The Importance of Community

When I was growing up my Papou (Grandpa) George was always spouting off one liners: “Everything in moderation!” he’d say, as we grabbed a second helping of dessert. “There is nothing permanent, except change” as we struggled to adjust to the changing circumstances around us. “Find a good wife, if you don’t you’ll end up a philosopher” – I think he stole that one from Socrates.  As kids, my siblings, cousins and I often brushed off the sayings (as most kids do).  Now of course, in our late 20’s and early 30’s we recognize the wisdom he gained from living a full life for 100 years – he passed away a week after his 100^th birthday.  Of all the one-liners he kept in his hip-pocket, the one I remember the most was the simplest: “You need people.” He said this time and again, and this simple phrase is really the foundation on which Philia Foods is built.

“So what exactly did he mean?” you ask. For those of you who know anyone whose heritage is Mediterranean or Eastern European, family is EVERYTHING. Our family gathered regularly at Papou and Yiayia’s house on Sunday after church and spent countless hours just being with each other, no distractions. On holidays our family spends all day together with old and new friends that we’ve met throughout the years.  When my Papou George would say “you need people” these are the types of gatherings he was talking about. The kind that refuel your soul. The kind that allow you to truly unplug from the chaos of your day to day routine. Our Philia line of feta spreads is the perfect accompaniment to any of these gatherings, and lets you forget about the appetizers and focus on your friends, family, and guests. Our love for food and relationships is what drives Philia Foods forward every day.

Yiayia & Papou

Sometimes we get so swamped with our routines and schedules, we forget to take much needed time to unplug. When the weekend rolls around and people are gathering together, thinking about your chaos for the upcoming week, or how stressed you are from the previous week, can curb the desire to join the party. We’ve all been there: you sit down on the couch, grab a cold beverage of some kind, turn on Netflix, and before you know it, the clock reads 11:00 PM and you are ready to call it a night. So the next time people are getting together, and you feel the urge to stay home in your comfortable sweat pants and turn on a movie, remember that “you need people” on this journey through life (and maybe some feta spread too).

Until next time.

Cheers,

Mike

Zesty Pork Loin

One of the most common questions I get when demoing our line of feta cheese spreads in stores is “What else can we use it on, other than pita bread, and pita chips?” This is the fourth post in a series that will show you how to cook with our spreads in creative ways.  Today it’s all about roasted pork loin (*insert praise hands emoji*).  Today’s recipe comes from Pete Toft, one of the brainchildren behind the Brooks High Food Truck that is opening up this summer in the Twin Cities (#EatWhatYouDrink) . It makes 2 – 4 Servings depending of course, on how hungry you are.

Ingredients List

1 – Pound Pork Loin

12 – Slices of Prosciutto (Or Your Favorite Cured Meat)

1 – Granny Smith Apple

1 – Container of Philia Foods Zesty Feta Spread

4 – Cloves Minced Garlic

2 teaspoons – Onion Powder

2 teaspoons – Dried Oregano

1 teaspoon – Cayenne Pepper

1 teaspoon – Paprika

1 teaspoon – Dried Lemon Peel

1 teaspoon – Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

1 teaspoon – Light Brown Sugar (optional)

Kosher Salt (or coarse salt from a grinder)

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

What You Do

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Remove the core of your apple and proceed to cut it into thin slices. As thin as you can muster. Set aside.

Place the pork loin fat side down on a cutting board. Roll cut your pork loin. If you don’t know how to do this there is a pretty simple video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz391Urnk30

Once cut, spread the Zesty Feta over the entire inside of the pork loin. It’s up to you how much you put on but get a nice even layer.

Now place all 12 strips of prosciutto onto the layer of feta spread, overlapping if necessary, and push into the spread slightly to make the stick.

Take the apple slices from earlier and place them one by one on top of the prosciutto. There is no right or wrong way to do this but remember, you have to roll this so plan accordingly. I make two rows with the peel side of the apple facing to the right, mostly because I am right handed. Unlike the prosciutto, do not overlap or over-crowd.

Turn your pork loin so the short end is facing you. Begin rolling your pork loin away from you making sure to hold your apple slices with a finger or two.  Once the pork loin is completely rolled, place it seam side down on your cutting board. This should mean that the fat side is facing up. Using kitchen string, butcher’s twine, or anything that can be baked, tie at 1- to 1 1/2-inch intervals.

