>> If you're anything like me, when you think of summer, you think of swimming, barbecuing with friends, going to the beach, or having a picnic.
So, today I thought, "What better place to have a picnic than here on this beautiful beach on the island of Syros with my good friend Elias?"
Then we'll come back to my San Francisco kitchen, and I'll show you a few Greek-inspired recipes.
One that I love is a dish from Santorini called fava.
I'll give it a modern twist with capers and preserved lemons.
We'll make a savory pie with chicken, leeks, feta, dill, and mint.
And for a little something sweet -- labneh layered in jar with honey-poached figs and salted pistachios.
I love to travel the globe in search of new food and wine discoveries.
For me, it's about more than returning home with a handful of new recipes.
It's about taking the spirit of Austria... of Italy... of Greece... and of the Danube River... and injecting some of their magic into our everyday lives.
Food has a unique ability to transport us.
Join me as we discover on our culinary journey together.
>> "Joanne Weir's Plates & Places" is brought to you by... >> With AmaWaterways, guests can climb... pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path while cruising on storied rivers across Europe.
You can find out more at amawaterways.com.
>> Our winemaking is the result of teamwork and patience.
Working together, we dedicate our best efforts with every vine, grape, and bottle -- Washington Vintners.
>> Since 1899, my family has shared our passion for everything that goes into our Mutti 100% Italian tomatoes.
Only tomatoes, only Mutti.
>> For baking, cooking, and snacks -- California Figs from Valley Fig Growers.
♪ >> I'm here in this beautiful, beautiful place.
This is the ONO resort, and I'm with a very good friend of mine, Elias, and I'm really excited to be here, but you have to tell them the name of this beach, because I'm really lost on this one.
It's Greek to me.
>> Agathopes.
>> Agathopes.
>> Yeah, that was good -- Agathopes.
I've been coming to this beach all my life.
>> Really?
>> It's actually on the opposite side of the island from most of the places that we visited.
It's a little bit more remote.
And if you were to look out there, you'll see there's another cove, which is a really private little beach where they do a lot of water sports.
And that little road comes over here to this area, and this beautiful resort is the highlight of the space here.
>> I know.
It's only been here a couple years, though, right?
>> Yes, this particular resort opened about three years ago.
>> Wow, it's really extraordinary.
>> Yeah.
>> What's really fun, though, is this picnic lunch is so different than any picnic I've ever done.
Like, my grandfather used to make chicken-salad sandwiches and homemade potato chips, and now we're gonna be eating sea urchin, which is like fresh from the water.
We're gonna take them out of the water so they're super fresh.
>> Yes.
>> Look kind of scary, but I know I've eaten them a lot, sea urchin, but most people don't get them like this.
>> They look like they're really, really sharp, but they're actually pretty easy to handle.
So, what you want to do -- >> I always thought that they grabbed on to the rocks, but they don't, do they?
>> No, no, they kind of just push themselves up a little bit and kind of hop and float.
>> Right.
Look how beautiful that is.
>> It's gorgeous.
>> It's amazing.
>> So, you get your knife in here.
>> Right.
>> And what you want to do is just cut around.
>> Cut all the way around.
I will tell you, sea urchin, when it's like this and fresh like this, it's amazing.
>> Got a beautiful set of condiments here.
>> Right.
>> Key is to put very little.
Everything that you add to this has to be just a touch.
>> Okay, what else do we have?
>> Now, here we have beautiful tomato.
>> Tomato.
Let me take that knife.
Let me show you what I saw someone do here, which I thought was so cool.
What they did was they took this, just make a little cut, and then -- might need that knife -- just open this tomato up like that.
>> Oh, my God.
Look at that.
>> Right?
Look how beautiful.
Little tomato juice?
>> Squeeze it like a lemon.
>> Yeah.
>> Again, very, very little tomato.
Little bit of juice in there.
>> Alright.
A little olive oil.
>> A little olive oil.
Olive oil's the one thing it doesn't matter if you put too much.
>> Yeah, right -- never.
>> [ Laughs ] You might want to salt this.
