And The Award Should Have Gone To...

We can't say how honored and proud we are that Metal Mark is contributing to the publication that puts out the Best Of Tucson every year. He is having a lot of fun and thanks for reading his stuff.

Okay, enough of the pleasantries...let's get down to the brass tacks here.

Every year the Best Of's come out and every year we go "No! Are you kidding? That place over the other one? Come on Tucson. You're killing us Smalls..."

Thing is, the publication has very little to do with the choices. It's the good people of Tucson that do most of the voting. So this is on you T-town. You brought this on yourself. 

While most of the arts and entertainment, kid's stuff, home and garden winners we are fine with but when it comes to the food part we always slap our collective foreheads with disinclination and slight horror at some of the choices that run away with the trophies. Sure, a good portion of the winners and runners up are great but there are always a few that we can't get on board with. It's as if the polls went out in the late 90s and never got changed.

So this year we are going to do our own Best Of and we hope you can agree with some of the things we agree on.

Agreed?

Lets do this.


PS: We are not in the business of pissing anybody off; this is purely for entertainment and just our own dopey opinions...that's all. So apologies to anyone that gets mussed up about our preferences. Cheers.
 


Best Delicatessen
Their pick: Dickman's Meat and Deli
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: The Sausage Shop
 

C'mon man. The Sausage Shop wasn't even mentioned. This place rules.

Dickman's is cool but in our humble food opinion the little deli that could, that being the Sausage Shop, just plain dominates.

The bajillion different styles of sandwiches are all amazing, their meat counter selection is incredible and if you bag a deer or accidentally run over a bear just bring that beast in and they will break it down for you for an agreeable fee. No really. These guys know their meat and in such a small space they do the deli game a big favor.

Anyway, not to dis on Dickman's but if you haven't been to the Sausage Shop please do yourself a favor and do so. It might change your mind to switch your vote for Best Delicatessen next year. It might.

Just sayin...

Gaze upon the glory that is the Sausage Shop

 Best Place To Get A Sandwich
Their pick: Beyond Bread
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Sausage Deli
 

Okay, we didn't want to dote on the Sausage Shop too much but we will drool over the Sausage Deli for a bit.

It looks as if we just love sausage...don't we?

Beyond Bread is great but we went for a single stand alone place for our sandwich spot pick. The Sausage Deli is awesome, they have a fun bar with a great craft beer selection and the layout is more cafeteria style than an open forum of scattered tables. The Sausage Deli just has this East coast 'get in here, get your sandwich, eat it then get on with your life' feel to it, which we like.

If you want to laze about and sip coffee and click on your laptop for hours then, yeah, Beyond Bread is totally made for that. And the sandwiches there are good...we just like the Sausage Shop's sandwiches a bit more though.

Which brings us to the next category:

Best Sandwich
Their pick: The Cheesesteak at Frankie's
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: The Omar from Sausage Deli
 

Here's the thing: We frikkin LOVE Frankie's. It is one of our neighborhood go-to places for a cheesesteak sandwich but, here's the thing...you can get a cheesesteak at a lot of places. Not as good as Frankie's most likely, but if you go to Philly they are all over the place.

But the Omar? That is a Sausage Deli original.

It sounds pretty basic when you break it down: Turkey, salami, Swiss cheese with bell peppers, onions, pepperoncinis, mustard and house Italian dressing on an onion roll (we prefer the sub style though), but when you eat it the Omar takes on a whole new sandwich dimension.

We love the Omar so much that we even did an ode to it a while ago. Remember that one? We sure did.

The Omar didn't even place this year and that is a weird and crying shame.

Go to the Sausage Deli, get an Omar, vote for it next year and we can all live in some kind of syncopated serenity all thanks to a sandwich.

It can be done!


Best Greek Food
Their pick: Opa!
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Either Pappoule's or Greek House

Opa! is awesome. We know the family that runs it, its near the compound, its always a delight....nothing bad to say about Opa!.

