Opa!

If you've been following this blog, you might recall a post from last November, when Andreas and I went up to Portland to help initiate Northwest chapter 27 "Mesaria" of the Pan-Ikarian Brotherhood of America. Andreas got himself elected treasurer, and I (under the influence of some nice people and good Greek wine) volunteered to host this year's Ikarian Independence Day party.

July 17 rolled around and we put on the feast.

We served...

Pita with melitzanosalata and hummus; olives
Ouzo
Retsina

Souvlaki hirino
Hortopita
Tiropita
Dolmas
Tzatziki
Moussaka
Horta with olive oil and lemon
Ikarian potato salad
Horiatika salad
Feta
Bread
Red wines

Baklava
Fenikia
Watermelon
Greek coffee
Metaxa


If this list looks familiar, it might because it's basically our standard Greek party menu. While I wouldn't want anybody to think that this is the extent of my Aegean repertoire or - worse - that this is all there is to Greek cooking, I do revisit these dishes regularly when company calls. The beauty of this menu is that not only are they popular foods, but they can be done almost entirely ahead. Several take time and effort to prepare but don't require much last-minute attention, enabling the cooks to enjoy the party, too.

So with the able assistance of all five of our children - called in for the occasion - we grated the cucumbers, picked the greens, squeezed the lemons, layered the phyllo, rolled the grape leaves, dipped the cookies, and generally had a blast over two days of kitchen prep.

With summer coming so late to us this year in southern Oregon, the timing worked to get many of the ingredients out of our own garden. The tomatoes and eggplant still aren't ripe yet, and the potatoes won't be ready until fall, but from our back yard we harvested the greens (horta), cucumbers, purslane (for the Ikarian potato salad), herbs, and (most unusual for this late in the year) the grape leaves.

Ikarians are the consummate locavores; they never stopped eating that way. Not only is there no fast food on the island, there is very little processed or commercially canned food. It simply costs too much to ship it all the way out there. Thank goodness.

When we were visiting the island a few summers ago I wanted to try the local stuffed grape leaves. I didn’t see them on any restaurant menus so finally one night at a cafe in Evdilos I asked the waitress. She looked at me in such a way that I knew immediately I'd said something stupid. "You have to come in the spring for grape leaves”. Duh. In America they come in jars...

Here's my recipe for dolmas. It's more fun if you can get some helpers together to roll them with you.

DOLMAS

1 C. olive oil
2 lb. brown onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
1/3 C. chopped fresh dill
1/3 C. chopped parsley
2 C. uncooked long-grain white rice
1 C. pine nuts plus 1 T. olive oil
2 8-oz. jars grape leaves, or about a pound of fresh leaves (see note)
4 t. lemon juice

In a small pot, bring 2 C. water to a boil. Add the rice, cover, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover and remove from heat. The rice should have absorbed the water and will be partially cooked.
While rice is cooking, lightly brown the pine nuts in a skillet with the 1 T. olive oil. Stir and watch them carefully because they burn easily.

Heat ½ C. of the oil in a large skillet; add the onions and saute until soft and beginning to brown. Remove from heat and stir in the dill, parsley, rice, and pine nuts.

Prepare the grape leaves by draining (do not rinse), then cutting a little “v” in each to remove the stem end. If any leaves are torn or have very deep separations between the sections, use those to line the bottom of the pot in which you will cook the dolmas.

Roll the dolmas: place one leaf on the work surface with the stem end toward you. Put about 1 T. (more if the leaves are large) of the rice mixture at the center bottom of the leaf. Fold the two sides over the rice, then roll it up away from you. The rice will expand a little as it cooks the rest of the way so don’t roll them too tightly, but don’t leave any open holes, either. If you have a jar with lots of substandard leaves, it is possible to overlap two or more leaves and then roll them up.

Arrange the rolled dolmas snugly in layers in the pot (make sure to line the bottom of the pot with a few leaves so they don’t stick). Avoid stacking them in more than 3 or 4 layers, because the ones on the bottom may break open from the weight. You may need to use more than one pot. Sprinkle the dolmas with the lemon juice and pour the remaining ½ C. olive oil over them. Fill the pot with water just to the top of the dolmas. Place a heavy plate right on top of the dolmas to hold them down. Simmer very gently, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

May be made a day or two ahead; keep refrigerated. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Note: to use fresh leaves, wash them and then blanch for 20 seconds in boiling water (until pliable). If you use fresh leaves instead of jarred, add about a teaspoon of salt to the filling (or to taste).

By the way, you can pick young grape leaves and freeze them for later use. Blanch the fresh leaves briefly (about 20 seconds) in small batches, dry on paper towels, stack and wrap in plastic and then foil. Freeze flat. Use them just as you would the ones that come in jars, only you might want to add more salt to your recipe as commercially preserved ones are quite salty.