Category Archives: Main Courses

Cheese Dishes, Main Courses, Pressure Cooker Recipes, Rice Dishes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

The Quickest Wild Mushroom Risotto Ever

Risotto is one of those dishes that when I see on chefy shows on tv, I perennially call shenanigans.  I have made many a stunning risotto in my day, and every single stinking one of them became glorious from the sheer amount of love (read: time) that was poured into the dish.  A good risotto required at least a half an hour of my attention and stirring, a goodly amount of time spent prepping the ingredients beforehand and guests ready to tuck in immediately while its piping hot.  As such, I only ever made for risotto for folks I truly loved (meaning that if you HAVE had my risotto, you can bet your cutie bootie I adore having you in my life).  So the thought that risotto could share a plate with any other dish, and as a side item at that, was preposterous to me.

Fast forward a bit to the day that Santa Claus decided to bring me a pressure cooker.  I was giddy at first, then frustrated with getting my new baby to do my bidding, but shortly thereafter, head over heels in love.  I mastered the darn thing with no true hiccups and questioned why I hadn’t used one sooner.  It was a dream!  As a means of learning more about it, I turned to the queen of pressure cooking, Lorna Sass.  As I poured through her book, Cooking Under Pressure, I found the traditional bevy of stews and braises alongside surprises such as meatloaf and bread pudding.  There in the mix, I also found a recipe for risotto that purported the cooking time at under 10 minutes!  And, even crazier, no stirring!  I felt as if the world had been turned on its head a la Alice in Wonderland – what was this whimsically nonsensical recipe?  And how could I wield it in my cooking arsenal?

This recipe below is based on my pressure cooker risotto experiments, and the result is mind-blowingly good.  Yes, it takes only 10 minutes to cook.  Yes, it frees you from 45 minutes of straight elbow grease.  And yes, it’s simple enough to serve as a side.  The only problem I now have is finding a dish complicated enough to cook for the folks I love for them alone.  I’m fine with going on a bit of a culinary hunt for a challenge.  But in the meantime, I’ll be whipping up this risotto.

Recipe for

The Quickest Mushroom Risotto Ever

Ingredients
1 c. of dried mixed mushrooms (porcini, chanterelle, shitake, hen of the woods or morels)
5 c. of chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 c. of dry white wine
1/2 c. of chopped onions
2 tbs. of butter
2 tbs. of olive oil
1 1/2 c. of arborio rice
3/4 c. of grated locatelli
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
salt to taste
4 tbs. of chopped chives

Bring 2 c. of chicken stock to a boil.  Add the dried mushrooms and cover.  Let sit for about 20 minutes, allowing the mushrooms to rehydrate.  Drain the liquid off of the mushrooms and reserve.  Pour the liquid into a quart measuring cup and add enough additional stock to make 3 1/2 cups.

Melt the butter and olive oil in a pressure cooker and add the onions.  Cook for about a minute or until softened and then add the rice.  Cook rice until slightly translucent.  Add the wine and cook until absorbed completely.  Add 3 1/2 cups of stock and white pepper.  Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring up to high pressure.  Cook for 5 minutes and then use a quick release method to bring pressure back to normal.  Open the lid and return pot to the burner.  Taste the rice for doneness and stir to allow the last remaining stock to be absorbed by the rice.  If the rice is chewy and the stock has all been absorbed, add a little extra stock and continue to cook until the rice is tender.  Stir in the cheese and taste for salt.  Sprinkle with the chives and serve immediately.

Note

If you do not have a pressure cooker and would like to make this recipe, use the same ingredients, but follow the instructions for Rock Shrimp Risotto.

Low Brow Treats, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Recipes

Sonoran Hot Dog

Awwwwwww…STREET MEAT!

I get it fairly, but I am a hot dog junkie.  I’m talking Tyrone Biggums crackhead junkie for a hot dog.  I love footlongs, Hebrew Nationals, burnt Oscar Meyers around the campfire, red onion laden Grays Papayas, ASU’s Dave’s Dog House with the buttered buns, a charbroiled and blistered dog from Ted’s and a Ben’s Chili Bowl half smoke.  I love them equally and unabashedly.  Even the dirty water dog has a special place in my heart.  So of course, after moving out to the wild, wild west, it was only a matter of time until I discovered the joys of the infamous Sonoran dog.  The dog hails from the Mexico/Arizona border, and features a bacon-wrapped link that is grilled and then topped with a bevy of condiments.  We’re talking pinto beans, shredded cheese, tomatillo and jalapeno salsa, chopped tomato and diced onion to name a few.  Traditionally, these bad boys are served on a sturdy Mexican roll with ketchup, mayo and mustard, but you can choose your toppings according to how you like them and use whatever roll you’d like to get the job done.  I like a sesame-seed hero roll myself.

