30 Things in 30 Days: Thing #16—Cook with Unfamiliar Ingredients

Yes, that's right: We're back to edible awesomeness. Today, we cooked with ingredients we had never cooked with before. We made Spanakopita, a kind of Greek spinach pie, and it involved cooking with phyllo dough, something we had certainly never attempted to work with before.

Aside from the phyllo, the recipe also called for ingredients we have certainly used in the past, but never in the same dish. The filling called for spinach, a lot of feta cheese, Greek yogurt (the best yogurt, in my opinion—so good with honey drizzled on it!), chives, minced dill, minced mint (I chewed several leaves during the food prep), lemon zest and juice (once again, my microplaner proves to be the best Mothers' Day gift ever), garlic, eggs, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and, of course, salt and pepper. 

Stirring it all together. This is the first place David and I have ever lived where there have been windows in the kitchen. Don't kitchen windows make cooking so much more lovely?

Another ingredient we had never worked with before: Pecorino Romano cheese (and my microplaner strikes again!). This is one of Italy's oldest cheeses, says Wikipedia, and it comes from sheep's milk. It is hard, salty, and very, very good. We have plenty leftover for salads and whatever else we can think to grate it on.

I was so nervous to work with phyllo. It immediately begins to dry out, harden, and crack as soon as it reaches open air, so whenever I didn't immediately need another thin sheet of dough, I had to cover it with plastic wrap and a damp towel. This is definitely something that would be difficult to make without someone watching the kiddos while you cook. Thanks, Davie!

My spanakopita filling on 10 buttered layers of phyllo dough.

Before baking.

After baking! I know it isn't perfect, and I would certainly be embarrassed for a real Greek to see my attempt at their dish, but I'm pretty proud that it actually looks something like what's supposed to look like!

In the meantime, David fed Hollie carrots, gave her a bath, and got her ready for bed. Anyone who has been to our house between 5:00 and 7:00 knows that this is not a one-person job. Getting this roly-poly wiggleworm into pajamas alone is typically a two-person job around here.

Making a huge experimental Greek dish requires some sharing with friends, so we invited some dear friends over to help us eat everything. David made a salad and some roasted potatoes with thyme and caramelized onions (his specialty), and our friend Joleen brought some homemade wheat bread with lemon curd. For dessert, our friend Kellyanne brought strawberry/raspberry shortcake. Could we be any more spoiled?

You'd think an actual dining-room-sized dining room table would be on our to-buy list before all of these extra bookshelves. Especially since we certainly eat as much as we read around here.

Melanie, Joleen, and Kellyanne have dinner with us while Hollie remains the center of attention.

Thing #16: Cook with Unfamiliar Ingredients (Make a Spanakopita) = ACCOMPLISHED.