tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51557367600884123542024-03-29T20:53:07.336+11:00Greek VegetarianLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-41523452612411959852014-09-22T19:13:00.000+10:002014-09-22T19:13:55.457+10:00Limnos then and now – Part III<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It’s only been a few weeks since Tony and I were last seen whiling away the hours on the fine sands of a Greek island beach, but the distant memories of our always wonderful trips to Limnos so quickly become just that – distant memories.<br />
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We are now back in Melbourne, back to our old routines, trying to catch up on work that was put on hold while we were away, and always meaning to make time to write about the rest of our trip on the blog.<br />
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Last night I had a dream that someone had ‘burnt down’ my blog. You know how dreams are – something that makes complete sense in the dream is of course completely ridiculous in reality. But when I woke up it made me think about how upsetting it would be if my blog was to just disappear one day.<br />
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The Greek Vegetarian blog may not be the thriving space it once was, and perhaps I am the only one that visits these days, but it's reassuring to know that many of the memories and photos of our trips to Greece are stored here, as well as some silly stories I’ve put to words about my family history and experiments in the kitchen, and Tony and I love coming back here from time to time to reminisce.<br />
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It’s true I do have all the food and holiday photos stored on my computer – in fact there are so many photos I’m embarrassed to say I had to transfer most of them to several external hard-drives so that my desktop computer could keep functioning – but it’s far easier (and makes for a much more pleasant reminiscing experience) to view them in the format of a neatly laid-out blog.<br />
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Not only would I be devastated if I lost my blog, but it’s becoming increasingly depressing thinking about the prospect of looking back on a neglected blog.<br />
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Over the weekend I met someone who had been reading my blog, having heard about it from a friend of a friend. This person asked me when I would be putting up the next 'Limnos then and now' post. I was stunned that they had any interest at all in my self-indulgent project to photograph the same places in Limnos I’d visited over 30 years ago, especially given they had never been to Limnos, and weren’t even Greek.<br />
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But after seeing genuine interest in the eyes of this person, and then having my guilt and fear of losing the blog consolidating in a dream, it inspired me to set aside some time today to continue where I’d left off a few weeks ago.<br />
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As I’m sure I’ve already proclaimed, there are so many more things to tell you about our recent trip to Limnos, including recipes from my Aunt Koula and local taverna reviews. And I promise, for better or worse, these posts will slowly emerge over the coming months. But today I have Part III of the 'Limnos then and now' series to share with you. Part I can be found <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.gr/2014/08/limnos-then-and-now-part-i.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and Part II <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/limnos-then-and-now-part-ii.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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It’s funny how places you know so well when viewed from a certain angle can suddenly become completely foreign when viewed from a different vantage point. This was the case with a photo I’d taken back in 1983 of the port of Myrina, Limnos' capital.<br />
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There were recognisable landmarks in the old photo that I knew still existed in Myrina, but I couldn’t understand how I’d photographed them from an angle that seemed to be a rearranged, mirror-image of my present-day perception of the scene.<br />
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It was only after visiting the area about eight times, bewildered by the conundrum before me, that I finally noticed an old seawall across the water (that has been there FOR EVER), and my narrow little mind realised that the port could actually be viewed from another angle.<br />
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It might have been 31 years since I’d walked along that seawall, but as I made my way around the port and across to the other side I was thrilled to have finally found the match for this photo.<br />
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Ironically, that very seawall was the subject of the next pair of photos. It’s not hard to miss this part of the port when you take a stroll along the cobble-stoned road, as on any given day it's likely you'll have the bejesus frightened out of you by some kid randomly jumping off the diving post and splashing loudly into the water.<br />
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Not a lot has changed here since 1983 except for a few more buildings and trees on the hills, and the absence of piled-up fishing nets on the seawall.<br />
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The fishing industry in Limnos has declined dramatically in recent years, mainly because there are very few fish left in the Aegean Sea. As a vegetarian and lover of all living beings, I don’t condone fishing of any kind, and while it’s a sad indictment that over-fishing has affected the livelihoods of many fishermen in Limnos, it’s even more deplorable how much over-fishing has affected the ecosystem of not just the Aegean Sea, but of all the oceans around the world. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6WOvY_C-_I" target="_blank">This documentary</a> is a difficult watch but really opened my eyes to what the fishing industry is doing to our oceans.<br />
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Many of the images in the 'Limnos then and now' series show that not a lot changes on a traditional Greek island over a period of 30 years, but the following pair illustrates just how quickly some things <i>can</i> change.<br />
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On a lighter note, Tony and I have already been discussing our plans for next year's trip. Our desire to go back to Greece only gets stronger every time we return to a Melbourne winter, so talk of booking flights for our next trip usually starts around this time of year.<br />
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This time we are thinking of adding a little side-trip to Rhodes to visit George and Koula in their home town as they are not sure if they will be able to make the arduous three-flight trip from their island to Limnos next year.<br />
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We haven't made any bookings yet as we're still deciding on how our itinerary might shape up, but until then, I have around nine months to bring this blog back to a respectable state of relevance, and hopefully no one will burn it down in the meantime!<br />
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><br />
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 2077px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 2077px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com190tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-72366883071200645482014-08-21T16:58:00.002+10:002014-08-21T16:58:20.825+10:00Anginares a la Polita (Artichoke Stew "of the city")<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tony and I are still in Limnos, enjoying the endless sunshine and warm weather. Soon we'll be back in Melbourne, braving the rest of the cold winter months that are still to come.<br />
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As always, we have been having an amazing time, swimming in pristine waters, taking motor scooter rides to small villages, walking the narrow cobble streets, having long talks and lots of laughs with the family, and of course eating like we never do in Australia.<br />
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I've taken way too many photos and still feel as though I haven't captured everything we see and do while in Limnos. My weekend in Lesvos a few days ago almost killed my camera it was such a picturesque place – might have to make that one a three-part series post!<br />
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Speaking of series, the <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.gr/2014/08/limnos-then-and-now-part-i.html" target="_blank">'Limnos then and now'</a> series is almost complete. I have one more photo to take and then I'm done. I've also been working on an 'Only in Limnos' series of images which has been a lot of fun. All coming to the blog soon!<br />
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And of course I still have a few more recipes to post, and not to mention the taverna reviews I've been writing up but haven't had a chance to post yet! I have six reviews to share with you – five from Limnos and one from Lesvos.<br />
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But on to another recipe: This is a simple Greek vegetarian dish made with artichokes, carrots and potatoes stewed in a lemon and dill sauce. Koula and I make this dish every year in Limnos as it really is one of my favourites. The name <i>a la Polita</i>, meaning 'of the city', refers to the Greek people that lived in the city of Constantinople (now known as Istanbul), and the dish that originated from the area.<br />
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Fresh artichokes are not the easiest of vegetables to prepare as they are surrounded by layers of tough leaves and a fibrous centre that all need to be removed. As artichokes are used in many Greek dishes, frozen pre-trimmed artichokes are available at supermarkets everywhere in Greece. I haven't seen frozen artichokes in Australia – only bottled pickled artichokes which are not suitable for this recipe. So unless you can find pre-trimmed frozen artichokes, you will need to prepare your artichokes before using. <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/technique/how-prepare-globe-artichokes" target="_blank">Click here</a> for some helpful tips.<br />
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The traditional recipe for Anginares a la Polita calls for standard (large) onions, but for this recipe Koula and I used small 'cocktail' onions. While there might be a little more preparation involved in the time it takes to peel large amounts of these little babies, I think they taste much nicer than their bigger brothers and add a delicate sweetness to this dish.<br />
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The quantity of dill may sound excessive (1 full cup of chopped dill) but cooked down in the stew it adds a fresh, summery flavour that works brilliantly with the tang of the artichokes and lemon.<br />
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In the photo at the end of this post, you might notice we kept the potatoes separate from the stew (they were baked in the oven and served as a side dish – this was only because some people at our table can't eat potatoes). The recipe below includes the potatoes in the stew.<br />
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We also used lots of very small carrots (fresh from the garden), but traditionally, two or three large carrots are used in this recipe.<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Anginares a la Polita (Artichoke Stew)</h2>
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Serves 6–8<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>30 small cocktail onions, ends trimmed, peeled and left whole</li>
<li>1/4 cup olive oil</li>
<li>1 teaspoon salt</li>
<li>2 tablespoons plain flour</li>
<li>Juice of 1 lemon</li>
<li>1 cup chopped dill</li>
<li>3 cups water</li>
<li>12 fresh or frozen trimmed artichokes</li>
<li>2 potatoes, roughly chopped into 2cm cubes</li>
<li>2–3 large carrots (or 15 very small carrots), sliced</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Heat oil in a large pot over high heat.</li>
<li>Add salt, flour and cocktail onions and stir for 2 minutes.</li>
<li>Add lemon juice, water and dill and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.</li>
<li>Add artichokes, potatoes and carrots, adding more water if necessary (vegetables should be just covered with water).</li>
<li>Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender.</li>
</ol>
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Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-20886742175116427942014-08-16T02:41:00.002+10:002014-08-16T02:41:53.132+10:00Boat trips around the island of Limnos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every year in Limnos Tony and I love to take two or three boat trips around the island. Our good friends Litsa and her husband George own the traditional vessel "Anemos" (meaning "wind" in Greek), and they take tourists on full-day trips to either the south coast or along the west coast to the northern tip of the island. There is also an evening sunset cruise which offers spectacular views of the golden Greek sun going down over the water's horizon.<br />
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It doesn't matter how many times Tony and I take these trips, we can't get enough of the Mediterranean seas, the views, the gentle sway of the boat, the company of Litsa and George, and the new people we meet on each trip.<br />
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Leaving the port of Myrina at 10am, it's a lazy start to the day, but the water is so serene and calm at this time of the morning – so mesmerising and gentle on the eyes.<br />
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The first couple of hours of these trips are spent cruising around dramatic cliff faces and volcanic rock formations, passing small villages and secluded beaches along the way.<br />
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One of the most spectacular sights is to watch wild mountain goats cling to vertical rock faces of the coastal cliffs. I'm always fascinated by their skill and bravery to explore these treacherous parts of the island, and try not to think about them not being able to make their way back to higher ground. In her thick Greek accent, Litsa reassures us she sees the goats climbing up and down the cliff faces all the time, "Don't worry, these goats are acrobats!"<br />
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If you look closely in the picture below, right in the centre of the photo you will see a lone black goat. How did he get there? But more importantly, how will he get <i>out</i> of there!<br />
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Anemos then anchors at a quiet beach that is only accessible by boat – the adventurous will dive off the boat straight into the warm water, others will take a small motor boat to the shore – and we have the place to ourselves to swim with the fish and explore the area, abundant with beautiful sea shells and multi-coloured pebbles.<br />
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A baby squid :)<br />
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Later we return to the boat for a full buffet lunch which includes both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, fresh bread, Greek salad and Limnian wine.<br />
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After lunch we laze around on the deck, snoozing under the shaded canopy or soaking up the sun, and later there's music and chatting, laughing and swapping facebook friendships, a bit of Greek dancing and a lot of fun.<br />
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Litsa and Tony:<br />
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The sunset cruise takes you half-way up the west coast, leaving Myrina port a couple of hours before sunset. The sunset viewing location is spectacular – on the horizon is Mount Athos on the Greek mainland, the second-highest mountain in Greece, and behind you is a vast expanse of mineral-rich cliff faces emitting a brilliant golden glow. What a beautiful way to end another wonderful day in Limnos.<br />
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Litsa and George's boat trips come with the highest recommendations from Tony and I. They run boat trips almost every day of the week during the summer months. Call George on his mobile next time you're in Limnos to book one of these must-do tours of the island's beautiful coastlines.<br />
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Anemos boat trips, Limnos<br />
Call George: 6945 132 163 (Greek mobile/cell phone number)<br />
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<i>Please note: I have not been paid to promote the Anemos boat trips. Tony and I support this business from the bottom of our hearts. Our friends Litsa and George have a true passion for the sea and work hard to provide this wonderful experience for tourists to the island of Limnos.</i><br />
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<i><br /></i>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-19156029769511714492014-08-13T03:25:00.001+10:002014-08-13T03:25:56.067+10:00Limnos then and now – Part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of my personal missions this year in Limnos is to find and photograph the exact locations depicted in 14 photographs that I took on my first trip to the island 31 years ago. I am documenting the progress of my mission here on the blog and today I have the second part of a five-part series to share with you. (Part I can be found <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/limnos-then-and-now-part-i.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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Trying to find the same locations in Limnos that I photographed way back in 1983 has proven to be both fun and frustrating, but the best moments have been when one of these seemingly illusive locations just appear before me when I least expect them to.<br />
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Tony and I had been traipsing the streets of Myrina for hours under the burning sun looking for the location of a special image I'd taken all those years ago of a village man and his horse and cart. Here in Limnos this delightful mode of transport was still being used by some, right up until the late 1990s.<br />
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The background of this image was quite sparse, revealing only a section of a raised veranda and the front of a house, and even though I had a hunch where the location might have been, I soon realised this one was going to be quite a challenge to find.<br />
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Unfortunately my memory of the street where I thought I'd taken the photograph had failed me miserably, having paced up and down said street many times looking for anything that resembled the background of the shot. We resolved it could have in fact been anywhere within a five-kilometre radius of Myrina, gave up and started heading back to the house.<br />
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As we turned the corner onto our cobble-stoned road I looked to Tony and said, 'Wouldn't it be funny if the house we're looking for was right on our street?' and yep, you guessed it, there it was. Not only on our street, but right next door to our house!<br />
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The house has had some renovations, new windows and door, the iron railing has been replaced (and the mode of transport is somewhat more advanced these days!), but the stone wall and pillars of the veranda are largely the same which is what jumped out at us confirming that this was the place.<br />
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The next shot was another one I thought I'd never be able to find. It was a stock-standard cobble-stoned Limnian street with white-washed village homes either side. It could have been anywhere! The only distinguishing feature of the image was a large tree painted white at the base and growing out of a corner in the road in front of an iron fence.<br />
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With the images from 1983 stored in my iPhone, I studied the original image intently, squinting at the small screen, blinded by the sun, as I weaved in and out of Myrina's streets looking for this tree in the corner. Then once again, just as I was ready to give up, I spotted a house with red shutters over the windows that looked remarkably like the house in the original shot. But no tree. This threw me. Could it be the same location? With iPhone in one hand and camera in the other, I lined up the shot and every other element was there, the corner, the iron fence, the balcony on the right. There is a new building behind the house and no tree in the corner, but I'm convinced it's the same place. What do you think?<br />
