Sea Urchin Salad. “Ahinosalata” ©
This is an all time speciality for those that like it….my family love it!!!
Easy if you have Sea Urchins readily available in the sea in front of you!
Otherwise you can find them in a good fish market.
4 Persons
Ingredients
As many ‘female’ sea urchins as you can gather ( See Method 1.)
olive oil
lemon juice
a little sea water
Cretan rusks
Method
1. Gather your sea urchins using a stick and a mask. The amount gathered for this recipe was about 20 Sea Urchins. The best time is when there is a new moon, the Urchins have more eggs in them. Important : The Female ones are redder and larger, with shorter spikes. The male ones are black and have longer spikes. It is the female ones you gather, so as to use the eggs. Often they have a small shell resting on their spines.
2. Using a pair of scissors cut through the shell, starting at the mouth opening. Cut down and around.
3. Remove any green areas first, using the tips of your fingers and rinsing in sea water while you are doing this, to help wash the green parts away and any sand.
4. Finally, again using your fingers, gently detach the orange eggs into a bowl. Add a little sea water to keep them moist.
5. When you have gathered enough eggs, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.
6. Eat immediately, or reserve in the fridge to be eaten the same day.
7. Serve with the best Cretan rusks.
N. B. This is a delicacy and an aphrodisiac. Usually one eats a small bowlful and you either place the eggs on the rusk or break the rusk up in your bowl of eggs, oil and lemon juice. Being a rich sea food, it is filling and should always be eaten as soon as you gather them so that they are very fresh.
This is a popular dish on “Clean Monday” Kathara Deftera, which marks the beginning of lent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin
Gather the “female” Sea urchins. They are larger and redder. The male one are smaller and blacker.
Turn the Sea Urchin upside down, so that the mouth shows.
Starting from the mouth, cut round in a wide circle.
Cut around the middle with sharp kitchen scissors.
In between the orange eggs are green areas. Remove and discard these with your fingers and wash in the sea water, so that only the bright orange eggs remain.
The green areas removed from between the eggs, you can now push away the eggs into a bowl.
They say when the sea- water is very clean, that there are many sea urchins…….here they are plentiful.
The empty shells.
Final result, served with Cretan Rusks.
A real treat……
“Bagna Càuda.” Garlic And Anchovy Dip From Piedmont Italy. ©
For our garlic and anchovy fans!!!
This is an all time favourite from days gone by, when we used to make it for many memorable ‘Retsina’ parties, under the stars!
It comes from the Piedmont district of Italy and it is a hot dip, ideally served in a pottery fondu pot.
The anchovies blend perfectly with the garlic and the saltiness is reduced by the addition of a little Greek thick Yogurt. It goes perfectly with a glass of wine and hot crusty bread.
For Henry and all those that remember the parties in the 60’s and 70’s and this summer!
Easy
4-6 Persons
Ingredients
50 g tin of anchovies
50 g unsalted butter
50 ml olive oil ( optional )
1 tbs Greek thick Fage Yogurt
1 head of garlic (8-10 Cloves )
Crusty Village Bread cut into cubes
Method
1. Peel and finely chop garlic with sharp knife. Don’t use garlic press as the final effects wants to be a little crunchy. Also do not add any salt when chopping the garlic, because the anchovies are already very salty.
2. Chop anchovies into a smooth paste and place in sauce pan along with the other ingredients, except for the yogurt.
3. Stew your ingredients very gently for 5 mins.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.
5. Add yogurt and mix into a smooth dip.
6. Serve with small cubes of fresh crusty bread and plenty of wine!
*** For those nervous about the quantity of garlic, don’t worry, because the combination of the garlic and anchovies along with the fact that they have been gently stewed for five minutes, produces a delicious result!
Gather together your ingredients.
Open anchovies. Some tins come with capers. For this recipe I personally remove them, but I am sure they could also be good if added.
Remove capers.
Separate the cloves of garlic.
Garlic, wonderful garlic!
Give each clove of garlic a sharp tap with the heel of your knife. This releases the skin from the flesh and makes it easier to peel.
