Thassos, Greece- Day 2

If it is just a bit cloudy you can spot the Athos Mountain from the beach

In our second day in Thassos we decided to go to the capital, Limenas or Thassos Town for some gift shopping. First we sun bathed a bit and drank our morning coffee on the beach and then got into the bus and arrived in Limenas around 2 p.m.

Limenas is a nice city and it is definitely the place to shop for gifts for your loved ones.

Nice entrance guarded by lime trees

We didn't get to do a lot of sightseeing because we were hungry and really wanted to check out the gift shop street, which turned out to be pretty big.

We had lunch at a really laid back restaurant on the shore with the traditional white and blue accents.

We had "a nice talk" with some kitties and some nice food. Mr. G. had Kleftiko, a traditional greek dish and I had some simple, fried sardines.

Kleftiko (Stolen Lamb) is made with slow-cooked lamb, sealed in a paper or foil pouch. The slow cooking and the wrapping make the meat tender and full of flavor. At this restaurant is was served with roasted potatoes and rice.

The sardines don't need many explanations, but deserve the attention because it is such a simple dish, perfect to be enjoyed at a seaside tavern.

We said goodbye to the cats and went shopping. We got some olive oil, some pine honey (people from thassos are very proud of their Thassian pine honey), some Retsina (Greek wine) and some other knick-knacks.

In a hurry to catch the last bus to Golden Beach, we took some photos of places we had to see on another day. And we actually came back in one of the next days because there was so much of the town we felt we missed.

The bus that takes you through different villages and to Limenas really comes in handy and it is affordable. For 2 Euros you can go from Golden Beach to Limenas in about 30-40 minutes. The downside is that the last bus from Limenas to Golden Beach was at around 6 p.m. so you actually have to sacrifice a day at the beach for isiting the capital.

Hope you enjoyed Day 2,

Thassos, Greece- Day 1

You might have noticed that we have been a bit MIA from the blog, but if you follow us on Instagram you would know by now that we went on vacation.

This year, for our rather late time off we chose to go to Greece because it is really convenient for us and we’ve been there 2 more time and had a great time. Greece is a nice choice because every island is different and offers a special experience.

A lot of tiny fish in port Keramouti

This time around we went to Thassos for 7 days. We didn’t know what to expect, but the main thing we wanted was a great beach with a lot of sand and clear water. We got that and more.  We stayed in a villa in Golden Beach which proved to be a great choice, it might be the best beach in Thassos.

In our first day, after a long road we arrived in Keramouti, and then to Thassos, in Limenas Port by ferry.

Locals fishing in Keramouti

This man did not seem very pleased with his catch, but I found the fish interesting

After a 30 minute bus ride we arrived in Golden Beach.  While we were in the bus we go to see other villages that we visited later on. At first, we were kind of confused because the bus kept on going up in the mountains for a long time  before we could actually spot the sea.

It's like they drive the ferry

Arriving in Limenas

This is actually one of the main attractions of the island: it has great mountains as well as great beaches. You can go hiking, the view leaves you breathless, you can stay all day at the beach or you can walk around the narrow-street villages.

We were excited to try the water in our first day that we changed as soon as we got in the room and went to the beach.  It was already around 2 o’clock and we were exhausted from the whole trip, but we had to jump in the water. I have to say, because we chose the middle of September the fear of  a cold snap followed us  all the time, although everybody says September is great for Greece.

Spotting the sea through the pine trees

Perfect view for our first day

Later on, a restaurant that was beautifully placed on the top of a cliff caught our eye, Vigli.  It was right next to the beach and the view was amazing, especially for a pair of beach-obsessed people like us.

Mr. G had to try the fresh fish, tsipura, which is basically the Greek name for dorado fish. Way to excited we forgot to take a photo of it. I had shrimp scampi, which was ok, shrimp on top of spaghetti, with tomatoes and feta cheese,  but I have to say that for an island, they could offer a little more when it comes to fresh fish and sea food.

Shrimp Scampi

After this late lunch, we came back to our sunbeds and enjoyed the rest of  the day with the sand at our feet.  Also, we kinda fell asleep. Not exactly what the doctor prescribed, but we were pretty tired and apparently really relaxed in the end.

Keep on visiting for day 2.

xoxo,

Roasted Red Peppers Cream Soup

Sadly, it is that time of the year... we start to think about comfort food, warming stews, creamy soups and slow roasting. Me, personally, I will cling on to summer as much as I can, I'm just not a winter girl.

This recipe is perfect for every season, it is creamy and warming served hot in the colder days, but also quite light and silky served at room temperature in the summer.

