Kalí óreksi!

That's "bon appetit" in Greek. And if I could pick up several more phrases, I could easily be tempted to look at plane tickets. Someday... that trip will happen someday.

Today, er tonight actually, was my first attempt at Greek food and I now fully understand why this culture is so enthralled with food and feeding everyone: it takes forever to prepare! I'm sure there are quicker recipes, and it probably would have helped if I had decided to use only one recipe, but between preparation and actual cooking time, this is not your after-work throw-together dinner. It is, however, a wonderful after-work destressing-in-the-kitchen session. As I mentioned, I did not actually use only one recipe and I'm not sure if I even completely followed equal parts of the two that I selected. I was looking for a solid recipe to follow to make Mousaka, a beef and eggplant casserole that I've tried once from the little Ma and Pa Italian/Greek shop up the street from my apartment. When it came time to select the recipe, however, I couldn't find one clear enough to follow. One recipe on http://www.greekcuisine.com/ listed out the ingredients very well but never clarified exactly how long or at what temperature to cook everything. The other recipe, from http://www.greek-recipe.com/ explained the process quite well but the ingredient list was slightly different, including the omission of potatoes (which was included in the Ma and Pa version and is very, very tasty). The Greek-recipe site noted that the inclusion of potatoes is a Macedonian version but did not clarify where exactly the potatoes went. I suppose the improvising between two recipes makes this a noblecita original! Or, considering the origin, a "noblakis" original.

Mousaka

2 large (or about 1 1/2 lbs) eggplants
1 1/2 lbs potatoes
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 medium to large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tomatoes, diced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tsp salt, additional to taste
Pepper
Dash of nutmeg
Lots of olive oil

Slice potatoes and eggplant into 1/4" to 1/3" rounds. Submerge eggplant in salted water for approximately 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove, rinse, and pat dry.

Fry potato and eggplant slices, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan and place on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Preheat oven to 350* F. Lightly coat a 13x9 casserole dish with cooking spray, or a deep 8x9 dish for thicker results.

For meat mixture: In a separate large skillet, heat approximately 2-3 tbsp olive oil and saute onion and garlic until tender. Add ground beef and cook until almost completely browned. Add tomatoes, oregano, parsley, and salt and pepper, stir to combine and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Add Parmesan and stir to combine.

For bechamel sauce: In a medium sauce pan, melt butter on low heat. Add flour, 1 tsp salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and stir until well-combined. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in milk. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth. Remove from heat and add eggs. Whisk to combine. Add Pecorino Romano and stir again.

Assemble dish by laying one layer of potato slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with one layer of eggplant. Add approximately a third to half of the meat mixture (depending on how thick your mousaka will be). Repeat layers. Top with bechamel sauce. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until sauce has formed a golden crust. Let stand 5 minutes; dish should be dry enough to keep the layers intact when serving.

This recipe is the definition of approximation! I tossed spices in to the meat mixture until it looked good. The necessity here is to taste once the meat has browned. Let it simmer, then taste and decide if you need to season up or down. Most recipes I saw called for Kefalotiri cheese, but I couldn't find that at my grocery store. When I researched what kind of cheese it is, I read that it's supposedly a hard, aged cheese that can be substituted for Pecorino Romano, or some recipes swapped it for Parmesan. I had both so I used them both (I love cheese, why not throw it in?!). Probably the one suggestion I would make to for this recipe is to slice the eggplant a little thicker and try dehydrating a little more. I think the slices I used broke down a little too far in the frying process and then even more while baking. I'll have to try this theory out next time, but I have to admit I still like the results I got the first time around.


Sadly enough, my first attempt does not plate very well. The casserole is dry enough so that the layers do stay intact when I cut into it but there's something about the sheen of eggplant mixed in that a cut-away view just is not appetizing. Still, I'm back to that savory comfort-food feeling; the subtle salty of the bechamel sauce combined with the mild warmth of the spices in the ground beef, the starch of the potatoes and the organic silkiness of the eggplant, they pull together for a very satisfying meal... I know "organic silkiness" is not a phrase you hear every day. Follow this recipe and you'll know what I mean.

Okay, I was going to leave it with just one picture but, despite the fact that ground beef never looks good up close, the layering really does stand out!

My New Love Affair

I probably won't always be able to pick out a main dish and a dessert for each country but I decided to try one out this time around. For a couple years now, I've had a shy, flirty affair with alfajores. We've seen each other in restaurants, they've always looked so enticing up on their tray, but I've cast my eyes down and walked way, always resisting temptation. Sunday, I gave in to temptation.

Honestly, I don't think anyone can blame me. What better way is there to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon than bustling around in your kitchen? And when you know you will be treated to a sweet little something at the end? If I could spend every day like that, I would. Anyway, I took the opportunity to try out a couple recipes: one I've seen pop up every now and then for dulce de leche, and the other from http://argentinastravel.com for alfajores. I'm not sure if Argentina can claim rights to the cookie or dulce de leche, but the treats are definitely among their traditional eats.

Dulce de Leche

1 or several cans of sweetened condensed milk

Poke a small hole in the top of each can and set in a large pot. Fill the pot with water until just under the top of the cans. Boil water for approximately 1 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on desired consistency. Add more water to the pot as necessary to keep water level just under the top of the cans.

Cool cans, open, and enjoy!

Just a word about this recipe. I had to try it because it sounded so easy and so completely different than anything I've tried--not the result, but the cooking method. I've seen recipes that say to fully submerge cans (without poking the hole) but I was too scared of causing some explosion in my apartment that I opted for the slower method of allowing a release of potentially too much pressure. Shorter cooking times result in a runnier dulce de leche that would be perfect for drizzling over ice cream or cake or anything needing a topping. Longer cooking times yield firmer, if not solid, dulce de leche. I boiled two cans for 2 hours and produced the epitome of temptation, a slightly-firmer-than-pudding cream that is ideal for sandwich cookie filling, but also extremely difficult not to eat straight from the can.