>> Okay, I think -- Oh, we've got the salt right here!
>> Look at that!
The benefits of being by the sea.
>> I know.
This is amazing.
So, this definitely is sea salt.
>> Yes, it is.
>> Just a little bit of salt.
>> I actually happen to have a nice little clam here.
Yep, let me see this little shell.
This one's a little smaller.
>> Okay.
>> So, I can hold it for you, and you can kind of help yourself.
>> Wow.
Do we -- Oh, you know what I want?
A little of the thyme.
>> Oh, yes.
Perfect.
>> Just a pinch.
Try just a few leaves.
>> One more.
>> Wow.
Okay.
My turn?
>> Your turn.
>> Oh.
>> What do you think?
>> I can't even talk.
>> [ Chuckles ] >> And that's really hard to believe for me.
>> Yeah, dipping it in the bread is the way my dad always did it for me when we were growing up.
>> Oh, yeah, look, he's getting a bunch.
>> All those flavors.
Mmm.
>> But wait.
I have a surprise for you.
>> Oh!
>> I hid this over here.
Little ouzo.
>> No wonder you put glasses in the basket.
I was trying to figure out what those were for.
>> Well, I was going to give you water.
You probably thought water.
No way.
Little ouzo.
When you're in Greece, you got to have a little ouzo.
>> Absolutely.
The best way to drink the ouzo is one part water, one part ouzo.
>> And do you put ice in it?
>> No ice, 'cause what happens is, that makes it really cloudy.
>> Right.
>> And they say that it gives you a little bit of a headache.
So the key is nice and cold water with no ice.
>> Really?
>> And then, you'll end up getting a nice, perfect beverage.
>> Okay.
I've been doing it wrong my entire life.
>> Equal parts.
>> Good?
>> That's perfect.
And ouzo is meant to be drank in the day, in the sun, with fresh seafood.
>> Yes.
>> And it sets you up perfectly for your afternoon nap.
>> Right.
>> So then you can spend your night on the town.
>> Yeah, I know you think the rest of that's yours -- forget about it.
I am eating -- We're going to make some more.
>> Absolutely.
>> So fun.
So fun.
This is serious -- This is a really serious picnic.
>> There's nobody I'd rather share this with, Joanne.
>> Thanks.
>> Cheers.
>> Mm.
Wow.
That is so good.
Yamas.
>> Yamas.
>> Yamas.
♪ I have a little bit of olive oil in the pan.
Heat that till it's rippling.
And then add all of your leeks.
That's a lot of leeks, but, oh, they have the best flavor.
They add so much to this dish.
And then, I'm adding some green onions, too.
Those are just thinly sliced.
Season the leeks with a little bit of salt.
That will draw out the moisture, and they'll cook a little bit faster, but it'll also season them.
Now I'm making the filling.
I'm adding mint to the bowl.
I'm also adding some parsley and some dill.
Dill and mint, you see it together all the time in Greece, and it's just such a good combination.
And I'm adding some feta.
You can just crumble that.
And you can add that to your herbs.
I'm adding some grated Kefalotyri.
Kefalotyri is really kind of like their parmesan.
So I'm adding just a little bit.
And a couple of egg yolks.
And I'm adding some raw chicken.
It's going to cook for 50 minutes in the oven, so raw chicken is what you want.
If you cook it before, it's going to be really dry.
All I'm using is the thigh.
I love to use thighs.
I think they're the best because they stay nice and juicy.
So, I'm using the thigh and just cut it up.
Stir this all together.
And I only added a pinch of salt.
I'm adding a little bit of salt to this.
I'll set this in the refrigerator while I cook the leeks and also make the dough.
Who would ever think that you could make a pie -- right?
-- two-crusted pie with chicken, feta, dill, and mint and get that much flavor?
And then, to take it on a picnic?
I mean, it's such a surprise for people.
It is just a special -- you know, a special dish that you can share with people.
♪ I'm making the dough for the pie.
I'm add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and also some water.
And then, just whisk those ingredients, those three ingredients together.
And now that those are whisked, I'm adding some flour.
And also, a teaspoon of salt.
