Souvlaki with marinated octopus

Summer is definitely the season for grand BBQ gatherings but not everybody is lucky enough to have a garden or a spacious veranda if living in a block of flats... Following though the wise "where there's a will there's a way" we can all enjoy any type of "souvlaki" ("on the skewer") cooked in our house's oven or grill! Like this delicious octopus recipe to enjoy along with green, crispy salads and of course a chilled glass of ouzo

Chilled tomato soup

Tomato is one of the most common but also essential ingredients in the Greek cuisine as it is more or less all around the world. Unfortunately nowadays the tomatoes regardless if they are organic or not don't have the same taste and aroma as they used to. The problem of tasteless tomatoes seems to get bigger every year as most of them end up in the markets having a large, hard stem right in the middle, offering little in the way of juices and almost completely lacking in flavour. One of the main reasons behind the demise of the tasty tomato is that producers are increasingly turning to hybrid varieties. “Hybrid” does not mean genetically modified, but, rather, varieties that are crossed with others in order to achieve a desired result so to have a longer shelf life. Also the farmers like tomatoes to be homogenous in terms of size and shape so that they can be packaged easier and also to have hard skin so that they don’t suffer damage during transportation when they sell to big chain Super Markets.... In Greece there are so many local varieties (Vravrona, Makedonia, Areti, Artemida, Santorini, Olympia are just a few of them) people could buy and they should stick by them because regardless if nowadays it is harder to find them, they are varieties with excellent aroma and flavour which definitely would enrich any food. The recipe of this Summer tomato soup demands  the fresh soft cheese "Katiki" from Domokos town in Fthiotida region. It is a great traditional cheese, very low in fat comparing to others but I don't expect you to find it easily abroad. Instead  you could use another type of fresh and creamy cheese or Cottage cheese for this recipe

Brownies and ice cream frozen sandwiches

Clever and delicious recipe to enjoy this Summer! The combination of the classic brownies and the ice cream turned out into these cute sandwiches which will impress kids and adults the same!

All-in-one rice pilaf with chicken and vegetables

This is one of the most tasty dishes you can prepare for the family in almost no time!! A few ingredients, easy to put together and with a great taste in the end. And quite versatile too because if there is any left you can turn it into a nice salad adding in some mayonnaise and thick yoghurt! Delicious really and for any day or season

Open sandwich with Haloumi cheese, omelette and oil/lime dressing

Delicious idea to have this open sandwich as a snack or a light meal along with a green salad. Very Summery meal saving you time off cooking during the hot days. In my opinion the recipe plain as it might look, is excellent but of course if you'd like to enrich it you could add some luncheon meat or other cured meat cut in cubes and give an extra taste

Open-topped moussaka tart with phyllo pastry

Not much to say about this famous Greek dish and if you ask any tourist what Greek dishes they know probably the first thing that comes to mind is Moussakas. Unfortunately, what used to be the pride of every Greek household through the years turned out to become a rather greasy pile of potatoes and tomato sauce with a spattering of ground meat and aubergines. As for the restaurants and tavernas, things got worse with the topping of the dish becoming a quivering layer of fake béchamel sauce.... It seems that it’s unlikely that any of these taverns cooks have ever taken the trouble to follow the recipes of chefs such as Nikos Tselementes, once the foremost authority on Greek food (who, in fact, is credited with introducing the béchamel sauce in general in the Greek cuisine back in the '20s, as I have mentioned in a previous post). Older versions of moussaka demand aubergines, ground lamb, onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes, herbs and spices like cinnamon and allspice. As the years were passing potatoes were intended to be added in the recipe as a variation in an attempt (and an easy way) to increase bulk and cut the costs.... The today's recipe is a tasty variation and you could think of it as a pie using most of the ingredients of the original moussaka while adding crunchy phyllo pastry