Going Greek....home made creamy greek dressing recipe

So this past Saturday I was in Sommerville for their annual "Greek Festival" with my friend Jen"Crazypants"Fitzgerald. It was so beautiful. On top of a huge hill under big white lit up tents. There was music and dancing...and I had a big fat kiss bestowed upon me courtesy of "Nick the Greek" during an exchange of money for a beautiful coined dancing skirt that he also took the liberty of tying around my waist. AND THE FOOD......oh my god the food! Amazing roasted lamb and vegetables , spinach pie, Baklava drowned in honey and the BEST Greek salad I have ever had in my life!
I was able to finagle the recipe out of one of the greek ladies serving the food...Mary Pantazopoulos..so I wanted to share this with you.
This is the perfect weather for some roasted lamb or pot roast and nothing goes better then a great Greek salad! This is a creamier version and they use buttermilk to thicken it up.I also like to use this to marinate my meats in. So if you have some steak , chicken or lamb tips this works beautifully! "OPA!!"

Creamy Greek Dressing
1/2 cup Olive oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1tsp sugar
1 clove of garlic finely minced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dill
1/2 cup feta
1/2 cup buttermilk
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

Put all ingredients in the food processor or blender blend until smooth. Serve over salad.

Hot in the City...Grilled marinated Beef w/Fiesta corn tomato jalepeno and onion salsa and potatos

It's hot...hes hot...what better way to get things smokin then a little heat! This dish is super easy and requires minimal cooking. It can all be done on one grill. The meat can be marinated overnight and the salsa can also  be made the night before and just left in the fridge to chill. This is a great idea for a weeknight or friday night dinner. Because the componets go from fridge to the grill. And if you do make this the night before it also cuts down on clean up!! And that leaves more time for MAKIN-OUT! And heres the very best part...it will all cost you under 10 bucks!!  This is a really cool dish and the bright yellow corn and ruby red tomatos beautifully contrast with the fresh cilantro and deep dark green jalepenos. The flavors are like a fiesta of summer in your mouth!I recomend serving with a nice crisp light beer!Cheers!!
Steaks any kind any size what evers on sale                              cilantro diced
3 ears of corn cut off the cob(steamed and cooled)                   2 tomatos diced
2 jalepenos(diced)                                                                                1 small onion (diced)
lime juice                                                                                                    sea salt 
cummin                                                                                       3 potatos cooked and cooled
olive oil                                                                                    1/4 cup cracked pepper
1/4 cup spicy country style dijon                                               garlic salt
2 cloves garlic diced                                                                 lemon juice


*In a large bowl combine corn tomatos onions cilantro jalepenos sea salt and lemon juice
 cover and chill over night.
*In another bowl mix cumin/ lime juice/ mustard/ olive oil / garlic and cracked pepper with the steak rub and cover completely. Chill over night
*Heatr up the gri;;...add the steaks cook until med rare 2-3 minutes each side depending on thickness. Set aside to let the juices run back through. in the mean time in a bowl toss potatos sea salt and pepper and grill until golden brown.Plate potatos and staek then top with corn salsa and serve!

Great Appetizers Think Alike...herbed cream cheese on pumpernickel with cucmbers and fresh dill

So after a long night of nightmares and not sleeping because apparently my subconscious is trying to work some stuff out... I was able to finally get about an hours sleep ..only to be woken upbright and early by the sounds of construction workers...because nothing says lets build something better then an impending hurricane!!!
  My neighbor Kathy (who graciously donated some gorgeous tomato's from her garden after catching a glimpse of my pathetic bounty in my garden) was preparing for a party. She invited me over to taste test a little appetizer she had whipped together...all I can say is YUMMMMM!!!! She had got a couple mini loafs of sliced pumpernickel and spread a herb and Italian seasoning creamed cheese over the bread and then topped them with sliced cucumbers and fresh dill...They are so sweet and fresh tasting they are very reminiscent of an English tea sandwich.. perfect little Hors d'oeurve for a hot muggy day outside. I absolutely love the flavors and I am really quite surprised that I never thought of this!  Thanks Kathy!!

