My Big Fat Greek Dinner

Last weekend I was at my parents' house leafing through my mom's latest issue of Food and Wine magazine. I passed something called Pastitsio. I've always heard of it, but wasn't sure what it was. Turns out that pastitsio is merely a Greek lasagne, made with ground lamb, and bechamel sauce. My family came over for a meal on Friday night, and Greek was the theme of the evening. I made a thick meat sauce the night before and tried my hand for the first time at bechamel, which is essentially butter, flour, milk and eggs. So pretty much like a cake but created on the stove. Instead of lasagne sheets, you boil ziti in a pot and lay it one by one, painstakingly in the pan. It was definitely worth it though; each zita covered in bechamel sauce and smothered in ground lamb sauce, topped off with crispy parmigiano reggiano cheese and breadcrumbs. Rohit made a taramasalata from scratch with caviar, a crostini with olive tapenade and roasted eggplant, fresh fried calamari, and a fisherman's soup, which he didn't end up serving. I enlisted my cousins to help with the salad and made Mom make the dressing. I knew that Greek desserts needed phyllo dough, lots of it and since I had just played with it the other weekend when I made bistilla for other friends who had come over for dinner, I felt like skipping the many layers this time around. Instead, I borrowed from Al Di La's (where I have never been before!)repertoire and made a Pear and Chocolate Torte. I'm not sure about the pairing (no pun intended) but chocolate and anything is good, isn't it?

One of the best Greek meals was in Astoria (where else?) at a place called Opa! It's under the R train and it's run by a family, which means automatically that it's going to be phenomenal. Their saganaki is astounding. Their moussaka too, makes my mouth water. Greek food is similar to Italian food for me, in the ingredients that go into making it make all the difference in the end product. Hmm...speaking of which, it may be time to make a trip to Opa!

What is the first thing you ate in the new year?

I ate khow suey. Rohit made it for us (Daniella, Will and me) when we got back from our midnight 4 mile run in 4 degree weather in Central Park. It was an excellent time, though my right hand was freezing cold and my already poor circulation didn't seem to be helping my blood flow. Rohit stayed behind to make us dinner- a khow suey with a coconut chicken curry, soba noodles and white rice, mashed egg, scallions, crispy ginger, crispy garlic, caramelized onions. It was incredibly warm and delicious and we were utterly grateful for hot food. Perhaps this will set the stage for me in the new year: that all my endeavors will be versatile, choosing from a range of different options, allowing me to call the shots. Maybe I'm reading too much into it and khow suey is just darn tasty.