But have you had the gyros at Pappoule's? Yeah, pretty righteous and apparently very authentic. When we are in that neighborhood we always make a plan to grab some Pappoule's to go. It has yet to disappoint. See, a true Greek gyro should have very little on it, especially no lettuce, and a lot of Greek restaurants insist on putting a bunch of crap on your gyro. Just give us the gyro bro! Hold the stupid lettuce! Hold it between your knees!

Pappoule's didn't even place for Best Of and we just wanted to shed some light about their food, which is great and as close to the real deal as you can get.

Next up is going to be the fairly new Greek House restaurant. It wont be long until that starts winning some votes. Watch. You watch.

Yeah.

Best Vegetarian Restaurant
Their pick: Lovin' Spoonfuls 
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Renee's Organic Oven
 

With the expanding culinary scene here in Tucson the choices for vegetarian and vegan establishments continues to grow and grow. We bet by next year there will be another good dozen or so places to get non-meaty, non-animal based dishes to satisfy your belly and conscience.

Unfortunately Lovin' Spoonfuls always wins Best Vegetarian because a lot of folks just think that's the only option in town.

Its not. By a long shot.

We personally love Renee's Organic Oven. Their Italian inspired items that can be gluten free if you need  are really tasty and fresh. Their black bean hummus that goes with a lot of dishes is innovative and a bit tangy. You just need to get out there and try for yourself. It's a little place on Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde so it might be slightly out of the way for some of you (as it is for us) but it is well worth the trip.

Plus Renee is really cool and she's there a good amount of time so, there's that.

Best Salsa
Their pick: Guadalajara Grill
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Rosa's Mexican Food
 

Okay, Guadalajara always wins Best Salsa because they make it fresh right there at your table and, yes, it's pretty darn good.

But, c'mon now...the house salsa at Rosa's is the best thing ever.

It is spicy, it is flavorful and best of all it is garlic-tastic. Every time we have even have a hint of a cold we b-line it to Rosa's and order up something hot and steamy then smother it with their salsa. It is a cure all and we're sure it is what keeps us looking good and smelling even better.

It's the garlic.

Rosa's salsa is just necessary and a Tucson treasure.

But they wont make it table side because then you'd find out what their secret ingredients are.

We know what one ingredient is.

Yeah. Its the garlic. We just said that.

Weren't you reading?

Gosh.

Rosa's salsa = Yum

Best Breakfast
Their pick: Blue Willow

Best Brunch
Their pick: Prep and Pastry

Tucson Homeskillet's pick for both: Baja Cafe

Blue Willow is great for when the folks are in town. Its that kind of a spot. Its good but its not blow your socks off great. It's fun and clean. Your parents like that.

Prep & Pastry continues to dazzle but we feel they are a bit heavy with the pork belly. We like pork belly its just that...you know. In moderation.

Then you have the plethora of other options that are always a delight: Bobo's, Frank's, Mother Hubbard's, Robert's, etc, that we love and will always love but there is one (well two now) place that we just can't get enough of.

Baja Cafe just slays for breakfast and brunch. The benedicts are really hearty and fanciful, the pancakes are incredible and everything else is just plain awesome. The thing is is that Baja only serves breakfast and lunch and closes at 2pm, so you gotta get there early. And we highly suggest getting there a bit early. The place fills up fast.

A word of warning: Don't go on Sundays unless you wanna wait an hour for a table! No, for real, both locations are packed on Sundays so we are there most days but. Unless you like waiting a while for eggs and corned beef.

Well, it is worth it so...its up to you.

Plus Baja has a full bar too. Did we mention that? Well now we did.

Put another gold star by their name for that addition.

So good.

Yep, these are one of the benedicts. Yep, they are amazing.

Best Sushi
Their pick: Sushi Garden
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Anywhere but...
 

The Beardown Roll at K Sushi

Sushi Garden? Really Tucson? Really?

Look, maybe at one point long ago the Garden was the spot for raw fish wrapped in seaweed and covered in rice but the sushi game in the T-dizzle has changed son.

Changed!

At this point Sushi Garden is a sports bar that serves Japanese "inspired" meals but it is far from being the best sushi in town.

Far!

