Xristos Anesti!
Care for lunch?
Here's what we had (and are still having):
Lamb: 2 rolled boneless legs from Whole Foods (8 lbs or so). I rub salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and lemon juice on them, and made small incisions with a knife to insert garlic cloves in several places. Then I seared them in a hot pan of my dad's olive oil and placed them in a crock pot for about 5 hours. A very delicious alternative to roasting on a souvla (spit). I drizzled a bit of red wine on them about midway through cooking.
Kefthedes (aka meatballs): I used ground beef from the cow that Jeff's step dad, Ben, gave us for Christmas. It was already butchered. But we were still really happy about it. Anyway- 3lbs ground beef hand mixed with salt pepper, parsley, oregano, cinnamon, chopped garlic and onion, 1 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup parmesan, 2 eggs. And a douse of red wine.
Red Potatoes: chopped and mixed with fresh garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, lots of fresh lemon juice and some fresh sprigs of rosemary- oven roasted for about an hour. I sprinkle that with red wine mid way through cooking too. Ahem.
Spanokopita and Tiropita: the "spano" version is a mixture of one large container cottage cheese, 2-3 eggs, steamed and squeezed spinach, and a small block of feta. I spoon that into a tri-folded length of filo dough which is then folded (like flag folding) into little triangles to trap the cheese. The "tiro" version is the same but without the spinach. And both are generously brushed with melted butter before baking at 400 until golden.
Asparagus: Because we've been eating so many vegetables for forty days, these bundles of asparagus were asked to wrap themselves in half a slice of bacon before being invited. First I rub olive oil and salt and pepper all over the freshly trimmed and rinsed springs before wrapping about 5 or 6 together with bacon. Then I broil on the top rack at 465 for about 10 minutes.
Green Salad: Fresh greens, mini tomatoes tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper.
Tsoureki: My mom brought the sweet bread so I'm not sure of her recipe but here is one example, maybe she'll enlighten us in the comments section if she sees this. When I asked her she said, Oh I don't use a recipe. Show off.
Yellow cake: Also brought by my mom but I never asked about it because my mouth was full.
Family: I sprinkled them with kisses and candy, and doused a few of them in red wine too.
thanks for coming,
xoxoxo, Anna