Greek food is the best!

I love Greek food. It has got to be one of the best cuisines in the world in my books. So, for my husband's work BBQ last weekend, I made indvidual spanakopitas and Greek salad. It was a vegetarian theme, so I think this will fit the bill quite nicely. The only thing that will not be homemade is the phyllo. Too tedious for me on a hot day to spend in the kitchen making phyllo. Store bought will do me just fine. And of course I did not grow the spinach myself.

My mum gave me this recipe and I've used it for years. You will need two packages of chopped frozen spinach that is thawed and drained. Fresh spinach will not do in this recipe as there is too much water and the frozen spinach works quite nicely. You will need dried dill (about 2 tbsp. or to taste) and about a half pound of feta - depending on how much feta you like to put in. I like a lot! Makes it really tasty. You will also need one large onion chopped, and olive oil for the pan and extra for brushing the phyllo with. Sometimes I use butter for brushing the phyllo for extra flavour, but if you are watching calories, use the olive oil. And finallly two large eggs to bind it all together.

First, put your olive oil in the pan at heat it over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and saute until soft - about 6-8 minutes. Next, add your thawed and drained spinach and saute for another 6-8 mins until warmed through and mixed well with the onions. Remove from heat, add the dill, mix well and let cool for about 10-15 minutes. Once cooled, add the feta and two eggs and mix well.

During this whole time, make sure your phyllo is thawed and ready use. Lay the phyllo flat on a work surface (a cool surface works well like a marble slab) and take two to three sheets at a time and brush inbetween layers with olive oil or butter. Cut into 5-6 thick strips. Place about 1-2 tablespoons of mix onto phyllo strip and fold into a triangle. Fold either corner up to the opposite side and then again the other way and continue folding until the strip is used and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Continue until your mix is used up.

Once your baking sheet is full, brush tops of triangles with olive oil or butter and place in a preheated oven at 400F for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on edges and tops. Serve immediately with tzatziki. Pair with greek salad, grilled chicken breast and a Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc. Either will pair nicely.

Cheese and wine!

My BFF came over for a visit this last weekend and we had a fabulous time catching up. We decided to stay in and have some girl time and gossip over a delicious cheese plate and imbibe some great 2009 Shiraz from Jacob's Creek winery in Australia along with some water and butter crackers. Before we knew it, it was four hours later, the bottle was empty and the cheese was almost gone. The cracker plate had maybe half a dozen left on it. I did luckily take a picture of the plate before we descended upon it.

It contains a ripe Brie, a smoked Gouda and of course, garlic and herb Boursin - because no cheese plate is complete without this soft garlicy, herby goodness! So delicious paired with the fruit and wine.

My friend and I both come from backgrounds that conversation always centres around food and wine, and even though we had not seen each other for some time, it was like we saw each other only the day before. I so enjoyed my time and it made me realise I need to slow down and enjoy my time a little more. So that means! Da da da! More time in the kitchen! Because that is where I really enjoy being. In the mean time, enjoy the pic!

C is for Cookie

I love cookies and I love making them as much as I love eating them. Tonight I made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies and they are scrum-diddly-umptious! I mixed milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chocolate chips.

The recipe that I use came with my mixer and it only uses butter as the fat. I love it. It makes the most delicious cookies and they come out perfectly every time. I'm eating while I'm typing this and a cool glass of milk will wash them all down afterwards. Here are a few pics of them. Enjoy!

Fresh out of the oven and just perfect.

Mmmmm! These are so good!

Piling up to make room for the rest.

Lasagna - quintessential food any time of year

Tonight I'm making lasagna for dinner. I'm making the sauce from scratch so will be in the kitchen most of the afternoon. To get me through, I'll keep a picture in my head of a petite Italian woman with a flower print apron buzzing around her kitchen making her children's favourite dish and making everything from scratch. While I won't make everything from scratch, I will wear a similar apron and buzz around the kitchen filling the house will the smells of a saucy, cheesy lasagna and accompany it with garlic bread.

My mouth is watering as  I write this. Sauce is cooking away on the stove and I am ready to eat now. So much for my diet! I just should not try anymore....

I'll post pics later of my creation. For now, you'll have to content yourself with wanting to lick this picture of a saucy spoon. Enjoy!

UPDATE!

I've add these new photos of my lasagna and I've made a couple more since! It wa the best lasagna I've ever had. Seriously! If you have the time to make your own sauce, do. It is so worth it.

Gnocchi - not as hard to make as you think

I have been remiss! My apologies for not writing for almost two whole months! Yikes!

To make up for lost time, today I write about making potoato gnocchi. I made some this week and it turned out even better than I thought it would and it really was quite easy to do. I always thought that making gnocchi was hard and was an all day affair - not so!

It only took me a few hours and I made enough to freeze for a later dinner - BONUS! I didn't rush either which amazes me as I'm always in a rush - story of my life!! The recipe was not hard to follow since it only had four ingredients. Especially helpful when you've got a nice glass of sauvignon blanc close at hand and some old standards playing - you just never know what is going to happen!

Anyway! Here are a few pics of my bounty! Enjoy!

More cold nights, more soup

I love soup. Especially on cold nights in the winter time. My last post was about soup - specifically beef barley with mushrooms. It was delish! This last weekend I made chicken barley soup with carrots, celery and spinach. This soup was absolutely delicious! This recipe is very easy to make and does not take long at all. This time there's not roasting - you just pop everything in a pot. Serve this with a rustic, crusty bread and you've got a great meal on a cold night! Mmmm....

Onions, celery and carrots first with olive oil. Then add chicken.

Add fresh thyme, stock and barley after about cooking chicken for 2 minutes.

After barley cooks, add spinach.

Stir in spinach and then serve. Delicious!

Soup on cold nights

On those cold, cold nights in winter, nothing warms you like a hearty soup. One of my favourites is beef barley with mushrooms. What I like to do though, is roast the beef, mushrooms and onions. The best recipe I've found is this one on Martha Stewart. Roasting really brings out the flavours in the mushrooms and beef and makes one great tasting soup!

Lay the ingredients in a single layer on the sheet and toss in coarse salt, fresh cracked pepper and extra virgin olive oil. This is by far the best beef barley soup I've ever tasted. This particular recipe uses shallots and makes the flavours more intense which is what I love. Serve with some rustic bread and - badda bing! You've got a hearty, tasty, stick to your ribs meal. You'll stay warm all night!

Ready to roast.

Use cremini mushrooms for more flavour.

Love this shot! Had to share.

Cooking. Use pearl barley - it cooks quicker.

Soooo good!