Grilled Haddock

I try to eat seafood at least once a week. If I am not the one making it, then I can just go to my parent's fish and chip shop and satisfy the craving there. Grilled haddock is easy, good for you and delicious. So there's no excuses for not being able to make it at home.

1. Get 4 haddock fillets. On both sides add plenty salt and pepper and olive oil.
2. To bread them, have 2-thirds flour and 1-third non-flavored dry breadcrumbs in a dish. (Sometimes I use the Italian ones too.)
3. In another dish, have an egg or 2 and a little bit of milk.
4. Lightly coat the fillets in the egg mixture and then lightly bread it in the flour mix. 5. Take the haddock to a preheated grill or pan that has been brushed with olive oil.
6. Don't flip or mess with it until one side is nice and golden - 3-5 mins.
7. After the flip, add some lemon juice -- from a real lemon -- not that plastic coffin thing! You can also drizzle some olive oil on the top too.

The haddock turned out great --- it has never really failed me. We had some veggies, bread and a salad to complete the meal...beautiful!
I didn't have any feta for the salad...but it was still great for dunking the bread!

Garden Veggies - Greek Style

My husband tells me that when I cook zucchinis, green beans or broccoli, it is never soft enough. The Greek way of cooking these veggies makes them very very soft. I myself like veggies bursting with color and some texture to it. The crispier approach to oven roasted and boiled vegetables often falls on deaf ears with the older generation. My mother, mother in law, and grandmother always says its tastier when it is softer. Since they have been cooking longer than me, and since my husband grew up in Greece, once in a while I give in. (And by the way...the zucchinis and eggplants were grown in my parent's garden --- wicked!)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut up some potatoes, zucchini, eggplant in nice big wedges.
3. Quarter up 2 medium onions and add all veggies to roasting pan.
4. Generously add salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and drizzle with olive oil (from Greece, ofcourse), and toss.
5. Add a 14oz can of tomato sauce and fill the can halfway with water, and add that.
6. Pop it it in the oven.
7. After 30mins, lightly cover with tinfoil for the veggies to steam.
8. It depends on your oven, but the veggies need to be nice and soft ... remember, this recipe is to please the unchangeable Greek generation that loves the softness of super cooked zucchini, eggplants, etc.
9. After an hour and a half or so, I crank the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the veggies up.

In my opinion the vegetables were too soft, but my husband and best friend loved them, and said they were perfect. They were indeed tasty, so I will probably fix them up again. Some nice bread, olives and some feta cheese would definitely make the Greeks happy about this one.

Prime Rib Roast

Since today was full of rain , I figured a nice roast would warm up the house. After consulting my mother via phone, I picked up some prime rib roast. Since my house has only 2 people, I picked up 2 nicely sized rib roasts instead of the huge ones my mother buys for the family. This is a good portion for plenty of leftovers. I tackled it this way:1. Preheated oven to 350°
2. Add a little olive oil to roasting pan.
3. Generously add salt, pepper and garlic powder to roasts. Add a little olive oil on top and rub all the spices and oil into the meat.
4. Cut up 2 medium onions, quartered, and add to pan.
5. Add a 14oz. can of tomato sauce to the pan and meat.
6. Put in oven.
7. Once the meat starts to brown, cover with tin foil. Unfortunately I did this 30mins in. I think I may have waited too long to cover the meat.
8. Add some potatoes and baby carrots at this point. Another mistake was adding too much salt to the potatoes.
I removed the meat after 2 hours--way too long. The meat near the bone was quite good, but a good portion was way too dry. The potatoes remained in the oven for another 30mins, but I cranked the heat to 400°.
After putting the broiler on for 3 minutes the veggies were done. The meal was still a good one, but I definitely have lots to learn in the roast department. A simple side salad and bread accompanied the meat and potatoes, so all and all, a satisfying night in from the rain.