No Plates Were Harmed in the Making of this Greek Night

I love the flavors of Greek cuisine: feta cheese, rich olive oil, robust wines, lots of lemon, tomato and interesting spices. It's along the lines of Italian food and unless you're chomping on an Americanized gyro with fries, the food is super fresh and clean.

For weeks before Greek night, I prepared by creating a "Greek" Pandora station (which, despite calculated 'thumbs down' on my part, ended up playing mostly Spanish guitar music), researching Greek wines (we ended up with Italian) and texting my sister several times a day: FETA. I feel like this was pretty good preparation. Was the feast 100% authentic? 'Fraid not. Was it a ball? Absolutely!

Greek Night Menu:
Baked Feta with Tomato Appetizer
Pita Chips
Mixed Grill: chicken, steak and shrimp marinated in lemon oregano and olive oil
Pitas
Toppings: lettuce, tomato
Garnishes: olives, artichoke hearts, tzatziki sauce and crumbled feta
Greek Wheat-berry salad
Baklava

Check this out:

The flavors of Greek food actually taste colorful. It was a feast for the eyes as well as our bellies. Opa!!

Mangia, Mangia

DISCLAIMER: The following contains a gratuitous amount of food pictures, which may or may not have gotten out of hand due to the amount of red wine consumed by the author. Proceed at your own risk.

So the second official installment of our supper club went down this past weekend-- Italian night. Though a better name might have been No Carb Left Behind. Because seriously. What would Italian food be without bread and pasta? Olive oil, cheese and wine. Maybe not so bad.

So let's get started. We began with antipasto:

The platter was comprised of homemade burrata (yay, Lexi and me!) doused with extra virgin olive oil, cappicola, hard salami, mortadella (a fatty, pistachio and black peppercorn studded Italian bologna of goodness), grilled artichoke hearts, prosciutto, Gorgonzola stuffed and Mediterranean olives and a nutty, picante hunk of Parmigiano Reggiano that we simply hacked to pieces and devoured. When the tray hit the counter it was a bit of a feeding frenzy. Shameful I know, but it was that kind of unabashed hunger that sets in after a few glasses of good red wine that leads you to--for lack of a better term--stuff your face. But we had several glasses by this point, and no one noticed my ferocious feasting. I think? There was no judging. Check out my plate:

And the platter after about 7 minutes:

It was like Shark Week. Oh, and those olives were strewn about our Caesar salads in case you thought they may have been wasted.

Okay, on to the main dish: LASAGNA. My sis and her boyfriend whipped this up with veal and pork red sauce, super fluffy and herby ricotta and about 14 bags of mozzarella. What I loved about it was A) I did not have to make it B) I did not have to clean the dish and C) There was enough sauce so that even after it baked the whole thing was still super moist and saucy. Not necessarily in that order. Check out Chris's masterful cheese and sauce placement:

Oooh and my beautiful sister:

And our dog, Penny, patiently waiting for a rogue piece of salami, cheese or anything edible:

Don't feel bad, she's half basset hound, so she naturally looks sad. This helps when lobbying for scraps. So dinner was insanely carbolicious, and included even MORE wine, warm bread and the lasagna in all it's stately glory:

Pretty table, huh? So I think by this point the amount of wine consumed was right around 4 bottles, and there were 4 of us so that's pretty easy math. Which explains why my dessert of homemade cannoli (okay the filling was homemade) was postponed...until the next day. We were all extremely full and tired by the end of dinner and to be quite honest, a 90's music dance party complete with strobe light spontaneously broke out and we were having too much fun to pause, even for dessert. So I divied up the shells and the filling and we enjoyed them--albeit separately--the following day. 

Here's my recipe:

Cannoli Filling

Yields: Enough to fill 12-14 large shells

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese

1 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

2 cups dark mini chocolate chips

Zest from 1 lemon

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Seeds from 1 vanilla bean pod

Directions

Whip cheese in a mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Pipe into shells and dust with additional powdered sugar, if desired.

Should look something like this: 

(My sister's) Or this:

(Mine) So beautiful and delicious! All in all the night was a success and we are already group texting about Greek night. Um feta cheese? Yeah, stop it. So excited.

I Will Eat it With a Fox

Oh, cilantro. The Justin Bieber of food. You either love it or hate it, and I LOVE it! Before you go assuming I love the Bieb too...well, okay a couple of his songs are catchy. They are! Stop looking at me like that. Agh, whatever.

So as I was adding a healthy bouquet of cilantro to my soy sausage and egg breakfast, I realized that I I treat this glorious, verdant herb more like an ingredient than a garnish. I'm kind of obsessed with it actually. I add it to the lettuce in my salads, dressings, sauces, sour creams, sandwiches, omelets and omigosh it is sooo killer with pulled pork or chicken barbecue. I like it any way. I go all Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham with it. I would eat it in a boat! And I would eat it with a goat...And I will eat it in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train. And in a car. And in a tree. You get the idea. When I encounter someone who doesn't love the stuff I think, "Can I trust them around my purse when I go to the bathroom? Did I ever really know them?" Just kidding. Kinda. It's just, how can you not love Justin Bieber, I mean cilantro?! My mom says it tastes like soap. See? Can't trust her. 

In all seriousness, I am glad that I adore this controversial herb. It's a great way to add flavor to food without additional fat or calories. Plus it's cheap! Think outside the chili and taco. Go Dr. Seuss with it. In a box with a fox. On a train in the rain. 

Homemade Burrata Recipe

Here is the link to a wonderful homemade burrata recipe. Burrata is a twist on fresh mozzarella: the curd is mixed with heavy cream and then folded into the mozzarella which has been heated and pulled. The result is an extraordinarily creamy and soft interior contrasted with the mild soft cheese exterior. I called around and couldn't find a store that carried it, so we made our own! Lexi and I do a supper club dinner every few months with my sister and her boyfriend, and we will be making burrata for the upcoming Italian night. I can't wait! This cheese, topped with olive oil and herbs, set atop a hunk of crusty baguette that has been toasted and rubbed down with fresh garlic? In the words of Jim Carrey, "Somebody stop me!" See if you can make this cheese at home. The video tutorial is easy to follow and makes this recipe very user-friendly. If this is too daunting, try just making the fresh mozzarella. You will NOT be disappointed! Check out the photos we took. One is the plain burrata, with olive oil and pepper, and the other one is a shot where we added basil and balsamic. Simply magnificent. If I didn't already have a pillow, I'd put this under my head and go to sleep. Just sayin'. Enjoy!

http://www.yumsugar.com/Burrata-Recipe-Video-30811582

Fresh Mozz

Lexi and I made fresh mozzarella tonight. We are testing recipes for our supper club: Italian Night in February! This was 30 Minute Mozzarella from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It turned out well; I would prefer a softer, less toothsome texture, so we will continue testing until the perfect curd is achieved. The magic of this is that in less than an hour, and for less than $3, we produced a half pound of the mild, yummy thing that is fresh cheeeeeese.