Spanikorizo

I love Greek food, I really do. I've often said that my idea of a perfect vacation would be to eat my way through Greece!

Last Sunday, my church worshipped together with the local Greek Orthodox Church for the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which got me thinking this week about Greek food I have known and loved. The best - the most fun, with the best dancing and best food and best stuff to buy - Greek Festival I've ever attended was in San Francisco, CA, but my sentimental favorite, of course, is St. Nicholas in San Jose. Oooooh..... I'm salivating just thinking about it! And the Greek restaurants! Oh yeah....

Anyway, I was thinking about cooking something Greek this week, and I had some perfect, tender, organic spinach so it was a no-brainer to make spanikorizo, or Greek-style spinach rice. In many ways, Greek food is like Italian food - rather simple, depending on perfectly fresh, high quality ingredients. Here in America, we just don't understand the concept of fresh, high quality ingredients. But my spinach fit the bill. I had already eaten half of it as a salad and wanted to cook the rest.

This was absolutely delicious! When Lent is over, Iwould serve this garnished with a little bit of crumbled feta cheese, but its still delicious without it. To make this a one pot meal, add in some chickpeas or a large white bean such as canellini.

Spanikorizo
2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 3/4 C chicken or vegetable broth
1 heaping Tbs dried dill, or 1/4 minced fresh dill
1/2 C dry white wine
1 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes with their juice
1 scant tsp salt
a couple of pinches of cayenne (add less or more depending on your taste)
1 1/4 C long-grain white rice
1 or more lbs fresh baby spinach (you can use up a lot of spinach in this dish)
1/4 C pitted and sliced kalamata olives

In a large saute pan, heat the oil to medium high and saute the onions and garlic till translucent. Add the dill, rice, tomatoes with their juice,white wine, salt and pepper and spinach and stir till the spinach is wilted. Add the broth, stir well so that the rice is well distributed among the other ingredients, bring to a simmer, cover tightly and cook rice for the amount of time on the bag of rice - I cook my rice for 20 minutes and taste to see if it needs more time. When rice is cooked, stir in the olives and serve mounded on a plate. Sprinkle with some crumbled feta when its not Lent!

This recipe made three large main-dish servings, so it would probably feed 6 - 8 as a side dish.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1/4 large pot

Amount per Serving

Calories 180

Calories from Fat 46.5

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 5.17g 7%

Saturated Fat 0.64g 3%

Cholesterol 1.67mg %

Sodium 1908.49mg 79%

Total Carbohydrate 25.14g 78%

Dietary Fiber 3.63g 14%

Sugars 5.08g

Protein 4.87g 9%

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat 25%

Carbs 55%

Protein 10%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/spanikorizo/#ixzz1ASN8sTi3

Lightened Up Baked Pakistani Rice

Yesterday at my church's pot luck, there was the yummiest curried lentils over rice! It got me thinking about making something curried today. I had also read somewhere online about baking rice and I wanted to try it. That's how this dish was born.

The original recipe for Mattar Palao called for an entire pound of rice, which is a little too much for just the two of us, as well as half a pound of butter! Yikes! So, I lightened it up and tried to keep the same flavors.

It was very delicious, though I'm a little disappointed in the texture of the rice. It really wasn't light and fluffy. I think I'll need to experiment with baking rice some more and report back. Since I was going to have the oven on, I decided to roast eight large portobella mushroom caps, and serve the rice in those. With a nice salad, it was a quick, tasty and filling meal for two!

For the mushrooms:
Preheat oven to 375F.

Clean mushrooms, remove stems and place cap side up on a baking dish.

Give a quick spray of olive oil onto each mushroom, sprinkle with some seasoned salt (I used Soul Seasoning) and place, uncovered, in the bottom rack of the oven while it is preheating. Then start making the rice.

Pakistani Flavored Rice for 2:
1/2 diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin seed
pinch powdered cloves
1/8 tsp powdered cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder
dash of cayenne
1/2 tsp garam masala (hot or mild)
1 C white long grain rice (Basmati would be best)

2 C water
1 small tomato, seeded and diced
1 C frozen peas or lima beans
2 tsp veggie broth powder
salt and pepper to taste

Pumpkin seeds (pepitos)

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until translucent. Add the spices and saute, stirring all the time to prevent sticking, until very fragrant. Add in the rice and saute, stirring, until the rice is coated with all the spices and mixed well with the onions. Stir in the water, then add the tomato, peas and broth powder. Stir till well blended together. Bring to a boil on top of the stove. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust. Cover and bake in a 375F oven for 20 minutes. Fluff and serve mounded in the mushroom caps. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds for additional crunch, color and nutrition.

Although this was very delicious in flavor, I think that it could have cooked another five minutes or so. You should also probably let this sit for five minutes before fluffing. All in all, there is no time saving to baking rice, and after one experiment, I prefer the texture of rice steamed on top of the stove. I'll make this recipe again, and I will certainly try baking rice again!

Stuffed Grape Leaves (Warak Enab)

I've had a couple of jars of grape leaves sitting in my pantry for a while now, so I decided to roll them while The Ex is here. My thought was that we could teach our daughter how to roll them and have a feast all at the same time! With the three of us rolling, it took only around 40 minutes or so to roll 2 lbs, which is a record!

Rolling grape leaves is something that you truly need to be shown. You just can't learn to do it by following directions in a book - you need to be able to see what you're supposed to do. Its a delicate business because if you make them too thick, the center will still be crunchy while the outer edges will be soggy. If you roll them too tightly, they will burst once they start cooking. If you roll them too loosely, they won't remain rolled for long and you'll have grape leaf flavored rice and meat soup in the pan. If you pack them too tightly in the pan, they won't cook properly. If you pack them too loosely in the pan, they won't stay rolled and they won't stay submerged which means that they won't cook properly. Like I said, its a delicate business, but one that is very easily learned.

