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Category Archives: Pasta & Rice
vermicelle with sauteed pumpkins
Having left France a month ago, I found myself back in Florida, renting an apartment and looking for work. The original plan was I should have been mid Atlantic ocean now cooking for a crew while the yacht plods her way on her own bottom to Florida from Spain.
So I thought what options do I have. Stay home in Athens and wait for a job offer which I have been doing for years or fly to the location where the jobs are. I’ve chosen the later and was rather shock with the quality of rooms some agencies let out for crews.
With the help of great friends…. Cliff, Anna and Ella, I am now renting a good place with Anna in Ft Lauderdale. One category I was looking at the place is the kitchen, even its small as long there is a fridge and a stove it will be ideal for me. As soon we have settled in our flat, I went to the supermarket to buy the basics.
When looking for a job and on a tight budget, I rather cook , simple yet nutritious meals.
I could not resist the pumpkins. Its autumn after all and its something I look forward to, chestnuts, pumpkins, sweet corns, beans, romanesco cauliflower, all glorious the season brings.
While pushing my cart I suddenly miss the Marche Provencal in Antibes where locally grown vegetables are so fresh and other than that I miss the interactions of the stall owners and the shoppers.
The bonjours, the sniffing and pinching of the vegetables and to my green grocer offering me an espresso, or a glass of wine and the other green grocer letting me taste the fruits that have just arrived for the season.
But as much as I miss that French way of life, I have to assimilate again to the life here again.
I wanted to cook balance and healthy meal , after spending half day visiting crew agencies, I was so famished and was also sick. I was craving for pumpkin soup but alas I don’t have a food processor nor a hand held blender. I even thought of using a sieve and mash the pumpkins but nothing.
Vizcaya with downtown Miami at the background…..
So I had the moment to be creative , thus my vermicelle with sauteed pumpkins.
Ingredients:
Pumpkins
Garlic
Spring onions
Parseley
Left over meat and some broth.
I had some chicken breast which I poached, either to make chicken sandwiches or salad with chicken bits..
Heat up olive oil, add the garlic, the white parts of green onions. Sautee.
Add the left over meat and pumpkins.
Add a little bit of broth and simmer a bit , cover till the pumpkins soft.
Boil water for the pasta and cook al dente.
Season and add the green part of the spring onions and some chopped parsely.
Drain the pasta and serve with the sauteed pumpkins.
Et voila, cheap and balanced meal… nothing beats the comfort of home cooked food.
The photo of the pumpkins was taken in Switzerland in Heidiland. It’s on the northeastern part of the country near Liechtenstein. I have lost so many of my photo files taken all over Switzerland from all those years spending autumn months in that country, tasting the cuisine, hiking the Alps, getting to know the culture. Do I sound a proud Swiss? Almost…..
…captain don’t fire me
Yesterday as we went to St Laurent du Var for crew dinner, I was almost choked with my emotions.
I am actually leaving again… the thought of leaving this crew just make my heart ache. They have been wonderful to work with and my accomplice to my food escapades. These boys just love good food and are willing to try something new or encouraging me what to cook.
When we were traveling to Italy on our passage to Ischia they would come shopping and check the fishmonger and if they find something unusual before I could see it they would gladly point it out to me.
They are also the ones who check my photos first and are my “fans”… in all they are the one who made my life so much easier when work overwhelmed me.
Last Sunday I knew it would be our last weekend sharing a meal on our crew table. For months they have asked me to cook some noodles to be specific the rice noodles, which we call Pancit Bihon.
I love Bihon, its just I don’t have the time to cook for it as it involves slicing many vegetables that is just time consuming – which I do not mind, except of course that I have the family too cook for, our chef was away so I did most of the cooking.
Bihon is one of my favourite food, Pancit Bihon will surely be on my comfort food list that transport me back “home”, the food my mother would cook as a treat for us.
So knowing it was our last Sunday together I made an effort to cook Bihon for us. I used both pork and beef with carrots, cabbage , baby corns and courgettes.
leaving amalfi for the eolian islands
We left the port earlier than the usual and as soon we dropped anchor, I plated some and took some photos, at the same time telling my captain….
CAPTAIN DON’T FIRE ME… I am plating some noodles and will set it up on the bridge for photos.
He knows my weakness and he knows the existence of this blog… so while they took the toys out from the garage, I managed to take few photographs.
Then I rushed them to eat lunch because the boss called if I can do lunch for them.
When we all sat down, I could see on their faces how happy they were and we were lost in our thoughts savouring the noodles, when the captain’s phone rang.
Time to pick up the family. The boys asked if they can have the left over for the afternoon snacks.
Sure do…
As for the crew they have begged me to stay longer but I really have to move on…
Also posted in Asian
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…”best pasta in the world”
With the summer fading away, I made the last lunch for the family today. One of the kids left for London while the rest of the family are leaving on Friday.
