Kitchen Conundrum

Kerrygold Introduces Two New and Delicious Butters

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The Kerrygold brand brings together the best of Ireland dairy products all under one label. We, here at Kitchen Conundrum, love Kerrygold butters and cheeses. Their Pure Irish Butters are beautifully golden with a luscious creamy flavor that lingers in your mouth and has an aroma of rich buttery goodness. Everything you cook with their butters just turns out better. Cookies are more golden, crusts are flakier and sauces and are richer. It’s as if you’re getting the cream skimmed off the top of fresh milk.

Their outstanding dairy products come from cows that are allowed to roam freely in Ireland’s lush pastures and graze on the rich beta-carotene grasses, hence, the nice golden colors of their cheeses and butters! They also are not fed any growth hormones. The cows live on small dairy farms where the average herd size per famer is just 40 cows, thus making sure they are well maintained. These small farms, the ones that meet Kerrygold’s strict standards, produce milk that is then sent to local co-ops where all the milk is collected and sent to be made into butter and cheese. These supplier co-ops have formed the Irish Dairy Board as a means to market and export their dairy products for the world to enjoy. This form of cooperation ensures the viability of Ireland’s small family farms and the quality of their production.

Kerrygold recently introduced two new butter products, Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter, and Reduced Fat Irish Butter. The Naturally Softer Butter is made with a unique process that uses only the milk produced in the summer months. The milk produced in the summer months contain more naturally softer fats, and this along with special gentler churning method allow Kerrygold to produce this more easily spreadable butter while still maintaining Kerrygold’s usual flavor and golden color. The Reduced Fat Irish Butter is different from most other lower fat butters and spreads in that Kerrygold uses no artificial flavoring or additives, just pure Irish milk and salt, while having 25% less fat and 50% less sodium but maintaining the full flavor of regular butter.

Kerrygold was kind enough to send us samples of these two new products and challenged us to come up with new and innovative uses for them.

While Kerrygold does state that neither of these are good for baking with, there are still many other tasty ways to enjoy them. Some of our favorites were blending the Kerrygold Reduced Fat Butter with Ancho Chili, and Cocoa powders. Drop a spoonful onto a grilled steak to add just the right taste of Mexico.

 

Mix dried tarragon and finely diced shallots to the Kerrygold Reduced Fat Butter to add wonderful taste to everyday corn on the cob.

 

Finally we loved the combination of adding red pepper flakes and cumin to the Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter and letting it melt into freshly baked cornbread.

 

No matter how you use any of Kerrygold’s butters, each bite will be a festive and delicious experience!

 
Disclosure: Kerrygold sent us samples of these two products as part of a promotional contest.

Greek Cooking Continues with FAGE

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FAGE YOGURTJust a few days after returning from Greece, I had the opportunity to take a cooking class sponsored by FAGE yogurt at the International Culinary Center located at the French Culinary Institute in NYC.  One of my favorite meals in Greece was the yogurt breakfasts served everyday with honey. The brand of yogurt I was had there was FAGE (pronounced “fa-yeh”) so I was excited to learn some new recipes using this brand back here at home.

You may think that all Greek yogurts are the same- dry, gritty and extra thick. Well, I assure you they aren’t all like that! FAGE Total  is creamy, smooth and silky. Not only is the texture unlike the other brands of Greek yogurt, the flavor is full and rich regardless of which fat content you choose. There are multiple flavors and three variations available; full fat, 2% and 0%. But classically, the plain flavor, full fat or 2% is the way to go.

For this class, we had planned on making eight dishes, but we were all starving and since we kept taking breaks to eat what we were making, we actually only had time to prepare six dishes.  We did, however,  receive recipes for the rest to attempt to make another time.

The class was broken up in threes and I paired up with two blogging friends, Monica from Macaroni Kid East Side and Lisa from New York Chica. We had such a good time! There was lots of laughing and even more tasting! Monica and I couldn’t stop eating the Macaroni and Cheese, even before it went into the oven! It was that delicious! (Made with a bechamel sauce and lots of cheese, it was incredibly decadent, but worth every calorie!)

