World On A Plate

IMBB- My Fat Greek Dumpling

It's time for Is My Blog Burning? 7, the group food blogging virtual event. The theme for this round is Your Just the Cutest Little Dumpling and is hosted by Jarrett someone who has changed my life through his Food Porn Watch.

In keeping with this week’s theme while also participating in my first IMBB Dumpling quest I chose to prepare dolmathes—grape leaves stuffed with seasoned rice. Something that looked relatively easy. What I found out is that there is an art to the making these Greek-style dumplings. With a little perseverance this are a crowd pleaser and will make you like a savvy culinary hero.

Anya Von Bremzen, in The Greatest Dishes! provides a historical context to the dolmathes or more familiar name dolmas:

“The vast stuffed-vegetable empire encompasses the entire Turkic and Arab-speaking world, stretching from the Middle East to the eastern Mediterranean to the Balkans into Eastern Europe. The nomenclature varies from language to language and often from dish to dish, with the most common term being a variant of dolma. Derived, appropriately, from the Turkish word for “stuffed,” dolma can denote a specific dish of filled grape leaves (such as the Greek dolmathes) or refer to stuffed vegetables in general, as in the Iranian domeh or Armenian tolma.”

A popular appetizer in Greece grape leaves can be stuffed a number of ways--meat and then topped off with a hot lemony egg-based avgolemono sauce or stuffed with bulgur. In northern and mainland Greece, they are typically served cold with a more mixture of spice-enriched rice and pine nuts.

The first recipe, which will go unacknowledged, was a disaster. The cooking time was incorrect—too short and the rice was a crunchy texture. The second go around, from Ethnic Cuisine by Elisabeth Rozin was far superior. Why I strayed from this consistently rewarding book is a mystery to me.

After cooking these twice, I thought that these would be very impressive at a picnic or bbq as they can be prepared a day ahead, left to cool in the cooking pot and stored in the refrigerator overnight allowing the flavors to deepen. I brought the final presentation, accompanied by tzatziki as a dressing, to an Olympic opening ceremonies Greek-themed dinner party last week.

Greek Chicken Soup

Olympic fever, at least in my world, reached its pitch yesterday. Tyler Hamilton was finally number one in pro cycling. Awarded a gold medal for the men’s individual time trial yesterday he’s back on top after withdrawing from the Tour de France (TDF) and suffering the loss of his buddy, Tugboat, his golden retriever days into the TDF. Although Tyler isn’t currently a member of the USPS team, he’s a former teammate of Lance. He’s got courage, game and he hails from my home state of Massachusetts. It should also be mentioned that the bronze was captured by fellow American Bobby Julich. Go USA. American pro cycling has never looked better!

Last night having arrived home late and nursing the start of a summer cold I accompanied my Olympic viewing with a classic Greek chicken soup—avgolemono (pronounced ahv-goh-leh-MAH-noh).

This is a very tasty and easy Greek soup which may be served cold or hot. Served cold, it is wonderful on a hot summer day. I prepared my soup warm as summer in San Francisco, well, that means gray, chilly and foggy days. Avgolemono is also the name for a warmed Greek sauce made with, egg yolks and lemon. It is often used to dress dolmades-stuffed grape leaves or lamb meatballs.

The preparation of this dish is remarkably simple. In preparing this dish it made me think of an easy Italian soup I like to prepare, brodo con straciatella. As a point of comparison it would appear that the only difference between Greek and Italian cooking is a matter of technique and lemon juice.

For this soup the whites are folded into the broth first with the lemon juice, and the yolks are added on a very low heat that mustn’t reach boiling point or it will curdle. Finally a knob of butter is floated in each bowl to serve.

I started with a recipe from James Peterson’s Splendid Soups simply because this chef-author is one thorough professional. In the text of this book he writes of several well-known avgolemono variations. One from James Villas using orzo and oysters; another made with lamb broth and one more from Morocco that flavors the soup with saffron, cinnamon and uses cilantro instead of the parsley.

As orzo is a Greek pantry staple I substituted the rice Peterson calls for with it. I also had some left over poached chicken that I shredded and added in at the end. As I love the fresh, clean taste of lemon I also added in some zest at the end. The following recipe was what I ended up doing.

Avgolemono

Greek Lemon Soup

Serves 2-4

1 quart chicken broth
1/2 C partially cooked orzo
2 eggs
Juice of 3 lemons
5 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
little lemon slices
Lemon zest
Optional - shredded cooked chicken
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Bring first 2 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan. Cover and simmer until orzo is tender. The goal is to infuse the orzo with the chicken broth flavors while finishing the cooking of the orzo. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, beat the eggs until fluffy. Add and beat in lemon juice and parsley to the eggs.

Slowly stir about 2 cups of the hot broth into the egg mixture and whisk vigorously. Pour back into rest of soup over very low heat whisk until slightly thick. The soup must not come to a boil or it will curdle. Add shredded cooked chicken and lemon zest if using.

