Spanakopita with Kale (Kale-o-kopita)

Spanakopita has always been one of my favorite Greek dishes. Unfortunately, since I have developed a sensitivity to spinach (of all things, right?), I can no longer have a traditional spanakopita. However, making spanakopita with alternate ingredients has been in my bucket list of cooking.

Served with a quick Greek-style salad

Kale actually gave the ultimate substitute. It gives me the green look of spinach and great nutritional value. It is also good that I love kale and it has become one of our staples, particularly the curly kale. In fact, if I eat more kale! My hair may turn curly and green.

The docs also gave me specific orders to avoid feta cheese (ugh), something about it being a soft cheese. As a result, I have another challenge in my hands. I can have cream cheese, so that gives me a start, but it would not give me that distinct feta taste.

Since I have some of the basics, I have been sleeping with and meditating on the cookbook that we bought at our favorite Greek Festival in Oakland. I also have been researching recipes on the web. It is classic me: I went into my usual analysis-paralysis.

Then I procrastinated since I did not want to bake in the summer: 90 degree temperatures, you know. But now that it's winter, I don't mind a hot oven (in fact, I welcome it). It is time to pursue it.

Preparing the parcels

I decided that Christmas week would be the perfect time to try this recipe out. I have a lot of time and I can get what I have been visualizing into reality. Besides, I should complete my goals before year-end.

And to make it more difficult for me, I decided to use the parcel technique that I learned from Giada and initially used in my baklava. I figured this will make my kale-o-kopita more portable.

This time I was well-prepared for working with phyllo. I have a small kitchen, so I cleared my counter space. I needed to hang the cook book from a hanger to create more room!

Here's what I have so far. Please note, this was only tested once... let me know what you think.

Mad Gourmet’s Cheesy Kale Phyllo Parchments (or Kale-o-kopita)

Based on several Spanakopita recipes from Kali Orexi!

A collection of recipes by the Philoptochos Society of the Ascension Cathedral

In Oakland, California

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale, about 10 cups of kale
• 1 leek (about a cup)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 oz cream cheese (I used light)
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp of Italian seasoning, divided
• 15 sheets of phyllo
• About a stick of butter, melted
• 1/2 cup of olive oil

Directions: 

1. Cut kale in fine pieces and squeeze the water out. Set aside.
2. Cook leeks in olive oil until tender. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add kale, cream cheese and Parmesian cheese to the leeks (I microwaved the cream cheese for about 30 seconds to soften before adding to the mixture). Mix well. Set aside.
4. Melt butter and let cool. Mix olive oil in the butter.
5. On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of phyllo. Using a pastry brush and the remaining melted butter, lightly cover the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter and olive oil.
6. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter mixture. Continue until there is a stack of 5 sheets of phyllo.
7. Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 4 equal pieces (Cut lengthwise into 2 pieces and widthwise into 2 pieces. This will end up into a rectangular shape).
8. Carefully press each cut piece of phyllo into greased muffin tin cups. Press 2 tablespoons of the kale mixture into each of the phyllo cups.
9. Gather the ends of each of the phyllo squares and tuck to make a sachet shape.
10. Continue shaping the remaining sachets in the other mini-muffin tin.
11. Bake until the edges of the phyllo are golden, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Verdict

Yummy! Looks just like spanakopita!

One bite brought my husband and I back to Greece, strolling through Plaka or exploring the alleys and streets in Mykonos or just relaxing in Santorini. It was great.

Although, I thought it can use a bit more tweaking, my husband thought it is perfect as it is. I think it can use more Italian seasoning to make the cream cheese taste more like feta, maybe another half teaspoon or a full one. I could try to use fresh herbs too, but that would require more.

My other dilemma when I was planning this was what to do with the extra phyllo. I remember the last time I used phyllo, when I made bastilla, I ended up with a bunch of extras. This time by accident, I bought a packet that has two separate phyllo rolls (YES!) which means I will can have another phyllo adventure mid-January.

Bonus! Phyllo cups!

