Mediterranean Brunch

Tags

brunch, mediterranean, personal chef

At one of the very first signs of Spring weather a few weeks ago, Brent and I were invited to one of his former co-workers homes for a Mediterranean brunch. We were told to bring only ourselves and prepare for a treat.

Aside from having to commute to Long Island by train on the weekend (wasn’t as bad as I thought!”) we arrived to a delightfully fragrant home with our hostess sitting back sipping a pomegranate and champagne cocktail while the chef she hired for the day slaved away.

::record skips::

CHEF? HIRED? CHEF!?

::giggles with glee::

I have seen/heard of this private chef thing but really had no idea how practical it was. Apparently, hiring a personal chef for a lunch or dinner is a click [and credit card] away. The cost can range per person but again, can vary. Our hostess, Roz, really wowed us with this. TREAT it was!

To start, we sipped pomegranate and champagne cocktails and snacked on the sweetest strawberries EVER.  While filling up on fresh fruit, we also enjoyed some shrimp tempura. Because – FOOD.

Everything that Chef Omar prepared for us was made from scratch.

Once we were done snacking on appetizers and Chef was putting the finishing touches on his brunch, we started with homemade yogurt, granola drizzled with honey and sliced kiwi. While the kiwi wasn’t an instant win for me, that yogurt tho! So creamy and was great with the granola!

Tried to pace myself but I was already envisioning the wall I was about to hit with all the deliciousness.

We placed the spread on a table to create a buffet style but soon we all decided the best course of action was to fill our plates with a little bit of everything.

Our buffet consisted of: GIANT buttermilk pancakes with an apple and pear compote, zucchini fritters, poached eggs with fiery chick peas and tomatoes… and that yogurt and granola I kept eating.

#noregrets

I thought “This isn’s so bad! I can def eat this!” and proceeded to wolf down a pancake the size of my face! A zucchini fritter the size of my fist! Protein packed eggs and fiberlicious chickpeas.

Truth: The odds were against me.

I powered through and devoured that mammoth plate of deliciousness. I was thinking with every bite “this is delicious!” – I may have also told Brent several times we are hiring Chef Omar to cater our next event.

We picked at our remnants as we made small talk about life and work and the chef bid us adieu as he prepped our dessert. An avocado key lime pie with a graham cracker crust.

If I’m being honest, this was a miss for me. It was as if eating sweet guacamole. I love guacamole but on chips or toast. Not in a pie. Thankfully, one of the other attendees made oreo truffles that I cannot wait to make on my own!

I snapped a pic of the group with the chef in the middle.

Overall, I had an amazing experience. I would totally hire a chef for a few hours to allow me to mingle with my guests…but I really do love cooking. Maybe I can make the dessert.

Decisions, Decisions.

Mediterranean Pita Pizza

Tags

dinner, feta cheese, healthy, mediterranean, pita, pizza, recipes

In the last remaining weeks of summer (so long ago!), I dreamed up a pita pizza with caramelized onions, red bell peppers, spinach and feta cheese. It felt like it was going to be a success.

Then when I went grocery shopping, my heart sank when my local grocery did not have pita bread. They didn’t even have naan. Or flatbread.

How is that even possible??

In a pinch, I picked up whole wheat tortillas. It felt like a good idea.

spoiler alert.

no. it wasn’t.

In theory, I could have totally made this work but the ingredients I was using were heavy. And it didnt work. But if you were jonesing for some quick pizza with tomato sauce and cheese, you could totally use a tortilla.Mediterranean Pita Pizza  (serves 4)

1 tsp butter

1/2 white onion, sliced

1/2 medium red pepper, julienned

1 cup raw spinach

1 cup feta cheese crumbles

4 whole wheat Pitas Directions:

Preheat oven to 450*.

In a large skillet, heat a tsp of butter. When it’s melted, add the onions and cook over a medium heat until they brown or caramelize- about 10-12 minutes.While the onions are browning, place the pita in the oven for 3-5 minutes to toast it up for a bit. Take it out of the oven and build your pizza. Layer the onions in a single layer.

Top with 1/4 cup of feta cheese.

Top with spinach and bell peppers.

Place in the oven for 8 -10 minutes.I immediately fell in love with the color. It smelled divine.

HOWEVER.

The weight of the toppings was too much for the tortilla, which is why i needed a pita.

But things like “toppings are too heavy” never stop me from devouring. It was actually really tasty. BR thought it could have used some protein, like shredded chicken. But it made some pretty tasty vegetarian wraps.

Don’t be like me. Get the darn pita.

Need a little sauce? perhaps Some hummus or babaganoush to dunk. 🙂

Kofta Burgers

Tags

burger, dinner, mediterranean, recipes

After a recent visit to the local Mediterranean joint, I had a hankering for falafel but resisted the urge to dine out.  About 2 years ago, I made some healthy Moroccan Burgers from a Weight Watchers cook book. I remember liking them and having a good idea of what was in them so I threw a little something together. It was also inspired by this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kofta-kebabs/

Kofta Patties (makes 4 regular sized patties or 8  mini patties)

1lb ground beef

1 Tbsp Coriander

1 tsp cumin

1tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp all spice

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp black pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

Method: In a large bowl combine all of the above ingredients and fold with your bare hands. When all of the ingredients are blended well, form the meat into round patties. Since I had mini pitas, I made mini patties. I grilled them on the george foreman grill to save time. They took about 5 minutes to cook.

With the patties and the pita, I added a fresh spring salad and dressed it in a homemade Tahini sauce.

Tahini Sauce:

1 cup tahini (or sunflower butter)

Juice of one lemon

2 Tbsp oil

2 cloves garlic

salt

3/4 cup water

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk until ingredients are blended.

Easy Peasy.

I served up the mini pita with some oven baked sweet potato fries and fresh sea salt.

I really enjoyed these but will opt for the regular sized patties. The small ones were so good, on some days, I had two pitas for dinner.

This was a quick and very tasty meal put together in minutes.