Greek Week(end)

This past weekend, my friend Madaline came to visit me. As it usually goes with me and my friends and visiting, there wasn't much on the agenda other than eating and hanging out. While we did manage to do a fair amount of walking, and squeezed in some shopping and a museum, the big ticket items were 1 cooked meal and 1 night out. M was kind enough to fly up, even though she was fresh off of her family summer vacation, so I didn't want to make her work too hard ;) So we went Greek!

We went through my Greek cookbook and she found a couple of things that were familiar, as well as some neither of us had made before.

Little Shoes
(Papoutsakia)

This is a favorite dish of M's that her grandmother makes when they go to Greece. Though it's hard to match a yia-yia-caliber dish, Madaline did a pretty good job... judging from our lack of leftovers.

For 4 servings, you will need:
2 baby eggplants
1/2lb ground beef
1 small onion
tomato sauce (about 8 oz?)
8oz mozzarella, (or whatever cheese you prefer), plus a little parmesan

Start by scooping out the eggplants. Chop the innards and set aside. Drizzle the eggplant skins with a generous amount of olive oil and broil until the skin is tender.

Sautee about 1/2lb ground beef with about 3/4c chopped onion and some minced garlic, about 2 cloves. Add chopped eggplant meat to the pan. Mix in 1/3-1/2 the tomato sauce. 

Fill each "shoe" with the eggplant mixture. Top with tomato sauce and cheese. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Stuffed Grape Leaves

(Dolmadakia)

Now this part was a pain in my butt... stuffed grape leaves. I didn't follow the recipe exactly(what else is new?). I sauteed about half a pound of ground beef, half a chopped onion, and 1c cooked rice. I added a little bit of fresh dill, s+p, lemon juice and dried oregano. 

Then, I rinsed and blotted dry the grape leaves, and stuffed them!

After they are stuffed, put them close together in a warm pan, add water and boil, covered. The recipe I was (not)following told me to weigh them down with a plate. I realized why I shouldn't have ignored that step when about half of them came apart in the pan. Live and learn. (Should I change the name of the blog to Live and Learn??) No matter, we couldn't have eaten that many anyway. Ugly as they were, they were pretty good for my first try, if I do say so myself.

Cucumber and Greek Yogurt

(Tzaziki)

We needed something to balanced out the crazy stuffed grape leaves, so M suggested we whip up some tzaziki. This was pretty easy, but I left out one step which turned out to be kind of important. Drain 2c greek yogurt over cheesecloth!! Do it! Unless you want double the tzaziki, do it. Roughly chop two skinned, seeded cucumbers. BLot those dry as well. Cucumber contain a lot of water. Mince a few cloves of garlic. Chop a tablespoon or so of fresh dill. Mix together and serve cold with grape leaves and/or pita bread.

Feta Spread

(Htipiti)

Madaline made this Feta with a kick by mixing lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and 1 jalepeno (seeds removed & roughly chopped) to 8 ounces of feta cheese. She pulsed it a few times in the food processor and served it with marinated olives and pita bread.

And here's the finished meal...

little shoes, baked to perfection.

one of these things is not like the other... (hint: it isn't the cell phone)

And there you have it. I now have a whole new respect for Yia Yias everywhere. Done correctly, greek food is definitely an all-day undertaking. And well worth it.

Saturday night we dragged our tired and/or pregnant asses to The Beehive. I went for my birthday a couple years ago and enjoyed it. But last night, it was at least 2 years better. There was an adorable jazz band playing, and we got a table right by the stage. It was very romantic. We started with Moroccan Cigars, then Madaline got these truffled potatoes with fontina cheese and caramelized onions... holy crow. And I had seared Ahi sliders and a three bean salad with feta. And finally, we saved (and made) room for dessert: a thick chocolate mousse with whipped cream and crumbled pralines on top. Unfortunately, were far too busy stuffing our faces to take pictures. But trust in me when I say this: go to The Beehive. You will be glad you did.

And Sunday morning, we braved the monsoon and swam over to Uncommon Grounds for some of their world famous breakfast... 

I had eggs benedict, Madaline got the lemon ricotta pancakes (todiefor). And then, as quickly as she arrived, she was gone. Like Mary Poppins. What a delicious visit it was!

m

Rollin' with my Comees

Tuesday night, our friends the Comees came over for dinner, on their way home from their vacation. As mentioned before, Les is a self-professed Burger Man. So we knew that he wouldn't be super impressed with anything too fancy. However, Marilyn would, so finding a happy medium was a challenge. And nothing gets our blood pumping like a good cooking challenge. What could be more impressive than bacon or cheese? That's right, bacon and cheese! Blue Cheese bacon burgers on homemade rolls, to be exact. For burgers this awesome, we also needed a few understated sides. I only had about a bajillion pounds of potatoes left over from this weekend, so I whipped up my southern-style potato salad. We also had some roasted corn, so we made up a quick salad using that as well. It might be my new favorite thing. Next time, I might add some red onion or cilantro. Or both, plus black beans.
Sanne's kaiser rolls from scratch turned out beautifully. And Les just so happened to have a bottle of champagne in the car.

Blue Cheese Bacon Burgers
Mix together:
1lb ground beef
some bleu cheese, crumbled
6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
a few T chives, chopped
worceshire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
salt + pepper to taste

I decided to caramelize some onions for the burgers. I got a little distracted and they got a little burnt... or so I thought. Turns out, what I did was a pretty advanced cooking technique, which Les calls "darkening". Darkening is like burning, but with purpose.

Like so.

I tried it with the bacon too...

:/

Fresh Corn Salsa
Mix together:
1 ear of corn
1 avocado, finely chopped
1c cherry tomatoes, quartered
juice from half a lime
salt & pepper, to taste

Unfortunately, this was the only picture I  got of the corn salsa. I couldn't stop eating it, this stuff was so good!

