My Big Fat Greek Dinner

In this May sweeps edition of Sunday Night Bites we were incredibly ambitious with our meal and invited our dear friend and co-worker, Tara Flynn, to guest judge and witness what we were sure would be a train wreck. Ulysees Voyage of The Grove ( http://www.ulyseesvoyage.com/) was our inspiration. On tonight's menu: Greek Salad, homemade Tzatziki, Spanakopita aka spinach cheese triangles, Falafel, and fried iced cream (ala Ryan's favorite Nantucket dessert spot).


The day began for Jacqueline at 12pm when she constructed the Tzatziki and Greek Salad (although there was a slight cucumber malfunction in the salad). When Ryan showed up at 3:30pm, he was exhausted from his 2 block walk with groceries, the salad and Tzatziki were already in the fridge and Jac was over it...all of it...she was ready for a ginormous glass of wine. Fortunately for her, the two bags of groceries which Ryan arrived with were filled with booze, frosted flakes, ice cream, and the giant emergency replacement cucumber.

There was a lot to do in little time and Ryan was easily distracted with adjusting his playlist, downloading iphone apps, and drinking wine. When he was finally convinced to participate it was time to create the Falafel dough, we added the raw (but soaked overnight) chick peas, onion, baking powder, and spices to the food processor and blended until it made a pasty dough. Although the recipe then called for a several hour trip to the fridge, we threw it in the freezer for a bit and called it good enough.

Does anyone know what Spanakopita is? because Ryan certainly didnt.. he kept asking what it was we were making. Jac's only response to Ryan incessant questioning was to listen and follow direction. While the dough settled we began to work on the very delicate Spanakopita. Preparing the spinach may have been the best part of the night as it allowed Ryan an introduction to the very "complicated" salad spinner

(http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspxc=768&f=23307&q=salad+spinner&fromLocation=Search&DIMID=400001&SearchPage=1). Each pull of the string left Ry with a gaping jaw and wide eyes as the sauteed spinach went round and round the bowl pushing out excess water and butter. The now drier spinach was chopped and then combined with feta cheese and spices to make a yummy stuffing.

The difficult part of this recipe then reared its ugly head - working with Phyllo is similar to navigating material that sticks to itself like saran wrap, breaks apart, and will completely dry in about 60 seconds. The stack of Phyllo dough sheets were laid out, covered with two layers of saran wrap and topped with a cool damp towel cover so we had to take it sheet by sheet. We pulled out a single sheet, painted it with melted butter, and applied a second sheet atop which we also painted with yummy buttery goodness. Slicing the buttered stack of 2 sheets sheets into 4 even strips, we then took a heaping spoonful of our yummy spinach cheese mixture and placed it into the corner of each of the strips and folded it into little mini paper football like triangles. We put them on baking sheets, painted on more butter, and baked until they were golden and flaky.

As our loyal readers know we are huge fans of the deep fryer and of balls... and tonight's dinner would be no exception.Ryan threw the little balls of falafel into the deep fryer until they were deep brown and cooked throughout. Ryan is chief fry cook as Jac won't get within three feet of the machine.. we need to get him a little hat...

As the grand finale to this extravaganza, Ryan had prepared dessert that was six hours in the making. Vanilla ice cream was rolled in pounded walnuts and crushed frosted flakes flakes (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku6017792/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7Ctenderizer&cm%5Fsrc=SCH), refrozen, rolled in egg and sugar and refrozen, and once again rolled in more yummies and refrozen. Then, after many cycles, dropped in the deep fryer until splendidly delicious. Could there be more calories and carbs?

Cost Comparison
Dining out - 4 people - appx $100.00 (not including wine)

Dining in - 4 people - appx $ 100.00 (not including wine)

Recipes

Spanakopita - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spanakopita-107344
Greek Salad (we added arugula to this recipe)- http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Greek-Salad-105279

Falafel - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Falafel-231755
Tzatziki - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cucumber-and-Tomato-Tzatziki-5403

We want to extend a very special thanks to Trader Ralph Bristol aka Justin for his extensive grocery searching/shopping and staff photography!

Reviews

Ryan - "Slaving away in the kitchen was worth it...our most successful night yet! I'm glad Tara was there to witness our mad skills in the kitchen, considering she sent me a text earlier saying not to blow up Jac's kitchen." " I think Tara takes me more seriously now."

Jac - "LOVED the Spanakopita"

Trader Ralph Bristol - "The salad was delicious and the falafal was scrumptious, but the cheese-spinach thingies were the best!"

Tara - "Each successive dish exceeded the one before....you actually made the spanakopita?...the whole evening was delicious and indulgent. None moreso then the finale. How do you make ice cream worse for you? Coat it in sugar, frosted flakes, walnuts, eggs, and deep fry it. Amazing. From beautifully laid table to cool-whip-in-a-can."

Wine! Tears! Survivor! Earthquake! and Jac With A Flaming Gun!

For this latest edition of Sunday Night Bites we decided to look at the menu of a place that Ryan visits far too often, The one and only Chateau Marmont. In fact, he's been twice this week...you could say that he's a VIP or at least a functioning alcoholic. This idea all started on Jac's birthday when she ordered the halibut and shared a bite with Ry. Since then, in this year of the fish, Ryan has enjoyed it on numerous occasions. The potato crusted slab of protein is quite spectacular when done properly and lacks the greasy element that is often found in crusted fish.

Trader Ralph Bristol hooked us up with the most solid ingredients - gorgeous steaks of halibut and the most gargantuan shallot that Jac had ever seen. Ryan arrived at 5:19pm smelling of booze and suntan lotion - both he and Jac were exhausted from their weekends but committed to the task at hand and to you, the reader. Of course, Ryan's weekend was far more glamorous than Jac's - She spent the entire weekend house hunting while Ryan spent his time with young Hollywood in Malibu, Laurel Canyon, and Beverly Hills.

Ryan was assigned a new task, which he found eerily similar to his last task from several weeks back, peeling potatoes. However, this time, Ryan was promised the use of Jac's beloved food processor which she has lovingly named "the Rob Lowe." One of the many purpose of this machine is to shred things into sexy and carefully dishevelled Rob Lowe like pieces (Brothers and Sisters, ABC, Sunday Nights @ 10pm). We left the potato peices to drain in our fancy chinois and worked on the sauce and the side dishes. http://www.williamssonoma.com/products/cw053/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%chinois&cm%5Fsrc=SCH

From here, Ryan chopped flat leaf Italian parsley and the ginormous shallot (which made him cry like Calista chasing the helicopter) and added them to the boiling dry white wine, worcestershire sauce, and smide of lemon juice. We let this sauce reduce by half while Jac worked on the side dishes of tomato and spinach. The completion of the sauce marked the commencement of kitchen chaos.

The fish, coated with mayonnaise and seasoned by Jac (as pictured), were covered with the shredded potato mix and dropped into our favorite deep saute pan. This was when the shallot hit the fan. The potato mix divorced the fillets and our Chateau dreams were momentarily shattered. While Ryan presided as president of the nervous breakdown committee, Jac silently hatched and quickly implemented her crisis management plan: "Two eggs!" she hollered and the remainder of the emergency stash of "shredded potatoes from the Rob Lowe." From there, we cooked the hash browns on their own, and then later reunited them with the fish before it entered the oven.

25 minutes later dinner was ready at Chateau Sheehy.

P.S. for dessert...

marshmallows

graham crackers

Hershey bars

and a flaming torch http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku9561838/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7Ctorch&cm%5Fsrc=SCH

Cost Comparison

$75.00 for 3 @ Chateau Sheehy + sweat and tears

$27.00 each @ Chateau Marmont - Basically the winner!

Taste Comparison

Ryan - "I'm moving to Hawaii, this is all too much. Sometimes we shouldn't mess with the original and this cooking shit is hard."

Jac - "May I please have another glass of wine and the flame gun?"

Justin - "I only had to go to two grocery stores and I was able to use my Ralph's rewards AND my new tripod."

Kisses for Mother's Day

Ramsey's At The Club http://www.ramseysattheclub.com/served these delectable little goat cheese and onion hors d'oeuvres which they called kisses. Sadly, they are no longer on the menu but still hold a place in all of our hearts. This week's comparison will have to be made from memory.

