Wrapping up the Greek feast here with our two sides. Warning, you have to embrace your inner Julia Child and can't be afraid of butter with this one. Both of these recipes came from Kara's mom and the cookbook she assembled for Kara of the Jancourtz family recipes that she has grown up on. Some from family, some from friends, some from estranged relatives, doesn't matter as long as the food was good, it made it in the book.
So here goes. If you ever want a refreshing Mediterranean salad with fresh veggies, especially in the summer when tomatoes are the best, go for the Fattoush.
Fattoush – serves 4-6
Copied from Susan Jancourtz
The perfect summer salad to serve with burgers, lamb chops, roast chicken, fried fish—whatever. It’s basically a big Greek salad with a lot of fresh herbs and crunchy pita bread added. If you like tabouli, you’ll love fattoush.
On a hot summer day with a glass of iced tea, it’s perfect all by itself.
Salad:
1 large head romaine, washed, dried, and torn into 1” pieces (don’t use the dark green)
1 English cucumber, sliced into half-rounds ¼” thick
1 large red or green pepper, cut into 1” pieces
2 large juicy tomatoes, cut into 1” chunks
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
Optional: some red onion, sliced thin
4-8 ounces feta cheese (depends on how much you like feta)
2 rounds of toasted pita bread, broken into 1” pieces—about 2 cups
¼ cup each: fresh parsley, fresh mint*, fresh chives
1 teaspoon fresh oregano
Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
1 small clove garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Combine the romaine, cucumber, pepper, tomatoes, olives, and crumbled feta in a large bowl. Toss with half the vinaigrette, then add the herbs and pita croutons and toss again. Add more vinaigrette as you wish. I actually skipped the romaine since the bowl was full and I thought it was still great.
A note on the herbs: You can substitute ½ teaspoon of dried oregano for fresh. But the parsley, mint, and chives must be fresh, or just skip them. The two essential herbs are the parsley and the mint—use more or less of each one, as you like.
Tomassian’s Rice with Dried Fruit and Nuts – serves 6
Copied from Susan Jancourtz
This is also called “jewel rice”. Don’t be stingy with the butter—this is already reduced from Sandy Tomassian’s version. And it’s the butter that makes it so spectacular.
Preliminaries:
- Check your fruits before making the rice. If they’re dried and hard, you’ll have to soak them in warm water for 15-30 minutes. Drain before using.
- If you find dried sour plums, dried sour cherries, or dried mulberries, use a handful of these instead of dried cranberries. It’s more authentic.
- Get a mix of colors and tastes in your fruit—orange apricots, burgundy cranberries, brown dates, etc. Or just use “mixed dried fruits”.
- You can use nuts of just one kind—almonds, pine nuts, or pistachios.
Rice
1 smallish onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice*
3 ¼ cups water plus 2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes
In the same pot in which you’ll cook the rice, sauté the onion in the butter until it’s transparent. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes, until the rice is coated in butter and just getting a few golden-ish grains to it (don’t brown it.) Add the water and bouillon cubes (or chicken broth), bring to a boil, then reduce heat to lowest setting, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Check—if it’s still hard, and no liquid in the bottom, add another 1/3 to½ cup water, cover, and cook another 5 minutes until done. The rice can wait off heat, covered, for another 20 minutes or so.
Dried Fruit and Nut Topping
1 ½ cups mixed dried fruits (golden raisins, currants, apricots, dates, cranberries)
1 stick butter (Okay, maybe 6 tablespoons—but no less)
½ cup whole, shelled almonds (with or without brown skin, doesn’t matter)
1/3 cup pine nuts or pistachios
1 tablespoon butter
Saute the fruit in the stick of butter over medium-low heat until they’re warmed through and tender—5 to 10 minutes. When they’re almost done, sauté the nuts in the last tablespoon of butter until golden. (Careful—nuts burn easily.)
Mound the rice on a large platter (or two big dinner plates). Pour over the fruit and butter, then the nuts on top. Serve hot.
*You can use basmati (but not jasmine—too delicate) rice in a pinch. Pre-soak it, and use only about 1 ½ cups liquid.
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