greek pie + greek yogurt + salad

In response to several almost lost books from the library, my kids are only allowed five books checked out at one time. Interestingly enough, my 5- and 7-year olds banded together and checked out all cookbooks, half from the kids section and half from the adult. Tonight's dinner was chosen by my 5-year old son from one of his books, The Cooking of Greece by Matthew Locricchio.

My little guy came up to me, opened the book to pages 23 and then 51 and asked, "Can we make this, Mom. Pleeeeeeeease?" He was showing me Greek-style Yogurt (Yaourti) and Chicken and Feta Cheese Pie (Kotopita me Feta). How can I resist such an interesting menu as that?

First off, let me say that anything wrapped up in buttery layers of phyllo dough is almost never anything but delicious. This was no different. Chicken, green onions, celery, feta and a smattering of a bunch of spices, especially dill, are a perfect mixture to hide inside flaky baked layers of buttery deliciousness. I've recently been limiting myself to one plateful of food, no seconds. Not my best move to make this meal after that resolution.

The yogurt was really a yogurt cheese, to be honest. You take full-fat plain yogurt (Brown Cow Cream Top is amazing!) and wrap it in cheesecloth, place it in a sieve and leave her in the fridge. The next day you've got yourself something similar to cream cheese or marscapone. The whey apparently carries most of the tangy flavor because once it all drained out this stuff was super mild. ("Mom! It tastes like butter!") I thought it would be best mixed with a bunch of fresh herbs and spread on crackers. The little guy would have none of it. He wanted us to eat it plain, as a side dish. Being a wiser-than-I-used-to-be mom, I didn't fight this one. Why argue when they are willing to eat everything I made?

Of course the salad was my addition, I'm still mom, ya know, and taste-wise, salad went perfectly.

Chicken and Feta Cheese Pie Recipe