Ok I detest Cottage cheese, I don't know why but to me its like eating snot, hehe. When I saw this recipe for Spanikopita (one of my favorite dishes of all time!) I had to try it.. but then I saw the dreaded cottage cheese...
so instead of walking away I decided to see what I could use instead.
I was also making the Lamb dish from Greek Style Lamb Kebabs , at the same time. It was amazing the 1st time so I couldn't wait to make it again!
This said, I now had yogurt (I even found Greek style yogurt woot!)
I decided that cream cheese would be a better choice than cottage cheese, So I put about 1/2 cup softened cream cheese, and about 1/4 cup Greek yogurt in instead of the cottage cheese. Also being summer in Texas the oven was not an option.. so I pan fried them instead.. here is my version of this wonderful recipe!
Spanikopita rolls
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
3 green onions, chopped
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach. thawed and squeezed VERY dry
4 ounces domestic feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 Cup Cream cheese Softened
1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/4 teaspoon each Garlic powder and Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Lemon Juice
4 Tablespoons Melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound phyllo, thawed
Oil for pan frying (I used about 1/3 Olive oil and 2/3 Vegetable oil to make about a 1/4 inch deep layer of oil in a large frying pan)
Cook the green onions in about a tablespoon of Olive until just soft this took me about 3 minutes.
While the onions were cooking I mixed the spinach, feta, cream cheese, yogurt, garlic, cumin, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Add cooked onions and season with salt, and pepper.
Then I took the phyllo that I had left on the counter for about 45 mins after pulling it from the freezer. I took the two sheets, then brushed the melted butter all over, then placed about 2 rounded tablespoons of the filling across one end about a quarter of an inch from the end, folded the sides over folded the end into the filling and rolled much like an egg-roll, I placed these under an slightly damp towel (I mean this thing has to be almost dry otherwise use plastic wrap or something else!) at this point I heated the oil in the frying pan to a medium heat (you don't want this too hot because the filling will not heat through and it you want it all warm and gooey!) I tested my pan with a sheet of phyllo that tore during the separation process. Place the rolls in the pan and when they are golden brown turn them, and try to get them all brown on as many sides as possible then try to to burn yourself eating them hehe.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Flour tortillas
Flour tortillas are so easy!
Before I start my family like BIG tortillas, like dinner plate size so if you like them smaller make them smaller but this recipe makes 12 Large tortillas
Flour tortillas
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Lard (you can use shortening if you like * More on this below)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 1/4 cup Warm Milk
Combine the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl of your stand mixer. with the bread hook attachment, add the lard and mix until you can't see any more lumps of lard (this gives it kinda a grainy texture) then with the mixer running on about medium add the milk. Mix until it forms a smooth ball of dough on medium high. this can take up to 5 mins.
I know mine is done when I pull the hook up and the ball of dough where it pulls from the hook is a bit stringy looking.
Then I divide the dough into 12 pretty equal pieces and make them into a ball. I do this on my counter, and cover the balls with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 30 mins.
At the end of 30 mins roll to paper thin on a floured surface.
Then cook them on a medium hot griddle (I like cast iron for this but anything works fine).
If your serving them right away put them in a towel covered plate or warmer, or if your going to use them later allow them to cool to lukewarm on a rack then place in a Ziploc back, I think they keep for a week or so but mine never last that long.
* Okay why lard? I know its bad for you.. and its really gross, but if you eat bacon why not lard? it doesn't taste or smell like pork, in fact if you were to put lard and vegetable shortening side by side you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
With this said, when lard is put in tortillas, it makes a better texture and flavor than veggie shorting.
A quick check on the web gives me
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fats-and-oils/483/2
and some people actually think it might be better for you than vegetable oil.
http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/nutrition/trans-fatty-acids-lard-better-than-vegetable-oil-00298.html
Before I start my family like BIG tortillas, like dinner plate size so if you like them smaller make them smaller but this recipe makes 12 Large tortillas
Flour tortillas
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Lard (you can use shortening if you like * More on this below)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 1/4 cup Warm Milk
Combine the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl of your stand mixer. with the bread hook attachment, add the lard and mix until you can't see any more lumps of lard (this gives it kinda a grainy texture) then with the mixer running on about medium add the milk. Mix until it forms a smooth ball of dough on medium high. this can take up to 5 mins.