Sorry to harp on the place, we don't mean any disrespect, but places like Kazoku, Sushi Ten, Samurai, Shogun, K Japanese, Ikkyu, Obon and so on and so on literally destroy the factory like flavor at Sushi Garden. You kids need to get out there and sushi explore for yourself. This one just feels as if you looked on your ballot from the last ten years and went "Oh, yeah, that place. It's fine."

Which it is. Sushi Garden is fine. Good bar, comfy patio, decent lunch buffet, all that, but the wizard-like ingeniousness that is coming from tucked away locations by chefs that have honed their craft and continue to push the flavor envelope further and further is what we are focusing on here. Just awesome family run businesses that are serving up amazing food.

It's up to you Tucson! Now get out there and get you some sushi. Some real sushi.

Do it!

The Passion Roll at Kazoku

Best Neighborhood Bar
Their pick: Tap and Bottle
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Danny's Baboquivari Lounge
 

Tap and Bottle is awesome. But here's the thing:

It is not a "bar" and it is not located in a real "neighborhood".

This win just feels like people just see the name of the place in the paper and went "Oh yeah. They serve beer. That's a bar. Whee!"

Yeah. No.

A real neighborhood bar is in a real neighborhood and the corner of 6th Avenue and 7th Street isn't exactly a "neighborhood", its more of a destination when you are shopping and eating up on 4th or getting some supplies at Miller's across the street. Not a lot of homes in the vicinity.

And a "bar" serves liquor and mixed drinks as well. Tap and Bottle is just craft beer and select wine service, so it can't be officially labeled as a bar. See where we're getting at here?

Our vote, as usual, goes to Danny's Baboquivari Lounge; a real bar in a real neighborhood.

Danny's placed for Best Dive Bar this year but it is far from a dive. It's cozy, relatively safe, great staff, good beer selection, honest drinks and above all it is in a neighborhood. Yes. There are homes surrounding the place, there are regulars, heck...WE are regulars. We're at Danny's like 4 to 5 times a week. We love this place.

And we also love that Danny's won Best Jukebox in Tucson. Anything that holds old school Metallica, 70s yacht rock and classic hip-hop we are so down with.

So on any given night (not too late because we're old and have to get up early) you might find the Homeskillet crew nestled at the bar with some of our good friends and, yes, neighbors, enjoying a stiff drink and eating from some of the diverse food trucks they get on a regular basis.

Cheers on that!

That would be Metal Mark on the far right with some pals at Danny's

Best Beer Selection
Their pick: Tap and Bottle (again)
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Old Chicago 

Yes, Tap and Bottle gets some really amazing craft and small cask beers. Yes. On any given day you can drink from around the world or just up the street. They get some fantastic brews and we applaud them for that.

So does the Tucson Hop Shop. And we love them as well.

But check this out. None of the local places has a selection of 110 beers at any given moment. That's one hundred and ten...beers! For that you're going to need some corporate backing and Old Chicago on Campbell Avenue has that.

Sorry, we know you are reading this and sticking your nose up at a fairly large chain concept, but Old Chicago is about as un-corporate-y as you can get and their selection of beers is astounding.

Why we pick them over, say, the Yard House or something like that is because the people that work there love what they do and do a darn fine job getting some hard to reach beers and near impossible ales from around the globe. With their World Beer Tour (which we have tried and failed at...now that's a lot of beer!) you can even earn rewards like free food just because you love drinking beer. Drink beer, get free stuff. Done.

Look, please please support local businesses such as Tap and Bottle and the Hop Shop but don't forget to sneak into Old Chicago to see what's new on the board. You'd be surprised.

We always are.

Which brings us to our final category and pick:


Best Bartender
Their pick: Barbacide Trujillo (Club Congress)
Tucson Homeskillet's pick: Sherra Stewart (Old Chicago)

Now here is where things might get sticky, and we apologize in advance:

Barb Trujillo is awesome. We love her, she is a Tucson tradition and institution and we have nothing bad to say and will never have anything bad to say about her. This isn't personal. At all. 

Thing is...there are other amazing bartenders out there. 

