Rosie Rings In The New Year With Spanakopita.

 

 I can't believe I've made it this long without making spanakopita.  And now, I have finally corrected that error.  In case you're unfamiliar with this dish, it's a savory Greek pie with crisp layers of phyllo pastry encasing a spinach and feta cheese filling.  I have made my own phyllo dough years ago when I made baklava from scratch, but because of time constraints and the fact that I'm just plain lazy right now, I'm using store-bought phyllo sheets.  The dish comes together in minutes, then bakes for about an hour until the pastry is crisp and delicately browned.  Then it's crackled-cut and served.

 It's festive.  It's fun. And it's perfect for the between Christmas and New Years no-man's land.

You'll find lots of versions of spanakopita, so I just went along, picking and choosing with whatever  ingredients I had.  You'll want phyllo sheets, unsalted melted butter, olive oil, spinach, onions, scallions, dill leaves, parsley, feta,  eggs, milk, and cream.

 

 

  Rosie's Spanakopita

 For 1 - 10" x 6" x 2" glass baking dish

2 5-oz bags fresh spinach (If you have more, no problem. My original recipe called for 2 pounds spinach, but I wasn't making another trip out. If you decide to use more spinach, just add in an extra egg and more milk, cream, and feta to compensate for the extra spinach. This is a case where "more is more!"

1/3 cup chopped onions

1/3 cup chopped scallions

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup 2% milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup finely chopped dill leaves

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 tsp kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

1/2 lb feta cheese, crumbled

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

16 sheets, phyllo pastry (approximately 12" x 16") at room temperature

 

In a heavy 10-12 inch skillet, heat a few tablespoons olive oil over moderate heat, then add onions and scallions, stirring frequently, and cook about 5 minutes.  Stir in spinach, cover, and cook for about 4 minutes.  Add dill, parsley, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly for about 7 minutes, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Transfer spinach to medium bowl and let cool a bit, then stir in the milk/cream mixture.  Add in the feta and slowly beat in the eggs.  Taste test and adjust seasoning if necessary.

 

 Heat oven to 300°.

 

With a pastry brush, coat bottom and sides of baking pan with melted butter.  Line the dish with a sheet of phyllo, pressing the edges firmly into the corners and against the sides of the dish.  Brush the entire surface of the pastry with more butter, spreading it all the way to the outside edges.  Lay another sheet of phyllo on top.  Spread with butter, and continue constructing in this fashion until you have used 8 layers of phyllo sheets.

 

Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the last layer of phyllo and smooth it into the corners.  Then place a sheet of phyllo on top, brush with butter, and repeat with remaining layers of phyllo and butter as before - 8 layers.  Roll up or trim excess pastry from around the rim of the dish and brush top of pie with remaining butter.

 

Bake in a 300° oven about one hour, rotating halfway through, until pastry is crisp and delicately browned.   Remove from oven, let cool a bit, then cut into serving squares or rectangles.

 Here's everything I'm using.  As I said, if you want to go with more spinach, by all means do.  Just add more of everything else.  This is not written in stone.

Choppy.  Choppy.

Mincey.  Mincey. 

Sauté onions and scallions in olive oil.

Add in spinach and cook.

Remember to stir.

Add in parsley and dill.

And cook until liquid is evaporated.

Remove spinach mixture to bowl, let cool a bit, and add milk/cream.

Add in feta.

Stir in beaten eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now let's start the assembly:

 

Brush phyllo sheet with butter.

Layer and butter 8 sheets.

Spinach mixture in.

Smooth it out to edges.

Continue layering with phyllo sheets and butter on top.  8 more sheets. 

Bake in 300° oven and mine was ready in about 55 minutes. 

Crackling Good!

OH, how festive!

Oh, how delicious!

This is a wonderful dish with which to celebrate the new year 

And that's one of my favorite photographs in the background of Reba and my granddaughter.  All a girl needs is a the perfect hat, a pair of boots, and a good dog!

Yes.  My house is lived in and all the stools are topped with books, magazines, and recipes.

I didn't even bother to edit it out. 

I told you I was lazy. 

Ooooh.   I love those cracklins!

Enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Breakfast And Lunch Chez The Hawthornes

On Sunday mornings, Mr. Hawthorne gives up his oatmeal and his cereal, and actually has a real breakfast. Since the Xmaskaties were here, I decided to whip up Eggs Benedict for a special treat.

