Spanakopita Rolls

                          

About

Spanakopita is traditionally phylo dough savory pastry made out of spinach, onions and feta cheese, usually in triangles. As you may have noticed, I have taken the liberty to modify the traditional recipe and formed them into Spanakopita Rolls instead. They were an absolute favorite and in a matter of seconds, they were all gone! I am glad that I managed to take pictures before my guests arrived! The filling is really the star of this dish. Not only are these delicious appetizers, they are easy to make and healthy because they are baked and not fried. The recipe calls for 24 rolls.

Ingredients

Olive Oil (EVOO)- 1 tablespoon

Small White Onion- 1 finely chopped

Scallions- 2, chopped

Fresh Spinach- 24 Oz (about 3 cups)

Fresh Feta cheese- 3 oz, crumbled

Cottage Cheese (Paneer)- ½ cup (optional)

Salt, to season

Pepper, to season

Phyllo sheets- 12m thawed

Butter- 1 stick, melted, about 8 tablespoons

EVOO- 1 tablespoon

Method

Step 1- Filling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of EVOO in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions and scallions. Cook until softened. Add spinach and cook until most of the water from the spinach is evaporated. Add feta and cottage cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Step 2- Rolls

Melt butter, add EVOO and keep aside. You will need a pastry brush (basting brush) spread the butter onto the sheets. Carefully, remove phyllo sheets. Stack 8 sheets. With the shortest end of the phyllo sheet nearest you, brush phyllo with butter and EVOO mixture. It does not have to be perfect, but remember to work through this quickly because the sheets dry up. Top with second sheet and brush again. Fold the buttered phyllo sheets in half, like a book and brush the top layer. Divide the sheets in 4 parts. You should now have 4 sets of 2 buttered sheets. Make 3 vertical divisions using a pizza cutter. Then make one horizontal incision in the center, making 6 equal squares. Once you have done cutting all 4 sets, you should have 24 squares. Place a heaping 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the bottom nearest you. Adjust the filling depending on how effectively you are able to roll this. Again, it does not have to be perfect. Just make sure that the filling is not coming out. Since the sheets are buttered, they might be fragile to work with. Carefully fold up the square once and then fold over the right side and then the left side of the phyllo. Brush with butter mixture and then continue rolling up like a burrito. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet and brush rolls with butter/oil mixture. Bake until golden and crispy for about 30 to 35 minutes. 

Happy Cooking!!

Mini Baklava Tarts

About

This is a quick version of the elaborated baklava recipe, which is not hard to make, but just consumes much more time. This desert is a tried and tested recipe, and trust me, not only I does this taste delicious, but it is very easy to make. I literally made these in 30 minutes! I served them after a couple of hours towards the end of my party (after they had chilled in the refrigerator), but you can serve them right away. Alternatively, you can warm it up in the oven for 20 seconds right before serving. Also, I did not have honey (yes! I use Blue Agave Nector instead of honey, not because I am vegan, but because I simply like the taste of Agave). A couple of observations though- Agave is more liquidy unlike honey which is thick. It doesn’t really matter really, but you can pick what you prefer, because either way they will caramelize when baked. Also, they taste slightly different. Agave is a little sharper in flavor than honey. In addition, can substitute the walnuts for pistachios or pecans, but try the variations and figure out which one you like best! The recipe will make about 24 mini baklava tarts. Enjoy and be ready to get complimented by your guests! 

Note: You can use frozen miniature phyllo tart shells, but I used regular phyllo sheets to make 1- 1 ½ inch squares and baked the walnut mixture with the phyllo squares. Feel free to follow my steps in my Mini Nutella Tarts recipe to learn how to make shells out of phyllo dough sheets. 

Ingredients

Agave Nectar or Honey- ¾ cup

Butter, melted- 1 cup

Ground cinnamon- 1 teaspoon

Lemon juice- 1 teaspoon

Ground cloves- 1 teaspoon

Ground cardamom- 1 teaspoon

Walnuts, finely chopped- 2 cups

1 -1½ inch squares of phyllo sheets (or frozen miniature phyllo tart shells)

Method

Step 1- Mix

In a large mixing bowl, mix Agave or honey, butter, ground cinnamon, cardamom, lemon juice, ground cloves and stir in walnuts. 

Step-2- Fill

Butter the mini muffin/cupcake pan. Place about 4 squares in each cup of mini muffin/cupcake pan and lightly baste with butter with a pastry brush. Spoon about 2 teaspoons mixture into each shell. 

Step 3- Bake

Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes until lightly golden and crispy. The agave (or honey) in the mixture will start to bubble and the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves will make your kitchen absolutely fragrant! 

Step 4- Serve

Once out of the oven, let the tarts stand in the muffin/cupcake pan for at least 30 minutes before attempting to take it out of the muffin/cupcake pan. Take out each shell carefully with a butter knife running the knife around the cup in a circle trying not to break the shell. Alternatively, you can carefully take it out by hand. Serve like I did in a tiered serving dish with other desserts. 

Happy Cooking!!

Mini Nutella Tarlettes

About 

I had read a similar recipe somewhere and decided to try this out. It turned out to be an absolute favorite and within minutes they were gone!  I made them out of regular phyllo sheets simply because I had no time to run to the grocery store to grab the shells. Also, I had sheets left over from my spanakopita rolls and baklava tarts. But if you can’t be bothered to cut the mini squares, you can find packaged phyllo cups in the frozen section in the local grocery store, where phyllo dough and prepared frozen pie crusts are sold. But if you want to make a quick desert and cannot be bothered to buy phyllo cups, just like I wasn't, you can follow this recipe by just using phyllo dough sheets. Simply cut the sheets into 1-1 ½ inch squares with a pizza cutter and push them into a greased mini muffin cup (For every 4 set of sheets, you will be able to make approx 8 squares). You'll want to butter and layer about 4 sheets of phyllo in each mini muffin well to get a nice, crispy phyllo cup. Once you fill each of the mini muffin cup wells, bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool completely on a baking rack before filling.