Serve hot or refrigerate until cold. Garnish with lemon slice.

Serve with Kalamata olives and bread for a complete meal.

Greek Breakfast

Greeks, my well-traveled friends tell me, are not big on breakfast. Many Athenians consider coffee and a cigarette or two sufficient to start the day. Traditionally, breakfast is not a big affair. Often people on the go will enjoy a Greek coffee or these days a frappé paired with a hard roll or with loukamades, fried doughnut holes drizzled with honey.

The Greek islands have been the crossroads of the Mediterranean since the time of Homer. Over the centuries, Phoenicians, Athenians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, Ottoman Turks, and Italians all stirred the pot in this region, putting their distinctive stamp on the food. One example is the coffee served in Greece which is similiar to Turkish coffee.

In fact until the 1974 Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus, coffee in Greece was called Turkish coffee; it’s in your best interest to not call or refer to it as Turkish coffee for many reasons historical and political. Just know that the coffee you drink in Greece is not for the meek or those with heart conditions!

Typical of most local cafés the venues serve as the place to catch up on the news and, of course, gossip or to play backgammon. In Greece it is not uncommon in the bigger cities to see employees of coffee bars delivering trays of coffee to local businesses on foot. How many times has this been my want at 3:30?

Greek coffee is made in a briki traditionally bronze but today they can be found in stainless steel and aluminum. The vessel also has a lip for easy pouring. The long-handled shape comes from the days when it was placed in the dessert sand to prepare the coffee. The coffee is not served with milk and if sugar is added, it is always added before boiling. The grind of the coffee is finer than espresso, often called Turkish grind. It is served black, in small and thick cups called flitzania. Before drinking it let the coffee stand a minute to allow the grounds to settle to the bottom of the cup. This also allows for a professional coffee ground fortune teller to turn the demitasse-like cups upside down for readings. In Greece, you will usually be served a cold glass of water to accompany the coffee.

Today’s hip crowd prefer frappé, instant coffee with milk (pictured above). I've include two recipes, one for the frappé and another with an influence of a traditional American breakfast.

You say tomahto I say tomayto

A family of Brandywines, a herd of Green Zebras and the Costoluto Genovese have taken over my kitchen table. Over the years I’ve developed a passion bordering on obsessive for heirloom tomatoes.

It’s that time of year when the colors, aromatics and bounty of the farmer’s market is almost too tempting for me to go. The French once called the tomato pomme d'amour or “the apple of love," and in Italian similar sounding to French, pomodoro roughly translates as golden fruit while German translates to "the apple of paradise”. All due to its reputed aphrodisiac properties. And love them all I do.

The tomato originates from the Peruvian Andes and Mexico where it was grown by the Incas. The word tomato comes from the Aztec word ‘tomalt’ meaning ‘fleshy fruit’. Christopher Columbus discovered it and brought it back to Europe where it enjoyed great success in the Mediterranean. Peter Hertzmann captures the tomato's history from a French perspective. The recipes and facts go beyond the historical journey from South America to Europe, then back across the ocean to North America.

With so many books on tomatoes from gardening, to cooking to folklore it’s a challenge to find the right one. I’ve picked a few that are more on the history, cultural and cookbook side of the fence to help those of us dealing with our current addiction.

In Praise of Tomatoes : Tasty Recipes, Garden Secrets, Legends & Lore by Ronni Lundy shows us many ways to love the tomato. The book is part cookbook, part history and shows a passion for tomatoes that is impressive. What’s impressive is not so much the number of recipes but the unique ways that tomatoes show up. Recipes such as Spicy Red Tomato Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, a North Carolina soup called Muddle, and a Thai salad of papaya and tomato.

The tomato is used around the world. After all where would Italy's repertoire of tomato-sauced pastas, cacciatores, minestrones, pizzas, to name a few, be with out pomodoro? French dishes have featured the tomato since the days of the Great Careme. Mexicans have a range of tomato based salsas. The Spanish are known around the world with their famous soup, gazpacho. In India and Indonesia hot-tomato chutneys are a staple. In the United States where would our burgers and fried be with out ketchup?

A helpful and recent discoveries, in understating the importance of the showcasing tomato in various cultures around the world is Tomatoes: Easy, Delicious Tomato Recipes by Manisha Gambhir Harkins. The collection of recipes pulls together a global survey of tomato-based recipes such as Lebanese bread salad, called fattoush, Italian Bean and Tomato Soup, Provencal Tomato Tian, and of course the Sunday brunch reviver the Bloody Mary.

Power Nut

Due to the recent eating fascination of all things low carb nuts are now the new power food. Most are low in unsaturated fats and are a good source of protein, fiber and give a boost to energy levels. Hazelnuts in particular are a versatile nut. I like them best of all because of their distinct somewhat sharp taste.