Many, many countries have their version of stuffed grape leaves, though here in America, I think that the Greek style ones are the most well known. Greek ones tend to be fat and squat, and they are usually served at room temperature dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, or dressed with avgolemono sauce. Arabic style grape leaves are always shaped more like your index finger, like a cigar. They are longer and slimmer. They are usually served hot or at room temperature, wrapped in a single thickness of pita and dunked in yogurt. Georgian grape leaves are usually served with sour cream mixed with garlic and salt, or sometimes with melted butter and garlic poured over them.

Personally, I have never met a rolled grape leaf that I didn't like, though I'm partial to the Lebanese style. When I eat traditional Lebanese food, it brings back pleasant memories of sitting around my mother-in-law's table on lazy Sunday afternoons, eating up a storm. My mother-in-law was the best cook in the family, and let me tell you, that is saying something! I loved trying all the exotic Lebanese food she served - at least it was exotic to this little Italo-Acadian girl!

Today is Christmas, and TE and I showed our daughter how to roll grape leaves. She had a taste of a traditional middle eastern meal, something as common as hamburgers are to Americans. Here is how it is done:






The grape leave should be carefully flattened out, with the flat side down. The veins should be on the surface facing you. If there is a small hole or tear, you can patch it with a piece of another grape leaf. Save the torn ones for this purpose.



Form the stuffing into a small log, about the size of your index finger. When you place it on the leaf, you can adjust the length to fit the leaf - a little longer or a little shorter. Make sure that there is enough empty grape leave all around that can be folded in.

If you have ever made a burrito or made a sushi roll, then you will instantly recognize the method of rolling grape leaves. Fold the bottom of the leaf up, fitting it smoothly around the log of stuffing. It can't be too tight or too loose. The one above is perfect.

Fold the sides in, and when you do, smooth the edges around the log of stuffing so that the roll will be neat and well-tucked. Remember to keep from pulling the grape leaf too tightly or the leaf will burst when it cooks.

Now all you have to do is to roll it up like a cigar. There are two tricks to making grape leaves that stay rolled. First, use your index finger to gently stroke the pointy end of the grape leave around the roll, sealing it with your finger. Second, once you are done, give the roll a slight squeeze. Be careful - if you squeeze too hard, you will split the leaf before it even gets cooked!

If there is any stuffing left, you can use it to fill other vegetables or other leaves, like chard or cabbage, but if there is just a little bit left, I usually just make a little ball and cook it with the stuffed leaves.

To pack the leaves into the pot, you should start with a layer of the torn and unrollable grape leaves on the bottom of the pot. I had a lemon that needed to be used, so first I sliced the lemon very, very thinly, laid that all over the bottom of the pot, and then I put a layer of unrolled grape leaves. After that, I began to layer the stuffed grape leaves, alternating the directions with each layer. You cannot pack them too closely together or they won't cook, but you need to allow them to gently touch each other so that they will stay wrapped and in place. Between each layer, sprinkle a little salt, a few cloves of garlic, and a little mint. You can also add some tomato slices between the layers, too.

One the pot is packed, you should place an upside-down plate over the grape leaves, and fill the pot with water and lemon juice until the weight of the water keeps the plate submerged. The plate, in turn, weights the grape leaf rolls down and keeps them submerged in the water.

Bring to a gentle simmer and simmer for about 40 minutes, until the leaves and the rice are both tender.

Sahtein!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Lebanese Cauliflower Rice (Yakhnit al-Qarnabit)

Years ago, back in San Jose, I was friends with a young Palestinian couple, Bill and Renda. I drove Renda home one night and was invited in. Arabic hospitality is legendary, and of course, Renda would not let me leave until I had eaten something. Since we had been talking about food, she gave me a taste of her dinner from the night before: cauliflower rice. Oh my.... I really loved it! Since it was Lent, it was vegan, but it often includes meat, and sometimes is made with wheat instead of rice.

On Sundays, I don't usually cook a large meal, but we pick at leftovers, or sometimes we go out to eat. I was watching figure skating yesterday afternoon, and DD was online chatting with her cousin, but The Ex was getting a little agitated. Turns out he was hungry! When I looked in the fridge, I saw a beautiful head of cauliflower and decided to make cauliflower rice. Here is what I did:

Lenten Cauliflower Rice

1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt or to taste (I used Adobo seasoning salt)
1/8 tsp red pepper
2 C long grain white rice
4 C water
1 15 oz can chickpeas
olive oil

In a 5 quart dutch oven, saute the cauliflower over high heat in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until it is golden. Add in the onion and garlic and saute until translucent. Add in the salt, pepper and rice and stir until all the grains of rice are coated with the oil. Continue sauteing the rice for 30 or 40 seconds. Stir in the water and chickpeas, bring to a full simmer, lower heat to just barely simmering, cover and let cook for 20 minutes.

Served with a salad and a piece of fruit, like we did, and you have a complete meal! I just love this rice - I haven't made it in a long, long time but I have a feeling I'll be making it often again! No photo for this one because we were too hungry! Once I started cooking, the delicious aromas made DD and me very, very hungry!

If you want to use meat in this, its traditional to saute about 1 lb of cubed lamb first, then add the cauliflower. I've also used cubes chicken which is really yummy in this. You can use chickpeas with the meat, but most people that I know don't - at least not in this dish. Also if using meat, add in 1/2 - 1 tsp of allspice.

Note: I never use just plain allspice, though many, many excellent Arabic cooks do. I use a mixture of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. In a pinch, go ahead and use commercial apple pie spice as a substitute.