Dinner was amazing, but the company was even better. I'm telling you, come visit, and we will try our best to impress you with a beautiful meal. That is my solemn vow to you.

What do you do to make your burgers extra-special?

m

German-Southern-Indian-Polish Fusion, Finally!

Last week, I was enjoying some local bluegrass with my friends Kasia and Neville, when we decided that it was time for a dinner party, and it was Neville's turn to host. As we started brainstorming ideas, it became clear that this would have to be heritage-themed, with all of our homelands represented.

It was difficult for me to choose which root of mine I was going to reprezent in my cooking. In the end, I made two types of potato salad: Souther-style and German. A fair compromise, I think. But then my German side bought some German beer.

Köstliche Gebräue

I found the recipe for German Potato salad in the Joy of Cooking. You will need:

2lbs potatoes: cooked and sliced, mashed or cubed; whatever you prefer
4 sliced bacon: cooked, drained and crumbled
1 small yellow onion: chopped and sauteed
1/2c water (or stock)
1/4c rice vinegar, white wine vinegar or cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1t sugar
1t mustard powder
fresh parsley for garnish

Once the potatoes are cooked, set aside and let cool while you cook the bacon. When the bacon is done, pour out all but about 2T of the fat. Add onions and cook until tender. Then add water/stock, vinegar, mustard, and sugar and let boil. Stir mixture into potatoes. Garnish with parsley.

Bacon, glorious bacon

and for the Southern-style, you'll need:

2 lbs potatoes: cooked and mashed (I always leave the skin on)
mayonnaise & mustard to taste
a dash of sugar
salt & pepper, to taste
2 boiled eggs
dill
a couple tablespoons minced onion (raw)
sometimes I'll add celery
...and that's it. This is much more of a taste as you go recipe.

Kasia brought Polish Pork Cutlets, and a light and fresh salad, which I'm beginning to think is her specialty. It had carrots, sweet peas, potato, apple, celery, corn and a little mayonnaise dressing. It sounds like a lot of stuff, but the combination was very nice, and perfectly sweet. I enjoyed it. We also mixed up a delicious Mojito, using some of Neville's Rum from the West Indies.

green

pork cutlets

the lovely Kasia

mojito

yours truly

Neville made an old favorite of his, traditional Indian Chole in a butternut squash soup base, including homemade ketchup using tomatoes from his parents' garden, with cilantro. I am becoming a big fan of cooking with cilantro, thanks to my Indian friends. :) He also made basmati saffron rice with turmeric, bay leaf, cardamom and clove. And he broiled the perfect salmon rubbed with balsamic vinaigrette. Well done, Neville!

The Host

favorite!

fish in a barrel, my friend

my heritage looks so mushy next to theirs :/

there were also some tasty Chinese treats

It makes me a little sad that we didn't embrace our German-ness growing up. I wish I knew how to make more traditional dishes. We more than made up for it with our Southern-ness though. What are your favorites?

m

Low Country Seafood Boil

Well, Julia Child will just have to wait. Lauren requested seafood, and she's gonna get seafood, New England style. Actually, this is something we did a lot growing up in the south, sans lobster... and beer. And my mom always insisted that you dump everything out onto newspaper and eat it with your hands. We're purists. 

I can't believe its August and I haven't done anything like this yet! Seafood boil is another quintessential summer meal. I like how I have to convince myself that its summer with food, this being the first time in my life that I have to work through the summer (I used to be a teacher). But there is something very summer about crackin' into seafood and getting all sticky from butter and lobster juice.

Anyway! Lauren and her friends Jennie and Hailey came over and we got straight to work...

shuckin' corn

choppin' potaties 

conducting reaserch

mixin dranks

 ... and then the business at hand. The Samuel Adams Tasting. I love the seasonal variety packs. I picked up one of those and brought out my promotional tasting glasses. We were excited; there were a few new bottles we hadn't tasted before!

I think the Rustic Saison was the winner, followed by the East-West Kolsch. There was also an IPA and a Light, not pictured.

Humiliating the lobsters is part of the process. Before you boil them to death, you have to take silly pictures with them. I'm sorry, lobsters; I didn't make the rules.

first lobster

serial killer

apron queen

kissy face

I guess I should tell you how we actually did this. It's really all about timing. Fill a big ol' pot about 2/3 of the way with water, season with Old Bay seasoning and bring to a boil. The corn and potatoes should go in first, since they take the longest to cook. Then add the lobster and sausage, which take about 15-20 minutes. Throw the shrimp in at the last 2 minutes or so. They'll turn pink pretty quickly, and they are done.

get your butt in the water

I heard somewhereCurtisStone, that if you put the lobsters in the freezer for a while before you cook, it puts them in some kind of a trance, and they suffer less, or something. Well, that's a lie. I think it actually woke them up. We should've listened to Julia Child, who puts her lobsters out of their misery by stabbing them in the brains. Oh well, live and learn.

Don't forget the butter...

or you'll walk the plank!

 ... about 6lbs will do. I kid, I kid!

shiny red buttsss

tail meats

delish!

leaky

After dinner, we talked staff infections and wrote postcards. You know, the usz.

A new reason to love the summer, since moving up here, is people coming to visit. Whenever a friend stops in, I get to do somewhat tourist-y things. It reminds me of what a fun city I live in, with lots of diversity in food and culture.

Speaking of visitors, we have two more tomorrow night! Preparations are underway to knock the socks off of self proclaimed burger-man Les Comee and his FeDish-loving wife Marilyn. SO excited! And later in the week, my dearest Madaline will be here! Try to keep up, guys! We've got lots of cooking to do!

m