Devon's Cooking...Greek Food!

As you can see from my recent blogs, we've been traveling a ton these past few months. Because of all our travels, we haven't been able to do one of our very favorite things-- have a dinner party! In fact, we've been at our new place for over a month without a single thought of a dinner party. So when we realized that Friday was an open night, we didn't hesitate to invite a few people over for some (hopefully) good food and some even better wine and conversation. Making matters even more convenient was the fact that we were going sailing with two of Dave's co-workers and their significant others the following morning... and one of those co-workers was Melissa Stayner (wife of my college roomie, Kev) who lives in Orange County. We figured it would be perfect to have them over Friday night and then all go sailing on Saturday (unfortunately, San Diego was struck yesterday with one of our annual three days of rain and our sailing trip was replaced by mimosas, bloody mary's and breakfast-- oh darn!).

Once the date was established, the next question was what to make for dinner for 8? We decided to cheat a little and make burgers...and we've really been wanting to try these Greek burgers we saw on Food Network. And so the menu was decided-- we were eating Greek food. For apps, I decided on veggies and hummus, as well as homemade(ish) spanakopita (recipe below). The main course were the Greek Burgers with grilled eggplant and homemade tzatziki--yum-- and a Greek salad! And for dessert, we went to our trusty Bon Appetit and tried out the Blueberry Shortcakes with Lemon and Thyme Biscuits recipe. All told, and nine bottles of wine later, it was a wonderful time with wonderful friends.


SPANAKOPITA
Ingredients
2 sheets puff pastry
1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed to remove all liquid)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups r-f cottage cheese
1/2 lb feta cheese (crumbled)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
nonstick cooking spray
egg wash (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 400°F. Gently roll out each sheet of puff pastry to the size of your pan (approximately 9 x 13). Spray pan with spray and place the first sheet of pastry. Making sure that all the liquid has been squeezed and drained from the spinach, mix spinach with the feta, cottage cheese, eggs, pepper and dill. Spread mixture in pan. Top mixture with second sheet of pastry and brush with egg wash (optional). Bake till golden brown, approximately 35 minutes.

GREEK BURGERS
Ingredients
Tzatziki with feta:
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh dill
• r/f 1/2 cup crumbled Greek feta cheese
Grilled Eggplant:
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large eggplant
Burger:
• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
• Salt and pepper
• Oil, for brushing on the grill rack
• 6 small pita breads
• 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
Directions
Prepare an open grill for moderate direct-heat cooking.

Tzatziki with feta:
Seed and chop the cucumber. In a medium bowl, stir together the cucumber, yogurt, garlic, dill and feta. Refrigerate and chill for 1 hour.

Grilled Eggplant:
In a small bowl, combine vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper. Whisk in oil until thick and well blended. Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch rounds. Arrange in a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish; coat well with dressing. Grill eggplant until tender, about 3 minutes each side, keep warm.

Lamb burger:
In a large bowl blend together lamb, mint, cumin, salt and pepper, to taste. Form 6 patties.
Before grilling burgers, brush the grill rack with oil. Place the patties on the rack turning once, 4 minutes each side.
Cut pitas horizontally and lightly toast over indirect heat.
Assemble burgers as follows: pita bottom, lettuce, burger topped generously with tzatziki, a slice of grilled eggplant, and the top of the pita.


GREEK SALAD
Greek Spinach Salad Recipe
Ingredients
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups sliced cucumber (about 1 medium)
1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 5)
5 cups loosely packed torn spinach
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Directions: Combine first 5 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Combine chickpeas, cucumber, and tomato in a large bowl; add vinegar mixture, tossing well. Add spinach and feta cheese; toss salad gently. Sprinkle salad with pepper, if desired.


BLUEBERRY SHORTCAKES WITH LEMON AND THYME BISCUITS
Ingredients
4 cups blueberries (about 22 oz)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp water
3/4 cup chilled buttermilk
1 Tbsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (you can also use regular pastry flour or just plain old all-purpose, but the whole wheat was yummy and added some fiber!)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Tbsp raw sugar
Vanilla ice cream

Directions: For the berries, combine berries, powdered sugar and water in large saucepan, stirring over medium heat until berries are slightly softened and syrup coats spoon (about 10 minutes). Berries should be served at room temp. For the biscuits, preheat oven to 425. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix buttermilk, lemon peel and thyme in small bowl. Whisk next 5 ingredients in large bowl to blend, breaking up any large chunks of brown sugar with fingers. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add buttermilk mixture and stir with fork just until blended. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface, knead gently just until dough comes together, about 4 to 5 turns (don't overwork). Roll dough out to 3/4-inch thickness and cut with 3-inch diameter cookie cutter dipped in flour. Re-roll out dough scraps as necessary until you have 6 shortcakes. Sprinkle with raw sugar once the shortcakes are on the baking sheet, bake until golden-- about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool. Using serrated knife, slice each biscuit in half. Place bottom half on small plate, top with 1/6 of blueberry mixture, place top half of biscut on top and place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Repeat 6 times. Enjoy!