Greek Meze

It's cold and icy outside, but inside we're sitting at a little cafe in Greek islands. The sun is out, the glasses are full, and we're nibbling on meze all afternoon. To start with there are three kinds of phyllos pastries, hot and flaky just out of the oven.


There's tiropita, a combination of feta, ricotta, and onions; spanikopita, with spinach and feta; and a squash, feta, and ricotta mixture, too.

There is also marinated artichoke hearts with red peppers and garlic, sweet and salty walnuts, a variety of olives, slow cooked beef with honey and bay leaves, and hummos with pita triangles.

Spanikopita

I made spanikopita for dinner tonight, the first time since the Great Spanikopita Disaster, I think. And it was good! I was suspicious about the phyllo, as it contains no butter--and yet here it was the only kind available at both Whole Foods and Balducci's--and it tasted just fine. In addition to the phyllo, what's not to like about lots of fresh spinach, feta, and eggs? The middle layers of phyllo melt into the spinach layers, while the top and bottom are crisp and flaky. The original recipe came to me years ago from a Greek friend. It's delicious, but an added bonus is that it's also surprisingly quick to put together. We ate this with a big salad of mixed greens, pears, walnuts, goat cheese, sliced grapes, and dried cranberries.


Hot out of the oven. I probably should have brushed the butter on, instead of leaving it in little dots, which then turned brown, but it didn't hurt the flavor one bit.

Lots of spinach ...

Spanikopita
(with thanks to Mrs. A.)

olive oil
1 package phyllo dough
1/2 lb fresh baby spinach, medium chopped
1/4 c parsley
3/4 - 1 lb feta, crumbled
5 eggs
1 small sweet onion, chopped fine
salt and pepper (not too much salt, as the feta has plenty)
nutmeg
1 Tbs butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix the spinach, parsley, feta, eggs, onion, salt, pepper, and nutmeg til combined.

3. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with the olive oil. Then take three sheets of phyllo, each folded in half and lay them in the bottom of the pan (on top of each other, not side by side.) Each sheet of phyllo should be able to be folded in half and fit perfectly in the bottom of the pan.

4. Take about 1/4 of the spinach mixture and drop it by the spoonful on top of the phyllo. Don't worry about covering everything, as it will spread out as it bakes. On top of the spinach, place another sheet of phyllo folded in half.

5. Repeat with the remaining spinach, each layer separated with a folded sheet of phyllo, and then top with two folded sheets of phyllo.

6. Brush the top with the melted butter, and place the pan into the oven.

7. Bake for 45 min-1 hour, or until the top is golden brown.

Stirring once, stirring twice ... Avgolemono

Tonight I made avgolemono, a Greek soup flavored with lemons and rice. It's deceptively simple and so good on a cold, blustery night. For quick reference I based my recipe on the one from the Silver Palate, but I made a few changes, adding chicken and baby spinach for a little more balance. I cooked bone-in chicken in the broth to give it a bit more flavor, then shredded them, and added the meat back to the pot. I served this with toasted French bread lightly spread with feta. Here's my version:

Avgolemono

8 c chicken broth
4-5 bone-in chicken thighs (leftover chicken would work too)
1/2 c uncooked long-grain rice (could use a bit more)
4 egg yolks
1/3-1/2 c lemon juice
1 c raw baby spinach, approx.

parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste (may not need/want any)

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the chicken thighs, turn the heat down to a simmer, and then let cook til done. Then take the chicken out of the broth, let cool slightly so it can be shredded, and set aside the shredded meat. Add the rice to the broth and let cook for about 25 min. In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks and the lemon juice in a bowl. When the rice is cooked, add two ladlesful of broth to the egg/lemon mixture and whisk it in quickly. Then add all of it to the pot and stir it in completely. Add the chicken and spinach to the pot and let heat through. Adjust with salt and pepper, if desired, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.

Mediterranean madness

It's March. It snowed yesterday, and the hot, sticky summer (thankfully) seems so far away. But inside we had a taste of Greece, which helped to warm things up a bit. We had baked chicken with oregano, spanakorizo with fresh feta, and roasted artichoke hearts with lemon and garlic.