1 loaf mini pumpernickel
Cream cheese
cucumbers sliced
fresh dill
1 small packet good seasons Italian dressing
fresh parsley (finely diced)
cracked pepper
In a bowl mix cream cheese and packet of dressing with parsley. Spread  each slice of bread with the cream cheese mix and layer with cucumbers and garnish with fresh dill! I would recommend serving these with a nice bottle of prossecco and sleep!!lol

Drama Free Fried Green Tomato BLT's With garlic avacado spread and over easy egg!

So once again I tried my hand at gardening....epic fail!I started back in May carefully caring for the seedlings of two tomato plants, radishs, some cucumbers , lettuce , chilis, and three types of herbs. I waited until an appropriate time and planted them outside.Just like the directions told me to doand then came the freezing temps and snow in JUNE. I am going to take this and run with it as the main reason why I have ONE radish to show for all my love and hard work. But then it was as if it happened overnight 6 mini tomatos appeared on my plants!!! And well, after being cooped up and writing all month...I have decided that tonight I will pluck one of theese babies , fry it up and make a well deserved Fried Green tomato BLT with a garlic avacado spread. This is so easy and perfect for the paitient gardner who can't wait to taste the fruits of his labor. And may i suggest some freah squeezed lemonade and salty kettle chips...perfect end of summer meal! back to the book!Cheers!

1 green tomato sliced and sweeted on paper towels
1 egg beaten
bread crumbs
thick country style bread
1 avacado riped pitted peeled and smashed
1 garlic clve finely diced
lettuce
bacon (thick cut /cooked)
mayo
salt/ pepper/ dash cumin
oil for frying
egg cooked over easy
In a medium saute pan heat oil. Coat each tomato slice with egg then bread crumbs. Fry in oil tiull golden brown on each side. Drain oil on paper towels. Mash fresh garlic salt pepper cummin and 1 tbsp mayo with avacado. Spread mixture on the bread. Layer with lettuce, fried tomatos bacon and then top with fried egg over easy. Serve with some yummy salty kettle chips and lemonade.

Nice to SEA-food you again! (shrimp clam scallop and mussel paella)

Who would have thought that writing this book would drain me of any creativity I have left to so much as write up a quick little recipe. I have been so busy finishing up with this project and doing final tests on the recipes I must admit that the very last thing on my mind is food...but lucky for you I have been working on desserts for the past three days and I am hungry!! I have been craving seafood and veggies(anything non-sugar based) and i have most especially been dreaming about Paella.
  Paella is a Spanish dish.it's simular to a jambalaya...it has your rice, sausage, seafood veggies and spices. There are three basic types of paella..they vary depending on where you are in Spain...theres your classic paella that is made with meats and garden veggies and land snails and then there is your mixed paella which is pretty much like a free form (throw anything in ) and then theres my personal favorite shrimp and seafood paella that omits some of the veggies and most importantly .the land snails.. In my version I like to add fresh shucked clams and mussels as well as clam juice, it adds this great briny flavor and really balances out the dish.  Seafood is super cheap right now and kielbasa is on sale everywhere. Your probably looking at spending around $15.00 for a dish that serves 6 comfortably. Theres allot of rain and cooler temps headed our way and this is a fantastic dish to serve for a nice get together.

1tbsp. cold pressed olive oil
1 Spanish onion chopped
1 green pepper finely diced
1 cup kielbasa
1 pound shrimp
1/2 lb fresh clams(cleaned)
1/2 lb scallops
1/2 lb mussels
8 oz. clam juice
3 plum roma tomatos(chopped and seeded)
1/2 cup fresh peas
1/2 cup green olives diced(pitted)
3 cloves garlic diced
1bay leaf
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white wine
1/4teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup water
3/4 rice
Over med high heat saute the onions and kielbasa until tender. Add garlic and saffron. Cook 2 minutes and then add your rice. Add the clam juice, bay leaf and 1/4 cup water, bring to a boil then reduce to medium heat and cover. Simmer 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and wine then cover and simmer 15 minutes until the rice is tender. Add all the seafood and cook for 8 minutes until rice is done. Serve.

