All posts tagged: fish

Briam

Briam, a vegan extravaganza

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This briam is made with the last vegetables and the first olive oil of the season. Nikos, who has the best stall with greens and vegetables in the Friday open market, said that those were the last zucchinis of the year (he meant not grown in a greenhouse). Briam is 90% of times boring – to say the least. Vegetables cut in big slices, undercooked, not the best quality of olive oil… Any of that can ruin a dish that depends on the quality of the raw materials and on attention to detail during preparation. We like our briam crunchy and thinly sliced. Serves 4 as main dish, 8 as starter 600g small eggplants, halved lengthways and cut into 1cm slices 300g zucchinis, thinly sliced 350g onions, peeled and thinly sliced 200g red and yellow bell peppers, cut into 1,5cm slices 100g green bell peppers, cut into 1,5cm slices 250g potatoes, peeled and cut into thin wedges 100g small okra, ends trimmed, (optional) 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 250g very ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled and pureed (or chopped …

brioche buns, fish burgers, wasabi mayo

Fish and Shrimp Burgers, a Wasabi Mayonnaise and Brioche Buns

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Part of the burgers’ charm is that you can assemble them yourself in a glorious tower. During the assembly you anticipate eating the ingredients – the stronger they taste the better. We also ‘bricolaged’ the recipe from  different sources. The mayonnaise is adapted from Blumenthal, the buns from an Ottolenghi recipe and the burgers we developed ourselves after several attempts. The combination here works very well for us. Serves 4-6 For 4 brioche buns (or 6 smaller) 2 Tbsp lukewarm water 1 tsp active dried yeast 190g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting ½ tsp salt 20g caster sugar 2  eggs 75g cold unsalted butter, cut into 2cm dice, plus extra melted butter for brushing the buns sesame seeds or/and nigella seeds (optional) Place the lukewarm water and the yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir until dissolved and leave for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate. Then add the remaining ingredients, except the butter and mix together with the aid of a spatula. Using the hook attachment mix on low speed for about …

Grilled Sardines Greek Style

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Full of Omega 3,  without the mercury and very affordable. That is the power of sardines. Of course, you have to like them – and not everybody does. In any case the smell of grilled sardines is inexorable connected to the Mediterranean summer. We like them slightly “overgrilled”. Do not let the blackness of the grilled fish put you off, it adds extra flavour. Serves 2 250g sardines, cleaned,gutted, scales and heads removed 160g onion, finely sliced 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced 200g potatoes very finely sliced 1 cup parsley, finely chopped 225g tomatoes, peeled and deseeded 1/4 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional) 10 cherry tomatoes, halved 2 Tbsp capers 2 pinches dried oregano 1/2 cup olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup water (or more if needed) Preheat your oven grill to high temperature. Wash and drain the sardines on paper towels. Blend the peeled and deseeded tomatoes with the sugar in a mini food processor until smooth. Arrange the onions, garlic, potatoes and sardines in a baking dish large …

salt cod fritters

Salt Cod Fritters (Bakaliaros Skordalia)

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Bakaliaros skordalia (salt cod fritters with bread garlic sauce) is sort of greek national institution. You have it on National Day and Palm Sunday, both in spring. You associate it with blue sky, parades and childhood memories – until you have to carry your own toddler to the parade. The deep fried bakaliaros and the garlic in skordalia make a tastebomb. It is also a game theory dish. Equilibrium is reached when everybody have it and can bear each other’s garlic consumption. We like to have it the whole year round and for some time we were in the quest for the perfect recipe. After experiments involving soda siphons Blumenthal style, I think we found our definite answer to bakaliaro perfection in an adaptation of Argiro Barbarigou’s recipe. Here it is: Serves 4-6 For the salt cod fritters (bakaliaros) 1kg salt cod fillet, desalted 260g all purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar 2 tsp baking powder 330ml beer 20ml ouzo olive oil for frying To desalt the cod (24-36 hours in advance) Rinse the …