I used pre-made mini phyllo cups which may have been a mistake but for the amount of time that I had on this busy Mother's Day it seemed like a good idea. In the future, I will use a puff pastry with perhaps a tad more salt and lot more butter. This healthy organic version from Bristol Farms was a reasonable alternative - http://www.fillofactory.com/retailproductdetails.cfm?ProductCode=949.0.

The recipe was fairly simple; I diced (using my chopper, of course) two brown onions and caramelized them in my massive calphalon deep saute pan- I love this pan because of its size...after that burn I got over Christmas I'll never be too careful and, seriously, who doesn't love a jumbo pan?? http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku5177852/index.cfm?pkey=cckwfrysau. I added about a half a cup of water and a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar and let it reduce. Be careful here because if the acidic steam gets up your nose or in your eyes it will sting - you'll never guess how I figured that out... repeatedly.

Using a small spoon, I scooped the caramelized onion into the little phyllo cups and covered it with a mound of mild goat cheese and topped them with a little garnish. I popped them in the oven for a half hour and voila - a puff!

I served these bite sized goodies at our Mothers Day soiree at room temperature and they weren't nearly as good as right out of the oven as they got a little pasty but they did suffice.

Cost Comparison
- 30 homemade kisses - $25.00
- Ramsey's kisses were brought out as complimentary bits of goodness as you were seated but they did accompany a somewhat pricey meal so I am going to consider this one a point for homemade.

Taste Comparison
- Jac - Not quite as good, definitely think there is a dough problem, more butter, more salt, more heat.
- Guest judge consensus - great on their own but not as good as the memory of the Ramsey's kisses.

Next Week - Chateau Marmont's potato crusted halibut. Any guest judge volunteers?

Viva Las Sopa De Tortilla!

We wanted to embrace the festivities of Cinco de Mayo this week... Unfortunately, we were still recovering from the massive intake of cheesy carby fat from last weekend's arancini to make most mexican dishes so we settled on the "healthier" Sopa De Tortilla of South Beverly Drive's Frida Mexican Restaurant. http://www.fridarestaurant.com/

Searching through numerous recipes led us straight back to Jac's personal favorite - Emeril's Favorite Tortilla Soup. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-favorite-tortilla-soup-recipe/index.html We often have to use Jac's personal favorite recipe for dishes as she's a little bit bossy. Nonetheless, her taste IS quite impeccable.

Our weekly blog serves another purpose after cooking and eating, it is also to introduce Ryan to all of the toys sold by our favorite kitchen supply stores. In fact, as Jac is an avid collector of such gadgets, her hallway coat closet has been remodeled to include shelves which neatly display the kitchen cabinet spillover. It was from this treasure trove that we retrieved the slow cooker and the chopper. The chopper is our most used kitchen gadget (thanks Auntie Beverly) and made tonight's onion, jalapeno, and green pepper chopping a breeze - it also measures! http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cw369/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7C%7Cchopper&cm%5Fsrc=SCH. We cheated a bit and used pre-chopped garlic as all the peeling makes our hands stinky.

We followed the recipe for the most part but reduced the cilantro because it is so overpowering and used a slow cooker rather than a stove top dutch oven - slow simmer is almost always better. Rather than using chicken breast cubes we bought one of those pre-made rotisserie chickies from the grocery store and carefully shredded the breast pieces. Although ours was purchased from Ralph's, Jac strongly recommends the Costco version of this rotisserie chicken.

After several hours of simmering the soup, we sliced corn tortilla into small strips, threw them in a ziplock bag and shook them up with some corn oil and Emeril's southwest essence and baked them to a crisp! Yum.

Justin supplied the incredible blended margaritas.

Cost Analysis:
Frida's - $8 per bowl (appx. 1.5 cups)
Sunday Night Bites - $40 per slow cooker batch (appx. 10 cups) - WINNER!!!

Taste Analysis:
Jac - "Frida's should adopt our recipe because it's about 100 times better"
Ryan - "I refrain from eating chicken but it smells great!"
Justin - "I'll eat Ryan's portion"

NEXT WEEK - Mother's Day! Sound's like an appetizer or dessert week to us! We're also dying to do the Potato Crusted Halibut ala Chateau Marmont. Have any ideas for upcoming weeks? Post them in the comments!

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=640&f=27580&q=cuisinart+slow+cooker&fromLocation=Search&DIMID=400001&SearchPage=1