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Ode to Feta cheese!

Ode to Feta cheese!
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  • Ode to Feta cheese!

    Post #1 - August 26th, 2010, 3:20 pm
    Post #1 - August 26th, 2010, 3:20 pm Post #1 - August 26th, 2010, 3:20 pm
    At our house, we love feta cheese.

    After I read the post about the feta cheese and thyme pies at Pita Inn Market and Bakery, I ran over to get some and also bought some feta cheese. The cheese is Ülker brand. It comes in a square hard plastic container with a lid that is removed after tearing off a hard plastic edge. Wow is it good! I usually try to find very strong-flavored (stinky!) feta but this is creamy and mild.

    On the other end of the flavor spectrum is strong Bulgarian feta that can be found at, say, Fresh Farms or Produce World. This stuff packs a punch. A little can go a long way but is very delicious.

    Here are some things we use feta for:

    Crumbled feta on top of romaine lettuce salad, red onions and beets, either roasted beets or a quick can of plain sliced beets. A slightly sweet balsamic vinaigrette goes well.

    Crumbled feta in an egg white omelette with fresh sautéed spinach and some sweet onion.

    Of course a kind of Greek village salad with fresh tomatoes, olives, a red wine vinegar and olive oil vinaigrette, garlic, thyme, oregano and feta. Served with chicken souvlaki and some fresh pitas.

    What kind of feta to you like? Where do you get it? What's your favorite way to use feta cheese? Any good ideas?

    Pita Inn Market and Bakery
    3924 Dempster St
    (between Harding Ave & Springfield Ave)
    Skokie, IL 60076
    (847) 675-0025

    Fresh Farms International
    5740 West Touhy Avenue
    Niles, IL 60714-4606
    (847) 779-7343

    Produce World
    8800 Waukegan Rd
    Morton Grove, IL 60053
    (847) 581-1029
  • Post #2 - August 26th, 2010, 4:40 pm
    Post #2 - August 26th, 2010, 4:40 pm Post #2 - August 26th, 2010, 4:40 pm
    Olives and feta cubes in olive oil with herbs as an appetizer / snack.
  • Post #3 - August 26th, 2010, 7:13 pm
    Post #3 - August 26th, 2010, 7:13 pm Post #3 - August 26th, 2010, 7:13 pm
    Mixed with some chopped dry spinach, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts and S&P. Moisten with EVOO and use as a stuffing for chicken breasts.
  • Post #4 - August 26th, 2010, 8:54 pm
    Post #4 - August 26th, 2010, 8:54 pm Post #4 - August 26th, 2010, 8:54 pm
    cubed watermelon and chiquita tomato, fresh variegated mint, good crumbled feta, splash of champagne vinegar or squeeze of lime, pinch of pink salt and fresh ground pepper...summer :D
    "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington
  • Post #5 - August 26th, 2010, 10:42 pm
    Post #5 - August 26th, 2010, 10:42 pm Post #5 - August 26th, 2010, 10:42 pm
    Bulgarian Feta from Joe Caputo & Sons.

    Great on crackers (any type) or in a romaine and arugula salad with cranberries, carrots and almost anything else with a semi-sweet or even totally sweet red wine vinaigrette.

    To echo an earlier comment (but less fancy) My favorite is to buy bone-in chicken breasts from Joe Caputo & Sons (small, real chicken breasts, not the steriod-enhanced mega breasts from larger groceries) and stuff them with Bulgarian Feta, baby spinach and tomato and grill or in winter use a cast iron pan to brown and then bake in a 400 degree oven.

    We also pound out boneless breast and wrap up the chicken, feta, spinach and brown in a cast iron pan and then finish in the oven - same as above, but less time. Then we finish with sauce made from the drippings of the breasts with white wine, some chicken stock and rosemary. I usually thicken the sauce with some chicken stock and flour and if some of the feta leaked out, it's a good thing. If not, I sometimes add a little to the sauce. This is usually a winter dish.

