I promised to post this recipe after the Greek Epicurean Feast back in May, but I never did. Better late than never.

My mother-in-law Cora, who splits her time between England and Crete, thought it was really strange that the recipe I used (from Michael Symon) had butter instead of olive oil. Next time I make these I will definitely try olive oil, because the amount of butter needed for the number of spanikopita I made was insane. I didn’t use a fraction of it, but mine were also drier and without that golden brown, shimmery outside. I’m wondering if a small amount of olive oil will do what a large amount of butter would, but at any rate I’ve adjusted the butter quantities to reflect what I used myself.

Anyway, I made 2 kinds, and both were insanely delicious. The 1st kind requires some cooking of the filling, so it was more labor intensive. The 2nd version is just mix and then spoon onto the phyllo. These recipes are adapted to the amounts I actually made, follow the links below for the originals.

Spanikopita with Shallots and Spinach/Spanikopita with Rosemary and Pine Nuts (both HEAVILY adapted from Michael Symon)

Preheat oven to 440 degrees F. Cover the phyllo dough with a damp towel. **NOTE: You may need to cut your phyllo sheets lengthwise, in which case you’d only need 5 sheets for each version. My phyllo, which I bought frozen, already came in lengthwise strips like I used in the photos below.

For the Shallots and Spinach version
Makes: 10 pieces

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoon minced shallot
4 cups cleaned spinach
8 ounces goat cheese
Salt
10 sheets phyllo dough
3 ounces melted butter

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So last week I posted about the Purple Quilt for a friend going through something horrible, and I also mentioned that she asked me to bake her something. So I made these dark chocolate cupcakes, which are from the same recipe as the Pac Man cupcakes. And I also made vanilla buttercream, from a different recipe than my usual vanilla frosting.

My favorite thing about this batch of cupcakes (aside from the purple frosting, just add food coloring) is that I didn’t realize I had no sour cream until the minute I needed to add it to the batter. Which should have been a baking crisis, BUT I happened to have some Greek yogurt left over from another recipe I made last week. So I just threw that in instead, same quantity, and…I may be making these with Greek yogurt from now on. It just gave them the slightest little tang that was really yummy and hard to put your finger on. So maybe that will be my new secret ingredient (Shhh…don’t spill the beans).

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream (from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book)
Makes: 24 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
2 sticks (16 Tbsp) unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet; I had no bittersweet on hand)
1 cup (3 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1.5 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups (10.5 ounces) sugar
1 cup sour cream (or yogurt!)
4 cups frosting (recipe for buttercream at the bottom)

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My tomato sauce has meat in it, but I wanted to try my hand at making a real, true bolognese sauce. So last week when I spent the day making sauce, I gave this recipe a try. It is delicious, rich, and probably something I’d keep to a winter menu.

Bolognese Sauce (from the April ‘10 issue of Martha Stewart Living)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 to 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 to 2 carrots, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck (80 percent lean)
8 ounces ground pork
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
2 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
1 can (28 ounces) peeled plum tomatoes with juice, pureed

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This was a super simple marinade from the April ‘10 issue of Martha Stewart Living. It’s a way to use up the last bit of mustard at the bottom of the jar, and you mix all of the ingredients in the jar, shake it up, and pour on the marinade. I used it on pork chops, the recipe (referred to as “No-Waste Marinade” in the magazine) suggests using it on 2 chicken breasts or 2 pork tenderloin. It was delicious, but I dried out my pork a little when I cooked it. The chops were really thick, I should have finished them in the oven.

Jar Mustard Sauce Pork Chops (or No-Waste Marinade from the April ‘10 Martha Stewart Living)
Serves: 2

2 Tbsp whole grain mustard
Juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
16 chopped sage leaves (I used dried sage)
4 crushed garlic cloves
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper

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I made this recipe 2 months ago, this is how far behind I’ve been with my posts!

I’ve decided to do another Recipe-A-Day Week, but this time I’m going Sunday through Saturday, instead of just Monday through Friday. I have a LOT of recipes to share, and I’ve just been so backed up with them lately!

This was something I tried from the May 2010 issue of Food Network Magazine‘s “Weeknight Cooking” section, and it was really fantastic. And quick. Everything the magazine promised, and pretty healthy, too (413 calories a serving according to the article).

Skillet Rosemary Chicken (adapted from May 2010 Food Network Magazine)
**Note: The original recipe was for 4 servings, I halved everything for Adam and I. Plus I left out the mushrooms. I’ve posted the adaptation, here is the original.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. small red-skinned potatoes, halved or quartered if large
Kosher salt
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, plus 1/2 Tbsp leaves
1 garlic clove, smashed
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Juice of 1 lemon (keep the squeezed halves)
2 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts (6-8 ounces each)

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