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The last image for Part II was easy peasy to locate but not so easy to line up for the shot. Limnos' Venetian castle (Castro) and the Church of Saint Paraskevi can be seen from anywhere along Romaikos Yiallos beach which stretches 600 metres. However, standing 200 metres from Castro will give you quite a different perspective of the church and the hill than the view from 400 metres away. I'm embarrassed to admit I took around 20 photos before I got it right – that would have been almost a whole roll of film in the old days! (And I still didn't get it exactly right).<br />
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Even though now covered by thick trees, the building on the far left has been completely restored. I believe it is owned by the council and has been made into a multipurpose hall, sometimes used as an art gallery.<br />
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I know these 'then and now' photos don't make the most riveting content for a blog (particularly a food blog!), but it's something that is keeping me inspired while in Limnos as I've been going through a bit of a creative lull in recent months. But if you can bear with me I've got a gorgeous recipe for A la Polita (Artichoke stew) coming soon, and this weekend I'm off on a little adventure to Lesvos which I'm sure will provide plenty of material, both photographic and culinary, for the blog. See you again soon :).Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-31947910348879935292014-08-10T03:54:00.001+10:002014-08-10T03:54:23.593+10:00Mushroom Moussaka<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This drug called 'Limnos' . . . it's good stuff! It puts you in a trance of heavenly bliss, keeping you hopelessly relaxed and carefree for the entire time you are exposed to this beautiful Greek island.<br />
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Tony and I are both addicted. That's why we come here every year. And we don't care if we do nothing but eat, sleep and watch the Limnian world go by. Perhaps a little more 'eat' than we should but this is what the lure of Limnos does to us!<br />
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A few nights ago we ate at a wonderful little port-side restaurant, Glaros Taverna, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted, for the second time on a Greek island menu, Vegetarian Moussaka! It was surprising enough to find one of these on the menu at Argo Restaurant in Santorini <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/spectacular-santorini-and-recipe-for.html" target="_blank">last year,</a> but to find Vegetarian Moussaka in Limnos was nothing short of a miracle.<br />
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Needless to say, the vegetarian moussaka at Glaros was delicious! Tony and I plan to visit again for lunch in the next few days when I will write a proper review of the taverna and the food. And I have a few Limnian taverna reviews up my sleeve already which I will be posting very soon.<br />
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It may have been well over a year ago, but I haven't forgotten a promise I made to share with you a recipe for vegetarian moussaka using mushrooms. Over the last week of family lunches we have enjoyed this dish twice here in Limnos – one was Koula's recipe, the other mine – so what better time than now, while it's fresh in my food-obsessed mind, to finally write the post for mushroom moussaka.<br />
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Today I am combining elements of both recipes to share with you the ultimate vegetarian moussaka made with fresh mushrooms, eggplant, potato and zucchini.<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Mushroom Moussaka</h2>
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Serves 6<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
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<li>4 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled and chopped</li>
<li>1 large onion, finely chopped</li>
<li>2 potatoes, sliced lengthways, 1 cm thick</li>
<li>2 large eggplants, sliced lengthways, 1 cm thick</li>
<li>3 zucchinis, sliced lengthways, 1 cm thick</li>
<li>500g button mushrooms, sliced</li>
<li>1/2 cup of red wine</li>
<li>1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon ground allspice</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon oregano</li>
<li>3 bay leaves</li>
<li>1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing vegetables</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>Bechamel Sauce</i><br />
<ul>
<li>3 tablespoons plain flour</li>
<li>30g butter</li>
<li>2 cups milk</li>
<li>1/2 cup grated tasty cheese</li>
<li>1 egg, lightly beaten</li>
<li>Freshly ground nutmeg to taste</li>
<li>Salt to taste</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.</li>
<li>Brush bottom of a 30cm x 30cm (approx) deep baking dish with olive oil and arrange potato slices in one layer over the oil. Brush top of potatoes with more oil and place dish on lower rack in oven.</li>
<li>Lay eggplants over an oiled baking tray, brushing slices liberally with olive oil, and place tray on upper rack in oven.</li>
<li>Place 1/4 cup of olive oil and onions in a medium-sized saucepan and fry over medium to high heat for 3 to 4 minutes.</li>
<li>Add mushrooms to saucepan and fry, stirring, until liquid is released from mushrooms. Keep frying until all liquid except the oil has evaporated.</li>
<li>Add red wine and stir for 2 minutes, still over medium to high heat.</li>
<li>Add spices, oregano and bay leaves and cook for another minute or so.</li>
<li>Add chopped tomatoes and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for one hour, or until sauce has thickened and reduced by around half.</li>
<li>When eggplant is lightly golden (around 30 minutes), remove from oven and allow to cool enough to remove eggplant from tray and set aside.</li>
<li>Re-oil the baking tray and lay zucchini slices on tray. Brush with oil and place back in oven.</li>
<li>Remove dish with potatoes from oven once potatoes are lightly golden (around 40 minutes).</li>
<li>Spread a small amount of mushroom/tomato sauce over potatoes and arrange eggplants over the sauce.</li>
<li>Pour the remaining mushroom/tomato sauce over eggplants and spread evenly.</li>
<li>Meanwhile make the béchamel sauce (see below).</li>
<li>Once zucchini are lightly golden (around 20 minutes), remove from oven and when cool enough to touch, add to dish, laying over mushroom/tomato sauce. </li>
<li>Pour béchamel sauce over the top of the zucchinis and bake in oven for 45 minutes, until the top is golden.</li>
</ol>
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<i>Bechamel Sauce</i><br />
<ol>
<li>Melt butter over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan. </li>
<li>Add flour and stir vigorously to make a soft paste. Cook, stirring, over medium heat for one minute. </li>
<li>Remove from heat and add a small amount of milk and using a whisk, stir quickly to combine. The butter will cool and harden as the milk is added so you need to work quickly, adding more and more milk, a little at a time, whisking all the time to keep the consistency of the sauce smooth. </li>
<li>Once all milk is incorporated, return saucepan to medium heat and stir constantly until sauce thickens – around 10 minutes. </li>
<li>Remove from heat and add grated cheese, nutmeg, salt and egg and whisk until smooth. Cover béchamel sauce and set aside until needed.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-81343772422670464402014-08-06T02:55:00.002+10:002014-08-21T16:52:47.282+10:00Limnos then and now – Part I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My first visit to Limnos was as a young teenager back in 1983. I was travelling with my Dad and younger sister on a month-long adventure driving across Greece, covering much of the country from the gorgeous Ionian Sea island of Corfu to the picturesque mainland region of Ioannina, over the mountains of Metsovo and Meteora, then winding up the final week of our trip in Limnos.<br />
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The old family house was only a shell of what it is today, and the island itself was more than a little rough around the edges, having never been preened for tourism and bearing the brunt of various earthquakes over the years. Limnos was (and to those who don't have a family-roots bias, still is) a far cry from the idyllic white-washed image people have of the Greek islands, but as a first-time traveller I was eager to explore the island where my grandmother was born and where other relatives were still living.<br />
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Armed with an instamatic camera, I used an entire roll of film in Limnos (a massive 24 photos), 14 of which were of decent enough quality to put into a photo album. (Take note young things: an Instamatic was a Kodak point-and-shoot camera, popular in the 70s and 80s, the name of which, and quality of images that it produced, arguably providing the main inspiration for Instagram.)<br />
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Before we left to come to Limnos this year, I digitised these 14 photos from 1983 (using the high-tech method of taking photos of the photos!) in preparation for a project that I'm currently working on: to find the exact locations depicted in the original images, and photograph them as they are today.<br />
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As you might have noticed, I've been very bad at keeping the momentum going with this blog, even while here in Limnos with all the inspiration a Greek island has to offer, but with only 16 days left here in Limnos I am determined to at least complete the 'Limnos then and now' project before we leave. It's a bit self-indulgent, I know, but I hope it might also be of interest to others, especially those that know Limnos, to see how things have (or haven't) changed here. And don't worry, I have also been busily documenting some of Koula's cooking sessions in the kitchen here at the house and will be posting those recipes soon.<br />
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So back to the project: so far I've located and photographed 8 of the 14 shots. Some have been easy, others are proving to be a lot harder to locate! But the most challenging photo that I am yet to take will be a shot of my dad in the back terrace of the house sitting at a table with his uncle and another old friend. As the uncle and friend have unfortunately since passed, Tony and my dad's brother George will step in to complete the trio, however, the challenging part of this shot will be recreating the scene itself.<br />
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I believe the furniture and other props in the shot still exist somewhere here in this large rambling house of ours, so over the next few days Julia and I will be on a mission to find and gather the necessary elements to reconstruct the scene, 31 years after the fact :).<br />
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In the meantime, here are two of the 'then and now' pairs of photographs that I've taken so far. They were both taken in the main town of Myrina, during siesta time when all is quiet down the main street.<br />
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The first pair of shots begins with an old building suffering a severe lean, seemingly destined for a life in ruin, but now has thankfully been 'pushed back' and patched up to live on its days in the new millennium.<br />
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And in the following pics, the kiosk has long been gone but 31 years later the plane tree still grows, its trunk perhaps twice the thickness of its former self. Perhaps more importantly though are the fine examples of 80s fashion depicted in the first pic, most notably the shorts on the guy with the pram.<br />
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Part II of the 'Limnos then and now' series can be found <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/limnos-then-and-now-part-ii.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Tomorrow Tony and I will be preparing the family lunch and plan to include vegetarian moussaka on the menu so I'll be sure to write that one up for the blog in the next few days. Koula will also be helping with preparations and has promised to make a batch of her sticky sweet <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/baklava-rolls-with-pistachios-walnuts.html" target="_blank">baklava rolls</a> that I have featured previously on the blog <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/baklava-rolls-with-pistachios-walnuts.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Until then, keep an eye on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GreekVegetarian" target="_blank">Facebook</a> for random photos from Limnos and I'll do my best to drag myself away from the glorious sunshine here to write again soon.<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-28182120225625222222014-08-01T04:00:00.000+10:002014-08-01T04:00:00.493+10:00A Greek Summer Holiday and a Recipe for Kolokithokeftethes (Zucchini and Feta Fritters)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I think I may upset a few people if I tell you exactly where I am right now, but I really don't think I can keep this to myself. I kid you not when I say I am sitting outside at a taverna on a Greek island, right on the beach, and I mean literally on the sand. The sun has just gone down over the flat sea horizon, the clear sky tinted pink and mauve as the waxing crescent moon makes an appearance. The air is warm, the cicadas are in full song, people are chatting in Greek about the good times they had today, and in the background a young musician is gently playing classical guitar while I sit here using free wifi on my little laptop.<br />
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We are at Manos Beach Bar on the island of Limnos. This is the island where my father's mother was born, the place where generations of my family have spent their summer holidays for over one hundred years. <a href="http://www.greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/kalamata-olive-and-walnut-dip-and.html" target="_blank">Our family house</a> still stands tall on a cobble-stoned road five minutes from the beach, a house that my Dad and his wife Julia have been painstakingly renovating over the last ten years to ensure the preservation of the family holiday home.<br />
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My partner Tony and I have been coming here every year for the last four years to take a break from our busy lives and escape the bitter cold of Melbourne's winter, and while we treasure the days we have here each time we make the lengthy journey to Greece from Australia, this year our four weeks of bliss are being put to particularly good use after working ourselves to the bone for the last 11 months.<br />
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We've been here almost a week and are just now settling into our Limnian routine of waking early to roosters' crows, enjoying a morning coffee on our balcony then strolling down to the beach for a bit of sun and a swim.<br />
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Around midday we might walk into the town centre where the locals shop and families and friends meet for frappes and cakes, or we might take the motor scooter for a ride along the scenic coast.<br />
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By 2pm we've made our way back to the house for lunch out on the terrace with the family, sitting under the shade of the vine-laden pergola overlooking the Mediterranean garden.<br />
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Afterwards we retreat to our rooms for siesta, some of us sleeping, others reading or going out into the quiet streets to take photos of cats, and later as the island wakes up again we might take another walk down to the port to wind up the day with dinner at a seaside taverna or drinks at one of the many beach bars.<br />
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It's an idyllic lifestyle that my Dad and Julia enjoy for around 8 months every year. Over that time many of their friends and relatives visit the island and stay at the house. At the moment my Dad's brother <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/baklava-rolls-with-pistachios-walnuts.html" target="_blank">George and his wife Koula</a> are here and next week their son (my cousin) Nicholas will join us.<br />
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Of course one of the things we enjoy while we're here is cooking. The incentive to cook is always greater when there's more than just yourself to cook for, and with a family of six that's happy to enjoy Greek vegetarian cooking two days a week, it's an opportunity for me to let loose in the kitchen.<br />
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Today's lunch was a simple spread made up of a huge Greek salad and a batch of highly addictive Kolokithokeftethes (zucchini and feta fritters) served with a side dish of tzatziki for dipping.<br />
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Koula helped me with the fritters, adapting the recipe from a local Limnian cookbook, and guess what? I got to use authentic white zucchinis! (You can read about my childish obsession with white zucchinis <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/white-zucchinis_5.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)<br />
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So here we are in Limnos again, feeling totally zonked after the busy year we've had. We have another three and a half weeks here then a couple of days in Athens, and in that time I will try my best to muster up the energy to post a few recipes, taverna reviews, stories of our adventures and photos from this beautiful island. It won't be easy though, tearing myself away from the lure of the gorgeous beaches, the cold beers, and the lazy days on the terrace eating baklava and sipping on frappes!<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Kolokithokeftethes (Zucchini and Feta Fritters)</h2>
<br />
Makes around 20 small fritters<br />
<br />
<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>6 small to medium zucchinis, grated</li>
<li>1 teaspoon salt</li>
<li>400g feta cheese, grated</li>
<li>Small handful of fresh mint, finely chopped</li>
<li>3 tablespoons plain flour</li>
<li>1 egg</li>
<li>1 cup additional flour for dusting</li>
<li>1 litre of vegetable oil for deep frying</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Place grated zucchini and salt in a large bowl and mix well.</li>
<li>Squish and knead the zucchini for a few minutes to release all the juices.</li>
<li>Transfer zucchini to a large colander or strainer and squeeze in handfuls to remove the liquid, placing dry zucchini back in the bowl.</li>
<li>Add feta, mint, flour and egg and mix thoroughly with your hands.</li>
<li>Heat oil over high heat in a deep pan.</li>
<li>Prepare a plate with evenly-spread flour for dusting and drop dessert-spoon blobs of the zucchini-feta mixture onto the flour. Roll with your hands to form small patties or slightly flattened balls and place on a separate flour-dusted plate until ready to deep fry.</li>
<li>Carefully drop the patties in the hot oil and fry until golden.</li>
<li>Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto paper towels to drain.</li>
<li>Serve with fresh <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/greek-vegetarian-food-on-australia-day.html" target="_blank">tzatziki</a>.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-65758236928936910842014-07-03T02:01:00.000+10:002014-07-03T02:01:09.714+10:00Slow Roasted Fennel, Zucchini and Garlic Soup, oh and, hello again :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It’s late. Really late. I think it might even be 1.30am or something. Living in Australia means living on the other side of the world to everyone else. And living on the other side of the world means live telecasts from the UK or US can only be seen here at ungodly hours of night.<br />
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I’m up waiting for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Kyrgios" target="_blank">Nick Kyrgios</a>’ tennis match against Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2014 (hurry up Djokovic – finish your match!). After a stunning win against Nadal last night, Nick Kyrgios has won the hearts of every Greek-Australian this week. And what timing! Just the thing we needed to soothe our sorry Greek souls after losing to Costa Rica in the World Cup on Sunday night!<br />
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You’d think I was some sort of sports fanatic, but I can assure you I only jump on that band wagon when someone Greek or Australian is involved, and with Nick being both Greek and Australian, I’m now doing crazy things like staying up all night to watch him play.<br />
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But I’m no stranger to staying up until ridiculous hours of the night to watch something on TV. I obsess over British home renovation shows like Homes Under the Hammer and Escape to the Country, no matter what time of the night they get screened here, and just when I think the ABC’s iconic music video show “Rage” has played the last good song of the night, yet another set of brilliant clips from the archives that I’ve never seen before assures my red-eye television viewing (and/or crazy dancing in my lounge room) continues until well beyond the wee hours of the morning.<br />