Although crisping this bad boy up is great on the grill, you can use a rack over a cookie sheet under your oven’s broiler if you are grill-less.  I like to use a natural casing dog as my first choice, and a snappy Nathan’s brand or Sabrett’s brand dog as my second choice, since they cook up so love-er-lee.  But again, with a dog with this much DIY potential, feel free to rock it the way you want it.  Just make sure it’s loaded up, because that is the name of the game.

Sonoran Hot Dogs

Ingredients
4 hot dog links
4 slices of thick cut bacon (mesquite-smoked if you can find it)
1 c. of whole pinto beans
1 tsp. of adobo seasoning
1/2 tsp. of chili powder (can be ancho or chipotle if you like)
1 tbs. of olive oil
4 tbs. of chopped tomato
4 tbs. of chopped onion
1/4 c. of shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, a blend, you name it)
1/4 c. of tomatillo salsa (or other green salsa variety)

tabasco ketchup (optional)
jalapeno mustard (optional)
mexican crema or lime mayo (optional)

Begin by wrapping each hot dog with a strip of bacon.  Cook hot dog on the grill until bacon is crispy and browned on both sides.  Alternatively, you can place a rack over a cookie sheet and cook under your broiler for 7-10 minutes per side.

While the hot dogs are cooking, warm your beans.  Add your beans to a small saucepan with the adobo seasoning, chili powder and olive oil.  Taste for salt and season.

To assemble, squirt bun with a little ketchup, mustard and mayo (if you’d like it).  Top with the hot dog and spoon a few tablespoons of beans on top.  Sprinkle cheese over the beans to melt and then top with tomatoes, onions and tomatillo salsa.  Eat quickly and blissfully before the whole thing falls apart.

Breakfast and Brunch, Cheese Dishes, Egg Dishes, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Recipes

Breakfast Quesadilla

I don’t know why, but this recipe makes me think of Napoleon Dynamite and his aunt yelling at him to make himself “a dang quesa-DILL-a”.  Nobody would need to twist my arm to make this quesadilla – scrambled eggs and crisp bacon join melted cheddar and mild green chiles, sandwiched between two perfectly crisped flour tortillas.  It beats a traditional bacon, egg and cheese sandwich any day of the week, and the portable nature of pliant triangles of breakfasty goodness make this a prime contender for late-night, post-drinking binge food.  Come to think of it, this quesadilla is the perfect reminder that breakfast is good at just about any hour of the day.

Making a quesadilla is similar to a grilled cheese sandwich – if you cook the thing over high heat, the outside will burn before the cheese gets a chance to melt. Cook your quesadilla slowly to allow it to crisp up as the cheddar turns into melty gloriousness.

Recipe for

Breakfast Quesadilla

Ingredients
1 tbs. of butter
1/2 tbs. of olive oil or cooking spray
6 eggs, beaten
4 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
3 tbs. of chopped roasted green chiles
black pepper to taste
3 large flour tortillas
3/4 c. of shredded cheddar
cilantro to garnish

Warm a pan over medium heat and add the butter. Slip the eggs into the pan and stir slowly, allowing the eggs to form curds. Shut off the heat while the eggs are still wet and stir in the chiles and bacon. Place a tortilla on a cutting board and top with 1/3 of the eggs. Sprinkle a 1/4 of cheese on top and fold the tortilla over to create a half-moon. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas, eggs and cheese.

Heat a large skillet over medium-low and add the olive oil. Cook each quesadilla until golden brown and toasted, about 5-6 minutes on each side. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut each half-moon into 3 triangles. Serve with salsa or guacamole.

Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Poultry Dishes, Recipes

Ange’s Lazy Chicken Cordon Bleu

I have lovely memories of my mom’s baked chicken parmesan – we’d come home from elementary school and she’s take seemingly no time in breading chicken cutlets, seasoning them with paprika and spices, and then letting them crisp up in a hot oven.  They were always so juicy and deliciously perfect, I never ever questioned why we didn’t have Shake ‘n Bake in our pantry.  Mom knew what she was doing (and still does!)

