Chef Monsta: I cook, therefore I blog

Everyone knows how much I love cheese. I love asiago, bocconcini, brie, Camembert, cheddar, cream cheese, cottage cheese, cotija, emmenthal, fontina, goat, haloumi, Havarti, labane, manchego, marscapone, morbier, mozzarella, Parmesan, pecorino, ricotta, robiola, Swiss…..and FETA! (I don’t like Roquefort or Gouda; but that’s a different story.)

This past Father’s Day, I had a great meal at one of the best Greek restaurants in the city, Kefi. Coming from an Israeli family, many Greek flavors are the same as Israeli food. After all, they lie on the Mediterranean, and you can certainly take a ferry between the two countries. We ordered the mezze platter and warm feta to start. The mezze platter was delicious; hummus, tzatziki, taramosalata, eggplant spread, and sun dried tomatoes. But my favorite app was the “Warm Feta, Tomatoes, Capers, Anchovy, Peppers, Olives”. How hard can it be to make this dish?

NOT HARD AT ALL. In fact, it literally took 2 minutes prep and I baked it for 10 minutes in the oven. So I bought a small brick of feta (actually, Bulgarian, since I find it a bit saltier) for $2 and the rest of the ingreds I had in the fridge and cupboard.

Olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, dried oregano

Cheese

Chopped up two cloves of garlic and one roma tomato, pour over block of cheese

Drizzle olive oil and add dried (or fresh) oregano

Baked it for 10 minutes at 350, and here’s the final product. It does not look so different as the “before” shot since the cheese does not melt. It merely warms while the tomatoes and garlic cook, and makes an amazing app with crackers or pita to dip.

SO! Me and my sista ate almost half of the baked feta. Obviously, I wouldn’t throw it away because it was amazing and I can save it for later, right? So I wrapped it back up into the fridge and saved it for tonight. Baked it again at 350 for 10 minutes…..

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

WHEN I OPENED THE FOIL POUCH TONIGHT, IT TURNED GREEN!!!!! MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE GARLIC HAD TURNED SHREK GREEN! I BUGGED OUT.

It turns out…garlic turns blue or green when its sulfur compounds come into contact with copper. Not much copper is needed for this to happen. The water in some areas of the United States contains enough copper to cause this reaction. Copper utensils can also instigate a color change in garlic. If garlic is harvested before maturity or is not allowed to completely dry, it can turn green in the presence of acid, such as from lemon. These color changes, as bizarre as they are, do not harm the garlic. It is still safe to eat.

I know that my oven has copper in it. Phew, safe to eat. So I ate it and it was great for the second time around.

Super weird though.
Has this ever happened to you? Hmmm?