The recipe pulled from argentinastravel.com says it's an adapted version of the recipe included in Argentina Cooks! by Shirley Lomax Brooks (which I believe may now be a book on my Christmas list...)

Alfajores

1 3/4 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 lb butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 recipe dulce de leche
Grated sweetened coconut (optional)

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl. Cut in the butter, then mix by hand until well incorporated. Work in the lemon zest and then mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Shape the dough into 2 balls and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325*F. On a floured work surface, roll out each ball of dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into 2-inch rounds and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes or until done. The cookies will be dry but not brown.

When cookies are cool, spread a generous spoonful of dulce de leche on one cookie and top it with another. Press together gently.

For versions with coconut or nuts, roll the seam of the alfajor in shredded coconut or chopped nuts.

Before I pledge my love for these cookies, I have three recommendations. First, use the lemon zest, even though it's optional. Because of all the sugar from the butter cookie to the dulce de leche, I think the lemon zest adds a necessary hint of freshness to the cookie. I don't think it's a great enough amount to make you fully aware of citrus; these are still sweet, creamy cookies, not fruity. Second, I think refrigerating the dough for 2 hours is too long. I had to work with the dough a little longer to warm it up enough that it would roll out nicely. I think an hour should be sufficient time. Third, you technically only need one can of condensed milk to make enough dulce de leche for this recipe. I personally think you should throw in another can for good measure, but that's just so there's enough to taste "for quality assurance" during baking and throughout the rest of the day.

Now my ode to the alfajor: why did I wait so long to give in to temptation?! These really are so easy to make and so fantastically delicious! I've already said enough about the dulce de leche--really, it should be called dulce divino because it is just heavenly. Pared with the butter cookies, it's almost impossible to eat just one. The cookies themselves are soft but not chewy, which I think probably makes the best sandwich base because they have enough substance to stay together when you take a bite. I rolled mine in coconut and the final product looks so inviting and so festive, I can't wait to make these during Christmas... don't get me wrong, though, I'm not waiting that long before I make them again!

Sorry GITMO, I'm going to Cuba!

Well, it's probably a good thing I don't get much of a chance to get out of the country because, after a title like that, my passport is probably on the watch-list. Anyway, here's kicking off the first of recipe reviews and I promise I'll try to make sure this is the only post without a picture. Technically, I made this recipe Sunday and it is now Wednesday... so it's gone, nothing to photograph, but I can still tell you it was really good.

Ropa Vieja

1 lb. flank steak
1 small-medium onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, julienned
1 can tomato sauce
4 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup peas (canned or frozen--thaw, if frozen)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place flank steak in a pot (medium or large should serve) and cover with water. Boil until steak is tender. Remove steak from pot and set aside to cool, saving approximately 2-3 cups of cooking liquid.

In the same pot, add tomato sauce, onion, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, and bay leaf to the cooking liquid. Season lightly with salt and pepper (you'll revisit the salt and pepper later so no need to go overboard here). Simmer about 15 minutes.

While sauce is simmering, working with a fork or your fingers, shred beef down to spaghetti-like threads. Should have a similar appearance to pulled pork. Add beef to sauce and continue to simmer for approximately 30 minutes. About 10 minutes from complete, add peas, mix well. Test sauce and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve on rice.

First off, this dish makes me laugh because it goes against the norm of appetizing names; "ropa vieja" is Spanish for "old clothes," which is alluding to the appearance of the shredded beef and not to the taste of the final product. This particular recipe is a slight variation of the recipe included in the cookbook Keys to Key West Cooking by Margaret Romero. In the original recipe, only one bay leaf is used and one clove of garlic, and no peas are added. For me, one clove of garlic isn't going to cut it mixed in with a pound of meat; I love garlic, and I can guarantee that any recipe I try will include more garlic than the original recipe calls for. As for the peas, I have had ropa vieja once before and it included peas and, personally, I like them; I think it gives a subtle pop to the texture (no, that wasn't meant to be a pun).

Since this was my first attempt cooking the dish, I was a little conservative on time. I had read other recipes and the estimated preparation and cooking time in those were ball-parking a couple hours. I believe my recipe probably only took an hour to an hour and a half--prep to plating. The beef didn't take very long to cook but that may have been the result of a thinner steak as opposed to a boxier cut of meat that would require more time to heat throughout. Still, I may sacrifice the shorter cooking time next time and select a thicker cut so my shredded strands are a little longer.

The rest of the cooking time flew by! Gauging when the meat is done, letting it cool, and shredding it comprises the majority of the work. The rest is basically throwing everything in a pot and letting it simmer. I love recipes like this! Hang out with a glass of wine and stir things around every now and then--can't ask for anything better.

The final product? I have to admit it's probably a good thing I didn't start my blog before cooking this one because it didn't have much of a chance to make it to the plate. I even skipped on the rice and ate it out of the pot! Hey, where's the harm in that--I'm cooking for one. I do imagine that, had I been patient enough to make the rice also, this dish would have been even better because the sauce is a light, slightly-sweet tomato sauce that would have absorb into the rice, almost creating a risotto of sorts. The beef melts down into the heaven that is slow-cooked anything... except it didn't even take as long as most slow-cooked dishes require. And the onion, garlic, and pepper round out the flavor and aroma. This is the epitome of comfort food: slightly sweet, enticingly savory; this is a dish that keeps you wandering back to the kitchen for another fork full.