After I got married, my aunt gave me a convection oven as a wedding present and I had to see if the crisping action was all it cracked up to be.  I made a riff off of my mom’s baked chicken with dijon and cream replacing the usual parmesan cheese.  Then, to make things more complicated, I tricked it out deconstructed cordon bleu style with a slice each of prosciutto and provolone. 

When the timer went off and the chicken emerged from the oven, the clouds parted in the heavens and the angels began to sing.  It was ever so perfect, with prosciutto like bacon and “everything’s-better-with” melted cheese.  J’adore!

I kind of like that Chicken Cordon Bleu has nothing to do with the culinary institute and is rather a cousin of retro throwbacks such as Chicken Kiev and other roulade-style meat dishes.  It makes me feel like I need to tease my hair, put on an A-line skirt and play a little Jack Jones “Wives and Lovers” to get in an old skool mood.  Ok, not really.  But it does make me miss my momma, thinking about all the foods that are meant for family dining.  This one is certainly high up on the list.

Recipe for

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. of cream
1/4 c. of water
1 tbs. of dijon mustard
1 c. of flour
3 tsp. of salt
1 1/2 tsp. of black pepper
1/2 tsp. of white pepper
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1/4 tsp. of paprika
4 slices of prosciutto
4 slices of provolone (or fontina)

Set up a breading station with two shallow dishes – one with the eggs, cream, water and dijon and the other with the flour, salt, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder and paprika.  Dredge chicken breasts in flour, into the egg and then again in the flour.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and top with a slice of cheese and a few slices of prosciutto.  Bake for 35-40 minutes on 350° or until the chicken is cooked through and the prosciutto is crispy and deep rose.  Serve.

Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Spaghetti all’Amatriciana

12 Comments

I have such great memories of amatriciana sauce in Italy – friends and I used to frequent a mom and pop pizzeria in the town we lived in as one of our favorite haunts.  The husband waitered, the wife cooked and the son bused the tables out of a front shop with an adjoining apartment behind the kitchen, making you feel a cherished guest at a friend’s house rather than a customer.  We typically went for piping hot pizzettas with pliant blistered crusts, tart tomatoes and creamy buffalo mozzarella.  One evening, I came home from class feeling exhausted and weighted down by a horrible headache.  My friends were running over to the restaurant and asked if I’d like something.  I asked them to bring me back some Pasta all’Amatriciana – a mouthful to pronounce but ever so delicious.  When they brought me my food, they brought me real silverware to eat with.  The mom was sure that we’d be back to return them, making us feel all the more like family.

Their classic version featured delicious guanciale, basically the jowl of the pig cured into bacon, but I like to use thick cut bacon for everyday amatriciana.  You can also use pancetta, with the rendered fat from the bacon allowing the onions to mellow into sweetness.  The whole thing is bound together by a tomato sauce of rich San Marzano tomatoes and white wine.  It’s a glorious sauce, and takes about as long to prepare as it does to boil a pot of pasta.  Good stuff considering that sometimes you don’t want to wait until the weekend (or a trip to Italy) to indulge in a meal fit for a king.

Recipe for

Spaghetti all’Amatriciana

Ingredients
5 slices of thick bacon, sliced into slivers
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. of wine
3 cloves of garlic
pinch of black pepper
pinch of crushed red pepper
4 c. of fresh tomato sauce
1/4 c. of grated locatelli
salt to taste
1 lb. of spaghetti
4 tbs. of freshly chopped parsley

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil.  While the water heats up, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the bacon and cook until crisp.  Add the onions to the pan and cook until very soft and golden.  Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Cook until the wine reduces by half.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Season with the black pepper and crushed red pepper.  Pour in the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer.  Stir in the grated cheese and taste for salt.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Drain and add the sauce.  Top with the chopped parsley and additional grated cheese and crushed red pepper.

Appetizers and Small Plates, Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Recipes, Seafood Dishes, Soups and Stews

Thrifty Shrimp Wontons

In that I am an avid dumpling maker (so that I can afford to be a voracious dumpling eater), I tend to go through quite a bit of filling for the little buggers.  Much like the hot dog/hot dog bun conundrum (12 hot dogs vs. 8 buns), I often find myself with more filling than I have wrappers for.  What to do?!?