    I could go on and on but in short, the Bulgarian Feta from Joe Caputo's is a family favorite.
  • Post #6 - August 27th, 2010, 6:30 am
    Post #6 - August 27th, 2010, 6:30 am Post #6 - August 27th, 2010, 6:30 am
    Greek feta from Mino in Addison..
    First Place BBQ Sauce - 2010 NBBQA ( Natl BBQ Assoc) Awards of Excellence
  • Post #7 - August 27th, 2010, 7:21 am
    Post #7 - August 27th, 2010, 7:21 am Post #7 - August 27th, 2010, 7:21 am
    My favorite thing is something really simple yet packs a lot of taste in each bite. Roasted red pepper with feta, splash of balsamic, olive oil, and fresh basil.
  • Post #8 - August 27th, 2010, 7:39 am
    Post #8 - August 27th, 2010, 7:39 am Post #8 - August 27th, 2010, 7:39 am
    You all are winding me up. Put a photo with any of these ideas and I'll be over the edge!
  • Post #9 - August 27th, 2010, 8:08 am
    Post #9 - August 27th, 2010, 8:08 am Post #9 - August 27th, 2010, 8:08 am
    Marketplace on Oakton has an excellent selection of fetas from a variety of sources (domestic, French, Bulgarian, a few Greek varieties)
    4817 W Oakton
    Skokie


    I am a big fan of the Persian feta (panir?) served at Noon O Kabab. I could eat the cheese, warm bread, and radishes as a meal there and leave very happy.
    4661 N Kedzie
    Chicago
    (773) 279-9309

    Best,
    Michael
  • Post #10 - August 27th, 2010, 10:00 am
    Post #10 - August 27th, 2010, 10:00 am Post #10 - August 27th, 2010, 10:00 am
    I LOVE the french feta sold in the deli at Harvestime. It's unbelievably creamy and smooth.

    I like to toss short tubular pasta with feta chunks, good ripe diced tomatoes and chopped dill and scallions. I often throw some zucchini or summer squash chunks into the pot with the pasta to cook. I could eat this almost every night for dinner in the summer! good still warm, or chilled.
  • Post #11 - August 27th, 2010, 10:09 am
    Post #11 - August 27th, 2010, 10:09 am Post #11 - August 27th, 2010, 10:09 am
    Lately, I've been on a Dodonis Greek feta kick. You can get it at Fresh Farms and/or Lincolnwood Produce. It;s a relatively strong flavored Greek variety. It's great in omelets and spanakopita as well as just plain, with some olives and a nice crusty loaf of bread.
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #12 - August 27th, 2010, 12:12 pm
    Post #12 - August 27th, 2010, 12:12 pm Post #12 - August 27th, 2010, 12:12 pm
    stevez wrote:Lately, I've been on a Dodonis Greek feta kick. You can get it at Fresh Farms and/or Lincolnwood Produce. It;s a relatively strong flavored Greek variety. It's great in omelets and spanakopita as well as just plain, with some olives and a nice crusty loaf of bread.


    Also at Markteplace. I go back and forth between the domestic and the Dodonis. Good stuff.
  • Post #13 - August 27th, 2010, 6:28 pm
    Post #13 - August 27th, 2010, 6:28 pm Post #13 - August 27th, 2010, 6:28 pm
    I very much prefer French sheep feta to almost all others.
    I used to try them all, particularly in the early days of Whole Foods, and in the end, I found that the creamy/tangy/nutty balance of that version is my favorite. There are some cow versions with a bit of tang that are OK.
    I love many goat cheeses, but not goat feta.
    However, I just brought home an Israeli sheep feta from Trader Joe's, I think, and I'm not that crazy about it. A bit too salty, and lacking in the other elements I 'm looking for.
    The brand that Costco carries, I think it's 18 oz. or more, in a white plastic tub, I also enjoy. Forgot the name.
    I think it really has to be floating in brine. If it's shrink-wrapped dry, I believe it's rarely good.
    I have no particularly inventive uses: I love it in omelets and salads. I love it in phyllo pies with spinach. I love Athenian Room's feta burger. It adds some of the tang of a blue cheese burger, plus some melty creaminess, but without the funk. I actually prefer it that way.
    "Strange how potent cheap music is."
  • Post #14 - August 31st, 2010, 1:28 pm
    Post #14 - August 31st, 2010, 1:28 pm Post #14 - August 31st, 2010, 1:28 pm
    At Fresh Farms the other day they were offering a lot of samples of different kinds of feta and other Greek cheeses. There were goat and sheep fetas as well as Kasseri and graviera. It was interesting to sample goat and sheep fetas right next to each other like that. I like them both!

    Image

    They had some HUGE pieces of feta, slabs really! Say eight inches thick and fifteen or more inches square. This photo does not do them justice.
    Image
  • Post #15 - August 31st, 2010, 1:59 pm
    Post #15 - August 31st, 2010, 1:59 pm Post #15 - August 31st, 2010, 1:59 pm
    Nice! Now that is what I dream about.
  • Post #16 - August 31st, 2010, 3:13 pm
    Post #16 - August 31st, 2010, 3:13 pm Post #16 - August 31st, 2010, 3:13 pm
    Joy, great picture!