Jana at Danny's, running around like a crazy squirrel (even now when she's super pregnant) is one of the best ever, or Kimmy or Jerica...we just love everyone at Danny's. We're a bit biased. 

But we pick Sherra Stewart at Old Chicago because she is able to create relationships and be creative within a "corporate" environment and it shows that she really enjoys and loves what she does. 

Sherra's influence gets us regular barrel taps from local and international breweries, she cooks food for events and kickoff parties, she travels around the US training other Old Chicago bartenders to try and be as awesome as her (wont happen, she is too awesome), she invented her own spicy Bloody Mary mix that got her front page recognition, she has a loyal fan base, she's funny, she's brash and she always has a big smile on her face. 

And she has been there for over 12 years now. That's a dedication in which we can support and we totally love.

What we are trying to say here without making anyone upset or burning bridges is that there seems to be a pattern with the Best Ofs year after year. Changes are rare it appears with the winners and runners up and with us scooting around town trying new and different restaurants and bars, we come across so many amazing servers, dishes, chefs, bartenders and the like and it'd be nice to see some diversity. That's all. Tucson is just chock full of awesomeness and we just wanted to give some recognition to some of the good people, and food, and drinks, that we personally love and admire and we hope you will visit them sometime soon to see, and vote, for yourself. 

That's all.

We cool?

Hope so.
 

Sherra and her award winning Bloody Mary...so spicy and good

And another thing!

Nico's was voted Best Burrito in Tucson. Umm...not too sure about this one. There are just far too many options out there right now that destroy Nico's (although we do love us a Pollo Asado now and then) so this one felt like it was phoned in. You need to get out there for yourself to see, and eat, all of the incredible burrito options this city has to offer. 

We prefer Sher-E-Punjab over Saffron for Indian food. But that's just us. 

Still waiting on some real down home, kick butt BBQ. Red's is doing well as are a few small food trucks but the continual winner in this category has never impressed us. Sorry, just saying.  

We really like what the kids over at Pueblo Vida Brewing are doing with seasonal ales and lagers. The winner and finalists in the Best Brewery are fine but we just have a taste for Pueblo Vida. 

Don Guerra of Barrio Bread makes the best bread in the universe. He came in second...sorry but wrong. Our man shuts down any bread making business but thanks for trying. 

Not too sure if Serial Grillers is even doing a food truck anymore now that they are opening up a second brick and mortar. So our vote will go to American Flying Buffalo where chef Eddie takes you on a culinary ride  through Asia, the south Bronx, the deep south and, of course, the Old Pueblo. Really good stuff. 

But we are totally stoked that Yoshimatsu got best Japanese and Boca Tacos Y Tequila got, yes, best tacos. So cheers on that.

Okay, enough ranting. 

Let's do this again next year shall we? See you then...

Uploads, Typing and Opinions:

"Metal" Mark Whittaker

A Few Days Before Election Day, 2016

Metal Influence:

ANNIHILATOR

"King of the Kill"

  

You've Had The Food at the Annual Greek Fest, Now Learn How To Make Them! (And Something About Ouzo)

This blog post is being written under much duress.

When we started working on this post, several, shall we say..."obstacles" began heading our way.

First off, the car died. Like flat out just wont start. And when our trusted mechanic of several years is just staring into the maw of our engine, scratching his bald head and going, "Yeah...this one is a mystery to me", you know we are doomed. So that prevented us from getting anywhere to do a piece with a bit more meat attached to it. All the images you see on this post are uploads from the internet. Not our usual way of going about things. Sucks.

Next up was a complete blackout in our neighborhood. Literally, the few blocks surrounding us, and no one else, was dark for most of Wednesday September 21st. We lost a bit of work and had to wait till the lights came back on (later that night) to save what could be saved, so this post isn't as awesome as we thought it would be. Sorry about that.

Not to mention a blackout in 100 degree heat just kept us quiet and drinking cool water as the central air was off and slowly, as the day progressed, it became a bit swampy in the Tucson Homeskillet compound. Not fun. And without a car, we were stuck there.

