Aaah!! the beautiful vista of Bondi Beach. What a great view and what a fantastic environment to hold another Biteclub. This time it was Ryan and Arthur's turn to host. Arthur gave up his computer skills for the day and Ryan stopped rooting canals to lay out a feast in true typical Greek fashion. Having been inspired by my previous articles on Greek food they decided to up the ante. Did they ever!!! Now, yours truly wasn't privvy to this gastronomical feast. I was busy in the city of Angels having a post Grammy food affair of my own. (More on that in another post). I was, as the official Biteclub blogger given an account of the evening. So forgive me in this jetlagged haze if it all sounds too brief.


Biteclub is beginning to get competitive!!! The stakes are high to produce delicious and flavoursome food. Hmmm...I'm already sweating at what I'm going to make. I digress...So the boys started off with spanakopita. For all of you who don't watch SBS or didn't grow up in Melbourne, spanakopita is basically Spinach and Fetta Cheese Pie. Filo pastry encases a mixture of cooked spinach, dill and parsley and fetta cheese scattered evenly through out. It can be served as a slice from a big pie or made individually. Arthur and Ryan kept it traditional and apparently it was mooreish. They accompanied this starter with two very interesting and one would say inspiring salads. I say inspiring because that's what Biteclub is about. Experimenting with flavours and going with your gut instinct. Trying different things and learning as you go along.

The first salad consisted of grilled asparagus, fresh peas, red onion and capsicum tossed through an olive oil and lime juice dressing. Man am I jealous I missed that!!!! Limes are so "summery" and they complement the raw fresh flavours of the peas and asparagus. The second salad was made with baby spinach leaves, grilled halloumi cheese, grilled pumpkin and pine nuts. Talk about ingenious. Please excuse my excitement!!! The guys are seriously experimenting and it doesn't matter where they got the idea from. It's all very inspiring. (ok food rant over!!!).

Apparently it doesn't stop there either. The main courses that followed were outstanding. Chicken souvlaki or kebabs, which ever takes your fancy were served up with a Middle Eastern rice dish. The souvlaki were marinated in lime, chilli and coriander (thats another holy trinity) and grilled to perfection. The rice dish was made using cooked rice, slithers of red onion, parsley and mint and topped with Greek yogurt and toasted almonds!!!! Thats a serious combination! It's also very clever because the yogurt is very cooling which is perfect during these humid summer months.

And before you could say Donna Hay, out came the dessert. A peach and raspberry tart served with double cream. I love using these particular fruits when they're in season. It was quite obvious that some people couldn't wait for the dessert to be served up!!! A perfect finish for another perfect Biteclub. Congratulations Arthur and Ryan.

Tags:Bite Club

What you are seeing above is the Holy Trinity. Well, not in a religious sense of course. This is the Holy Trinity of Greek cooking and food. These 3 ingredients make a very huge impact on the way Greek food is prepared. Lemon juice, olive oil and oregano. Or "rigani" as is it is pronounced in Greek. This oregano by the way, is not some pre packaged ingredient you will find in your local multi chain supermarket. Its a mountain oregano. Picked fresh and left out in the summer months to dry. It is then crumbled and stored for use in the later part of the year. Aah!!! the memories with my grandma. I can almost here the bouzouki playing again...

The olive oil is of a very superior quality. Extra virgin of course. Thought to be life giving by the ancient greek gods. I was reading the other day that alot of the Italian olive oil producers buy the oil from Greece and re package it as Italian....hmmmm. I'm not even going to touch that one! Let's not forget the lemons. Plentiful in Greece. Every house with a back yard has one. Real bloody lemons. Not those hideous things that have been waxed, like my Aunty Soula!!!
You combine the three and what do you get? Magic!!! Basted over roast meats and barbecued items. Used on vegetables and lets not forget Greek lemon potatoes. Washed, peeled and tossed in the above mixture and seasoned with salt and pepper. Bake in a hot oven you can't get better than that. One of the better Meditteranean food recipes of the region. I also like to use the Holy Trinity over salads. The fruitiness of the extra virgin olive oil, the tanginess of the lemon and the strong earthy tones of the oregano, all do their bit to ignite the senses. I seriously would be lost with out it in my gourmet kitchen.
I hope this post has inspired you to use the Holy Trinity in your next simple recipe.
Till next time
Pete

Tags:recipes Greek

I'm back and it feels great!!!

As I promised yesterday I'm itching to get back into the kitchen. After a busy week that included Biteclub I feel like cooking greek food. Or maybe "greek style food". Let's not get too involved with what constitutes "greek food". When I head into a greek restaurant on the odd occassion, I certainly don't see my mother and father's cooking on display. It's similar but not the same. Moving on...

As I returned form the Fox Studios Farmers Markets with a whole bunch of goodies, my mind was racing about what I was going to prepare. I remembered the halloumi cheese I had bought the other day at Broadway. I looked at my banana chilles, and I thought voila!!! A marriage made in heaven. Halloumi cheese originates from Cyprus and is traditionally made from a mixture of goats and sheeps milk. Naturally its hard and quite salty and has very similar characteristics to mozzarella. It has Jekyll and Hyde characteristics though!!! Cook it and it goes soft!!!...Its amazing. I like to add it to salads or serve it with caramelised onions as a canape. This is what I came up with:

Slice a few banana chilles in half and grill them until they go brown. Once they're cooked macerate them in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar and garlic. The grilled smokiness of the chilles combined with the olive oil, vinegar and garlic is a beautiful smelling combination.



Chop up some cos lettuce. Not too fine though. Add some beautiful chopped cherry tomatoes and top with the grilled haloumi. Just a word of warning. Don't cook it too long as it can literally get too soft and then it gets messy!!! Finally add the grilled banana chilles and drizzle the garlic, olive oil and vinegar mixture over the salad. Add some olives if you have any. I forgot on this occassion. Anyway, it makes a great starter for a dinner party and it looks mighty pretty too. Enjoy!!!

Tags:recipes Greek

I've been a little busy this last week and haven't had the opportunity to get cooking. That will all change by tomorrow.

I have some fantastic recipes lined up that I'm planning on trying. Firstly I will be hightlighting some greek food. Otherwise known as soul food cooking for me!!! Of course these will be free recipes and I hope you get a chance to put them into action. Also, even though the weather is a little humid at the moment I plan on doing some baking.

Food, glorious food!!!
Pete

Tags:Blog