California Greek Girl

Greek Grilling Class at Ethos Culinary

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

It’s Grilling Season and a perfect time for my “California Greek Series” of culinary classes at Ethos Culinary, located in beautiful coastal town of Carlsbad, in San Diego!

It’s all about being outdoors on these beautiful summer nights and enjoying the smell of grilled smokey flavors from the many methods of grilling. A few posts back, I wrote about grilling at home with some great tips and entertaining ideas for your outdoor experience. You can find that post here, Grilling Outdoors 101. This month I launched a new set of recipes from my “California Greek Series” as a Dinner Event on June 11th. This will be a hands-on dinner, and we will step outside to grill and have dinner in our garden.

As in Greece, in the summertime, everyone steps outside for meals including breakfast, lunch and late dinners. There is nothing like it, as you enjoy the long hours of dining and meeting new friends and relatives in your nearby cities. Many of my dining experiences in Greece included having dinner with our family at a local Farmer’s home (actual in his driveway) and enjoying the BEST pork chop I have ever devoured in minutes. Another time was a visit my cousin’s village in Corinth and eating the best and freshest seafood buffet of calamari, shrimp and clams! What a feast!

After experiencing this in real time in Greece, I’m bringing my experience to you, for this special series of dinners and classes. Let’s meet and spend the summer together.

Please join-us! For tickets; email me at ehtosculinary@gmail.com for information to reserve your spot. It is limited seating, and if necessary, I can repeat this class in August.

See you soon,

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Tomato Recipes for the Summer

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

I know what happens when your garden tomatoes ripen all at once. I know what I do, scramble around looking for ways to cook and use them up before they go bad. I have a quick solution for you, if you’re in a pickle just throw them in the freezer washed as is in a container or plastic bag, and they will be perfect for any sauce dish you make. Once out of the freezer, simply defrost and the peel just slides off for your dish. I have collected many of my tomato blog recipes over the years to share with you in one post. Just keep it by your side just for this moment when your plants take over!

One of my favorite go-to dishes is always soup! here, I have a delicious and simple soup to throw together for dinner and perhaps add a grill-cheese sandwich as well.

Summer Tomato and Fennel Soup

My light and tasty soup for a quick dinner.

Fresh Tomato Risotto

This is my go-to summer risotto, that was taught to me by a French chef many years ago! Delish!

Roasted Corn, Tomato and Feta Salad with Ali Rosen

This is my BBQ corn salad from Author Rosen from a food event I attended.

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes with Rice

A Grek Family recipe I have made over and over for years!

Arugula Salad with Tomatoes, Watermelon and Greek Feta

A new twist on a Greek Salad with Watermelon and Feta!

Greek Tomato Fritters

An easy and fun dish to make for a quick summer lunch!

I’ve been growing tomatoes for a very long time, and I just love all the variations of tomatoes you can purchase for your garden. They also do great if you plant them in container pots, if you are limited in space.

These are plum tomatoes, great for sauces and toppings. The have a nice amount of fresh to add to pasta, salads, or dips.

These are black tomatoes, just because! I enjoy planting new varieties for salads.

This is a Greek Tomato, perfect for our salads, medium in size with strong flesh.

What, a green tomato? The Green Zebra is fun to add into salads or fried!

Enjoy the tomato season,

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Sangrias the Perfect Summer Drink

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

How often are you stuck with the same drinks over and over again? I started making Sangrias many years ago as I began to teach cooking classes. Why make them? You can use what you have in your fruit bowl and basically experiment with what you have in your wine cupboard or outside from your fruit trees. Once you make your first pitcher of sangria, your imagination with your choices of wine and fruit are endless. Match up your wines with fresh fruits such as watermelon, strawberries, peaches, apples, and grapes. Change up the liquor and syrups with vodka, brandy, triple sec, sparkling water or ginger ale. Just have fun exploring the possibilities!

Here is a standard listing of wines and how to use them in your Sangria.

No need to use an expensive bottle of wine.
Use the freshest fruit possible, to enhance your sangria. Always, thoroughly wash the fruit especially the citrus before adding to your pitcher.
Choose the fruit and spices, and herbs according to the wine you will be using.
For reds: use a wine with low tannins, which Spanish wines contain.
For whites: Avoid wines with lots of oak. They have little tannins, so any will do.
For Rose: Select fruit-inspired wines from California.

My first recipe for you is my Greek Cherry Sangria, which I have made over and over.

My second recipe to try is a Melon Elderberry Sangria.

As you can see it’s a beautiful color which you can trade out with a melon of your choice.

TIPS TO REMEMBER!

Sangria Basics = wine +fruit +something sweet +something boozy +time to chill. It’s more of a wine punch.