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So while I sit here waiting as the Djokovic/Cilic match lingers in the third set, I really have no excuse not to write another post for this sadly neglected blog.<br />
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Since Melbourne has been hit with some hideously cold weather of late, I’ve been partial to a bit of soup making. I’ve got the recipes, I’ve taken the photos, now all I have to do is upload it all and hope that no-one notices I haven’t been around for a while... So let’s just skip that bit and launch straight into a gorgeous recipe for a beautiful winter soup that also makes for a relaxing Saturday of pottering around in the kitchen.<br />
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Two of my favourite vegetables, fennel and zucchini, are slow roasted for 3 hours then blended down to a deeply flavoured soup that is packed with antioxidants and loaded with vitamin C.<br />
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Known as the big heroes in Greek cooking, fennel and zucchini caramelise and sweeten beautifully in the oven, developing so much flavour there’s no need to add stock to this soup. Just water!<br />
<br />
<h2 class="recipe-title">
Slow Roasted Fennel, Zucchini and Garlic Soup</h2>
<br />
Serves 4<br />
<br />
<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>1/4 cup olive oil</li>
<li>1 large fennel bulb, cut into 8 wedges</li>
<li>2 large zucchinis, sliced to 1cm rounds</li>
<li>6 cloves of garlic, whole in skin</li>
<li>1/4 teaspoon of ground fennel seeds</li>
<li>2–3 cups of water</li>
<li>Salt and pepper to taste</li>
<li>Small handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Preheat oven to 140 degrees celsius.</li>
<li>Place oil, chopped fennel and zucchini in a baking dish.</li>
<li>Toss vegetables in oil until well coated, place in oven and walk away.</li>
<li>After one hour, take dish out and turn the very lightly golden vegetables over.</li>
<li>Add whole garlic cloves to the dish, still in their skin. I made the mistake of adding the garlic at the beginning of roasting time and they ended up shrivelling to almost nothing after three hours. Two hours should be enough.</li>
<li>Place dish back in the oven and bake for another hour at 140 degrees celsius.</li>
<li>The vegetables should now be a medium golden colour.</li>
<li>Turn the vegetables one more time and place back in the oven for one more hour.</li>
<li>The vegetables should now be a rich golden colour.</li>
<li>Squeeze the flesh out of the garlic shells, add to vegetables and discard shells.</li>
<li>Empty the vegetables into a medium saucepan, add 2 cups of water and 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seeds and simmer over medium heat for five minutes until liquid turns golden brown.</li>
<li>Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth, adding up to one extra cup of water until the soup reaches the desired consistency. I used a stick blender to blend the vegetables but this wasn't strong enough to pulverise the fennel so I was left with some stringy bits. I don't mind a bit of fibrous chew in my soup but if you prefer yours smooth, a high-powered blender or food processor should do the trick.</li>
<li>Add salt and pepper to taste.</li>
<li>Serve hot, garnished with chopped parsley and a swirl of fresh cream. A small sprinkling of sunflower seeds also adds to the visual appeal!</li>
</ol>
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Well that was weird. Writing a post for a blog that I declared I was no longer in love with. It's like sleeping with an ex. Not that I've ever done that. Eww, I could never do that. But this is different. There's still a glimmer of hope here, I can feel it. Even if the followers of this blog are now whittled down to just a few close friends and family (if that!), I will always have days (or late-night opportunities!) when I want to post a recipe or some holiday photos, stories of the old country or just say hi. And if someone wants to say hi back, I'd be thrilled. I do have a few more soup recipes that I'd like to share in the coming weeks, and Tony and I are heading off to Greece again at the end of this month so with less work and more time to play, I hope to inject a little much-needed love back into the Greek Vegetarian blog.<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-60141307327077265962014-02-05T22:33:00.000+11:002014-02-05T22:33:01.774+11:00I've fallen out of love with my blog, but can we still be friends?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Dear readers. I wonder how many of you still exist.<br />
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I am so sorry for my extended absence. I honestly feel quite supremely terrible for abandoning this blog without any explanation. Even knowing that my blog is just one of millions that fade away every day, I still feel I owe an apology to the empty space out there for dropping off the grid.<br />
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I can't believe it's only been a year since I started this blog – it feels like a hundred years (and at least ten years since my last post). It may seem like eons ago, but I still remember how insanely ecstatic I was about creating a new space to share my exploration of Greek vegetarian cooking. The blog gave me a real purpose and enormous enjoyment cooking, photographing and writing about every recipe. It was also really nice to tell you some of the stories about my Greek background, and my connection and love for the island of Limnos.<br />
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I’ve truly been amazed by the support both the blog and Facebook page have received – it’s wonderful to know so many people around the world love not only Greek food, but Greek <i>Vegetarian</i> food.<br />
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But in recent months, for a variety of reasons, my desire to blog has waned. To be quite honest, I’m actually not very good at blogging. I like to cook but I’m definitely no chef, so it takes me half the day to prepare a dish. I’m an okay photographer but I’m very slow at that too – it takes me another half day to style the shot, photograph and edit the images.<br />
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However the one thing I really struggle with, is writing. I <i>love</i> to write, but it can take me FOR EVER to write and edit a post for the blog. And my posts are by no means perfect. I am such a slow writer you could read War and Peace in the time it takes me to write my opening paragraph.<br />
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Needless to say, putting a post together for this blog is always an epic task for me.<br />
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But I didn’t mind at first. I had all the time in the world when I first started this blog – I’d just lost my full-time job and was itching for something to do to fill my days while I looked for work. My time was completely consumed with blogging and reading other people’s blogs. Every minute of every day I was obsessed with the world of blogging.<br />
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Being a vegetarian and living with a guy who’s not is hard enough, but when Tony made the radical but necessary decision (for health reasons) to go on a life-long low-carb diet a year ago, it didn’t give us much choice but to fend for ourselves when it came to meal times.<br />
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Our eating choices are so polarised you’d think we were from different planets. As you can imagine, motivation levels to cook and eat together are pretty low, which is a real shame as cooking together was something we both really enjoyed in the past.<br />
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So with no one to cook for but myself and the blog, I didn't really have any compelling reasons to get experimental in the kitchen. Spending half a day cooking something that I wouldn't normally cook for myself wasn't doing it for me anymore. And to be honest, the meals I <i>do</i> usually cook for myself really aren’t all that blog-worthy.<br />
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And then work got out of control.<br />
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When word got around that I was looking for freelance work I started getting a few jobs here and there, but before too long, a few jobs exploded into full-time work again. Even while we were on holiday in Greece last year I had work coming out of my ears which was great, but left me without much leisure time and eventually no time at all to spend on a blog that I was already falling out of love with.<br />
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<b>But this is not good bye.</b><br />
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The passion for my blog may have subsided but there’ll always be a flame in my heart for cooking, photography and everything Greek. I know that at some stage my work will lessen and there will be days when I’ll be wanting to come back to the blog with my tail between my legs. I'm sure that flame will reignite from time to time and I’ll be burning to write another post for the blog. Even if there’s no one left to read my posts, it’s nice to know the blog will always be here waiting for me to come back to it one day.<br />
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So the Greek Vegetarian blog isn't going anywhere, it’s just that I won’t be updating it all that often. The recipes will always be here, as will the photos and stories of Limnos. And I truly hope that there is enough content here that will still be of interest to anyone that might come across these pages.<br />
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I don't know when I'll be back. I might try for a Greek Easter post since I completely neglected to cover that monumental event last year. Or perhaps I'll rope Tony into doing <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/low-carb-vegetarian-moussaka-topped.html" target="_blank">Meat Free Week</a> again and write about that. But until then, I just want to thank you all for reading my posts and especially for all your wonderful comments.<br />
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This is not good bye – it is only <i>"Ta leme argotera"</i>.<br />
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In the meantime, I hope we can still be friends :)<br />
<br />
Lisa xxx<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-61849740120579419612013-11-28T19:11:00.001+11:002013-11-28T19:11:33.593+11:00Easy Greek feast ideas for your vegetarian friends and a recipe for Stewed Apricots with Honeyed Greek Yoghurt and Pistachios<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was half way through procrastinating about my next post for the blog when I received an email from a reader in the UK seeking some advice and recipe ideas for a Greek dinner party he’s planning for some of his vegetarian friends this week.<br />
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That I receive any blog-related emails at all these days is nothing short of miraculous given my new-found tendency to neglect the blog for weeks on end, but to have someone on the other side of the world turn to me for advice to help them put together a three-course meal for 8 people is, to put it mildly, simply monumental.<br />
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For that reason, I’ve decided to write an entire post inspired by that email from Matthew in Manchester.<br />
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Preparing a Greek vegetarian feast for a group of friends need not be a daunting task. It should be fun to cook for our favourite people, not stressful. All it takes is a bit of planning and preparation.<br />
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Most of the dishes mentioned below can be made ahead of time allowing you to enjoy the meal with your mates without spending too much time in the kitchen on the night.<br />
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It also helps to write up a schedule of everything that needs to be done on the day. I usually draw up a simple columned list with time prompters on the left and tasks on the right. For example:<br />
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3:00pm ... Grocery shopping. Home by 4:00pm.<br />
4:30pm ... Prepare undressed salad, cover and place in fridge.<br />
5:00pm ... Make Spanakopita and keep on bench ready to place in oven.<br />
6:00pm ... Prepare honeyed yoghurt and chopped pistachios.<br />
6:15pm ... Make tzatziki and salad dressing.<br />
6:45pm ... Set table and place tzatziki, bread, dukkah and olive oil on table.<br />
7:00pm ... Guests arrive.<br />
7:20pm ... Preheat oven.<br />
7:30pm ... Put Spanakopita in oven. Set timer for 45 minutes.<br />
8:15pm ... Take salad out of fridge and dress, and serve Spanakopita.<br />
9:00pm ... Take stewed apricots out of fridge and place over low heat on stove. Set timer for 5 minutes.<br />
9:15pm ... Assemble stewed apricot dishes and serve.<br />
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There are lots of Greek starters and sweets that can be bought ready-made from good quality Greek delis and cake shops. It's not really cheating if you at least arrange the items artistically on platters and garnish appropriately (I do this a lot!) – a sprinkling of fresh parsley or dusting of icing sugar goes a long way.<br />
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Anything from dips and pickled vegetables, to baklava and Turkish delight can be store bought, but keep in mind some starters and sweets are so easy to make yourself it might even be quicker than taking a trip down to the shops!<br />
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As for main dishes, they are much better home-made. While you may be able to buy frozen spanakopita from the supermarket, it won't taste anywhere near as good (or look as impressive) as a spinach and cheese pie you made yourself.<br />
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Below are some suggestions for easy, stress-free vegetarian Greek feast ideas with recipe links in blue, and at the end I’ve included a new recipe for Stewed Apricots with Honeyed Greek Yoghurt and Pistachios.<br />
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For starters, impress your guests with home-made <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/greek-vegetarian-food-on-australia-day.html" target="_blank">tzatziki</a> and <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/greek-style-dukkah.html" target="_blank">dukkah</a> served with gorgeous crusty bread and a bowl of extra virgin olive oil for dipping. Dukkah can be made up to one month in advance (stored in the fridge in an air-tight container) and tzatziki one day ahead. Just give it a stir if liquid has formed on top overnight.<br />
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You could prepare a platter of dips with two or three heaped tablespoons each of <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/hommus-hummus-homous_27.html" target="_blank">hummus</a>, <a href="http://www.greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/purple-carrot-tzatziki-and-eggplant-and.html" target="_blank">roasted eggplant and walnut dip</a> and <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/kalamata-olive-and-walnut-dip-and.html" target="_blank">Kalamata olive dip</a>, or any of your favourite store-bought Greek dips. Decorate the platter with cubes of marinated feta, olives and semi-sundried tomatoes. Make the dips yourself or buy everything from a good Greek deli or even the supermarket.<br />
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A more simple starter dish can be made using canned dolmathes (rice-stuffed vine leaves imported from Greece) served warm with tomato sauce. Carefully empty the contents of the can into a saucepan along with around half a cup of home-made (or jarred) tomato passata and heat slowly with the lid on until warmed through. These are brilliant served with crumbled feta and freshly chopped parsley sprinkled over the top.<br />
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The entire meal can even be made up of a selection of starters all on separate plates that everyone can pick and nibble at throughout the night. You could include everything mentioned above, as well as a <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/green-bean-tomato-and-feta-salad.html" target="_blank">green bean, tomato and feta salad</a>, some crispy <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/roast-pumpkin-and-feta-filo-triangles.html" target="_blank">roast pumpkin and feta filo triangles</a>, tasty <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/greek-vegetarian-food-on-australia-day.html" target="_blank">lentil keftethes</a> or succulent <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/spectacular-santorini-and-recipe-for.html" target="_blank">tomato fritters</a>.<br />
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If you want to prepare a traditional main dish, <a href="http://www.greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/rustic-chunky-spanakopita-spinach-and.html" target="_blank">Spanakopita</a> (spinach and cheese pie) is an old favourite. Alternatively, a baked vegetable dish like <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/greek-briam-roasted-vegetables-greek.html" target="_blank">Briam</a> is perfect to just throw into the oven and forget about until cooked. But if you have a little more time, <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/vegetarian-moussaka-with-vegetable.html" target="_blank">Vegetarian Moussaka</a> or <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/vegetarian-pastitsio-greek-pasta-bake.html" target="_blank">Pastitsio with Broccoli</a> are wonderful show stoppers.<br />
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Sticky Greek sweets like <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/baklava-rolls-with-pistachios-walnuts.html" target="_blank">Baklava</a> (honey and walnut pastries), <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/galaktoboureko-greek-semolina-custard.html" target="_blank">Galaktoboureko</a> (semolina custard pie) or <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.gr/2013/08/first-few-days-in-limnos-and-tour-of.html" target="_blank">Melomacarona</a> (honeyed cookies) are delectable morsels to finish off a Greek feast. These can be difficult to make but very easy to buy at Greek cake shops. Just make sure you buy them on the day of your dinner party.<br />
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If you’d like to try your hand at some simple Greek pastry desserts, try <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/bougatsa-me-krema-greek-custard-filled.html" target="_blank">Bougatsa</a> (custard-filled pastry) or <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/lemon-and-ricotta-sweet-cheese-pastries.html" target="_blank">Lemon and Ricotta pastries</a>. Bougatsa can be made up to three days in advance, kept in an air-tight container in the fridge and reheated on a baking tray at 180 degrees celsius for 5 minutes before serving.<br />
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For a really easy and much lighter little Greek dessert to conclude the evening’s feasting, you might want to make these delicious Stewed Apricots with Honeyed Greek Yoghurt and Pistachios.<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Stewed Apricots with Honeyed Greek Yoghurt and Pistachios</h2>
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Serves 8<br />
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<i>Note: The apricots can be stewed a day ahead and reheated just before serving. Store in the fridge in the saucepan they were cooked in, with the lid on. Reheat over low heat with lid on, until just simmering.</i><br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>1 cup castor sugar</li>
<li>1 cup water</li>
<li>1 cinnamon stick</li>
<li>800g can of apricot halves in natural juice (no added sugar), strained</li>
<li>800g thick Greek yoghurt</li>
<li>3 tablespoons honey</li>
<li>1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence</li>
<li>120g pistachio nuts in their shells</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Place water, sugar and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved.</li>
<li>Allow to simmer for 5 minutes without stirring, before adding the apricots.</li>
<li>Add strained apricots to syrup, stir to incorporate then simmer for another 5 minutes without stirring. The apricots will become quite mushy after cooking – if you'd like to keep a few still-formed apricot halves for garnishing, set them aside without cooking and only add them to the stew in the last 30 seconds to warm them through.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, shell the pistachio nuts and chop finely. Set aside until needed.</li>
<li>Combine yoghurt with honey and vanilla essence in a medium bowl and mix well. Set aside until needed.</li>
<li>Remove apricots from heat and allow to cool a little. Remove and discard cinnamon stick.</li>
