Cooking with Greek peppers

Peppieries
Serves 5 people

Ingredients:

• 10 local anaheim peppers
• 5 cloves of smashed garlic
• 1 tsp. of imported greek oregano
• 1 tbsp. of fresh chopped local organic oregano
• 3 ounces of dodoni feta cheese crumbled
• 2 ounces of extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup of chicken stock or broth for home viewers
• 1 country baguette or bread of choice sliced, brushed with olive oil, and baked then rubbed with a clove of garlic

1. Lightly rub the peppers with a touch of olive oil and place on a grill or open flam until the skin becomes black. Place peppers in a bowl covering the top with plastic wrap for a few minutes this will make the peppers much easier to clean.
   
   
2. Remove the skin and seeds from the peppers, and set aside.
   
   
3. In a pan add olive oil, and smashed garlic. Place on medium heat until garlic becomes golden brown. At this point you can add your peppers to the pan along with the rest of the ingredients, except for the feta.
   
   
4. Keep on medium heat until the liquid in the pan reduces by half. At this point remove from heat and sprinkle the top with feta and bake in the oven or under a broiler for 3 minutes. Place in a bowl and serve with garlic rubbed crostini.

About Dio Deka
Founded by Stratton and Jody Sclavos and Greek restaurateurs Nikos Kalouris, Vagelis Papazisis, Yiani Dulles, Julian Abbott, and Petros Katopodis in 2006, Dio Deka celebrates all aspects of fine Hellenic cuisine and culture. Dio Deka's warm ambience, healthy, seasonal Hellenic cuisine from Chef and Managing Partner Salvatore Calisi, and location in the charming town of Los Gatos make it a top restaurant destination for Silicon Valley executives, foodies, and families looking for an old-world dining experience imbued with excellent service and incredible food.

About Salvatore Calisi:
Chef Calisi completes the Dio Deka team from a distinguished restaurant career in New York City where he worked as a sous-chef for critically-acclaimed restaurateurs including Charlie Palmer at Aureole, Rocco DiSpirito at Union Pacific and under Executive Chef Scott Bryan at the three-star restaurant Veritas.The talented and affable chef learned the most outside of school, working in the kitchen and paying close attention to everything diners ate-and everything they did not. "At Veritas, the kitchen was really small, and my sous-chef station was right next to the dishwasher," he explains. "I'd watch every plate that came in, and if something was left on the plate, I'd examine it to find out why," he says. Even if it was something as small as a scallion or a clove of garlic, Chef Calisi would take it off the plate, feel its texture to determine if was over or under-cooked, and figure out how it could have been better prepared. "I have to get it exactly right," he says.Chef Calisi has an extensive formal culinary education, complemented by years of experience in the kitchen both in the United States and abroad, beginning as a boy at Yolanda's, his father's restaurant in New York. He spent his summers in high school and college working in restaurants on the luxurious resort islands of Elba and Sardinia and went on to graduate from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Most recently, Calisi honed his Executive Chef toque with well-heeled restaurateurs Peter Michaels and Paolo Veronese at Valbella in New York's gentrified meat-packing district, which opened to rave reviews in the fall of 2005. Previously he opened Osteria Stella in New York to critical acclaim, helping to build a menu of diverse and complementary dishes, many influenced by his experience at Veritas, Union Pacific and Aureole. Moving to the West Coast with his wife and two kids to open Dio Deka is a new adventure for the native New Yorker, and one he feels blessed to be undertaking.