Given that the filling does not tend to keep very well (overnight at best, and never defrosted from frozen), I have found a quick and easy solution with wontons.  The wrappers are easy to come by in the produce section of the market (usually with the tofu) and can be transformed into the loveliest of soups.  In Chinese, wonton means “swallowing a cloud” – easily the perfect descriptor for a soup that is both complex and delicate at the same time.

So what’s the game plan, you may ask?  Very simple.  Bolster your leftover filling with some fresh shrimp, sesame oil and cornstarch.  Fill the wonton wrappers and twist into little satchels until you are out of filling.  Freeze the wrappers (as these guys do keep well) and make a pot of wonton soup.  If you have leftover wontons beyond the soup, either pan fry and serve with soy dipping sauce or deep fry and serve with duck sauce.  Last but not least, relish in your delicious frugality and trenchant wit.  Probably the most important step of all.

Recipe for

Thrifty Shrimp Wontons

Ingredients
1 lb. of shrimp, peeled and chopped
about 1 c. of leftover dumpling filling
1 tbs. of corn starch
2 tbs. of sesame oil
1 package of wonton skins
1 quart of chicken stock
1 tbs. of soy sauce
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 inch of ginger, peeled

In a standing mixer or with a spoon, mix the leftover dumpling filling with the shrimp, corn starch and sesame oil.  Fill the wonton wrappers with a teaspoon each of filling.  Wet the edges with a bit of water and twist the corners together to form a little “money bag”.  Dip the bottom of the money bag into a small amount of flour and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Repeat until you have used up all of your filling.  Set aside

Pour the chicken stock, soy and ginger into a pot and bring to a boil.  Add as many wontons as you’d like to eat (no more than 10 per quart of stock) and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Ladle soup into bowls and top with a handful of scallions.  Dig in.

Variations on the Soup

As a means of extending the majesty, feel free to use any of these add-ins:

  • handful of baby spinach
  • handful of bean sprouts
  • thinly sliced Chinese BBQ pork
  • crispy fried onions or shallots
  • thinly sliced chicken breast
  • lo mein, mai fun or udon noodles
  • peeled shrimp
Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Meat Dishes

Tuscan Grilled Ribeye

1 Comment

Filet be damned, I want a ribeye.  I want a thick cut, well-marbled ribeye with a juicy center and a lovely charred edge.  I want nary the spice or marinade other than a smattering of coarse salt or crushed pepper, with olive oil to marry it all together and a brush of rosemary as a whisper of flavor with each bite.  In the words of Veruca Salt, “Don’t care how – I want it NOW!”

Kidding, I’m not a brat and I can totally whip this up for myself.  It’s the best kind of recipe in that it’s barely a recipe.  Making a steak at home is surprisingly forgiving and has more to do with the quality of the meat and the amount of time you give it to cook.  Letting the steak come to room temperature before cooking, letting it sit on the grill undisturbed before flipping, and letting it rest so that the juices redistribute are all necessary steps to the perfect bite of steak.  In addition, if you can splurge for a prime dry-aged steak, definitely do it.  It’s a total treat, and though pricey, a lot less expensive than a steak dinner out on the town.

When you are purchasing a ribeye, look for rosy, well-marbled meat where the eye (the round of fat in the middle of the steak) is intact.  This bit of fat keeps the meat moist during cooking and adds perfect flavor – shying away from the fat means you are denying yourself the succulence and juiciness that you so rightly deserve from your steak.  Other than that, there really isn’t that much to it – season, grill, rest and dig in.

Recipe for

Tuscan Grilled Ribeye

Ingredients
2 ribeye steaks, 1 inch thick
kosher salt and pepper
sprig of rosemary
olive oil

Heat a grill or a grill pan on high.  Liberally salt and pepper steaks on both sides.  Drizzle with olive oil and using the sprig of rosemary, rub the spices and oil into the meat.  Flip and repeat on the other side, rubbing the flavor of the rosemary into the meat.  Let steaks sit at room temperature while the grill heats up.

Grill the steaks, undisturbed, for 10 minutes on each side for medium rare.  Let rest for at least five minutes before slicing.  Serve.

Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Orecchiette with Arugula Pesto

I totally believe that arugula is an aphrodisiac as thought in the Roman times, solely based on the fact that I am head over heels in love with it.  The nutty, peppery flavor of the greens, and its ability to work as a crisp salad green or sauteed and cooked to luscious perfection – versatility makes me crush hard core, and baby, arugula has my heart.  When used as a replacement for basil in a quick pesto, you get to see arugula truly shine – just barely cooked by the hot pasta, it goes from bitter to complex and rounded in flavor.  It’s miraculous and ever so sexy.

I use the pesto to dress dainty orecchiette, petal-shaped pasta from the south of Italy.  Named “little ears” in Italian, each bit of pasta is made from a mini fingerprint into a press, forming a crinkly texture that soaks up the pesto.  It’s all about the love with a uniting of Northern Italian sauce (pesto is from Genoa) with Southern Italian pasta (orecchiette are from Puglia).  And I could just be mentioning love because the arugula is wooing me to do so.  Woo away, arugula.  Woo away.

Recipe for

Orecchiette with Arugula Pesto

Ingredients
1 lb. of orecchiette
4 loose cups of arugula
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 c. of olive oil
1/2 c. of grated locatelli (or parmigiano reggiano)
1/4 c. of toasted pine nuts
2 tsp. of freshly cracked pepper
1 tsp. of salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta cooks, make the pesto.  Throw cloves of garlic into the CuisineArt and pulse until finely chopped. Add toasted pine nuts and pulse again. Next, add the arugula (stems and all) and chop until the mixture starts to form a paste. Coax the entire mixture into a smooth paste by slowly streaming in olive oil – stop once everything is blended and evenly chopped. Add the grated cheese, salt and pepper and pulse to mix. Taste for salt.

Once pasta is finished, scoop a scant 1/4 cup of pasta water out of the pot.  Drain the pasta and immediately toss with the pesto.  Dribble in a bit of the pasta water, if necessary, to form a sauce.  Top with extra grated cheese and serve.

Friends Recipes and Hacks, Impressive Dishes, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Poultry Dishes, Recipes

Chef Tim’s Roast Chicken with Chardonnay Sauce, Trumpet Mushroom Duxelle and Fingerling Potatoes

*in Jay-Z voice* “Tim, you did it again.  You’re a genius.”  Not too often when I’m cooking am I reminded of the fine balance between strict adherence to technique and freestyle improvisation in the kitchen.  This recipe is like a dance – you certainly want to follow the rules to coax it into perfection, but there is room for you to do your thang as well.  In essence, it’s everything I love about the kitchen.  And as I watched my husband take the first bite of the final product and nod his head knowingly that this was something of pure majesty, I loved it all the more.

In Chef Tim Ma’s interview for this site, he talks about the importance of organization in the kitchen.  As home cooks, although we don’t go all out with a true mise en place and prep kitchen work, there is something to be said for taking time to lay out all of your ingredients before you launch into the assembly of the dish.  This recipe is a great example of this fact – chopping all of your ingredients first and setting up your kitchen before turning on the stove will allow you the luxury of breezing through this one.  When you are all finished, you take a bite and marvel at the genius your tucking into without feeling as if you slaved at all.

Tim purports that this dish is an excellent use of many important kitchen techniques – I see it as a reminder of how much there is to learn in the kitchen, far beyond what we’ve learned from our families or from puttering around on our own with a bit of trial and error.  Spending the time to figure out how to properly treat ingredients is so very necessary, and though we won’t all have the honor or luxury of attending cooking school, it doesn’t mean we can’t go out of our way with a little self-directed study on proper methods and techniques.  Consider this recipe a solid lesson with Chef Tim as the instructor du jour.

Since we don’t have access to a live demonstration of this one (yet), a trickier part of the recipe is in the deboning of the chicken leg and thigh as one piece.  While you can absolutely have your butcher do this for you, it’s a lot more interesting to grab a sharp knife and try it out for yourself.  I found this old video of Paul Prudhomme doing it, and teacher that I am, I love his level of encouragement offered to newbies trying this for the first time.  Yes, you can do this, and no, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never done it before.  Now, fancy names be damned, go get yourself some roast chicken and mushroom action.