You only need a few ingredients, you can go all vegetarian if you want, or you can add some cream  for more consistency.
5-6 roasted red peppers
2 small onions
2 bay leaves
3 springs of thyme
2 tbs olive oil
1 l vegetable or chicken stock
5 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
optional- cream for garnishing
optional- hot sauce or chilli flakes

Start by roasting the peppers. if you choose to roast them in the oven, also add the unpeeled garlic cloves in the tray. 15 minutes should be enough for the peppers and the garlic to be roasted. You can also roast the peppers on a grill or on a special oven top tray.

After roasting, peel the peppers and cut each one in half, removing the stem and the seeds. Also, squeeze the garlic out of the cloves and place it separately.

Heat up the oil in a large sauce pan and add the onion, the bay leaves and the thyme leaves from 2 springs. Cook this for 5-10 minutes, until the onion softens, add the stock, about 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 pepper, the garlic and the peppers. Cover, reduce heat and let it simmer for another 20 minutes.

Check for salt, turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves and with a hand blender or a food proccesor blend until smooth and creamy.

Serve in bowls and garnish with some cream (optional) and the remaining thyme spring. It is a wonderful dish and the smell of roasted peppers is irresistable to me, so it gets extra points for that. :) It is also so simple to make, you barely need any cooking skills and it is healthy. You can serve it with croutons, or if you want to fancy it up and impress someone you can also put together some parmesan crostini or garlic bread for added flavor.

Enjoy,

Chicken with Porcini Mushroom

For me, when someone says porcini, I get a tingling in my fingers. These are, in my humble opinion, the best mushrooms you can get or forage (let’s leave the wonderful truffles out of this, shall we? They might be mushrooms as a species, but you can’t make a stew out of them). And, for me, porcini have a different background, as they were introduced to me by the one of the most incredible people in the world, meaning my grandmother. She used to pick them herself in the forest or buy them from other foragers and I loved every tiny bit of that mushroom, any way she would cook it for me: in a stew, with different meats, grilled, boiled, didn’t matter. She was also very picky with her mushrooms: she only used young, fresh porcini, that had no sign of disease or bruising and she didn’t hesitate to throw any mushroom that wasn’t up to some very high standard. Oh, and another thing, she only eats 2 kind of mushrooms: porcini and honey fungus. Anything else, she threw away…  Honestly, nothing else. Bit weird, but she still is amazing and a great inspiration for me. 

So, when I went to visit her a couple of weeks ago, she gave me half a kilo of porcini that she pre-boiled and froze for me. What can I say, I AM her favorite grandson. So, with the mushrooms and my grandmother in mind, I decided to make a dish using the beautiful porcini. Now, chicken wasn’t a choice because I just love it, this recipe works great with some game poultry, quail or pheasant, but chicken breast is plain enough to absorb any spices you throw at it and it doesn’t outshine the porcini, so it’s a viable solution for this dish.

So, 500 grams of boiled porcini means that you can use about 300 grams of fresh ones or about 75-100 grams of dried mushrooms. When using the pre-boiled ones the advantage is that you don’t  have to cook it very long, but with the fresh ones, you get a bit more flavor. 

The meat: 1 free-range (special thanks have to go to my mother for this one) chicken breast, deboned. 

Also: 

2 tbs. of chopped fresh sage, 

a red onion, diced, 

3-4 crushed garlic cloves, 

a spicy chili, 

ground fennel seeds and cloves, 

2 bay leaves, 

Greek yoghurt, 

olive oil, 

salt and pepper, 

some rose wine (go Provence here, the Bordeaux style ones can prove to be a bit too strong for this kind of meat. If using game poultry, replace with red) 

(optional) some turmeric. 

Start of by heating up 3 tbs of olive oil in a heavy base pan, add the sage and cook it for 30 seconds, enough to create a nice and crispy outcome. Add in the chicken, cut however you want, and cook it for 5 minutes, coating it constantly with the sage. Next add the onion, garlic and chili and cook for another 3-4 minutes, after which add the boiled mushrooms, also diced. Add in the spices. Mix everything together and cook for 2 minutes, the add about 1 glass of wine. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to a medium low and let it simmer until the liquid is reduce to half. In the end, add a couple of tbs. of Greek yoghurt and, optional, you can chop some parsley on the dish. Plate it, pour yourself some more of the wine and raise the glass for grandmothers everywhere, be they picky about their mushrooms or not.

Enjoy,

PS:  if using game poultry, make sure to lightly coat the meat in some flour before cooking it. This will create a nice caramelized exterior, as well help the sauce thicken.