A Greek Holiday Dinner

A Picture Worth 1,000 Words

Above is a picture of our new addition, Maggie, waiting by our front window for my spouse + Charlie (GoldenDoodle) to return home from a walk. A Havanese, she is fixated on having everyone in our small family home with her. Her preference is for all of us to be warmed, cozied up and sitting on the couch together. (Preferably with the humans sweet talking and massaging the canines.)

I am sitting on my chair, right next to Maggie looking out the same window and wondering about what food should I cook for the next big holiday; just a week away. We have only just finished all the leftovers from the last holiday! But no time to think of dinners past, today is my day to figure out what I will cook for the big dinner on 25 December.

 Zucchini Tradition

First, I am going to make my annual Zucchini Bread today. These loaves started as a gift for a friend in New York, Gayle. Her sister goes to visit each year and delivers my loaf for going on 5 years now. This year I also baked a bunch of half-loaves to give out to neighbors.

I also replaced the AP Flour with a Gluten Free 1+1 AP Flour to see how it would go. Shared it with Food Assembler Jill and she gave it a thumbs up. For gluten free, she said the loaf held together very well as we sliced it, although it was a bit dry; toast it and add some butter and you may not be able to tell the difference. (I did add a bit more shredded zucchini to up the moisture a bit.)

I originally used an old Betty Crocker’s recipe (from the 1950’s) that I have modified with less sugar, more zest, removing nuts, and adding fiber.

The thing about this loaf is that it creates a mess! Essentially it is easier to make as many loafs as you need, since the mess is the same. This year I am making 3 large and 6 small loaves. (The recipe for one loaf will fill up two of the smaller pans.) Also I can cook as many loaves as I have pans for, that helps speed it up a bit since it bakes for an hour.

These loafs also freeze and defrost well. Just let them cool fully, wrap in parchment paper, then wrap in foil and place in a plastic (reusable) zip baggie. Straight into the freezer for a few months. (Do not forget to date the bag so you know when you put them in the freezer.)

Dinner Thoughts

My second thought goes to the next big dinner. This year, since we already had a big ham dinner, I do not want a repeat. Right now I am so over ham. So I am thinking a big dinner now, needs to feel like a celebration of the winter moving into spring. I am thinking colorful, yet full of winter foods, with perhaps hints of spring foods to come. I sip my tea, feeling warm and comfortable. Both Maggie and I are looking out at a wet, rainy, and windy winter day. Each of us deep into our thoughts.

I cannot fathom what she is thinking about, but I am reviewing the dietary limitations of possible guests. After a while, going through recipes in my head, I realize I do not want a meat centric meal. So I decided to make a Mediterranean-based dinner. Something with finger food and sauces and reasons to reach out and touch the food as we connect with one another.

The Menu

I narrow down my Mediterranean dinner to a specifically Greek one with three courses.

First Course: Finger Food

Dinner will start with some Ouzo as an aperitif and these traditional finger dishes. I will slice one pita for each person so they have 4 little pie-slices to use with these foods. I do not want to have them fill up on these dishes before dinner is served!

• Lamb/beef meatballs (using a Kofta recipe)
• Tabbouleh (buckwheat based)
• Tzatziki sauce
• Herbed feta cheese
• Hummus (I will get this from a store for ease, not too hard to make but I am going to save some time by not doing this.)
• Dolmas (I will use canned, have not found good grape leaves so far with which to make my own.)
• Pita bread (definitely store bought, I am not a baker)

Second Course: Main Meal

All the finger food will stay on the table for continued noshing as I serve the second course. I will have red and white wine and water with this part of the meal.

The soup will be ~1-1.5C per serving, not too much. I will preslice the spanakopita and moussaka so each can have a portion. The salad will be added to the center of the table for folks to grab as they want.

• Fasolada (a white bean soup)
• Spanakopita
• Moussaka
• Greek veggie salad

Any spanakopita or moussaka leftovers will be added to one dish and placed on the table. Right before I serve the dessert.

Third Course: Dessert

Dessert will be served with a Tawny Port, which will go perfectly with this dish. The port will be served as both a part of the dessert (it is included in the dressing) and as a digestif.

• Arugula with baked pear stuffed with blue cheese + walnuts
• A port dressing made from the port we will be drinking

That’s All

This should provide enough choices that everyone should find something they can eat. Plus, I have plenty of containers for leftovers people may want to take home with them. I also want to keep some leftovers to give to a neighbor whose family is experiencing medical issues and I figure a night off from holiday cooking is a gift I can readily give them.

Hope your holiday meal is a family-n-friend day full of joy, conversation, and good tasting food.

–Patty

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News: The USDA published the Pesticide Data Program’s (PDP) 28th Annual Summary for calendar year 2018. In 2018, residues exceeding the tolerance were detected in 0.78 percent (82 samples) of the total samples tested (10,545 samples). Of these 82 samples, 43 were domestic (52.4 percent) and 39 were imported (47.6 percent). They also reported: In 2018, over 99 percent of the samples tested had residues well below the tolerances established by the EPA with 47.8 percent having no detectable pesticide residue. Finally, they write: In 2018, residues exceeding the tolerance were detected in 0.78 percent (82 samples) of the total samples tested (10,545 samples). Of these 82 samples, 43 were domestic (52.4 percent) and 39 were imported (47.6 percent).

Recipes: All the recipes in this article were newly added or revised in the new format. Since I have not cooked this meal yet I do not have my own photos to add. But I will share them once the dinner is actually cooked.

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