    I like feta in a simple salad, with some tomatoes/onions/cucumbers/herbs. Simple and tasty.
  • Post #17 - August 31st, 2010, 6:14 pm
    Post #17 - August 31st, 2010, 6:14 pm Post #17 - August 31st, 2010, 6:14 pm
    Not to be a spoilsport, but am I the only one who will confess to not liking feta cheese? I am a big cheese fan in general, but something about feta - the smell, I think - puts me off. And I find that odd, since there's practically no other cheese, none that I can think of at the moment, that I don't like. Just wondering if anyone else will fess up to the same. On the other hand ... I'd like to like it. I am willing to give it another try ... maybe the pieces of feta in olive oil are the best way for me to try to put my toe back in the water.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #18 - September 2nd, 2010, 3:31 pm
    Post #18 - September 2nd, 2010, 3:31 pm Post #18 - September 2nd, 2010, 3:31 pm
    Katie wrote:Not to be a spoilsport, but am I the only one who will confess to not liking feta cheese? I am a big cheese fan in general, but something about feta - the smell, I think - puts me off. And I find that odd, since there's practically no other cheese, none that I can think of at the moment, that I don't like. Just wondering if anyone else will fess up to the same. On the other hand ... I'd like to like it. I am willing to give it another try ... maybe the pieces of feta in olive oil are the best way for me to try to put my toe back in the water.


    do try some french feta. it's so creamy and velvety. it's not as harsh or sharp as other fetas. Don't buy it pre-packaged, get it at a deli counter where it's stored in its brine until you order it.
  • Post #19 - September 2nd, 2010, 9:47 pm
    Post #19 - September 2nd, 2010, 9:47 pm Post #19 - September 2nd, 2010, 9:47 pm
    Bulgarian feta from Harvest Time--fantastic! Last night's salad: 8 different kinds of tomato, thinly sliced candy onions, fresh oregano, garlic chives and thyme, splash of italian white wine vinegar and good olive oil and the Bulgarian feta crumbled on top with a bit of salt and pepper. Incredibly delicious. Can't wait to try it on something else...
    "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington
  • Post #20 - September 2nd, 2010, 9:53 pm
    Post #20 - September 2nd, 2010, 9:53 pm Post #20 - September 2nd, 2010, 9:53 pm
    We were watching Foodography on the Cooking channel tonight and they showed a Greek chef making his own feta. Anyone ever make their own feta? It didn't seem too complicated. Famous last words, I know. He brined for 4 weeks I think, but online sources vary greatly in that regard.
  • Post #21 - September 16th, 2010, 7:54 am
    Post #21 - September 16th, 2010, 7:54 am Post #21 - September 16th, 2010, 7:54 am
    We tried a new-to-us feta cheese yesterday. From Costco, it is Mt. Vikos feta, a Greek feta that is made with both sheep and goat milk. The package calls it "hand-crafted mountain cheese" and an 18-ounce package is about $7.

    This is a pretty mild, pretty creamy cheese. I used it on a salad of butter lettuce, radicchio and watercress with sliced pears and some homemade balsamic vinaigrette. YUM! Oh! I just realized that I usually add toasted walnuts or pecans to this kind of salad and I completely forgot them yesterday. Ha! We did not miss them.

    The package of feta is a little bit bigger than the size chunk that we usually buy so now I am moving quickly to use it up.

    How is your feta life going? :-) --Joy
  • Post #22 - September 16th, 2010, 8:29 am
    Post #22 - September 16th, 2010, 8:29 am Post #22 - September 16th, 2010, 8:29 am
    Inspired by beaudreaulicious' watermelon and feta idea above in this thread, I was attracted to this recipe in Womans Day magazine (hey. I was stuck in a doctor's waiting room.)

    Here is the list of ingredients:
    Dressing:
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
    1 tablespoon lime juice
    1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
    Salad:
    1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
    1-lb piece seedless watermelon, rind removed, cut into thin chunks
    1/2 seedless cucumber, cut in half horizontally, sliced
    3 cups baby arugula
    3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

    Watermelon has been sooooooo delicious these past weeks! There was a platter of watermelon chunks at a Labor Day get-together we went to that were extremely sweet and intensely flavored with a really deep red color.