I still ended up with had some extra phyllo, about six sheets. So, I made myself some phyllo cups! It’s cheaper than buying a packet. Then, I can use it to get a pre-taste of my creation or for some cheesy sundried tomato scrambled egg cups the next morning.

In my curiousity, I asked Google translate what kale is in Greek. Google says that Kale in Greek is λάχανο or lachano. So, does this make this Lachanokopita?

Kali orexi!

Mad Gourmet's Lamb Burgers ala Plaka

Gyros on a bun! (I need a better camera.)

Whoa! This is just too good not to share.

My husband had a craving for lamb burgers. Normally, he would be in charge of the kitchen in the evening, but we both were feeling a bit tired. So, I volunteered to cook while he gets the groceries.

Normally we would just have lettuce, tomatoes, Heinz 57 ketchup, and mustard (Gee, that sounds like a Jimmy Buffet song), but I thought I’d try something different. I thought a tsatziki sauce (Greek Yogurt Sauce) would be a sauce for lamb, so from memory, I asked my hubby to buy yogurt, cucumbers, lemon, and Italian parsley. He bought cilantro, though – he often gets those two mixed up. And obviously, I got it wrong (it should be mint).

I started looking through Google for a tzatziki sauce recipe, but I remembered that we bought a Greek recipe book years ago from our favorite Greek Festival in Oakland, CA. This was an awesome festival with great food made by Greek mothers and yiayias (grandmothers). It saved my iPod from being my recipe book, at least for tonight.

For some reason, I started looking through it and found the recipe for a Gyro Sandwich, Of course, I do not have oregano and thyme, but I think my Italian Seasoning has these and more. I know, I know… Greece and Italy are two different countries, but I got to make do with what I have. I think this would be a good blend to spice up the lamb.

Regarding the ingredients for the burgers, my apologies for it not being precise. I was winging it this time and was not measuring. I’ll measure it next time we make it and update this recipe.

Mad Gourmet’s Lamb Burgers ala Plaka

Adapted From “Kali Orexi! A Collection of Recipes by the Philoptochos Society of the Ascension Cathedral” (Oakland, CA)

Ingredients:

Tsatziki sauce:

• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 2 T of chopped cilantro (I did not have mint)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Burgers:

• Ground lamb
• Italian seasoning, to taste (use sparingly, these herbs can be potent)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Garlic powder, to taste (bring it on, just kidding)

Condiments:

• Tomatoes
• Red Onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preparing the sauce:

1. With a sharp knife, peel cucumbers, cut into small dice.
2. Place in colander, sprinkle with salt. Let drain for an hour (I did not have time to do this).
3. Pat cucumber dry with paper towels (ergo, I did not need to do this, either).
4. Mix together garlic, cilantro, and yogurt, Season with pepper.
5. Stir in diced cucumber.
6. Chill while burgers are cooking.

Prepping the lamb patties:

1. Mix lamb and seasoning together. Note: Ideally, you should “marinate” the meat for an hour or two, but we did not plan ahead.
2. Make the patties and cook them in a hot pan (in olive oil) to our liking.
3. Split the hamburger buns and toast lightly on one side.
4. Spread tsatziki sauce on the buns.
5. Add lamb patties, tomatoes, and red onions.

Verdict:

These lamb burgers are awesome! It reminded my husband and I of the gyros we enjoyed in numerous Greek festivals or even in Greece! The only thing missing is a cold bottle of Mythos beer and you’re back in Old Town Plaka in Athens. Opa!

My Big Fat Greek Baklava

I still had some phyllo dough from my Bastilla adventure last week. So before the remaining phyllo dries out, I decided to attempt to make baklava. This was perfect because I bought walnuts for some muffins last week (a topic for another post) and still had about a half a cup of almonds left.

Baklava is my favorite Greek dessert or afternoon snack. It is composed of layers of buttered phyllo dough, filled with nuts, and topped with syrup or honey. It is very decadent and great with Greek coffee. During Greek Festivals, we often end our visit with coffee, medium sweet and baklava; the times that we don’t – they have ran out.