Once tied, season. Season the whole thing. Use all the spices. Think like a rib rub. I tend to use more seasoning than most, so feel free to add to the amounts listed in the ingredients list.  You are basically making a Cajun seasoning so do as such with any added amounts that you wish. If you’re in the mood for an extra kick, add red pepper flakes. An extra sweet, add a touch of brown sugar.

Stick a meat thermometer into the middle of the meat (not the stuffing) and transfer to a roasting rack, fat side up.  Make sure your roasting rack is in your roasting pan and toss in the oven.

Cook for 8 – 10 min at 425 degrees then without opening the oven, drop the temperature to 325  and cook until your thermometer reads 145 or slightly under.

Transfer to a clean cutting board and cover loosely with tin foil and a kitchen towel for 5 min to let rest.

You guys know what to do from here (just in case you somehow don’t… slice it and eat it).  Until next time.

Cheers,

Mike

Feta Inception

One of the most common questions I get when demoing our line of feta cheese spreads in stores is “What else can we use it on, other than pita bread, and pita chips?” This is the third post in a series that shows you how to cook masterful, creative dishes that will impress even the most food savvy.

Today, we have two words for you: Baked. Cheese.  Below is a family classic created by my Aunt Thespina, which has graced our table for many a family gathering.  We refer to it as “Feta Inception” because there is literally feta inside (underneath) more feta.

What you’ll need:

2 tubs of your favorite Philia Spread

8 oz. of crumbled feta

1 jar of your favorite chunky salsa

1 bunch of green onions

1 jar of Spanish olives

3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Start by smearing the feta spread all over the bottom of a 9” x 13” pan.  Next, layer the salsa on top of the feta spread. Follow that up with a layer of cheddar cheese, then top with feta crumbles, Spanish olives and chopped green onion.  Let it set in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes, and then bake it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until it is lightly bubbling. 

What you’ll end up with is an incredibly creamy, melty, hot, and delicious baked cheese dip that will be a hit at any party where people who like creamy, melty, hot, and delicious food items are present.  Serve with your favorite tortilla chips, and some ice cold beer. You’ll be the envy of everyone you entertain. Until next time…

Cheers,

Mike

The Art of the Sandwich

One of the most common questions I get when demoing our line of feta cheese spreads in stores is “What else can we use it on, other than pita bread, and pita chips?” This is the first post in a series that will show you how to cook with our spreads in creative ways.  We’re starting with something that requires almost no effort, creates a ton a flavors: feta cheese spread on sandwiches.  I’m going to share just one of my favorite sandwiches in this post, but the awesome thing about feta cheese as a sandwich spread is that the combinations are never-ending.

When it comes to sandwiches, there is nothing better than something that has been toasted up on the stove top to create a buttery and crunchy outside with a warm and melty interior.  My favorite sandwich is an old fashioned roast beef, turkey, and Swiss, with a layer of our Habanero Feta Spread.  I made it this past year on the day after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey and it was out of this world!

Ingredients:

Sourdough Bread (Breadsmith)

Thinly Sliced Roast Beef

Thinly Sliced Turkey

Swiss Cheese

Whole-Grain Dijon Mustard

Thinly Sliced Onions

Habanero Feta Spread (#TheOrangeOne)

1/4 stick of butter

Start by assembling the sandwich.  I put the feta spread on the bottom piece of bread, followed by the meat, the Swiss cheese, the onions, and finally the mustard on the top piece of bread.  A lot of people think of the Feta Spread as a replacement for a condiment like mustard or the Swiss cheese, but I like the combination of all three – tons of flavor.  Next, spread the butter on the outside of both pieces of bread – this creates the delicious buttery crunch on the outside of the sandwich.  Fire up your stove top to medium heat and then place your sandwich in the center of the pan for about 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.  If you like the inside super melt-y (which most people do) get a cover for the pan, and put a few drops of water in the pan, and cover immediately.  The steam from the water will stay in the covered pan and melt the cheese on the inside so it is perfectly gooey inside, but crispy on the outside.

Have a favorite that you like to make? Share it with us, we’ll put the recipe and pictures up on social media and get you a tub of your favorite for free, for helping us grow the Philia Foods family.

Until next time.