    --Joy
  • Post #23 - September 16th, 2010, 8:46 am
    Post #23 - September 16th, 2010, 8:46 am Post #23 - September 16th, 2010, 8:46 am
    Because of this thread, I did a simple watermelon-feta salad for a Labor Day picnic. Chunks of watermelon, a French feta, snips of fresh mint, some freshly ground pepper and a splash of red wine vinegar. Many people at the barbecue were skeptical, but ended up enjoying it. I was happy to have extra to make more at home.
    -Mary
  • Post #24 - September 17th, 2010, 10:04 am
    Post #24 - September 17th, 2010, 10:04 am Post #24 - September 17th, 2010, 10:04 am
    I read in The Flavor Bible that feta has a long list of compatible foods.

    The authors highlight mint, black and Greek olives and pita or olive bread. They highlight three "flavor affinities" with feta cheese including chicken, roasted bell peppers and salad greens, all with mint.

    Besides mint, herbs they like include thyme, dill and sage.

    They mention watermelon as well as figs, grapes and lemon. I would add pears!

    For vegetables, they just mention zucchini, spinach and eggplant.

    The cheese obsession is growing. It is not just reading The Flavor Bible's wonderful section on "Cheeses in General". I also think we have been watching too many late-night Wallace and Gromit episodes on Netflix On Demand! "Don't forget the crackers!"

    The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Base on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs by Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg
  • Post #25 - September 18th, 2010, 10:08 pm
    Post #25 - September 18th, 2010, 10:08 pm Post #25 - September 18th, 2010, 10:08 pm
    Joy wrote:I read in The Flavor Bible that feta has a long list of compatible foods.

    The authors highlight mint, black and Greek olives and pita or olive bread. They highlight three "flavor affinities" with feta cheese including chicken, roasted bell peppers and salad greens, all with mint.

    Besides mint, herbs they like include thyme, dill and sage.

    They mention watermelon as well as figs, grapes and lemon. I would add pears!

    For vegetables, they just mention zucchini, spinach and eggplant.

    The cheese obsession is growing. It is not just reading The Flavor Bible's wonderful section on "Cheeses in General". I also think we have been watching too many late-night Wallace and Gromit episodes on Netflix On Demand! "Don't forget the crackers!"

    The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Base on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs by Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg


    Joy, one of my favorite late summer salads (or sometimes a dessert) is quartered figs over some local wildflower honey, sprinkled with toasted almonds, and some crumbled feta. Its a wonderful combination.
  • Post #26 - September 23rd, 2010, 1:33 pm
    Post #26 - September 23rd, 2010, 1:33 pm Post #26 - September 23rd, 2010, 1:33 pm
    The current Saveur covers Greece and has several good ideas for using Feta in a new way. Yum...ps, the pastitsio recipe is scrumptious!
  • Post #27 - September 26th, 2010, 9:29 am
    Post #27 - September 26th, 2010, 9:29 am Post #27 - September 26th, 2010, 9:29 am
    BaconButt wrote:The current Saveur covers Greece and has several good ideas for using Feta in a new way.


    BaconButt, thanks for the tip about Saveur! The Saveur website has some great recipes including a ridiculously-easy-sounding feta tart.

    I have been reading a cookbook from the library and I don't want to return it! It is "How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking" by a young chef Michael Psilakis. This is a wonderful cookbook that not only offers recipes both simple and complex but also tells the story of a Greek family and of the development of the chef's food life, from his family's table to being named Chef of the Year by both Bon Appetit and Esquire.

    Talk about your feta recipes! This cookbook is packed with them. I have already made Psilakis' Red Wine and Feta Vinaigrette and the Tomato and String Bean Salad with it. Great for this time of year and a long sideways step from the typical Greek Village Salad.

    Chef Psilakis' Red Wine and Feta Vinaigrette recipe is on Martha Stewart's website. It is blended in a food processor and becomes creamy and thick.

    With the remaining Red Wine and Feta Vinaigrette, I made a pasta salad with cellentani, grape tomatoes, black olives, red onion, zucchini and some broccoli buds.

    I used the remainder of my Costco feta to make a spinach and feta stuffing for under the skin of some baked chicken breasts. YUM. Here's the dinner plate with the pasta salad, the chicken, some sautéed mushrooms with balsamic and soy sauce, and some spaghetti squash with fresh tomato "sauce (lots of garlic and parmesan).

