The Greeks are on our minds this week.
I have a vague memory of lunch in a taverna with a view of Cap Sounion in Greece–must have been in 1966. I was 24.
I had gone there with a friend, after a punishing 18-month-stint at the old Playhouse in Salisbury. (We squeezed into a Fiat 600 and drove all the way.)
We ordered lamb chops and salad and started on the retsina.
Out came a large serving plate completely covered in lamb chops–grilled with olive oil and rosemary with feta cheese sprinkled over.
The generosity of the serving was memorable.
This was followed by another large plate of tomato and onion salad.
Lunch–simple!
for 2
4 lamb chops
sprigs of rosemary
2 garlic cloves–crushed and peeled
juice of a lemon
olive oil
for the salad
4 tomatoes–ripe as can be–sliced
1 large spring onion–sliced
olive oil
2oz feta cheese–broken up
Bathe the chops in two tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice; add the garlic and the rosemary.
Turn it all over and marinade for a couple of hours.
Heat a grill pad to hot.
Remove the chops from the marinade and season well with salt and pepper.
Place them on the grill pad and turn the heat down a little.
Cook them for 3 minutes.
Turn them over and repeat.
You can cut into one of the chops to check “doneness”.
“Doneness” is down to personal choice–we like it pinkish.
Arrange the chops on a favorite platter and sprinkle with feta and olive oil.
Assemble the salad on a serving plate, season with salt and pepper and bathe in olive oil.
We ate our fill of lamb chops and tomato and onion salads that trip and drank a vat of retsina–at sixpence a litre.
(It is remarkable that I remember anything!)
This is making me feel like booking flights and heading off to support the Greeks, search out that taverna and have lunch…
…naughty Lord Byron scratched his name in the ancient stone of the temple of Poseidon.
If you look carefully to the right of Byron, you’ll spot an equally naughty namesake of mine.
Not guilty, M’lud–honest!
Robin Ellis 
Yes you really should get yourself off to a Greek island! I’ve just come back from Agistri, it was memorable…. and the food is a good as ever….
Ah, memories, was there in 1982, Sounion and the temple of Poseidon. Went to a little town up in the hills, famous for its lamb dishes but can’t remember the name of it now.
Remember being there in 1982. Also little town which I’ve forgotten the name of, up in the hills and famous for lamb dishes. The waiters would rush out and drag you in!
I have travelled all over Greece and have so many memories of wonderful food in family-run tavernas in idyllic spots. Great blog Robin! 🙂
This meal looks delicious. I just brought my husband home from the hospital yesterday after having triple bypass surgery. I have one of your diabetic cookbooks that I will need to use more frequently to restore his good health. I pray that I will have strength and patience to be a good caregiver.
I have been watching the new Poldark and I will have to say that I much prefer the original one that you made. For me there is no comparison. I did enjoy seeing you in the new Poldark.
Debra
Thank you Debra and very best wishes to your husband for his recovery,
Pretty plates.
Brings back memories of a lovely holiday on Corfu 1976. Sailed over to Paxos and local restaurant BBQd lamb in village square.. Simple meal but memorable.
Hi Robin
We had a fabulous time in Greece at the time of the Oylmpics but we did not experience the Fiat – my Doug says these are ‘Bootee’s and you need to wear one on each foot
Oh dear ! my message just Zoomed off for some reason !! Sorry 😦
Any way; Doug hopes you had a great time 🙂 As for the Lamb ‘mmmmm’; My favourite meat so I cannot wait to try these out. I make a lot of Greek recipies during the summer; I bought a beautiful Greek cook book in Marathon where we stayed and Marathon had no main road (all ripped up) up to a few days before the Olympic Games started. I say one thing for the wonderful Greeks, they do not rush but when they finish, it always looks great.
That is a lovely photo of you with the lamb – must make this recipie.
Have a lovely week
Diane
Isle of Wight
MMM. Good. Love this menu
Perfection.
Robin, I, too, prefer your version of Poldark. Your Greek meal looks absolutely delicious! (I feel sad about the recent events in Greece. They are wonderful people. I wish them well.) Linda
My name is Linda, not Libda. Please correct the spelling. Thanks.
Done!
Mouth-watering !
My mum always said “Fools names and fools faces often appear in public places.” Hee Hee
Your mum was probably right!
It looks delicious, I could eat it right now. Particularly love the look of the salad.
Talking Poldark … I can only speak as I feel and I’m afraid that I find the new Poldark abysmal and not be be compared with the original Poldark of which you, Robin, were so magnificent in.
That sounds great…
So good to see you thriving and well, Robin, and as nice as I knew you to be! I wrote you a fan letter in 1978 (I was 21) and you wrote me back on an Aerogramme–remember those? I love your recipes for their elegant simplicity, and these lamb chops will soon be another favorite. Thank you!
Thanks Elizabeth–aerogrammes, my word. I remember writing to my parents and trying to fill both sides!
Hi Robin.
Delicious lamb dish, love the combo of lamb, salty feta and the sweetness of tomato and onion salad, my fav ingredients!!
