Greetings from 2002!  This month I am cooking from the October 2002 issue of Australian Table.   Instead of cherry picking recipes from all over the mag, like I did with September 2002, this time I have cooked three Greek inspired dishes from an article called Acropolis Now.  Nice pun Australian Table.  At least they didn’t run with “It’s all Greek to Me”.  So, what is on the menu?

Broad Beans with Grilled Haloumi Cheese

OMG…these were AMAZING!!!!

I love a broad bean.  And you know who doesn’t love haloumi?  With all due respect to vegans and the lactose intolerant, people who are dead inside.  If you cannot find some sense of joy in the very prospect of grilled cheese?  We can’t be friends.  And you probably need to sign up for years of therapy.

I totally botched the gorgeous grill marks you are meant to get on the haloumi but I didn’t do too bad a job of recreating the recipe as it appeared in the mag.  I wonder though, if this recipe appeared in a magazine today, would we need to have the word “”cheese appended to the haloumi?  I think not.  Apart from that though, this is a delicious dish that could appear on any table today without it feeling like a recipe that was 20 years old.

Here’s the recipe.  And…can I just say…I don’t think I did too bad a job at recreating the look of the magazine picture in my version!

Keftethes and Greek Salad

I love how 2002 has to explain these as being Greek “Rissoles” .  Not even meatballs.  Rissoles.  The word rissole reminds me so much of this scene in the utterly brilliant Australian film The Castle.

These were great!  The mint was really nice and it made a very tasty yet simple weeknight dish! I was a bit worried about coating the keftethes with flour before cooking but it kept the meat from drying out and gave it a really nice crust!

The keftethes paired really well with a Classic Greek Salad!

The recipe for the Greek Salad per Australian Table had no lettuce.  My local Greek restaurant, The Paradise of Lindos, always includes lettuce in their Greek Salad so I added some to mine without even realising it was not in the recipe.  Go your own way on this!   None of these dishes are breaking the mould when it comes to flavours or techniques.  But they were all flavourful and easy to make.  They would be a perfect weeknight dinner!

Here are the recipes:

For those of you with a sweet tooth, the article also contained a recipe for those lovely crescent shaped Greek shortbreads which I am very keen to try making!  If you would also like to try, here is a recipe for Kourabiethes.

The Film Event of October 2002

So, you know what else happened in October 2002?

If I told you that the film that Wikipedia  reliably informs me was “the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time” was released would you have any idea what I was talking about?  Take a guess.  Then take another because you were probably wrong.  Then, look at the title of this blog post and take another because who knew that?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding was released (in Australia) on 24 October 2002.  Starring Nia Vardalos and John Corbett (who was riding high on his role as Aiden in Sex and The City) it was a rom com about the cultural confusion that occurs when a Greek girl falls for an all American boy.

I remember being delighted by this film when it came out.  It was so funny and John Corbett was so handsome!   My clearest memory though is this one:

I fear that My Big Fat Greek Wedding might not stand up well to the test of time.  I was tempted to rewatch it for this but did not want my memories of a film I really enjoyed back in the day to be spoiled.  Was has stood up to the test of time are the recipes in the article on Greek cooking.  Acropolis Now?  I say Acropolis Wow!

I’ll show myself the door on that one!

Have a great week everyone!