Easter Food

In keeping with the personality differences that make us who we are, not long after I bemoaned here the lack of concrete ideas for Easter dinner, I got an email from my older sister. (I state here only that she's older not because there are other sisters with whom she might be confused, but more because she was being very older sister-y for me. And, well, she's in her 40s and I'm not (yet) so I do have to rub in the older bit when possible.) The email contained the links to a Southern Living menu put together by Cat Cora (of Iron Chef America fame...fame might be overstating it some, how many people out there really watch ICA? And also, really, she doesn't get chosen to battle all that often.)

I was intrigued.

Everything was Greek-inspired, and really, when is Greek food ever a bad idea? (Answer: never.) So I took myself off to the grocery store, list in hand, and got the fixings for all the various things. The menu turned out to be, in a word, divine.

The pork roast melted in your mouth. (The possible down side of this is that more of it might have melted into my mouth than I really should have consumed. But...wow it was tasty.)

I couldn't find mom's potato peeler (I cooked at her house), so I did the potatoes skin on and they were still quite outstanding.

The Htipiti dip is something I plan to make anytime I need to do an appetizer from here on out. And possibly as a stand in for tatziki next time I'm making something that calls for it. I'm only slightly ashamed to say that rather than spoon the 1/3ish Cup that was left over into a container for future eating, I stood in the kitchen and licked it out of the bowl until it was unclear that the bowl actually needed washing. (Other than germs, clearly.)

Of all of the items, the green beans were the weakest link. And even then, they tasted good. Honestly though, I think I'd've been just as happy with a Greek salad. (Heck, even a non-Greek salad.) So, skipping the green beans is totally an option worth considering (though only if you put something green back in. Clearly you do need some kind of vegetable.) (Potatoes are not a vegetable.)

I made homemade ice cream for dessert but didn't double the batch. Thusly we all got about 2 spoonsful. Still, it tasted good and everyone licked their bowls clean. I'll need to remember to make a batch ahead next time so there's enough.

Obviously, the ice cream was not Greek-inspired.

Other than some recipes I plan to keep on hand for future enjoyment, I also learned that I really like fresh oregano. This is a bit of a surprise as I can usually leave oregano (the dried sort) without a second thought. But fresh? Man...awesome.

Also? Slow roasted pork is perhaps the worlds most perfect meat.