Sunday Dish

Spanikopita

Ah, Spanikopita.  There are no words to describe how much I love this dish.  It's sister recipe, Tyropita, (or just plain "pita" as we call it in my family) is definitely our holiday indulgence.  It's basically nothing but butter and cheese wrapped up in phyllo dough and baked to a delicious goodness. Ain't nothin' wrong with that people, ain't nothin' wrong with that!

We often get together, sometime in early November, and form a big assembly line.  Grandmas, moms, cousins and nieces, all lined up folding lovely little triangles of cheesy goodness.  I promise you, I'll share that recipe with you sometime near the holidays.

In the meantime, Spanikopita, is the healthier version of the two.  Whip of a batch, serve it with a salad and you will feel like you had a decadent dish without all the guilt.  Don't get me wrong, it's got cheese and butter in it too!   But it's also got lots of spinach, so c'mon, it's good for you!   Right? Say it with me now...riiiggghhht! 

There are as many versions of Spanikopita recipes on the web as there are Greek cooks.  This recipe was given to me by my Nana (through my Mom and Grandma) and I have tweaked it a bit.  But I promise you, although it has a few more ingredients then some of the recipes you may have seen, it is worth it.   I hope you like it.  I know I did and Little Chef  (my daughter) did too.

Ingredients:

2 - 16 oz. bags of chopped spinach.  Put the spinach in a colander and let it thaw completely, allow at least 2 hours for this.

1 large brown onion - diced

2 cloves of garlic - minced

1/3 cup fresh mint -  chopped

1/3 cup fresh dill - chopped

 
16 oz. feta cheese.  Please don't buy the pre-crumbled kind, it's too dried out. Buy the kind that comes packaged in brine so it's  nice and creamy.

2 eggs

1 teaspoon each of allspice and nutmeg

salt and pepper

1 package of phyllo dough.  Let it thaw out in the refrigerator overnight.    Trust me, it's super delicate and if you just leave it out on the counter to thaw, it's going to make you pull your hair out later.

1 stick of butter - melted
___________________________________________________________________________

1.  After your spinach is thawed, squeeze as much excess water out of it as you can.   I have found the easiest way to do this is to get a bunch of paper towels, scoop up the spinach and squeeze it out over the sink.  It's a bit gross, but it works.  Don't over think it, just get as much moisture out as you can.  Then set the spinach in a large mixing bowl.

2.  Saute your onions and garlic until they are soft, about 7 minutes.  Once they have cooled add them to the spinach mixture along with the mint and the dill.


3.  In a separate bowl, combine the feta, egg and seasonings.   Mix well.

4. Then add the feta mixture to the spinach mixture and fold together.   Set aside.

5.  Prepare your phyllo dough.  Begin by taking 4 paper towels, wetting them, and then squeezing as much water out of them as possible.  You want them to be moist, but not dripping.  Lay your phyllo dough,  in the large stack, onto a cutting board and cover it gently with the damp paper towels. 

6.  Carefully take one sheet of phyllo and lay it on a separate cutting board.  Brush the surface lightly (don't saturate the dough) with butter.  Lay another sheet of phyllo on top of the first and brush that one with butter as well.

7.  Cut the dough - width wise - into 6 strips.  Then place a spoonful of the spinach mixture onto the bottom of each one.  Roll the strips into triangles.

8.  compete this process until you have used all the dough and all the spinach mixture.

Note:  This gets easier with each roll.  Little Chef and I had some really bad ones - here's an example of good and not so good: 


If you want to cook the triangles immediately, heat the oven to 350, place them on a foil lined baking sheet, and bake until golden brown - 20 - 25 minutes.  Otherwise, place the triangles in a single layers, divided by wax paper, into a container. You can freeze them for months.  When you are ready to use them, simply take the desired amount out, and cook them the same as the others.

Tzadziki

Tzadziki, yum, I love it!  It's a Greek appetizer/dip/salad/meze.  Whatever you want to call it, it's delish!

There are many different variations of the recipe but all include plain yogurt and cucumbers.

This is one of the easiest appetizers you can make,  and not only is it yummy, it's  fairly low in calorie as well, bonus!

The only part that's a little time consuming is peeling, seeding and dicing the cucumbers.  Once you get that of the way it's smooth sailing.

Serve it with some pita bread, a little feta and some Kalamata olives and it's the perfect summer nosh.

Ingredients:

2-3 large cucumbers:  peeled, seeded and diced.  (Some recipes call for you to salt the cuc's and let them sit to draw out the moisture, but I find this too time consuming.  In my experience, as long as  you take the seeds out, you're good to go.)

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt.  If you can find the Greek kind, great.  If not, any plain yogurt will do.

1/4 cup sour cream

1 clove of garlic - minced

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves - finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh dill - finely chopped (make sure there are no stems!)

salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all the ingredient together in a non reactive bowl.  Check your seasonings and add more of what you like. 
I suggest covering the dip and letting it sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving, this way the flavors will blend together better.

 

Sunday's Dish - Avgolemeno

Greek soup using avgo - eggs & lemeno - lemons.

The traditional version incorporates all the bits and parts of the lamb, this version is a bit more approachable - using chicken.   My mama taught me how to make it when I was about 10.  I was the official "egg beater"  a very important job as you will see.

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken stock

3 large chicken breasts - bone in, skin removed

3 stalks celery - finely diced

2 carrots - finely diced

1 large onion - finely diced

Juice of 4-5 lemons depending on how juicy they are

1/2 Cup Orzo

3 - 4 eggs depending on what size eggs you are using.

