Front Porch Tales

Summer Supper on the Front Porch

Hummus & Flatbread

Greek Salad with Patatosalata

Peel & Eat Shrimp

Grilled Flat-Iron Steak

Berries with Almond Scented Whipped Cream

Responsible for the care and feeding of 6 adults and 4 kids, I turned to my summertime standby, a Greek Salad with Patatosalata (potato salad), a dish commonly found on the Gulf Coast of Florida, particularly Tarpon Springs, and made famous by the restaurant Louis Pappas'. I used the Pappas recipe for the potato salad, but went another way for the dressing, using Evelyn/Athens' Ultimate Greek Salad vinaigrette and instructions for assembly.

Here's the Pappas recipe, found all over the net:

Greek Potato Salad
6 boiling potatoes
4 whole green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup whole green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 to 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt to taste

Make potato salad (makes 3 cups): Cook unpeeled potatoes in unsalted water until tender, about 20 minutes; cool until you can handle them. Peel potatoes; cut into chunks in large bowl. Sprinkle with vinegar and salt; add chopped green onions; toss. In small bowl combine parsley, sliced green onions, mayonnaise and salt. Add to potatoes; mix well.

Ultimate Greek Salad

Here's Evelyn/Athens recipe for Ultimate Greek Salad. She can be found at Recipezaar and on the Cookstalk message board at http://www.finecooking.com/.

Dressing

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano (Mediterranean is best)

Salad

1 head lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces (I use Romaine)
3 large plum tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 English cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped (the long, thin, almost seedless ones)
1 medium red onion, cut into thin rings and soaked for 10 minutes in a small bowl of ice water to make it less sharp
1 small green pepper, cut into thin rings
3/4 cup kalamata olive

Directions

1. Whisk dressing ingredients together until blended.

2. Season to taste.

3. Drain onion from ice water and pat dry with paper towels.

4. Combine all salad ingredients, except cheese, in large bowl.

5. Toss with dressing.

6. Sprinkle cheese over and serve.

I think I'll Name My Child Salmon Patty

After all, if Charlie Brown can have Peppermint Patty, why can't I have Salmon Patty?

Salmon patties are so hopelessly old-fashioned, my best hope is that the food snobs would consider them retro rather than plebeian. I must confess here that I always have a can of salmon in the pantry and when I fry up salmon patties for supper, my fussy eaters gobble them up. It's a cheap, nutritious, tasty and filling entree and I really shouldn't have to apologize for that, now should I?

I've tried a few recipes over the years, mostly from the back of the can, but I always go back to the late 80's Pillsbury Cookbook version. Pillsbury was my bridal shower cookbook, and my beaten-up, stained copy is missing both covers, but thank goodness the recipes still work.

Salmon Patties

Yield: 6 patties
1 (15 oz.) can salmon, undrained
2-4 cups fresh bread crumbs from white sandwich bread, divided
2 eggs
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
canola oil for frying

1. In a bowl, place salmon. Pick through fish, pulling out skin and icky dark stuff. Mash the bones between your fingers (the bones are supposed to be good for you - all that calcium).

2. Add remaining ingredients, using about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of bread crumbs, until you have a fairly wet mixture. Pour remaining bread crumbs into a pie dish. Shape mixture into 6 medium patties, about 1 inch thick and 3 inches across. Place in bread crumbs and gently coat with crumbs on both sides.

3. Pour oil into medium skillet and heat until it comes up to frying temperature. I drop a few bread crumbs into the hot oil to see if they will sizzle.

4. Fry the patties in the oil until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes on the first side, and less on the second side. Drain on paper towel-lined plate.

My standby "fridge is empty and I don't want to go to the grocery store" menu is salmon patties, macaroni and cheese (blue box is acceptable in our house) and green beans (everybody knows that good Southern cooks use Allen's Seasoned Southern Style). I just hope the food snobs don't drop in on those nights.