♪ ♪ >> MARIA LOI: I am Maria Loi, executive chef of Loi Estiatorio in Manhattan.

When I was growing up in Thermo, a small village in Greece, food was a way of life: good for your body, good for your soul.

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest in the world, and I have seen how it can truly change people's lives like it changed mine.

And since then, my life has been all about the Mediterranean diet.

Today, we're going to share some of the delicious secrets that you can make part of your own lives at home.

So come with me right now on "The Life of Loi."

♪ ♪ >> Funding for this program is provided by the Behrakis Family.

Additional funding is provided by the Greek National Tourism Organisation.

>> LOI: I am Maria Loi.

So glad you are joining me today.

I will take you on a trip to Greece, and then come back to my favorite kitchen in New York to show you two of my favorite recipes: mini omelet muffins and Greek tuna salad.

Today, I am going to take you to two places in Greece.

They are very, very, very close to my heart.

First, we're going to Evia.

Evia is the second-largest Greek island, after Crete.

You can drive there from the mainland.

When I was a kid, I used to go to Evia with my father.

I didn't understand how you could drive to an island.

(laughs): And you didn't need to take a boat.

Even today, whenever I pass that bridge, I always think of those trips with my father.

Recently, I went to a farm in Evia that is growing the best mushrooms.

Mushrooms give many dishes a savory, rich flavor known as umami, which makes them great to use in vegetarian dishes.

Páme!

♪ ♪ I have here my new friend, Lefteris Lachouvaris.

I love it here.

We are in Evia.

And they have mushrooms, and they know how to cook the mushrooms.

Before we speak about the mushrooms that you're doing here, let's start.

♪ ♪ I like this vessel.

>> You can move it here, or you can do like that.

You see, if you want to mix it.

>> LOI: I never cooked like this.

Lefteri, we're going to use the mushrooms first, right, or not?

>> Yes-- Lentinula is the Latin name of the very well-known shiitake.

The whole name is Lentinula edodes.

The edible Lentinula.

>> LOI: That's something.

And I'm gonna cut the Lentinulas because I want them to be dry, and then I'm adding the olive oil, okay?

>> Mm, that is very nice information.

>> LOI: Because mushroom is full of water, actually.

>> Lentinulas is around 80% and oyster mushrooms around 90.

>> LOI: 90-- we don't have oyster mushrooms here.

>> We have oyster mushrooms.

>> LOI: Oh, we do?

>> Pleurotus.

Pleurotus is an ancient Greek word that means "the ear that grows on the side."

Pleuro-otus.

>> LOI: I love this, to cut like that, okay?

See how it is?

They don't burn because they have the water.

So now, I'll start adding olive oil, okay?

♪ ♪ I'll take that.

>> Okay.

Okay, I'm ready-- do you not want... >> LOI: Everything, everything.

>> Very nice.

>> LOI: I want a ton of mushrooms.

>> Okay.

>> LOI: Okay?

>> It will be very delicious.

>> LOI: Oh, yes.

I imagine what I will put also-- the vassilomanitara.

>> They are the best mushrooms in the forest.

>> LOI: Why do we have to call them porcini?

>> The biggest... yes.

(laughs) >> LOI: Come on!

So we have anything else of this kind of mushrooms?

>> Of course, of course.

>> LOI: What?

>> We have arnakia.

>> LOI: Arnakia?

>> Do you know why?

Because it looks like arnakia.

>> LOI: Yeah.

>> It grows on the tree.

>> LOI: Mm-hmm.

>> And becomes so big, like, maybe, sometimes one meter big.

>> LOI: Like the shape, yeah.

>> And it's like a shape that holds a big hug on the tree.

In U.S., they call it "lion's mane," because of this... >> LOI: Oh, yeah, it is.

>> It's a lion's mane.

>> LOI: So how do you cut that?

>> Look inside, it's a fleshy mushroom, you see?

>> LOI: Oh... >> It's very fleshy.

>> LOI: I never had this.

♪ ♪ Big one!

Koutala.

This is koutala.

(laughs) Maybe I will add a bit of olive oil.

♪ ♪ Nice.

This what we have to take the vitamins.

I know you made something with vitamin D. >> We try to enrich, naturally enrich the mushrooms with vitamin D. When the U.V.

light comes to your organism, to your skin, you start to produce vitamin D. >> LOI: Yeah.

>> Okay-- why we produce vitamin D?

Because we have ergosterol.

The same substance contains the mushrooms.

And we have to tell that is the only source of vitamin D for vegans.

>> LOI: Did you hear that, vegans?

Do you hear that out there?

Let's put the vassilomanitara.

>> The inside...

They are dried and we can put into... >> LOI: Yeah, the soak.

How long did you soak them in there?

>> We soaked for 20 minutes.

And, you know, this beautiful water will come out as a broth, eh?

>> LOI: Of course.

So-- okay.

>> Smells perfect.

>> LOI: That's it.

♪ ♪ I can add, if you want, some onion, just a bit of onion, that's all.

>> Okay.

♪ ♪ >> LOI: You want to put wine?

>> Yes.

♪ ♪ >> LOI: Oh, you see?