But...whatever. We press on! Let's do this.

It's autumn which can only mean one thing: Pumpkin spiced 40oz of malt liquor!

(Wow...that would be weird wouldn't it?)

No. Actually the autumnal equinox means that the annual Greek Festival at St. Demitrios Church on Ft. Lowell begins. It's a four day bacchanalia celebrating not just Greek culture, but, and this is most important, Greek food and drink. We attend every year and for us the Greek Fest means that the good weather is about to start here in Tucson, the holiday season is upon us and the next day, after much Greek hedonistic mirth, a slight headache from the tall cans of Keo beer and many shots of Ouzo is to be had. Hey....tradition!

Last year we were lucky to be privy to the backstage area of the cooking tent, getting deep with those assembling gyro sandwiches, doling out dolmas and making the flames rise high as saganaki gets drenched in clear booze on a hot skillet.

So to attempt something new, we thought maybe this year we'd try out some recipes inspired by some of the cuisine you might partake of at the Greek Festival. At least some of our favorites. We got as close as we could to what they create during the annual event and we hope you enjoy the following dishes (and drinks!) as much as we do.

And speaking of flaming cheese, the saganaki is the first item up for your cooking consideration.

Saganaki

Upon entering the Greek Festival, outside of the lines of crafts, jewelry and dancing going on, you are usually met with someone yelling "Opa!" as flashes of fire extend from a searing hot pan. That means that saganaki, or "flaming cheese", is being made. It's one of our favorites and is always a great way to start off the festivities. 

The cheese is gooey with a light crust from the frying and alcohol char with a quick splash of lemon to round it all off, giving it a well deserved citrus note. 

Saganaki is crazy delicious and fairly simple to prepare. You just have to be a little brave is all because cooking with face high fire might have you cry "AHH!" instead of "OPA!"

Check it out and good luck:

1 slab of Greek cheese, such as Halloumi or Kasseri, about 1/2 inch thick and trimmed of any rind

1 heaping Tbsp. of olive oil

All-purpose flour for dredging

1/2 shot glass of Ouzo (we'll get to that later...)

Wedge of lemon

Pre-heat a heavy-bottomed skillet (a cast-iron pan works very well) to a medium-high heat. Place your slab of cheese under running tap water then dredge in all-purpose flour. Shake off any excess flour.

 

Add your olive oil to the skillet. Add a sprinkle of flour into the pan to test if the oil is hot enough. As soon as it sizzles, add your cheese to the skillet and sear for a couple of minutes. Carefully flip the cheese with a spatula and allow to sear for a couple of minutes on the other side.

Turn off your heat source and carefully carry your cheese saganaki to your table and pour the brandy ( or Ouzo) over the cheese and ignite with a lighter. Move your head back, shout “OPA!” and squeeze the wedge of lemon over the cheese.

Serve immediately with crusty bread, some Ouzo and a can of Keo beer.

Tzatziki

Look, just like Indian cuisine, we leave the complicated food prep to the professionals. Trying to recreate the flavors of gyro spit meat cannot be duplicated in a small kitchen such as ours. But we can get down with a mean tzaziki.

Tzatziki is great on its own with just some bread but we also like it with shwarma and, of course, a meaty gyro sandwich or gyro plate. It adds a bit of texture, cools down the heat a bit and makes the girth of bread and beef go down a little smoother.

Lemony, dilly and....cucumbery(?), a good tzatziki can make any Greek dish brighter and more yogurty(?). Nevermind.

Anyway, here is what we came up with:

2 cups plain Greek yogurt

2 cups diced cucumber (or shredded)

½ cup fresh dill - minced

¼ cup lemon juice

2 garlic cloves - grated

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl check for seasoning. Add more dill, lemon, garlic or salt/pepper to your taste.

Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Pastitsio

Now here is where things get serious.

At its essence, pastitsio is Greek lasagna. And...its amazing.

Just layers of seasoned meat sauce, baked pasta and, of course, lots of cheese. The best part about real authentic pastitsio is the addition of a bechamel sauce. It really adds a whole level of flavor but, unfortunately, can make this recipe a bit time consuming and tricky. In the end though, it is very worth it.

