GREEK EATS
Don’t miss the recipe for Roast Potatoes with Lemon that is below this short intro:
As it is with Chinese, Vietnamese, and certainly more exotic cuisines such as Moroccan or Turkish, most of us tend to enjoy them at restaurants or with take-out, forgoing cooking them at home.
That’s certainly the case with Greek cooking. I don’t know any non-Greek-Americans who whip up saganaki on their weekends. Maybe we’re all just hesitant to yell “Opa!” and throw that flaming cheese plate into a fireplace that no longer works.
My cooking teacher's advice is to take baby steps in the kitchen with Greek cooking and begin with some terrifically flavorful basics. That should goad even the most reluctant into at least considering putting together an avgolemono, the Greek version of chicken soup enriched with eggs and lemon juice (pronounced av-yo-LEM-oh-no). Once you taste avgolemono, you never go pho.
Or head out to summertime’s annual Greek Festivals. So many foods will be on offer, the list itself is a menu (saganaki, souvlakia, gyros, lamb sandwich, chicken oreganato, tiropites, spanakopita, keftedes, dolmades, pastitsio, Greek salad, and several desserts).
Or try this simple recipe from the preeminent recipe writer and teacher of Greek cooking, Vefa Alexiadou, and her “bible” of Greek recipes, “Greece: The Cookbook” (Phaidon, 2017).
RECIPE: Roast Potatoes with Lemon
8-10 servings. From “Greece: The Cookbook,” Vefa Alexiadou on tastingtable.com. You've had roast potatoes before, but never like this. Potatoes are marinated in lemon juice and garlic before getting roasted to a golden ideal. They're the perfect accompaniment for a whole roast leg of lamb, and pro tip: Pour some drippings over the potatoes before serving.
Ingredients
4 1⁄2 pounds Yukon Gold and red-skinned potatoes, cut into wedges
5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Pinch dried oregano
1 garlic clove, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
Directions
In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the lemon juice, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. Let sit for 1 hour, covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350. Transfer the potatoes to a roasting pan, then drizzle with olive oil and dot with butter. Cover with foil and roast for 1 hour.
Remove the foil and continue to roast the potatoes for 25 minutes until lightly brown. Then turn on the broiler and cook until crisp and golden, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve.