This week in food

[magid]

Monday's accomplishment was finally making fruitcake (I'd gathered ingredients and bakeware weeks ago, just not gotten around to it before now). There will be a full fruitcake report after the cake is finally tasted (it's aging in rum just now).

Tuesday my dad was staying over, so I wanted to make more than just a one-pot meal (which is what I tend to do for myself). I sauteed onions, zucchini, and red chard together for a while. Once they were cooked, I added eggs and bits of not-parmesan (the very end of some hard Italian cheese that needed to be used before it got rock hard), plus some black pepper. I served that with steamed cauliflower, plus multi-grain toast for the Dad. My timing was off, so we ended up having a post-movie snack of sweet potatoes, since they weren't ready in time for the rest of the meal.

Wednesday was a pasta night. I cooked rotini, adding fresh chopped spinach a couple of minutes before draining the water. After draining, I added whatever appealed: a can of chickpeas, a couple of spoonfuls of olive spread, a large dollop of an eggplant and garlic spread, black pepper, the end of some meunster cheese, the beginning of some red Leicester cheese. I debated putting in something tomato, but decided against.

Last night I walked to Trader Joe's: I'd decided that the cabbage should be cooked with apples and (ground) turkey, and I knew I could get both at TJ's. The newest kosher item of interest there: Israeli feta! I didn't need it, but got some anyway (and have to figure out what to do with it other than in salad or spanikopita, neither of which is likely just now). When I got home, sauteed onions, half the cabbage chopped up, four small apples chopped up (skin on, because I'm lazy, they're organic, and the cabbage was so pale that I wanted some color in the dish), a dash of cider vinegar, ground turkey, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, and black pepper. It's still a bit bland; I need to add more seeds. I was tired and hungry enough not to bother last night, but for tonight I will. (The odd part about this is that I can't remember the last time I used either kind of seed in my cooking, yet they were the right thing for this.)

For Shabbat, I've got the rest of the cabbage dish (I'd intended it all for Shabbat but was too tired to make something else last night) and baked acorn squash already made. The plan for this afternoon is to make very quick flatbreads and a stir fry with green beans, ginger, garlic, and ground turkey (marinated in something, likely Szechuan spicy sauce). Other things that might happen: a baked apple something, steamed broccoli, eggplant something.

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I like feta with heavy greens and pasta, a recipe I got from Mollie Katzen's Still Life With Menu.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yum. Of course, having used my spinach, I'd have to get more greens, but I can do that. (And the spanikopita's having dill in it makes me want to add it here, too. Though not if it's heavier greens. *ponder*)

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

If you have any extra bread dough around, feta makes a good white pizza, along with other cheeses. I'm also partial to eating it with french fries, myself.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I haven't made pizza in ages! I should use this as inspiration (but not for Shabbat; I don't want to deal with both milchigs and fleishigs).

I tend to make pizza dough specifically, rather than using some bread dough, because I tend to put a lot of stuff in bread dough that would make it harder to use as a flatbread, and because I like putting lots of herbs and spices in pizza dough (powdered garlic and onion, oregano and basil, etc) to add to the pizza flavors.

[cellio]

Feta works well (with spinach) with eggs in either omelette or fritata form.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I tend to think of it as too salty; I have to remember that balanced with enough other stuff, it won't be. And I like breakfast-for-dinner.

[(Anonymous)]

Is it real feta, or "gevina tzfatit" or "bulgarit"? I recall those being softer and less salty.

[magid.livejournal.com]

The package says feta, made from sheep's milk. It's also chalov Yisrael, if that makes a difference for you.

(I used to love getting bulgarit to put in Israeli salad, to eat with an aish tanur. I ate tons of the stuff.)

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

and quiche! Don't forget quiche!

(I have a great tomato/feta quiche recipe. It has lots of oregano which seems to go a long way toward balancing out the salty flavor of the feta. magid if you want the "actual" recipe, I'll dig it out tonight, but it's basically a cooked pie shell, bottom filled with feta, then eggs beaten with milk, pepper, and oregano poured over the top and then tomato slices layered on the top, then baked)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Who'da thunk that oregano would balance the saltiness? Neat. Your description sounds good enough for me (though of course, being me and currently not having tomatoes, I might substitute something else for them. Though on the other hand, I don't currently have pre-made shells, which is my default pie crust, so if I'm getting that, I could get some tomatoes... :-).

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

yeah, I'd definitely do the tomatoes. I think the acidity of the tomatoes also helps balance the saltyness. Re: the oregano, I think the reason it helps balance is because it's a strong flavor, which helps offset the strong flavor of the salty feta.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

ooh, you can also do stuffed mushroom caps with feta!

[magid.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... stuffed mushrooms. You're making me hungrier.

[pling.livejournal.com]

The only way I've ever eaten feta is as Greek salad - tomatoes, feta, onions, pepper (optional) & olives (which I hate, so don't have in mine), dressed with olive oil & vinegar. Best eaten in Greece as the feta is freshest :)

Not much help for your cooking, though ;)

[magid.livejournal.com]

It works well in Israeli salad, too (diced tomatoes and cucumbers, also onions and peppers if they're to your taste, in an olive oil dressing).

Hm. Possibly added to a grain salad (bulghur or barley or something).