Historians believe this nut to have originated in Asia which would make it one of the oldest agricultural food crops. Greeks and Romans once prized hazelnuts for their medicinal properties. The Celts equated hazelnuts with concentrated wisdom and poetic inspiration. Lore tells us that St. Patrick rid Ireland of serpents with a rod or branch of hazel. Magician’s wands are traditionally made out of the wood of this tree. There’s a lot of power and strength here.

Fast forward to today and we’re calling hazelnuts well, filberts. Let’s set the record straight. They are not the same but are close cousins. The misnomer may be thought by some historians to have originated from the Old English name, "full beard," because of the long husk that entirely covers the nut in some varieties. Others thought the name was derived from St. Philibert; August 22, the day dedicated to the saint corresponds to the time, in England, of the ripening and harvesting of the earliest filberts er, ah, hazelnuts.

No matter, what we do know for sure is that there are over 100 known varieties grown throughout the world with the majority grown in Black Sea coast area of Turkey. In the United States, Oregon accounts for 99% of all hazelnut production in the United States primarily in the Willamette Valley. The best, though I've never tried them, come from Italy's Piedmont region.

According to the Hazelnuts Growers of Oregon the nuts are high in dietary fiber, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, vitamin E, and 80 percent of its total fat is monounsaturated. These “good fats” are believed to lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. They also do not contain cholesterol.

Medical documents from about 1,800 years ago detail remedies using hazelnuts. An ointment of burnt hazelnut shells and bear suet was smeared on balding heads; a common cold remedy has the nut mixed with black pepper and a persistent cough was treated with a ground hazelnuts and honey. Not sure if there is any worth in this treatments.

Most of the magic of hazelnuts today is in its most frequent use--baking and confections—particularly in concert with chocolate.

For the record when you're shopping in your local nut house be it the grocery or virtual shop Oregon nuts are reddish-brown, and the Turkish nuts are more chestnut-brown. It is acorn-shaped and about the size of a grape. The nut’s dark papery skin should be removed by toasting the nuts in a 325°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes until their skins begin to crack. Watch carefully and closely and smell. When you start to smell them it means the oils are being released. Remove them and transfer the hot nuts to a kitchen towel and vigorously rub them together to remove most of the skin. It’s okay if there is some skin left behind. Let the nuts cool before incorporating into the recipe. It’s convenient too if you do prepare more nuts than you need as they can store easily the fridge or freezer. The baking expert Flo Braker, the author of several definitive books on baking, suggests freezing the roasted hazelnuts as the skins will easily flake off. It works, you just need to anticipate doing it.

My first introduction to hazelnuts came in the form of Nutella. This chocolate-hazelnut spread is to Italians what peanut butter is to Americans and vegemite is to Australians. According to company history, Nutella spread, was created in the 1940's by Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company. One of the world’s largest chocolate producers it's treats include Kinder Surprise Eggs, egg-shaped chocolates with tiny toys inside, Mon Cheri chocolates, Rocher chocolates, and Tic Tac breath mints.

Nutella, created during a wartime cocoa shortage, due to war rationing making chocolate a delicacy limited to a lucky few. So Ferrero mixed cocoa with toasted hazelnuts, cocoa butter and vegetable oils to create an economical spread of chocolate which he called "pasta gianduja" (pasta jon-du-ja).

But sole credit can’t be bestowed on Pietro. According to an 1996, Atlantic Monthly article Corby Kummer

Banana Hazelnut Empanadas

1 large, ripe banana, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 cup Nutella hazelnut spread
2 refrigerated 9-inch pie crusts or favorite from-scratch
pie dough (enough for two 9-inch pie crusts)
2 tablespoons water (for brushing)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Cinnamon ice cream or whipped cream, for serving (optional)

In small bowl, mix banana and Nutella until combined (it will thicken and become stiff).
Set aside.

Divide dough in half. Roll out each half to a 14 x 8-inch rectangle, 1/4-inch thick. Using square or round 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 8 pieces per half.

Place 1 heaping teaspoon Nutella-banana mixture on each dough cutout. Brush outer perimeter with water and fold dough to make a closed pocket. Pinch edges together with fork. Brush with water and sprinkle with sugar.

Freeze on parchment paper or foil-lined baking sheets for at least 15 minutes. (The empanadas can be made up to this point and frozen for 3 months.)

Bake empanadas until golden, about 20 minutes.

Serve warm with cinnamon ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Servings: 16; serving size: 2 pieces

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, April, 1999

Makes 2 cups
2/3 cup (about 2 ½ ounces) hazelnuts, toasted with skins removed
¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
½ cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons honey

Process nuts, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally until they have liquefied about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Combine the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and honey in a heat-proof bowl or in the top of a double boiler, set over a pan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat until the chocolate chips have melted, about 3 minutes.

Add the hot-chocolate mixture to the liquefied hazelnuts, and process until the mixture is smooth about 5 minutes. Transfer the spread to an airtight container. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 month.