Have a great summer,

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Avocado Pop-Up at Ethos Culinary

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

This month happens to be “California Avocado Month”. And I decided to add to the celebration by having an event on cooking with avocados, a simple drop by pop-up, on the beautiful fruit we all admire. Here, in San Diego we have many farms that specialize on growing avocados. In fact, I grew up in my Uncle Mike’s avocado ranch out in Spring Valley area. We not only ate many avocados during that time, but I also actually saw my mother and aunts using it as a face cream!

Once you attend a farmer’s market and see a box of avocados, you can’t pass them up

This grove I visited with a group of food bloggers many years ago and will never forget how beautiful these trees are. The canopy is breathtaking as the sun shines down into the wooded pathways.

To register for the Pop-Up, email me at ethosculinary@gmail.com for tickets.

You may want to visit my many California avocado dishes!

Greek Avocado Ceviche

Grapefruit and Avocado Cabbage Slaw

Happy Days Ahead,

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“California Greek” Culinary Classes at Ethos

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

Our two new ” California Greek ” classes are underway here at Ethos Culinary during our beautiful summer months here in San Diego. We encourage you to join us for a hands-on experience for both classes. We have found that these events are the most requested. You can select your choice of classes through our Private Team-Building events. I can say these events have been the most fun, meeting local companies and their employees while cooking together!

Our classes are listed below, so please email me at ethosculinary@gmail.com to register for a class. I will send you a confirmation and payment method once I receive your email. See you soon, Chef Mary

If you would like a private class for a birthday or celebration, please contact me at ethosculinary@gmail.com. Ideas for a private event may include book signings, birthdays, guest chefs, wine tastings, olive oil classes, and social events.

A private book signing at Ethos with great friends.

Greek Wine Tasting with our Local Rep.

Hands- On Team Building

Dinner with Farmer’s Dinner Series

How to Sign Up for Classes

Please email me for any questions or sign-up for a class, at ethosculinary@gmail.com.

Don’t’ forget to sign up to receive our free newsletter for more upcoming classes and events above.

For more details about our business, please visit our website at ethosculinary.com.

Chef Mary,

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“California Greek” From Greece to California

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

This month I have launched a new series of classes for Ethos Culinary called “California Greek”. Over the 20+ years of blogging, I have always been inspired to cook healthy dishes with a coastal flair from the many years of living in sunny San Diego. And secondly and most importantly, adding several recipes new and old from my Greek cultural background. My general goal is keeping my family traditions alive. This blog space has been my personal collections of stories to share with you and my thoughts on how we try and live a simple lifestyle. And lastly, I take great pride in my family traditions including my Greek Orthodox religion, and Hellenic Culture.

My love for baking started with these Greek ladies cooking every year for the Greek festivals, in San Diego. All my aunts and both mothers baked and participated in these activities leading up to these endless Greek celebrations.

The Greek ladies from our parish at St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox church, baking away.

My mother Voula’s recipe for her Christmas cookies, Kourambiethes are included in my blog for all of you to enjoy!

“California Greek” was my first inspiration for a future Greek Cookbook, from my blogging years and my professional culinary history. I will be spending this upcoming year writing my long-awaited cookbook. My California Greek Girl Blog has been my focus for several years connecting myself to all my followers. I’ve shared my family stories, travels and events as well as my participation in local events from working the farmer’s markets, attending Greek festivals, and expanding professional career with my Olive Oil Cookbook, working as a brand ambassador with Bragg Live Foods and teaching cooking classes throughout the state!

My Favorite Years

My first cookbook with photographer Laura Bashar, and eBook winner for Best Cookbook.

Learn all about extra virgin olive oil.

Attending my first meeting with Patricia Bragg.

One of many events educating the public on Bragg’s Greek organic extra virgin olive oil with Dr. Westerdahl.

Along the way, came many food shows and product development for brands. And several of my fond many memories with producers at local shows. This is Expo-West.

Never missed the Bob’s Red Mill exhibit!

Meeting two of my favorite authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg.

Our presentation at Melissa’s Produce with our Olive Oil cookbook.

We couldn’t refuse this picture…

Welcome to Ethos!

And we can fast forward to my latest profession as the owner of Ethos Cooking School, where I currently teach and love every moment!

A trip to Greece started my entire career into food blogging and the rest is history…

“From Greece to California”

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One Pan Greek Roasted Chicken Thighs

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

I live for one-pan dinners, especially after raising my family, and all the dinners I prepared on our busy school days. Having collected many recipes this is still one of my favorites. Simple ingredients, such as olives and rosemary, (bushes outside), which I keep on hand, and always having chicken thighs on my shopping list makes life so much easier. You can always substitute rosemary for parsley, basil, or oregano. In addition, you can always sprinkle feta on top before serving, if you wish.

Tuscan Blue is what I grow in my garden. Low water, no maintenance and they give you year around baby blue blossoms. They are also great for garden pots.

