Tag: Feta

Use By: Oven Fries with Marinated Feta and Rosemary

One of my goals for the new year, inspired by Jenny over at Silver Screen Suppers is to cut down on my food waste.  To that end, I spent a day or so over the break adding every item of food and drink in my house – of which I apparently have 530+ – ranging from Agnostura Bitters to Zulu Spice Mix into a spreadsheet. 

Zulu Spice Mix?  WTF?  I don’t even know why I have Zulu spice mix.  I also don’t know why I have 3 unopened boxes of cream of tartar  (or even exactly it does) or two unopened jars of Char Sui Paste… But all of that stuff could wait.  In the dairy shelf of my fridge (another Jenny inspiration), there was some very delicious (and also very expensive) marinated feta that absolutely positively could not go to waste.   

Feta Chips 1

So, then to my “Recipe Schedule” spreadsheet to see where I can use some marinated feta.  Wow..I’m giving you all my spreadsheets!

Don’t even get me started on my spreadsheets.  Because this will then become a blog about where and how to use a multi embedded what if scenario and not at all about food. On the other hand, if, like me, you are all about the spready, head over to my other blog www.tarynisexcellent.com* for all your spreadsheet needs, wants and desires.  (*Not a real blog. Unless you want it to be…)

Back to my marinated feta and the concept of the “Use By” post. In each post, I will use up an ingredient that would have otherwise had to be thrown out.  And will try to use that ingredient in a manner that does not entail buying several more items which will then have to be logged and “used by”….. 

Marinated Feta1

Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest book, Simple contains a recipe for fries with feta and oregano. I had feta, I had potatoes.  I didn’t have dried oregano but I had fresh rosemary and I love rosemary flavoured roast potatoes so I subbed in the rosemary for the oregano.

Marinated Feta3

Let me tell you, these fries are GENIUS!

That drizzle of garlic oil over the top takes them to next level.  Add the feta and we’re talking eleven.

Being a philistine I also tried to add ketchup and vinegar to these fries  Because normally, fries without them are useless.

Rosemary Marinated Feta Fries

These were fine without!

These are possibly the best home fries I have ever eaten!

And a super recipe for using up any leftover feta cheese you may have!  

Macdedonian Grilled Cheese (Przeni Lepcinja)

Grilled cheese is one of life’s little pleasures.  Warm toasty bread, oozy melty grilled cheese…it doesn’t get better than this.  Except in Macedonia where they top their grilled cheese with…wait for it….more cheese!!!

Today we’re continuing our visit to the Balkan States with a little look at Przeni Lepcinja – Macedonian grilled cheese.

Macedonian Grilled Cheese

Macedonian Grilled Cheese is essentially a cheesy French toast, topped with cheese.  It’s delicious and so quick and easy to make!

The blend of creamy melted mozzarella and the salty feta cheese is great and perfect with the crisp french toast style bread!

I found the recipe for Macedonian Grilled Cheese here  I’ve also copied it below.  I served mine with a little tomato and red onion salsa that was very similar to the Sopska Salata featured here. Although given the double cheese abundance in the toast, I left the cheese out of the salad!

Macedonian Grilled Cheese

If you feel like something a bit more substantial, this is also great if you serve with a poached or fried egg on top…this I think also has a nice symmetry – cheesy eggy bread, topped with cheese and egg.

Macedonian Grilled Cheese

And now, just because I can, here’s a cheesy joke for you:

What’s cheese’s favourite music?

R ‘n’ Brie. 

🤗

Cheesy and cheesy if you know what I mean.

Just like a Przeni Lepcinja!

Have a great week!

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Get Me To The Greek – Spanakopita – Daring Kitchen

God Bless the Greeks.  They invented democracy, philosophy and some damn fine food.  Including fried cheese.  How good is that stuff?  You take cheese…which is one of my all time best ever foods to begin with…and fry it.  That;’s not even eleven.  That’s twelve! Possibly thirteen.  But, I digress, yeah, I know opening paragraph…and we’re already off track, because today we’re talking about the second wonder of the Greek cuisine pantheon…(or should that be Parthenon?) the cheese and spinach pie, also more formally known as the Spanakopita.

Spanakopita 1
Spanakopita 1

I live in Melbourne, which as anyone in Melbourne will tell you has the largest population of Greek people outside of Athens.  I have no idea if this is actually true or just one of those urban myths about the city you live in.  Regardless of numbers, there are a lot of Greek people and hence a lot of super delicious Greek food.  In fact, just as much as some families have the local Chinese or Indian restaurant, my family would go Greek.

No, not like that you bunch of perverts….I meant we would celebrate family occasions at the local  Greek restaurant.

Spanakopita Ingredients
Spanakopita Ingredients

Mind you, this did come after a debacle at the local Chinese.  You know the classic tale of the gauche family who drink the fingerbowls?  Not that old chestnut for my family.  No way.  Uh huh.

We’re a much classier lot.

So when, towards the end of our meal, the waiter delivered some small bowls of water to our table we dutifully dipped and dunked and positively soaked our fingers revelling in our (sub) urban/e sophistication.  He then reappeared with a plate of…I can best describe them as  caramel coated sweet dumplings.  The idea being that you dipped your caramel dumpling into the icy cold water thereby changing the caramel from a hot liquid to a crispy shell. We all looked to our now slightly grubby bowls of warmish water and the thought of dessert suddenly didn’t seem so good.