<li>Just before serving, spoon the yoghurt into serving bowls, then carefully place warm apricots with some of the syrup over the yoghurt, and sprinkle with chopped pistachio.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-32809858626485717742013-11-10T14:40:00.001+11:002013-11-10T14:49:57.823+11:00Bougatsa me Krema (Greek custard-filled pastry) and the liveliest street in Limnos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yeah, I know. Almost three weeks since my last post. But you must forgive me! Why? <b>Because I have bougatsa!!</b> Trust me, bougatsa fixes everything. These little soul-soothing capsules of sweet Greekness filled with custard love and wrapped in paper-thin buttery crisp fillo pastry will make you forget that even a day has gone by since my last post. (Is it working yet?)<br />
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And thanks to a simple custard-making technique that my friend George Calombaris shares with us in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Cookery-From-Hellenic-Heart/dp/1741108594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384047993&sr=8-1&keywords=greek+cookery+from+the+hellenic" target="_blank">Greek Cookery from the Hellenic Heart</a>, bougatsa is one of the easiest Greek sweets to make. Thanks George :)<br />
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Growing up in a relatively non-Greek household meant that there were many Greek dishes and sweets that I didn’t become familiar with until I was an adult and started developing an interest in my Greek heritage.<br />
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On a mission with my dad back in 2004, we took a trip to the island of Limnos to assess the condition of an old family house that was in desperate need of some TLC, and it was on this trip that I discovered bougatsa and its "amazing healing powers".<br />
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More than 30 family members had shares in the house but none was prepared to contribute to the repair and maintenance of the collapsing building. Except my dad.<br />
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Passionate and committed, my dad took on the huge responsibility over the next nine years to acquire everyone’s shares and spend his life savings on fixing up the house.<br />
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Our visit to Limnos back in 2004 was just the beginning of this process and at the time involved a lot of emotional negotiation (and even permanent fall-outs) with greedy relatives. Added to this was a good five weeks of hard physical labour to clear out the mountains of squalor inside the house and the dense jungle of overgrowth and rubbish out in the garden.<br />
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Physically and emotionally taxing as this Greek island visit might have been, we <i>were</i> on a Greek island, and with any Greek island comes the reprieve of gorgeous weather, pristine beaches, and a joyous village atmosphere. When our hands and minds were at rest, it wasn’t difficult to turn our awareness to the relaxed and easy lifestyle that the Limnian locals embrace, and nothing assists that better than a morning tea break with frappes and bougatsa.<br />
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Taking a stroll down the main market promenade of Limnos known as the "Agora" can bring peace to any troubled mind, and when the work around the house got a bit much, it was a relief to be amongst the happy locals.<br />
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Every morning the Agora is alive with activity. Closed to cars, the one-kilometre Agora is the backbone of the island’s capital, Myrina, where people go about their daily shopping and banking, taking baby for a stroll, and catching up with friends.<br />
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Lined with an endless array of shops and speciality stores from artisan bakeries and designer boutiques, to vibrant fruit and vegetable markets and tacky souvenir shops, the Agora air is filled with the seductive aromas of freshly ground coffee beans, roasted nuts and sweet pastries.<br />
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Perfectly positioned half-way down the Agora is a leafy square where people take a break to catch up with friends for coffee and bougatsa. Under the shade of enormous plane trees the tables are always full at the popular Axni & Kanella (“icing & cinnamon”) cafe where they make the best bougatsa I've ever eaten.<br />
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Thought to have originated in Macedonia, it’s not surprising that bougatsa is now popular in the northern parts of Greece around Thesaloniki and the north Aegean islands such as Limnos and Lesvos.<br />
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There is also a savoury version of bougatsa that is filled with cheese, and another variety with minced meat. But it is the sweet custard bougatsa that brings a smile to my face, and the recipe for which I’ll be sharing with you today.<br />
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If (<a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/prasopita-leek-pie-with-feta-and-vegan.html" target="_blank">unlike me</a>) you can master the art of making your own fillo pastry, your bougatsa will reach heavenly levels of melt-in-the-mouth delectability (see video below). Using commercial fillo pastry certainly doesn’t disappoint though. As long as your custard filling is smooth and creamy with just the right balance of sweetness, you can’t go wrong.<br />
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<div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 701px;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="524" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4_GmtwsmF4U?rel=0" width="700"></iframe></div>
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<i>(Video filmed in Athens by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_GmtwsmF4U" target="_blank">Michi's Videos</a></i>)<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Bougatsa me Krema (Greek custard-filled pastry)</h2>
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<i>Recipe for custard filling adapted slightly from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Cookery-From-Hellenic-Heart/dp/1741108594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384047993&sr=8-1&keywords=greek+cookery+from+the+hellenic" target="_blank">Greek Cookery from the Hellenic Heart</a> by George Calombaris.</i><br />
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Serves 8<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>3 tablespoons cornflour</li>
<li>4 tablespoons semolina</li>
<li>2/3 cup castor sugar</li>
<li>2 eggs</li>
<li>650ml full-cream milk</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence</li>
<li>16 sheets filo pastry</li>
<li>250g melted butter</li>
<li>Icing sugar to dust</li>
<li>Cinnamon to dust</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Place cornflour, semolina, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla essence in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. </li>
<li>Transfer to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture thickens. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk custard to smooth out any lumps.</li>
<li>Place lid on saucepan and allow to cool.</li>
<li>Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.</li>
<li>Lay four buttered sheets of fillo pastry on top of each other, brushing between each layer with melted butter. </li>
<li>Pour around half a cup of the custard mixture into the centre of the pastry.</li>
<li>Lift the corners of the pastry and fold over the custard to form a squarish parcel. Make sure the pastry is sufficiently folded over and the custard is sealed well within the pastry. See the video above to get a rough idea of how this is done (Note: Commercial fillo pastry isn't as pliable as the pastry in the video (and the sheets won't be as big) so you might want to go easy on the wrapping technique. Unless of course you've made your own fillo pastry.)</li>
<li>Repeat with the rest of the fillo pastry sheets to make four parcels.</li>
<li>Using a large spatula to lift the parcels, place them, sealed-side face down, on a baking tray lined with greased baking paper and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden.</li>
<li>Using a large, sharp knife, cut each parcel into small squares around 4cm x 4cm and dust with icing sugar and cinnamon.</li>
</ol>
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Bougatsa can be kept in the fridge for around 3 days in an air-tight container, but must be reheated on an oven tray (preheated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 5 minutes) before serving.<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-92222025190749069022013-10-21T22:02:00.001+11:002013-10-22T09:54:58.943+11:00Spectacular Santorini and a recipe for Santorinian Tomato Fritters (Tomatokeftethes)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello everyone! All two of you that might still be waiting for me to post again on the blog. I am so sorry for taking such an extended leave of absence – I feel terrible about neglecting this space, especially because my only excuse is that I've been busy with work.<br />
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This would be completely legitimate if I was genuinely snowed under, but that hasn't been the case. I pretty much have the standard amount of work that anyone else has to deal with. I only have to look at dedicated bloggers like <a href="http://theveggiemama.com/" target="_blank">Veggie Mama</a> who works <i>and</i> has two small children, and Liz over at <a href="http://www.ispyplumpie.com/" target="_blank">I Spy Plum Pie</a> who also works and posts almost every day, and I have to confess that my real problem is just laziness.<br />
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I mean, it's not like I spend every waking hour working. I spend many waking hours just sitting around thinking about dumb stuff, procrastinating about the housework, and worrying about things that I can easily fix with just a little motivation.<br />
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Blogging is something that I do enjoy, but like other things in my life, once I get out of the routine it's difficult for me to get inspired again – not helped at all by my annual struggle with post-holiday depression! I do, however, gain a lot of inspiration from other bloggers and over the weekend I spent some time catching up with many of my favourite blogs.<br />
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Thanks to blogs like <a href="http://veganopoulous.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Veganopoulous</a>, <a href="http://herestheveg.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Where's the Beef</a>, <a href="http://souvlakiforthesoul.com/" target="_blank">Souvlaki for the Soul</a>, <a href="http://ohmyveggies.com/" target="_blank">Oh My Veggies</a> and <a href="http://www.theveganchickpea.com/" target="_blank">The Vegan Chickpea</a>, I woke up this morning feeling excited about posting on here again.<br />
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So before it's too late, I'm going to try my best to make up for my tardy behaviour. This blog hasn't been around for very long but in the 10 months that I've been posting here, I have been nothing but humbled by the amount of support and kind comments from so many lovely people, and I really don't want to lose that.<br />
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I haven't been cooking much since we returned from our trip, and my photography has been narrowed down to staff portraits for work, but I'm hoping that getting back into the blogging momentum will reignite my passions for both cooking and photography because these are the things that make me happy.<br />
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The blog also serves as a record of our trips to Greece which have now become an annual event for Tony and I. These days I rarely print my holiday photos and they inevitably end up hidden away as numbers in folders on my hard-drive. Having them on the blog means they will always be in easy reach to look back on and remember the fun we had on our holidays.<br />
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So here I am, trying to make a comeback, sincerely hoping that I haven't lost too many readers over the last few weeks, and desperately hoping that my burst of enthusiasm that I've managed to harness today gets me back into the practice of perpetual blogging.<br />
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When last I posted from Greece, I'd just started to tell you about the wonderfully blissful time we'd spent in spectacular Santorini.<br />
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Created after a huge volcanic eruption over 3,500 years ago, Santorini is a staggeringly beautiful ring-shaped island with the most amazing views out to the Aegean Sea. Our small villa was perched high up on the Caldera's edge, 300 metres above sea level in the quiet village of Imerovigli – our minds repeatedly blown away by the incredible vista that greeted us every morning from our own private terrace.<br />
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We spent four days in Santorini, mostly walking around the towns of Thira and Imerovigli, admiring the views and taking ridiculous amounts of photos. We also explored other parts of the island on a motor scooter, riding out to Perissa Beach where black volcanic sand burns your feet, and spending a day at beautiful Oia drooling over the boutique art and craft shops.<br />
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Okay, prepare yourself now for the barrage of photos from our never-wanted-it-to-end affair with this fantasy island.<br />
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Meticulous pebble-work covers the foot ways and squares of the main villages. This one, located in Thira, is of a double-headed eagle, a beloved Greek symbol that is often used as a decorative motif.<br />
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We couldn't get enough of the panoramic scale of this place. Here I am enjoying the view from the same vantage point that I have managed to find each of the three times I've visited Santorini. It's the roof of a villa in Imerovigli, and somehow, amongst the maze of cobble-stoned pathways that riddle the island, I've been able to locate this spot every time...<br />
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And here I am on the same roof, over 20 years ago:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyY1QDLzYKgekT5yjt8EJqdb1iBAyIbSYEweCmmKIG-tMnLPUPcIe7NK8QFZzU7WixpnZRwU5EByUXRIXTk6HVOL80tqObVzM7d46uxu_IN_5tNSunLnluLGBl4PHUVxTLY2YHa2w9Mmh/s1600/greekveg-me-on-roof-1992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyY1QDLzYKgekT5yjt8EJqdb1iBAyIbSYEweCmmKIG-tMnLPUPcIe7NK8QFZzU7WixpnZRwU5EByUXRIXTk6HVOL80tqObVzM7d46uxu_IN_5tNSunLnluLGBl4PHUVxTLY2YHa2w9Mmh/s1600/greekveg-me-on-roof-1992.jpg" /></a></div>
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More incredible views.<br />
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Even the cats enjoyed the views.<br />
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Another view that mesmerised me to no end was the delectably-stocked mini-market shelves, loaded with all those Greek goodies that you can only get at specialty delicatessens here in Australia. These mini markets were dotted all over Santorini, this one a stone's throw from our villa.<br />
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The village of Oia is not only known for its amazing sunsets, but also for its abundance of boutique art and craft shops and street stalls.<br />
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This dog wasn't all that interested in shopping. He was happy to just relax in the shade with the cool marble beneath him, away from the hot Santorini sun.<br />
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Black volcanic sand of Perissa beach.<br />
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<i>"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world ... I feel like I can't take it ... and my heart is just going to cave in."</i> <br />
(quote taken from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qssvnjj5Moo" target="_blank">plastic bag scene</a> of American Beauty.)<br />
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Could there possibly be a more outrageous place to live? Yes, I believe this was someone's private property:<br />
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Below is the view from the our gorgeous little studio villa. We stayed at <a href="http://www.artemisvillas.gr/" target="_blank">Artemis Villas</a>, run by a Greek Australian guy named Chris and his wife Angela. We had our own private terrace from which to take in the vast expanse of the indigo seas and not for one minute during our four days here did we stop marvelling at this ridiculous view.<br />
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How gorgeous is this? Every day the towels on our bed were sculpted into the shape of a different animal by the most friendly (and talented!) room attendant I think I've ever met, Juliana. She was such a lovely and delightful lady, and every afternoon delivered complimentary cake and champagne for us to enjoy on our terrace.<br />
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Menu choices when eating out in Santorini were a mix of traditional Santorinian fare along with quite a range of western and other international favourites to cater for the vast variety of tourists that visit the island. I'm always drawn to the Greek appetisers for vegetarian options, but was pleasantly surprised to find Vegetarian Moussaka was a specialty dish at <a href="http://www.argo-restaurant-santorini.com/" target="_blank">Argo Restaurant</a> in Thira. I also loved the way it was served in its own terracotta dish.<br />
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The landscape of Santorini is very dry and arid with harsh volcanic ash soil, however these conditions enable some unique produce to be cultivated on the island such as the indigenous Asyrtiko grape, beautiful white eggplants, and deliciously sweet cherry tomatoes.<br />
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The intensely-flavoured tomatoes of Santorini are grown using a centuries-old method called dry farming. Plants are nurtured until established, then all watering is stopped which forces the plant to find water deep underground, in turn encouraging it to be more proactive in producing fruit. The hot, dry summers of the mediterranean are perfect for growing tomatoes this way. The fruit is smaller but the flavour and texture is incredibly rich and sweet.<br />
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It's no surprise then that Tomatokeftethes is featured on just about every taverna menu in Santorini.<br />
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During our short stay in Santorini, the best tomatokeftethes we came across were at <a href="http://www.thalami-restaurant.gr/" target="_blank">Thalami Taverna</a> in Oia. Golden brown and oh-so-crispy on the outside, soft and sweet with a hint of tartness on the inside.<br />
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I knew I'd never be able to reproduce these at home without access to Santorini-grown tomatoes, but with the help of some tomato paste and a bit of pre-frying to intensify the flavour, my version of Tomatokeftethes didn't turn out too badly.<br />
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Most of the recipes you will find online don't include egg in the batter, but after a little experimentation with and without egg, I found it necessary to use egg to hold the batter together (without the egg I pretty much ended up with little bits and pieces of brown crumbled rock – which may or may not have had something to do with my worn-out "non-stick" frying pan which is anything but non-stick). I'd be interested to hear if anyone (other than the phantom internet people posting all the eggless recipes) has had success making tomato fritters without egg.<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Santorinian Tomato Fritters (Tomatokeftethes)</h2>
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Makes around 20 fritters<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>400g cherry or mini roma tomatoes, finely chopped</li>
<li>1 small red onion, grated</li>
<li>2 teaspoons tomato paste</li>
<li>2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped</li>
<li>2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped</li>
<li>Salt and pepper to taste</li>
<li>120g self raising flour</li>
<li>1 egg, lightly beaten</li>
<li>Olive oil for flying</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>In a medium saucepan, fry the onion in a little oil over medium heat for a couple of minutes.</li>
<li>Add the chopped tomatoes and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and cover for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.</li>
<li>Transfer the onion and tomato mixture to a large bowl, add tomato paste and herbs and season well with salt and pepper.</li>
<li>Add the flour and egg, mixing, until it forms a thick batter, adding more flour if necessary.</li>
<li>Over high heat, pour some olive oil into a large non-stick frying pan until it reaches a depth of around 1cm. Once the oil has heated, drop a small amount of the batter into the oil and if it sizzles, the oil is ready. Turn the heat down to medium.</li>
<li>Drop heaped tablespoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil and fry both sides until golden and crisp.</li>
