Κριθαράκι (μανέστρα) με κρέας στην κατσαρόλα

Υλικά συνταγής

• 1 κιλό μοσχάρι (ποντίκι ή ελιά) σε μπουκιές
• 2 καρότα σε χονδρές ροδέλες
• 1/2 φλιτζάνι ελαιόλαδο
• 1 κρεμμύδι ξερό, ψιλοκομμένο
• 1 σκελίδα σκόρδο, ψιλοκομμένη
• 1 κουταλιά πελτέ
• 1 κουτί ντοματάκια ψιλοκομμένα
• 1 ποτηράκι του κρασιού κόκκινο κρασί
• 1l ζωμός κρέατος, έτοιμος ή σπιτικός
• 1 πακέτο κριθαράκι (μανέστρα)
• αλάτι, πιπέρι, 4-5 κόκκοι μπαχάρι, λίγο μοσχοκάρυδο

Εκτέλεση συνταγής

1. Ροδίζετε το κρέας σε δυνατή φωτιά με ελαιόλαδο απ' όλες τις μεριές. Προσθέτετε το κρεμμύδι, τα καρότα και το σκόρδο και συνεχίζετε το σοτάρισμα. Προσθέτετε τον πελτέ και ανακατεύετε καλά μια δυο φορές. Σβήνετε με το κρασί, σκεπάζετε την κατσαρόλα 1'-2'μέχρι να αρχίσει να εξατμίζεται.
2. Ανοίγετε την κατσαρόλα και προσθέτετε το ντοματάκι, αλάτι, πιπέρι, το μπαχάρι και λίγο μοσχοκάρυδο. Ρίχνετε το μισό λίτρο ζωμό και μαγειρεύετε για 50'σε μέτρια φωτιά μέχρι να γίνει το κρέας συμπληρώνοντας με υγρό αν χρειάζεται ενδιάμεσα.
3. Προσθέτετε το κριθαράκι συμπληρώνοντας σταδιακά με ζωμό (και ζεστό νερό, αν χρειαστεί) ώστε να έχει η κατσαρόλα ικανοποιητικό υγρό για όσο χρόνο μαγειρέματος υποδεικνύει η συσκευασία του. Ανακατεύετε τακτικά ώστε να ελέγχετε τα υγρά. Σκοπός είναι μέχρι να γίνει το κριθαράκι, να έχει απορροφήσει τους πολλούς ζωμούς αλλά να μην έχει στεγνώσει τελείως.
4. Κατεβάζετε από τη φωτιά και το αφήνετε για λίγο να ρουφήξει το υπόλοιπο υγρό. Σερβίρετε, αν θέλετε, με τριμμένο τυρί.
   
   πηγη

Greek Feta and Watermelon Salad

 Servings: 1

Ingredients:

For Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper, to taste
For Salad:
1 cup (9 ounces) seedless watermelon, chilled and cut into bite-size pieces
2 ounces (2 cups) watercress leaves, washed and dried
2 ounces Wisconsin feta cheese, cut in planks
1 thinly sliced small red onion
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Cooking Directions:

Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in small bowl; whisk to combine.

In medium bowl, toss watermelon and watercress with 3 tablespoons vinaigrette; arrange on plate. Top with feta and red onion; drizzle remaining dressing over cheese. Sprinkle with poppy seeds before serving.

Whipped Salt Cod Spread Casserole -Mπακαλιαρος πουρε στο φουρνο

This whipped spread made from salt cod and olive oil will convert any doubters.

This rich Mediterranean spread,  is made by whipping salt cod with olive oil and half-and-half until smooth and creamy. Fold in mashed potatoes for a milder version, or use pure fish for a more toothsome texture.

Prep the Salt Cod

Salt cod is, as you might imagine, incredibly salty. The first step is to soak it long enough to leach out salt and return the fish to edibility. This is perhaps the one great inconvenience of salt cod, because it really does need a long soak and therefore requires a little pre-planning. I've done it in as little as eight hours with several changes of water, but it's a roll of the dice as to whether it will still be too salty or not after that. A much more reliable plan is to soak it for a full 24 hours, changing the water multiple times. Some people soak it in milk, but I tested it out and didn't find any major difference between that and water; water, meanwhile, is free, and milk is not.

Once your salt cod is done soaking, it's time to cook it. Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover the salt cod, add some aromatics like thyme, garlic, and a bay leaf, and simmer it for about 10 minutes. Then remove it from the heat and let it stand.

