National Escargot Day 5 24 2012 Escargot are good anytime!!

What are escargot?  Snails.  I remember the first time I ate them with their traditional butter garlic parsley  sauce and the tongs to fetch them out of the snails.  I had just moved to Germany with husband who was stationed in Germany with the Army.  I had never had any snails or escargot before but I always was adventurous and tried them!! I liked them!! 

    

We even bought the boxed kit with the tongs and the snail or escargot shells to prepare our own at home!!  You bought the snails in a can, drained them, put one in each shell with the butter garlic parsley sauce in the oven to warm them up. 

Recipe links below:

Escargot Bourguignon (traditional)

Video Link from  Be the Cook recipe 

Several recipes from Cooks.com

Cooks com escargot recipes

Check out this menu from New Orleans with a different twist on escargot preparation.

Dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com

Check out this column by Peter Hertzmann in 2004 about escargot!! It's definitely worth a read!!

http://www.hertzmann.com/articles/2004/snails/

Want to know more about snails from the Wise Geek?

See this link:  Wisegeek.com on escargot

  

Greek Festival Food Continued 4

Tiropites or Tiropeta or Tyropeta  (Tissue thin layers of pastry dough filled with a mixture of Greek feta cheese

 and baked to a golden brown)

     

Yields - 24 pieces

1     lb. feta cheese, crumbled coarsely (can buy this way)

1/2 lb small curd cottage cheese (I use low fat)

1/2 lb. cream cheese (I use low fat)

1 cup Parmesan cheese

6 large eggs (can use those egg substitutes in dairy section)

dash white pepper

1 lb Filo dough** (see below)

1  lb butter, melted

In a lrg. mixing bowl, beat eggs till blended. Add cheeses & white pepper & mix until blended well.

Using melted butter, brush bottom of 17-1/2" x 11" pan.  Lay out one sheet of Filo at a time, brushing each sheet with butter.  Continue until 1/2 lb. (or 1/2 of sheets) is used.

Spread egg & cheese filling evenly over entire pan.  Then continue using one sheet of Filo at a time, brushing each sheet with butter until entire supply is used. 

Before baking score top layers with sharp knife into square pieces, the size of your choice.  

(usually 3" x 3")

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve hot.

Note:  May be frozen before baking.  Be certain to cover airtight. 

See wine pairings below

**How to use filo dough

Because filo dough dries very quickly, it must be covered during use.  The following procedure may be used each time a recipe calls for Filo (phyllo) dough ... .

Unroll dough and place between two swheets of wax paper - layer as in diagram below ....

- - - - - - - - - - - - - dampened paper towel

_________________ sheet of waxed paper

//////////////////////////////////////////////    filo dough

_________________ sheet of waxed paper 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - dampened paper towel

Wine pairings

Some suggest a fruity Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand or the Loire (French) 

OR

Vermentino wines (see link about vermentino below)

Vermentino Research

Muscat or Muscato

From Wiki - more than you will ever want to know about muscat

While meandering about wine pairings for this dish I ran across 

a general food pairing chart for the novice.  HERE IS THE LINK: 

http://www.grosvenormarket.com/assets/Food-and-Wine-pairing-chart/WineFoodPairings.pdf

   

 

Ευτυχής διατροφικές

Greek Festival Food continued 3

Souzoukakia   (Meatballs)

  

(Serves 6)
1 & 1/2 lb. ground meat
4 slices white bread, trimmed of crusts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 cup red wine
1 tsp. onion powder (not salt)
1 egg
Oil for frying
2 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 cup water
Dash salt
Dash pepper

Have the meat ground twice, if possible. Soak the bread in cold water and squeeze out the excess well.  In a large bowl, mix the meat, bread, garlic, cumin, onion, powder wine and egg together by hand.  Shape into long meatballs, about 3 inches in length (or round if you like better).

In deep pot, heat tomato sauce, water, salt, pepper.

Heat oil in heavy fry an.  Fry meatballs until brown on all sides. Remove them from fry pan with slotted spoon and place in pot of tomato mixture.  (My note:  if you want less fat in the sauce, drain the meatballs on a plate covered with paper towels.)  Simmer until sauce looks thickened, about 20 minutes.

Ευτυχής διατροφικές

National Quiche Lorraine Day 5 20 2012 part 1

Where did Quiche Lorraine come from?  The Lorraine province of France, of course.  