Recipe for

Roast Chicken Leg and Thigh with Chardonnay Sauce, Trumpet Mushroom Duxelle and Fingerling Potatoes

Ingredients
2 trumpet mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tbs. of butter
half of a lemon, juiced
1 shallot, minced
1 oz. of slab bacon or salt pork
1/4 c. of caramelized onions

2 chicken legs and thighs, deboned
2 tbsp dry chardonnay
4 tbsp vegetable or chicken stock
2 tbsp butter
parsley, chopped

1 lb. of fingerling potatoes
duck fat (or vegetable oil if you don’t have any)
salt and pepper

Melt 2 tbs. of butter in a large pan over low heat. Add bacon or salt pork and sweat for a few minutes without giving it color.  Add shallots and sweat without giving color for a few minutes.  Add mushrooms and continue to cook over low heat, adding a pinch of salt, pepper and the lemon juice.  The mushrooms will begin to release water – once the water is completely absorbed, stop cooking.  Add caramelized onions and toss to heat.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Heat a new pan that can go into the oven over high heat with a little blended oil.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Once pan is hot, add chicken legs skin side down and cook over high heat for a minute.  Place entire pan in oven and cook until chicken registers 165°, about 10 minutes.  Take pan out, remove chicken, drain oil.  Deglaze pan with chardonnay, scraping up the brown bits.  Reduce wine by half, add stock and reduce by half again.  Turn fire off, add 2 tbs. of butter and whisk until incorporated.  Place mushroom mix in center of plate, top with chicken, add sauce around, garnish with parsley.

Fingerling Potatoes

To cook the fingerlings, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add potatoes and blanch for 3-4 minutes.  Drain and dry well.  Add about 2 inches of oil (or equivalent amount of duck fat) to a heavy bottomed sauce pan and heat until a piece of bread, when dropped into the oil, browns in 3 seconds.  Add the potatoes to the pan, being careful to stand back if the skins sputter a bit.  Allow to cook for a minute, remove and drain on paper towels and salt and pepper immediately while still hot.  If you’d like to time this all so that the potatoes are finished at the same time as the chicken, cook the potatoes as soon as the chicken goes into the oven.

Baked Goods, Cheese Dishes, Main Courses, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Tiropita (Greek Cheese Pie)

1 Comment

Back when I was young, I remember my mom hosting a baby shower in my childhood home – gosh, it must have been for my cousin Sydney, but my mom or aunt would have to confirm.  She hit up our Greek market for olives and fresh feta and grape leaves, none of which interested me at the young age of 10.  But she also scored triangles of spanakopita (spinach was still gross to me at that age) and these miraculous cheesy alternatives called tiropita.  I had my first taste of them sneaking one before the guests showed up and man, what a treat.  Salty feta and crisp, buttery phyllo folded into golden triangles of deliciousness.

All of this was well before phyllo dough and phyllo appetizers became common fare at the market, and I’m kind of happy that it’s so easily accessible now.  I’m able to pop into the grocery and make a lavish cheese pie of my own, all without any crazy trips to the market.  I cut down on the traditional amount of feta and amp up the flavors with nutmeg and dried mint.  I keep things creamy with a bit of ricotta as well, but feel free to substitute other cheeses such as cottage cheese or even crumbly, salty mizithra.  Though I typically make this in a 13x9x3 inch pan and cut it into squares, this also works exceedingly well in a deep dish 9 inch round pan cut into triangles.  If you’re planning a party of sorts, consider making this tiropita with a spinach pie as an accompaniment and a greek salad to tie the whole thing together.  It’s a whole lot of buttery goodness without any fuss.  And we all know that fusses are way overrated.

Recipe for

Tiropita

Ingredients
6 eggs
1/2 tbs. oregano
1 tsp. dried mint
12 oz. of feta, crumbled
1/4 tsp. of nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. of parmasean
16 oz. of ricotta
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1 stick of butter
1 box of phyllo

In a standing mixer (or with an egg beater), mix together all of the ingredients except for the phyllo and butter until well incorporated.

Grease a 13 x 9 in baking pan. Working carefully and quickly, lay out a sheet of phyllo and butter with a pastry brush. Keep on alternating melted butter and phyllo until you have laid down half of the phyllo. Pour the cheese mixture on top of the phyllo. Top with alternating layers of phyllo and butter. Once you’ve finished with all of the sheets, cut the pie into squares before baking.

Place in the oven and bake on 350° for 45-50 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown, cover with foil for the remainder of the cooking time. Let sit for around 5 minutes before cutting. Serve.