GreekFoodTv's video: GreekFoodTv Leeks and Prunes Braised in PDO Greek Olive Oil

Try this Northern Greek dish on your holiday table with turkey, game or pork. For recipe, press more. Leeks Stewed with Prunes and Tomato 6 servings 2 pounds/900 g. medium leeks (not too thick), white parts only 2 large firm, ripe tomatoes, peeled and grated 2/3 cup/160 ml extra-virgin Greek olive oil ½ cup/120 ml dry red wine Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 10-12 pitted prunes, to taste 6 dried cherry plums (optional) 2 Tbsp./30 ml oxymelo vinegar 1. Cut the leeks in half or in thirds, depending on how big they are, to get cylinders about 2 ½ inches/6 cm long. Wash them well and pat dry. 2. Grate the tomatoes. 3. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or stewing pot. Add the leeks and cook over medium-high heat until they begin to caramelize, 20 to 25 minutes, turning several times. Pour in the wine. As soon as the alcohol burns off, add the tomato, salt, pepper, and prunes. Cook for about 10 to 12 minutes. When the sauce thickens, add the oxymelo to the pot. Add the mint. Serve hot. Leeks are a popular ingredient in the north of Greece, where they go into delicious savory pies and countless braised dishes, such as this one with prunes and tomatoes. Leeks and pork, leeks and celery with avgolemono sauce, even leeks with octopus are all traditional, regional specialties of Thessaloniki and Macedonia. Even the sausages in northern Greece contain leeks in their filling mix. One favorite leek dish is called fisekia, which means shotgun cartridge! It's a cylindrically cut leek with each layer separated and filled with rice, herbs, and raisins, the kind of dish to do when you find yourself with a little extra time on your hands. Wild leeks, sometimes called ramps, are blanched and made into a delicious salad with PDO extra virgin Grek olive oil. They go great with northern Greek green olives from Halkidiki. This is GreekFoodTv http://www.dianekochilas.com/. Visit me at www.facebook.com/greekfoodtv. Come to visit Diane Kochilas at the GLORIOUS GREEK COOKING SCHOOL (Ikaria). Ikaria is the Blue Zones island. We run cooking classes on the Blue Zones island of Ikaria and organize culinary tours in Greece for recreational and professional cooks. DV FOOD ARTS CONSULTING, Diane and Vassili's company, specializes in Greek food marketing, specialty books and other food-and-wine-related literature for a wide variety of clients and independently for the tourist and other markets. Diane consults on Greek cuisine for restaurants, retail outlets and producers of fine Greek foods. She is consulting chef at Pylos restaurant in New York City. Vassilis Stenos (photographer) offers an extensive archive of food and travel photographs of Greece. Diane Kochilas is an internationally known food writer, cookbook author, culinary teacher, food consultant and food "guru". She has more than 20 years' experience in the Greek kitchen. Diane divides her time between Athens, Ikaria, and New York. She is the consulting chef at Pylos, one of New York's top-rated Greek restaurants as well as consulting chef at Avli Restaurant in Chicago. She writes frequently for the US food press and appears regularly on American television. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Gourmet, Saveur, Food & Wine, Eating Well and in other food and general-interest publications. In Athens, she is the weekly food columnist and restaurant critic for Ta Nea, the country's largest newspaper. She has written 19 books on Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, including the award-winning The Glorious Foods of Greece. Her books include: The Food and Wine of Greece, The Greek Vegetarian, The Glorious Foods of Greece, Meze, Against the Grain (good carbs), Mediterranean Grilling, Mastiha Cuisine, The Northern Greek Wine Roads Cookbook, and Aegean Cuisine (see below).