So, what’s on sale this week?

It’s Wednesday again, which means it food-sale-information-release-day…my favorite. As I’ve said in a previous post, I rarely shop at Giant or Safeway anymore, but still spend some time looking through their advertisements, just to see what’s on sale each week. The big prize on Wednesday is the Harris Teeter on-line sales flyer. While I don’t go there regularly, because none of the stores are super-convenient to me in terms of location, they often have great sales on seafood and, to a lesser extent, produce. On sale this week in the seafood department? Scallops (that’ll usually get me in the store if the price is good), sockeye salmon, red snapper and black bass.

So, I will likely be stopping by “the Teet” (as I have come to refer to Harris Teeter in my own mind—I have no idea why; it’s so stupid) sometime soon. I’ve been calling it “the Teet” in my head for months, if not a year now, and just let one slip to Jim a few weeks ago. He looked at me kind of funny, and laughed. He calls it that now also, and seems to enjoy doing so. I think that he was actually a little surprised that I would refer to it that way. I guess it’s one of those things that makes you realize that there’s still more to learn about your living partner (and visa versa), just when you thought you knew all there was to know about the person. When a relationship starts, the amount that you learn about the person is so great, which adds a great deal of excitement to everything. Then, as time goes on and especially if you live together for a long period, the excitement of learning new things fades as the number of surprises you encounter grows fewer and fewer. Life becomes predictable. And then one day you actually find out something new about how the person thinks, feels, etc--it’s a pleasant reminder that there's always more to discover and share. “The Teet” is probably a stupid example, but it works for me.

So, back to the food stuff…unfortunately, I can’t dream too much about what to make for us this weekend because Sunday is my only cooking-for-home day. I have a bridal shower to attend on Saturday night, and I’ve been asked to provide several of the snacks.

On the menu:

Spankopita: Little phyllo wrapped packages of spinach and cheese. These are pretty easy to make; it only involves preparing a spinach, cheese, etc. blend and then rolling them up into little phyllo triangles. As I mentioned before, my mother is Greek, so my first attempt at pita (as we call it for short; not to be confused with the bread—it’s just so much easier to say “pita”) was based on her recipe. But, the classic question came up: what, no garlic? Her recipe was really a cheese and spinach blend (lots of cheese, 4 in total, including plenty of feta), with the only other flavoring being derived from pepper (as I understand it, no onions were used because several members of the family have an onion aversion—not just undercooked onions like me, but a total dislike). So, I have added chopped sweet yellow onion, sliced green onion, a healthy dose of garlic, a bunch of chopped fresh dill and chopped fresh parsley when I have some on hand. As far as the cheeses go, the original recipe called for feta, cottage cheese, ricotta and cream cheese. I use either cottage or ricotta (I feel that they both service the same purpose—as a salty filler) and I have added parmesan (opting of course of the ultra flavorful Parmesan Reggiano cheese). When I make pita for us at home, I don’t use butter to coat the dough and instead opt for more heart-healthy olive oil. Sometimes I’ll use butter just in the bottom of the pan and to brush on top of the triangles (butter browns the dough a little better; I usually when there are more than just Jim and I involved in the eating). For a crowd, however, I’ll probably end up using mostly butter—that’s what everyone expects, and I’d hate to disappoint.

This dish will require a trip to 2 different grocery stores, due to two of the ingredients involved. The feta cheese is best obtained at Trader Joes, who sell a wonderful feta from Greece that is made with sheep’s milk (which offers a nice flavor and also some comfort that no rBGT was used in it’s production). That is worth going out of my way for, and I can fill in a few other items from my shopping list while I’m there. (Whole Foods Market also carries a fine Greek goat’s milk feta and a Bulgarian sheep’s milk feta that is quite tasty—but TJ’s beats them on price in this instance). For the phyllo dough, Safeway is the ticket. Why? The Safeway Select phyllo dough is the very best one I have ever used. Its nutritional statistics are not exactly great (it is calorie laden, and I think there’s more fat it in than most other varieties), but it is such a pleasure to work with (perhaps on account of that added fat). You often hear cautionary words about working with phyllo dough: cover it with a damp towel while you work, work quickly and be gentle, etc. I’ve done everything to this dough that you’re not supposed to do: I defrost it on the countertop (instead of the fridge, which is a more gentle defrost for a fragile product), I refreeze my leftovers (and then thaw and refreeze them time and time again) and I often don’t even bother to cover it up with a towel while I work with it. And what does the dough give me for all of this abuse? Consistent and dependable service. The sheets rarely tear or stick together and it rolls like a dream. That is definitely worth a trip to Safeway.