Ingredients

Nutella or any good quality chocolate/hazelnut spread- 1 ½ cups

Heavy whipped cream- 2 cups

Phyllo shells- 8 (to make 16)

Toasted almonds or walnuts- ½ cup, for garnishing

Method

Step 1- Mix

In a large mixing bowl, place cold heavy whipping cream and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add nutella and carefully fold the whipped cream into the Nutella.

Step 2- Transfer

Transfer this Nutella cream mixture into a pastry bag or simply just cut corners of a large gallon sized zip lock bag and fill with the mixture.

Step 3- Piping

Pipe the Nutella misture into the phyllo shells. Hold tip approximately ½ in. above the shell at a 90° angle to the surface. Squeeze out the mixture without releasing pressure, raise tip slightly as you drop a line of icing around the tip in a tight, complete rotation.  After completing the first rotation, move tip toward center and up and around to make a second spiral around the inside edge of the first spiral. Release pressure to end spiral at center of shell.

Step 4- Garnish

Garnish with whole almond or in this case, I garnished with chopped walnuts left over from my baklava recipe!

Step 5- Serve

Serve immediately because the nutella mixture will start to melt if left out for too long. Alternatively, you can make in advance and refrigerate it and take out right 10 minutes before serving.

Chef's Tip: As you can see my nutella mixture melted because it was a hot day even though it wasn't left outside for too long! Who cares though!? It turned out to be a big hit!!

Happy Cooking!!

Baba Ghannouj

About
This is by far my favorite dip. I love Eggplant and this dish just combines simple ingredients to create an amazing dip. I have a ceramic cook top, so I used my gas BBQ grill to grill the eggplant. The smoky flavor created by grilling the eggplant just compliments beautifully. The recipe makes approximately 2 cups of Baba Ghannouj and serves 4-6. 

Ingredients
Medium sized eggplant- 1 (about 400 g or 12 oz)
Lemon Juice-¼ cup
Tahini- ¼ cup
Garlic- 2 cloves
Sea Salt- to season
Olive Oil- 1½ tablespoon
Parsley- ¼ cup or about 4 sprigs

Method
Grill eggplant over charcoal or gas grill for 20-30 minutes, turning frequently. Peel off skin while hot (wear gloves for protection) and remove the stem and bottom of the eggplant if firm. 

Roughly chop the eggplant and in a blender, puree the eggplant. Add garlic and salt. Add more salt if required. Add lemon juice. Blend in 1 tablespoon olive oil and parsley. 

Place in a shallow dish, pour in the remaining olive oil and garnish with parsley. 

Serve with warm pita bread. 

Happy Cooking! 

Garlic Hummus (Chick Pea and Sesame Puree)

About

Hummus is an all time favorite Middle Eastern and Arabic dip made with cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Of course, modernly there are many variants of this simple dish. You can make Jalepeno, Cilantro, Artichoke Hummus and the list goes on. This is a classic favorite and when made at home, tastes so much better than store bought hummus. Approximately 3 cups of hummus can be made from the ingredients listed below. I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Ingredients

Boiled (or canned) Chick Peas- 1 cup

Water- ½ cup

Tahini (Sesame paste made out of toasted sesame seeds and olive oil)- ½ cup

Lemon Juice- ½ cup

Garlic- 3-4 depending on how garlicy you would like your hummus

Sea Salt- to season

Chopped Garlic- for serving and presentation

Good quality Olive Oil- 2 tablespoon

Method

In a blender, add chick peas and ½ cup water. Slowly blend tahini and lemon juice into the puree. Add Garlic and Sea Salt. Add Salt if required. Hummus should be thick and smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of the Olive Oil and blend together again. 

Spread in a shallow serving dish, swirling it with the back of a spoon. Pour Olive Oil in the center and garnish with chopped Garlic. You can also sprinkle some paprika. 

Serve with warm pita bread. Store for 3 days in an air tight container in the refrigerator. 

Happy Cooking! 

Mediterranean Cuisine

As promised, I am excited about my new post! My husband and I hosted a Mediterranean grill party for some of our close friends. The Mediterranean food presented here inspired from cuisines of Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Of course Mediterranean cuisine comprises of cuisines of countries in the Middle East including Green, Cyprus and Turkey that are countries really in the Eastern boundaries of Europe, but the food in general in these areas is largely known as "Mediterranean" food because the food in these areas are adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps the biggest dispute is which dish originated in which particular country? But we will not get into the details of that debate. The recipes presented are my versions of some of the famous Mediterranean classics. What I like best about this cuisine is that it is clean, fresh and healthy. So lets explore this together. 

Stay Tuned!!

Hello Readers!

I would like to apologize for not being able to post for so long! I just got a new job and I have been busy proving myself! I also found out recently that I passed the California Bar Exam! So life has been busy.

But stay tuned as I have a brand new post coming next week. This time I have decided to take a slight deviation from the "South Asian" theme and explore some of my favorite Mediterranean classics. I will present to you a BBQ Mediterranean theme party that you can use to plan and impress your friends and family with simple, yet restaurant style recipes. I will be posting some cocktails, appetizers and some classic grill recipes.

I recently adopted vegetarianism, but I will be posting both vegetarian and meat delights.

So stay tuned for some amazing recipes, pictures and tips.

Happy Cooking!