IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME...

Good Evening Chefs....

I've been so busy lately and I cannot believe I haven't posted in six days.  Shame on me!  Hope you are all doing well, eating well and just overall feeling great!

I don't know what it is about Barbecue Ribs, but that has been my most popular post and thanks to all of you that have commented and left me messages.  Since I don't write your usual "cooking/recipe" blog, although so many I have come across are absolutely delightful, I don't have that kind of structured style.  I do plan however, to fill my recipe vault with some of my original recipes and they will come as we go, but in all honesty, a good cook, is just that; And although we do experiment with flavors, our creations turn out quite similar in many instances, mainly because we belong to a peer group that are trained to think within the creative cooking realm.  So before I go and bore you with recipe after recipe, the writer in me had to step in and captivate you through stories, tricks and tidbits of useful information, that ultimately makes cooking enjoyable.  So, with that said,.....

Today I decided to tackle an obstacle of mine in cooking that has been my achilles heel since I first tried to duplicate the amazing flavors and textures of Greek cuisine.

There's this little Greek diner near my home and I really don't get to frequent it that often.  When I lived in New York, Greek restaurants were everywhere and where I would succumb to my favorite dish Spinach and Feta Pie, a.k.a. Spanakopita. (Sorry, I don't have one of those little dingies for over my "o"...)

Now being familiar with Mediterranean cuisine I was sure of one thing.  The Greeks would travel and some would settle on the shores of the Mediterranean.  By the use of cargo ships and by being a seafaring nation, they would have access to foods from foreign parts, that were not native to Greece.  Pasta, lemons and oranges, spinach from Persia, tomatoes, almonds, etc.  Greece being particularly noted for their amazing produce, their olives and figs in abundance and grapes, that were not so much eaten as a fruit, but dried to produce wine are just a few of what Greece has to offer.

Given that the Greeks had access to so much variety, it gives us a better understanding, why their food, as unique and tasty, incorporates a multiude of ingredients from other countries, with a distinct influence in Italian cooking, thanks to the Romans for employing Greeks in their households.

My weakness for Greek food was their use of a flaky pastry called Phyllo.  Phyllo, a paper thin pastry, buttered and layered in Greek dishes, creates texture and flavor that is amazingly light, yet so substantial.  And when you incorporate spinach and warm feta cheese, this explosion of flavor occurs on your palate and you're really hooked from that moment on.

I have never been able to quite master the handling of phyllo, adding to my ongoing frustration to produce a dish that is relatively quite simple, but for me, personally, I cringe at a recipe calling for it.  My heavy-handedness, is truly my demise, as I rip and tear this delicate dough, trying so hard to keep it in one piece.

I battle with the experimentation of the dough's temperature to get it just right...Chefs, I need help here.  What is it about this delicate pastry that befuddles my ongoing attempts at success....Please if you would be so kind?....... Visit the RECIPEVAULT for my take on this mouthwatering goodness....

Until next time...OPA!

DIVA DISASTER - YOU CALL THAT A MEATBALL?

Good Morning Chefs...

Let's recap...As you probably already know, Friday's posts are dedicated to a series, known as D.I.V.A Disasters.  They are short stories that talk about things that have gone wrong in my kitchen, whether it pertains to a specific dish or an food incident that occurred after the fact.

What is it with people?  I've eaten over friends' houses countless times; same goes for family, extended family and so forth...Never once did I ever, no matter what was served, criticize or judge the food.  I have to admit, there were a few times when I may have been a bit hesitant to dive right in, but regardless, I ate, with a very open mind.  I guess I am one of those people who take into consideration the time and effort that goes into making a home cooked meal. The person who cooked it, was proud enough to serve it and if not for anything else, out of respect, I will eat it. 

I wish I could say the same for many I know.  I invited a couple who I was friends with and her parents over for dinner one night.  Now, this is nothing new for me.  I love to entertain, I usually go all out, but this time was a little different since I was forewarned that her parents had simple taste (when it came to food).  I had asked what their favorite dish was and she said meatballs, with pasta or rice, whatever.  Okay so simple enough, this was a no-brainer. 

I spent the day making a home-made pasta sauce, beef based, using beef rib tips I had in the freezer.  I went light on the garlic, just in case.  I had 3 lbs of ground sirloin for my meatballs, made a huge salad and put out a tray of cheese and crackers, olives and the norm.  I went shopping that morning and purchased some fresh pasta from this little Italian grocery store, a loaf of artisan semolina bread and a small wrapped block of Pecorino Romano cheese.   Pecorino Romano cheese is my favorite.  It's firm, a little salty, is perfect for grating and it doesn't melt into a stringy mess.  It freezes nicely if cut up into smaller pieces...However, its pricey!

I spent the rest of the day preparing this meal, setting the table and seeing to every last detail.  Everything was ready and my company arrived.  All was going well, until I brought this beautiful platter to the table when the woman's mother blurted, "You call that a meatball?"...in an instant I could feel myself go pale. I didn't respond to her remark.  I acted as though I didn't hear it.

As if that weren't enough, she plopped down, nearly clearing the entire table, as the tablecloth caught hold of her chair, bringing the meatball platter almost directly to her.  Still mortified, though I remained without expression, I watched her take hold of the serving spoon, dig into my meatball platter, hold up a meatball and say to her husband, "look at this baseball!".  "I've never seen meatballs this big in my entire life!"  Ugh!  I very politely, moved the platter back into the center of the table and said, "the meatballs aren't over sized, perhaps you're used to the frozen kind that come in a bag."  She just looked at me and proceeded in conversation with the others.

My other guests couldn't stop raving, including her husband, who was "subtly" getting nudged by his wife, each time he complimented the food.  She allowed herself the freedom to throw out little digs here and there, mostly directed at the others' enjoyment.  Needless to say, she was never invited back.

Love and meatballs to you all.....

Visit the RecipeVault to view the Meatball and Spaghetti Recipe.