I too have fond memories of my Greek holiday in Corfu way back in 1987 and wish the Greeks a speedy recovery!!
The new Poldark series has screened in NZ, but sadly I missed some of the episodes as my Dad was and still in hospital recovering from a hip replacement operation from a fall, followed by complications of aspiration pneumonia etc. But I did catch you in the new Poldark series, and the Poldark new series on DVD is now available in NZ, so I am looking forward to purchase and add along side my original Poldark DVD collection and viewing curled up on the sofa!! Love watching your original Poldark series with you and Anghareed Rees, over and over again!!
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to trying your lamb recipe soon with our NZ lamb products. You and Meredith must come over and try our NZ lamb!!
Take care and look forward to your next post!!
Lisa ☺️
Thanks Lisa–sounds tempting! One of these days.
WONDERFUL!!!
After a ghastly morning, seeing your dear smiling face with a plate of delicious food was like a lovely cheering balm. I am so glad the world has you in it, Robin.
I could watch the original Poldark series and then watch it straightaway all over again it is so good. Sadly not true of the remake which is a sad thing to watch for anyone who knows and loves the books.
I love the way your food is something I immediately want and feel like making.
My husband wants you and Meredith to adopt him as your official food taster.
Thanks Poppet–we’ll have to think about your husband’s offer!
Oh my what wonderful memories you do bring back Robin thank you so much.
Wonderful evening watching the sunset over the sea, the food and wine flowed
and the laughter,all joined in, and of course someone always started the music
What nights we all had it didn’t matter what time you got back, it was just.lovely
I do hope that things turn out well for these wonderful happy people.
But tell.me Robin how the hell did you fit into a fiat your over 6ft aren’t you, and
Those chops will be on the menu this week
It was tight, Elaine!
Great story Robin! And you are looking very well sir! Must be all the healthy food and clean living. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Maureen–it’s a good summer here and I’m enjoying it.
I have to admit, it looks scrumptious. I’ve been a bit ruined for lamb over here across the pond, having lived for a time in NSW on a property and been spoiled to the extreme by home-raised and home-butchered fresh lamb on a regular basis. The store-bought variety over here just doesn’t seem to cut it. I’ll have to search out some home-raised lamb again and give this a try! And by the way, I have to say this – I’m re-watching POLDARK 1975 version, and hope I’m not being too forward in saying that you had magnificent hair then! (Doesn’t look bad now, either – but the hairdressers on the show are to be commended!)
Have to admit Jacki–some of it wasn’t mine!
Greece, dear Greece! It is unknown to me except for Creta where I travelled all around in 1996 (in a hired Fiat Panda) with my ex Massimo. We had a wonderful time there, super beaches, fantastic cooking and everything was cheap! We were guested very kindly in private houses as B&B. I must go back there! But for now I must content myself with Greek salads, Greek yoghurt Greek olives and feta (I love it!) watching “Mamma mia” again for the umpteenth time!! Great tip to add some lamb too….
Hi Paola! yes–makes me want to go too.
Wish I had had as good a time as you when I hitchhiked around Greece with my boyfriend in the summer of 1956! Blazing hot, which we weren’t used to, having come from Strasbourg across Switzerland to the Tirol and down Yugoslavia. But it was memorable — we were the only 2 people at Olympia and Epidaurus and even Delphi! The silence was overwhelming. Welcoming truck drivers gave us lifts, as there were few cars. Don’t remember eating lamb, but lots of eggs as we used sign-language to communicate: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Spent an idyllic few days at Patras before taking the ferry to Italy and hitchhiking up to Naples & Rome. Them was the days. I was only 24, healthy and game for anything. Glad I had the adventure then. Doubt I would want to retrace our steps now.
Nancy,
Santa Fe, NM
Just before the civil war I guess, Nancy. What an experience. Greece before development. In 1961–my first visit–they were building the youth hostel in Delphi!
No I am wrong Civil War between 1946 and 1949.
Love lamb chops…I do a wicked Roman lamb chops with garlic Rosemary anchovies and white wine vinegar … I’m salivating just thinking about it ! And I’ve just had breakfast !!!
So graffiti on the temple of Poseidon! Well, we’ve seen names of people carved out on the rocks here dating from 1774. Street Art.
The older pictures make me remember a marvelous mini-series with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh: from Olivia Manning’s The Balkan Trilogy. Wonderful shots of them and others in iconic places in Greece. And we must not forget the alluring nature of Greek music … Ellen
Wow, now I really can’t wait to get your cookbook! Fantastic! But, I am a little “chicken” to cook lamb! Such a talented writer you are! And I hear you saying all the words while I’m reading, such a memorable voice. Finally!!! A blog I don’t mind reading, in fact I love it!!! (Yay) and I saw Ellis on that rock…naughty indeed 🙂
Thanks, Susan and welcome.
Have never forgotten you as Ross Poldark. I’ve tried to watch the new series, but can’t get past the hair and the five (plus) o’clock shadow, when the rest of the male cast (even including Jud) are better groomed. Not to mention the scar being on the “wrong” side, LOL.