After it's cooled, drain the salt cod, reserve the cooked garlic (more on that below), then flake the cod into small pieces. Remove any bones you come across, and pluck away and discard the silvery membranes.

Consider the Potato

Brandade is often whipped with mashed potato, and it's entirely up to you whether to use it in your version or not. I like it both ways, but here's what to consider when deciding whether to add potato:

• The potato cuts the intensity of the salt cod flavor, which may be desirable for anyone who's still learning to love the stuff.
• It acts as filler, increasing the amount of brandade you'll end up making.
• It changes the texture of the brandade: Potato-free brandade is more toothsome, since it's almost pure fish, while the potato-loaded version is softer.

Some recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of salt cod to potato by weight, but I'd recommend only adding half as much potato, unless you want the mildest possible fish flavor.
If you do use potatoes, you can either bake or boil them, then mash them with a ricer, food mill, or potato masher. If you boil them, though, you should break normal potato-boiling rules by not salting the cooking water. It can be hard to know just how salty the cod will be even after it's been soaked, so it's better not to risk overly salty brandade by adding well-seasoned potato. You can always add salt later if it needs it.

Whip It Like You Mean It

Back in the old days, before electric kitchen appliances, brandade was made by beating the salt cod with a mortar and pestle while slowly adding the olive oil and other ingredients. That's pretty exhausting work, so, understandably, modern recipes call for tools like food processors to make brandade much easier to whip together. A food processor, though, creates a very different texture from the original by-hand method, since the blades chop the fish into teensy-tiny bits.

A better appliance for the job: a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. As the paddle spins, it beats the salt cod almost just like a mortar and pestle would, except much, much faster. The fish breaks down into a spread while retaining texture, since the individual fibers remain more intact.
The real thing to remember is that brandade is not just a salt cod salad. It's not salt cod dressed in olive oil. It's a whipped emulsion, more like baba ganoush or hummus, or even pesto. That's why you can add over a cup of olive oil to the mixture without the risk of it turning greasy.

Start by putting the flaked salt cod in the mixer bowl, along with garlic, which can be either the cooked garlic from the fish-poaching step or raw minced garlic if you want a punchier flavor. With the paddle spinning, drizzle in the olive oil. It's impressive how much the fish can absorb without becoming too oily.

Next, beat in the dairy. As I mentioned, not all brandade recipes call for it, but I find that it helps to create a creamier, more emulsified texture than olive oil alone. You can use whole milk or heavy cream, though I like half-and-half, since it strikes a balance of being rich without being heavy.

If you're using potato, add it toward the end so it doesn't get whipped as much. Over-working the potatoes can release starch and make them gummy.

The final step is to adjust the seasoning and add optional flavorings, like minced parsley and lemon zest.

Finish and Serve

The whipped brandade is ready to be served straight from the mixer bowl, but I like it best when it's hot and browned on top.

To heat it up, spread the brandade into an oven-safe baking or gratin dish, then put it in a hot oven until heated through. A few minutes under the broiler will get the top browned and crisp.

Then serve it while it's still warm with some crackers or baguette toasts.
I'd be willing to bet that anyone you serve this to will seriously consider buying their own salt cod the next time they're at the fish counter.

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• Yield:Serves 8 to 10 as an hors d'oeuvre
• Active time: 45 minutes
• Total time:1 hour 15 minutes, plus 24 hours soaking

Ingredients

• 1 pound salt cod
• 1/2 pound whole russet potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes; see note above)
• 5 medium whole cloves garlic, plus 2 optional minced medium cloves garlic, divided (see note above)
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil (or 3/4 cup if no potato)
• 1/2 cup half-and-half (or 1/4 cup if no potato)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems (optional)
• Zest of 1/2 lemon (optional)
• Crackers or baguette toasts, for serving

Directions

1. Rinse salt cod under cold running water until any salt on its surface is washed away. Transfer to a large container (cut the salt cod into smaller pieces if it doesn't fit whole) and cover with fresh water. Refrigerate for 24 hours, changing the water several times during that period.
   
   
2. Bake potatoes in a 350°F oven until easily pierced with a fork, about 1 hour. Alternatively, put potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold unsalted water; set over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, and cook until easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes. Split potatoes lengthwise, scoop flesh from potato skins, and mash using a food mill, ricer, or potato masher. Set aside.
   
   
3. Meanwhile, drain salt cod and place in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold unsalted water and add 5 whole cloves garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand in cooking liquid for 20 minutes.
   