I love this dough.
It's so simple to make.
You can also make it in a food processor or a stand mixer.
Any one of those will work.
It doesn't have yeast, so it's so much easier to work, and you don't have to wait too long.
It's great.
If you find that this is dry, you can add a little bit more liquid.
If you find that it's wet, just add a little bit more flour.
Now, I know this looks really rough, but what I'm going to do now is knead it.
So I put a little bit of flour out on the work surface.
You don't have to knead it too much.
Just for a minute.
And then I will let it rest for about two hours.
You can see, I'm just using both hands when I knead, going one direction and the other.
Alright, this is done.
See, that's really easy, and really easy to make even by hand without even a machine.
So, I have an oiled boil.
And I just take the dough, and I just put it in the bowl.
Turn it like this, then turn it over.
And that's so it doesn't form a crust on the top.
And then, just a little plastic wrap.
That could sit on the counter.
Now that the leeks are cool, I'm adding it to the rest of the filling.
This has now rested for a couple hours.
Put a little bit of flour out on your work surface and then place the dough right on the flour.
You're going to cut it into two pieces.
One piece will be 1/3, and the other will be 2/3.
And I just form that into a circle, and I'll set the smaller piece aside.
And I'll do the same thing.
I want this to be a circle.
This is a great dough to roll out.
It's so easy.
There.
A little bit of flour on your rolling pin.
And what I do is, I start in the middle, and I roll in one direction, and then you can just turn the dough.
Start again in the middle and roll in the opposite direction.
And if it's not a circle, don't worry about it.
You can always just trim it.
I want this to be about a 14-inch circle.
That looks good.
I'm going to roll both of them, so I'll dust this with a little bit of flour... so it doesn't stick, and fold this into quarters.
And I'll set that aside... and roll out the second piece.
So, take the larger piece of dough, and then, I just place it right over the pan like this.
I just let a little bit fall over the edges.
There.
And now, for the filling, what we do is, we just pour that all right into the pie.
It smells so good.
I can really smell the dill and the mint and that feta, and I love feta.
Now, with the smaller piece, I'm putting that right over the top.
Just like that.
Now, I can see that I've got a little extra, and that might happen to you, too, so I just take a pair of scissors and just cut that.
And I let that pastry just fall right on top of the filling.
And then, I take the dough, and I fold it in like this, right over... the top piece.
Now, there's a little bit too much right here... so I'm just trimming that again with scissors.
And then, what I do next is just take my fingers, and I go around the edges.
And then, I just take this, and I kind of roll those edges towards the center.
And it just gives it a really nice, finished look.
And I have a little egg wash here.
It's just some egg and a little bit of water, and I just brush the top.
And also the edges.
Now, this goes into a 375-degree oven for 40 to 50 -- Oh!
I forgot one thing.
I want to take a small knife, like this, and I'm just going to cut a little slit so that the steam can escape.
There.
Now, 375 for 40 to 50 minutes.
It'll be nice and golden brown on the top.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ When I was thinking about making picnic food, one of the things that came to me was something I had on the island of Santorini, and it's called fava.
And I know you're all thinking about favas as fava beans, the green, you know, bean, but this?
No, it's made with split peas, but it reminds me a little it of hummus.
It's amazing.
I really love it.
But I'm doing a little twist.
What I'm doing is just to heat a little bit of olive oil in the pan and adding some onions.
And then, we'll just sauté those onions until soft and translucent.
It's about five to seven minutes.
This is really a fun -- it's kind of a spread that you can serve with pita chips or crackers or toasted bread.
It's really, really wonderful.
I'm adding a little bit of salt just to draw out the moisture on those onions.
Now that these are soft and translucent, I'm adding the split peas.
And you know these are just yellow split peas that you see in every grocery store.
I'm adding those together with some turmeric -- a good amount of turmeric.
And I'm adding some water.
I'm covering the split peas by about 3 or 4 inches.
And a little bit of salt.
Now, bring that up to a boil, turn it down, and I'm going to simmer that for about 30 minutes until those split peas are really soft and starting to fall apart.