Peel the garlic cloves.
A heady combination!
Chop anchovies finely. No need to remove the small bones.
Chop the garlic very finely. Do not use a garlic press as you want the end result to be crunchy.
Also do not add salt to aid in the chopping, because the anchovies are already very salty.
Place ingredients in small saucepan and gently stew for five minutes.
Remove from heat and after five minutes, add a table spoon of yogurt and mix thoroughly.
Mix in the yogurt well until it emulsifies.
Decorate with a sprig of parsley, mint or rosemary.
Final result: “Bagna Cauda.”
Summer Fruit Salad On Ice ©
Hronia Pola Se Olous!
This is when creativity melts the mind!!!! Happy 15th August and to all those celebrating today here is a lovely bowl of flowers!
As the ice slowly melts the bowl becomes clear like glass…….
4-6 Persons
Ingredients
Edible fresh garden flowers and leaves, for example:
Geranium / Summer Geranium
Jasmine
Nasturtium
Basil
Lemon Verbena
Pansy
Mint
Water
Fruit Salad
4 Peaches
1/2 Honeydew melon
15 seeded muscat grapes
Lime zest
1 tbs finely chopped Lemon Verbena leaves
A little icing sugar if required
Geranium flowers to decorate
Special Equipment
2 heat proof bowls, one large, one about two sizes smaller.
Melon Ball Cutter, if available
Method
IMPORTANT : Make the day before you want to use it, so it freezes solid!
N.B. You can use it for other desserts, but always remember as the ice melts, a little water gathers in the bottom of the bowl.
The melting is very slow, and it is still completely whole, by the end of the dessert. You can put it back in the freezer and use again….
Follow the pictures……
Pick your flowers from the garden, or buy some in a flower shop. Important: the flowers must be edible!
Cut away any large stalks and soak in a little cold water. Check carefully for small insects.
Place one glass bowl inside the other, aiming for a gap of about 2 cm. Fill the gap with water, so that when
you push down the inner bowl, 2 cm from the bottom, the water has risen to nearly the rims of your bowls.
Place a weight in the center, which doesn’t matter if it is frozen! ( Not a Coke Can !!!) The weight should
NOT press the inside bowl right to the bottom, as your final ice bowl will not have a good thick base. Now
start pushing the flowers and leaves down the sides. They should all be under the water. ( This photo has
water in the inside bowl, just for photographic purposes.) This is not difficult, when you try it out, you will
understand my instructions.
As a ‘weight,’ I have used a granite Mortar bowl.
Place in freezer. I always make this the day before, so that it really freezes solid. Dry bottom of bowl, so
there is no chance of the bowl sticking to the freezer bottom and give a final check that the center bowl is
evenly in the center of larger bowl.
Once frozen solid, remove from freezer.
Pour in boiling water from a kettle, you will hear the ice cracking. Try moving the bowl until it unsticks,
remove and then plunge the base bowl into boiling water. to do this I used my washing up bowl. As soon
as the ice bowl becomes unstuck, lift out onto your serving dish.
Unsticking inside bowl.
Unsticking the outer bowl.
Ice Bowl!
Once placed on serving dish, return to freezer, until ready to serve.
Make up your fruit salad, in a bowl with melon balls, peaches and seeded muscat grapes. Either cut grapes
in half and remove seeds, or using a pointed skewer, insert through stalk end and remove.
Just before serving, pour fruit salad into ‘Ice Bowl,’ grate with fresh lime zest and squeeze juice over fruit
salad. ( Not before or zest goes brown and you want it a nice Lime green colour!)
Sprinkle with finely chopped lemon Verbena leaves and sprinkle with icing sugar, if required.
Decorate with flowers.
Final Result ! Just out of the freezer ! After a few minutes it goes glassy, as shown in the photograph below.
A different alternative, just with peaches, lime and Lemon Verbena.
A different version, Melon quarters.
Another alternative, served with a candle in the center of the fruit salad…..the possibilities are endless.
What's Cooking In Jane's Kitchen 