Here’s what was on the menu (the last two we didn’t make, but we tasted!):

FAGE FRIED CHICKEN

FAGE LEMON COLESLAW


FAGE MACARONI & CHEESE



This was really just so good! We kept eating it just like this!

FAGE YOGURT DILL BISCUITS

Monica rolls out the dough.

Lisa cuts out some biscuits.

FAGE YOGURT POTATO SALAD

FAGE YOGURT PARFAITS

FAGE YOGURT PANNA COTTA WITH RHUBARB STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

FAGE YOGURT GREEK EGGS BENEDICT

Additional recipes can be found on their website.

Once all the dishes were cooked, we were treated to a buffet of all the things we made, served with our choices of wine.

 

It was so nice to sit and chat and eat such good food. And to extend my Greek vacation a little bit longer!

Try FAGE Total yogurt and let me know what you think. It’s my new favorite brand of Greek yogurt.


 

 

The Periscope Hotel and P-Box Eatery; My Last Night in Athens

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Greece-711While I was very sad to leave Kea, I was happy that I had one last night in Athens.  Aglaia and Costas had recommended a wonderful boutique hotel in the chic and cultural neighborhood of Kolanaki called The Periscope Hotel.  It’s a member of the Yes! Hotels group, which stands for “Y”oung “E”nthusiastic “S”eductive.  Each of their boutique hotels prides themselves on being creative but comfortable spaces with excellent customer service. Aglaia said that the restaurant at the Periscope, π Box Eatery, was excellent and that the chef was doing very interesting things with the menu.  So I was very excited to stay there and try out this restaurant. It did not disappoint!

The hotel doesn’t look like much from the outside and the lobby is really tiny, but don’t let that dissuade you!   The rooms are spacious and light, even with the dark submarine gray built-in closet and workspace. There are floor to ceiling windows and lots of natural light that can be blocked out by the push of a button lowering the automatic shades.  Even the bathroom is quite large with a full sized shower and a full sized shower curtain, an uncommon sight in Europe. (I’ll never understand how half curtains or half glass walls are considered effective; I always end up soaking the entire bathroom and using my extra towels to mop up the water. I think full sized shower curtains would be a huge seller!) The plentiful and pleasantly scented bath amenities were made by a company called Korres Natural Products, a Greek company that focuses on homeopathic remedies, organic and natural products. There was the wonderful added touch of bath robes and pairs of nice flip flops for both him and her (my oldest daughter quickly absconded with mine as I unpacked and I remarked that I should have taken both pairs home! Oh well!)

In keeping with the submarine theme, there are plenty of gray walls and steel accents throughout the hotel. For added fun, there is a video monitor in each hallway linked to an actual periscope on the hotel’s roof offering guests various vista views of Athens.

But I wasn’t there just for the fabulous room and the submarine themed decor. I was really there for the food!

The award winning and renowned Executive Chef, Christoforos Peskias, was born in Cyprus and studied business administration at Boston University. While he was a student, cooking became a passion for him and when he returned to Greece he worked as a chef at the Dash Restaurant in Kifisia.  In 1992, he came back to the states to study alongside the famous chefs, Charlie Trotter and Jackie Pluton.  For the next six years he worked in several kitchens, including Balthazar. But even more impressively, he returned to Europe and worked under such notables as Ferran Adria, Mark Menaux and Joel Robuchon.  Influences of each can be seen in his menus today. From 2003-2008 he took over the kitchen at the now closed 48 Restaurant and garnered it a place on Restaurant magazine’s Top 100 list for both 2007 and 2008. In 2010 he opened the first Π box, in Kifisia, and recently, a second, smaller version at the Periscope Hotel where I would dine.

I was thrilled that my new friends from Maine who had also spent the week on Kea wanted to come to dinner with me that night at the hotel’s restaurant.  It was so nice to have such great company on my last night in Greece!

