Spanakopita

LUCY BURDETTE:  Do you have dishes you almost always order when you see them on a menu? One of my favorites is Spanakopita, otherwise known as Greek spinach-cheese pie.

 We love a little tapas restaurant in Key West called Santiago's Bodega. You eat by ordering a selection of little plates for the table--I always hold out for their spanakopita as one of my choices. Hayley Snow and her mother ate here in DEATH IN FOUR COURSES--naturally one of the dishes they ordered was my favorite.

This recipe is a tiny bit of a hassle to make because of the filo pastry, but by no means impossible. And then when you're done, you have an entire casserole of the stuff, instead of one little triangle! Can you spell leftovers? 

Ingredients

2 frozen packages chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
14 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
4 oz cottage cheese
1 bunch scallions, washed, chopped and sauteed in olive oil
1-2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
4 or 5 twists freshly-ground black pepper
4 eggs, beaten
1 package filo pastry, thawed in refrigerator
8 Tbsp butter, melted (1 stick)
3 Tbsp olive oil

The filo pastry can be found in a box in the frozen foods department. A day or two ahead of time, take one of the rolls of filo out of the freezer and move to the refrigerator to thaw. Also thaw your two packages of frozen spinach. When thawed, squeeze them completely dry (I use my hands for this.) Crumble your feta cheese into a big bowl and mix in the dry spinach and the cottage cheese. Next, chop and saute your scallions and add them, along with chopped dill and pepper to taste. Beat the eggs, add them to the bowl and mix everything well.

Now you are ready for assembly. Melt the butter and mix with the olive oil. In a 9 x 13 inch pan, lay out the first sheet of filo, being careful not to tear it. With a clean pastry brush, paint the filo with butter/oil mixture. Repeat until you have 10 layers. (Patience is a virtue here as it's very easy to tear the sheets. But don't panic, pat the pieces back in--no one will notice a few tears among all that flaky buttery goodness.) It's smart to cover the unused filo with a damp cloth while you work.

Once you have ten painted sheets, dump the spinach and cheese mixture into the pan and spread it evenly to the edges. Then repeat the process of buttering the next ten layers. You may cover this with plastic wrap and store in the fridge a day ahead. Preheat the oven to 350, then bake until risen and golden, about 45" to an hour. Cut into squares and serve with Greek salad.  My husband proclaimed this the best spanakopita he's ever eaten:). 


TOPPED CHEF will be on bookshelves on May 7 with more Key West adventures and food...In the meanwhile, you can preorder the book here.  

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Split pea soup and cornbread by Lucy Burdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm sure no one's going to feel too sorry for me, but sometimes the research for the food critic mysteries is hard work. And Hayley Snow tells me that those rich meals and decadent desserts can wreak havoc on your digestion and your shape. Here for example is the yellowtail snapper and shrimp dish from Pisces in Key West--you can't tell from the photo, but they are both swimming in butter.

And here's another rich shrimp dish from El Siboney, a well-know Cuban restaurant. And then blueberry bread pudding from the tapas restaurant, Santiago's Bodega, which is absolutely to die for.

So after a run of these kind of nights, I'm dying for something plain and hearty. One of my go-to meals (and something that Hayley Snow would make too) is split pea soup with cornbread and a big salad. Plain but utterly satisfying and delicious!

LUCY'S SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 bag dried split peas, washed and sorted
3-4 carrots, chopped by hand or in food processor
1 large onion, chopped as above
3 stalks celery, minced
cilantro, washed and chopped
1 32 oz box organic chicken broth

Saute the vegetables in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, until soft. Add the peas and the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the peas are soft and starting to lose their shape, adding water or more broth as needed. Stir in chopped cilantro just before serving, and add a spritz of sesame oil to each bowl.



BUTTERMILK CRACKLING CORN BREAD (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

(The J of C calls for fatty salt pork, I substitute butter.)

3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 TBSP baking powder
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425. Put the butter in a square baking pan and place in the oven until the butter melts. Tilt the bottom so melted butter covers all.

Whisk dry ingredients together. Beat the eggs, add the buttermilk and whisk, then add wet ingredients to dry. Mix and pour in pan containing the hot butter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean. Err on the side of undercooking, so the edges of the bread look crispy and buttery but the center isn't dry.

Oh boy, making my own mouth water looking at these!

Lucy Burdette is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries, including AN APPETITE FOR MURDER. You can follow her on facebook or twitter. She eats and writes in Connecticut and Key West.