get your salsa on and grab a lamb lollipop

Salsa for French-trimmed Lamb Chops

1 1/2 tbsp good quality olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 punnets cherry tomatoes (400g total) chopped in half

2 tbsp chopped olives - use really nice kalamata olives

2 tbsp basil, sliced

160g feta cheese, crumbled

Fry the onion gently in the olive oil with salt and pepper until soft but not golden. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer before tumbling in the cherry tomatoes. Add a dash of water to wet the mix, put a lid on top and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all soft and mushy and super sweet.

Stir in the olives and basil just before serving. Sprinkle with feta cheese and drizzle with more olive oil.

Dip your beautiful lamb chops into the salsa and enjoy.

Very delicious greek-style roasted tomato salad

Thanks for Gourmet Traveller. This salad was pretty delicious. Roast tomatoes with lemon, garlic, oregano, crushed almonds, feta, raisins.... wow

Salty feta, sour lemons, sweet raisins and beautiful tomatoes.

We had it with steak and a crisp green salad dressed with lemon and olive oil.

8 beautifully ripe tomatoes

6 cloves of garlic, skins left on and bruised

7 strips of lemon peel

Large handful of oregano, bruised in your hand

3/4 cup raisins

3 bay leaves, crumbled

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed roughly in the mortar and pestle

Large handful of feta cheese, crumbled roughly

Juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp roughly crushed roasted almonds

Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the tomatoes into a baking dish that gives them a nice snug fit. Tuck the garlic, herbs, lemon peel and raisins underneath and in the gaps between the tomatoes. Any herbs or raisins sticking up will get quite crisp so try to tuck them away. Drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle over the fennel seeds and season generously with salt and pepper.

Put in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes are starting to collapse and smell beautiful. Remove from the oven and arrange on a serving platter. Crush the garlic out of the skins and mash into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the tomatoes and then sprinkle with almonds, feta and the juice of half a lemon.

These would be good with crusty sourdough bread and salad for lunch.

Greek slow cooked lemony Lamb and beans

Adapted from Gourmet Traveller. Delicious. The beans will not stay bright and green because of the long cooking time. Ignore the colour. They are delicious like this.

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, coarsely chopped

800g boneless lamb shoulder, in 3cm pieces

1 1/2 punnets cherry tomatoes

1 small tub tomato paste (about 3 tbsp)

150mL white wine

400g green beans

2 tbsp dill, finely chopped

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley

Juice of 2 lemons

Saute the onion gently in the olive oil over medium heat for 4-5 mins or until tender. Turn up the heat, add the lamb and cook until nicely browned (5-6 mins).

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, wine. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours or until lamb is tender.

Add beans (and water as necessary). Cook for a further 15 minutes. Add herbs and lemon juice and cook for another 30 mins or until lamb is very tender and sauce has reduced. Season very well with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with gremolata and serve with a peppery rocket salad and fresh crusty bread.

Gremolata

Mix together 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 1 tbsp chopped dill, zest of one lemon, 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped, salt and pepper. Store wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge until ready to eat.

Keftedes with Fasolakia (Meatballs with green beans in tomato sauce)

I found some delicious green beans and super fresh tomatoes in the markets in Bunbury. This inspired me to try to make Fasolakia. Fasolakia is a Greek dish of green beans cooked until delicious and sweet in tomatoes and onions. Lamb is a very Greek accompaniment - so we decided to buy lamb mince and make meatballs. The mint and the lemon in the keftedes are just fantastic and cut through the fattiness of the lamb.

Fasolakia

2 small or one large brown onion, sliced

A large handful of green beans, top and tailed and cut into 5cm sections

About 8-10 small tomatoes, chopped into small wedges (use a 400g can of tomatoes if you cannot get very tasty fresh ones)

1 tbsp chopped parsley

A large pinch of dried Greek oregano

1-2 potatoes, sliced - optional

Salt and Pepper

Fry the onion over low heat in a generous amount of olive oil until soft. Add the beans, tomatoes, parsley, oregano, potato, salt and pepper and about 3/4 cup of water. Bring to a gentle simmer.

Simmer for about 45 minutes. The beans should be very soft and the sauce thick and sweet. The sauce may seem oily - this is how it is meant to be. Adjust the oil next time to suit your taste.

Keftedes

750g lamb mince - try to find mince that is not too fatty

1 egg

2 tbsp chopped mint

1/2 tbsp chopped parsley

zest of 1/2 a lemon

Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together well. Knead lightly - this changes the protein of the mint and allows it to bind better. Shape into patties.

Cook gently on a griddle pan until just cooked - they should still be slightly pink in the middle. If overcooked they may become dry.

Serve the keftedes on top of the fasolakia with a squeeze of lemon and some crusty bread.

This would also be nice with a dollop of thick Greek yoghurt or tzatziki on top.

Sylvia's Baklava

Sylvia is a lovely greek chef that mum met while on holiday on Castellorizo. Sylvia won a baklava competition on the island, beating all the Greeks and Turks. This is really simple - once you master the technique.

I had my first try at making them today - with great success. Try to avoid using pampas pastry - it is very difficult to work with. For ever sheet that I could separate successfully, two were thrown in the bin.

Normal almonds with skins on were much cheaper at the supermarket than blanched almonds. If you cannot find blanched almonds, or want to save money you can blanch them yourself. Put the almonds in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Leave for about one minute then drain. The skins will slip off easily when pinched. If they are too difficult to skin, repeat the boiling water process. Make sure you don't leave them in the water for too long as they will go soggy.

1/2 kg blanched almonds

1 packet of filo pastry (preferably not Pampas)

250g unsalted butter, melted

Syrup

3 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups water

Juice of one lemon

Preheat your oven to 180C. Place the almonds on a tray in the oven. Roast for about 10 minutes or until starting to colour and smelling delicious and nutty. Remove the tray from the oven and leave the almonds to cool to room temperature. Blitz the almonds in the food processor until reasonably finely ground - like very coarse breadcrumbs.

Make the syrup - place the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes (220C on a sugar thermometer). Set aside to cool.

Now assemble the baklava. Preheat the oven to 200C.

Lay out a sheet of filo with the long edge closest to you. Brush with the melted butter. Layer with another sheet, then butter this sheet too. If the filo is very thing add a third sheet, buttering the top too.

Sprinkle the half of the pastry closest to you with a layer of the almonds. Roll up away from you, keeping it as tight as possible. Roll it up completely. Lay a separate sheet of filo on the bench and butter. Place the already rolled sausage on top of this sheet, flap side down. Roll up tightly.

Cut into diamonds approximately 4cm long.

*At this stage they can be frozen between layers of baking paper in an airtight container. Take out of the freezer and defrost in the fridge the night before cooking - or cook from frozen.*

Place separately on a baking tray and baste with butter. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200C (keep an eye on them!). Lower the heat to 170C and bake for a further 10 minutes. They should only be pale golden. They may not need this long.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Pour over the cool syrup until it about 1/2cm deep. Leave to soak in the syrup for about 5-10 minutes - or to taste - then transfer to a serving dish.