Blog comeback with homemade burgers

Well, it's been more than 2 months since the last post but there are a couple of relatively good excuses for this gap including moving house, relocating back in Cyprus and mainly... the lack of a actual kitchen.

I do have plenty of recipes lying in my e-recipe book so I thought I'd start working on that backlog until I can start playing with the new kitchen (when it finally arrives). This burger recipe is pretty ordinary but a couple of key ingredients which make it rather special: the tomato pasatta for the moistness and the sumac (wonderful middle-eastern spice which is perfect with meat) in combination with the oregano for the flavourness.


Ingredients:

500 g lean pork (minced)
1 large garlic clove (minced)
1 medium white onion (chopped)
1 tsp mustard
2 tbsp tomato pasatta
1 large egg
4-5 tbsp bread crumbs
handful of fresh parsley (chopped)
sumac
oregano
salt
pepper


Directions:

It can't get simpler than this really. First preheat the oven grill. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well (preferably by hand) until well blended. Form into about 8 burgers and place under the preheated grill for about 10-15', turning them a couple of times. Before serving sprinkle with some more oregano.

Servers 3-4.

Grilled Chicken with Vegetable Kebabs

This weekend was not what you would call a "BBQ" weekend on our corner of the UK (a couple of sunny intervals but no proper sunshine). So we ended up grilling everything in the oven to elude ourselves that we are back in the hot hot Cyprus. The marinated chicken was super succulent and the vegetable kebabs crispy and juicy. Add a glass (or 2) of wine and life is beautiful!

Ingredients:

(for marinated chicken)
3 chicken fillets
4 tbsp plain yogurt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
paprika
crushed pepper
salt
dried oregano


(for vegetable kebabs)
large green pepper
tomatoes
broccoli
button mushrooms

(for ladolemono dressing)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt
crushed pepper
dried oregano

Directions:

Prepare the marinade by mixing together the yogurt, paprika,olive oil, garlic, pepper, salt, mustard and honey. Cover the chicken fillets and leave in the fridge (for 2-4 hours). Grill for 15-20', sprinkling oregano in the last 1-2 minutes on grilling on both sides.

For the vegetable kebabs chop any vegetables in hand (not to small or they'll fall of the skewers) and put them alternating on the wooden stick skewers. Grill for 10-15' and then just before serving dress with the ladolemono sauce (which is made by mixing the olive oil, lemon juice and oregano together in a bowl and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste).

Serves 2.

Scrambled eggs with a cypriot touch

Scrambled eggs are just perfect for a lazy Sunday morning. Since we had this for brunch I needed to make it a bit more filling and with a couple of Cypriot delicacies in hand it turned out to be just that. One of the key Cypriot ingredients is halloumi, a soft cheese traditionally made with a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk (although sometime it also contains cow's milk) salt and mint. The second Cypriot delicacy is a smoked meat known as chiromeri (usually served as a cold meat meze) made of pork leg meat, wine and salt and is similar to any smoked, air-dried ham from Southern Europe. The characteristic of the Cypriot version is the strong wine flavour.

For the execution first sweat the spring onions with a bit of olive oil and then add the chopped halloumi and chiromeri. Season with the crushed pepper (but not with salt as both the halloumi and chiromeri are pretty salty). Then beat the eggs with the milk and add in the pan. Stir for 1-2 minutes and finally add the chopped tomatoes (in the last minute of cooking). The tomato is pretty essential here to counteract the saltiness of the meat and the cheese.

Enough for 2 (accompanied with a large slice of rustic bread).

Ingredients:

• 3 medium eggs
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 medium tomato
• 5-6 spring onions
• 50 g chiromeri
• 100 g halloumi
• olive oil
• crushed pepper

Pork medallions with Commandaria

Meat and red wine usually have a happy marriage in a pan, especially when the red wine is commandaria, a wonderfully sweet dessert wine made in the Commandaria region of Cyprus. Commandaria can be substituted with port or red wine in this recipe but if you can get your hands on a bottle of this gem and bare to "waste" it in cooking, then I strongly recommend this combination (the fact that I'm a Cypriot adds no bias whatsoever to this suggestion).

Heat up some olive oil in the pressure cooker and cook the pork medallions over a high heat for 5' minutes on each side or until browned and tender. It's best to turn the medallions only once (if possible) to ensure maximum flavor. Place one bay leave on top of each medallion, top with the chopped carrots and mushrooms and and poor over the commandaria. Finally season with the spices and add enough water to just cover the meat. Cook on high heat for 5' and medium on 5'.

Serves 2 hungry people.

Ingredients:

● 4 pork medallions
● 5-6 medium brown mushrooms
● 5 medium carrots
● 4-5 tbsp Commandaria
● 4 bay leaves
● salt, pepper, cinnamon
● olive oil