Kitchen Comforts

Greek hamburgers

Patrick made dinner last night and he really has a talent for this cooking thing.  He made hamburgers inspired by Rachael Ray.  I was asleep when he started to cook and he set aside a plate for me and brought it to me in bed.  Everyone loved this meal.  Nicholas, the picky eater, said, "I don't even like spinach but I didn't care in those hamburgers.  It tasted so good."  Really, really yummy and once again, he wins the prize for plating. The ingredients list is long but don't be intimidated; an eleven-year-old did this all by himself.

And Lissa, the original recipe was for ground turkey, so it can be made for Scott;-).

Beef Spanakopita Burgers and Fries with Yogurt Dip

2 packages store-bought frozen fries, any variety 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling 2 tablespoons butter 6 cloves garlic, 4 chopped, 2 crushed 2 red onions, 1 chopped, 1 thinly sliced 2 boxes, 20 ounces, frozen spinach, defrosted 2 teaspoons dried oregano, lightly crushed in the palm, divided 1/2 pound feta crumbles 4 pounds ground beef 2 tablespoons Emeril's Essence 1 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise, plus 2 small, 2-inch pieces of cucumber peeled, trimmed and chopped I- 8 ounce package Cherry tomatoes, sliced lengthwise Salt and pepper 4 cups good quality plain yogurt 1 lemon, juiced 2 cups spring mix 8 crusty rolls, split Topping: 4 roasted red peppers, drained 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives Preheat oven to directions on the package and bake fries until crisp. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. To one side, add a little and 2 tablespoons of butter. When butter melts, add the chopped garlic and chopped red onion and cook 5 minutes. Transfer the onions and garlic to a bowl to cool. Return pan to heat. Wring the defrosted spinach dry by twisting it in a clean kitchen towel over your sink. Separate the spinach as you add it to the bowl with cool onions, garlic and season with 1 teaspoon of oregano. Add in feta crumbles then ground meat, Essence seasoning and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Mix and form into about 10 patties, 1-inch thick. Raise heat on pan to medium-high. Add patties and cook 6 miniutes or so on each side. Or grill it all outside! Season the sliced cucumbers and tomatoes with salt and pepper. Toast rolls. Place remaining chopped cucumber, the crushed garlic, yogurt, 1 teaspoon oregano and juice of lemon in a food processor. Add a little salt and process the sauce until smooth. Transfer to a small dish and serve with the fries as a dipping sauce. (It's also good on the hamburgers!) Rinse out the processor bowl and return to base. Place red peppers, parsley and olives in food processor, season with salt and pepper and process until a paste forms. Place cooked burgers on roll bottoms. Top the burgers with sliced cucumber, tomato, reserved red onions, and spring mix. Slather roll tops with red pepper and olive paste and serve with fries.  We had watermelon balls, too.

Great Site

Kim, at Starry Sky Ranch, reminded me of a great website.  I'm a fan of Whole Foods Market and this site contains a plethora of information and ideas.  There are lots of recipes and a search feature and save feature so that you can personalize.  There are kitchen tips on everything from a pantry makeover to using sugar substitutes.  Gotta love a site with a page on maple syrup!  So poke around and get back to me with anything that's a "don't miss."

Casual Fridays

Many years ago, when I was a new mother, my aunt made a priceless heirloom for me.  She hand-lettered and painted this rendition of all our family's pasta sauce recipes.

While I know these recipes by heart, I still consult the painting when it's time to cook.  It's so beautiful and it so inspires me. The same painting hangs in my aunt's house, in my sister's house, and in my mother's house.  (Not sure which one of us has the original.)

My daughter is endeavoring to learn all the recipes this year, working her way through them with a joy that warms my heart.

Fridays are casual meal days here.  My husband frequently travels on Fridays, so it's just mom and the kids.  Often, Friday's dinner precedes a full slate of weekend athletic competitions and I try to carbo-load my growing athletes.  And, Fridays are meatless--they are perfect days for hearty peasant pasta meals. 

Tonight's dinner is Pasta with a very simple Agli Olio sauce.  That's just pasta with garlic and olive oil. Lots of garlic--another good reason to make it when Daddy's not here. According to my Aunt Lisette, boil enough water for two pounds of pasta and finely chop 15 to 20 cloves of garlic.  Saute the garlic in 3/4 cup to 1 cup olive oil until just golden.  Be careful not to burn it. Burned garlic is bitter! Let the garlic sit in the oil while you chop a bunch of parsley and grate about a cup or so of Pecorino Romano cheese.  When the pasta is al dente (or firm to the tooth), reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water.  Add about a cup of the water to the garlic oil. Drain the rest of the water and then sauce the pasta with the garlic oil.  Sprinkle generously with cheese and parsley and toss. If it seems to dry, add more pasta water.

Variations:  I often stir some arugula or spinach just briefly into the garlic oil and toss that, too, omitting the parsley.  Slivered sun dried   tomatoes are another great addition.  And, you can make this recipe into pasta with white clam sauce by adding chopped fresh clams in juice or canned clams with all the juice and cutting back on the pasta water.

Wheat free note:  Ever since I discovered Tinkyada Rice Pasta, I haven't been deprived of favorite pasta dishes.  It's almost as good as dried semolina pasta.