July 17th, 2011
Greek Bistro, Restaurant, Review, Delray Beach, Florida, Greek Cuisine, Papoutsakia or Little Shoes, Recipe, Easy
The word spanakopita (spinach pie) brings a smile to my face. Susan and I were in charged of the teachers appreciation luncheon, for a few years, when our kids went to school together. Trying to get everyone to prepared their specialties was our responsibility. Susan’s own never failed; her spanakopita always appeared that time of the year.
Last week when I was in Florida, Anita mentioned that she had gone to a good and reasonable Greek restaurant in Delray Beach. So, four of us headed in that direction. Melissa was with us. Her heritage? Greek.
Greek Bistro is located at 1832 S. Federal Highway, Delray Beach Florida, off Linton and next to The Original Pancake House. Tel. 561-266-8976. Fax 561-266-8984. Website? www.floridagreek.com. It opens 7 days a week from 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
The restaurant was comfortably crowded for a Monday, early evening. The restaurant is small but it does have a bar. It is family owned and operated
Hummus was brought to the table. A blend of chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice served with toasted pita bread.
Melissa ordered the Keftethakla or meatballs to accompany her traditionally made Greek Salad. The meatballs did not photograph well. My thought, at the time, not to put the picture. No comments, please, o.k.? But, they were probably the best meatballs I have tasted in a long time. So here, they are. They were small, flavored with garlic and spices and slightly crispy on the outside and very moist inside.
The salad was large; almost enough for two people. Anita had the same salad and added grilled Gyro to it. The grilled Gyro did not photograph well either, but I am putting the picture up, anyway.
I had to have the Spanakopita or spinach pie. Fresh leaf spinach, mixed with Feta cheese and spices in a thin, and delicate layer of filo dough. It was served with vegetables, rice, and oven roasted potatoes. I had not had this dish in a long time. I have never made it; so hard to work with filo leaves. They gave me a nice portion and it was very well seasoned.
Then, Rosalyn had a dish that I had never seen; the Papoutsakia or Little Shoes. It is like a Moussaka, except that it does not have potatoes and the eggplants are halved and then stuffed. They looked very good and already I was thinking that I was going to try to make them when I got back to Delaware.
For dessert we ordered a Calaktobureko. It is a traditional Greek dessert, filled with a light lemony semolina custard. I think of the 4 of us I liked it the most because I love custard. The others? They thought it was just o.k.
We had a nice evening and as usual, I have to comment that sharing a meal with friends, is, well…priceless!!
Upon arriving at the Delmarva Peninsula, the first thing I did was go to Freeman’s. I was having some withdrawal symptons; not having that sweet corn for a whole week. Imagine that. I notice that they had some white eggplants.
White eggplants are milder than the aubergine ones. They are available seasonally and are, actually, very trendy nowadays.
A lot of recipes tell you that you should have eggplants rest in salty water for an hour or so. I did not do that in the following recipe. Remember you have to play with the recipe and make it your own.
Papoutsakia or Little Shoes (stuffed eggplants)
4 white eggplants (or the regular ones) – not too big
1 lb. each of ground pork and ground lamb. You will have leftover meat so you can even cut that in half.
1 onion finely chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 cup of finely chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 ripe tomatoes blended in the blender or 1 small can of whole tomatoes blended
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of thyme
1 shot of dry white wine.
1 cup of grated Kasseri Cheese (or melting Greek cheese)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the eggplants in half and scoop out the pulp and chop it. Set aside.
Heat oil in a frying pan and saute onion and garlic until they soften; are translucent, without browning. Add the ground meats and eggplant pulp and saute them well.
Add tomato, parsley, salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp. nutmet, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and thyme. Cover and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Grate the cheese.
Make the bechamel sauce:
Mine is my own version, using gluten free flour.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a pan, melt. Then add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk it well until combined. Then, add about 1 cup of half and half. Whisk again. Add the other 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, and keep on whisking. Add shot of white wine. Whisk again and set aside.
Place the eggplants on a baking dish and sprinkle the inside with some of the grated cheese. Then fill the cavities with the meat mixture.
Top the eggplants with the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle more cheese over all of them.
Bake for about an hour. Prick the eggplant to make sure they are done. You want the bechamel to get a nice color without burning it.
That’s it!! Serve it with a salad or vegetables and you have a meal.
A tip: Before placing the eggplant halves in the baking dish you can sprinkle some of the meat juices; just a bit. The eggplants will absorb that flavor from the bottom and will keep them from sticking to the baking pan.
Enjoy!!….see you…
Tags: Delray Beach, Easy, Full Bar, Greek Bistro, Greek Cuisine, lunch and dinner, Palm Beach County, Papoutsakia, Recipe, Restaurant, review, South Florida, stuffed eggplants
It sounds great. Iam going to try it as soon as I find out where I can get the greek cheese, maybe at Whole Foods?
You can also probably find it at Publix or at any cheese shop. I believe there is one on Federal, a few blocks from Atlantic Ave.