<li>Drain over paper towels and serve immediately with fresh Greek yoghurt.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com58tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-52342365560699914912013-10-09T22:36:00.002+11:002013-10-09T22:36:35.098+11:00Taking a bit of a break<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm sorry, but, wasn't I just lying on the beach in Limnos? </div>
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Oh, <i>that's</i> right. That was A MONTH AGO.</div>
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October already, and the mountain of work on my desk isn't getting any smaller. October already, and I haven't even uploaded the last lot of holiday photos from my camera onto the computer yet. October already, and the souvenirs from the trip are still sitting in my suitcase. October already, and here I am writing a post to apologise for my absence during a period that didn't even seem to pass by.<br />
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I don't know where the time went – maybe it decided to stay in Limnos. But wherever it is, it's not helping me with the stuff I need to get done here in my life today. It's hard enough coming home from a warm Greek island to Melbourne's miserable weather, but with so much to do (and diminishing motivation to do it!) I am going to have to give the blog a little rest until I've got my act together.<br />
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So please don't forget about me, please keep loving Greek vegetarian food, and please feel free to drop me a line or a comment below to remind me that I <i>do</i> have a blog here, and cooking Greek vegetarian food and photographing it is what I need to find the time to get back to doing. And soon!<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-82402371865693562652013-09-12T17:15:00.000+10:002013-09-12T17:16:32.088+10:00Blogging with free wi-fi while on holiday in Greece – not recommended for the faint-hearted!Blogging is never easy when you've got sunshine, stunning views and an obscene amount of photo opportunities waiting outside for you. But it's made virtually impossible when the free wi-fi melts down every time more than one person tries to use it. So the chances of me getting another massive post up here on the blog before we come home are looking pretty slim. Even trying to get this little post up has been causing me grief!<br />
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We are having an absolutely brilliant time though. Spending four days (including my birthday!) in Santorini was wonderfully blissful. We are now back in Athens, shopping, sightseeing and this afternoon off on a bus trip to Cape Sounio. Two more days here and then off to Singapore for two days where we will be meeting with one of my blog readers!<br />
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If I don't get a chance to log in again before we get home, rest assured (or brace yourself!) – there will be a massive onslaught of a post on this blog in just over a week's time.<br />
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Until then, I will leave you with a picture of us in Santorini that totally looks like we have been superimposed onto the background which makes this whole holiday feel like even more of a dream . . .<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-66722537119160491302013-09-06T05:39:00.004+10:002013-09-06T05:39:26.079+10:00Last days in Limnos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I could live here. I'm sure there's some sort of magic dust being slow-released into the air here that makes you fall in love with Limnos and renders you unable to leave without heart-break.<br />
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But we are leaving tomorrow, and today we need to wean ourselves from the spell that has intoxicated us. We're meeting up with our old friend and Limnos boat cruise operator, Litsa, at the beach this morning for a seaside frappe, then out for a last-hurrah lunch at our favourite taverna, "Sinialo", after which Tony will indulge in an afternoon siesta while I might stroll the streets looking for cats to photograph, then tonight we will sit around the terrace with the family enjoying ouzo and mezes before we retreat to our room to pack.<br />
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Our time here in Limnos may have flown, but we have enjoyed and tried to make the most of every day with lots of eating, laughing, swimming, cooking, drinking, sunning, and riding the motor scooter.<br />
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I have lots of photos to post today, all from the last week of our stay here in Limnos. Prepare yourself for a lot of fast scrolling! Or, hopefully, some enjoyable viewing :) Tomorrow we leave for Santorini where the photos will be snapped off at a rate that will surely make my index finger fall off, so consider this post a training session for what's to come!<br />
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<h3>
Cats and dogs of Limnos</h3>
Stray cats are not so abundant in Greece as they once were. Desexing and rehoming schemes have reduced the numbers of cats significantly and in Athens there is rarely a cat to be seen. Here in Limnos there are still a few, but they are well looked after by the Limnian people who have accepted them as part of the landscape and leave food and water out for them every day. The strays also get to enjoy feeding times at the tavernas, having mastered the art of putting on their best sad-cat face while patiently waiting at your feet for your scraps.<br />
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And then there was this crazy random cat that just appeared out of nowhere on the day we visited the Russian fortress in Myrina. High up on a hill, away from any houses, away from the road. A domestic cat.<br />
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While Greece is known for its cat population, stray dogs also quietly roam the streets. Perhaps not so noticeable because they don't put themselves on display like the cats do and they find food their own way rather than begging at tavernas.<br />
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One well-known iconic dog of Limnos is the local pharmacist's old pet Chow Chow. Well known because he is the one dog that is constantly on display in the main street of Myrina, right outside his owner's shop.<br />
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All day, every day, he sleeps on the footpath at the door of the pharmacy, waiting for his owner to take him home. But not on a lead, or in the back seat of a car. This dog has a very unique way of getting home. When the pharmacist locks up his shop at the end of the night, this ancient-looking dog gets up from his slumber and hops right onto the platform of his owner's motor scooter and together they ride away. It's the most spectacular sight I tell you.<br />
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<h3>
Boat trips around the island</h3>
Litsa and her husband George run a boat cruise business in Limnos, taking tourists on day-long trips up the west and south coasts of the island on their traditional wooden kaiki boat called "Anemos". It's a beautiful way to enjoy the scenery of the island and the expanse of the Aegean sea. A gorgeous buffet lunch is included and Litsa and George do a wonderful job keeping the passengers entertained and informed of the history and beauty of the island. Tony and I take the trip every time we're in Limnos – this is a must-do activity for anyone visiting the island.<br />
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Below: Tony and I with Litsa, co-owner and operator of the boat, Anemos.<br />
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Below: Tony with Litsa's husband, George, captain of Anemos.<br />
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<h3>
Castro Fortress</h3>
Every year we bravely take on the Castro mountain climb. Castro is the Venetian fortress that dominates over the port of Myrina, the capital of Limnos. The Castro mountain is the only area on the island inhabited by deer, and has the most spectacular views from atop. The climb is strenuous and made particularly difficult by the dangerously uneven rocky tracks that even the deer would find hard work to tackle. But it's worth every step to the top where the views over Myrina are simply breathtaking. As is the fear factor! There are no barriers to be found anywhere along the perimeter of the fortress – the sheer drop of around 300 metres that confronts you as you step towards the stone wall is positively frightening. You wouldn't want to bring your kids here. But what a view. You can see the whole world from up there!<br />
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Around 30 or 40 deer occupy the Castro mountain. It is believed that a pair of them were brought over from Rhodes as a gift to Limnos to rid the island of snakes.<br />
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<h3>
Moudros</h3>
Once the capital of Limnos, Moudros is now the second largest town on the island. The bay of Moudros is one of the largest natural harbours in the Aegean and is a picturesque place to sit at one of the two large tavernas and ponder the history of the First World War and the role Moudros played as a safe haven for injured soldiers during the Gallipoli campaign.<br />
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Our longest trip on the motor scooter this year took us to Moudros for lunch earlier this week. We love eating at Galazio Limani owned by our friend Nikolaos who is one of the loveliest and most professional restauranteurs in Limnos.<br />
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<h3>
The food</h3>
I'm afraid to say Tony and I failed miserably this year to share the duties of preparing family lunches at the Limnos house. One day there'd be a boat trip, the next a motor scooter ride, and with Koula, Julia and my dad fighting over who could dominate the kitchen, Tony and I have now found ourselves on our last day in Limnos with only two of the luncheon feasts prepared by us.<br />
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That's not to say that we haven't enjoyed many family gatherings at the table with some of my dad's speciality dishes like spanakopita, horta and of course his famous hummus, Julia's fabulous salads and her take on fasolakia loaded with large chunks of garlic, Koula's endless array of Greek stews, bakes, pastries and cakes, and even George has contributed his own condiment concoction made up of fresh tomatoes and feta mashed together with some lemon juice and olive oil.<br />
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There are around 30 tavernas here in Limnos and we've tried them all. The menus are intensely abundant with vegetarian options in the appetiser section. I have no trouble at all putting together a wonderful feast for myself, usually made up of Horiatiki Salata (Greek salad) with obligatory crusty bread to soak up the salad juices, Horta (steamed greens), a glass of Mythos beer and the most beautifully crisp but light Kolokithakia Tiganites (fried zucchini slices).<br />
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<h3>
The beach</h3>
The beach closest to the house here in Limnos is called Riha Nera, which is Greek for "shallow waters". I will tell you <i>this is the best beach on the island</i> and not just because it's a 3-minute walk from the house. The water is so clean and warm and the sunsets are out of this world.<br />
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<h3>
The Agora (main shopping strip)</h3>
Strolling down the winding cobble-stoned car-free road they call the Agora, is one of the most pleasurable ways to spend a morning in Myrina. Lined with boutique shops, cafes, souvenir shops and convenience stores, the Agora is the place to be, not only for daily shopping needs, but for people-watching, relaxing with a frappe and bougatsa (custard or cheese-filled filo pastries) or just taking in some more of that magic dust.<br />
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<h3>
The Limnian nightlife</h3>
After the close-down of afternoon siesta, the shops re-open for the evening trade and the Agora once again comes to life, buzzing with activity.<br />
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Parallel to the Agora is the taverna-lined stretch of beach called Romaikos Yiallos where beach bars open up and deliver surprisingly pleasant music to the streets of Myrina. Slowly the streets start to fill with families, young couples and old people, both locals and tourists.<br />
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As the sun goes down on the Aegean horizon beside the distant Mount Athos from mainland Greece, the tourists are dispersed and the Greeks and their extended families come out in droves to bring joy and a whole lot of wonderfulness to the island atmosphere.<br />
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The tavernas and beach bars are humming with live music, Greek chatter and laughter, filled with patrons ranging from parents with babies in prams to old couples in their 80s and even 90s. After dinner the frappes and ouzo continue to flow all night – the only intoxication coming from the magic dust that Limnos is sprinkling down on us through the warm night air.<br />
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So for now we farewell Limnos – until next year – and tomorrow we are off to spectacular Santorini. Hopefully with all this blogging I won't blow up the wi-fi at the place where we will be staying!<br />
<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-11068107032664061192013-09-02T00:10:00.000+10:002013-09-02T00:10:01.218+10:00Landscapes and villages of Limnos and Koula's Fanouropita (Greek Spice Cake)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After exchanging our motor scooter no less than <i>five times</i>, George the motor scooter man finally came through with a decent bike for us to hire for the rest of our stay here in Limnos.<br />
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It is such a relief to be riding a comfortable bike now. We have been on a couple of rides so far, along the north-western inland road from Kaspakas to Sardes, and the south-west coastal road through Thanos, Kontias, Portianou and Nea Koutali.<br />
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For today's post I'm going to let the pictures express the beauty of some of the landscapes and villages we've visited, and at the end of the post, the recipe for Koula's Fanouropita (Greek Spice Cake).<br />
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Streets of Androni:</div>
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Dapia Fortress and views of Myrina:</div>
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Relaxing in Kaspakas:</div>
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Between Kaspakas and Sardes:</div>
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Views along south-west coast of Limnos:</div>
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Portianou:</div>
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Palio Pethino:</div>
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Nea Koutali:</div>
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We only have five more days here in Limnos and I've hardly told you any of what we've been doing. Life in Limnos is very relaxing and carefree. It's a very easy lifestyle to get used to, and really hard to come inside to write on the blog, especially now that those pleasant afternoon siesta hours are calling me :)<br />
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I will try and post a few more times before we leave for Santorini but it's really difficult to resist the pull of the beach and the gorgeous weather here. To be honest, the last thing I want to be doing is sitting here at the computer!<br />
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To give you an idea of what life is like in Limnos, imagine Koula cooking up a storm in the kitchen almost every day while my dad is making noise with Anesti upstairs as they fit a second kitchen on the third floor of the house. Julia is outside watering the garden, after which she will shell some almonds and tend to the grapes she's been drying in the sun, all the while George sits on the terrace tossing his worry beads.<br />
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Tony and I have been spending our days riding the new motor scooter, sunning on the beach, going for long walks, eating way too much food and then sleeping it all off.<br />
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Later today I am going on a hike up Castro mountain, and tomorrow Tony and I will take the motor scooter across to the other side of the island for lunch in Moudros. These stories and more I still need to write about, including the lovely boat trip we took around the south coast of the island on a traditional "kaiki" boat a few days ago. The time is flying by so incredibly fast but we are having a wonderful time and I hope I can motivate myself to detail our adventures before we are back in Melbourne!<br />
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Ok it's way past my nap time but before I go, here is Koula's version of a beautiful Greek afternoon tea cake, Fanouropita. It's very simple with few ingredients and is so light and fluffy it's hard not to go for seconds. Lovely with a dollop of honeyed Greek yoghurt and a cup of tea.<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Koula's Fanouropita (Greek Spice Cake)</h2>
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Serves 12<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>1 cup light olive oil</li>
<li>1 cup orange juice</li>
<li>1 cup white wine</li>
<li>1 cup water</li>
<li>1 teaspoon cinnamon</li>
<li>1 teaspoon ground cloves</li>
<li>1 1/2 cups sugar</li>
<li>500g self raising flour</li>
<li>50g sesame seeds</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.</li>
<li>Add all liquid ingredients and spices to a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend on high speed until well combined – around one minute.</li>
<li>Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour while continuing to mix.</li>
<li>Pour cake batter into a 30cm x 20cm rectangular cake tin lined with baking paper, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.</li>
</ol>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-44639959572363103672013-08-29T06:34:00.003+10:002013-08-29T07:00:22.640+10:00Precious moments with family and motor scooter adventures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Sometimes we forget how precious life is. We let so many of the little things that make us smile pass us by. Sometimes we even forget to appreciate the people that are close to us and the simple pleasures that we share with family.<br />
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A few days ago we were reminded how important it is to appreciate these moments after hearing the sad news of the sudden passing of a family member in Australia.<br />
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So while we feel sorrow for the loss of our loved one, Tony and I feel very lucky to be spending our holiday here with the family that we are with.<br />
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My second cousin, Artemis, posted a very poignant thought on Facebook the other day – a quote by Robert Frost – "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Tony and I have vowed to try and make the most of every day we have here in Limnos, and every day for the rest of our lives because life <i>does</i> go on, and it doesn't last very long.<br />
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Every day should be appreciated and reflected upon – try to remember the smiles, the laughs and the joys of that day, no matter how small. And always try to maintain a sense of humour because even some of the most preposterous situations can have a funny side to them.<br />
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There are plenty of opportunities in Limnos, and in Greece generally, to have a laugh about the absurd situations that you sometimes encounter. Life is so different here. It's casual and relaxed and no one seems to worry about anything. Things that we would normally freak out about back home in Australia like someone driving the wrong way down a one-way street, people parking their cars on the footpath, parents taking their babies in prams out to nightclubs, stray cats coming up and sitting on people's laps in restaurants – all these things are perfectly acceptable here in Greece, and when in Greece, somehow you accept it too. <br />
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Today we experienced one of those situations when things went stupidly wrong, trying to exchange our ridiculously unpowerful 50cc motor scooter for a more powerful one. The speedometer didn't work, there was no suspension, the seat was rock hard and it was loud, smelly and couldn't get up a hill without me hopping off the bike first. We just had to exchange it.<br />
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We hired the bike last Saturday from our old friend George who runs a little motor scooter hire shop from his house here in Limnos and always does a great deal for us. This year he promised to give us his best bike, an 80cc Kimco with a back rest. Unfortunately this bike was in repair the day we turned up to collect it, so we ended up with the scrappy little 50cc. "Your bike ready Wednesday!", George promised in broken English.<br />
