Greek Feast

Friends Who Feast's own Kaitlin Doubleday and I made a lovely Greek inspired dinner last Wednesday. Our evening began with a nice clusterf*ck adventure at Eilat Market where elderly Persians shove you out of the way with blatant disregard, however we managed to leave in one piece and with some fun ingredients.

We started with a Meze Platter consisting of hummus, shrimp salad, marinated artichokes and cucumber salad - all served with some toasted pita.



Hummus::
2 15- to 16-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
4 garlic cloves, peeled
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoon paprika plus additional for sprinkling
*blend all ingredients in food processor and garnish with olive oil, paprika and garbanzos.



Shrimp Salad:
16 grilled large shrimp with tails left intact
16 pitted Kalamata olives halfed
1 cup diced seeded tomatoes (about 3 medium)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
*Combine all ingredients in medium bowl and toss to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.



Cucumber Salad:
3-4 unpeeled Perisan cucumbers, thinly sliced into rounds
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt, whisked to loosen
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
*Arrange cucumber slices on plate; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon yogurt over. Sprinkle with feta cheese and oregano.





For the main course we scooped up some beautiful Mahi Mahi, which we seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with a mixture of light mayo, crumbled feta, dill, mint and lemon juice. We finished that with thin lemon slices and broiled for about 15 minutes. We served the fish over cous cous with a tomato salad in red wine vinegar and evoo.

Christmas Tamales

Tamales are a traditional staple for Mexican holidays, including Christmas. This year we decided to host Christmas dinner for our families and make smoked pork and green chile & cheese tamales - and it was a success!



We made the batter from 3.5 C Masa Harina (ground dried corn flour), 1.25 C Crisco *yum* and about 2 C chicken stock. We blended those ingredients together in our stand mixer with a 2 t salt and 1.5 t baking powder until the batter was light and fluffy. We put the batter in the fridge for about an hour - which was recommended to get the fluffiest result.

Meanwhile we made two different salsas: spicy arbol and salsa verde.

Arbol Salsa:
20 dried arbol chiles seeded
1 dried Guajillo chile
4 tomatillos
3 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
salt to taste
*Toast the chiles for 30 seconds in the oil, then brown the tomatillos and garlic. Blend all ingredients together and add water to desired thickness

Salsa Verde:
1 lb of tomatillos
2 cloves garlic
.5 C cilantro chopped
2 Serrano chiles
salt to taste
*Boil the tomatillos for about 10 minutes, then blend all ingredients to a smooth, but not runny texture.



Once our guests arrived we began to make the tamales! We soaked dried corn husks in boiling water until they were pliable (about 30 minutes) and were ready to assemble. Ethan's dad kindly donated some smoked pork butt (hehe, butt) he had made at an earlier date - it was very delicious. The pork tamales had the masa batter, smoked pork and Arbol salsa.



For the green chile & cheese we chopped up some Hatch chiles we bought from Bristol Farms on a special annual sale. They are grown only in Hatch, New Mexico and are only in season a couple week out of the year, so it's a very rare chile to have. We piled on some sliced Monterey Jack cheese, the chiles and the salsa verde. We wrapped up the husks and tied them closed.



We then steamed all the tamales together in a pot with a steamer basket for about 2 hours. We served them with black beans and cabbage salad. On the table were both salsas, cotija cheese and sour cream. The dinner was delicious and fun to make. We all later enjoyed some spiked eggnog and decadent brownies made by my sister.



Merry Christmas everyone!!

Rainy Day Brunch

It's a rainy day in Los Angeles so I wanted to make a comforting brunch. I decided on eggs poached in tomato sauce. I made a quick sauce by sautéing onions and garlic in olive oil and 1 T of butter, then added some San Marizano tomatoes, oregano, black pepper and salt. Let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes and dropped in 4 large eggs. I let them cook for about 10 minutes until the whites were done and served with some fresh chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.



I toasted sliced baguette to help scoop up the sauce, and made a green salad on the side.

Deviled Eggs - Spotted Pig Style

In NYC we dined at The Spotted Pig and had a fantastic meal. I decided to make these deviled eggs paired with a side of football one Sunday.