This means too, I leave France soon and head back home to rest before heading to Florida. The girl who left today would come down to the galley when I make this pasta for the kids.
She would then say, “Shalimar it’s the best pasta in the world.”
I know I can easily use canned or bottled sauces for this, but I do enjoy making a fresh sauce for the kids. Yes kids, but why not cook a proper pasta sauce for them. This is tomato basil sauce, but what I used on this are fresh cherry tomatoes and sundried tomatoes. They do not like garlic so I used a lot of finely chopped onions and fresh basil. I used to serve this bowl of pasta together with the other food laid out for the buffet but the kids tend to ignore the salad and other food which is normally made up with Burrata cheese and cheery tomatoes, steamed vegetables. The trick now is the pasta comes in as secondi but the kids being kids they would come to galley and make sure I have cooked their pasta.
Our last trip for the season was in Portofino. The kids certainly have grown up and are much more responsible. They even went out to the restaurant for dinner by themselves and I saw the boys sitting at the piazza ordering their breakfast.
But yet still when they come back to the boat they would still chorus… “Yours is the best pasta in the world.”
Also posted in France, Food, Travel & Culture, Italy food & culture
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… ricepudding (rizogalo) & a birthday
I took him to the Greek restaurant, the Greek Islands in Ft Lauderdale.
When selection of the dessert came we had baklava and rizogalo ( rice pudding).
He loves it.. then it dawned to me I never made rizogalo after all the years I live in Greece.
In the good old days (oh I feel old) when we first arrived in Athens 25 years ago, every area has a local bakey that sells freshly made goods.
Yes local bakery still exist but its not as the same. I mean I can see delivery vans now bringing in the goods.
That time in Greece, when its Sunday, you could see people walking to the bakery with tapsi (baking dish) early morning with their meat and potatoes where the bakery do the roasting for you.
Then you see arrays of Greek desserts made with in… so I never made my own rizogalo. I buy them.
When I was in Florida, I was missing a lot of Greek food.
For my comfort there is the Greek Isles.
One of those forays, we had rizogalo and C loves it.
So I decided that I must learn how to do this simple yet terrific dessert especially that I love rice.
I know to whom I will ask the recipe from. We never met but we have been reading each other’s blogs for sometime now. She does not know me personally but have just given me support with my constant moving.
And I have dug her archives for recipes. Laurie lives in Alaska, married to a Greek, spends time in Greece and wrote a book, “Tastes Like Home: Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska”.
She sent me a recipe but I never had the chance to look for the short grained rice I need for this recipe.
So I thought I can do this one when I have more time in Athens.. but never did. I was so busy when I was in Athens and I spent a lot of my time eating out.
Last week, when I was in Carrefour, doing my crew provision, I bought some cuttle fish and planned to do risotto. Right next to Arborio was another kind of rice. The label says riz special , dessert… my French is not bad after all..
I finally had the rice and the recipe so easy to follow.
Rice Pudding (Rizogalo)
Serves 6
1/2 cup short-grain rice
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. butter
4 cups whole milk, plus 2 Tbsp.
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, separated into white and yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
Ground cinnamon
In a pot large enough to hold all the ingredients, mix the rice, water, and butter, bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat down as low as possible, and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in two cups of milk, bring almost to the boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in 2 more cups of milk and the sugar. Simmer until the liquid is the thickness of heavy cream.
Whisk together the egg yolk, vanilla, and 2 Tbsp. milk, and quickly whisk this mixture into the rice. Remove the pot from the heat. Beat the egg white until it
Also posted in Greek Food & Culture
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a birthday lunch
A recap of a marathon of birthday celebration hosted by friends, one of these was lunch with Bea at Perch Hill in East Sussex, UK.
It was a great lunch at the green house with the view of the rolling hills of East Sussex.
After harvesting the vegetables, Bea and I cooked our lunch.
Other than the broad bean salad on my previous post, we had boiled artichokes which I posted weeks ago. 
We also gathered some beetroots from the garden,which we boiled and sliced, messing her stove with red blots of stain everywhere.Speaking of beetroots it was Bea who made me love this vegetables. Having grown up in the tropics then pummeled to the Med in my youth the first beet roots I tasted was pickled. Long way back then I hated anything pickled. At Perch Hill there were 3 varieties. Beetroot Boltardy ,Beetroot Chioggia and Beetroot Pronto that made a spectacular salad served with parsely.
herbs she collected that add zest to the saladFor our main course….
Pasta which she tossed with spicy sausages, beans and some swiss chard, incredibly delicious, topped with roasted tomatoes.
Mixed salad harvested from the garden of course which she added dill and some other herbs.
salad leaves with Nasturtium flower 
Our lunch was accompanied by white Hungarian Pinot Grigio of Nagyrede Estate and also had some homemade elderberry cordial which I missed so much!
Our table was decorated with sweet pea which I picked from the garden. We had such a pleasant lunch when she realized the dogs were very quite….