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For four days we put up with the tiny little scrap heap of a bike, managing to take it for a ride yesterday to Agios Yiannis (only a few kilometres from where we are staying but an excruciatingly rough road), all the while enduring whiplash, bruised bums and numerous vertebrae-crushes. Thankfully the road is blessed with breathtaking views of blue skies and blue seas all around which momentarily anaesthetised our painful bone injuries.<br />
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Today we returned to George's shop to exchange the 50cc for the 80cc, only to discover the bigger bike was still in repair. George demanded, "You go to garage and ask when bike is ready!". I looked at Tony, bewildered, and yelled back at George, "You're kidding, right? This isn't our job! This is <i>your</i> job, George!!" He laughed like I was saying something completely ridiculous and ordered we get on our rattly scooter and follow him to the mechanic's garage immediately.<br />
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Riding effortlessly in front of us on his shiny new smooth-riding motor scooter, we putted and popped along behind him, struggling to keep up with him at our top speed of 40 kilometres per hour.<br />
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Still in disbelief that we had to make this trip to the mechanic's garage with George, we eventually arrived at a large junk yard littered with car wrecks and all sorts of rusty old broken down vehicles. Inside the tin-roofed garage was a small cubicle office, and leaning back in his reclining office chair, enjoying a cigarette and pretending he didn't notice us arriving, was the owner of the garage.<br />
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George, Tony and I wandered around the shed looking for our 80cc and there behind a few spare tyres was the bike, all pulled apart. The three of us just stood there shaking our heads.<br />
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A sufficient amount of time later the owner casually emerged from the office, only to tell us he doesn't know when the bike will be ready. George turned to us and just said, "Who knows, maybe next year!" and we walked out of the shed as the owner strolled back to his office.<br />
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Outside, Tony negotiated with George to allow us to take his shiny little smooth rider instead, the one on which he escorted us to the mechanic's garage. We swapped bikes and rode back to George's shop feeling much happier with the feel of the shiny new motor scooter, except that when it came time to stop, Tony noticed it had no back brake!<br />
<br />
Back at George's shop we alerted George to this little problem and he said "Oh. Yes. No brakes. I fix and you come back afternoon for this bike. You take old bike and bring back later."<br />
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So back onto the old hard-seated, suspensionless 50cc we hopped, the bike that George had just ridden back from the mechanics, and low and behold, it wouldn't start. Three more attempts and it still wouldn't start. "What have you done to the bike, George!" – I was stunned. George couldn't start it either. "I don't know what happen to this bike! It no work now. I break bike!!" he joked.<br />
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We were in a hurry to get to the shops since we were putting on a huge meze feast for lunch today and needed a bike to pick up all the ingredients. All George had left in his tiny front yard was the 50cc bike that wouldn't start, the shiny new bike that had no back brake, and a tiny yellow motor scooter that looked like it would break if one person sat on it, let alone two. But we needed a bike so we took the yellow scooter. Typhoon One it's called, "One" as in "1cc", we are sure.<br />
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Below: Tony not very impressed with our 1cc replacement motor scooter.<br />
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We went back to George this afternoon to pick up the shiny bike with fixed brakes, but of course he hadn't fixed them. The yellow scooter was worse than the one we started with so we exchanged it yet again for another 2-stroke 50cc spine cruncher.<br />
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So here we are, four motor scooters later, back to where we started. Who knows when (or if) we will get a better bike, but this is Greece, and you've got to laugh :)<br />
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Today's lunch was one of Tony's masterpieces. He loves putting together platters of food, arranging all the elements in rows and rings on the plate. It's so retro but he loves it. Containing many cold meats and pickled fish, the spread wasn't a vegetarian feast, but I contributed a Greek salad and bowl of home-made fava which is simply pureed yellow split peas dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. A while ago I wrote a <a href="http://www.ispyplumpie.com/guest-post-fava/" target="_blank">guest post</a> for Liz at I Spy Plum Pie where you can find <a href="http://www.ispyplumpie.com/guest-post-fava/" target="_blank">the recipe for fava</a>.<br />
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Cheers George! This is George, my dad's brother (not motor scooter George!).<br />
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Tony's selection of mezes wouldn't be complete without olives, chargrilled eggplant, cheese, nuts and of course, a bottle of Greek ouzo.<br />
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But most importantly, we were sharing this good food with our family. Enjoying every minute, enjoying every bite.<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-66773883178617772612013-08-23T07:20:00.000+10:002013-11-20T15:58:26.778+11:00First few days in Limnos, a tour of the old family house, and the recipe for Melomacarona<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As we were leaving Melbourne there was snow falling on the nearby hills. 28 hours later we were transported to another hemisphere where the air is warm and the sun shines every day.<br />
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This is Greece, the homeland of my parents, the place that I connect with, the country that my partner Tony has wholeheartedly embraced. We are on our fourth trip here together and it's just as beautiful as ever.<br />
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After a relaxing overnight stay in Athens we are now settled in Limnos, the north Aegean island where my dad's family is from. My dad is now retired, and he and his wife, Julia, spend around 8 months each year living in Limnos, in the house where his mother grew up. Tony and I have been making the annual trip to join my dad and Julia in Limnos for four years now and we never grow tired of this place.<br />
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The weather here on the island is consistently warm during the summer months, reaching a guaranteed 30 degrees celsius every day. The beach is only a minute's walk from the house and it's lovely to spend the mornings there when it's not so busy. The water is warm and shallow and the sand is lined with rows of banana lounges and beach umbrellas where you can sit as long as you like and be waited on by young gorgeous backpackers working at one of two bars that service the beach. It doesn't get any better than that.<br />
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Here at the house we are sharing the accommodation with my uncle George (dad's brother), aunty Koula, my dad and Julia. Tony and I are very fortunate to be able to spend this time with family in Limnos every year and to have such a beautiful house in which to stay.<br />
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The work that dad and Julia have done on the house over the years is nothing short of amazing. It has been transformed from a tired old house with sagging ceilings and sinking floorboards to a beautiful, majestic family home.<br />
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Our room is breath-taking, with shuttered windows, antique furniture and our own sheltered balcony to sit and watch the Limnian world go by from the second floor of the three-storey house. On the same floor is another bedroom/study, a large bathroom and the lounge room with a huge stone fireplace that for over 50 years had been rendered over in plaster.<br />
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Our amazing bedroom:<br />
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Tony enjoying the view from our bedroom balcony:<br />
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Lounge room with old stone fire place, recently discovered under a thickly plastered wall:<br />
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Right now I'm sitting in the study across the hall where Tony and I have set up our laptops. I can see the ancient fortress over on Castro Hill from here, and in the foreground, a dense maze of terracotta-roofed houses separated only by narrow lane-ways and footpaths.<br />
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Above us on the top floor are two bedrooms and another bathroom accessed by a large rickety staircase that slopes one way with scary creaky steps. If you can brave the climb to the top floor, the view from up there is incredible. From the iron-laced balcony you can see ships passing on the beautiful crystal blue sea and the faint silhouette of Mount Athos in the distance.<br />
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There is also a kitchenette in the making on the top floor. This is dad's current project and with the help of his trusty handy-man, Anestis, renovation work around the house is always in progress.<br />
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Staircase leading up to the top floor of the house:<br />
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Sitting room on the top floor:<br />
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Bathroom on the top floor:<br />
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On the ground floor where the walls are over three feet thick to withstand the frequent earth tremors and occasional earthquakes the island experiences, there is the kitchen, dining room, a bedroom, store room, and a pair of French doors leading out to a large terraced area adorned with masses of grapevines, jasmine and honeysuckle.<br />
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Outside there is a guest house, dad's workshop and wood-fired oven room. The large garden has been painstakingly transformed by Julia from a quarter acre of weeds to a productive and beautiful space from which we source many of our fresh ingredients for our daily family lunches.<br />
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Lunch is the main meal of the day at the house, and this is the time that the family gets together to talk and eat and wave hands and drink Mythos beer. We sit outside at a white plastic table on weathered plastic chairs but the garden and surrounds are so beautiful, the outdoor furniture can be forgiven. The food is basic, but good. Beautiful Greek salads made with the sweetest tomatoes from the garden, fresh crusty bread, steamed greens with lemon juice and olive oil, big trays of "Takis Briam" (recipe coming soon!) and thick slabs of local feta cheese.<br />
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Below from left: George, Koula, Takis (my dad), me and Anestis. Tony took the photo and Julia is currently in the UK. She will be returning to Limnos this Friday.<br />
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My dad preparing his special version of briam:<br />
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I'm the only vegetarian in the family so there is often fish or some kind of meat included in the lunchtime meals, but when it's my turn to cook, it's vegetarian all the way. We take turns cooking for the family, although Koula insists on rostering herself up for the task much more often than the rest of us! Which is quite alright by us because she is a fabulous cook.<br />
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Today Koula was telling me about the melomacarona (Greek honeyed biscuits) she made recently and it reminded me that I must post the recipe for the biscuits I made for my sister before we left Melbourne. My sister Kellie is looking after my cat while we are away and for the incredible job she does with Simba she deserves a truckload of biscuits. She takes the 20-minute drive to my house every day with her two young sons and spends an hour or so playing with my cat and sending photos of him to me. I couldn't ask for a better cat sitter. She's the best.<br />
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Tony has been working since we arrived in Limnos so we haven't had a chance to do much together. It's not an ideal situation but he's hoping to have everything sorted out in the next few days so we can really get into holiday mode. I'm lucky enough to have been spared most of the work I thought I was going to have to do whilst here in Limnos, so I've been spending my days at the beach in the mornings, and walking around the village in the afternoons taking photos.<br />
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Tomorrow it's my turn to prepare lunch for the family and I'm going to see how my <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/greek-baked-ricotta-with-green-olives.html" target="_blank">Greek baked ricotta</a> with <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/fasolakia-green-bean-stew.html" target="_blank">fasolakia</a> goes down. If Tony can manage to wrap up the loose ends with his work in the next few days we will hire a motor scooter on the weekend and revisit some of our favourite places on the island. We hire a motor scooter every year and as much as my mum hates that we ride without helmets, it's the most liberating feeling in the world riding around the hills with a 360-degree view.<br />
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I will be back in a few days to write about our adventures on the motor scooter and a little more about my family and the day-to-day lifestyle of living in Limnos, but for now, here's the recipe for Melomacarona, as promised :)<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Melomacarona (Greek honeyed biscuits)</h2>
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<i>Adapted from a combination of recipes from "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Recipes-Greek-Island-Susie-Jacobs/dp/067174531X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377204473&sr=8-1&keywords=recipes+from+a+greek+island" target="_blank">Recipes from a Greek Island</a>" by Susie Jacobs and "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Greek-Andy-Harris/dp/0811834808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377204527&sr=8-1&keywords=modern+greek+andy+harris" target="_blank">Modern Greek</a>" by Andy Harris.</i><br />
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Makes around 24 biscuits<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<i>For the syrup</i><br />
<ul>
<li>6 tablespoons honey</li>
<li>125g caster sugar</li>
<li>1 cinnamon stick</li>
<li>1 strip of lemon peel</li>
<li>150ml water</li>
<li>Juice of 1 lemon</li>
</ul>
<i>For the filling</i><br />
<ul>
<li>200g shelled walnuts</li>
<li>2 tablespoons of the syrup</li>
<li>30g unsalted butter, melted</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon cinnamon</li>
</ul>
<i>For the dough</i><br />
<ul>
<li>150ml mild olive oil</li>
<li>100g butter, chopped and softened</li>
<li>50g icing sugar</li>
<li>Pinch of salt</li>
<li>Juice of 1 orange</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon ground cloves</li>
<li>1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg</li>
<li>2 tablespoons cognac or brandy</li>
<li>250g plain white flour</li>
<li>125g wholemeal flour</li>
<li>1 teaspoon baking powder</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Start by making the syrup. Put the honey, sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon peel in a saucepan and add 150ml of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add the lemon juice, cover and allow to cool.</li>
<li>Next, make the filling. Pulse walnuts in a food processor until finely chopped but not pasty. Reserve 2 tablespoons of nuts for sprinkling later.</li>
<li>Transfer the remaining nuts to a bowl and add two tablespoons of the syrup, melted butter and cinnamon. Mix well and set aside.</li>
<li>To make the dough, add olive oil, softened butter and icing sugar to a mixing bowl and beat on high speed for around 3 or 4 minutes, until mixture lightens.</li>
<li>Add salt, orange juice, ground cloves, nutmeg and cognac and beat well.</li>
<li>Slowly add the sifted flours and baking powder to the mixing bowl and beat on low speed until you have a malleable dough, adding more flour if too wet.</li>
<li>Turn dough out on to a floured surface and lightly knead until smooth – around 5 minutes.</li>
<li>Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Pinch off pieces of dough, around two tablespoons worth, and roll in the palms of your hands to form small egg shapes. Press your thumb into the centre of each piece and insert a small spoonful of the filling, forming the dough around the filling to cover and seal. Place on an oiled baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.</li>
<li>Remove biscuits from oven and place on a wire rack. When cool enough to handle, dip each biscuit into the syrup for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a serving dish. Sprinkle with reserved ground walnuts.</li>
</ol>
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-25838938919982181052013-08-17T10:08:00.002+10:002013-08-23T07:22:11.975+10:00Melomacarona (Greek Honeyed Biscuits) and a trip to Greece!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh my god, if only you knew how frantic things are around our household right now. I would love to describe the mayhem going on here but I don't have time! We leave in about an hour to get on a plane headed for Greece and I still haven't finished packing!<br />
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This is not like me at all but it's been one crazy week with work and getting things organised for the trip. <i>Oh believe me when I tell you</i> I can't wait to be on that plane with a glass of Bailey's in my hand. Yes, daggy old Bailey's, but that's my tradition. Bailey's on ice, on a plane.<br />
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So here I am, as promised, with part three of my commitment to write three posts for the blog before leaving for Greece (with an hour to spare!). But I'm sorry to say I'm going to have to leave it there – I have a plane to catch! Oh but you won't be spared of my usual eighteen paragraphs of rambling <i>that</i> easily. During the flight I'll be writing all about these beautiful <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.gr/2013/08/first-few-days-in-limnos-and-tour-of.html" target="_blank">Melomacarona biscuits</a> that I made for my sister who will be house sitting and looking after our cat while we're away.<br />
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For the next four weeks Tony and I will be spending time with family on the Greek island of Limnos, holidaying in Santorini, shopping in Athens, and sightseeing in Singapore, and I can't wait to write about our adventures of this trip. In the past I would blog for my family and friends, but this time I can also share these stories (and of course, recipes!) with my new friends of the blogosphere :). How fantastic is that!<br />
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"Yeah I'm just finishing up now, Tony!!" (he just realised what I was doing!).<br />
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Must go! But see you back here in a few days time, from LIMNOS! xxx<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-55811970129693077322013-08-12T22:27:00.004+10:002013-08-12T23:55:46.108+10:00Okra, Fig and Basil Stew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh my cat is a naughty little thing.<br />
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I was just about ready to take the photos for today's post when that crazy-cat-wants-to-run switch in Simba's brain came on – the one that makes him sprint up and down the hallway not caring what he crashes into at the end of his 5-metre skid along the floorboards. Today's performance had him ricocheting off the half-open door to my little makeshift studio (should've shut it, I know) and sideways Spiderman-style using the door as a spring-board to catapult himself directly onto the table where I had my beautiful okra and fig stew set up, aiming straight for a full glass of water which of course tipped over and soaked EVERYTHING.<br />
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I can't help but laugh at this cat. It took an hour to clean everything up, but when Simba has one of his sprint bursts I just find it so hilarious. Tony says he looks like a cartoon character as he suddenly activates his spinning power legs, trying to get some grip on the slippery floorboards but not actually moving; his legs just a set of blurry rotating rings like cartoon scribbles. I'd love to capture it on video one day.<br />