Toasted English muffin with spinach and sliced ham, with a perfectly poached egg and a lovely, smooth Hollandaise sauce.

I dropped the egg into a vortex of vinegared, boiling water and poached it for exactly 3 minutes. Dropping into a vortex enables the white to envelop around the yolk and gives you a nicely shaped package. For the Hollandaise, I put two yolks in the pan with about 2 teaspoons lemon juice. I held the pan over very low heat and whisked constantly, adding in cold butter one slice at a time, whisking until it was incorporated, then adding the next slice. And I held the pan in the air over the flame, not on it, since I didn't want my eggs to scramble. Season with salt and pepper. Oh yeah, I used 1/2 stick- 3/4 stick of butter in all, 1/2 tablespoon at a time.

Oh my, but this was good. The creamy, buttery, lemony richness of the Hollandaise was a delightful foil to the slight saltiness of the ham. The egg yolk was perfectly runny and the addition of the spinach made it all extremely healthy and good for you.

Almost forgot the grits. Stone ground with butter and cheddar added. The grits are from Byrd Mill and are nothing like what you might buy in the grocery store. Now, I call this a breakfast. After the Xmaskaties left, I started preparing lunch, since Ticky, of Reinventing A Boomer blogdom, and Ticklet were coming to visit. I decided to make an appetizer of spanakopita.

I sauteed a chopped onion, then added a bag of rinsed spinach along with some water and cooked the spinach down. Drained the spinach, then squeezed the leftover water out. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Then I added some Olivia brand feta cheese which I bought at Harris Teeter and like very much since it's nowhere near as salty as the brand I'd been buying at Food Lion. A bit of Il Villaggio Parmesiano Reggiano, my favorite Parmesan at the moment until I find something better. And a new cheese I found at Harris Teeter - Il Villaggio Ricotta Salata, a delicious mild, nutty, semi-hard cheese. And finally, I tossed in some chopped parsley.

Last time I made spanakopita I used a rolled out sheet of puffy pastry, since I was using puff pastry to make a Pork Wellington of sorts. This time I used Phyllo sheets I put a spoonful of the spinach mixture in the corner of a phyllo strip. Then folded the corner to make a triangle. And kept folding over, brushing with melted butter, like folding up a flag.

And you could do it this way too. Spoon the filling at the edge of a butter brushed sheet or two or more of phyllo.

And simply roll up, brushing with melted butter.

I made diagonal slices down the length of the roll so it would be easier to slice after baking.

And here are the spanakopita triangles and roll up, brushed with butter, ready for the oven.

I baked at 350 degrees until nicely browned - about 45 minutes.

Crispy, flaky goodness on the outside. Savory, creamy yumminess on the inside.

These did not stay on the plate very long.

Here's the Hawaiian Pizza we made. I made the dough - 1/2 cup water 1 packet yeast 1 tablespoon sugar sprinkled over the yeast to proof 1 egg Maybe a tablespoon of olive oil 1 teaspoon salt Then stir in flour, a little bit at a time until you can get a ball together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead away, adding flour as needed (if it gets sticky) until you have a smooth, elastic ball. Cover in plastic and place in a warm place to rise until doubled or more in bulk. My trick is to take a wet towel, nuke it for about 90 seconds, then wrap it around the bowl and set back in the microwave and let rise. When the dough has doubled, smack it down, knead it some more, then spread it into an oiled pan. Take your time doing this. I start at the center and work my way to the edges, letting the dough rest every now and then to breathe. Then I go back in and spread it more. I let the dough rise a bit again, then put it in a 475 degree oven to let it brown before adding the toppings. In the meantime, I had been cooking down a tomato sauce. I had some leftover juice from where I had drained chopped tomatoes the other day when I was making corn salsa. I added some chopped onions then Mr. Hawthorne took over and added some oregano and the juice was cooked down until I had a nice sauce which just barely covered the pizza crust which is just the way I like it.

Mr. Hawthorne built the pizza. First he likes to put a layer of cheese on the crust. Then he spread the sauce out and added his toppings: Pieces of ham, slices of pineapple, and Maraschino cherries. He topped it with more cheese: Swiss, Mozzarella, and Monteray Jack.

I like to add a bit of hot peppers on my slices. This is just a very nice departure from your regular run of the mill pizzas.

Delicious pizza. Period. The crust was excellent, if I do say so myself. It remained very crispy and didn't soak up the sauce and get all mushy. Thanks, Ticky and Ticklet for visiting. Come back again soon!