Asian Style Salt and Pepper Spicy Calamari ....Great beat-the-heat Summer Eats

Round two of some hot weather cooking ideas... this recipe for fried calamari is almost as easy as the ceviche I made last week. It's light tender and thanks to some fiery chili's has a bit of a bite!   The first time I had this was at my baby sister Jenny's graduation dinner in Colorado. I asked them how they got the calamari so tender and the chef said "The trick is to soak your squid over night in a milk bath. The lactic acid helps break down the chewy fisheys making then tender as well as really bringing out the mild sweet taste of the squid".....
Most of you who know me are aware that when it comes to my seafood I prefer to keep it simple...like cornmeal and coconut oil simple. Something about the coconut oil gives a very subtle island feel to the fish. Besides that coconut oil is sooooooooooooo good for you!  So it goes without saying we'll be preparing the calamari the same way.This week at Market basket it's on sale for $4.99 a lb!!! So you can grab a couple pounds for what it would cost you as an appetizer in a resturant!
  One of my favorite ways to have calamari is more an Asian style...over a thinly sliced and seasoned bed of lettuce and tossed with jalapenos, chilli's and fresh lemon.  Serve alfresco with a nice Thai beer (I LOVE " Singha ") and beat the heat!

Fried Calamari
1-2 lbs calamari               salt/ pepper
2 cups milk                       sliced and diced fresh jalapeno
cornmeal                          1 red chili diced and set aside
coconut oil                        1/2 head of lettuce thinly sliced
LEMON(2-3 cut into 4)

*soak calamari in milk at least overnight. Heat oil in pan at least 1/2 inch on med high heat. Place cornmeal in a large bowl and add salt and pepper. Take calamari out of milk bath and toss in cornmeal until completely covered. After well coated place coated calamari into the coconut oil and fry 2 minutes add the jalepenos..cook for 30 more seconds then turn the calamari over cook for 2 more minutes and then add the red chilli's(always add dried red chili's at the end , if you cook them too long they taste bitter) Cook another 30 seconds or until the calamari is golden brown . Drain off oil on some paper towels then top the lettuce with the calamari and peppers sprinkle with some sea salt and pepper and serve with lots of lemon!

I'M MELTING!!!!...Cool no cook Red Snapper Ceviche...

Holy heat Batman! I don't know about you, but this week sucked!! Between the 3 digit temperatures and outages(oh yeah, a transformer blew on my street so we were with out electricity for 2 days..it was terrible!)
there was no way on God's green earth I was going to even attempt something as crazy as "COOKING" in this unbearable heat...The good news is I have an arsenal of "no-cook" dishes perfect for weather like this...
  My son Conrad absolutely loves Ceviche!... Particularly Red Snapper Ceviche. When he was around 7 he went through a Cevieche phase and that summer he had it at least twice a week for 3 months!!. We would head over to the Atlantic Seafood Company in Lynn and he would pick out the snapper of his choice and they would scale it and take the bones out so all I really had to do was dice it and throw it in a little lemon lime and orange juice toss with a few herbs and veggies chill for an hour...and Presto!...dinner was served. This is seriously the EASIEST meal to make and the best part is your house won't smell like fish! Red Snapper is everywhere and it's on sale!! So I would recommend grabbing a pound or two and getting your Ceviche on!.
This recipe is enough to serve 4 . Spin up a fresh batch of frozen Margaritas and you have a fresh ,exciting, healthy ,light, impressive ,and inexpensive meal!

Red Snapper Ceviche
1 lb. red snapper fillets(diced)             1tbsp finely diced jalapenos
juice from 2 lemons                          1/4 cup thinly sliced red onions
juice from 2 limes                              1/4cup finely diced yellow peppers
juice from 1 orange                           1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt/ pepper                      1/4 cup fresh cilantro coarsely chopped
1 tbps olive oil

In a large bowl mix snapper , juices, jalapenos, peppers, onions, sea salt ,pepper and cumin.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Toss in cilantro and olive oil and serve...stay cool my friends!