Besides flavoring the iconic summer tomato salad, served as toping for crunchy barley rusks, or accompanying a myriad of vegetable dishes, here are two irresistible, yet simple appetizers with feta.
You can whip them up in minutes.
Vegetarian
Feta in Phyllo Packages
I first had this clever and simple version of feta package in Eumelia, the Organic Agrotourism Farm in southern Peloponnese. Marilena, the owner, cook, and instructor, served us a large, home-rolled phyllo and feta package, which, as she explained, she prepares in advance, freezes it, and then briefly fries in a hot oil skillet whenever she needs to present a quick snack or meze. Her twist on the common phyllo triangles served at most taverns, is that the thin slices of feta inside the frozen phyllo are adequately heated through as the package is briefly fried, becoming particularly delicious. The soft cheese does not disintegrate inside the crunchy phyllo, as in most versions of the appetizer.
Chef Uri Eshet at Kea Retreat serves the packages with sliced figs; you can pair them with other fresh, seasonal fruit and/or with fruit preserves. Drizzle with honey or any syrup, and sprinkled with sesame seeds or nigella, if you like.
I bet that this easy, convenient, and delicious morsel, whipped up with commercial phyllo, will become your next favorite appetizer. The pieces are quite filling, so one per person is enough.
To make 9 feta-phyllo packages (more…)
Damson and Pear Upside-down Cake
This is my latest fall dessert: an upside-down cake I baked using the wonderful, local damson plums and the very last local pears I got from the farmstand.
The fruit don’t look like much, but they taste wonderful. I wish we had more…
You can use plums instead of the damsons, but choose small, not large an juicy because they would collapse in the sugar.
This cake is basically another riff on the Apple or Quince Charlotka, the light and easy fruit cake both Costas and I love! As I posted this recipe I received the Newsletter from Dorie Greenspan with the recipe for a Parisian upside-down plum cake. Maybe you would like to try that one too…
For a 10-inch round cake –or equivalent square (more…)
From Persia to the Balkans: Baked Rice in Delicious Variations
You never quite outgrow this Balkan comfort food. My late cousin Leonidas Harvalias, who lived on Kéa long before we decided to move here, got the original recipe from one of the first Albanian immigrants who worked on the island.
I have changed it very slightly, and it has become part of our family’s permanent repertoire, one of our favorite casseroles. The name briani or briami, probably comes from the Persian biryan, which is also the ancestor of the more well-known Indian biryani. In the traditional Greek briami there is no rice, just a medley of summer vegetables baked in the oven.
Albanian Briani: Baked Rice with Milk, Feta, Peppers, and Dill
My late cousin Leonidas Harvalias, who lived on Kéa long before we decided to move here, got the recipe from one of the first Albanian immigrants who worked on the island. It has become part of our family’s permanent repertoire and is one of our favorite casseroles. The name briani or briami, probably comes from the Persian biryan. Maria Kaneva in her book The Melting Pot: Balkan Food and Cookery, describes a rice, potato and tomato briani, and writes that there are many versions, which can be traced to the Balkans in the Middle Ages.
Makes 6 servings (more…)