After my experience with handling phyllo last week, I felt more confident with handling the fine dough. I still need more experience and this would be a good opportunity to do so. However, I don’t want to make a full 9 by 9 inch tray of baklava. Again, it’s only the two of us, and I was not planning to go to the office this week. The office is where I usually I bring extra sweets – it’s gone within an hour.

I found a recipe in the food Network site for a Simple Baklava by Giada de Laurentis. She uses phyllo parcels which I think is rather elegant. I used that as a starting point. This recipe also uses a mini-muffin tin, so that is an added bonus. I love working with my mini-muffin tin.

Given that, I do not have the apricots nor breadcrumbs that her recipe calls for. So, I consulted a Greek cookbook, which we bought in one of these festivals.

I also opted to include the traditional syrup that is used as a topping. I used the ingredients from the Greek cookbook and just experimented on the proportions.

Verdict:

The finished product was delicious and tasted like the baklavas we’ve had in the past. Instead of a Big Fat Baklava, I ended up with a Petite Baklava Bite, but it's yummy and more mindful of portion size. Each parcel only had about 2 teaspoons of the nut mixture so it is healthy, but not too excessive.

The parcels may have too much phyllo. I may just use 4 sheets next time, and instead of following Giada’s instructions on how to divide the phyllo (Cut lengthwise into 4 pieces and widthwise into 3 pieces), I may cut it 4 x 4 length and width or in 3” x 3” pieces

For a more decadent feel, it needs more nuts. I think I goofed on the proportions on my first attempt (most likely, because I eliminated the apricots and breadcrumbs). Next time I will need to add another 1/4 cup of nuts.

Lastly, as a simpler variation, I may just use confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon as a topping. This will be much easier to make than the syrup and perhaps less cleaning.

Unfortunately, I was not able to take pictures of the process, only the finished product. I was concentrating too much, especially the layering and cutting of the phyllo . Next time, and there will be one, more pictures will be taken. I think the pictures will be helpful.

Mad Gourmet’s Simple Baklava Parcels

Based on Simple Baklava by Giada de Laurentis (From Food Network)

Syrup recipe based on The Best of Greek Cuisine by Vefa Alexiadou

Ingredients

Baklava

·       2 Tablespoons almonds, slivered

·       1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp walnuts, finely chopped (I did not have a food processor so I used a Ziploc bag and a meat tenderizer)

·       1 Tablespoon sugar

·       3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·       1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

·       Pinch of salt

·       1 /2 stick butter, melted, divided

·       1 1/2 Tablespoons honey

·       6 sheets phyllo dough

Syrup

·       1/4 cup sugar

·       1/4 cup water

·       1/4 teaspoon vanilla

·       1/4 teaspoon lemon rind, grated

Equipment: Mini-muffin tin

Directions:

1.     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.     Place the sliced almonds, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

3.     Add 1 tablespoon of the melted butter and the honey and stir to combine.

4.     On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of phyllo. Using a pastry brush and the remaining melted butter, lightly cover the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Continue until there is a stack of 6 sheets of phyllo.

5.     Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 12 equal pieces (Cut lengthwise into 4 pieces and widthwise into 3 pieces. This will end up into a rectangular shape – see my Verdict)

6.     Carefully press each cut piece of phyllo into the mini-muffin tin cups. Press 2 teaspoons of the nut mixture into each of the phyllo cups.

7.     Gather the ends of each of the phyllo squares and tuck to make a sachet shape (Sorry, here’s where a picture may come in handy).

8.     Continue shaping the remaining sachets in the other mini-muffin tin.

9.     Bake until the edges of the phyllo are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.

10.  While baklava is baking, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in honey, vanilla and lemon zest, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

11.  When ready, remove the baklava from the oven and immediately spoon the syrup over it.

12.  Let cool completely before serving. Store uncovered.

Postscript: 

I should have made 24 pieces. After almost 24 hours, there is only one piece left. That is what I consider a success!

Kali Orexi! (A Good Appetite)