This year you can find pastitsio in the fancier dining area as the Greek Fest people have separated the food stations into "street" and "dinner service". It makes sense because years past you just find yourself winding through an endless line that reminds you of a busy day at Disneyland, except at the end you get incredible Greek food rather than a ten second ride with R2-D2s and Buzz Lightyears and stuff bleeping and blooping you into near psychedelic hysteria.

Forget that....let's get cooking!

The Meat Sauce

1 ½ lbs. ground veal (or beef, though minced lamb can also be used)

1 large or 2 medium-sized yellow onion(s), finely diced

2 bay leaves

2 cloves of garlic, grated

1 ½ cups fresh strained tomato juice (or ¼ cup tomato paste diluted in 1½ cups of water.)

¼ cup white wine

¼ cup - ⅓ cup Greek extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

The Pasta

1 lb. of Greek pasta (or Bucatini, or Ziti)

2 tbsp. Greek extra virgin olive oil

3 egg whites, beaten (the yolks will be used in the béchamel sauce)

¼ cup grated Kefalotyri (or Parmesan cheese if you try but cannot find the Greek cheese)

The Béchamel Sauce

4 cups of scalded milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup grated Kefalotyri cheese (or, you know, Parm) 

½ cup of salted butter

3 egg yolks, well beaten

½ - 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the diced onions over a medium heat until soft. Add the ground veal to the pan and break it up thoroughly. Keep stirring constantly over a medium high heat for 5 minutes or so to brown all of the meat and mingle it completely with the onion.

Once the meat is completely browned, add the rosemary, garlic, wine, and the fresh tomato juice (or tomato paste diluted in water) to the pan along with salt and pepper to taste, and mix well. Bring to a boil, add the bay leaves and make sure to immerse them in the sauce, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the pan with its lid leaving it only slightly uncovered to allow the excess water to evaporate as steam. Simmer for about 30 minutes or so. Stir the sauce occasionally. When ready, the meat will have absorbed the liquid in the pan. Remove the bay leaves and set aside when done.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add the pasta to the water and parboil it until soft but not fully cooked (about 3/4 of the suggested cooking time on the package).

While the pasta is cooking, make the béchamel sauce. Start by melting the butter in a deep saucepan over a medium heat, then, using a whisk or immersion blender with a whisk attachment, slowly incorporate the flour by adding it to the melted butter in stages while stirring continually to avoid the formation of lumps. Once the flour has been fully incorporated, slowly add the hot milk while continuing to constantly stir the butter and flour paste to ensure a smooth consistency. Once the milk has been added, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the grated cheese, nutmeg, pepper and egg yolks in that order while continuing to rapidly stir the mixture. Set aside when smooth and well-mixed. However, do not let it stand for too long without a good stirring as you do not want the top to start congealing. By this point your pasta should be ready.

Drain the water completely from the pasta pot and return pot with pasta to the heat, add the two tablespoons of olive oil to the pasta and mix well to ensure a thorough coating of oil as we do not want the pasta to get sticky. Remove the pot from the heat, let stand for a few minutes to cool and then add the egg whites to the pasta, along with the ¼ cup of grated Kefalotyri cheese and mix well, then set aside momentarily.

Rub a little olive into the sides and bottom of your baking dish, and then add about two-thirds of the pasta to the dish to form a bottom layer. Make sure to spread the pasta evenly in order to completely cover the bottom of the dish, make sure not to leave any empty spaces.

Spread the meat sauce over top of the bottom pasta layer, ensuring to distribute it evenly and right to the edges of the casserole. The meat layer must be of uniform thickness and must not have any gaps.

Add the remaining pasta over top of the meat layer, distributing it evenly.

Pour the béchamel sauce over of the final pasta layer, make sure to cover the entire surface area of the dish.

Place the casserole uncovered in an oven pre-heated to 350°F (180°C) and bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the béchamel sauce is golden brown.

