Trying to recapture the Greek magic

On Friday night, DB~ and I had our close friends over. I decided for the 4 of us I would attempt to replicate some of the meals we had in Greece.

I started off with the rusk, using the best available ingredients I could find. I went with a rustic Italian-style bread and "scalped" the top of it so I could place my ingredients on top of it. I made this about 1-1/2 hours ahead of when I planned to serve it, so as to allow the olive oil and tomato juices soak in deeply. Instead of the anthotiro cheese, I went with feta, as I couldn't find the anthotiro anywhere in town (even online at Penn Mac in the Strip District). I topped the cheese with some rinsed capers and greek oregano I brought back from Athens.



The juices saturated the bread, but not as much as in Santorini. It was still great and well-received, but not the exact same as we had it.

I "cheated" and bought grape leaves at Giant Eagle's antipasta section and cut some lemon wedges to squeeze over top for each person's individual tastes.



In addition to a simple Greek salad (greens, onion slices, kalamata olives, tomatoes, and feta with a balsamic/olive oil mix), the main course was lamb kleftiko. Using my Dutch oven, I cut a lamb roast into chunks and browned it. I wedged some potatoes and drizzled them with lemon juice and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Additionally, I sauted some onions and garlic together and added them in. After all that, I topped the entire pot with tomato slices (approx. 1-1/2 tomatoes) and sprinkled some crumbled feta on top.



The lamb kleftiko was baked at 325 F for 2 hours. A nice base juice developed and the lamb was done well. It turned out well and all of us liked it, but it just wasn't quite the same. Perhaps it has something to do with not having the Parthenon in the background?

A 100 lb pig roast, 18 holes of golf, and a Greek food fest

I'll take "Three things that usually don't occur within 6 hours of each other, Alex, for $400."

For the past 3 or 4 years, the Friday before Labor Day has had the pleasure of 2 of my favorite events occuring on the same day. One is a really well put together golf outing at a great course north of Pittsburgh, with the highlight being a pig roast that follows it. The second is the night that my family goes down to the Holy Trinity Greek Church on the North Side to enjoy their Greek food fest.

This basically means that I have to activate a second stomach on this day, as there is a tremendous amount of great food consumed in a short period of time.

The golf was great, but long. The round took a shade over 5 hours, which is kind of standard for a golf outing with 2 group starting on most holes. As soon as we got back to the party tent, the skies opened up and the rain came down sideways. Most importantly, the 100 lb, 4 foot long pig (with stuffing inside and a Hawaiian lei for decoration) was safe from the rain and the heavy winds.

So at 4 pm, I had:
A generous helping of pig
A generous helping of stuffing
1 breaded chicken drumstick
1 helping of scalloped potatoes
1 bowl of fruit salad

I bid farewell to the large contigent of people I came with and drove home to pick up DB~ to head downtown (after getting a quick shower and change of clothes). We got to Holy Trinity at 6 pm and by 6:30 pm, I was dining on:
1 order of moussaka
1 order of spanokopita
1 order of rice pilaf

We all got dessert, but took it home with us (but not after a bunch of us split a baklava Blizzard from a Dairy Queen stand set up there).

Oh, and as always, the place was packed on a Friday at dinnertime. If you go, and I recommend you do, pick an off-peak time to go. When they start playing the Greek music inside, it gets really loud and is tough to talk. Plus, it's difficult to find a table during the dinner time on Friday and Saturday.

The Greek fest goes until Sunday, so check it out.

Going Greek

Even though my muse, DB~, is out of town (waaaaay out of town!), I was still feeling creative last night. When DB~ and I went to the Strip District a couple of weeks ago, we of course went to Penn Mac for cheese. One of the cheeses I bought was the harder cousin of Feta, known as Myzithera.

During my last trip to Giant Eagle, I bought some sheets of phyllo dough, in anticipation of a Greek night. I decided that last night would be an "experiment night" in the kitchen. I ended up making a new "restaurant-quality" dish last night, so I thought I would share:

DBSopita

1/2 lb of ground meat

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 lb Myzithera cheese

1/3 cup cooked orzo

6 grape tomatos, cut in half and seeded

couple of springs of lemon thyme

couple of spring of lemon basil

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 cereal bowl of spinach leaves

1 pkg of Fillo dough

salt, pepper to taste

5 tbsp of melted butter

First I cooked the orzo for about 10 minutes.

While that was going, I put the ground meat in the skillet to brown. Once it was brown on all sides, I added the garlic and the chopped up thyme and basil. Next I added the grape tomatoes cut in half and sprinkled the pine nuts into the mixture. I let this simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes and added a touch of salt and pepper.

I then got out 4 cereal bowls and set up the shredded Myzithera in one, the spinach leaves in another, the cooked orzo in the third, and the ground meat mixture in the fourth. I contemplated running the ground meat through the food processor, in order to make it easier to work with the Fillo, but I decided to keep it regular. It was a good choice.

Let me interject this recipe with a warning about working with Fillo dough. It's nerve-wracking at times. I don't know how it is made, but apparently it is cut with a NASA-grade laser. If you pick a layer of it up with one hand, it will rip. If you lift it higher than 3 inches off the kitchen counter, it will rip. But it soooooo tasty when baked.

Once I had my bowls set up in the train, I got the Fillo out and put it on a cutting board with a moist towel covering the wrapper to prevent it from drying out. I then had a baking sheet set up for the final product. Make sure you work directly on the baking sheet, as you won't be able to move the creation once it is done -- the Fillo will rip apart.

Take one sheet of Fillo and score it lightly in half. Brush one side of each scored piece with butter. It just needs to be very lightly buttered, not thickly done. Carefully flip one piece over so the butter side is down. Repeat with the second piece.

Then place a few spinach leaves on the Fillo, keeping them about 1/2 to 1 inch away from the edges. Get another sheet of Fillo, score it, and brush both pieces with melted butter. Put one, butter side down over top the spinach and place the 2 tablespoons of ground meat mixture. Place the second buttered piece over top of the ground meat mixture. Repeat with a third piece of Fillo -- score it and butter both halves. Place a handful of the Myzithera cheese on this piece of Fillo and then cover it with the second buttered half. Get a fourth piece of Fillo -- score it and butter it. Place 2 tablespoons of orzo on this piece and then cover with both pieces of Fillo.

At this point, gently pull the edges all together as is you were wrapping a present. The butter will help make the edges stick. The edges on the wrapped DBSopita will only "wrap" about 1/2 to 1 inch up...don't pull them all to the center.

This recipe should make 6 of these creations. I baked them at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until flaky and light brown. You will be able to manuever them with a spatula once they are baked and flaky.

Serve with couscous or a wild rice and your choice of vegetable. Opa!