Cold, damp and miserable day

Having said that I will pull out my glass half full attitude and point out that it is Monday and it was nice that the miserable weather held off until the weekend finished and that the miserable weather is scheduled to leave again before next weekend. Also, it could very well be snow – I do recall that we did have some white stuff last year in April.

Just a quick blog today, my son Jeff will be over any time now to help me with getting all my software loaded into my computer.

Yesterday I had a friend for dinner and attempted a wonderful Greek appetizer.  I had bought the cheese - a Greek cheese called kefalotyri  at the St. Lawrence market a few weeks ago.  One of the things I am very thankful for as a consequence of a few years I spent with my Greek (now "X significant other") is an appreciation for and recipes to make a few good Greek dishes.  Saganaki is one of these.

I winged the recipe and just made it as I recalled from when he and I would make this flambéed Greek cheese appetizer. The picture at right was taken while I flambéed it.  Quite impressive!   I served it with fairly thinly sliced baquette.  It was really tasty and just as good as I remembered it.  

Today I looked up a proper recipe and discovered that there are a couple of variations in the ways to make it. I cooked it without oil and without dredging the cheese in flour – which suited my calorie conscious guest. But in that event the cheese does not brown but instead just melts. It tasted good none the less.

Apparently, some folks prefer to use Greek brandy rather than Ouzo, but I like the anise taste and when the Greek and I used to cook it we used Ouzo. Some folks find Ouzo to sweet and prefer brandy.  Also, we always used kefalortyri cheese, but it seems that Kasseri cheese could also be used. I don't think I would experiment with the type of cheese too much – these cheeses have a distinctive flavour and not all cheeses have the right consistency when heated. Another point to know, this dish must be served right off the pan. It cannot be made ahead, but it is really no fuss to make and doesn't take long so that is really not a problem.  

Lastly, you are supposed to yell Opa!  when you douse the flames with the lemon juice.


Saganaki (serves one)
(Greek γαρίδες σαγανάκι) 
120 g (4 oz) kefalotyri cheese – cut in a ¾ inch slice
1 teaspoon of flour
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 oz Ouzo or Metaxa 5 Star Brandy
1 lemon

Preheat frying pan (make sure the pan is not too hot)
Add oil to pan
Coat flour over the cheese
Place cheese in the pan and cook both sides until golden brown (touch the centre of the cheese to ensure it has melted)
Remove from heat. 
Add brandy to pan and light to flambe. Be careful. Hold the pan away from you to avoid singing yourself.
Let the flame burn out and squeeze the lemon on top of the cheese.
Don't forget to yell OPA!

If you want to see a video of someone making this dish go here.

Bookkeeping and Risotto

It is late for me to start my blog – just got bogged down with all sorts of stuff tonight. I think I will now attempt to set a record for a speed blog.

I spent tonight catching up on bill payments and paperwork – no, I did not catch up but I made a start. With a bit of effort tomorrow night as well and I may even feel like I am getting on top of it – and I need to do that before I leave for Vegas on Sunday morning. Little matter of a GST return that needs to be filed and some stuff to put together for my accountant. So that is what is keeping me from doing a proper blog tonight and probably tomorrow night.

Just for good measure I will tell you about the wonderful risotto that I made for dinner last night when Jeff and Amanda came over. It was soooo tasty.

Mushroom Risotto

Begin by mincing a small onion and some portabella mushrooms.

• Sauté the mixture in 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter, and when it has browned remove it with a slotted spoon to a plate, leaving the drippings in the pot.


• Stir in 1 cup arboritto rice and sauté it too until it becomes translucent (this will take 7-10 minutes), stirring constantly to keep it from sticking.


• Return the onions and mushrooms to the pot and stir in a half of a cup of dry white that you have previously warmed (if it is cold you will shock the rice, which will flake on the outside and stay hard at the core).


• Once the wine has evaporated completely, add a ladle of simmering broth; stir in the next before all the liquid is absorbed, because if the grains get too dry they will flake.


• Continue cooking, stirring and adding broth as the rice absorbs it, until the rice barely reaches the al dente stage (if you want your risotto firm, time your additions of broth so that the rice will finish absorbing the broth when it reaches this stage; if you want it softer, time the additions so there will still be some liquid left). It takes about 3 cups of chicken broth.


• I add about ¾ cup of cooked peas.


• At this point stir in a half a cup of grated parmesan and cover the risotto, and turn off the heat. Let it sit, covered, for two to three minutes, and serve.