When my brother Norm (Court's husband) told me he had been making Greek salad with celery instead of cucumber, I was sceptical to say the least. But he has definitely won me over with this, and I've made it for lunch at least three times in the last week. The celery gives it a delicious crunch and it feels extra fresh. And check out my adorable mini-beer! It's only 135ml - just enough to accompany my light summer meal.
Greek Salad for One:
2 sticks celery, chopped
1/2 red or orange pepper, chopped
1/2 tomato, chopped
1/4 small red onion, chopped
30g feta, cubed
drizzle of olive oil & balsamic vinegar
pepper
Showing posts with label cuisine: greek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cuisine: greek. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
A Modified Greek Salad
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Spanakopita from Scratch
I was chatting last night with my brother's girlfriend, and she was wondering what to do with her days off now that all the holiday stuff was done. I suggested she take some time to stock the freezer to make her life a little easier once she was back at work. I figured that along those lines, I would post one of my favorite freezer recipes. As I have mentioned in the past, I really like making and eating Greek food. Ages and ages ago when Tyler Florence was hosting Food 911 on the Food Network, he featured the following spanakopita recipe, that I have been accepting compliments on ever since. They are a bit labour intensive (it'll take an hour or a bit more), but the results are so good that I keep making them anyway. You can make about 40 small ones, but I like to make dinner sized ones instead, as they take less time and feel more worth the effort.
Spanakopita:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds fresh baby spinach, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
12 ounces crumbled feta
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp oregano
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted
1 pound phyllo pastry sheets
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and place over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes until soft. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and continue to saute until the spinach is limp. Add lemon juice, remove from heat and place in a colander, and squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside to cool. The filling needs to be cool and dry to prevent the phyllo from becoming soggy. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with feta, coriander, and nutmeg. Season, then fold in the cooled spinach mixture until well blended.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, brush 2 baking sheets with some melted butter. Unroll the phyllo dough and lay a sheet flat on a work surface. Take care to keep the phyllo covered with a damp, not wet, towel as you work to prevent drying out and becoming brittle. Brush the sheet with melted butter, and repeat with 2 more sheets of phyllo, stacking on top of each other. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the sheets lengthwise into halves to form 2 3-inch strips.
Place a heaping teaspoon of filling near 1 corner of the layered phyllo strip. Fold the end at an angle over the filling to form a triangle. Continue to fold the triangle along the strip until you reach the end, like folding up a flag. Brush the top with butter and dust with Parmesan
, place on prepared baking sheet, and cover while preparing the remaining pastries. Repeat until all the filling and phyllo strips are used up. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the triangles are crisp and golden.
Alternately, you can freeze the uncooked triangles, and cook the same way from freezing (may take 5 extra minutes). They freeze so well I love to keep some in my freezer for days when I don't have time to cook, but still want to eat real food.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tzaziki is Greek for Delicious
I love Greek food! I love souvlaki and spanikopita and Greek salad and Greek roast potatoes, but most of all I love tzaziki. My favourite tzaziki at a restaurant is from It’s All Greek to Me, a little restaurant on Rice Howard Way and Jasper Ave that I used to have lunch at when I worked next to there. I actually got them to sell it to me in containers for a little while, until I learned that the reason it tasted different was because it had sour cream in it. Since then, I have updated my own tzaziki recipe to be as close as possible, and can have delicious homemade tzaziki whenever I like.
Tzaziki:
1 cup of Greek yogurt
¼ cup Sour Cream
½ cup grated cucumber
pinch of salt
1 clove garlic finely chopped
some dill finely chopped
When buying Greek yogurt, sometimes I go to the Greek food store that is just west of 124 st. around 111 Ave, but more often I just get the stuff in my local grocery store that is called Balkan yogurt. To start you must “sweat” the yogurt and sour cream. Basically you just put it in a fine strainer over a bowl and cover with cling wrap then sit it in the fridge. If yours is metal, you may want to line it with cheesecloth or it will drip through. This plastic one works like a dream. Ideally you want to sweat it for eight or more hours. If you start it in the morning before running off to work that is great. If not, I have been known to cut it down to an hour if I am struck by an intense craving. It will just impact the consistency. Some people will like it a bit less thick anyway.
With about 30 minutes to go, grate the cucumber. I use an English one, because you don’t have to peel it and I like the green colour. Regardless of which kind you use, quarter it lengthwise and take out the seedy bit. Sprinkle the pinch of salt over it and put it in the refrigerator so that it too will release some of its liquid. This step is a good one to do before you worry about getting the main part of your meal going. Letting it sit for more than 30 minutes is fine, just cover it if it is going to be much longer.
Put the reduced yogurt and sour cream into the dish you are making the tzaziki in. Press the cucumber to get rid of as much liquid as possible (I press it between stackable glasses, or use my hands) and add it to the bowl. Throw in the garlic and dill and mix. Done!
I fully encourage you to play around with the amount of each of the ingredients, as the results will not be altered much if you adjust to taste. I like mine to be very strong and garlicky, but if you would like it to be milder, put in less sour cream and garlic and it will be more like what you get in other restaurants. It is nice to warm up your pita bread if you have picked it up from the grocery store. Don’t get the thin stuffing pitas; get the nice thick bread-like Greek pitas.
This is a great appetizer, or I make it to use as a tasty condiment for Greek potatoes or souvlaki or to eat with my spanikopita or even perogies. It will keep pretty well for a couple of days, but some liquid will rise to the top. Drain it off or just mix it in.
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