A lovely, tangy nibble, Spinach Puffs are like puffy spinach knishes, but with a Greek accent. Mix up a classic spinach/feta filling and wrap it in puff pastry (instead of filo) and voilà—an easy, bite-sized version of Greek spinach pie (Spanakopita). You can use your favorite store-bought puff pastry, but we recommend our homemade Quick Puff Pastry because it has about the same insane amount of butter as layered filo. (FYI, Pepperidge Farm puff pastry does not contain butter.) Let’s face it, nobody makes their own filo. But anybody can make Quick Puff Pastry. Store it in the freezer just as you would the packaged kind. Then defrost whenever you want to make this…
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Greek Meatballs in Egg and Lemon Sauce (Avgolemono Sauce)
Josephine “Josie” McCarthy, cooked up some unusual dishes for her time. But that was her job. An Emmy-nominated host of TV and radio cooking shows in the 1940s and ’50s, she coaxed audiences to go beyond the mundane. And her sublime Greek Meatballs in Egg and Lemon Sauce (Avgolemono Sauce) did just that. These mint-flecked meatballs in bright lemon sauce are so good they could headline a Greek menu. Yet down-to-earth Josie just called them “the same old ground beef done up to be very important.” Josie shared thousands of recipes on her TV show and compiled the most popular ones in Josie McCarthy’s Favorite TV Recipes. A weeknight dinner that’s special enough for…
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Patates Elinora (Greek-Style Potatoes)
You’re low on flour, rice is scarce, and your pasta stash is down to one lonely box of elbows. Thank Heaven for potatoes. Especially when it’s easy to dress them up Greek-style—bright, pungent and with an aroma so intoxicating it could serve as stress-relief therapy. “Greek-style” is simply shorthand for “lemon, oregano and olive oil” (the way “Florentine” means spinach). But this is not your standard dish of crispy potato wedges done up Greek-style. Here, layers of thinly sliced potatoes roast and steam, soaking up caramelized lemon sauce and blissing out on oregano. Cut into the casserole and you’ll find strata of textures and flavors, from soft and creamy on the bottom to crispy…
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Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)
At the risk of sounding like a midnight infomercial, here is the best spanakopita, or Greek spinach pie, you’ll ever eat. It’s oniony-sweet, cheesy, and the herbs melt into the spinach to deepen the flavor. I have yet to find a restaurant version that can beat this. We usually see spanakopita as either an appetizer or a main dish. But with today’s “mezze mania,” you can bake up a batch, freeze it, then reheat a few triangles to go along with hummus, a few diamonds of kibbee, or whatnot to turn a meal into a party. I like to bake from scratch, but draw the line at filo. Other than my friend Wendy, who…
