Greek Culinary Adventures: Part 1

I miss the days when I could sleep sleep sleep and sleep some more. Seems lately that during the week I can't sleep past 7:30am, even when I want to. I know some of you would dream of sleeping in until 7:30am, but I have a strange work schedule sometimes which keeps me working until 10pm (last night), and able to not work until 9-10am (rarely). Even on the weekends, when I can sleep in, 8:30am is when my body tells me it's time to get crackin'.

I don't know why I have been craving Greek food recently, but I can't get enough. So I started doing some research for ideas for Greek dishes and came across something interesting. James had this dish in Santorini at a restaurant called Ochre, called something or other "saganaki". I was googling saganaki and came across a shrimp saganaki dish on foodtv.com. I looked at who the recipe was submitted by, and it was none other than Captain Ted Stathis! He was the Captain on the catamaran boat trip we did on our honeymoon!

Apparently, Giada De Laurentiis did an episode in Santorini and one of the features was Captain Ted and Santorini Sailing. Random!

Captain Ted and his crew were soooo amazing! We did a 6 hour sunset cruise on his boat with like 4 other couples. Sailed, snorkeled, swam, and ate amazing food that I have been craving ever since.

If you ever make it to Santorini, call up Captain Ted at Santorini Sailing (www.santorinisailing.com) and book a trip. It was the highlight of our Greece adventure. (Here's a couple pics of us with Captain Ted and the amazing food!)

Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 4 but the cheese could be omitted if 100% life and death necessary
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 6, if you try the Ouzo part, 3 otherwise
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 3

Captain Ted's Shrimp Saganaki
1 Tbl olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
16 medium shrimp, shell on (or 20-24 small shrimp)
Salt/Pepper
Dried Oregano
Dried chili flakes or crushed red pepper flakes
1.5 oz Ouzo
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 small can (16 oz or less) crush tomatoes
1 tsp olive paste
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 lemon, sliced

Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in saute pan. Add garlic and onions and saute until soft, but not brown. Add shrimp and season with salt, pepper, oregano, and chili flakes, all to taste. Once shrimp about done, remove pan from heat and carefully add Ouzo (will catch on fire so do with caution- or omit). Return to stove and simmer for another minute, then add wine to pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan with slotted spoon, and place shrimp on dish to cool slightly. When shrimp are cool enough to handle, peel shells off. Add crushed tomatoes (not necessarily whole can) and olive paste to pan, and simmer for about 4-5 minutes. Return the peeled shrimp to the pan, and toss to coat in the sauce. Then sprinkle the feta cheese over the top of the contents of the pan, and force to melt by pushing down with the back of the spoon/spatula. Serve with sliced lemon as garnish.


This dish is actually super simple. The only things you may not have are olive paste and Ouzo (like a Greek vodka but way stronger). Olive paste can be found usually in your grocery store's "international" aisle, under the Mediterranean section. I was very excited to try the flambe with Ouzo part, but was unable to get my hands on Ouzo before making dinner, as they didn't have at my little corner liquor store as I thought, so had to live without. Contrary to popular belief, I don't have a full bar on hand at my house, complete with liquor from around the world. I suppose if you had 151 at your house instead, you could use that?? I just did without because I had to but you do what you like. Also, cooking the shrimp with the shells on was a new experience for me in a pan, but it was great in that it encapsulated all the yumminess from the onion and garlic and seasonings under the shell while the shrimp cooked.

In regards to the tomatoes, I added the whole can, and felt it was too much, so eye ball it and see what consistency of sauce you like. This tomato sauce concoction basically tastes like a Greek version of a spaghetti sauce, and I loved it. The only thing it was lacking for me, that maybe it was supposed to lack, was some sort of sweetness or acidity (in our spaghetti sauce usually have sugar or honey or pineapple)....but like I said, maybe this sauce wasn't supposed to have that. Anyway, that's why I added the sliced lemon garnish, so if you need it, you can squeeze a little lemon out on it.