In the next life, I'll be born a Greek. My Greek parents will spoil me rotten by over-stuffing me with delicious Greek foods. I'll have no option but to eat them all, it being the duty of children to always clean their plates.
That is indeed something to look forward to, but for now I'll be making it for myself. Tonight I decided on three dishes for dinner: gemistes/yemistes (stuffed bell peppers), fava (lentil puree), and Greek potatoes.
1. To prepare the fava (lentil puree), saute one diced white onion and 2 bay leaves in olive oil. Once the onion is soft, add two cups of water and bring to boil.
2. After the water reaches a boiling point, add one cup of yellow lentils or split peas. (Fava is erroneously named and does not use fava beans.) Boil the lentils until they become soft and begin to fall apart, adding water as necessary. Once they begin to fall apart, place in strainer and drain excess water. Remove bay leaves.
3. Place the cooked lentils into a blender, adding the juice of one lemon, a little olive oil, and salt to taste. Puree briefly until flavors are combined. Pour fava into a bowl and allow to cool. Serve with crusty bread at room temperature or cooler topped with tomato, white onion rings, olive oil, capers, and a little dried oregano.
1. To prepare the yemistes (stuffed peppers), cut off the tops of two peppers and remove the core and seeds. Rinse and set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Saute one diced white onion in olive oil together with a handful of finely chopped fresh mint, a handful of fresh dill, and a handful of fresh Italian parsley. Once the onion is soft, add the liquid from a can a diced tomatoes, 1/2 tsp tomato concentrate, and 1 tsp salt.
3. Add 1 cup rice. Add small portions of water repeatedly until the rice is half-way cooked. Remove from heat and place the half-cooked rice mixture into the peppers. Top off the rice mixture with a little bit of water (inside the peppers). Replace lids of peppers.
4. Place the peppers into a oven proof glass container. Cover the peppers with a generous amount of olive oil. Bake the peppers until the majority of the water has been cooked off from the base of the container holding the peppers. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.
1. To prepare the Greek potatoes, preheat the oven to 440F. Cut the potatoes into medium sized slices. They should be evenly cut so they cook at the same rate. Place into a glass, oven proof container.
2. Over the tops of the cut potatoes, grate 4-5 fresh garlic cloves. Add the juice of 1/2 lemon, a little salt, and a generous portion of Greek olive oil over the tops of the potatoes. Fill the glass container to 1/2 way, so that half of the potatoes are covered in water. Finally, sprinkle the tops with a little dried oregano.
3. Place container in oven. When 2/3 of the water has evaporated, turn the potatoes so that both sides get cooked. Place back in oven and wait until the majority of the water has evaporated. Don't be fooled by the remaining olive oil at the bottom -- that won't evaporate, obviously! Allow to cool and serve at room temperature.
