Weekend Cooking: Author event and cookbook giveaway – Patricia Moore-Pastides
Patricia Moore-Pastides, the author of Greek Revival: Cooking for Life, was recently in town for a book signing and cooking demonstration, and since the event included a book and food, there was no way I was going to miss it! (And to make things even better, this book is an OKRA pick!)
Moore-Pastides was officially here to promote her cookbook, but what she really promotes is eating right and leading a healthy lifestyle. She emphasized eating local, organic foods as well as lots of vegetables. She said if you only make one change in your diet, you should use olive oil instead of other fats. Moore-Pastides has a Masters of Public Health degree from Yale University and is married to the President of the University of South Carolina. Her husband is of Greek descent, so they’ve spent a lot of time in Greece and Cyprus and she knows the diet well. She said research has shown many health benefits from it. It took Moore-Pastides three years to write this cookbook and all the proceeds go to the University’s Health and Sustainability Fund, which provides money for community gardens, composting, recycling, etc. If the cookbook is successful enough, she hopes to obtain better health insurance for graduate students.
At the event, Moore-Pastides prepared three dishes, Sautéed Broccoli Rabe with Penne Pasta, Zucchini and Tomatoes with Cumin and Caraway Seeds, and Anise and Sesame Koulourakia and all three were delicious. I should have taken a picture of the food, but I ate it as fast as I got it. My favorite of the three dishes was the broccoli rabe and, besides being delicious, it looked easy to make.
Sautéed Broccoli Rabe with Penne Pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large bunch broccoli rabe
6 cloves garcic, minced
Red pepper flakes
Sea salt
½ pound whole-wheat penne pasta
Asiago cheese, grated
Trim away the thick stems of the broccoli rabe, wash it and dry it. Finely chop the broccoli rabe.
In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and gently sauté the garlic until it is light brown. Add dry, chopped broccoli rabe. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and sea salt according to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are wilted, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Boil the past according to the directions on the package until it is cooked al dente.
Strain the pasta and add it to the pan of greens. Place over medium heat and toss to combine. Sprinkle with grated Asiago cheese and serve warm.
I got Moore-Pastides to autograph a copy of this beautiful cookbook for one lucky reader. To enter to win an autographed copy of GREEK REVIVAL by Patricia Moore-Pastides, simply fill out this entry form. Contest is open worldwide. I will use random.org to determine the winner. Contest ends at midnight EST Sunday, December 12, 2010. The winner will be announced on Monday, December 13, 2010. Comments are welcome (and appreciated) but will not get you an entry in the contest.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.
I love that about why you didn’t take a picture of the food! :–)
That is a sign that the food was fabulous!
Sounds like a fabulous day was spent!
What a fantastic opportunity. I love broccoli rabe and that recipe does look easy. Mr. BFR is partial to Greek food, so I think I *need* this book!
The cover of that book is wonderful; so appetizing!
I find it interesting that the one change she considers most important is the change to olive oil…I use mostly olive oil now, with the exception of baking, where the flavor is too pronounced for my family’s taste.
How great that the proceeds of the book go to such worthwhile causes!
I use olive oil for everything – love it! And I picked up the book at SIBA but have not tried the recipes yet – the broccoli rabe sounds so delicious and I’m not even a big broccoli fan! My bf is so I will have to fix this dish for him and try it – I do love asiago cheese – yummy! and cumin…I never thought of it as a spice for greek food – I’ve only used it in my chili. Hmmm, I’m definitely pulling that cookbook out today and preparing dinner!
Love Greek food, the goat cheese is exquisite! Olive oil is used ferociously in Europe and it’s obviously for good cause.
PS Made the chili this weekend and it was a hit
I love Greek food! Thanks for hosting the fantastic foodie giveaway!
This looks like a great book. I’m putting it on my (very long) Xmas book wish list.
I love Greek food – thanks for turning me onto a wonderful, new cookbook!
Sounds like a wonderful time Kathy and the cookbook sounds great. The recipe for the broccoli rabe is definitely something I would like.
I’ve really started being more interested in cooking lately, and this recipe book looks amazing! I love trying familiar foods cooked in a new way and expanding my palate. Oh, and the food that she cooked sounds drool-worthy!
This event looks like it was fantastic and I love that all of the proceeds of the book are going to good, earth and health-promoting causes. Wish I could have been there — the recipes look wonderful!
I think I need this after my calorie laden holiday weekend!!
Oh, that sounds perfect right now!
I have been a bit lazy with the trying of new recipes lately, but I am really looking forward to trying out a recipe from this book. I already bought a leg of lamb and am going to be making the gyros. I will have to post my attempt and let you know what I think. By the way, that broccoli rabe sounds fantastic!
Hubby and I love rabe. Just copied the recipe and am planning to make. Please enter me in the giveaway.
I love Greek food…this sounds like a great dish and it has to be a fantastic cookbook.
I would love to be entered in the contest. THANKS.
silversolara AT gmail DOT com
That recipe sounds delicious. I’d love to win this one!
I love cooking demonstrations! Lucky you. Please throw my name into the giveaway.
What a pretty author/cook! I’ll bet her cookbook sells “like hotcakes.”
Thanks for hosting this giveaway, Kathy! The recipe sounds delicious and healthy, and the author is lovely.
I would have been eating too fast to take pictures too. Good job!
The recipes for Broccoli Rabe sounds delicious and easy to make. What a fun book signing to have food samples along with the cookbook. I’ve signed up for the giveaway, would love to have a copy of this book.
If the food disappears you photograph it, I’d say it’s pretty darned good. Reading the broccoli rabe recipe makes me see why: I just had dinner, and you’ve made me hungry all over again!!
Book is definitely a winner.
Another great review and an awesome sounding book… your recipe sounds delicious!
I make a similar dish with regular broccoli. I’m going to give the broccoli rabe a try. This sounds like a cookbook I’d use a lot.
Broccoli Rabe is bitter if you don’t use it right. I do like some Greek food but don’t know enough about it to know if I’d like a whole cookbook on it.
It’s funny you should mention olive oil as being the best. The cookbook I reviewed and am giving away is partly by CanolaInfo, a maker of Canola Oil which of course they tout as the best.
My giveaway and review is part of my first Weekend Cooking post.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I don’t really know Greek food very well, so I would love to be able to make some Greek dishes.
What is broccoli rabe? Is it the long-ish broccoli sort?
I’m glad you tweeted about this today. I had house guests over the weekend so I missed reading a lot of blogs. Hope I win
Of course you couldn’t resist an event with books and food – what a great combo!
I’ve entered the giveaway … must find out what koulourakia is.
This looks like a fabulous cookbook! I love Greek food.
Great giveaway! Patricia’s recipes sound wonderful. I love Greek cooking and would be tickled pink to win this cookbook. Hope it has a recipe for Souvlakia…its so delicious!
Holiday Blessings to all
Great giveaway. I am a big fan of healthy eating and Mediterranean recipes.