Ετικέτα: summer

Anchovies forever: a lunch with one theme and many tastes!

Today was a hot day.

A hot day invites light food.

London, 5th August 1935

I like tasty food.

I therefore had to prepare something light and tasty.

The theme to the lunch was given by the anchovies I bought from my fishmonger the other day.

As he said: “they are well bred and come from good waters.”

Salt cured anchovies

I made two dishes. The first with salt cured anchovies. I cured them lightly, less than 24 hours. (In the photo above, you can see how moist the flesh is.)

Their partner for the dish were blanched green beans, dressed with a light mustard aioli mayonnaise.

I like to add some mustard to the aioli, it gives it some extra kick, and the colour is divine (I use Dijon mustard).

I only added some lemon juice to the dish. No vinegar is allowed! It kills the taste of the anchovy.

The second dish was built around fried anchovies.

Accompanied by boiled beetroot and fresh garden tomatoes, green peppers, and dry sliced onions.

These orange cherry tomatoes are delicious, and they provide the best partner to the sweetness of the beetroot.

The beetroot was served with olive oil, a touch of lemon juice, and finely chopped garlic.

Both dishes go very well with my favourite Greek white wine, assyrtico from Santorini. Just perfect!

Its almost summertime and the living gets easier – Εσκασε μυτη το καλοκαιρακι και η ζωη γινεται ευκολωτερη

Late May in Greece and the continuum of space and time is broken.

You go to the beach and although the water is still rather cold, there are many ways to get warm inside your heart.

You then go for a stroll in the area and the smell of cooking foods arrest your senses.

In my case, I got so excited about all this that when my sister called me announcing that she had a lobster from Cyclades, I run to her house in almost zero time. (the more you want something, the more time is distorted – and with the distortion of time comes the degradation of senses and feelings).

Armirikia

The wonderful “armirikia”, the greens growing near the sea, are the natural choice of a warm salad to start your meal. All you need is olive oil, lemon juice and a bit of sea salt.

Maridakia

The next dish is the wonderful “maridakia”, small fish that is fried without any gutting or descaling. The absolute taste of the sea, must be eaten whole and enjoyed with ouzo. My sister fried them to perfection, and added to the dish a couple of seaweeds that were the highlight! I want to have fried seaweed now!

Lobster salad

The lobster came from the Cyclades, the islands complex in the center of the Aegean. I prepared the salad with the meat from the claws.

I started breaking the claws and pulling the meat out and the aromas of the sea made me forget that I wanted to take a picture!

In any case, I added lemon juice, olive oil, a spoonful of home made mayonnaise and parsley. the result was unforgettable!

I cannot ever describe the aromas and the texture of the claw meat. I surrender and declare my impotence.

Nature has defeated me in the most comprehensive way!

CREDITS

1. Thanks to Kelly and Natasha for bringing the freshness of  summer to the post.

2. Brava to my sister for sharing the delicacies with me.

Splash!!!!

In the summertime when the weather is fine you can …

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splash around, and bears do it in a very nice way!

P.S. Photo credit to Leonhard Foeger.