Remove casserole from oven and set aside to cool before serving. As already mentioned above, this dish is best served on the following day after its baking. However, if you must eat it on the same day, make sure it has a chance to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting it into pieces. Do not make the mistake of cutting it before it has had a chance to cool, you will end up with messy servings. Cut it only when it has cooled, (ideally overnight in the refrigerator) and warm the pieces before serving.

Loukoumades

Luckily there are vittles at the Greek Festival that wont damage your waistline or wallet. If you're just looking for a sweet treat, look no further than the honey speckled, deep fried goodness of loukoumades.

If donut holes went Mediterranean, loukoumades would be it. There are variations on this snack; some top it with chocolate sauce, sometimes honey, others sprinkle powdered sugar on them...you do what you want because any way you embellish them these lil' dough bites are tasty. But the recipe that follows is pretty straight forward Greek style and the walnuts add a well intended crunch.

Very unlike the pastitsio, these guys are fairly straight forward and simple but just be careful when you toss 'em in the hot oil.

If you had enough Metaxa, such as we did, you get a little heavy handed and throw them in like slammer Pogs and, trust us here, hot fryer oil kinda hurts. Buzzing heavily or not.

Lets go...

4½ cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon instant dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

2¼ cups warm water, divided

Vegetable oil, for frying

1-2 cups honey, for drizzling

Ground cinnamon, for sprinkling

Coarsely ground walnuts, for sprinkling

In a large bowl, mix 4½ cups flour and the salt. Dissolve the yeast in ½ cups warm water, together with 1 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon flour.

Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Add the remaining 1¾ cups water. Mix using a spatula, until you get a sticky, loose batter. If the texture of the batter isn't like this, add more water to achieve the right consistency. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let raise for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Fill half of the pot with oil and heat to 375°F.

Now you need to shape your loukoumades. There are two ways to do that:

1) Oil your hands, take a handful of the batter and clench your fist around it. Squeeze out a knob of the batter between your fingers, scoop it up with an oiled tablespoon and drop into the hot oil.

2) Oil two tablespoons. Lift a little bit of the batter on one and push it off into the hot oil using another one.

The puffs are ready when they rise to the top and are light golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and dry on paper towels.

Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon and walnuts.

Ouzo

Yeah, we're not going to give you a recipe for Ouzo...because, no. Again, leave the complicated items to the seasoned pros. Making your own Ouzo is essentially doing moonshine because this stuff is for real Greek airline fuel.

If you grew up drinking Ouzo then the hint of anise and the fact that just a few sips in you're breaking plates wont bother you. For most of us in western society, Ouzo is a curiosity and a "once in a while" liquid delicacy. As is the Greek Festival. It's literally the only time we drink it. But maybe you're different. Maybe you down the clear distilled hooch like cheap beer. And that's how we like to enjoy it, with a tall can of Mythos or Keo...again, only consumed at the Greek Fest.

What's fun about Ouzo is that if you put ice in it the liquor goes a milky color. Kind of like absinthe, the oil in the anise causes emulsion and if your friends are good n' drunk, lot and lots of rude names come to mind when you chill Ouzo with ice. But we usually drink it straight. Just get it over with.

Here's the tricky part: Sort of like tequila, Ouzo sneaks up on you. If you do a shot or three you wont notice an immediate intoxicating effect. That...comes later. After a few is when your pals Greg and Dakota are on the stage trying to do the traditional Tsamiko dance, totally wrecking it and embarrassing themselves but afterwards they roll up to you, warbling and slurring, and proclaim:

"Did you see us up there? Killed it!"

Just drink responsible kids. The cops are out in mega force during Greek Fest, so be sure to eat enough souvlaki and baklava to soak up the booze before you hit the road home to cook up these delicious dishes.

Above all though...just have fun! We always do.  If you like what you ate at the Greek Fest then give these recipes a shot. Most are pretty easy, one takes a bit of time but all in all if you can't get to the festival this year, at least you can eat, and drink, like you did.

Ya sou!

Typing, Taste Testing and Uploads
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
Getting Ready for the Greek Festival, 2016

Metal Influence:

MUNICIPAL WASTE

"The Fatal Feast"