International Night – Greece

My son requested Greece for our featured country this week, and it proved to be a bit of a challenge to find a main dish recipe. Many Greek dishes are made with lamb, and none of us really care for lamb, so those recipes were out. I finally settled on pastitsio, a pasta and meat sauce dish that is popular in Greece, particularly around Easter.

To be honest, we didn’t really care for it, but it’s only because I insisted on preparing it the authentic Greek way, with cinnamon and nutmeg as seasoning for the tomato based meat sauce. I don’t know about most readers, but in my family cinnamon and nutmeg aren’t spices we generally use with ground beef and tomatoes.

I remember one time when I was young, my dad accidentally added cinnamon to the chicken and dressing one Thanksgiving because he thought it was sage. I never really ate chicken and dressing, so it didn’t bother me, but the rest of the family gave him a hard time about that for years. I guess he would have fit in nicely as a Greek cook!

If you are willing to try new tastes, you can prepare the pastitsio the way the Greeks do. If you’re not feeling that adventurous, feel free to omit the cinnamon and nutmeg and add the familiar spice of your choice.

The Greek salad, however, was a big hit. It was very simple to make, and I’m going to do my best to approximate the measurements for the recipe since I just threw it together based on the traditional ingredients.

Greek Salad

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 cucumbers, sliced

1/4 c. red onion, diced

1 c. kalamata olives

8 oz. feta cheese, cubed

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried basil

2 T. olive oil

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve on a bed of lettuce, if desired.

Pastitsio

8 oz. penne or ziti pasta

3 T. melted butter

1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese

1/3 c. milk

1 egg, beaten

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. pepper

4 T. butter

4 T. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

1 egg, beaten

1/3 c. parmesan cheese

Cook pasta; drain, and return to pan. Stir in the melted butter, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/3 cup milk, and the egg; set aside.

In a a skillet or large saucepan, cook ground beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is soft; drain excess fat. Stir in tomato sauce, the 1 teaspoon salt,  cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper; set aside.

In a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter, then mix in flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Slowly stir in the 2 cups milk, stirring well after each addition so that no lumps form. Cook and stir on medium high until cream sauce starts to thicken; stir for one minute more, then remove from heat. Beat egg in a small bowl, then pour into cream sauce, stirring briskly. Blend in the 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

Layer half the pasta mixture in a 11" x 7" (or 2 quart) baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture evenly on top, then the remaining pasta. Pour cream sauce over top, to cover completely. Bake, uncovered, at 350F for about 40 minutes, or until hot and lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes.

International Night – Italy

Spaghetti, pizza, lasagna – all very familiar Italian dishes to the average American. However, for our third International Night we decided to feature a meal from Italy that isn’t commonly served outside of the country. As I do each week, I started with the Wikipedia entry on the cuisine of our chosen country. This proved a daunting task this week, as there were 19 different regional cuisines listed for Italy! This was going to be much more than pizza and spaghetti!

After reading over the different regions, I decided to feature a main dish from the Basilicata area. One of things that caught my eye was the fact that peperoncini are often used in the recipes from this area. I knew that would be a popular choice with my husband, so I quickly settled on a dish, pollo alla potentina, chicken stewed with white wine, tomatoes and peperoncini peppers. I had some fresh mozzarella cheese in the fridge, so I decided to step out of Basilicata a bit and add a caprese salad to the evening’s meal.

Here are the recipes from our Italian night:

Pollo alla potentina

1 chicken, cut into pieces

2 cans petite diced tomatoes

3 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 c. dry white wine

10-15 peperocini peppers, chopped

Chopped fresh basil

Chopped fresh parsley

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in oil for 3 minutes. Add chicken and brown. Add wine and peperocini. Reduce wine by half. Add tomato, basil, parsley and parmesan. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta and garnish with additional parsley and cheese.

Caprese salad

4 medium tomatoes, sliced

1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Alternate tomatoes and cheese on a serving plate. Sprinkle with basil and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper.

Family game day – a great excuse to make some awesome party food

This afternoon our family started what hopefully will become a Labor Day tradition. Everyone gathered at our house for a fun game of Formula D, a racing themed board game. Although the game was fun, I have to admit that my favorite part of the day was making a ton of party food for the occasion. I really like to make appetizers, but we rarely entertain, so I don’t do it often.

When we decided to do this, I started looking online for inspiration to plan my menu, and I quickly came upon something I had seen in a magazine a few months ago, mini candy apples. I was afraid it would be difficult to scoop out apple pieces with a melon baller, but it was super simple. The end result was just about the cutest thing I’ve ever made in my kitchen, and since there were none left at the end of the afternoon, I guess they were pretty tasty, too!

I made a recipe I saw online a couple of weeks ago, baked cheese olives, along with buffalo chicken dip, bruschetta and mini pulled pork sandwiches. I served a few other things that I bought in the frozen section of Kroger, and they were all pretty good, too. Frozen jalapeno poppers, queso and potato skins were an easy addition to my party food buffet. An olive tray, pickles and peppers and some fresh fruit rounded out the selections.

Here are a few of the recipes from our first family game day:

Mini candy apples

Granny Smith apples
chocolate, peanut butter or butterscotch chips
sprinkles or chopped nuts
lollipop sticks
small paper candy cups

Cut the lollipop sticks in half and set out candy cups on a serving tray. Using a melon baller, scoop balls out of the apples. Push half of a lollipop stick into each apple ball, with a section of the apple peel on top. Pat the apples dry while melting chocolate, peanut butter or butterscotch chips. Quickly dip and swirl the apple balls into the melted chips, leaving the apple skin exposed. Then dip in sprinkles or nuts. Place in candy cups to set. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to harden candy coating.

Baked cheese olives

1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 
40 large green olives, with pimento

In a medium-size bowl, cream butter. Mix in flour, cheese, paprika, cumin, and hot sauce. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least an hour (can be made ahead a day ahead).

Dry olives on paper towels. With a ball of cheese mixture that is close in size to the olive, flatten the cheese mixture in your palm, plop the olive in the center, work the mixture up around the olive, and then very gently roll it around between your palms. Make sure the cheese mixture completely seals in the olive. Repeat with remaining olives.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place olives on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Serve at room temperature to slightly warm.

Buffalo chicken dip

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 (9.75 oz.) cans chunk chicken breast, drained and crumbled
1/2 c. buffalo wing sauce (we prefer Louisiana brand)
1/2 c. ranch dressing
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for 3 minutes and stir. Continue to microwave at 2 minute intervals and stir until cheeses are completely melted. Serve warm with chips or crackers.