What are you eating?

[LKB]

Today I'll be enjoying something other than eggs. 

[drogulus]

     I just ate chicken enchiladas with mole sauce. I lost a bet on the AFC championship game to That One Over There so I had to give her a reward. If I had won she would have made me a beef stew.

[Karl Henning]

I hope you're aware that this is not what Greek μουσακάς is like.
Major faux pas no.1: using just aubergines. Traditional Greek recipes call for aubergines, zucchini and potatoes at the base.
Major faux pas no.2: The meat is never lamb*. It's either minced veal/beef (or a mixture of pork and veal).

*Unless it's in the dish title, lamb meat is not very often used in Greek cuisine. Pork and veal are used in the majority of such dishes. Lamb is reserved for specific dishes and certain feasts and celebrations, like the Easter Sunday οβελίας, roasted whole on a turning spit. When you see recipes of Greek dishes using lamb meat, they're almost always tinkered with to conform to Muslim/halal tastes (Middle-Eastern restaurant owners in Europe/USA posing as Greek restaurateurs are major culprits of this). And gyros is either pork or chicken. If you see lamb "gyros", it's not Greek.

Here's a typical recipe for traditional Greek moussaka: Μουσακάς.


 

Thanks. I wondered. It had been years since I'd had moussaka, so the question lingered in the back of my mind, at The Athenian Corner in Lowell, Mass. last week, if the ground beef were truly comme il faut.

[Wanderer]

Thanks for that, I will try it soon. Any suggestions for a cheese I might be able to get here to substitute for κεφαλοτύρι?

Do you have any good recipes for γίγαντες? I've managed to get some real Greek ones. They are big!

To substitute κεφαλοτύρι if you can't find any, you need a hard and salty (not sweet) sheep/goat-milk cheese, like pecorino romano.

Γίγαντες ("giants") is a great favourite! We cook smaller beans in general as a hearty stew (φασολάδα is one of our national dishes and so delicious in the winter), but γίγαντες are much better baked in the oven.
A good traditional recipe for γίγαντες is this one.

[Wanderer]

Thanks. I wondered. It had been years since I'd had moussaka, so the question lingered in the back of my mind, at The Athenian Corner in Lowell, Mass. last week, if the ground beef were truly comme il faut.

It was. If you encounter lamb meat in any well-known Greek dish that doesn't have lamb in the dish's name/title, like in μουσακά or παστίτσιο, then it's definitely not comme il faut.

[ChamberNut]

Delicious bowl of homemade beef stew.

[Kalevala]

Delicious bowl of homemade beef stew.

That sounds tasty!  What all do you put in it?

Took a nap after shoveling.  Purchased some marinated chicken wings the other day.  They are warming up on the counter and will cook them in a bit.  Today's one of the few times that I watch football.

K

[ChamberNut]

That sounds tasty!  What all do you put in it?

Took a nap after shoveling.  Purchased some marinated chicken wings the other day.  They are warming up on the counter and will cook them in a bit.  Today's one of the few times that I watch football.

K

Pretty standard. Stewing meat, carrots, potatoes, celery, green onions, peas, a bit of thyme and a few bay leaves. Beef broth and a bit of red wine.

[Kalevala]

Pretty standard. Stewing meat, carrots, potatoes, celery, green onions, peas, a bit of thyme and a few bay leaves. Beef broth and a bit of red wine.

Green onions--as in scallions?  I've never seen that before.  I've used yellow onions or more often pearl onions.  Also, not certain whether or not I've heard of celery added to it.  One suggestion (if I may):  cook the peas separately; it keeps them fresher and avoids that greyish/green color.

Has anyone here eaten Welsh cakes?  I saw an article about Kate and Will visiting Wales after all of the flooding and "helping out"  in a local bakery.  They sound tasty.  I checked out King Arthur's website, but I noticed right away that they said that their recipe was slightly sweeter--which I don't want (particularly, as from what I read, they are often topped with powder sugar).  Recipes and thoughts anyone?

