Spinach and Feta Torte a la Plaza Athenee in Paris

The battle to clear out the house to sell it goes on, with a fair share of unexpected discoveries (including a number of things which never were unpacked after the last moves in 1987 and 2003). I’m beginning to think that attics are like black holes.

This week’s find: a box with assorted significant documents (like an truly important paper I wrote for Honors Biology in high school, titled "Compost Fertilizer and Beans," which is about making compost from garbage). But the first thing I found in that box was an issue of Gourmet Magazine from 1983. I recognized the cover photo immediately: the Plaza Athénée courtyard restaurant in Paris. Why? Because I had lunch there with my godmother (whose husband was in Paris for a business meeting and she tagged along and was staying at the very posh hotel and invited me to lunch there) in 1976, two weeks before I got married (I was in France doing some last-minute thesis research.)

It was a lovely place in the heart of the city. I blush to admit that I don’t remember what I ate there, but what I do remember is the bottle of red wine that my godmother ordered to go with the meal. She was a thrifty woman, and when we didn’t finish it, she asked the wait-person if she could take it back to her room. The answer was no, so she told me I had to finish it. I did (I was young then), and then retrieved my car (parked under Nôtre Dame, if you can believe that) and navigated my way out of Paris under the influence of more than half a bottle of good French wine. I survived; the car survived; and I’ve never tried anything like that again.

I decided to take the unexpected emergence of that copy of Gourmet as a sign, and checked out the recipes from the Plaza Athenee that were included in the magazine. I landed upon one for Spinach and Feta Torte, which actually sounded fairly simple. Of course I changed a few details (and I’m still puzzling about why the recipe called for frozen spinach rather than fresh).

Spinach and Feta Torte à la Plaza Athénée in Paris

Ingredients:

1 large onion, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1-3/4 sticks butter

4 10-ounce packages frozen spinach

2 large eggs

1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled fine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

10 sheets phyllo pastry

3 large eggs, hard-boiled

Instructions:

First, thaw, drain and squeeze the frozen spinach and chop finely if needed.

In a skillet, melt 3/4 stick of the butter and “sweat” the onion and garlic (in other words, cook over low heat, covered) for 8-10 minutes.

Add the spinach. Raise the heat slightly and cook for about 3 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Place the spinach and eggs in a food processor and puree coarsely. Place the puree in a bowl and add the two cheeses, the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

(Now you’re going to line the pan to cook this in.) Thaw the phyllo pastry but keep it damp so it stays flexible.

A note about phyllo pastry: it is very hard to manage. The stuff is fragile and insists on falling apart if you look cross-eyed at it. Maybe next time I’ll try using frozen puff pastry for this dish.

Melt one stick of butter and let cool. One sheet at a time, brush the phyllo sheets with the butter. And another layer of phyllo and repeat until you have a stack of 8 buttered sheets.

Butter a loaf pan (9” x 5” x 3”) and lay the phyllo stack in it crosswise, letting the edges hang over the long side of the pan.

Cut the remaining two sheets of phyllo in half lengthwise, and repeat the buttering and layering. Then fit this stack into the loaf pan lengthwise, so that the edges hang over the short sides.

Spread half the spinach mixture in the pan and pack it down. Arrange the hard-boiled eggs lengthwise down the center. Spread the rest of the spinach filling on top of the eggs, pack it down, then lay the phyllo over the whole (pretend you’re wrapping a package). Brush the remaining butter over the top.

In a preheated 375 degree oven, bake the torte in the middle of the oven for 1 hour 10-15 minutes, until the top is golden. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lay a platter over the top and turn it upside down to release the torte. Let it cool until it’s room temperature.

Serve the torte sliced (to show off those eggs inside!), with or without a sauce.

By the way, the hotel is still said to have some of the best restaurants in the world.

The restaurant as it looks today.

Coming July 9th!

é

Salmon with Leeks and Phyllo Pastry

I’m finally purging my freezer of the ancient phyllo pastry, left by my daughter during her spanakopita phase several years ago. Note: old phyllo dough, even frozen, crumbles into tiny pieces if you breathe on it, so it’s not worth saving for long. I decided to start with fresh.

The recipe was born on one of those evenings when I was staring into space thinking “what’s in the fridge?” and “what do I feel like eating?” There was salmon—at staple in our household—and there was phyllo pastry. And leeks! I went hunting for a recipe that fit and found a variety online, but none was just right, so I sort of combined a couple.

The hardest part of this recipe is making a tidy packet when you try to wrap the salmon with the phyllo dough. Don’t beat yourself up if it looks messy—it’ll taste good anyway.

Salmon with Leeks and Phyllo Pastry

Ingredients:
(as usual, this is a recipe for four, but I cut it in half)

8 Tblsp (1 stick) butter

2 cups small strips leeks (white and pale green parts only, washed to remove any grit)

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 tsp fresh dill, chopped (you can use dried, but it has less flavor)

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup sour cream

12 sheets fresh phyllo pastry, or the same amount of frozen pastry, thawed

6 5-oz. skinless salmon steaks [Note: you can make this recipe with fillets, but they’re hard to wrap neatly. Using cross-cut steaks of the same weight makes them neater.]


