Melitzanosalata (Eggplant salad)

Ingredients
Yield: About 2 cups

Eggplants, medium 1 ½ kilos (3 pounds)
Garlic cloves, crushed 2 – 5, to taste
Extra-virgin Greek olive oil 60 – 125 ml (¼ - ½ cup)
Distilled white vinegar 2 – 3 Tbsp.
Sugar 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Unshelled walnuts (optional) 60 gr. (1/2 cup), coarsely chopped

Preparation

Grill or bake eggplants whole, until charred and soft. Remove from oven and cool slightly. While eggplant is still hot, remove stem and skin. Cut lengthwise in half. Remove and discard as many of the seeds as possible.
Place eggplant in a bowl and pour in the extra-virgin Greek olive oil. Stir with a fork until most of the oil is absorbed. Add the vinegar, salt, and sugar in alternating doses to achieve desired taste. Mix in walnuts, if desired. Serve.

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Mussel Pilaf with Tiny Pasta

Ingredients

For 4-6 Servings

3 pounds (1 1/2 kilos) mussels, preferably Greek farmed mussels
1/3 cup Greek extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large squid, cleaned, body cut into thin rings, tentacles chopped
1 cup peeled, seeded, chopped plum tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 pound tiny Greek couscousi pasta or other tiny pasta

Preparation

1.Wash the mussels very well, scrubbing their shells and removing their stringy beards. Place in a large pot without any water, cover, and heat over low heat. Let them steam in their own juices until the shells open, for about 5 minutes. Discard any mussels whose shells have not opened.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the garlic and squid tentacles until bright pink, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato, parsley, salt and pepper and simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes over low heat, until thick. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until tender but al dente, about 7 minutes.
3. Strain the mussels, and strain their liquid through a fine mesh sieve. Shell half the mussels. Add the steaming mussel juices and the mussels themselves to the sauce. Drain the pasta with a slotted spoon and empty it into the sauce, tossing with about one cup of the pasta liquid, until the final dish is juicy. Serve immediately.

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Grilled Bread with Spicy Cheese and Green Peppers

Ingredients

For 12 pieces

100 gr. (3 oz.) cream
1 Tbsp.boukovo, or red pepper flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp. Greek extra-virgin olive oil
250 gr. (9 oz.) feta
1 tsp. sweet paprika
2 green peppers, diced
1 Tbsp. Greek extra-virgin olive oil for the peppers
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 slices stale bread, 6 x 2.5 cm (2 x 1 in.)

Preparation

1. Warm the cream in a small saucepan, taking care not to boil.
2. Sauté the boukovo in the olive oil for 30 sec. over medium heat.
3. Process the feta, hot cream, boukovo, and paprika at high speed until creamy. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
4. Mix the peppers with the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
5. Toast the bread, spread a little of the cheese spread on them and decorate each with a few peppers. Serve.

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Olive Oil Ice Cream

Ingredients

5 cups heavy cream
1 cup Greek extra virgin olive oil
8 egg yolks
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 1/2 cups sugar

Preparation

1. In a thick, bottomed sauce pan add 3 cups of the cream and cinnamon sticks. Scrape the seeds of the split vanilla bean into the mixture and add the beans. Bring to boil and remove from heat. Set aside to cool for one hour.
2. In an electric mixer at high speed, whip the egg yolks and 1 cup of sugar until the mixture becomes pale and creamy.
3. Strain the cream and discard the cinnamon and vanilla bean. Heat the cream over very low heat. Whisk constantly and slowly add the egg mixture, stirring until the mixture coats the back of a spoon or until it starts to froth. Chill for two hours.
4. Whip remaining cream and sugar. Fold into chilled cream mixture and then whisk in olive oil well. Put in ice cream churner. You may have to do it in two batches or halve this mixture for a domestic churner.

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