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So eventually I reassembled and photographed today's gorgeous dish, Okra, Fig and Basil Stew. Miraculously, the sun came out for a few minutes this afternoon and cast a wonderful glow over my arrangement. Even the basil leaves warmed to the idea and released a generous amount of their heavenly scent as the sunlight triggered some extended photosynthesis action!<br />
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Tony and I are five days away from boarding a flight headed for Greece. I can't tell you how much we need this holiday. It's been an intense few months for both of us work wise, so it will be lovely to have some time away from the daily grind. But more severe than our aversion to working 16-hour days is our severe intolerance to cold weather. I have a prolapsed disk in my lower back which tends to flare up during the colder months. I get muscle cramps in the bum and classic sciatic pain all the way down my right leg during these flare-ups. It's not the most comfortable condition to live with, but at least I know that warmer weather provides some relief. This is one of the reasons we are moving to Queensland next year, and definitely a reason to get excited about going to Greece in five days!<br />
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To get us there, I've got part two of my three-part-promise that I made last week when I said I'd commit to posting three more recipes before we leave for Greece. A few days ago we started with <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/avgolemono-soup-greek-egg-and-lemon-soup.html" target="_blank">Avgolemono Soup</a>, and now we are on to Okra, Fig and Basil Stew which can be served as either a side dish or a main meal. It's delicious with rice, pasta, couscous or crusty bread. Today I ate it for lunch without accompaniment and it was exquisitely yum.<br />
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Fresh figs are really expensive in Australia at the moment. I'm obviously buying them at the wrong time of year but I wanted to test this recipe before getting to Limnos where we have a gigantic fig tree in the garden. The figs will be almost ready for picking by the time we get there so I intend on making this dish as well as other fig-loaded dishes while staying at the Limnos house. Tony is keen to fire up the wood-oven again and I can already see fig and fetta pizza on that paddle!<br />
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Some people are put off by the sometimes slimy quality of okra. I don't mind a bit of okra goo, but I did a bit of research today on ways of reducing the slime factor for those that are not too keen on the "soft centre" of okra's insides.<br />
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Slime-reducing methods range from soaking okra in vinegar for an hour or two before use to blasting washed okra with a hair-dryer for 20 minutes, or frying whole okra in hot oil until brown all over.<br />
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Contact with liquid is one of the things that activates the "mucilage" as it's called (awful, AWFUL word – too close to "mucus" for my liking) so the key is to dry the okra out as much as you can before you use them. Being a liquid, I'm not sure how the vinegar works but all the Greeks swear by that method. Except me. I don't like the taste of vinegar so I really didn't want to go there. I ended up combining the drying and frying methods. It reduced the slime a little, but not enough to declare these methods foolproof.<br />
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Rather than risk killing my hairdryer that's already on its last legs just before I take her overseas with me, I decided to dry my okra in the oven for 20 minutes set to 80 degrees celsius. I then cut them into 2cm chunks and fried them up on high heat for about 10 minutes.<br />
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Yeah, my hair dryer is a she.<br />
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Anyway, this dish is a stew after all, and the thickening properties of the okra in this case were actually a good thing. It reduced the cooking time by half and resulted in a rich and thick tomatoey sauce.<br />
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I found this recipe in a cute little book I recently ordered online called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Vegetarian-Cookery-Santa-Maria/dp/1570626782/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1376307989&sr=8-9&keywords=jack+santa+maria" target="_blank">Greek Vegetarian Cookery</a>" by Jack Santa Maria. There are no pictures which I actually struggle with when trying a new recipe – I usually need the visual before I can commit to making something from words alone! – but Okra and Figs together sounded brilliant to me so I took a chance.<br />
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And I'm glad I did! I changed a few things like using fresh figs instead of dried (I HATE dried figs. But LOVE fresh figs. Go "fig"ure… Sorry, had to throw that one in), and as previously mentioned, I pre-dried and fried the okra.<br />
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I loved this dish. The acidity of the tomato was beautifully mellowed by the sweetness of the figs which was like heaven on the tongue. But it was the basil that added a real spark to this dish. Basil and fig. Who would have thought?<br />
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Tell me, do you have any hot tips on how to reduce the slime factor in okra?<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Okra, Fig and Basil Stew</h2>
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<i>Adapted from the recipe for "Okra with Figs" from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Greek-Vegetarian-Cookery-Santa-Maria/dp/1570626782/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1376307989&sr=8-9&keywords=jack+santa+maria" target="_blank">Greek Vegetarian Cookery</a> by Jack Santa Maria</i><br />
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Serves 4 as a main or 6 as a side<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>Olive oil for frying</li>
<li>1 large onion, sliced</li>
<li>400g okra, stems trimmed</li>
<li>2 zucchinis, sliced</li>
<li>5 fresh figs, cut into quarters</li>
<li>1 can peeled, chopped tomatoes</li>
<li>Handful of basil, torn</li>
<li>2 cups of water or vegetable stock</li>
<li>Salt and pepper to taste</li>
<li>1 extra fig for garnishing</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Lay washed and trimmed okra on baking tray and place in oven at 80 degrees celsius for 20 minutes to dry.</li>
<li>Heat olive oil in large heavy-based pot and fry onions and zucchinis on medium heat for 2–3 minutes. Add figs and fry for another minute or so.</li>
<li>Add tomatoes and stir well. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and allow to simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.</li>
<li>While stew is simmering, heat some more olive oil in a frying pan over medium to high heat. Remove okra from oven – they should be cool enough to handle – cut into 2cm chunks and quickly add to frying pan.</li>
<li>Fry okra, tossing continuously, for around 5 or 6 minutes, until brown all over.</li>
<li>Add okra to stew in the final ten minutes of cooking time.</li>
<li>Remove stew from heat and stir in basil.</li>
<li>Serve stew with rice, pasta, couscous or bread. Garnish with slices of fresh fig and a sprig of basil.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-10460166422237264262013-08-09T15:28:00.002+10:002013-08-10T15:30:09.609+10:00Avgolemono Soup (Greek Egg and Lemon Soup)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A bit of a shorter post today to the usual lengthy ramblings I tend to subject you to here on the Greek Vegetarian blog. With only 8 days to go before Tony and I leave for Greece, it's been a bit hectic trying to get everything organised before we leave, and our efforts to reduce our respective piles of work have left us feeling a bit frazzled!<br />
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And it's not just the craziness of work. The weather this week has been totally crazy too. The wind outside is so violent the trees are almost spinning around, and the rain is hurtling directly at my window. Birds are struggling to fly forward, showers of debris are landing in our back yard, and I could have sworn I just saw a branch torpedoing across the sky.<br />
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The mountain of work on my desk at the moment would form a spectacular tornado if I were to toss it outside right now. Please, can I do that? Oh what I would do to have no work in this final week before we leave for Greece!<br />
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Melbourne's current blast of revolting winter weather is perfect for one thing only: Soup. And oh, didn't I say a few days ago that my next post would be a soup? Well how about that :)<br />
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Avgolemono (meaning egg and lemon in Greek) is the name used to describe both a sauce and a soup. The soup is made with rice, the sauce without. Both the soup and sauce are often served with poached chicken or fish, but today's recipe is Avgolemono soup in its simplest form – meatless and delicious.<br />
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Light and frothy with a lemony tang, Avgolemono soup is surprisingly heart-warming on a freezing cold day. There are only four ingredients in vegetarian Avgolemono soup – eggs, lemon, vegetable stock and rice – and it's quick and fun to prepare, so let's go!<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Avgolemono Soup (Greek Egg and Lemon Soup)</h2>
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Serves 4–6<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>6 cups vegetable stock</li>
<li>1/2 cup long grain white rice</li>
<li>2 eggs, separated</li>
<li>1/2 cup lemon juice</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Bring the stock to the boil and add rice. Simmer until tender.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, beat eggs whites until soft peaks form.</li>
<li>Slowly add lightly beaten egg yolks, continuing to beat at high speed.</li>
<li>With beater still running, drizzle lemon juice into egg mixture, then add a cup or so of the hot stock to temper the eggs. Try not to let too much rice fall into the egg mixture at this stage.</li>
<li>Transfer the egg mixture into the pot of stock and rice, and stir until combined. To retain a frothy top layer, don't over stir the mixture.</li>
<li>Serve immediately with a generous grinding of freshly cracked black pepper.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-39011023341309739662013-08-05T19:40:00.002+10:002013-08-09T15:34:17.136+10:00Vegetarian Pastitsio (Greek pasta bake)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In less than two weeks Tony and I will be on a plane headed for Greece. <i><b>Less than two weeks!</b></i> And for both of us, <i><b>way more than two weeks of work</b></i> to get through before we leave. I don't know where the time goes and I don't know where we'll find the time to finish everything we need to. No time to cook, no time to think and no time to blog. When I left my full-time job last year I thought I'd have all the time in the world to do these things. Little did I know freelancing would render me useless in the free-time department. Don't get me wrong – it's great to be getting all this work, but I really need to find a way to better organise my time.<br />
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I did find some time last Friday afternoon to make a batch of Vegetarian Pastitsio which is a dish I've been wanting to make ever since I started reminiscing about the rare but well-remembered Greek meals of my childhood.<br />
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The meat version of this favourite Greek family dish was a staple in our house when I was growing up. A cheesy, tomatoey pasta bake topped with a thick layer of béchamel sauce to fill our tummies during the cold winter months.<br />
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A vegetarian version of this dish is easily created by replacing the meat with mushrooms, lentils, chickpeas, tempeh, a mix of vegetables or just one of your favourite vegetables like I've done here with broccoli. I fried it up with the onions to intensify the flavour (love a good browning on my broccoli) and the rest of the recipe is pretty much faithful to regular pastitsio, loaded with the gorgeous aromatic spices of cinnamon and nutmeg.<br />
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Less than two weeks, hey? I haven't even had time to get excited about going to Greece! Is that a bit mental of me? The excitement phase should have started 6 months ago! Less than two weeks and I haven't even started packing (yes that's right, the mental woman usually has her bags packed a good <i>month</i> before going on an overseas trip.)<br />
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I really need to get my act together, and I need to set more time aside for blogging. I fully intend on posting while we're staying at the family house in Limnos but if I lose my blogging mojo before we leave, it will be hard to get motivated again once I'm in Limnian heaven surrounded by the Aegean Sea and beautiful warm weather – it is so positively intoxicating.<br />
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OK. How about I make a commitment right here and right now? I promise to write at least three more posts on the blog before we leave for Greece. A <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/avgolemono-soup-greek-egg-and-lemon-soup.html" target="_blank">soup</a>, a side and a dessert. There. A good, structured commitment that I have to stick to now that it's in writing and out there on the internet. Done.<br />
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Enjoy a good chunky piece of this Vegetarian Pastitsio and I'll see you in a few days with a recipe for a<a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/avgolemono-soup-greek-egg-and-lemon-soup.html" target="_blank"> mystery Greek soup</a>!<br />
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In the meantime, you might want to hop over to <a href="http://theveggiemama.com/2013/08/meatless-monday-vegan-san-choi-bau/" target="_blank">Veggie Mama's blog</a> to see what everyone else is cooking up on Meatless Monday!<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Vegetarian Pastitsio</h2>
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Serves 8–10<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>3 tablespoons olive oil</li>
<li>2 large onions, finely chopped</li>
<li>3 cups of finely chopped broccoli (or any other vegetable/s)*</li>
<li>1/4 cup dry white wine</li>
<li>2 bay leaves</li>
<li>1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon</li>
<li>1 teaspoon dried oregano</li>
<li>1 teaspoon of sugar</li>
<li>2 cans peeled, chopped tomatoes</li>
<li>2 tablespoons tomato paste</li>
<li>Salt and pepper to taste</li>
<li>1 packet (500g) Misko pastitsio pasta or bucatini pasta (thick spaghetti-like tube pasta)**</li>
</ul>
<i><b>For the béchamel sauce</b></i><br />
<ul>
<li>60g butter</li>
<li>60g plain flour</li>
<li>1 litre of milk</li>
<li>2 eggs, lightly beaten</li>
<li>1/2 cup grated tasty cheese</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon nutmeg</li>
<li>Salt and pepper to taste</li>
<li>1/4 cup sharp cheese to cover béchamel</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>* You could also use 2 cups of cooked lentils, cooked chickpeas or tempeh, instead of vegetables.</i><br />
<i>** If you can't find pastitsio or bucatini pasta, macaroni, penne or spiral pasta will work just as well.</i><br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Heat oil and fry onions in a large pot over low heat for 15 minutes. Add broccoli and continue to fry for another 15 minutes, until the vegetables are softened and lightly browned.</li>
<li>Add wine and turn heat up to medium. Cook, stirring for around a minute, until most of the wine has evaporated.</li>
<li>Add bay leaves, cinnamon, oregano, sugar, tomatoes, tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste and stir. Bring to the boil then turn heat down to low and allow to simmer, uncovered, for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, prepare the béchamel. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and mix well, stirring quickly.</li>
<li>Cook while stirring for around 1 minute until the mixture is beginning to froth a little, then remove from heat.</li>
<li>Add around a quarter of a cup of milk, stirring quickly to incorporate. The mixture will thicken and lumpify a little but trust me, it will smooth out. Immediately add a little more milk, stirring quickly and constantly, ensuring the mixture is combined properly before adding more milk. Keep adding milk and stirring until all the milk is incorporated.</li>
<li>Put the saucepan back on medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. Takes around 10 minutes. Remove from heat.</li>
<li>Using a whisk, quickly stir in the cheese, beaten egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cover until ready to use.</li>
<li>Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add pasta. Cook for 10 minutes only – it should only be partially cooked. Drain and rinse under cold water so that the pasta is cool enough to handle.</li>
<li>Lay half the cooked pasta in the bottom of a deep baking dish (around 35cm x 25cm and 6–7cm deep). If using pastitsio pasta, it is traditional to lay the noodles side by side so they are parallel to one another. This way when the pastitsio is cut, the pasta "holes" are all facing the same way. It's purely for visual purposes but can also be quite therapeutic laying out the pasta this way!</li>
<li>Spread a few tablespoons of béchamel sauce over the pasta then pour the tomato sauce evenly over the pasta.</li>
<li>Lay the rest of the pasta over the tomato sauce, then the rest of the béchamel, and top with grated sharp cheese.</li>
<li>Bake in a preheated oven set to 180 degrees celsius for around 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-70486257744807771342013-07-24T21:58:00.000+10:002013-08-09T15:35:31.232+10:00Vegetarian Youvetsi with Roasted Cauliflower and Red Pepper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last time Tony and I moved house it was a rather stressful experience for us. I'd just sold my apartment and Tony and I were moving in together for the first time. It was all very rushed and we ended up choosing a house that didn't really suit our needs (like proper heating and somewhere to park the car).<br />
<br />
Call us crazy but three years later we are still living in this uncomfortable house. On the surface it's a beautiful, character-filled art deco home, but both Tony and I really struggle with the cold and living in a house with pathetic heating and no insulation is something we just can't do no more. It's also dark, the bathroom is a thousand years old and we have possums living in the ceiling. The only reason we're still here is because of our grand plan to move to Brisbane. We decided to stick it out until we were ready to move to sunny Queensland, and didn't want the hassle of making another move in between.<br />
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Learning from our past mistakes, this time we are planning our move well in advance. Moving interstate also means the logistics will be more complicated than just moving to another suburb. We've actually postponed our move until February now so we have plenty of time to pack and clean this place and find a suitable house in Brisbane that we both love. It's seven months away, but yes, I've already started packing!<br />
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This time around I am thoroughly going through stuff and culling what I can before it gets packed. I'm not going to just throw everything in boxes without labelling and leaving them piled up in cupboards and under beds for years like I've done in the past. There are so many of these boxes still lying around in this house with who-knows-what in them.<br />
<br />
So by "packing" I mean I've been "unpacking" these boxes over the last few weeks to reassess what stays and what goes before repacking again. And boy have I found some stupid things. Have you ever kept the empty packaging for a set of wooden spoons? Or a 3-year-old opened box of cereal? (Even a 3-year-old <i>unopened</i> box of cereal would be weird.) These are the sorts of ridiculous things I'm finding in unpacked boxes from our last, very unorganised move.<br />
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However, among the rubbish in these boxes are some great forgotten treasures like old records, Greek Drachma coins, an old upright telephone with a dial on the base, film negatives and hand-written recipes. All this nostalgia got me thinking about what life used to be like before the internet, mobile phones, digital cameras, and iTunes. Oh, those were the simple days. Some things don't change though, like the food we love and remember eating at home when we were young.<br />
