QUARANTINE DIARIES, COMFORT FOOD & ALL THE SMALL THINGS THAT KEEP US GOING

An short interview with my childhood friend Dimitra, she currently lives in Oxford and you might have seen me pop by every now and again. She made us her favourite beef stew, aka mosharaki kokkinisto.

A few words about you and where did the quarantine find you?

Dimitra, currently living in exotic Oxford, UK. Quarantine got me at home, playing board games. Coming form another country and reading the news outside of the UK, lockdown did not come as a surprise. Apparently I am such an expert that people have approached me in supermarket to ask me if I know how long ‘they will lock us in for’!

What did it change for you ?

Work life changed immensely. I am a speech and language therapist, spending my time mostly out of office! At the moment, I am working from home and I am waiting to be redeployed to support the wider NHS efforts. With regards to personal life, oh well!  I can still go for a run in the evenings but I miss going to the gym and eating my body weight in sushi! At the moment I am stuffing my face with chocolate and crisps, you can call this progress in a way! 

How many loo-rolls can you count in your cupboards?

I was lucky enough to snatch the last big pack from Lidl one week before the lockdown, so we are doing pretty well! 

Comfort food: beef stew in tomato sauce, aka mosharaki kokinisto.

Well, perhaps not the definition of comfort food, but it is very simple dish to make and super tasty! You can accompany it with pasta, rice, fried or roasted veggies, your choice! Plus, it tastes so much better the next day.

Print Recipe

Beef stew in tomato sauce, mosharaki kokinisto

Ingredients

• 400 g diced beef
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 white onion finely chopped
• 2 tbspoon of olive oil
• 1 tbspn tomato paste
• 1/2 vegetable cube
• Salt and pepper
• cinnamon stick
• 1 teapoon spicy paprika
• A small cup of wine
• A binch of dried mint

Instructions

• Heat up the oil in the pot.
• Add the meat and fry for about 4-5 mins in high temperature.
• Add the chopped onion and follow in with the garlic.
• Add the seasoning and mix well. Lastly comes the wine to sizzle it off.
• Once wine is dried out, add the tomato paste.
• Mix the ingredients for a few minutes, and then add warm water so that the ingredients are slightly covered.
• Leave the stew to simmer in low temperature for 1 1/2 hours
• If made with pasta, you can grate some cheese on top. I like adding olives and fresh chilli too.

How do you cope?

Rearranging and cleaning the house, although by the end of the day, it ends up messy anyway! Good thing about small cities like Oxford is that you can go for a walk and still be away from people, so I try to take a walk every evening,when it gets quiet. I cook a bit more, read a book or watch series on netflix.Luckily, we got some board games right before the lockdown was implemented.

I tried to start painting or begin a diy project, but I’m just too antitalent for that. Oh, I also love exchanging quarantine memes with my friends, I think you already know that!  We got quite a quirky garden as well, where re spend quite some time, especially at the moment (covid 19 is defo trolling UK, we be got at least a week of continuous sunny weather). There are times that I may not cope that well, but I am not complaining. I got things to do and my loved ones are safe, so just focusing on the positives. 

Where will you go eat once this madness is over?

Anywhere that makes good Pho Bo soup! I recently came back form a trip to Vietnam and I fell in love with their cuisine. However, I would not say no to a good old souvlaki with lots of tzatziki in it! 

Share a wish, just so we can finish on a happy note.

Be good to each other folks. Remember, life is golden! 

from Oxford with love,

Dimitra

PS: If you wish to be part of my quarantine cuisine diaries and share your experience on Eat Yourself Greek (EYG), please drop me a line here. Thanks, Eugenia

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