Buttered Spinach With Feta Food

FETA-AND-SPINACH BUNS

Steps:

• For the dough: Warm the milk and 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan over low heat to about 100 degrees F (but no more than 110 degrees F). Remove the saucepan from the heat, and sprinkle the yeast over the liquid. Sprinkle a pinch of the sugar over the top, and let sit without stirring until foamy, about 5 minutes. Then whisk in the butter and egg yolk.
• Whisk together the flour, remaining sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and stir in the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon until you have a thick, sticky dough. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface, and knead until soft and elastic, about 6 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball.
• Brush the inside of a large bowl with butter. Add the dough ball, turning to coat lightly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, trace a circle the size of the dough ball on the plastic and note the time. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl, and knead briefly to release excess air. Re-form it into a ball, and return it to the bowl. Lightly butter a large piece of plastic wrap, and lay it on the dough. Cover the entire bowl tightly with the rest of the plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to let the dough proof.
• For the filling: Melt the butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach, and cook until it is cooked through and nearly all the liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the feta, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, lemon zest, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Transfer the filling to a medium bowl, and let cool completely. (The filling will firm up a bit, but if it's too warm, it will be difficult to form the buns.)
• To fill and form the buns: Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface, and press it flat. Roll it into a 10-by-18-inch rectangle, with a long side facing you. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving about a 1-inch border on the side opposite you. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan evenly over the filling. Starting from the side facing you, roll the dough up into a tight roll. Lightly brush the 1-inch border with water, and continue rolling to seal the roll. Fold the ends in just a bit, and if any spots look thicker than others, even out the roll with your hands.
• Cut the roll every 1 1/2 inches with a serrated knife, to make 12 buns. Place the buns cut-side down (except for the end pieces) in the prepared pan, spacing them 1 inch apart. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until the buns double in size, leaving no gaps in between, 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
• For the topping: Stir together the butter, dill, lemon zest and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a small bowl; set aside.
• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the buns until they're golden brown and the tops spring back when pressed lightly, 25 to 30 minutes. Spread the topping evenly over the buns, and return them to the oven until the butter is melted and the topping is fragrant, 5 minutes more. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.

BUTTERED SPINACH WITH FETA

Steps:

• Wilt the spinach in the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat for a few mins. Once wilted, grate in the nutmeg, stir in the feta and serve straight away.

SPINACH, CRAB AND FETA TARTS

Steps:

• Make the spinach and crab tarts: Melt 1 tblsp of the butter in a small saucepan.
• Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 6 minutes.
• In a large skillet, melt the remaining 1 tblsp butter in the olive oil.
• Add the spinach and cook over high heat, stirring often, until wilted, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic and ¼ tsp salt.
• Spoon the spinach into a colander set over a bowl and press down to remove the excess liquid.
• Transfer the spinach to a large bowl, reserve ¼ cup of the liquid.
• Add the reserved spinach liquid to the sautéed onions.
• Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 2 minutes.
• Add the mixture to the spinach along with the crabmeat and feta.
• In a small bowl, beat the whole egg, egg white, heavy cream, paprika, cayenne and ¼ tsp of salt.
• Stir the mixture into the spinach.
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Lightly butter six 3-ounce muffin cups in a 12-cup muffin tin.
• Spread 1 sheet of filo on a work surface; keep the remaining sheets covered with a damp kitchen towel.
• Brush the filo with some of the melted butter.
• Lay another sheet of filo on top, brush with butter and repeat the process with 1 more sheet of filo and butter (3 sheets in all).
• Cut the filo into three 6-inch squares and gently press a square into each of the buttered muffin cups; discard the trimmings.
• Repeat the process with the remaining sheets of filo and melted butter.
• Using kitchen scissors, trim the corners of the filo, then neatly fold in any overhanging edges.
• Make the sauces: In a blender, combine the tomatoes, red wine vinegar and tomato paste.
• Season with salt and pepper and puree until smooth.
• Strain into a medium bowl.
• Rinse and dry the blender.
• Add the basil and olive oil and puree until smooth.
• Scrape the basil oil into a small bowl and season with salt.
• In another small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, flying fish roe (if using) lemon juice and mustard.
• Spoon the crab filling into the filo-lined cups.
• Bake the tarts in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the filo is golden-brown and the filling is set.
• Let cool slightly in muffin tin.
• Transfer the crab tarts to individual plates.
• Top each tart with a heaping tsp of the mayonnaise.
• Drizzle the tomato sauce, basil oil and balsamic vinegar around each tart.

BUTTERED SPINACH

Steps:

• Cut stems from spinach.
• Place spinach in sink full of water.
• Swish it around to clean well.
• Remove from water.
• Drain the sink, then put more fresh water in the sink and wash spinach again.
• Pull the spinach out of the water and let drip.
• Place in large pot.
• Add no water, the water clinging to the spinach will be enough.
• Place pot on high heat until steaming.
• Stir, reduce heat to med, cook for 2 minutes, stirring once.
• Drain in colander.
• Return to pan, add butter, salt and pepper, stir to coat.
• Serve with lemon juice or vinegar on the side.

SPANAKOPITA: GREEK SPINACH PIE WITH FETA CHEESE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Wash and drain the chopped spinach very well. If using frozen spinach, thaw completely and squeeze out excess water. The spinach should be dry before you begin cooking.
• Heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a deep sauté pan or large Dutch oven. Sauté the onions and green onions until tender.
• Add the spinach, parsley, and dill , and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the spinach is wilted and heated through.
• Add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. The spinach mixture should be on the dry side; if using frozen spinach, you will want to cook it until any excess moisture evaporates. Remove from the heat and set the spinach mixture aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the feta, eggs, and ricotta cheese.
• Add the cooled spinach mixture and mix until combined.
• Gather the ingredients.
• Combine the melted butter with the olive oil in a bowl. Using a pastry brush, lightly grease 2 (9 x 12-inch) rectangular pans.
• Carefully remove the phyllo roll from the plastic sleeve. Most packages come in 12 x 18-inch sheets when opened fully.
• Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife, cut the sheets in half to make 2 stacks of 9 x 12-inch sheets. To prevent drying, cover 1 stack with wax paper and a damp paper towel while working with the other.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Layer about 10 sheets of phyllo on the bottom of each pan, making sure to brush each sheet with the butter-olive oil mixture before layering the next.
• Add half of the spinach mixture to each pan in an even layer and press with a spatula to flatten.
• Layer another 10 phyllo sheets on top of the spinach mixture in each pan, making sure to brush each sheet well with the butter-olive oil mixture.
• Before baking, score the top layer of the phyllo (making sure not to puncture the filling) to enable easier cutting of pieces later. (You can place the pan in the freezer to harden the top layers and then use a serrated knife to make the cutting easier.)
• Bake until the pie turns a deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Let cool for a few minutes and then slice, serve, and enjoy.

SPINACH FETA TRIANGLES

Steps:

• In a skillet melt butter and cook onion for about 3 minutes or until softened. Remove skillet from heat and stir in spinach, feta cheese and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay out one layer of phyllo dough and brush with butter. Top with another layer of dough and repeat with butter and a third layer of dough. With a sharp knife cut rectangle into 3 evenly sized pieces. Place a heaping tablespoon of the spinach mixture in lower left corner of one of the pieces and fold up as you would a flag--folding the lower corner up to form a triangle and continuing to fold up in the shape of a triangle. Place triangles on a baking sheet, at this point they can be frozen and then stored in an airtight container. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and puffed.