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As a Greek-Australian child with a hardly-at-all Greek and very-much-Australian upbringing, we didn't eat a whole lot of Greek food at home. But the Greek food I do remember eating left a very memorable impression on me – food like <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/vegetarian-pastitsio-greek-pasta-bake.html" target="_blank">Pastitsio</a> and Youvetsi.<br />
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Pastitsio is a pasta bake, usually made with macaroni or penne pasta at the base, then covered with a minced meat and tomato sauce, and topped with a thick layer of béchamel and cheese.<br />
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Youvetsi is a hot-pot casserole dish made with lamb shanks, slow cooked in a fragrant tomato-based sauce with a risoni or orzo type pasta.<br />
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I remember these family favourites well but being meat-based dishes, I haven't eaten either of them for many years.<br />
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Reminiscing and longing for the flavours of youvetsi and pastitsio, I started thinking about ways to vegetarianise these dishes. The main flavours in youvetsi come from the tomatoes and spices in the sauce, so replacing the meat was all that was required.<br />
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Cauliflower is a vegetable I don't use much in cooking, but it is eaten widely in Greek cuisine. It also holds together reasonably well when cooked at length and absorbs flavours like a sponge so I thought it would work well with youvetsi.<br />
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To create a deeper flavour, I decided to roast the cauliflower first. I made up a simple mix of spices with a bit of garlic, lemon and olive oil and roasted the florets until they were golden and sizzling. Of course I couldn't just throw these into the youvetsi without trying one first, and Oh My God. <b>These were so yum</b>.<br />
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Before I knew it, I'd eaten half of my star ingredient! What was left wasn't enough to add to the youvetsi so I ended up eating the rest with my dinner that night and made another batch the next day. I'm telling you, these roasted cauliflower florets were so delicious I'm going to write a separate post on them. But back to the youvetsi.<br />
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Youvetsi is traditionally cooked in a lidded casserole dish in the oven for several hours, mainly to slow-cook the meat so it ends up falling off the bone. This being a meatless Youvetsi means it's not necessary to cook this dish in the oven, although I'm sure the Youvetsi police would still be horrified to know I cooked mine over the stove. I probably could have cooked this in the oven but being a bit of a control freak I like to look and stir and generally hover over a pot of sauce while it's cooking, rather than just trust the oven to do this for me. Especially when the oven has <b>a broken seal</b> (yet another problem with this house!).<br />
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I did, however, use genuine Greek <i>kritharaki</i> (risoni).<br />
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The rest of the recipe stays true to most versions of youvetsi I've seen, and certainly tastes a lot like the youvetsi I remember as a child – a hearty pasta casserole for a cold winter's night, with a rich tomato sauce, hints of cinnamon and lots of grated cheese on top.<br />
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So what about Pastitsio? You will have to wait for my <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/vegetarian-pastitsio-greek-pasta-bake.html" target="_blank">next post</a> to see what I've come up with to vegetarianise this Greek family staple. It's based on a recipe of my mum's that is so full of flavour you wouldn't even know the meat was missing.<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Vegetarian Youvetsi with Roasted Cauliflower and Red Pepper</h2>
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Serves 4 to 6<br />
<br />
<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<i>For the roasted cauliflower</i><br />
<ul>
<li>1/2 large cauliflower (or one small one), cut into florets</li>
<li>2 tablespoons olive oil</li>
<li>1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds</li>
<li>1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds</li>
<li>1 clove garlic, crushed</li>
<li>1/4 teaspoon salt</li>
<li>1 lemon, juice of whole lemon, zest of half the lemon</li>
<li>1/3 cup water</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>For the pasta and sauce</i><br />
<ul>
<li>3 tablespoons olive oil</li>
<li>2 large onions, finely chopped</li>
<li>2 large red peppers/capsicums</li>
<li>6 large tomatoes</li>
<li>2 tablespoons tomato paste</li>
<li>1/2 cup dry white wine</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon cinnamon</li>
<li>1 heaped tablespoon honey</li>
<li>2 bay leaves</li>
<li>1 cup uncooked risoni or orzo pasta</li>
<li>Salt and pepper to taste</li>
<li>Grated hard cheese* for serving</li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>* Many hard Greek cheeses are made with animal rennet. Unfortunately I've yet to find one that isn't. When serving dishes that call for a hard or sharp cheese, look for one that uses non-animal rennet. There are plenty of tasty cheeses that are suitable and recently I've found a pecorino (True Organic brand) that works really well to replace Greek cheeses. Thankfully, most fetas and haloumis are animal-rennet free :)</i><br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Slice peppers length ways and remove seeds. Place skin side up on a greased baking tray, spray with olive oil and grill under high heat for 10 minutes until blackened.</li>
<li>Place pepper slices in a plastic bag and leave to sweat for 10 minutes.</li>
<li>Prepare the roasted cauliflower. Combine the oil, spices, garlic, salt and lemon rind in a large bowl. Add the cauliflower florets and mix well to coat. Arrange in a small non-stick roasting pan with cut sides down, and pour in combined water and lemon juice. Roast in a pre-heated oven set to 180 degrees celsius for 20–30 minutes, or until golden and sizzling.</li>
<li>Prepare the sauce. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-based pot. Add onions and turn down the heat. Fry for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are lightly golden.</li>
<li>Meanwhile, score (in a cross shape) the bottom of each tomato with a sharp knife and blanch tomatoes for 20 seconds in boiling water. Remove tomatoes from boiling water and immediately place in a bowl of cold water. After a few minutes the tomatoes will be cool enough to handle so you can easily peel off the skins.</li>
<li>Chop the tomatoes finely and add to onions along with tomato paste, wine, cinnamon, honey and bay leaves and stir thoroughly. You can either add the cauliflower now if you prefer your cauliflower to be really soft and tender, or later (in the last 10 minutes of sauce simmering) to retain the roasted flavours and a bit of bite.</li>
<li>Remove pepper slices from the plastic bag and peel off the skins. Cut into small pieces, add to the sauce and stir.</li>
<li>Allow sauce to simmer, uncovered, on low heat for at least one hour, stirring occasionally.</li>
<li>Place the risoni in boiling water and cook for ten minutes. It should be only partly cooked. Drain and transfer risoni to tomato sauce during final 10 minutes of sauce cooking time and place lid on pot. Also add cauliflower to the sauce at this point, if you prefer your cauliflower a little more bitey. Check after a few minutes that the sauce is still bubbling, and not sizzling. If it is too thick, add 1/2–1 cup of water and stir.</li>
<li>Serve Vegetarian Youvetsi with lots of grated cheese.</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com79tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-69337166015768814322013-07-17T00:06:00.001+10:002013-07-17T00:06:19.620+10:00Kalamata Olive and Walnut Dip and an update on the old family house in Limnos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Around six weeks ago my dad Takis and his wife Julia left Melbourne for another 9-month stint in Limnos, Greece. For the last ten years they have been making this annual pilgrimage to spend their retirement years slowly restoring our old family house and generally enjoying the relaxed Limnian lifestyle.<br />
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I've previously written a little bit about the Limnos family house <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/baked-stuffed-white-zucchinis.html" target="_blank">here on the blog</a> and thought I would talk some more about this very special place, especially given that Tony and I will soon be back in Limnos ourselves.<br />
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I was a young teenager the first time I visited Limnos, way back in 1983. The house was then used as a holiday house during the summer months by my dad's sister Efterpi and her husband Andreas. For the rest of the year the house was occupied by families of mice and cats, and in winter was subjected to the many damages that ice and snow can bring to an old uninhabited house (yes, it actually snows in Limnos!).<br />
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For many decades, the 150-year-old house had survived earthquakes, inclement weather, bad renovations and neglect, but ten years ago my dad and Julia started the process of bringing the house back to its former glory.<br />
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Unforgiving winters still present problems for the old house during the months that dad and Julia aren't there. The mice and cats still take residence during that time and things deteriorate rapidly. So when dad and Julia come back to Limnos each year in early Spring, the first jobs usually involve repairing cracked pipes, drying out damp rooms, sweeping up mouse poo and rejuvenating garden beds.<br />
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This year's Limnian winter was not so harsh, and tasks around the house and garden were kept to a minimum. This allowed my dad to focus on the things he really loves – tinkering around in his workshop, mastering the art of cappuccino-making, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen. With the help of his trusty little helper, Anesti, he also loves to get involved in larger projects around the house like bathroom renovations and out-house constructions. My dad turns 81 this year and yes, he still renovates bathrooms.<br />
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Below: The site of dad's workshop, before reconstruction. September 2004.<br />
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The new workshop, reconstructed entirely from stone found on the property.<br />
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My dad in his element, woodworking in his workshop.<br />
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Bathroom renovations underway.<br />
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Reconstructing the laundry house with Tony (centre) and Anesti (right). August 2009.<br />
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The finished laundry house (and my proud dad!)<br />
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Julia is dedicated to maintaining and constantly improving the garden of the property. Ten years ago she transformed the plot of weeds and rubbish into a flourishing quarter acre of beautiful landscaped gardens and vegetable beds. There are some original 100-year-old olive, fig and almond trees that still bear fruit and nuts, and recently planted pear, peach and apple trees provide an abundance of fruit each year.<br />
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Every meal that is cooked in the house sources a bunch of ingredients from the garden, from garlic, onions, herbs and salad leaves, to peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant. There's an old well in the middle of the garden that supplies plentiful water for the garden, and an outside wood oven called a "furno" that has been restored from a pile of rubble.<br />
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Below: Julia enjoying her daily garden potterings. That's a genuine Hills Hoist washing line in the background, brought over to Greece from Australia – Julia couldn't live without one!<br />
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The house and garden, before any renovations or landscaping. September 2004.<br />
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House and garden today.<br />
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The outdoor furno (wood-fired oven) before reconstruction. September 2004.<br />
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Restored furno, ready for wood-fired pizza!<br />
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Tony and I have been visiting Limnos together every year for the last four years. Airfares from Australia to Europe are not cheap but this annual holiday is the one thing that I would gladly spend my last pennies on to ensure that we make it to Limnos each year.<br />
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Dad and Julia have put so much work and money into making this house the beautiful structure it is today. Sadly though, this is a large, high-maintenance house that they can't look after for ever. One day the responsibility of maintaining the house will be left in the hands of the willing and able. Tony and I are more than willing, but at this stage, not able. We both have work commitments here in Australia, and the expenses involved with keeping a house of this size are substantial. Unfortunately, there are no other family members interested enough to take on the financial and physical responsibilities of the house so my dad is now considering options to rent it out in the future, find someone who might want to turn it into a bed and breakfast, or, as a last resort, he might have to sell it.<br />
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But my dad isn't doing anything yet. His connection with the island and his country is stronger now than it ever has been and he will move mountains to make sure the house stays a part of the family for as long as possible. At the same time, Tony and I make the most of every one of our visits to Limnos.<br />
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We keep hoping for a miracle that one day we might be able to take over the responsibilities of the house, but for now we are looking forward to going back to the island next month – to spend time with family, cook in the Limnos kitchen, eat at the sea-side tavernas, swim in warm shallow waters, pat some cats, feed the stray dogs and of course take millions of photos.<br />
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Below: Riha Nera beach, walking distance from the house. Riha Nera is Greek for "shallow waters".<br />
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Gorgeous Greek kitten at a taverna.<br />
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Wind-surfing at Riha Nera beach.<br />
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My recipe for today is a simple Kalamata Olive and Walnut dip. It can be made up in a few minutes and is the perfect appetiser to enjoy with crusty bread, crackers, or celery and carrot sticks.<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Kalamata Olive and Walnut Dip</h2>
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Makes about 1 cup<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>1/2 cup pitted Kalamata* olives</li>
<li>1/2 cup shelled walnuts</li>
<li>1 tablespoon good quality extra virgin olive oil</li>
<li>3–4 teaspoons plain Greek yoghurt**</li>
</ul>
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<i>* Kalamata olives are grown in the city of the same name in Southern Greece. They have Protected Designation of Origin status in the EU and are available at good delicatessens world wide. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>** To veganise, soy yoghurt can be used. The role of the yoghurt is to smooth down the consistency of the dip so</i><i> you could also use a liquid such as soy milk, almond milk, olive oil, or even water to replace the yoghurt.</i><br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Pulse the olives, nuts and olive oil in a food processor until a paste is formed. This can be used as is, similar to how you would use pesto.</li>
<li>To turn the paste into a dip, add 3 to 4 teaspoons of yoghurt and continue to pulse until it reaches the desired consistency.</li>
<li>Told you it was easy!</li>
</ol>
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5155736760088412354.post-31305542938305669382013-07-08T19:28:00.001+10:002013-07-08T19:28:17.281+10:00Greek Dukkah-encrusted Zucchini Fries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTDPEJZZ3E4x5TtjWfqD2iNyfBCqG10UMv6ox1XKxcC-Bz5-Lp-_h9V5OwCCpsCkd_rUxc7Mw20zJLkJ7SI57AIJC0xg3EN1oitwLMm2XtCaH-9azJlaKyi4fyuBDPJn2uQ4TmQKFWBdk/s1600/greekveg-zucchini-fries-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTDPEJZZ3E4x5TtjWfqD2iNyfBCqG10UMv6ox1XKxcC-Bz5-Lp-_h9V5OwCCpsCkd_rUxc7Mw20zJLkJ7SI57AIJC0xg3EN1oitwLMm2XtCaH-9azJlaKyi4fyuBDPJn2uQ4TmQKFWBdk/s1600/greekveg-zucchini-fries-01.jpg" /></a></div>
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I'm so excited about sharing this recipe with you!<br />
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Crunchy and full of flavour on the outside, soft and melt-in-the-mouth on the inside. These oven-baked dukkah-encrusted zucchini fries are so good you'll wonder how you ever ate two whole zucchinis to yourself.<br />
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I usually need to experiment with a new recipe idea several times before I get it right (sometimes I never get it right) but today I think I nailed this perfect snack dish on first attempt.<br />
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I am in <b>love</b> with these!! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect them to crunch up so well and taste so amazing. I'm so excited about this I've just finished twirling around on my office chair about 12 times in a row…<br />
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You may be familiar with Kolokithakia Tiganita (fried zucchinis) – a delicious Greek appetiser found on many Greek restaurant menus – well this is one of those dishes I've never been able to master. The zucchinis are usually sliced and dipped in a light batter then fried, and when done properly, they have a delectable crunch and stay sog-free until you finish them. But definitely not when I make them!<br />
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Since I've not had much success with traditional fried zucchinis in the past, I thought I'd put the batch of <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/greek-style-dukkah.html" target="_blank">Greek-style Dukkah</a> I made a few days ago to good use and experiment with my own take on zucchini fries, <i><b>baked in the oven</b></i>. And wow, what a result!<br />
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There are the usual techniques required when coating anything using the flour/egg/crumb method, like working quickly and keeping your hands goo-free, but everything else is so straight forward and easy!<br />
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These zucchini fries come out of the oven surprisingly crunchy, and <i>stay</i> that way for a good 15 minutes or so – plenty of time to eat the whole lot! The dukkah forms the perfect crust that seals in the zucchini juices and when you take a bite, it's all crunchy-soft and heavenly yum!<br />
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<h2 class="recipe-title">
Greek Dukkah-encrusted Zucchini Fries</h2>
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Makes about 24 fries<br />
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>2 large zucchinis</li>
<li>1/4 cup wholemeal flour</li>
<li>2 eggs, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons water</li>
<li>1 cup of <a href="http://greekvegetarian.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/greek-style-dukkah.html" target="_blank">Greek-style Dukkah</a></li>
<li>Olive oil spray</li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="recipe-sub">
Instructions</h3>
<ol>
<li>Cut ends off the zucchinis. Cut each zucchini in half, then cut each half length ways into three strips. Then cut each strip length ways in half. You should end up with 12 sticks per zucchini.</li>
<li>Roll the zucchini sticks in flour and dust off.</li>
<li>Quickly dip each stick into the egg wash, then coat generously with dukkah.</li>
<li>Place zucchini sticks onto a greased baking tray and sprinkle more dukkah over the top if necessary.</li>
<li>Spray sticks with olive oil.</li>
<li>Bake at 200 degrees celsius for 30 minutes, or until sizzling and golden.</li>
</ol>
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I'm sharing this post over on Veggie Mama's blog today for <a href="http://theveggiemama.com/2013/07/meatless-monday-spaghetti-with-sundried-tomato-and-artichoke/" target="_blank">Meatless Mondays</a>. Today she's come up with a gorgeous spaghetti dish using simple pantry favourites.<br />
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Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08537570646930693086noreply@blogger.com32