kolling@decwrl.UUCP (Karen Kolling) (09/11/85)
An hors d'oeuvre for the line-muncher bug. I'd be interested in people's favorite hors d'oeuvres recipes, preferably for things that can be made the night before, and preferably vegetarian. (And is there a way to keep apple slices from browning? I've been experimenting with mixtures of lemon juice and water, but the apple slices still look ratty after an hour or so.)
nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (09/12/85)
An horse dover for the line-muncher bug. > I'd be interested in people's favorite hors d'oeuvres recipes, > preferably for things that can be made the night before, and > preferably vegetarian. (And is there a way to keep apple slices > from browning? I've been experimenting with mixtures of lemon > juice and water, but the apple slices still look ratty after an hour > or so.) The Greek "pies" made with phyllo are very flexible, and very tasty. Individually wrapped (instead of dishes full) they make nice appetizers, but require heating before serving. You can make them up & cook them the day before, refridgerate them & reheat for 10 min before serving, or make them weeks before & freeze the uncooked, cooking 20-30 mins. before serving. They are not on Weight-Watcher's list of approved foods. About the apple - restaurants use this stuff from potatoes on lettuce & fruits to keep them from browning, but I doubt you'd want to use it. There's also ascorbic acid (may be available in store with canning stuff like Tadco's here in Rochester). You want an anti-oxidant. Spanakopitas ("Spinache Pie - really spanakotyropitas meaning spinache cheese pie but we're lazy about saying the whole thing. If you leave out the spinache you have tyropita, or cheese pie. If you use meat instead, you have kreatopita or meat pie.) 12 oz fresh spinache, washed thoroughly, destemmed & dried 2 medium onions, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 lb feta cheese 1/2 lb ricotta cheese an egg (or maybe two) salt, pepper, basil or oregano if you like mebbe some lemon juice mebbe some grated parmesan cheese - it works well but is not really authentic 1/2 lb phyllo dough sheets (I find it a freezer in the gourmet section of the grocery store, labelled "phyllo" or "philo" or "strudel pastry". Also available in some delis or imported foods stores. But by all means, buy the stuff - it's difficult to make) melted butter (about 1 stick) with brush The Filling : Clean the spinache carefully. There's nothing worse than to bite into some really delicious & flavorfull food only to crunch down on some grit! It doesn't have to be thoroughly dry, but it helps. Chop as finely as you can (squash a bunch of leaves together and cut thin "slices" off the end, then rotate cutting board 90 degrees, squash the slices together and cut the slices into little pieces. If you leave pieces too long, then you run the risk of biting into a hot morsel and pulling the steaming melted cheese and spinache filling out onto your chin and your shirt &c) Chop onions medium fine and saute in olive oil until golden. Add spinache and toss gently until the greens are wilted. You may want to add the spinache in two or three batches so you don't overflow the pan (it shrinks incredibly when it wilts). Increase the heat and push the spinache around to get rid of as much liquid as practical without scorching the spinach (usually less than 5 minutes does the trick - you don't want the filling to be too wet else the crispy little pielets get soggy). Remove from heat and mix with the ricotta & crumbled feta cheeses. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Sometimes we add lemon (or Parmesan) if the feta is not sharp enough. Adjust salt (may need a little unless the feta is very salty), add any other spices you wish (thyme, basil, oregano, summer savory, ...). Stir and the filling is ready. In addition to making these hors d'oeuvres it can be used in souffles, omelets, etc. to good advantage. For tyropita filling leave out the spinache (and even the onions if you insist) and double the amounts of cheese used. For kreatopita filling brown ground meat, onions, thyme and a pinch of cinamon, add salt & pepper to taste. Let cool & add an egg or two. No reason in the world why other veggie fillings can't be used, as long as they are not too wet. Be sure to use some kind of binder (like egg). Sweet fillings can also be used, like apple pie filling, or freezer jam, or most fruit pie fillings provided that you cook them a little first so the thickening agent (corn starch, tapioca, etc.) thickens the sauce a bit. Chopped nuts & honey made into a paste is wundebar! The Phyllo (Making the Little Footballs) : Phyllo dough is tricky stuff to work with. It is very thin sheets of flour and water and will turn to goo if it gets wet. If it dries out, it becomes brittle and will turn to powder before your amazed eyes. So before you start prepare a work area of at least 2 feet square by wiping a table (counter) with a damp (not too wet) sponge and laying a few strips of wax paper on it. Tear off another 18" strip of wax paper to cover the phyllo you're not currently filling, and dampen a kitchen towel to set over the wax paper so the phyllo doesn't dry out. If you can't wring the towel out real well, consider using two sheets of was paper to cover the dough. You really do not want any water to get on the phyllo. When you take the stuff out of the bag, use a *very* sharp knife to cut off only as much as