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By JANET K. KEELER, Times Staff Writer
deconstructing greek salad
The other element of the Greek salad that is most definitely not Greek is the scoop of potato salad in the middle. That's a tradition that started in Tarpon Springs and has spread throughout Florida and to other parts of the United States. Pappas restaurant in Tarpon began adding the potato salad to its Greek salad decades ago as a way to give sponge divers a heartier meal. It caught on, and the potato salad is a standard addition here. The Americanized Greek salad consists of iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, cucumber slices, green pepper rings, potato salad and slices of feta cheese. Sometimes sliced beets and/or anchovies are added. An olive oil vinaigrette flavored with dried oregano and sometimes mint is drizzled over the top. Greek salad dressing is now available commercially; one of the more popular brands is Ken's Steakhouse. this web site cooksThis just may be our new favorite site. Any site that has 18 links for information on escargot has got to be good. The Sleuth prides itself on hunting down sites about gourmet foods and then indexing them. Categories include foie gras, corporate gifts, sushi and meat cut glossaries, among others. If we were giving a gift to a corporate type, we'd click on Todaro Brothers (www.todarobros.com if you want to go direct) and order up a big basket of Italian goodies including some chocolate-dipped biscotti. Maybe she'd share some with me. Lots of recipes and tips on interesting cocktails to peruse, too. cooking classFor chicken dishes that rely on gentle slow cooking in liquid -- be it coq au vin, Mexican moles or chicken with dumplings -- use thighs. The dark meat will be more succulent and hold up to braising or stewing much more successfully than the leaner breasts. constant comment
"To me, an airplane is a great place to diet." best cookbooksPeter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Ten Speed Press, $35) has been named Cookbook of the Year for 2001 by the International Association of Cooking Professionals. (Bread Baker's Apprentice was also a top winner in the recent James Beard competition.) Reinhart has been a leader in America's artisanal bread movement for more than 15 years. Other cookbooks honored include Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Bastianich (Alfred A. Knopf, $35), How to Grill by Steven Raichlin of Miami (Workman Publishing, $35) and Healthy 1-2-3: The Ultimate Three-Ingredient Cookbook by Rozanne Gold (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $35). we hate them for this
Start your diet after you try Oreo's new Double Delight cookies, which sandwich chocolate cream and peanut butter side-by-side instead of the traditional white filling. Matt Cooper, Oreo senior brand manager, says the double delight takes Oreo to a whole new place, making the nearly 100-year-old cookie more engaging than ever. We say hide them from the kids or you'll never get one. A 15-ounce package is $3.69. Look for Mint 'n Creme in August. a boost for dairyA study published in the April 23 Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that young adults who consume three daily servings of low-fat dairy products may be less likely to become overweight and develop insulin resistance syndrome, a key risk factor in Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Researchers studied the eating patterns of more than 3,000 male and female African-American and Caucasian young adults for 10 years. The results showed that overweight individuals ate fewer dairy products than their thinner counterparts. Those who consumed more dairy foods had better overall eating habits, the study says. -- Compiled by Janet K. Keeler, from staff and wire reports
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From the Times Taste section From the features wire |
About the only things Greek in the Greek salad as we know it in the United States are the feta cheese and kalamata olives. In Greece, says cookbook author Aglaia Kremezi, it is unusual to eat salads of tomatoes and lettuce together. Tomatoes, she says, are eaten in summer and greens are a winter crop.
