Vacation memories: Dining on Santorini

I've already praised the breakfasts with wonderful views that I had a pleasure of enjoying on Santorini. But it wasn't just the breakfast that was noteworthy, the food in general was great. There was the wedding feast, of course, but I also had tasty Greek food in small restaurants on the island. I wish I had been able to eat at Selene (above), as its menu, focusing on local ingredients and modern takes on traditional dishes ('Favaballs stuffed with caper and tomato' and 'Baked mackerel with caperleaves and tomato wrapped in crepe of fava' especially tempted by tastebuds), but I guess I must wait for my professorship first :)

Still, there was great food to be had on the island. Here are some of the pictures I took.


Santorini at night, June 2006

You've probably all heard of Horiatiki, or the so-called Greek salad that appears under various disguises across the world (do you use lettuce as in an American Greek salad or not? Green or black olives? Red or yellow onions? etc.) Santorini salad is quite similar to its 'Greek' mother, but it uses local tomatinas, Chloro cheese, local capers and lettuce leaves.

We ate this fava in a small restaurant at the centre of Fira. Not bad, not bad at all, but my yellow split pea 'fava' tasted nicer (yellow split peas, as opposed to fava beans, are the closest substitute for famous fava lentils of Santorini). I bough a packet of real fava lentils, so I'll give this 'fava' dish another go soon and decide which version I like most:)

This roasted aubergine/eggplant dip, melitzanosalata, was wonderfully thick and creamy, with a strong smoky flavour. A clear winner in my eyes.

The famous tomatokeftedes or meatless tomato balls of Santorini. I remembered these from my previous trip, and was pleased to find them at the wedding table. I had also ordered tomatokeftedes at the restaurant on the previous night, but I really loved these plump and juicy specimens at the wedding.

Freshly squeezed watermelon juice, anyone? A truly refreshing treat after a substantial meal. If you fancy making your own, then check out Stevi's instructions. And just like you can enjoy fabulous views on Santorni in the morning, you can do that in the evening - the night-time photo was taken while sipping this watermelon drink.

Eestikeelsed retseptid:
Santorini läätsepüree
Santorini tomatikotletid
Kreeka pommusalat

My Eggy Macaroni Cheese

As I hinted on my previous post, I am staying with friends with kids for a few days. So child-friendliness of the dishes I cook is important at the moment. Here is one of my favourites for moments like these - macaroni cheese. Very popular with my little nephews, as well as with friends longing for comfort food. I recently witnessed a rather huge young friend of mine (we're talking about almost 2 metres and 100 kilos here) eat a whole lot almost on his own!

It's a doddle to make, and you can also use up any leftover cooked pasta, slices of ham, chunks of cheese. Quite unusally for macaroni cheese, it uses eggs in the mixture, making the dish a bit creamier and lighter in texture in my opinion.

Macaroni Cheese with Mince and Eggs
Makaronivorm hakklihaga
Serves 4



400 grams short pasta
350 grams good quality lean mince of your choice
1 onion
1 to 2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp oil
0.5 to 1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika powder
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil or oregano

Topping:
600 ml milk
2 large eggs
0.5 tsp salt
200 ml grated cheese
fresh dill or parsley, chopped (optional)

Cook the pasta al dente, drain.
Fry the onion in oil over moderate heat for 7-10 minutes, add garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
Add the mince and fry, stirring frequently, until the mince is browned.
Season with salt, paprika powder and dried herbs.
Take a large oven dish, oil or butter it lightly. Add the pasta and fried mince into the dish and mix.
Combine milk, eggs and salt, add finely chopped herbes, if using. Pour over the pasta and mince.
Scatter cheese on top.
Bake at the lower part of a 200C oven until the eggy mixture has set and the dish is golden brown and slightly crisp on top.

Serve with salad (see here for a simple beetroot salad and crunchy carrot salad).

The Mama Who Cooks Likes My Blog

This Mama Cooks is a US-based blog written by Anne-Marie, and she features her favourite blogs every now and then. A fortnight ago, her blog featured Johanna's wonderful The Passionate Cook, and this week it was my turn. Lucky me:) Go and check out Anne-Marie's blog.

Meanwhile, I'm cooking again:) For my last fornight in Edinburgh, I'm staying with my friends Dianne and Peter and their children Maarja-Liis (8 yrs) and Maarek (12 months). Yesterday I made some yummy salmon and green pea fishcakes (courtesy of BBC Good Food 'Fresh family food' supplement, November 2006), which were a great success with the two oldest 'girls' and the wee boy. I also baked Nigella Lawson's chocolate and cherry cupcakes again (smiling faces all round), and used up the over-ripe bananas for a banana loaf (thankfully I tried a tiny slice late last night myself, as there was none left when I got home today). For today's supper I contributed Greek meatballs (using turkey, as Dianne doesn't eat red meat) and some beef meatballs seasoned with paprika powder, followed by some of the cherry cake.

I simply love hosts who let you loose in their kitchen:)