Oh dear they have ran away. They could not resist the lambs thats why! an excuse to lighten our tummy we went out to look for them. But we could not find them at all….Bea said not to worry they probably gone too far away someone will eventually call.They finally came back midnight
I was back in north London wishing I had stayed overnight at Perch Hill where Bea would have pampered me!!!!Thank you Bea.
more of perch hill
Also posted in British Food & Culture, Table Arrangements/Flowers
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Captain Ben’s Spaghetti alla Vongole
Ben said we have been eating too much meat lately…. hmm and I said we are in Italy lets enjoy as much as we could the seafood after all when the family comes, we dont have the luxury to enjoy a decent quite meal let alone seafood or shell fish.
We are kosher well almost when the family around.
When we were in Santo Stefano, I bought 3 big bream which I placed inside the oven covered with tomato, courgettes, spring onions, parsley and garlic then slowly roasted in the oven.
we did not sit down together to eat, let alone take photogragh, the boat was heaving on high meter swells.
Other than the bream I also got some squids. I was thinking of frying it the way Stel did hers.. with almonds, but can’t find almonds, then I thought of saffron but we got no saffron. (Speaking of saffron my kitchen full of saffron brought by a friend from Baku, Azerbaijan)
Was thinking of adding curry on the flour, no curry either.
Naples… fisherman’s hut
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Also posted in Italy food & culture, Sea Treasures, Travels
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Risotto with Calamari
Got some squids and I wanted to do the Chinese Salt & Chili Squid.. deep fried full of flavour with chili dip! Then the other one said “please no fry up today!”
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Also posted in Sea Treasures
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Chicken Fried Rice
December a busy month but I found time to go to the weekly laiki, farmer’s market. I coud not miss it, I can go to other markets but this is the only day I find the flower stall with good quality of star gazers and other seasonal flowers. So last Saturday, armed with my big knapsack so I can carry oranges, mandarins, apples while the delicate leaves on one hand the other hand with my flowers off I went. As soon I came back I was famished but I went on cleaning the fridge. Checking left overs. ..less than half of the organic roast chicken, bit of steamed rice, my last cranberry (from Norway) and few bits and bobs.
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Also posted in Butcher's
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Risotto with Asparagus
Risotto is one of our favourite comfort food and asparagus is now in season.
We (team work between M and I) we were hungry and tired but still wanted to eat hot yummy cooked food we had risotto, after yesterday no carbohydrate supper.
Ingredients…
A bunch of asparagus
1 Onions finely sliced
Garlic crushed
Half of red pepper chopped
Yellow part of the leek fine chopped
Canaroli rice
Stock or broth
Asparagus ready for slicing
1) Clean the asparagus, cut the hard part and slice the delicate part
2) Heat olive oil and add the garlic onions, pepper and leeks. Sautee without colour
3) Add the sliced asparagus for 2 to 3 mins
4) Then add the carnaroli rice, stir.
5) Add broth or stock or dry white wine preferably Italian.
6) After 10 mins stir again, add more stock if necessary
7) Cook for 16 to 18mins, depends how you like your risotto.
8)Season to taste with freshly ground pepper.
9) Serve with grated parmesan.
Since M stirred our last bits of parmesan to the risotto we added rocket leaves and grated cheddar (we found just the other day)
RISO CARNAROLI /CARNAROLI RICE
This is the king of risotto rice.High in starch it can absorb liquid for a long time while remaining ‘al dente’. Becomes wonderfully creamy. You can find this mostly at gourmet shops.
When we cook however we don’t really measure, but those you want to try this out I can figure out basic measurements.
Ravioli with Mushroom and Ham
Such hectic schedule, M and I either buy a sandwich for lunch or eat out. But today on our lunch break we went to the supermarket. For the first time didn’t translate the value of the Kronner to British £. M told me we probably will need to organize a weekly menu so we can plan ahead. There goes being spontaneous. Got some chicken, duck, pork, fish we will get this at this fisk og vilt (fish and wild) shop we saw at Youngstorget square in town.
We went to this Meny supermarket at the Colosseum where you can taste samples of fruits , cheeses and smoked salmon, while pushing your cart. I thought I wouldn’t need no lunch anymore after tasting different cheeses.
As soon we came back shopping we agreed to grab a light lunch at this place opposite our building. Enoteca vin bar. Well, as soon we crossed the street the board DAGENS has ravioli written on it.
We guessed the asparagus and ham (skinke) , we didn’t know what was sopp. I had envisage a ravioli with ham asparagus stuffing.
But to our surprised it was ravioli stuffed with ricotta. The sauce is with two types of mushroom Рfield mushroom and wood ear with asparagus saut̩ed in cr̬me fraiche.
Very small quaint place. Its always full on Friday nights just few steps from our door!
Also posted in Norway Food, Travel & Culture, Travels
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