    Image

    YourPalWill wrote:…one of my favorite late summer salads (or sometimes a dessert) is quartered figs over some local wildflower honey, sprinkled with toasted almonds, and some crumbled feta. Its a wonderful combination.


    My pal Will, the Psilakis cookbook also has a recipe for Figs stuffed with Feta Wrapped with Pastourma.

    Inspired by that, we got as far as making a salad with figs and feta, greens and radicchio. We used a bottled dressing someone had given us, a maple syrup-fig combo thing. The best parts of the salad were the figs and feta. The dressing was just off-tasting and sad. We concluded that even a simple homemade version slipping some maple syrup into a figgy vinaigrette would have been better.

    Image

    I hope this short quote from Psilakis falls under fair-use:

    "Feta: Shifting boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean and Balkans make it difficult to trace the origins of this beloved cheese: at one point, half of Greece was Bulgaria and half of Bulgaria was Greece. It is believed that the Greeks have been making a fetalike cheese since the twelfth century, even if it was called something else. While Greece is home to several other wonderful cheeses (like mizithra, graviera, kefalotiri and kasseri), in northern Greece at least, any and all "cheese" is assumed to be feta. Traditionally, feta is made from 100 percent sheep's milk. Feta can be sold at the age of two months of age. Younger feta is often eaten alone; the mature cheeses are perfect as a component of salads and other dishes.

    "Feta deteriorates when not stored in brine, so try to buy it in brine and, if at a service counter, ask for a little more brine to be ladled over your cheese. Or you can make more brine at a ratio of 1 quart water to 3/4 cup kosher salt, dissolved. If you buy feta in bulk and store it in brine, keep your fingers out of the container to avoid introducing bacteria; retrieve what you need each time with a clean pair of tongs."
  • Post #28 - August 23rd, 2011, 4:21 pm
    Post #28 - August 23rd, 2011, 4:21 pm Post #28 - August 23rd, 2011, 4:21 pm
    I love the oil- packed Persian feta at Pastoral. It's the only one I like, so far. Pastoral didn't have it a few weeks ago. Suggestions?
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #29 - August 23rd, 2011, 5:04 pm
    Post #29 - August 23rd, 2011, 5:04 pm Post #29 - August 23rd, 2011, 5:04 pm
    I love the bulgarian feta at HarvesTime (having never typed the word "HarvesTime" I had to look it up because no spelling looks right :P ) and at $3.99/lb, it's probably worth a shot if you've never tried it. I particularly like the light, creamy texture--I just deleted what I wrote after this because it sounded pornographic but suffice to say--it incorporates easily and works as a spread.

    Edited to add that I just read through the thread and realized that:

    a) I HAVE typed "HarvesTime" before but got it wrong

    and

    b) already expressed my love for their Bulgarian feta--sorry for the repeat post--but a year later, it's still my favorite!!
    "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington
  • Post #30 - August 24th, 2011, 12:31 pm
    Post #30 - August 24th, 2011, 12:31 pm Post #30 - August 24th, 2011, 12:31 pm
    pairs4life wrote:I love the oil- packed Persian feta at Pastoral. It's the only one I like, so far. Pastoral didn't have it a few weeks ago. Suggestions?


    You can store your feta in olive oil, the flavor diffuses very easily with Feta. You can cover it with Oregano branches over the top for a couple of hours and it makes for a good treat on toasted bread.

    Marmish wrote:We were watching Foodography on the Cooking channel tonight and they showed a Greek chef making his own feta. Anyone ever make their own feta? It didn't seem too complicated. Famous last words, I know. He brined for 4 weeks I think, but online sources vary greatly in that regard.


    I've made Feta with mom several times (using sheeps milk) and its very straight forward ( a lot of cheeses are). The only trick was to use some of the brine from the previous feta. I have been thinking about doing it again lately, but its harder to find raw sheep milk than it is for cow or goat.

    Katie wrote:Not to be a spoilsport, but am I the only one who will confess to not liking feta cheese? I am a big cheese fan in general, but something about feta - the smell, I think - puts me off. And I find that odd, since there's practically no other cheese, none that I can think of at the moment, that I don't like. Just wondering if anyone else will fess up to the same. On the other hand ... I'd like to like it. I am willing to give it another try ... maybe the pieces of feta in olive oil are the best way for me to try to put my toe back in the water.


    Katie, you might try storing the feta for a day or two in milk or yoghurt. It gives it a milder creamier texture and taste.

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