Quickie Greek-ish Dinner

This has been one insanely busy weekend and I didn't even do any work (well, not my normal work.)  Here's a list of what we crammed into Friday night through Sunday evening: Circus, playground, pizza with friends, Carolina Ballet performance, church, USC basketball.  It was a lot of stuff.

Viv and I left the Lady Gamecocks as they were 41-41 with Texas A&M.  As a side note, I haven't watched women's basketball in a long time.  They are aggressive as hell and they spend more time on the floor than I remember any team...not just the Gamecocks but the other team too.  It just seemed like they were constantly tripping over feet, just flat out running into each other, whatever you wanna call it...all I know was somebody was on the floor pretty much every play.

By the time we got home, it was time to get back to reality: baths, picking out school clothes, reading and of course, dinner.  I was so tired I just "thought on my feet" and whipped up and dinner that much to my delight (and apparently to my daughter and husband as well), I came up this dish: We'll call it "Elvin's Greek Chicken Pasta." Okay?

Here's what I did:
I took about 6 chicken tenderloins and sprinkled with Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning.  This is something my family has always had in our cabinets.  If you've never used it, find it and be thankful.

So, next I heated up a griddle, melted some butter and added my chicken.  I used a grill press to put pressure on the chicken to quickly create the sear and that beautiful grilled color.  Plus, this cooks the chicken quicker.  I stored them under foil as I continued with other step.  All this time, I had whole wheat penne on the stove.  

Here's the thing about whole wheat pasta.  Most people think it sucks.  Know why?  If you don't cook it right, it does suck.  Wheat pasta must be seasoned with salt while it cooks and it has to cook longer than white pasta.  Simple.  Salting the water liberally will truly add some flavor to the pasta and will take away that wheaty bready cardboardish flavor. And, it must be cooked longer to make it soft and pliable; it's simply different than "regular" pasta.

Then, I used about 1/2 a package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed it and drained it.  I cut up some black olives, then cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces. (Full disclosure: Neil actually handled the chicken for me.  Fantastic job, honey!)  While he was busy with that, I started the sauce.  I like to make roux. Actually I don't really know how to make a sauce or gravy without doing so.) I used about 3 Tbs of butter, 2 Tbs flour..got that cooking, stirring until it got "blonde" and "nutty" smelling then I added about 2 cups of warm milk (having the milk warm or hot is important so you don't end up with clumps) whisking vigorously.  As it began to thicken, I added a little Parmesan and Feta.  That's the sauce.  Easy, huh?

So, after draining my pasta, I put it back in the pot, mixed in the black olives, spinach, chicken (now in bite sized pieces) then mixed it all up with the sauce.  It was ridiculously easy to whip up in a hurry and I got big thumbs up from the 6 year old and the 45 year old!  So, if you need quick entrees in your repertoire, you might want to include this one.

Pictures never give it justice

My six year old loved it and my husband had three helpings.  Go ahead, try it, I dare ya!

Greek Salad Craving

I hate to admit it, but my mind wandered today during the sermon at church. I was listening and following along but *all of a sudden* feta cheese popped into my mind.  This of course led to olives, peppers, lettuce.  Oh no...I'm dreaming of a Greek salad during church. I'm pretty sure there's no specific commandment in the Bible like "Thou shall not daydream about Greek food in the Temple" but it's probably something God would frown upon...right?  

This is my church.  It's a beautiful building and was the 1st house of worship built in Columbia

Well, completely by accident, my mind went there.  Next, it was whirring around like the Tasmanian Devil...my eyes began moving (I'm a visual person) trying to locate a Greek place anywhere near where I was headed today.  Then, inside my head, I heard a loud Hosanna!  (I was in church, you know)  I could call ahead on my way to work, pop into the Grecian Gardens and bag myself a big ol' salad to go.  Yes, it's a plan.  That is what I'll do.  Wait, who's that talking?  Oh yeah, I'm in church...it's the minister.  I'm back, I'm listening, I'm back from mental vacation.