Cheers,

Mike

Pizza Time

Everyone has a favorite food – you know, that one dish that is and always will be near and dear to your heart (or taste buds, or stomach, etc). For me, that item is pizza. Little known fact: Before starting Philia Foods I was seriously considering opening up a small pizza joint. I had honed in on a crust recipe for a Napoletana style dough that I LOVED, and was making pizza at home almost daily. In the end I decided against it because of the up-front capital needed to get moving. The good news is that I still have a killer dough recipe to make pies at home whenever I have a pizza craving. Soon after I tabled the pizza joint idea, I started making feta spread. Not surprisingly, pairing the spreads with pizza happened all the time. In the spirit of Philia, we’re going to share some of our favorite methods of using our spreads to create fantastic pizza. Each idea you see below was passed along to us by friends and community members over the last couple of years – special thanks to Bill, Nolan, Matt and (Pizza) Pete.

The Basics

As a general rule, the spicy spreads go great with meat heavy pizza and the not-so-spicy spreads go great on veggie heavy pizza. Why? Savory has basil in it, which has a bit of natural earthy sweetness to it, as do many veggies (especially when roasted, baked or caramelized a bit). Zesty has fresh cucumber blended in, so it naturally plays well with other veggies. Spicy and Fiery both contain peppers and a bunch of garlic, which are often used when cooking with and seasoning meat. These are just guidelines though, so if your heart desires basil and ground beef, then who are we to stop you?

One other rule for home pizza making: always, always, always use a pizza stone, and pizza peel. For the best results on made from scratch pizza, you’ll want to pre-heat your oven – with the stone inside – to the highest temp (550 degrees on most ovens) for at least 30 minutes before placing your pizza inside.

The Methods

The Base Sauce

Spread your favorite Philia flavor directly onto the crust, load on your desired toppings, and cover with a small layer of melty cheese. One of the most important things to remember when using our spreads as a base, is to make sure to cover the base and toppings with another layer of melty cheese. If you don’t, it will still taste great, but the spread will get partially baked into the crust, leaving you with a garlic-bread type dish. We’ve made this mistake before, but the end result is still pretty awesome and it works great as an appetizer. If you like the sound of a feta/pizza/garlic bread app, then copy the picture below, and throw it directly into a preheated oven for about 5-6 minutes or until golden brown. The garlic and creaminess from the spread, against the tender chicken is a winning combo.

More of a Savory type? The combo below is uses an Alfredo sauce and Savory Feta blend as the base, and is topped with chicken, zucchini and mozzarella. The earthy sweetness in roasted Zucchini paired with the natural sweetness in Basil and the notes of nutmeg and black pepper in Alfredo sauce is mouth-wateringly delicious.

The Mix Sauce

If you’re not willing to sacrifice the tomato-y goodness that is pizza sauce, but still want to feature some feta in your pizza, another great option is stirring the spreads into your pizza sauce. This creates a rich and creamy mixed sauce, that isn’t lacking in the tomato department or the feta department. Start by laying your sauce down and then building the rest as you would for any other pizza. This pie was a Spicy Feta and tomato sauce mixture that was finished with fresh herbs from our friend Matt’s garden and some red bell pepper. Fresh herbs on pizza always add a nice burst of flavor, and the slightly roasted peppers add a mild sweetness to the dish that compliments and balances the slight heat from the Spicy Spread.

The Topper

The final method is by far the easiest, and can be applied to any pizza, from frozen, to scratch made, to delivery. Simply throw a few dollops of spread on top of your pizza, or use it as a dipping sauce for the crust. The picture below is a slice of Pete Campbell’s Monty – unreal pie, featuring red sauce, shredded mozzarella, sopressata, sausage and banana peppers – with some of our Fiery Spread. Pete serves these suckers up from his mobile oven at Red Wagon Pizza at the Linden Hills Farmers Market, and we usually take one (or three) back to our tent and add dollop or two of feta. We suggest swinging by the Linden Hills Farmers Market on Sundays to check this pizza out for your self. If you stop by our booth, we might be able to hook you up with a dollop of feta for your slice of pizza.

There you have it, a few different ways to make some awesome feta infused pizza. Have some great ideas or combinations of your own? Please share them, we love hearing about and trying new and exciting food combos!

Cheers,

Mike