I know mine is done when I pull the hook up and the ball of dough where it pulls from the hook is a bit stringy looking.
Then I divide the dough into 12 pretty equal pieces and make them into a ball. I do this on my counter, and cover the balls with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 30 mins.
At the end of 30 mins roll to paper thin on a floured surface.
Then cook them on a medium hot griddle (I like cast iron for this but anything works fine).
If your serving them right away put them in a towel covered plate or warmer, or if your going to use them later allow them to cool to lukewarm on a rack then place in a Ziploc back, I think they keep for a week or so but mine never last that long.
* Okay why lard? I know its bad for you.. and its really gross, but if you eat bacon why not lard? it doesn't taste or smell like pork, in fact if you were to put lard and vegetable shortening side by side you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
With this said, when lard is put in tortillas, it makes a better texture and flavor than veggie shorting.
A quick check on the web gives me
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fats-and-oils/483/2
and some people actually think it might be better for you than vegetable oil.
http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/nutrition/trans-fatty-acids-lard-better-than-vegetable-oil-00298.html
My style of cooking
Ok for anyone reading this I am not exactly a lazy cook, but sometimes your in a hurry and sometimes its cheaper to use whats available and sometimes you just don't want to spend hours making chicken broth when the stuff in a box/can is so easy to come by. Also, I live in a town that is a population of 1,700... there are stored near by, the biggest one is in still smaller than my house.
their idea of produce, is a couple of bagged lettuce, some onions, potatoes (idaho) banana, apple, squash (yellow) Zuccini, tomatoes, and sometimes if I am lucky citrus, rarely are we that lucky. So given this and my amazing ability to kill anything that can't verbally ask for food (I kill ivy!) my dishes often lack alot of the things I would love to include. Having to travel and hour or more to get ingredients kinda puts a kink in things... So please when you read the recipes on this site keep that in mind. Sometimes you have to work with what you have...
their idea of produce, is a couple of bagged lettuce, some onions, potatoes (idaho) banana, apple, squash (yellow) Zuccini, tomatoes, and sometimes if I am lucky citrus, rarely are we that lucky. So given this and my amazing ability to kill anything that can't verbally ask for food (I kill ivy!) my dishes often lack alot of the things I would love to include. Having to travel and hour or more to get ingredients kinda puts a kink in things... So please when you read the recipes on this site keep that in mind. Sometimes you have to work with what you have...
Why Blog...
About 11 years ago my mothers mother, Nannymom, died. To this day I can't make her recipes, I have recreated a couple, but really I still can't make the favorites she made.. I can't make her biscuits, and I can't make her fried chicken (though my family says my chicken is better I still miss her biscuits) and being from the south and not being able to make biscuits from scratch is almost a sin.
So... instead of making my children wonder what the heck I put in certain dishes and in an effort to remember myself as I make new stuff or come across new interesting things on the web I am going to write about it.. I am going to include my ideas of what and why I do thing and maybe when my sons grow up they will have some idea or at least a start of why I did what I did and where to begin.
Why I cook, because I LOVE it. I adore food, I love the way when you combine ingredients that it can either make something that evokes so many feelings, how with food you can bring up memories, make someone just sit back and breath the aroma and maybe even crave having that food again.
Ok enough talk! Off to cooking!
So... instead of making my children wonder what the heck I put in certain dishes and in an effort to remember myself as I make new stuff or come across new interesting things on the web I am going to write about it.. I am going to include my ideas of what and why I do thing and maybe when my sons grow up they will have some idea or at least a start of why I did what I did and where to begin.
Why I cook, because I LOVE it. I adore food, I love the way when you combine ingredients that it can either make something that evokes so many feelings, how with food you can bring up memories, make someone just sit back and breath the aroma and maybe even crave having that food again.
Ok enough talk! Off to cooking!
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