Instructions:


Melt two Tblsp butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the leek and sautée until the leek is tender (about 5 minutes)

Add the wine to the skillet and simmer until the liquid evaporates (about 4 minutes).

Remove the skillet from the heat and let the vegetable mixture cool. Stir in the dill, sour cream and salt.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the rest of the butter in a small saucepan. Take one sheet of the phyllo pastry and lay it flat (keep the other sheets covered with a damp paper towel—otherwise they will get brittle). Brush the sheet with some of the melted butter. Top with a second pastry sheet and brush that one with butter.

Place a salmon piece crosswise on the pastry sheet and top it with 1/4 cup of the vegetable mixture. Fold the phyllo pastry over the salmon, then fold in the sides and tuck the whole thing into a rectangular packet.

Transfer each packet to a heavy baking sheet, keeping the vegetable side up. Brush the packet on all sides with more melted butter. 

Repeat until you’ve used up the salmon fillets. (If you’re not baking them right away, cover with plastic film and refrigerate.)

Bake the salmon packets until the pastry is pale golden and the salmon is cooked through, about 25-30 minutes (depending on thickness).

So it's crunchy, tangy, and fun! And you get to wrap up your fish like a gift.

Oh, right, books. Next in line: A Late Frost (Orchard Mystery #11), coming in November.

The New York Times bestselling author of Seeds of Deception returns with a story of orchard owner Meg and the search for a poisoner.

The usually quiet town of Granford, Massachusetts, is even drowsier during the colder months. But this year it’s in for a jolt when Monica Whitman moves into town. She’s a dynamo who wants to make friends fast in her new home, and she throws herself into community activities. Meg Corey, now Chapin after her marriage to Seth Chapin, is intrigued by the new arrival, who has already sold the town board on a new, fun way to bring in visitors during the off-season: WinterFare, which will feature local foods (such as Meg’s apples) and crafts, as well as entertainment. 

Tragically, Monica falls ill and dies after the event in what looks like a case of food poisoning. When all the food served at WinterFare has been tested, including Meg’s apples, it becomes clear that there’s a more sinister explanation to the older woman’s sudden demise. 

Meg’s investigation uncovers a bushel of potential suspects, one of whom is rotten to the core.

www.sheilaconnolly.com

The Many Layers of Baklava #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Our daughter and son-in-law visited Turkey this fall and look at what they brought back to us: samples of one of my favorite desserts, baklava. Isn't that the best gift ever? Those tasty nuggets inspired me to try making it--again.

Quite a few years ago, I was asked to help our son's elementary school class make baklava. (They must have been studying food from various countries around the world.) Though I've always been a fan of this pastry, I had never had the nerve to try making it myself. Believe me, if a group of schoolkids could make it, anyone can:). The only problem we had was discovering occasional brush bristles in the finished pastry--this I blame on poor quality pastry brushes and intense paint strokes...

Ingredients 

1 pound package of phyllo dough, thawed overnight, then brought to room temperature

1 pound walnuts or mixture of pistachios and walnuts (I used 1/3 salted pistachios and 2/3 walnuts)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 sticks unsalted butter, melted

12 ounces honey



Chop the walnuts and pistachios finely in a food processor and then add the sugar and cinnamon and pulse to combine these.  Set this aside.

Remove the phyllo dough from the package and unroll it on a clean counter. Butter a 13 x 9" baking dish and layer in 8 of the phyllo sheets, one at a time, buttering each sheet with a pastry brush dipped in the melted butter.

As you work, cover the remaining sheets of phyllo with a damp towel so they don't dry out. (Don't sweat any little tears--they won't show up in the end.)
 
Pour 1 cup of the nut mixture over the eight layers of phyllo and spread this evenly to the edges. Continue to layer eight more sheets of dough, painting each with melted butter. 

Spread another cup of the nut mixture over the top. Repeat the layers and the nut mixture until all the nuts are used, ending with phyllo. 

With a sharp knife, cut the baklava into diamond shapes. Bake at 325° for 45 minutes or until golden. 

Remove the dish from the oven and drizzle honey over the dough until it does not absorb any further. To the left is the honeyed pastry before it has soaked in. (I used a full one pound jar of local honey.) Then sprinkle with some ground up pistachios if you like that look. (I did.)











Let cool and sit for six hours or overnight, then serve at room temperature, well wrapped. Oh the agony of waiting! But it's worth it. My guests told me this was the best baklava they had ever eaten. My hub and I had to agree. 

These little squares could make a splendid addition to a Christmas cookie platter!

Question:  How is a good mystery like a piece of baklava? 

Answer: Many layers!


 DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS is here in time for Christmas stockings! 

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