From wiki:

Today, quiche is considered as typically French. However, savoury custards in pastry were known in English cuisine at least as early as the fourteenth century. Recipes for custards baked in pastry containing meat, fish and fruit are referred to Crustardes of flessh and Crustade in the fourteenth-centuryThe Forme of Cury^[3] and in fifteenth-century cookbooks as well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiche

      

Recipes tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

National Devil's Food Cake Day 5 19 2012

  

Recipes from foodnetwork.com

From Alton Brown Recipe and Video

From Debra at allrecipes.com 

Serve with port or coffee.  Photo below. 

From Diana at southernfood.about.com

Recipe and photo from Martha Stewart

Greek Festival in Winston-Salem Part 2

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

2 lb. fresh spinach or 2 pkg frozen cut spinach, thawed and well drained (squeeze water out in a towel)
1 small bunch green scallions, finely chopped
1 lb. butter, melted
7 eggs, beaten
1 lb. crumbled Greek feta cheese
Salt
White pepper
1/2 lb. filo dough
Video on how to use phyllo or filo dough (commercial on first)

Rinse and drain fresh spinach, removing coarse stems, and chop or cut by hand into small pieces (about 3 in. in length).

When using frozen spinach squeeze out all the water.

In a medium skillet over medium heat melt 1 tbsn. butter, add scallions and cook stirring continually for about 5 min. Remove from heat and add spinach, beaten eggs and cheese. Mix well & season with salt & white pepper.

Butter a 9" x 13" pan.  Line with 1/4 lb. filo dough, brushing each sheet with the melted butter.

Spread the spinach mixture over the filo evenly.  Continue to to top with the remaining filo dough, making sure to brush each sheet with melted butter.  Brush the top sheet. Score into square serving size pieces with a sharp knife.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.  If top becomes too brown, cover with sheet of aluminum foil and continue cooking.

May be frozen BEFORE baking.

Wine pairings with spanakopita.

Suggestions:  Colombard, Sangiovese, Pinot blanc, chianti, white bordeaus, pinot gris or pinot grigio, malbec, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir. 

Greek Festival in Winston-Salem 5 18 - 5 20 2012

How exciting!!  To learn more and see the menu and activities click on the link below:

Winston Salem Greek Festival 2012

Unfortunately, I don't have their recipes but I do have some great original recipes from a Greek Food Festival I attended in Pittsburgh, Pa.  There are currently 16 restaurants in Pittsburgh that serve Greek food. There are 3 in Winston and 6 in Greensboro. 

******************************

One of my favorites is Pastitsio

(Makes 12-16 servings)

MEAT SAUCE

1 lrg. onions, finely chopped

3 tbsp. butter

2 lb. lean ground meat (beef, chuck, round)

16 oz. tomato sauce

1 tsp salt

1 stick cinnamon

1/2 cup wine (it doesn't specify red or white; I would use red)

Using a large fry pan, saute onions in butter until carmelized or light brown. Add meat, stirring and crumbling with fork. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and remove cinnamon stick.

MACARONI

1 lb #6 macaroni              1-1/2 cups milk

1/4 lb. melted butter          4 eggs (beat well)

Cook macaroni in boiling sale water until just tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  Place in a bowl or cooing pot and add 1/4 lb (1 stick) melted butter, 1-1/2 cup milk and 4 eggs.  Gently toss to coat macaroni.

BECHAMEL SAUCE

1/4/ cup butter          1/2 tsp. sale

1/4 cup flour            1/8 tsp. pepper

              3 cups milk               6 eggs. beaten until light

In medium size pan over medium heat melt butter and blend in flour, breaking any lumps that appear.  Gradually add milk, stirring continually until sauce is thickened.  Lower heat to low or medium-low, if necessary.  Add salt and pepper. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, beat 6 eggs.  Slowly add hot sauce and stir thoroughly.

ASSEMBLY       

1/2 lb. grated Romano (I am adventurous; I would probably use combo of Asiago and Romano)

In a buttered 9" x 13" baking  pan, spread half of the macaroni mixture and excess milk and egg mixture.  Cover evenly with meat sauce. Spring with 1/3 of cheese.  Cover it with the remaining macaroni, spreading it evenly over entire pan.  Sprinkle with 1/3 cheese. Pour Bechamel Sauce evenly over entire mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until sauce looks set.

Cool slightly before cutting into squares.  Freezes well. 

Suggested lower fat version - my adaptation

Substitutions:  

low fat margarine like Land of Lakes

• For the butter use low fat margarine like Land of Lakes
• For whole mile use o fat half & half milk diluted by 50%
• For real eggs use what I call fake eggs in cartons near cheese in store
• I don't use low-fat cheese because it has too many additives which can be worse for cholesterol