Here's the thing.  In some ways, I've become kind of cynical about restaurants.  You ask for something in most places and you have a teenager screw up their face, pop their hip out to the side and say,  "Oooh,  we HAVE TO charge extra for that."  This amuses me on a couple levels.  I love the concept of having to charge extra to satisfy your customer. Who made this rule and who enforces it? "You have to charge them more.  I command it.  I will strike you with furious anger if you give them anything!"  The other thing that's so funny about it is people like my Mom.  She loves this comment.  She then replies with something like "I have money.  This is my order.  I can pay for it." No one in my family is going to walk away bickering over $.75 but it's ridiculous that a restaurant owner would even risk losing any customer over such a pittance.  

Anyway, I called Grecian Gardens today from the car.  A very pleasant young man answered.  I said, "Hi.  I'd like to place a pick-up order.  I'd like a small Greek salad, with no tomato, and I'd like some extra feta."  (Disclosure:  I know from years of experience that you can ask for extra anything and they may sprinkle a little on top or ignore you altogether.  But, every now and then, someone surprises you and does what you ask)  There was no further discussion other than him asking me my name.  No charging extra dialogue...just "thank you very much, it'll be ready in 10 minutes."

So, when I got to the office and opened up my salad box, I was delighted at what I found.  It was a big, beautiful Greek salad with FIVE olives, FIVE pepperoncini (the small tender kind that I love), no tomatoes (so many people in restaurant kitchens apparently think I'm just joking when I say no tomato, so they give it to me anyway) and...get this...not an extra sprinkle of feta on top.  NO, NO...they gave me a container of extra feta!  Can this be happening?  And, I'd forgotten that Grecian Gardens does this, but there was also one of their signature small round loaves of homemade bread!  This salad was shaping up into a true event.  

So, as guilty as I felt about conjuring up the idea of ordering this yummy pile of deliciousness during church, I quickly got over it.  Clearly, there was a plan for me today.  Have a perfect salad, done the way I like it, and a little bit of culinary joy on this fine Sunday!

Husband + Cooking = Happy Wife

Neil took the reigns on dinner Sunday night and I couldn't have been happier.  A) I wasn't in the mood to cook (it happens occasionally you know) and B) he was making my favorite (pizza!).  God bless him...he took stock of what we had on hand, went to Publix for their bakery-made dough and made a plan.  (If you haven't tried Publix's pizza dough, you better put it on your list.)

Here's what he put together:  Crumbled hot sausage, artichoke hearts, black olives, onions, colby and swiss cheeses.  The result?  Fantastic!  I had no idea of this combination of cheeses until he told me.  I could tell there was a little "Je ne sais quoi" in this pizza, but couldn't put my finger on it.  That was it; a new and different combo of cheese.  I would recommend that you either try his combo or mix it up on your own, with whatever you have available.  Also, we use a pizza stone, which really helps with crisping your crust.  If you don't have one, you may want to give it a shot.

This is Neil's creation: delicious!

The ingredients Neil chose worked well together.  Of course, I think artichokes are like manna from Heaven.  As the pie was cooking, the house smelled divine.  We were so looking forward to dinner. 

In the midst of all this, our little one was complaining of her ear hurting.  This was strange because she never complains and she hasn't been sick at all.  But after about a half a slice of pizza and over 2 hours of our sweet baby crying and tossing and turning and Tylenol not helping, we packed it up and went to the hospital.  Fortunately, it was just a sudden onset ear infection and easily treatable.  And, on the bright side of the pizza; we got to have it (in its entirety) for dinner last night!  

I salute my husband for a successful concoction and many thanks for doing the cooking!  Now, ready to try your hand at lobster thermidor?  (Hint, hint)

Lazy Friday Night "Supper"

So, I've been a cooking fool this week, which makes me happy.  But, today I returned home with no plan in place, yawning my 'you-know-what' off and tons of leftovers and knick-knacks in the fridge.  Yes, it was time for mystery "antipasto."

I assembled a few things:  a plate of Greek black olives, garlic marinated green olives, Alouette spreadable brie (Neil hates brie rind.  I mean, really hates it so this stuff works for him), pepperoncini, pepperoni, sharp cheddar slices and water crackers.  And, I sauteed a couple of mini-crab cakes, although at the time of this writing Neil hasn't eaten his, so he's about to forfeit them.


Neil has a biz trip coming up, so this weekend will be more fun for cooking while he's here.  I have my (FREE) pound of chicken I got from Earth Fare and some nice looking pork chops in the fridge, so I think I can make an interesting weekend of it.  Since tomorrow is the Iceman Challenge, he'll probably be hungry enough to eat shoe leather tomorrow night.