Now, I can’t speak a word of Mandarin, but believe me, that wasn’t a prerequisite to  understand what our waiter was muttering as he swished away the original bowls.  There is a certain tone people adopt when they say “You people are morons” that is pretty much universal.

We celebrated with Greek food from then on.

Spanakopita Ingredients - pre massage
Spanakopita Ingredients – pre massage

The February Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Audax of Audax Artifex. The challenge brought us to Greece with a delicious, flaky spanakopita – a spinach pie in a phyllo pastry shell.  I had thought I was au fait with the cooking of this particular dish as it is something I make fairly regularly.  However Audax’s version had a few curve balls.

First there was massaging the ingredients.  It made me think about those Wagyu cows…

Spanakopita 2
Spanakopita 2

Then post the massage there was the squeeze….this was both kind of disgusting and a shit ton of fun.

Squeezing...kind of gross.
Squeezing…kind of gross.
Squeezed Spinach (and my abnormally large man hands)
Squeezed Spinach (and my abnormally large man hands)

Post the squeeze, you end up with two bowls.  Once containing a dry mixture, one containing a milky green liquid.

Post Squeeze Spanakopita
Post Squeeze Spanakopita

It is at this point that I would diverge from the recipe as given by Audax and add some more cheese into the dry mixture.  I don’t know what happened to the cheese but somewhere during the massage or the squeeze it kind of disappeared, leaving a less cheesy spanakopita than I  would normally have.  For me, it’s all about the cheese.

Anyhow, then you add some couscous to the liquid and let it soak it all up.  This is utter brilliance.  The couscous bulks up the mixture so you can have a higher pie and it stops the bottom pastry getting soggy.

Spinach Juice and Couscous
Spinach Juice and Couscous

Another brilliant idea?  Cutting the squares before baking.  Stroke of genius!

Pre-Baked Spanakopita
Pre-Baked Spanakopita

 

Spanakopita - hot from the oven
Spanakopita – hot from the oven

Huh, I just realised I’ve mentioned fried Greek cheese in at least two out of the last three posts.  I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something.

I’m going to be spending my week having at least one trip to the Paradise of Lindos to partake of some plate smashing, some haloumi and maybe even a little bit of this…

ZorbaZorba

Have a great week whatever you get up to!

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Belle & Sebastian’s Plum & Feta Salad

ARGGGHHHH….

I can’t believe it is almost time to go back to work.  Where did the summer holidays go?  Actually, the whole of summer was M.I A.  I wore winter boots the other day.  We’re living in crazy times….

Belle & Sebastian Plum & Feta Salad
Belle & Sebastian Plum & Feta Salad

But maybe because the réntrée, as the French would say, is about to commence I have had a particular song stuck in my head for about the last four days now.  Luckily, this was one I could tolerate, unlike the last time which was Rooms Are On Fire by Stevie Nicks.  Can you imagine 6 days of “There is magic all around you, if I do say so myself…”?

Ever wanted to bang your head into a wall just to MAKE IT STOP?  That’s what that week was like.

This time is the fabulous Step Into My Office Baby by Belle and Sebastian. Who I love with an almost unrivalled deep and deadly…They’re clever and funny and named after a French book from the 1960’s. They have great album covers and witty whimsical lyrics…

Belle and Sebastian

Smart, funny, savvy, slightly nostalgic for a past that probably actually existed…If I was a band I’m almost sure I would be  Belle and Sebastian.

Even though this says I am Coldplay!

And, as if all of that musical talent wasn’t enough, they’re also creators of a super refreshing salad!

I found this recipe in “Lost in The SuperMarket: An Indie Rock Cookbook “by Kay Bozick Owens and Lynn Owens and have been waiting for plums to come into season ever since.  And those happy days have finally arrived. The shops are full of them.

As a complete digression…they are also full of hot cross buns.  WTF is wrong with people?  It’s JANUARY!!!.  Ok, don’t even get me started…here’s the book….

 

And here is more of the Belle & Sebastian Plum & Feta Salad!  Tangy from the plums, salty from the feta, sweet from the honey, fresh from the mint….and just look at the fabulous colours…

Belle & Sebastian Plum Salad2
Belle & Sebastian Plum Salad2

I had mine with a very simple grilled salmon steak and it was a match made in heaven!!! The tanginess and saltiness of the salad cut through the richness of the salmon perfectly.

Belle & Sebastian Plum Salad3
Belle & Sebastian Plum Salad3

But I think the Belle and Sebastian Plum and Feta Salad would also go really well with chicken or pork and it would be super wicked amazing with duck….

I’ll give you another B&S anecdote just for free…for YEARS, I thought their gorgeous song Piazza, New York Catcher was called PIzza, New York Catcher….food obsessed or what?

So here are my tips to make the réntrée more bearable:

1. Make this salad….it will cheer you up

2. Listen to some Belle & Sebastian… here’s some I prepared earlier…

  1. The Blues Are Still Blue
  2. Dress Up In You
  3. Piazza, New York Catcher
  4. Step Into My Office, Baby

3. Don’t look up “The Boy With The Arab Strap” at work thinking you will just get the Belle and Seb album cover.  You won’t.  And some of the images you will get will be definitely NSFW. Not to mention unsavoury.

So what song is stuck in your head?

And what band are you?

Have a great week!

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