Meatloaf, from Carrie

I go about making my meatloaf like this:

Take one pound of ground up meat (tonight is turkey), add 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 1 egg, some garlic powder, black pepper, 1 small can of green chilies, 1/4 cup bbq sauce. Smoosh it all together, dump in a loaf pan and cook at 375 for around an hour.

Meatloaf, from Stephanie

Last night I made meatloaf. Here's an approximation of what I did.

In a large bowl, combine

1 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1/4 large sweet onion, minced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 egg, beaten half to death

4 tsp worcestershire sauce (I just shook it for a while)

1ish tsp oregano

1ish tsp italian seasoning

1/4 tsp sage

3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (because I had it around)

1/3 to 1/2 cup ketchup

1.3lbs meatloaf mix - a preprepared meat product available here, a mix of ground beef, pork, and veal

salt and pepper

Mix ingredients with hands (I have gloves... phew) and form into prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350F (180C) for about an hour (I cooked it until my meat thermometer read 170F).

At this point you can eat it, or top with a coating of barbeque sauce or ketchup and return to oven while you round up the kids, cats or clean plates. Let it rest a moment before cutting.

Spanakopita, from Nastia

Pies have a great part in Greek tradition, we make them for holidays, funerals, memorials, Christmas, Easter, as a main dish as an appetiser, or as a dessert. There are also sweet pies, such as Bougatsa (cream pie).

I made Spanakopita (Spinach pie) yesterday, with home made leaves and fresh spinach. For a big pan you will need:

750gr Flour for pies (26oz, or 1.6lbs, approx. 6 cups)

1 kg (2.2lbs) fresh spinach

5-6 fresh onions (the green ones)

about 100gr (3.5oz) anise finelly chopped

500gr (17.5oz, a little over a pound) feta cheese

2 tbsp vinegar

olive oil

Cold water/salt pepper

In a large pan fill with water until in the middle, wash the spinach thoroughly and add to the cold water, light the kitchen scald the spinach in hot water until soft (dont boil the water and make sure the leaves are nice and green, not over boiled) take off the spinach wait a little and then squeeze all the water out.

In a pan put some olive oil, the onions (chopped) and the anise, stir fry, add spinach and mix well, add salt and pepper, turn off the heat and leave the pan without cover.

Prepare the leaves.

Make a dough with flour, water, and vinegar, has to be soft and not sticky, if the water is cold the dough is better, separate in 18 small balls. Using a rolling pin make small pitas puting three of them one over the other with olive oil in the middle (Pita-oil-pita-oil-pita) that will give you six triplets of pitas. sprad olive oil in a pan, preheat the oven at 180C (I think 350F)

Take the first triplet and with the rolling pin make a big pastry leaf (must cover the pan), put it in the pan, spread olive oil make second leave, spread olive oil, make third leave, add the spinach mix and feta cheese crumbs until well covered, continue with the rest of the leaves (three at bottom three on top) Turn the leaves edges on the inside of the pan (they make a yummy crust after bake) Spread olive oil and some milk on top of the pie and cut it in square pieces.

Bake for an hour or until brownish.

Tip in order to prevent the leaves from sticking on the kitchen counter you can spread some corn flour on the counter.

Tip, if you use cold carbonated water for the dough it will become more crunchy.

Tip, find a rolling pin that suits you I prefer something like this

which is made of wood but a plastic one will do the same job.

(imperial measures are editor's estimates - results may vary)

Pseudo-Greek Feast, an idea from Heather

Pseudo-Greek Feast

Appetizer:
pita chips & hummus - both store bought... I know how easy they are to make, but I already had them at home and I decided late in the day what I was cooking

Main:
- Salad of halved grape tomatoes, kalamatas, cubed cucumber, feta, & olive oil vinaigrette
- Chicken, marinated in olive oil, mint, oregano (both dried, not fresh), salt, pepper, garlic; basted with a mixture of fresh lemon juice and olive oil and broiled (i.e. in the oven with the heat coming from the top of the oven - I know they call this grilling in the UK so I don't assume it means the same to anyone). I used to always grill them, but I'm the worst griller ever. It came out really well - so delicious!
- served chicken with tzatziki, which I made by mixing drained plain natural yogurt, grated & drained cucumbers, and a little salt, mint, garlic, and lemon juice. I don't know if the mint is common, but I love it.
- roasted vegetables - this is nothing I've ever had at a Greek restaurant or in Greece, but I love it and think it goes well. (I used to grill these too, but, again, I suck.) I did zucchini, yellow/summer squash, baby portobello mushrooms, and yellow pearl onions, with olive oil, pepper, and oregano and just stuck them in a roasting pan in the oven until they were tender and juicy

Everything was really nice except for the salad because the dressing was just too tangy and acidic.

A note from Nastia, our resident Greek: VERY GOOD HEATHER, a real Greek dinner. Just one tip. Don't put vinegrette on tomato salad just plain olive oil and oregano, it tastes better. Also, don't put lemon juice in Tzatziki because it messes with the yoghourt, some oil will do.

Turkey Fajitas, an idea from Carrie

Dinner tonight is fajitas made with turkey breast strips pre-marinated by Stoney Brook Farms. Yum! Of course all the trappings: beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, etc....I'm so excited!

Italian Baked Chicken, an idea from Karli

Tonight we had chicken, carrots, and green beans. I covered the chicken with Italian dressing and baked in the oven. When it was done, I topped it with mozzerella cheese and put it back in the oven just until the cheese was melted. It was YUMMY!!

Oven Fried Chicken, from Karli

Oven Fried Chicken

Coat chicken with Bisquick (I usually season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder). Melt 2 TBS butter in baking dish and lay chicken in butter. Bake at 400° until chicken is cooked through. You may need to turn chicken once, depending on the type of pan you use, to make it crispy all over.