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."