Cooking at Ingredients - It's All Greek!

Recently a fantastic culinary shop that opened up in Clarksville. It's called "Ingredients". http://ingredientsclarksville.blogspot.com/ They have started offering cooking classes. The first series was cake decorating (I think). Didn't pay much attention as I've already done that.

But this month they offered an international food series... Now THAT got my attention! There are 4 classes being offered: Italian, Mexican, Greek, and Polish. I immediately signed up for the first three. I can't take the 4th because it falls on the same night as my bonsai group meeting.

Tuesday night was Greek night. The class is demonstration and was very informative. The teacher prepared 3 recipes and brought another for tasting. There was eggplant spread, Greek salad & dressing, and spanakopita (spinach pie). It was sooo good! Much lighter in both texture and flavor than I've found in a lot of Greek restaurants. Ya know, sometimes you can just add too much stuff to a recipe. Then you lose the original goodness in the flavors.

If you are interested in the recipes, Monica has them posted on her blog site.

But here's one to whet your appetite!

Eggplant Spread

4 medium eggplants
1 clove, garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Bread or crackers for serving

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Place the whole eggplant in oven. Bake 1 hour or until soft, turning occasionally. Remove when eggplant is soft and wrinkled. Let cool.

Remove the peel, cut in half and remove the seeds. Chop in a large bowl. Add garlic. Whisk slowly adding the oil and vinegar. Continue until both the oil and vinegar are completely blended.

Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before serving with bread or crackers.