Greek vacation part 2

One of the main things we did while we were back home was eat!  And we came back with the proof that we did, in fact, eat a lot...the weight gain.  Oh well...it was expected.  People lose weight during the summer, but for us every time we visit home the opposite happens.  Let me tell you though it was worth it!   
We visited many local places to eat, from the small fish taverns hidden inside small alleys, to the fish taverns overlooking the Aegean Sea and Samothraki Island.  We also indulged ourselves to our junk food: the famous gyros sandwich!  And of course we could not leave without eating our famous breakfast (or better what we eat after a long night of drinking!) :  The Bougatsa!  Thin layers of pastry filled with either cheese, ground meat or sweet cream!  Simply delicious! 

However, the protagonist was of course the fish.  Because summer in Greece, as it pertains to food, is all about what the sea has to offer.  And it has to offer a lot!  From mussels, to octopus and any type of seafood you can imagine, to sardines and red mullet.  Anything that comes from the sea is there for us to eat without wasting of course.

  So, for today I decided to cook something that our friend Mark from the States had mentioned as an idea before.  He commented at one of our posts on our Facebook page that since the Greek cuisine involves so much lemon, it would be a good idea to try and use lemon balm in our cooking.  Lemon balm or what we call Melissohorto (μελισσοχορτο), is used in Greece as a drink.  People boil it and drink it because they say it cleans the kidneys and it is good for stomachache.  In my mom's garden it grows in abundance everywhere.  So before I left Greece I took some with me that my mother had previously dried.  I decided to add it in a fish dish that I usually make.  This way, I can bring some of the aroma of Greece in my house and to the desert of the UAE.  I think the smell and taste of the fish with the lemon balm is delicious!  But you won't know till you try...so go ahead and bring some of the smells of Greece in your house!

Kali Oreksi!
Dia, Kostas and Tony

Fish in lemon balm broth

Ingredients for 2 people:

• 600g fish (choose a fish that has firm meat and better use the whole fish instead of just the fillet)
  
• 3 garlic cloves
  
• 3 pieces star anise
  
• 880ml water
  
• 12g dried lemon balm
  
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
  
• 40ml lemon juice
  
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 tsp pepper
  

for more information on how to make fish in lemon balm broth please click here