My Avocado Dip ©
This is one of my favourite dips. It has a beautiful texture, colour and delicate taste.
Easy
4-6 Persons
Ingredients
1 ripe avocado
100g cream cheese ( Philadelphia )
1 very small finely grated onion
Lemon juice to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 drops Tabasco
Coriander sprig, or parsley for decoration
Method
1. Press avocado gently to make sure it is ripe all over.
2. Peel and place in blender, together with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Blend until smooth.
4. Taste and get seasoning just right. It should be tasty, remember it will be eaten with a biscuit.
5. Spoon out into serving bowl. If not using straight away, drizzle with a few drops of lemon juice and seal very tightly with cling film , to prevent browning. Store in fridge.
6. Decorate with a coriander or parsley sprigs just before serving. ( Pour off lemon juice if used. )
N.B. Make on the same day, preferably 2 hrs before, because the avocado has a tendency to go brown. If this does happen, remove the outer brown layer with a spoon, underneath it will be green.
Pick an avocado from your tree or select one from the green grocer.
It can take about a week to ten days to ripen when picked from a tree. When bought in a shop, unless already ripe, it usually takes about three or four days to ripen kept at room temperature.
Assemble ingredients.
Grate onion on smallest holes of grater, so that it is smooth.
Place ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning if needed.
Final Result ! Serve with grissini or small biscuits. This dip has a delicate taste, so choose mild tasting
biscuits.
A wonderful time of year, when the Courgettes/Zucchini are ready in the vegetable garden!
Easy
6 Persons
Ingredients
1/2 cup Olive oil
1/2 cup chopped Onions
1/2 cup chopped Spring onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Courgette/Zucchini
1/2 cup of Bulgar wheat
2 tbs chopped currants(optional)
1/2-1 tsp finely chopped fresh Chili pepper
1.1/2 Cups of water, or more.
1 tbs pine nuts (optional)
1.1/2 tbs chopped mint
1/2 cup chopped Dill
Salt and Pepper
15 Courgette Flowers
2 Cartons of Thick Greek Yogurt
Method
1. Preheat Oven at 190. C.
2. Soak flowers in salted water and drain on kitchen paper. Check the inside of the flower carefully.
3. In a saucepan, heat half the olive oil over a medium heat and saute the onions the spring onions and the garlic, until soft, and transparent, don’t brown, about 3 mins.
4. Add the grated courgettes, (grated on the large holes of the grater,) bulgar wheat, currants if using and chili pepper with seeds removed. Add 1/2 cup of water or more, reduce heat and simmer, if too thick, add more water. Simmer for ten mins.
5. Turn off heat and add roughly chopped pine nuts, mint and chopped dill to the stuffing. Season with salt, stir and taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
6. Using a tea spoon fill each flower 1/2–3/4 full and fold over petals. Lay on their sides in oven proof dish, packing them closely together.
7. Pour over remaining olive oil and a little water, salt and pepper. Cover dish with tin foil and place in oven. Bake for one hour, check that a little more water is not needed half way through cooking time.
Serve hot or cold with a big bowl of thick Greek Yogurt.
I first tried these in Hania Crete. ….such a wonderful City, such wonderful food….!
Pick flowers in the morning when they are open.
Soak flowers in a bowl of cold salted water for five minutes. Check inside each flower, as you rinse
under running water.
Prepare all ingredients.Left to right, garlic, chili and spring onions. Grated Courgette/Zucchini. Mint.
Chopped onion. Chopped fennel leaves.
In the above photograph double quantities are shown, as I had many flowers to fill.
Roughly chop pine nuts and raisins.
Having cooked the stuffing, as set down in ‘Method,’ use a teaspoon to half fill the flowers, leaving the
top parts to fold over.
Arrange close together in oven-proof dish, pour over water, oil and add salt and pepper and bake covered with tin foil in pre-heated oven for one hour. Try one,
to check it is ready and serve hot or cold with thick Greek yogurt. Delicious!
Potato Salad With Chive And Mayonnaise Dressing ©
There is nothing like home made potato salad, with home made mayonnaise!…..and if you grow your own potatoes, as Maria does inCrete then you are away!
Easy
4-6 Persons
Ingredients
1 kl. medium sized potatoes
2 tsp salt for potato boiling water
1 tbs chopped chives
Mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp salt or more
Freshly ground pepper
200-300 ml Sun Flower Oil
50 ml olive oil
Lemon juice to taste, 1-2 tbs.
1 tbs chopped chives
Alternative quick Mayonnaise
225 ml jar of ‘Ready made’ Mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
salt pepper
A squeeze of lemon juice
Chopped capers opt
Method
1. When buying, choose nice medium sized regular potatoes. Scrub potatoes with a brush, until the peal is completely clean.
2. If boiling with skins on, place in a large saucepan of salty water, enough to just cover the potatoes.
Otherwise peel, cut if necessary, so that the potatoes are all the same size. This way they will cook evenly.
3. Boil until cooked, about 15-20 mins, test by piercing with the tip of the knife in the center of the potato. When the potatoes are cooked the potato should fall off the knife.
4. Drain and peel, cut into slices about 1 cm thick, when the potatoes are cool enough to handle.
Season and sprinkle with half the chopped chives. (1 tbs)
5. Prepare the Mayonnaise, by placing egg yolk, salt pepper and mustard in bowl.
Mix with whisk and ‘slowly’ drop by drop at first, add the corn oil, mixing all the time.
6. When it thickens and you have about 1 tbs in quantity, add lemon juice.
After this you can add the oil more quickly.
7. Finally add the olive oil.
If it is too thick to pour, add a few drops of water.
8. Taste several times, it should have a good lemony taste and salty enough. Remember the taste will be much reduced when added to the bland potatoes.
9. Pour over cooled potatoes and sprinkle with chopped chives.
Alternative quick Mayonnaise
Empty your 225 ml jar of “Ready Made Mayonnaise” into a bowl.
Add rest of ingredient.
Pour over potatoes.
N.B. If the ‘real’ mayonnaise, separates, add separated mixture slowly to new egg yolk in clean bowl, (not the other way around.)
Mayonnaise is easy to make, don’t be put off by the stories and it is so delicious and not much trouble at all.
Corn oil, or Sunflower oil are much lighter, but I always add a little olive oil for the flavor.
Chop fresh chives finely.
Place egg yolk, salt and Dijon mustard in bowl.
Add oil slowly, mixing continuously.
Beat until it thickens.
Once mayonnaise is thick, the oil you add will begin to look like this. At this point add lemon juice. After
adding the lemon juice you can add the rest of the oil much quicker. I it should curdle it will look similar to
this, but more so……..and how ever much you beat will no longer go smooth. Take a clean bowl and add
the curdled mixture to a new egg yolk. The mayonnaise with then come right!
REMEMBER to taste mayonnaise….enough salt, enough lemon, pepper, hint of Olive oil and it should
wake up your taste buds!
Peel potatoes, or if already peeled, cut into mouth sized slices. Sprinkle with fresh chives and season.
It is important to season at this point.
Pour mayonnaise over cooled potatoes and sprinkle again with fresh chives.
Final Result! Just the most delicious food!
What's Cooking In Jane's Kitchen 