That sounds like (inaudible).

♪ ♪ You know why I don't add the water immediately?

Because, you see, it will be crispy after that.

>> Ah, yes, yes, yes.

>> LOI: And not mushy, okay?

Now we can add the broth.

♪ ♪ The orzo has to absorb all the liquid, okay?

And then we'll add-- if it's needed, because I like it al dente.

And something else you had over there.

>> You just put the dry porcini in your multi, and you have a nice powder.

Or in a blender.

>> LOI: Okay, now what?

>> Take the porcini powder... >> LOI: Okay, take it, take it.

>> Thank you.

>> LOI: That's it.

>> Just put it everywhere.

>> LOI: Yeah.

>> Do you want the salt and the pepper?

>> LOI: Yes, yes, yes.

♪ ♪ Well, that's only for me.

(laughing) ♪ ♪ Is it good?

>> Super-delicious.

Thank you very much.

>> LOI: I thank you.

So, from the garden of Eden, here, we cooked mushrooms, with orzo, Greek orzo, and, uh, different kind of mushrooms.

♪ ♪ Those mushrooms were amazing and so tasty.

But don't worry if you don't find the same mushrooms here.

You can go to your grocery store, you can buy whatever mushrooms you find, and you like, of course, and we can make a different recipe, with orzo, mushrooms, but this time with eggs.

I have cooked pasta here, just with olive oil.

Here, I have cremini mushroom.

I dice them and I sauté with just a bit of onion and olive oil.

Put it in the same bowl.

You can eat them, actually, like this.

You just add some feta and you have an excellent dish.

Feta cheese.

You know, my friends, they say that I cannot live without feta, yogurt, and olive oil, and it's the truth.

I like to add a lot of yogurt here.

And this yogurt I make here, personally.

Make sure that you mix it very well and the orzo will be covered by the yogurt.

And, you know, the yogurt also makes it fluffy, a bit.

You can add some salt.

One of the binders will be the breadcrumb.

Fresh-ground pepper.

I love dill.

Look, that's how my grandmother used to cut the dill.

Wow.

(laughs) I couldn't help it.

You saw that I added the stems, huh?

Because they're packed with vitamins.

And now, I will add some olive oil.

One, two, three.

That's tablespoons.

That's how we count tablespoons in the village.

(chuckles) I was seven years old when I first made this recipe.

I had to give something.

I always wanted to give to people, and especially to my family.

So, I was cooking the orzo and the mushrooms, and whatever we had-- other ingredients, as well-- in small vessels, very small vessels.

Always they loved my doro.

It's, like, I was baking somethings individual for each one, just to give them, like the present.

That's what means doro in Greek.

Do you love eggs?

I love eggs.

So let me...

I used to eat eggs every day.

Either breakfast, dinner, lunch... And they have a lot of vitamins, especially protein.

I always like to add fresh-ground pepper in my eggs and just a pinch of salt.

Because we have the feta, and it's very salty in there.

The eggs will bind the mixture, see?

Make sure that you mix the eggs very well with the mushrooms, the orzo, the feta, the yogurt, the olive oil... ...and the dill.

And now, it's ready to make our dora, the little presents, and to take it into the oven.

So... My grandma, she, she never uses a brush.

So, she was always taking a small piece of paper napkin.

She was going like this.

And... here.

That's it.

See?

That's enough.

This way, your muffins will never stick.

You can add just a bit of breadcrumb.

Not too much of breadcrumbs, because they will create a very hard crust.

And we'll make our life easier.

When I was making the doro as a kid, I didn't have ice cream scoop to make my life easier.

But we had a very happy family.

Okay.

We go like this.

And then, into the oven.

Preheated oven, 350 Fahrenheit, for maximum 15, 20 minutes.

Depends of your oven, of course.

I have them ready for you.

You see, when, when they get, like, a bit crusty and a bit brownish, then you know that they're ready to come out from the oven.

I left them outside the oven almost an hour, because I like to eat this doro cold.

I don't know why.

You can eat it any way you like it-- hot, cold, but I prefer cold.

Maybe because I used to eat them like this when I was a child.

So, let me add some dill.

Because it would make them beautiful.

They are super-tasty.

I have to try it.

Cheers-- yassou.

Mmm.

I don't like meat, but the mushrooms, they give this umami taste.

And, um, earthy.

Also, they, they're like meat in there.

It's like that you eat meat.

Are you jealous?

You can make this at home, too.

It's so easy.

And now, I am going to take you in the heart of the Aegean, next to Mykonos, next to Santorini, in one of the most beautiful islands in the world, Naxos.

And they have the freshest seafood.

Páme!

♪ ♪ Yassas.

I am here in Naxos island, in the middle of the Aegean, in the Cyclades.

♪ ♪ Today, I am going to cook with Ioannis Margaritis, the governor of the island.

When you're in Naxos island, you can go to the best restaurant, you can go to the smallest taverna to eat, but when you have friends like Dimitri, you can go to his boat.

Ioannis... (boat horn blows) (laughs) Look at this boat.

It's huge.

>> Maria, more visitor friends.

♪ ♪ >> LOI: To create a salad with the fish that they have today, stingray-- big one.

