Kasey Wilson: Keep it low key early in the new year

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After the frenzy and fuss of the vacations, January is a time for informal, low-key entertaining.

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A make-ahead meal of Greek-style beef stew and a Greek salad are the right menu. If area permits, you would possibly set the desk within the kitchen or household room for a extra relaxed environment.

House-style horiatiki is served all through Greece, the place it is named nation or peasant salad. After I visited Mykonos, the salad was all the time served with french fries in what could have been a nod to North American and British vacationers.

Two days earlier than you intend to serve the stew, marinate chunks of beef in a single day in crimson wine with onion, orange zest, herbs and spices. It offers the meat a wealthy flavour and tender texture. The day earlier than the dinner, cook dinner the stew and refrigerate it. An hour or so earlier than visitors arrive, reheat it over a low flame.

At the moment’s Greek salad recipe is a far cry from the pathetic pizzeria variations with iceberg lettuce, chunks of inexperienced pepper and pale wedges of tomato sparsely dotted with cubes of feta and garnished with a single unhappy olive. It may be made year-round because of top-quality Canadian greenhouse greens.

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Add a potato gratin and finish the meal with an old school fruit crisp made with seasonal fruit.

Nation-Fashion Greek Salad

Marinating the onion and cucumber in French dressing tones down the onion’s harshness and flavours the cucumber. For effectivity, put together the opposite salad components whereas the onion and cucumber marinate. Use a salad spinner to dry the lettuce totally after washing so water doesn’t dilute the dressing.

French dressing:

1 1/2 tbsp (25 mL) crimson wine vinegar

1 tsp (5 mL) lemon juice

2 tsp (10 ml) minced recent oregano leaves

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

freshly floor pepper to style

1 garlic clove, minced or put by a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)

6 tbsp (75 mL) olive oil

Salad:

½ medium crimson onion, sliced skinny

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2 medium cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and reduce into 1/8-inch slices (about 4 cups)

6 medium tomatoes (about 2 lbs), every cored, seeded and reduce into 12 wedges

¼ cup (50 mL) loosely packed torn recent parsley leaves

¼ cup (50 mL) loosely packed recent mint leaves

6 oz (170 mL) jarred roasted crimson peppers, reduce into 2 x ½-inch strips (about 1 cup)

20 giant, pitted Kalamata olives, quartered lengthwise

8 oz (250 g) feta cheese, crumbled

For the French dressing, whisk all components collectively in a big bowl till mixed. Add onion and cucumber and toss. Let stand to mix flavours for about 20 minutes.

Add romaine, tomatoes, parsley, mint and peppers to the bowl with and toss to coat with dressing. Switch salad to a large, shallow serving bowl or platter. Scatter the olives and feta over all Serve instantly.

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Serves 6 to eight

Greek-Fashion Beef Stew

This old school beef stew is slowly cooked within the oven. Currants and cinnamon add a Greek accent. (Tailored from Informal Events Cookbook by Joyce Goldstein and Chuck Williams)

3 lb (1.5 kg) boneless lean stewing beef, reduce in 2-inch (5-cm) cubes

4 cups (1 L) dry crimson wine

3 yellow onions, quartered

2 bay leaves

3 recent thyme sprigs

1 recent rosemary sprig

12 peppercorns

3 complete cloves

6 garlic cloves, smashed with the aspect of a knife

2 extensive orange zest strips

1 28 oz (796 mL) can plum tomatoes

1 lb (500 g) carrots

1 cup (185 g) dried currants

1 tsp (5 mL) floor cinnamon

Chopped recent flat-leaf parsley

Place the meat in a glass or plastic container.

In a bowl, stir collectively crimson wine, onions, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary, peppercorns, cloves, garlic and orange zest. Pour marinade evenly over meat, turning the meat to coat properly. Cowl and refrigerate in a single day.

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Preheat oven to 400 levels F.

Drain the meat, reserving marinade and straining it by a sieve right into a bowl. Take away herbs, orange zest strips and spices from sieve and place on a sq. of cheesecloth. Carry corners collectively and tie to kind a small bag. Retrieve onions and garlic from the sieve and place in a big, heavy ovenproof pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Add the meat, tomatoes and carrots. Add the strained marinade and spice bag. If the meat will not be lined utterly by the wine, add water or inventory to cowl. Cowl tightly and place in oven. When the stew reaches a boil, scale back oven temperature to 275-300 levels F. Cook dinner for two hours. Add currants and floor cinnamon. Cook dinner till meat could be very tender, about 1 extra hour.

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Skim fats from the stew floor (see Kitchen Hack) and set it apart to chill to room temperature. Refrigerate, lined, in a single day. About 1 hour earlier than serving, take away any hardened fats from the floor and reheat the stew over low warmth. Season to style with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 6

Kitchen Hack: Skimming Tip for Stews and Shares

Skimming fats from a simmering pot means chasing it round a effervescent floor. To make this process simpler, transfer the pot to at least one aspect of the burner in order that solely half has contact with the warmth. The simmering bubbles on the heated aspect push the fats to the cooler aspect, making it simpler to skim.