When we arrived at 9pm there was only one other table dining. We were very early by Greek standards! But the restaurant soon filled and the room was buzzing.

Our first server was not very familiar with the wine list and deferred our tasting questions to her manager, who found us the perfect crisp and fruity white wine to accompany our meal at a reasonable price as well.

The eclectic menu had several fun titles for several of the dishes.  We ordered three appetizers to share.  The first, “pan fried Ladotyri cheese with lemon marmalade from giam” was delicious! Ladotyri cheese is made from sheep’s milk or goat’s milk or a combination of the two. It’s a hard salty cheese that is stored and aged in olive oil. On it’s own, it has a very strong flavor but this melted version had a crispy crust of cheese with a gooey melted center and was a perfect balance of tart and sweet, made possible by the lemon giam (aka jam).  It doesn’t look beautiful but it tasted amazing. I loved it!

The next dish was entitled “street food of a different kind”.  This dish is a take on Athens’s most popular hot dog cart at Mavili Square’s fare. Think a kraut dog, upped ten notches. This version is a mustard laced, slightly spicy sausage served with a savory stewed cabbage and a fried egg all together in one cast iron pan. We devoured it!

The third dish was calamari in a deep red zesty sauce.

Then they brought us a few more appetizers to taste while we were waiting, a fresh tomato pizza bread and an Asian inspired cold chicken, rice noodle bowl. Both were quite good and had excellent flavors, but the fact that the chicken rice noodle bowl was actually a cold dish was a bit of a surprise.

By the time our main course arrived we were rather full!  One dish that was ordered was a “hamburger with three sauces”, a large American style burger served with three different sauces, each ranging in spice level. Two of us ordered the “Tandoori chicken with mashed potatoes”. I thought my chicken was a bit spongy to the touch and went to send it back for more cooking only to be told that it could not be cooked further. This was a bit shocking to me but the manager returned and assured me that it had been cooked thoroughly for several hours at a low temperature. Ah! Sous vide! Now it all made sense. The light bulb went off in my head. You see, restaurants in NYC are not allowed to use this method for fear of bacteria, so the only sous vide you can try is at home or in other cities and I must admit, I have not tried very many dishes prepared in this method. While not a visually appealing dish, this tender, juicy piece of chicken was coated in a tangy tandoori marinade and sat atop a fragrant and very flavorful yogurt and dill sauce which also served as the “gravy” for the mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, I was too full to eat the entire thing and had to leave a large portion left over.

Feeling quite full and satiated, all of us agreed that we would bypass dessert and head out for a quick evening stroll around the neighborhood. The bill for dinner was very reasonable for the three of us with a bottle of wine. We found out that the menu changes daily so if you go, your menu may differ from ours. But if you see these dishes, be sure to try them! You will be happy you did!

We then said our goodbyes and I retreated to my room for the evening and slept soundly through the night. The bed, while very firm, was incredibly comfortable, reminding me of memory foam and the pillows were soft but plump and offered a good amount of support. I had a great night’s sleep!

In the morning, I was delighted to try the restaurant’s breakfast buffet that was included in the room rate. There was a large selection of cheeses and charcuteries, fresh fruit, cereals, grains and yogurts. There were also several loaves of homemade breads that you could slice yourself and a wide assortment of pastries, including muffins, croissants and bite sized baklavas. If a guest desired eggs or omelets, they could make a request and it would be made to order. From fresh juices to strong coffees and lots of varieties of foods, there was nothing that hadn’t been thought of.  It was a good, solid breakfast to start the day.

Unfortunately, my stay at the Periscope Hotel was short as I was heading to the airport to return home that day, so a shower and some packing was all that was left for me to do But I vowed to return, and I would certainly stay at the Periscope Hotel again or recommend it to anyone looking for a reasonably priced hotel in a great neighborhood.

With the arrival of my new friend and driver, Loukas, to take me to the airport, my Greek adventure was sadly at its official end.  I had the most amazing time there and am plotting how to return and next time, bring the family.