Clam Dip: This is an old family recipe, and an absolute family favorite. It being a family recipe, I won’t write it out here (but if you know me well, feel free to ask for it; I might give it up :-)). Basically, it’s a cream cheese based dip with canned clams and flavored heavily with onion. We always serve it with Fritos (which my sister always likes for its minimalist ingredient list: Corn, oil, salt.). It MUST be served with Fritos. It basically amounts to crack on corn chips. This dip is very easy to go overboard on and, due to the abundance of cream cheese involved, that may not be a good idea for people with even slight lactose intolerance issues (such as myself). Despite such looming troubles, it is truly a delightful snack and thankfully very easy to make (and good to make ahead of time).

Guacamole: I’ve received a lot of good feedback over time for my Guac, hence the request to make it for Saturday. I make a very chunky dip, with lots of tomatoes. It starts with a little bit of finely diced red onion (I’d say a quarter to one-half of an onion), two stemmed and seeded jalapenos, one can of diced green chilies (drained to the extent that you can with the can top—yes, I’m lazy), about 5 diced plum tomatoes, about ¾ c to 1 c of chopped fresh cilantro and probably about 5 avocados (this makes a ton of Guac). I also add a bit of ground cumin, ground coriander and chili powder. I’m sure that I’m forgetting something as I write this; I think the last time I made it, I added some garlic powder (fresh garlic being a little too powerful uncooked and also hard to evenly distribute in the dip—but I can’t leave garlic out).

Tomato Bruschetta: (I know, Bruschetta is really the bread, but people always refer to the topping instead by this name). This, too, is a very simple dish. You take a whole bunch of plum tomatoes (for a good-sized batch, I’d say around 10), remove the seeds and dice them small. Add some finely chopped red onion, a whole lot of fresh chopped basil (that’s one of the primary flavors here, so don’t be shy), a lot of feta (crumbled—and see the notes on Feta selection above). Then, some salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and a shy dose of olive oil. I know that I haven’t quoted any amounts here (a little of this, a little of that); that’s because I always make this dish entirely by sight, smell and taste. I don’t even know how much I add—I just know when it’s done. I added some chopped kalamata olives and chopped mint once too, which was delightful.

Greek Pasta Salad: Aha! Now comes my chance to use up the white pasta that we have in our basement from before we discovered whole wheat pastas. I would not dream of using white pasta for us at home, and we’ve had these three boxes of regular white pasta in the basement forever. Now’s my chance—make a break! And, yes, I checked the expiration dates. We’re all set to go. This is another measurement-by-the-senses dish, and I envision that it will include: pasta, chopped kalamata olives, feta cheese, chopped seeded cucumber, chopped plum tomatoes, chopped fresh dill, chopped fresh parsley, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil (probably more than I’d use for us at home, since this is for the “general public”).

So, there it is. Now to prepare my shopping list, which will probably involve trips to at least 3 grocery stores. (I already mentioned TJ’s and Safeway, but I’m sure that there’s going to be some ingredient that I prefer to buy at WFM which will get me in there, too). Hopefully, in between all of this prep (to begin Thursday night, if possible, since both the pita filling and the rolled triangles can be frozen) I’ll have time to make a hearty helping of red beans, rice & chicken to feed us through Friday night.

Now, to figure out what I can make for us on Sunday night.