K

[ChamberNut]

Green onions--as in scallions?  I've never seen that before.  I've used yellow onions or more often pearl onions.  Also, not certain whether or not I've heard of celery added to it.  One suggestion (if I may):  cook the peas separately; it keeps them fresher and avoids that greyish/green color.

Yes, I cook the peas last (I plop them in the last 10 minutes or so of cooking).

I think scallions are different than green onions, but I could be wrong.

I like celery in my soups and stews.  Especially adding some of the flavourful celery leaves.

[Kalevala]

Yes, I cook the peas last (I plop them in the last 10 minutes or so of cooking).

I think scallions are different than green onions, but I could be wrong.

I like celery in my soups and stews.  Especially adding some of the flavourful celery leaves.

I found this:  https://www.allrecipes.com/article/scallions-vs-green-onions/

Do you use the greens too?

And celery sounds like a nice addition too; I do love it in soups.  And there's more nutrition in it than I had initially thought (been a while since I've googled it.  I did that after a friend of mine said that he likes it in salads).  Don't believe that I've ever tried it in stews.  Any favorite recipe?

About to make some scrambled eggs with those ever-precious eggs.

K

[Christo]

Syrian yoghurt, from the Syrian minimarket nearby, which has much delicious food. 

[ChamberNut]

I found this:  https://www.allrecipes.com/article/scallions-vs-green-onions/

Do you use the greens too?

And celery sounds like a nice addition too; I do love it in soups.  And there's more nutrition in it than I had initially thought (been a while since I've googled it.  I did that after a friend of mine said that he likes it in salads).  Don't believe that I've ever tried it in stews.  Any favorite recipe?

About to make some scrambled eggs with those ever-precious eggs.

K

For green onions, yup. The whole thing. Green onions are terrific chopped up fine in egg salad.

No particular stew recipe. I just generally kind of do my own thing.

Thankful that in Canada, eggs are still reasonably priced, compared to the States at the moment.

Olive oil is crazy expensive right now though!!

[DavidW]

About to make some scrambled eggs with those ever-precious eggs.

K

I did that this morning.

[Kalevala]

Syrian yoghurt, from the Syrian minimarket nearby, which has much delicious food. 

Is Syrian yogurt different than Greek yogurt?  If so, how?

K

For green onions, yup. The whole thing. Green onions are terrific chopped up fine in egg salad.

No particular stew recipe. I just generally kind of do my own thing.

Thankful that in Canada, eggs are still reasonably priced, compared to the States at the moment.

Olive oil is crazy expensive right now though!!

Have you had many problems lately with bird flu?

I love green onions in things like salad, topped and mixed in at the last minute to things like cous cous or as a garnish, but I'd be concerned of them being overcooked in a stew.  And yes olive oil has been going up here too.  Lately, I've been getting refills of some decent extra virgin olive oil (which is available at various places in my area) and using "regular" olive oil for cooking [Higher smoking point and less expensive].

K

[Kalevala]

I did that this morning.

They're good!  I cooked mine in a small and high-sided sauce pan:  beat two eggs with a whisk in a pyrex measuring cup, added salt, pepper, thyme.  Melted butter over low to medium heat, added eggs, kept whisking, took on and off heat adding some goat cheese. Whisk, whisk, whisk (I like mine small curds and on the runny side) and had with toast.  Happy gal here.  And you?

K

[Kalevala]

Having fun watching some videos with chef Jean Pierre (youtube).  He had been a professional chef for many years, but he's also a good teacher.  He has a very affable personality and one can learn much from him [One trick that I learned and will try the next time is to use a microplane grater on top of the fruit; this way, you can see what you've grated, avoid missing areas, and avoid grating the pith.].  And, boy, I'd love to make his standing prime rib! 

K

[ultralinear]

Lemon and olive chicken tagine:



Another dead easy and tasty recipe from John Gregory-Smith's Fast Feasts:

[LKB]

For lunch at work: Mac and cheese, with shrimp.

[Papy Oli]

For lunch at work: Mac and cheese, with shrimp.

 

Somewhere some eggs are planning an intervention