[1] A glass of Sauvignon Blanc wine with a side of feta and olives (photo © Vermont Creamery).

[2] A Greek salad with Rose wine (photo © Loes Klinker | Unsplash).

[3] Try any of the wines with a spinach and feta flatbread or pizza. Here’s the recipe (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[4] Want to try Greek wines? Look for the Boutari label (photo © Boutari Wineery).

Feta is Greece’s most famous cheese: a pure white, aged curd cheese that crumbles easily.

While the cheese has been made since antiquity, the name came into the Greek language in the 17th century, from the Italian word fetta, meaning slice.

The name refers to slicing the cheese from the brick.

Authentic feta is a sheep’s milk cheese, or a mixture of sheep’s and goat’s milks.

Outside of the EU, where the recipe is protected by law, it can also be made of cow’s milk.

Feta is formed into bricks and salted and cured for several months in a brine solution.

The cheese is semi-hard, with a flavor that can range from mild and milky to salty with a very tangy acidity.

Watch out: Cheaper brands of feta can be inedibly salty.

If you purchase a brand that turns out to be too salty, soaked the cheese in water or milk to remove some of the saltiness.

If your experience with feta cheese is limited to Greek salads or a pita pocket, branch out: There are many ways to enjoy this tangy cheese.

As we were looking at recipes* on the website of Nikos brand feta, we were inspired by the suggested wine pairings.
 
 
FETA CHEESE & WINE PAIRINGS

Of course, the logical place to look for wine pairings is the Greek wine section. But many stores don’t carry them, and most Americans don’t know about them.

So Nikos recommends pairings with familiar wines, that enhance the flavor of feta. If you’re searching for Greek wines, try the Boutari wines.

 
 
FETA RECIPES

 
 
>>> THE HISTORY OF FETA CHEESE <<<
 
 
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*Feta and Roasted Eggplant Terrine, Feta Cheese Beggars Pouches, Feta Cheese with White Bean Hummus and more.

Last year, a media blitz let America know that trans fat was bad for us. Some cities legislated that it could not be used in restaurants. Manufacturers reformulated their products and declared “No Trans Fats!” on the packaging.

Trans fats are no longer the enemy.

Know what is? Saturated fat!

Knowing which fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and which ones don’t is the first step in lowering your risk of heart disease—America’s number one killer. You can’t wait until you’re 50 to change your diet. Your healthy future starts today.

Saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol. It is found mostly in foods from animals, plus some plants.

And darn it, saturated fat is found in America’s favorite foods: beef, lamb, pork, poultry, veal and their fats (chicken fat and lard, e.g.), for starters.

 
The American Heart Association strongly advises these fat guidelines for healthy Americans over age 2:*

 
If your calorie goal is 2,000 calories each day (recommended for sedentary females 21-50), that means no more than 16 g saturated fat and between 50 and 70 grams of total fat each day, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.

It isn’t easy to cut back on that delicious saturated fat. But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single teaspoon.
 
BEYOND SATURATED FATS:

WHICH FATS & OILS ARE HEALTHY VS. UNHEALTHY.
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*Conventional thinking, currently being studied by researchers, is that infants need relatively large amounts of fat, including saturated fat, for proper growth and development.

America isn’t even in the Top 10.

That’s no reason to celebrate (or to over-indulge). The better focus would be to move our students up the Top 10 list in math and science.

In a 2009 study, U.S. eighth graders ranked 11th in science and 9th in math.

Next question: Why do people in Luxembourg drink so much?

Chart courtesy Grafikdienst.com.

[1] Infuse tea to make a “marTEAni” (photo © Hershey Resorts.

Earl Grey Tea Leaves[/caption]
[2] America’s favorite flavored tea is Earl Grey (photo © Tay Tea).

Combine your passions for martinis and tea with a tea martini. Green tea, Earl Grey and chai are three of the more popular teas to infuse.

You can substitute another tea variety in this recipe for an Earl Grey MarTEAni, from Tavalon Tea.

The key to any good recipe is to use the best ingredients. So use fine loose tea, not a supermarket brand which typically requires milk and sugar to compensate for the blandness.

(We buy the best tea, and rarely add milk or sugar to it. When properly steeped•, the plain tea is delicious on its own.)
 
 
RECIPE: EARL GREY TEA MARTINI

Ingredients Per Cocktail

 
Preparation

1. INFUSE the tea by combining tea leaves and vodka in a large bottle‡. Replace bottle top and shake vigorously to distribute evenly. Allow to “steep” for just 30 minutes (no longer, or else the bitter tannins start to infuse). Strain into the vodka bottle.

2. COMBINE the vodka, lemon juice and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 15 seconds to fully incorporate.

3. STRAIN into a chilled martini glass. Top with a splash of ginger ale and garnish with lemon wheel.
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEA
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA

*Black tea is generally brewed by pouring boiling water over the loose tea and allowing the leaves to steep for three to five minutes. The boiling water releases the volatile oils in the leaf, which provide the flavor.

†See our Lemon Glossary for the different types of lemon. The “supermarket lemon” is the Lisbon lemon.

‡If you don’t have an extra bottle, you can infuse the tea in the vodka bottle. Then, strain into a pitcher or other container and pour back into the vodka bottle.

What’s a compote?

Compote de fruits, or fruit compote, is mixed stewed fruit. Compote de pommes or compote d’abricots is a single stewed fruit (here, apples and apricots, respectively).

Compote can be made from fresh or dried fruits or a combination, and can be served warm or chilled. It is a delicious dessert as well as a side dish (wonderful with poultry, ham and roast pork) and a brunch dish.

As a dessert, garnished compote with cream, whipped cream, ice cream (try a parfait) or crème fraîche. Plain stewed fruit is just as delightful.

We first learned to love compote at the knee of our grandmother, who loved to stew seasonal fruits for dessert—stone fruits in the fall, rhubarb and strawberries in the spring, cherries and apples in the summer.
 
COOKED FRUIT HISTORY

As a recipe, cooked fruit is as old as the invention of clay pots, which were needed to boil water. (The oldest fired clay containers were made in Japan between 10,700 and 8,000 B.C.E.).

The fruits were first cooked with honey. By the 17th century when sugar was more available, wealthier people switched to a sugar syrup.* Spices and other flavorings were added to the recipe (cinnamon, lemon zest, nutmeg, orange peel, vanilla), along with nuts and coconut. There are as many different recipes for compote as there are cooks.

Dried fruit such as raisins or prunes can be mixed with fresh fruit compote. Liqueur, brandy or other alcohol can be added (our grandmother was fond of Kirschwasser [cherry liqueur] or Grand Marnier [orange liqueur]).
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*Honeybees are far older than mankind, originating in Asia and migrating to Africa, then to Europe (Europeans brought them to America). See the history of honey. Sugar, also native to Asia, has been produced since ancient times; but due to the expense of extracting it, honey was most often used for sweetening.

Top: Apple-Dried Cherry-Walnut Compote from Ziploc. Bottom: Compote served with a slice of cheese instead of a conventional fruit and cheese course. You can also spoon compote over a baked Brie.

Make some compote tonight!

 
You can also make a quick fruit compote in the microwave. Place ingredients in a covered microwave-safe dish for 2 minutes or longer, until your desired softness is achieved.

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved Nana, who inspired us with her passion for great cooking and baking—and who served us our first compote.