020: greek influences

why hello there! once again, it has been an absurdly long time since i've gotten to do this, again because of travel. for one, finals. then my winter break was jam-packed! my boyfriend came up from florida to visit over christmas (his very first experience EVER with a white one!), and then my parents and i spent 3 weeks traveling in greece, before i went back down to florida for a week to visit james and his family. let me tell you, after a month in the 60s-70s that a greek/floridian december/january offer, the -8 that i woke up to this midwest morning hit me like a slap in the face. but if that's the only negative that comes from a month of travel, i'll take it!


traveling in greece opened me up to a lot of new flavor combinations, if not necessarily new cuisines. here are a few of my favorites:

1.) a green salad (lettuce, spinach, cabbage, all of the above, etc) with olive oil, lemon juice, and dill as its "dressing." i got very used to and comfortable with the olive oil, vinegar, and salt that the spanish use, but this combo offers a similar freshness. there will be a lot of tang in the flavor, and the dill (especially fresh) adds a fantastic full herb sensation. these can, of course, be in any proportion according to your own taste preferences, but if you like formulas, i'd do about equal parts olive oil and lemon juice and enough chopped dill to lightly cover the top of the salad.


2.) greek salad. this is not your typical green salad, as it is comprised solely of cut tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese. if you can't get fresh tomatoes, i'd avoid making this dish, as it is one of the central flavors, and its absence would ruin the dish. the tomatoes are cut into wedges, and the cucumbers in slices. you can either crumble the feta over the top, or, more traditionally, serve a big ol' slab of it over the top of the tomatoes and cucumbers, which are just mixed together. the only dressing on this dish is a sufficient amount of olive oil to coat the veggies, and then oregano over the top. sometimes we added lemon juice and/or salt to mix up the flavors a little bit, but it was always something nice and fresh to have with a meal.


3.) using fried potatoes in lieu of pasta, rice, or other starch. the greeks love their fried potatoes, and boy oh boy are they good! i would recommend beginning with heating olive oil in a skillet or sauce pan where the oil can be at least a good 3/4" deep. peel your potatoes, and cut them into either slices or wedges (slices will probably fry more evenly). when the olive oil is good and hot, put your cut and peeled potatoes into the oil (carefully! it will probably spit at you), and let them fry (remember to turn them so they cook evenly) until they are light brown. when they're done (they will be HOT! be careful!), you can do one of several things with them.

• serve them. this one sounds obvious, eh? but the really greek way of doing this is to serve them with a dash of balsamic vinegar or a spritz of lemon juice over them to give them a really fresh taste. they are also typically served unsalted, though oregano might be used instead. they make a great side to anything with which you would normally serve potatoes, french fries, rice, pasta, etc.
• use them as a base. these make a great thing over which to serve either meat or veggies (like eggplant, artichokes, peppers, okra, etc.) in a sauce. one of my favorites was roasted pork with bell peppers in a tomato sauce served over these potatoes instead of over rice or pasta.
• bake them. i think my favorite dish i had the entire 3 weeks abroad was a baked veal dish, where veal was baked together with these potatoes (yes, they had been fried before baked) with feta cheese as the congealing agent. the veal was diced over the top of the potatoes, and plenty of cheese was over the top, baked in a casserole and making almost a baked pasta hot dish, except, again, using the potatoes as the base starch.

get creative! there are all kinds of things you can do with potatoes. for a spanish equivalent, try my spanish omelette. it's a very similar concept and method, just in a different place along the mediterranean.


if you have any questions or would like some more specific instructions, leave a comment or email me. don't be afraid to experiment! happy cooking :o)
-kl

c: poaching chicken

poaching chicken is a great way to cook chicken that is going to be used in something else. it keeps the chicken moist, and it also does not add any flavor to the meat like sauteing it can.

1.) put thawed chicken into saucepan. fill it with cold water until the water just covers the meat.

2.) put over medium heat and bring water to boil.

3.) as soon as the water starts to boil, remove it from the heat and let sit for 15-20 minutes. drain from water and you're good to go.

happy eating!
-kl

b: cutting pineapple

ok, so we've all seen them (and possibly taken pictures with them), but let's face it: most of us have no idea what to do with a pineapple once it's bought. well, here is a short tutorial for the easiest way that i have found to cut a pineapple.



1.) remove the top frilly part of the pineapple (just twist or cut it off), and slice the pineapple from the top down into quarters.




2.) lay each quarter down on its side (spiny part down), and slice the hard middle part off of the top of the pineapple. do this for all 4 quarters.




3.) with the spiny side still down, make vertical slices about 3/4" apart. then, if you want, you can make one slice lengthwise down the middle. this will create smaller, more bite-sized pieces.




4.) finally, slice along the bottom to separate the pieces from the spine. you're done! now wasn't that easier than trying to "skin" or peel it? happy eating!
-kl

a: handling hot peppers

if you've never worked with hot peppers, here are a few tricks to the trade to keep you from the terrible and long lasting burn on your skin that can accompany working with them (if you've ever experienced this, you know exactly to what i am referring, and if not, consider yourself lucky!). first of all, if at all possible, WEAR GLOVES!!! just your standard latex or vinyl disposable gloves. this will save you from a lot of grievance. especially if you have any knicks on your hands, or even if your hands are chapped, gloves are a must!!! if not, keep the pepper juice off of your hands as much as humanly possible. if you do start to have a burning sensation, do NOT under ANY circumstances try to wash it out with water (cold or otherwise)!!! this will only make it worse! instead, wash your hands with milk--the higher the percentage the better). the alkalinity will help the burning sensation. there are some suggestions out there that people give of using things like lemon juice, bleach, rubbing alcohol or tomato juice on your hands. again, don't do this! the acidity will make the burning worse. something that might feel good is soaking your hands in either oil or melted butter, or putting on lotion. again, don't do it! it will seal the heat in and actually make it worse, no matter how good it might feel at first. milk, or other dairy products, are by far your best bet. despite helping, it may not eliminate the burning. in this case, you basically have to wait it out. keep your hands OUT of water at all costs, and DO NOT TOUCH any other part of your body (especially your face or eyes), as the burning sensation can transfer to that area.

so. the order of tips is thus:
1.) WEAR GLOVES!!!!
2.) if burning sensation starts, DO NOT touch any other part of your body.
3.) wash/soak your hands in milk, avoiding water at all costs.


though some people make it complex, it is actually quite simple to cut peppers. as you probably, typically the smaller the pepper the hotter it is, so exercise more caution with these. peppers like bell peppers and jalapeños are particularly easy to cut. cut them in half from the top down. inside there will be seeds and a structure holding them to the outside of the pepper. simply strip this structure and the seeds into the garbage just using your fingers, and cut from there as needed (strips, dicing, etc).

good luck!
-kl