And, uh, I can make a salad out of nothing.

Take a look.

♪ ♪ So, we have the fish.

You see how it is, with the skin?

>> So, first of all, we have to clean this.

>> LOI: We have enough.

>> Yeah.

Then, it will be like that.

>> LOI: Mm-hmm.

>> But before that, we just boil it.

>> LOI: I made here ladi and lemoni.

Latholemono.

Olive oil and lemon.

We have onions, scallions, and we'll mix it again.

♪ ♪ Usually, when I mix latholemono with onions, scallions, oregano, I leave it for two, three hours.

But it's okay.

We have to eat, we're hangry.

>> (laughs) >> LOI: That's the secret.

>> That's the secret.

You put all together... >> LOI: Yeah.

>> And then up from the fish.

>> LOI: No, wait.

(laughs) >> Let's see.

>> LOI: I take my big hands, okay.

And I here.

>> Wow.

For this dish, you need the professionals.

(Loi laughs) >> LOI: And, if you see now, you have the sauce here.

You add more fish, see?

The secret is not to be dry, but not to be very mushy.

Fresh pepper.

>> Always.

♪ ♪ >> LOI (inhales): See, the fresh pepper?

>> Mm... That's a real salad.

That's a fish salad.

>> LOI: The best fish salad.

>> Naxian salatouri.

>> LOI: That's how you call it?

But I make this salad, so that means that, uh... >> So it's Maria's salatouri.

>> (laughs) >> LOI: And what else?

>> Extra virgin olive oil.

>> LOI: Always finish, even with a drop of olive oil.

It will make your life tasty.

And healthy.

Okay, Ioannis.

>> Let's start.

It smells nice, it looks nice.

♪ ♪ Tastes better.

>> LOI: You know, this salad, I like to eat it slowly.

Because I love it so much, and if I eat it all at once, I can eat even three pounds of it.

(laughs) Yassou.

>> Fish is a fruit, so don't worry.

Eat as much as you can.

So it's like a fruit salad.

>> LOI: So, we didn't make the fish salad, we made a fruit salad, and you can eat it any time you want, because it's tasty, healthy, and easy to make.

♪ ♪ I have to answer to a friend of mine now, that he says, "If you don't have this fresh fish that you had in Naxos, what are you going to do?"

I said, "Easy, I'll make you a tuna salad."

"With the same ingredients?"

I said, "Yes."

Olive oil.

So, lemon juice.

I'll put two tablespoons of lemon juice.

Mustard.

I like mustard.

And sometimes, I mix it with yogurt, and it's a perfect cream for you to use it in several dressings, sauces... Salt, I like salt in this recipe.

It needs it.

If you have the fresh fish, you don't need so much, because it comes directly from the sea.

But here, you need it.

Scallions.

And then I will mix it.

And this could be a dressing for any salad.

And now we're going to add our tuna fish.

You see it's chunky, it's not like those tiny pieces.

And always buy the tuna fish in water, not in olive oil, and then strain it, and it's ready to go into your salad.

We'll mix it.

Tuna fish has a lot of omega-3 fatty acid.

Very good for your health.

It's an easy recipe.

Let's serve it.

Two ways.

One... With one of my favorite breads.

I love black bread, but you can use any kind of bread you like.

Mm... Make sure that the bread that you will use, it's a bit hard, because this recipe has the olive oil in there and the bread will absorb all that goodness.

You can add dill, parsley, whatever you like.

Today, I'm going to add my organic, fresh green pea shoots.

Isn't this beautiful?

One more thing.

Lemon zest.

That will give a kick, as my chef Dara says.

That's enough.

(laughs) I love olive oil.

When I was a kid, and I was in my village, like, five years old, four, five years old, and once a year, we harvest the olives to make the olive oil, and we were going to the elaiotriveio, the olive oil press.

The first thing that I was doing, I had a small piece of bread in my pocket and I was, because I was the smallest kid over there, and I was going in front of everyone else, and with the first drops of the olive oil that were coming down, I put my bread in front of it there, and I was harvesting the first drops of the olive oil and I was eating it.

I was in heaven.

And this dish, actually, it reminds me of that, because this bread, the hard bread, absorbs the olive oil, and that's exactly, it takes me over there when I was four years old, taking the olive oil in front of everybody.

(laughs): Let me show you another one.

Here I have marouli, romaine lettuce.

And you can add it in the middle.

And it's beautiful, also, right?

Lemon zest.

This dish, it's perfect for the people that, they are gluten-free.

And also, you can use the lettuce, the marouli, as pita chips.

But let me try my open sandwich.

I like this, and I love the bread.

See, the bread soaked all the olive oil.

That's why I love this bread.

And the tuna... Yassou.

I love eating fresh seafood, but this texture of the tuna fish is amazing.

Try to make it at home, because you will make something that, it belongs to the Mediterranean diet, and Mediterranean diet, it's not only, of course, the good food, it's a way of living.

And that's what we are all about here at The Life of Loi.

♪ ♪ >> Funding for this program is provided by the Behrakis Family.

Additional funding is provided by the Greek National Tourism Organisation.

♪ ♪