sausage
• 1 frankfurt sausage
• 200 gr feta and/or hard goat cheese
• 50 gr grated cheese (like Emmental)
• 3 ts fresh cream
• 20 cL liquid cream
• 2 ts melted butter
• 3 eggs
• salt, pepper

1. Peel the potatoes, cut them in slices, and cook them in salty water
2. Cut the sausages in slices
3. In a buttered pan, put the slices of potatoes and of sausages together
4. In a bowl, beat the eggs, the liquid cream and the butter together, and season with salt and pepper
5. Pour the mixture all over the potatoes and sausages
6. Cut the feta and/or goat cheese in slices, and top the dish with it
7. Spread the fresh cream on the feta, and finally sprinkle over it
8. Preheat the oven (180°C) and bake for 25 minutes

This Grâtin already allies meat and vegetables, so it can be served with tomatoes or salad.

Banana Cake

Here's a recipe that I've just invented as a present for a banana-lover. :D
If you're on a diet, you'd better skip this page. :P

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas
• 1 pot yoghurt (apple or pear flavor is nice)
• 2 pots all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 pot sugar
• 1/2 pot melted butter
• 100 gr black chocolate
• 1 ts backing powder

1. Mix all the ingredients together, except from the bananas and the chocolate
2. Cut the bananas in thin slices and break the chocolates into small chunks
3. Add the bananas and the chocolate to the mixture, and mix again, but softly
4. Pour the mixture into a buttered pan
5. Bake for 40 minutes (180°C)

This cake tastes good, but is a bit heavy, so it's better served as a snack, or after a light meal.

Bifteki

One common Greek food is "bifteki"... the Greek version for "beef steak". There are many ways to adapt this easy recipe (you can easily change the herbs, spices and proportions, according to your taste).

Ingredients (for 6 steaks):

• 500 gr minced beef meat
• 1 onion - or green onions
• 1 egg
• 2 slices of bread (it doesn't matter if it is from the day before)
• 1 ts lemon juice
• 1 ts parmeggiano cheese
• 2 sprigs fresh mint
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 1 pinch cumin
• 1 pinch ginger
• 1 cs salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1 cs Cayenne ground pimento
• 1 cs oregano

1. Soak the bread into warm water, and then squeeze it
2. Chop the parsley and the onion or green onions, crush the mint
3. Mix all the ingredients together by hand
4. Leave it stand for half an hour (optional)
5. Make steaks (flaten it enough for the inside to be cooked as well)
6. Cook on a grill for 3 minutes on each side, or fry in olive oil

This is a nice summer food that can be served with a light salad.