Let's Go Greek!

[nurdlinger]

trek to the Detroit Auto Show and always stop in Greektown

When I was a pre-school child in the early 50s my dad worked delivering meat for a business on Monroe St. (what everyone calls Greektown) I would go with him once in a while and spend the day. This place had enormous walk-in refrigerators to contain the meat, and a windowed store front on Monroe. If you remember the scene from Godfather II where the landlord comes to talk to Vito after discovering who Vito was, it looked just like that except there was sawdust all over the floor. I'd ride around in the meat truck with my dad, or stay in the store. The guys who owned the shop were related to my mom, so they doted on me as well. I inherited the Polish skin coloration instead of the Greek, and I was a chubby kid, so I didn't look like everyone else, and I was always remembered. I knew all the storekeepers up and down the street, Athens Grocery, Stemma Confectionary, Laikon Restaurant, etc. I watched them making phyllo dough one day in Stemma, without knowing what they were doing. To my kid's eyes, it looked like they were piling up bedsheets on a table. Athens market had a glass-front counter with meat and cheese I guess, and in front of it on the floor small casks filled with salted fish and other stuff. Really gross looking and smelly. I will never forget the aroma there. They always gave me a handful of pistachio nuts, back in the days when the shells were dyed red. This is one of my favorite childhood memories.

 

[johnny]

oooo

Frigilux..
I think that your making beter pastitsio that me!!!
I put the spagetti mixed in the plate

If you want any information about Greek food and greek recipes just mail me

 

[mattl]

skordalia

When I was Googleing to find the spelling I came across a couple of recipes that look quite a bit like the style we like. Looks to be very simple to make, lots of garlic, potatoes and vinegar and oil. We are all garlic lovers so I may try and make some for the next get together.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Why are you walking funny?

Let's go Greek tonight!

YUMMY!

There is actually a pasta shape made for pastitsio. Makes the noodles easier to lay out.

Ever make TARAMOSALATA. (Caviar dip)?

Amazon.com

 

[toggleswitch2]

Caviar dip recipe

Taramosalata Recipe

Taramosalata

recipes.epicurean.com

 

[toggleswitch2]

I was just telling the Gadget that I am in the mood to do a Spanakopita fresh with homemade dough and fresh spinach......

I'ts a specialty of the north where my grandmother is from.

Split the dough in half.

With one half make two balls. Flatten. roll out and put together with butter in between. There you have a bottom.

With the other half make six to eight balls, flatten, buttter put together and continue to roll out until thin. There you have a top. The layers will separate and falke opne when cooked.

And with a good top and a good bottom you can make memories.

 

[toggleswitch2]

1 tablespoon = 15ml. / 1 cup = 230ml.

ORZO
(rice-shaped pasta)

Saute an onion in a 1/4 cup (or less) of olive oil
Add two tablespoons of tomato paste.
Add one or two bouillion cubes.
Saute a minute or so.
Add two cups of orzo.
stir.
add FIVE cups water.
(OPTIONAL) Add some cinnamon, for authenticity
Simmer gently over LOW heat until pasta is done (10 to 12+/- minutes).

It will continue to thicken /drink the water as it cools. NO NEED TO STRAIN. YOU MUST STIR THE DISH AND SCRAPE THE BOTTOM WITH A WOODEN SPOON OR IT WILL BURN!

For true decadence add a tablespoon of butter in the first step.

As a leftover main-course dish add diced roasted meats, serve with grated cheese.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Eugene:

For the pastitsio my white sauce is a traditional BECHAMEL sause.

It has 1 stick butter (8 Tablesppons), 8 Tablespoons of flour and a quart (4 cups)of milk. Use whole milk for best results.

I heat the milk in a separate sauce pan. Meanwhile. I melt the butter and add the flour slowly. Once that is done and cooked through, I add the milk. heating while stirring until it thickens. Add the four beaten cold eggs after the mixture cools.

To top the patitsio, I add grated cheese over breadcrumbs. It avoids look of "browned custard" on top

I have also learned that adding about a third of the white sauce to the noodles (before spreading/allocating them) helps bind them in the dish so that the pastitsio maintains its integrity on the plate.

KALI OREKSI - buon apetito!

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for the tips, Togs! I was hoping you'd meander over to this thread. You (and Johnny from Greece) are certainly AW's maven for all things Greek.