   
4. Drain salt cod, reserving garlic; discard thyme and bay leaf. Flake salt cod, discarding any bones and silvery membranes.
   
   
5. Transfer salt cod and reserved cooked garlic to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle; add remaining 2 minced garlic cloves for a more intense garlic flavor. With the mixer running at medium-high speed, drizzle in the olive oil until fully incorporated. Then drizzle in half-and-half until fully incorporated.
   
   
6. Add mashed potatoes and whip just long enough to fully incorporate. Season with salt and pepper, and mix in optional flavorings, like minced parsley or lemon zest, if using.
   
7. 
   
   Serve the casserole  at room temperature with crackers or baguette toasts, or serve it warm and browned on top by transferring to an oven-safe baking dish or gratin dish and baking at 350°F for 10 minutes; then broil until browned on top, about 3 minutes.

Special Equipment

Stand mixer; food mill, ricer, or potato masher

Notes

Potato is a common, but optional, ingredient in this spread. Using it creates brandade with a milder flavor and softer, creamier texture; it also yields a greater quantity of brandade by acting as a filler. If you decide to omit it in favor of a brandade with a more assertive salt-cod flavor and toothsome bite, cut the olive oil down to 3/4 cup and the half-and-half to 1/4 cup. The cooked garlic adds a mellow flavor to the brandade, but you can punch it up by adding 2 minced raw cloves during the whipping step.

Γαριδες Κριθαρακι -Prawns Kritharoto

Get ready for a nice and typically summer dish: Prawn Kritharoto! Kritharoto is very popular in Greece. This combination with prawns is a modern recipe inspired by traditional ones. It reminds one of the Italian risotto.

Saffron

For this dish I use the crocus of Kozani, the perfect Greek quality saffron. It’s also called the gold of the Greek earth. Kozani is a city in the north of Greece, in which the surrounding region produces some of the worlds finest saffron. If you are not lucky enough to be in Greece and have the real crocus of Kozani, you can replace it with another type of saffron.

Orzo pasta

Another important ingredient for the Prawn Kritharoto is orzo – the rice shaped pasta. It looks a bit like barley. Orzo actually means barley in Italian. The Greek translation of barley / orzo is Krithari and so we come closer to explaining the name of this summer dish. When preparing the orzo, it takes the texture and color of the stock you have prepared.

Prawn Kritharoto and white wine

Prawn Kritharoto combines well with a cold fresh white wine, but be in for a pleasant surprise if you dare to combine it with a red wine. Just recently we opened a Grande Cuvee from Nemea, a dry red wine bottled by Domain Skouras. It turned out to be a perfect companion for the Prawns Kritharoto.

As for the prawns, buy them fresh if you have the opportunity! Make a beautiful stock with the saffron, heads and shells of the prawns, garlic and bay leaves.

The orzo will get the texture and the color of the stock.

Sprinkle the Prawn Kritharoto with parsley and serve it in a beautiful bowl on a hot summer night!

Ingredients

• Krokus Kozanis or saffron, 3-4 threads
• 7-8 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups of orzo pasta
• 12 big prawns
• 1tbsp fresh, flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 cup dry white wine

Instructions

• 1. In large skillet type pan, heat 4 tbsp of the olive oil and then add prawns. After turning the prawns once take them from the skillet and lay them on a plate to cool and then shell all the prawns. Keep the shells for the stock and leave the oil in the skillet for the moment.
• 2. Now you bring 1lt of water to the boil in a large pan, add 1 tbsp salt, the heads and the shells of the prawns, the garlic and bay leaf and boil them for 10 minutes. Add the saffron, and boil for another 10 minutes. Let the freshly created stock cool a bit! Clean the prawns and remove the shells and the heads.
• 3. Take the skillet with the oil of the prawns and put on a low heat. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and the onion and cook it for 5 minutes until soft; stir in the orzo. Stir until the color of the pasta starts changing, pour the wine and keep stirring while the orzo absorbs the wine on low heat.
• 4. Add enough of the simmering stock to just cover the orzo. Stirring frequently, allow the orzo to absorb most of the stock before adding any more. Repeat the process, stirring well and adding stock as required. (If the stock runs out, continue with simmering water.) It will take 15-18 minutes to cook.
• 5. Taste the orzo for texture - it should be soft but still retain a little bite. Remove from the heat, add the prawns and parsley. Season to taste with salt, smoked paprika and freshly ground pepper. Cover and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.