See how dry these are now and how much they've expanded?
They're so wonderful.
They're cool now, so I'm just placing this mixture in this bowl and adding some things that are going to give a lot more flavor.
And I'm kind of excited about it because usually it's parsley, a little bit of garlic, but I thought it would be fun to add some capers -- so, just some chopped capers -- and also, a pinch of crushed red pepper.
And you've got to add garlic to this.
Garlic is a must.
I'm also adding some lemon juice.
So, just squeezing it through my hands.
And just probably a tablespoon.
That'll add nice flavor to this.
The split peas taste great anyway, but all these things make it into the most delicious dish.
But I have one more thing.
And it's something that I love so much -- it's preserved lemons.
This is really Moroccan, but I thought, "I want to add a little bit of lemon to that."
With your thumb, you can just remove the flesh from the inside.
And then, I take a knife, and I'm just going to dice this peel.
Now, if you don't have preserved lemons, you can still make this.
Just omit the preserved lemon, but it's going to add great flavor.
Make sure you remove any seeds.
I just saw there were a couple seeds inside.
So, I'm adding those preserved lemons.
Now, you mix this together.
And -- Oh!
I needed some salt.
Probably a teaspoon of salt.
That's a lot of split peas.
The nice thing about this, just put it in your refrigerator.
It's great for a couple of days.
Mmm, smells so good.
I like it a little bit chunky, but the other thing you can do is just put it in your food processor and puree it until it's really, really smooth.
The first time I went to Santorini and had this, I thought it was so delicious, so I brought the split peas back from Santorini, thinking it would be better than anything I could get in the United States, and it was so -- it was delicious, but, really, it's absolutely fine to use the split peas that you find right in your grocery store.
Alright.
Now we just want to taste it.
Mmm.
It's good.
That is perfect picnic food.
Excellent.
Now I'm making a little well in the center, because what I love is to add a little bit of olive oil into the well, and then a few preserved lemons right on top.
Alright.
Now we're going to put the picnic together.
♪ So, fava, which is a dish that comes from Santorini, and I explained that, but, you know, they don't add preserved lemons.
That was kind of my idea to add the preserved lemons, because I just -- I love that it kind of gives it a little punch.
It punches it up a little, and I just really love it.
I love the dish anyway, and I like preserved lemons.
Put the two together, and it just works.
This pie looks so incredible.
I -- I'm always so excited when I make this because it's just so flavorful.
Perfect for a picnic.
Wow.
I've got so much here.
I'm so excited.
Wait a minute.
I have to get a little of this, too, put it on my plate.
Wow.
[ Gasps ] Let's see how it is.
Chicken is perfect, tender.
Mmm.
Mmm.
I love those flavors so much.
The dill, the spearmint, the feta -- it's so good.
And the chicken, it's so moist.
I just love it.
That is so delicious.
You have to make this.
Promise me you'll make this.
And then, I have to try the fava.
Mmm.
Wow.
That is so bright from the preserved lemon and the capers.
It's absolutely wonderful.
I love these flavors so much, and every time I think about Greece and that day along the cove and sharing a picnic with my friend Elias, it just makes me happy.
Whether you pull out all the stops and go fancy with a tablecloth and wine glasses or you just keep it simple, there's nothing like sitting outdoors, enjoying lunch with friends and family.
You have to admit, food just tastes better.
Yamas.
>> You can visit my website to find and print selected recipes, get information about each episode, learn more about the show, see behind-the-scenes photos, provide e-mail feedback, and more.
It's all at joanneweir.com/plates-places.
>> "Joanne Weir's Plates & Places" is brought to you by... >> With AmaWaterways, guests can climb... pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path while cruising on storied rivers across Europe.
You can find out more at amawaterways.com.
>> Our winemaking is the result of teamwork and patience.
Working together, we dedicate our best efforts with every vine, grape, and bottle -- Washington Vintners.
>> Since 1899, my family has shared our passion for everything that goes into our Mutti 100% Italian tomatoes.
Only tomatoes, only Mutti.
>> For baking, cooking, and snacks, California figs from Valley Fig Growers.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