Have you ever seen Pastitsio topped with a bunch of sheets of phyllo? I used to eat at several Greek restaurants in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and one of them served pastitsio with phyllo on over the sauce. I've made it that way a number of times, but didn't have enough phyllo to do that this time.

One of the other aforementioned restaurants used the same type of noodles I do for their pastitsio, and I thought it looked cool, so I started buying them. What is the shape of the noodles you use?

What type of dough are you referencing for spanokopita? I've only seen it with phyllo, but I'd like to try it your way.

Here's the Greek cookbook I get my recipes from. I suppose I should trawl the internet for more recipes. I've had this cookbook for close to 20 years.

 

[toggleswitch2]

I have the same cookbook.

Your nooldes look like my noodles. I usually go for the ziti or the mezzani or any tubular hollow pasta. From the pic I mistakely assumed that was regular, but thick spaghetti. OOPSIE!

Eugene, I see instruction #7 talks aobut scoring the pita.
My understanding is that the pita should be scored into pieces/portions, before cooking. (Larger as a main course, smaller as an appetizer). Then poke a hole with a knife in the middle of each piece and in the crust. This allows the steam to escape.

Again forgive me if I am stating the obvious:
One of the main tricks to working with phyllo (literally: leaf or sheet-- referring to "thinness") is to have on-hand a clean damp kitchen towel [WRING it out WELL!!!] Tradition keeps it as white (free of dye)as possible. It is to be rested on the (as yet unused) pile of phyllo as one works with the pita. Aalos important is to thoroughly butter any phyllo that is to be folded over to make the crust. If not it will dry-out, crust and flake and be impossible to fold.

I have never seen garlic or mushrooms in the the filling of a pita. I have seen leeks and/or scallions in there, however.

The beauty of the pita is that it can be filled with so many thigs. (in place of the spinach and feta chese filling)

LAXANO-PITA (lahano-pita; cabbage pie). Use bagged sauerkraut. Rinse off salt. Combine with 3? to 4? eggs. I believe me aunt cooks this stove-top first. Stuff between the phyllo.

KREATO-PITA Meat pie.
Throw a meaty bolognese sauce in there.

HAM AND CHEESE pita.

Chicken pita. Make a "Chicken-salad" but use a bechamel sauce instead of mayonnaise. Throw between the phylllo.

PRASSO-PITA
Mostly leeks and maybe some scallions with some onions.

BE CREATIVE!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Home made phyllo dough.

Vinegar and lemon juice?
If they say so...........
Why, are we d**ching and bleacing our hair?

I seem to remember my yiayia (granny) using [only]two handfulls of flour. Must ask my mother. measure? HA HA HA HA!

BTW if you want your spanakopita to be less flakey, add a small amount of olive oil to the butter.

Skip the Frozen Phyllo and Make This Ultra Flaky Dough at Home

Yes, phyllo dough CAN be made at home! The difference in taste when using it to make sweet and savory pies makes it worth learning how.

greekfood.about.com

 

[toggleswitch2]

My grandmother made her spanakopita from scratch, without any mechanical assistance/servants and used a simple aluminum cookie sheet.

For me I find a stainless-steel jelly-roll pan (shallow/low sides) perfect!

If you want to impress a Greek,the plural of pita is not pitas, it's pites. ("PETE S." without pause).

F. HARRY STOWE (Thank you!)

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for your input, Togs. I'm not sure of the origin of the spanokopita recipe. It didn't come from my Greek cookbook. I mince the mushrooms, so they don't really stand out as chunks in the filling.

I think it's a fitting 'senior moment' that I somehow missed the the instructions about scoring/cutting the spanokopita before baking it. I let it cool for awhile before cutting it, so the phyllo didn't disintegrate into tiny shards, but I'm sure it would have been cleaner had I followed the instructions in my own damn recipe, LOL.

Both dishes were very tasty, I'll say that much for them!

 

[appnut]

Eugene, howw did that 3 hour & 16 minute dish load come out?

 

[frigilux]

I forgot to update on that. To my great surprise, the load was done in 2-1/2 hours! And everything was spotlessly cleaned except the Pyrex measuring cup in the bottom rack, which had two little spots of meat sauce clinging to it. But as you can see, it is loaded almost horizontally, so I'm not surprised.