Pour chicken broth into a large stock pot and bring it to a boil.

Reduce the heat until the broth is simmering, add your diced veggies and your chicken breasts.  Allow to simmer until the veggies are soft and the chicken breasts are cooked through - about 20-30 minutes depending on how large the breast are.

While the chicken and veggies cook juice your lemons and set the juice aside. 

Then beat your eggs until frothy in a large bowl or over-sized measuring cup, set that aside as well.

Once the chicken is done remove it from the broth and transfer to a cutting board to cool.

Add the orzo to the pot and let the broth simmer until the orzo is cooked through, about 5-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove chicken meat from the bone and shred or dice into bite size pieces.

Next, very slowly add your lemon juice to your eggs, beating the eggs the entire time.

Once the eggs and lemons are blended you will temper the mixture by slowly adding hot broth to the mixture one ladle full at a time.  Again, you'll need to beat the egg/lemon mixture the entire time you are adding the hot broth.  Once the egg/lemon mixture is close to the same temperature as your broth, remove the broth from the heat and pour in your tempered egg/lemon mixture into the pot.

Put the cut up chicken into the pot, cover it and let it sit for 10 -15 minutes.

Serve with a white wine of your choice and an abundance of crunchy French or sourdough bread with lots of butter.

Enjoy!

Greek soup using avgo - eggs & lemeno - lemons.

The traditional version incorporates all the bits and parts of the lamb, this version is a bit more approachable - using chicken.   My mama taught me how to make it when I was about 10.  I was the official "egg beater"  a very important job as you will see.

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken stock

3 large chicken breasts - bone in, skin removed

3 stalks celery - finely diced

2 carrots - finely diced

1 large onion - finely diced

Juice of 4-5 lemons depending on how juicy they are

1/2 Cup Orzo

3 - 4 eggs depending on what size eggs you are using.

Pour chicken broth into a large stock pot and bring it to a boil.

Reduce the heat until the broth is simmering, add your diced veggies and your chicken breasts.  Allow to simmer until the veggies are soft and the chicken breasts are cooked through - about 20-30 minutes depending on how large the breast are.

While the chicken and veggies cook juice your lemons and set the juice aside. 

Then beat your eggs until frothy in a large bowl or over-sized measuring cup, set that aside as well.

Once the chicken is done remove it from the broth and transfer to a cutting board to cool.

Add the orzo to the pot and let the broth simmer until the orzo is cooked through, about 5-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove chicken meat from the bone and shred or dice into bite size pieces.

Next, very slowly add your lemon juice to your eggs, beating the eggs the entire time.

Once the eggs and lemons are blended you will temper the mixture by slowly adding hot broth to the mixture one ladle full at a time.  Again, you'll need to beat the egg/lemon mixture the entire time you are adding the hot broth.  Once the egg/lemon mixture is close to the same temperature as your broth, remove the broth from the heat and pour in your tempered egg/lemon mixture into the pot.

Put the cut up chicken into the pot, cover it and let it sit for 10 -15 minutes.

Serve with a white wine of your choice and an abundance of crunchy French or sourdough bread with lots of butter.

Enjoy!

Classic Greek Chicken

Learning to make Greek Chicken as I was growing up was kind of like a rite of passage.  There was a friendly competition between all the women in my family as to who could make the best batch...to see who's version could cause the eater to take that first bite and then close their eyes blissfully.  Even though we all used the same ingredients there is something intangible about what each cook does to this recipe that can make it transcend ordinary baked chicken.   

What truly makes me happy is that this recipe has been passed on beyond the familial boundaries and I now have friends who will call up to tell me they made this dish for their family and how well it turned out.  Nothing could make me prouder!

I haven't put exact measurements for some of the ingredients you'll have to trust your palate and use your best judgment with that.  Let me know how it turns out...

Ingredients:

1 whole cut up chicken - discard the innards.  You can also use your favorite chicken pieces, but if you do be sure to use bone in chicken with the skin on.  Even if you remove the skin later, trust me, it will be much better if you cook with the skin on.

1-2 lbs. red potates

Juice of 6 lemons

1 cup white wine

1 can chicken broth

8 garlic cloves  - thinly sliced

olive oil

salt and pepper

Dried Oregano

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Rinse your chicken and pat it dry

Clean potatoes and depending on the side either cut them in half or quarter them.

Place the chicken in a large roasting pan and scatter the cut up potatoes amongst the chicken pieces.

Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and potatoes - you want to lightly coat each piece - then rub the oil in with your hands.

Pour the lemon juice, half the white wine and half of the can of broth over the chicken & potatoes.

Scatter the garlic slices around the pan.

Season all the chicken generously with salt, pepper and oregano.  Don't be shy - you don't want wimpy flavors - think Greek!

Place the pan in the oven and let it bake for 20-30 minutes until the skin starts to brown.  Baste the chicken, then lower the heat to 375 degrees.  Bake for another 40-60 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, basting at least every 20 minutes - you can do it more if you like. 

Note:  If the sauce in the bottom of your pan begins to dry out, add the remaining wine and chicken broth.  If not,  drink the wine and keep the chicken broth for another day.

Once the chicken is done,  remove it from the oven, cover  the pan with foil and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with Peasant Salad or Corn Salad along with a nice white wine and a toasted baguette to sop up all that fabulous lemony sauce!

Opa!!