you plan on using and return the rest to the bag & the fridge. It comes as several sheets (leaves, hence "phyllo") rolled up with a piece of wax paper inside a plastic bag. Once opened, be sure to use a twist-tie to seal the bag. Unroll the phyllo, and roll it back up without the wax paper. Cut off two or three 2" sections from the roll. These are really 2" wide strips all rolled up. If the knife is not sharp, the cut edges will all stick together and try your manual dexterity. Unroll one of the rolls of strips and take off 5 or 6 strips. Put the other roll and the rest of the strips from this roll under the waxed paper and put the damp towel on top. Separate the strips and lay out on the wax paper "pointing away from you." Brush melted butter on the strips (all this goes better if there are two people, one putting the strips down and brushing them, the other rolling the strips up with filling inside.) and put a teaspoon or two of filling at the near end of each strip. Fold a tringular piece of the end of the strip over the filling, then flop the (sandwiched) filling over, making the fold along the far edge of the triangular strip. Now flip the filling part over along the diagonal edge, then the far edge, the diagonal, the far, .... It's just like making those little paper footballs we used to make in elementary school when teacher wasn't looking. Or like folding a flag. ------------------------------- 1. | O | strip with filling ------------------------------- ------------------------------- 2. \ | | first flap folded over ----------------------------- ---------------------------- 3. | / | second fold ---------------------------- -------------------------- 4. / | | third fold --------------------------- etc. Keep on folding until you run out of strip. Place triangle on a cookie sheet with the tail end of the strip on the bottom side. Brush top with melted butter. Repeat with rest of strips, and continue to process them in batches of 5 or 6 until you have a cookie shhet full. Do *not* allow them to touch (give at least 1/4" clearance between triangles). Freeze at this point, or cook in 400 F pre-heated oven for 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown. If refridgerating to reheat in the next day or two, cook 18-20 minutes, until just beginning to brown, let cool and chill. Then cover with plastic wrap or Al foil. These are *not* appropriate for the microwave (they must be cripsy). Remove from pan as soon as you get them out of the oven so the bottoms don't burn. This amount will make several panfulls (maybe three to five), so if you have two pans you may wish to alternate the one you are loading and the one in the oven. You can cool the hot pan off by holding it upside down under the faucet and running cold water over the bottom. Cool one end of the pan holding the other end higher with a hot pad, then hold the cool end higher with your hand and run water over the other end. It works very fast and is handy when making cookies as well. Make the little triangles until you run out of filling, phyllo, time or patience, whichever comes first. Makes about 40 to 60 pielets. Serve with retsina, grilled octopus, bread, and zatziki. A few slices of cucumber will do nicely, or perhaps some saganaki. This can also be made into little "logs", by cutting the strips wider (say 3"), buttering, putting a tsp or two of filling on one end, rolling over a couple of times, then folding the sides up and finishing rolling the "log" until the strip runs out. This is especially usefull if you are making more than one kind (with different fillings). It can also be prepared by the pan. Butter a lasagna pan, cover the bottom with a monolayer of phyllo, butter, more phyllo, etc. about 8 times, then add filling, fold the sides over the top and put more buttered phyllo on top. Brush with yet more butter and cook at 375 F 25-30 min. until golden brown. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting with sharp knife. Whew! It's not too much work if you have the right amount of help (ie: two to four people, no more), and can be a fun time. THe people who roll the pies up get filling all over their hands, so it's best to have one person designated to deal with the phyllo strips and oven, etc. (ie: keep their hands relatively clean for answering the phone, getting beers, etc.) It's a good excuse to invite that motos over, besides. Tell 'em I said you had to have four hands to do this. Maybe I should post to net.singles (B^) (well, I have always suspected that this is the real reason why my wife married me ...) Enjoy, Nemo -- Internet: nemo@rochester.arpa UUCP: {decvax, allegra, seismo, cmcl2}!rochester!nemo Phone: [USA] (716) 275-5766 work, 232-4690 home USMail: 104 Tremont Circle; Rochester, NY 14608 School: Department of Computer Science; University of Rochester; Rochester, NY 14627
figmo@tymix.UUCP (Lynn Gold) (09/19/85)
> An hors d'oeuvre for the line-muncher bug. > > I'd be interested in people's favorite hors d'oeuvres recipes, > preferably for things that can be made the night before, and > preferably vegetarian. (And is there a way to keep apple slices > from browning? I've been experimenting with mixtures of lemon > juice and water, but the apple slices still look ratty after an hour > or so.) DON'T dilute the lemon juice!!!!! If that isn't strong enough to do it, try a commercially available product called "Fruit Fresh." It's really pretty much just ascorbic acid (vitamin C). --Lynn ...tymix!figmo