Recipe:
12 large eggs hard boiled and halfed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon malt vinegar
Maldon sea salt

Peperoncino red chili flakes, pulsed in a spice grinder into approximate 1/16th-inch
pieces.
3 tablespoons thinly sliced chives

Puree the yolks and all ingredients through the salt in a food processor and put into a pastry bag. Pipe the puree into the egg whites and garnish with the chives, chili flakes and sea salt. Finish with some extra virgin olive oil. Delish!

Hanukkah Dinner

On the first night of the Festival of Lights I decided to make a little Jewish din din. Latkes and Kugel.

Latkes:
I grated about 6 potatoes and drained the water from them. Then I mixed in grated onions, salt, pepper and 2 T of flour...didn't have Matzoh meal...I heated up a cast iron skillet with canola oil and fried them to a golden brown - about 4 minutes per side. They were crispy on the outside, yet still soft in the middle. Served with sour cream and apple sauce. (Disclaimer: I forgot to take photos until after we started eating, so they aren't the best visuals.)

Kugel:
I par boiled 1/2 a lb of egg noodes and mixed them together with:
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 pound cottage cheese
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup golden raisins raisins

Baked for about 30 minutes and served.

Pretty good for Jew food.

Bakula Beef Stew

Well winter is slowly creeping to the east coast and nothing is more warming, filling, and satisfying than a good stew.  I'm not sure where this recipe came from, grandma, or a cookbook, but all I know is that my Dad made this for me 2 years ago, and Chelsea was kind enough to pass on the recipe.  So.....the Bakula beef stew!   EVERYONE MAKE IT!!!

3 large leeks

2 tbls olive oil

1 1/2-2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast cut into 2in chunks

2 tbls all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

3-4 cups water

-       cut leeks in half long wise, and then into ½ inch pieces.  Cut all BUT the last 2 inches of dark green.

-       -heat olive oil in skillet over med high heat.

-       Add beef to brown 8-10 min

-       Add all leeks but ½ a cup (for garnish) to the beef and stir often for 4-5 min

-       Sprinkle all with flour, salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 more min to brown flour

-       Add balsamic and de-glaze (bring to boil to lift burnt bits off the pan)

-       Add 2 cups h2o and bring to boil.  Continue stirring

-       Reduce heat and cover pan.  Simmer stew till the 

     sauce is thick and the meat can be cut with 

     a fork, aprox. 2 hours

-       Add water as you need to keep meat moist. I added 1 cup after about an hour and a half.

This is supposed to be made with popovers.

FRESH CHERRY ICE CREAM

Around the beginning of this past summer, Rob and I invested in an ice cream maker!!  So far we have just made basil ice cream, lemon sorbet, and chocolate ice cream.  In preparation for all my wisdom teeth coming out I knew I had to make some ice cream for the recovery.   I walked into whole foods and the first thing I saw was beautiful red Cherrys and thought "that might be interesting."

After de-pitting them, which was a little tedious, I simply pureed them and put them aside (roughly 2 cups of whole fruit) With a hand beater on low I mixed 3/4 cup whole milk, a pinch of salt, and 2/3 cups sugar until the sugar dissolved.  Then I added 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and lastly the cherry puree.  The mixture sat covered in the fridge for about an hour and then I poured it into my ice cream maker and BAMM! Such a fun treat.

The secret weapon Cuisinart ICE -21 makes ice cream in literally 15 minutes!

It Looks Like Vomit But Tastes Like Heaven Soup

Just kidding, that's not really what its called....it's a corn, wild-rice and sausage soup. I have to say it was really easy and probably the best soup I've ever had. (next to the corn chowder at the Ivy) I started with the sausage since I use the fake stuff and it is a little difficult to time cooking wise, cut them into bite-size pieces, browned them then added 3 diced carrots and 2 diced onions. Then I added a purree I'd made with 3 3/4 cup frozen corn with 1 1/4 cup chicken broth and threw that in. Sauteed all that for about 15 minutes then added about 3 cups wild-rice (however much cooks in 5 cups water, I forget). Lastly I added about 2 cups of frozen corn and 1 1/2 cup half and half. Garnished it with fresh chives and parsley. So yummy!

I served it with my favorite salad which is a roasted cauliflower and radicchio salad. That's pretty self explanatory, but I must include the key ingredient....toasted hazelnuts. The dressing is made with white wine vinegar and shallots.