Rice with Mushrooms

Rice with Mushrooms

Fridays are usually seafood night in our home.  Last Friday, we grilled calamari and shrimps on the barbecue, steamed up some brussel sprouts and cooked some rice with sautéed mushrooms.

Dinner was delicious!  Especially the rice.  I cooked the rice per the package instructions and then mixed it with sautéed onions and mushrooms to give it a scrumptious taste.  

Back in the day, I used to wash the mushrooms and then peel them, however, not too long ago, I was watching the Food Network and learned that one should NOT wash mushrooms.  Just peel them before slicing and cooking.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers

Most people would use a bell pepper for this recipe, but not my Mom.  These long red peppers are a big part of my Macedonian heritage.  My parents grew up in two different villages within Florina (Northern Greece), where sweet pimiento peppers are a big part of this region's agriculture.

It's amazing how many meals Mom could make from these red peppers.  My favourite being stuffed peppers.  I loved the aroma coming from the kitchen as they'd bake in the oven.

When eating these peppers today, my younger daughter chooses to remove the peppers and eat the stuffing only.  She says she loves the pepper flavour infused into the stuffing, but does not like the taste of the baked pepper itself.

In the meantime, my older daughter removes the stems and skin and slices the pepper in half, lengthwise. Then she crumbles feta cheese overtop.

My husband, on the other hand, likes to butcher these stuffed peppers.  He discards the stems, removes the skin, cuts the stuffed  pepper into pieces and mixes everything together on his plate.  Give him a glass of red wine to accompany this meal and he's content to no end!

Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage Rolls

There are so many different ways to prepare the filling for your cabbage rolls.  Do you prefer pre-cooking the ground meat and rice prior to filling?   If yes, be careful not to overcook the meat.  There isn't a right or a wrong.  It's a matter of personal preference.  

No matter which method you choose, just be sure to remove the vein from the centre of each leaf before forming a roll.  The first time I made them, I had not performed this step and boy oh boy were those cabbage rolls ever tough to eat.

A quick tip is to freeze the cabbage as a whole and then pull apart the leaves as it defrosts.  I was amazed to see this really works.  No need to boil.  Just be sure to remove those centre veins.

Veal Stew with Spinach & Rice

Veal Stew with Spinach & Rice

I don't think there's a vegetable that doesn't go well with rice.  One of my favourites is spinach.   This combination goes very well on the side with lamb.

Personally, I enjoy a veal stew with rice and spinach.  Why don't you give it a try?

This recipe is another classic meal from my mother's kitchen.

Stuffed Zucchini with Lemon and Egg Dressing

Stuffed Zucchini with Lemon  & Egg Dressing

This zucchini recipe is another that I learned from my Mom.  It's the Macedonian twist on a Greek recipe, It's my understanding the Spartans have a similar recipe they bake in the oven, however, this recipe is cooked in a casserole on the stove top.

The egg and lemon sauce is a classic in Greek homes and added to a variety of recipes.  Its purpose in this recipe is to take away the bitterness from the zucchinis, resulting in a scrumptious flavour for you to enjoy.

This stuffed zucchini recipe will feed a lot of mouths, so once again, this meal can be frozen as long as the ground meat is fresh and has never been in the freezer.  It also makes for great leftovers the next day.

Anyone with a vegetable garden that includes zucchinis, will also experience the great amount of vegetables that come from one plant.  Do you end up giving them away to family and friends?  Heres a solution:  You can always clean out the centres (seeds) and freeze as a whole and use them with this recipe throughout the winter.

Note:  zucchinis cannot be thawed and then refrozen.