One Pan Greek Roasted Chicken Thighs

Make this for a weeknight dinner and make it Greek by adding olives and rosemary, with a sprinkle of feta at the end before serving. Tip: I always keep chicken thighs on my shopping list weekly. You can always freeze them and cook this up for a quick dinner later in the week.

Course Lunch or Dinner

Cuisine California Greek

Keyword chicken, dinner, Greek, weeknight

Servings 3

Author Mary Papoulias-Platis

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ozs. pancetta, or hickory smoked bacon, diced. (about 1/4 cup)
8 skin-on, bone in chicken thighs
Kosher salt and pepper
2-3 whole peeled garlic cloves
1/2 cup black kalamata olives
4 thin slices of lemons
2 3-inch rosemary sprigs
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup crumbled Greek Feta - optional for topping

Instructions

Position rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Melt the butter in an oven-safe large skillet, over medium heat. Add the pancetta or hickory -smoked bacon, stirring until crisp about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl.
Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the skillet in batches if needed, skin-side down and cook until well browned. If too much fat appears, remove all but 1 tablespoon.
Turn the chicken over, add the garlic cloves, the pancetta or bacon and olives around the skillet. Add the lemon slices and rosemary lifting the thighs slightly and placing under the thighs.
Pour the wine over everything and sprinkle with pepper. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until cooked through. (165 degrees), about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with a salad or rice.

Try many of my one pan dinners below:

Braised Greek Lemon Chicken with Artichokes

Greek Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Grilled Greek Lemon Chicken Ka-Bobs

Enjoy your dinner tonight,

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Zucchini Recipes for the Summer Table

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

Oh, the lonely zucchini! I plant them every year in my garden and end up passing them out to all my neighbors. Even though you get an abundance, I never get tired of cooking them up for dinner. My mother would fry them up and we just gobbled them down, one of my favorite memories of being in the kitchen at home. One part of the zucchini very few cooks use is the billowy yellow flower from this plant. I learned to stuff these with cheese or any mixture you prefer. (See my post below) If you want to try this recipe head out to your local farmer’s market, they often showcase the flowers in early summer.

How to Stuff Squash Blossoms

There are many other types of squash you will find at the markets. Here are a few you might recognize.

Here are a few of my recipes that I have enjoyed in past seasons! Remember, normally you get such a big batch from a few plants, you need to get creative and add them to baking goods, stews, soups, pasta dishes, quiches and pancakes, often called fritters. One of my favorites is my Chocolate Zucchini Olive Oil Cake!

Chocolate Zucchini Olive Oil Bread

Feta Zucchini Patties

Or try my cold summer Zucchini Soup, that can be so refreshing as an alternative to turning on your hot oven.

Cold Tomato and Zucchini Soup with Ginger

And if need more ideas for your crops, or your farmer’s market finds, take a look below

Enjoy the season!

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Traditional Greek Easter Recipes

by Mary Papoulias-Platis

Greek Easter is the most celebrated holiday in the Greek Culture. Our family’s Easter recipes are the traditional foods passed down from my family and my husband’s family. Although they came from different regions of Greece, my mother from Corinth and my husband’s family from the island of Kythera, we have merged together to make these meals our family’s best. They are all very similar in tradition, but a few changes from the many years I have celebrated the holiday. Living in California, we have access to many vegetables, and this makes it easier to adapt the original recipes, making them ours. Many more recipes can be found throughout my blog by simply searching the category and also under Easter.

Lamb can be served in so many different ways that we alternate the cut of lamb over the years. From the traditional leg of lamb, lamb chops, or lamb shanks for all, we never forget our children’s favorite side dish that cannot be forgotten our Greek orzo. The many other sides change from year to year also, adding roasted beets, lemon bitter greens, , a large Greek salad, or spanakopita, they all are appreciated at the table. For more lamb information read my post here.

Greek Leg of Lamb with Orzo

Our Family’s Greek Lamb Shanks

Phyllo Leek and Feta Pie

Greek Roasted Eggplant Dip

Best of all, and most important are the dying of the Red Eggs, to be later celebrated at the table after dinner with a smashing of the eggs, and the one winner whose egg survives, without one blemish!

The Easter breads, “tsoureki” are baked with or with the addition of red eggs, symbolizing the blood of Christ. Bakers get very creative with the process and creative new shapes and toppings.

Easter Week is filled with traditional “Holy Week’ rituals leading up to Easter Sunday. Many participate in a 7-week fast, in order to cleanse the body for the final week, between Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday often called “Megali Evdomada”, translated to the Grand Week. During this plant-based” week, the community offers special foods including the local restaurants. Many of these foods can be found on my blog which includes, horta-greens, baked white beans, fava spread, spinach and rice, peas in tomato sauce, green beans in sauce, eggplant dip, black -eyed peas, chickpea stew, lentils, to name just a few.