The Midtown Brandywine Neighbors’ Association Progressive Dinner of 2023 was an incredible evening of food, drinks, and community. With 67 neighbors and guests attending the cocktails and appetizers stage and 50 for the sit-down dinner, it was a truly memorable experience. We want to thank everyone who helped make this event a huge success, from the organizers to the volunteers to the hosts who opened their homes to us.

Special thanks to Adele Blanchard, Bob Joel Goff-Stango, Nancy McGrath, Judith Jones, Rosemary Powell, Jordan Barrett, and Michael Cunningham for their hard work and dedication in making the event a reality. And of course, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our gracious hosts: Josh Peck, the Blanchards, the Kochers, the Ruggieros, Staffords, the Poppes, and the Reed & Randolph home.

Lastly, we want to give a most special thanks to Rhea Phillips, who led the organization of this year’s Progressive Dinner. Your leadership and dedication to the event and the Midtown Brandywine community are invaluable, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you all for coming together to support the MBNA, and we can’t wait to see you all at next year’s Progressive Dinner!

Rhea has kindly provided recipes featured at the 2023 dinner:

OUZO Lemonade

• 2 ounces ouzo, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 ounces lemon juice, more if desired
• 3 mint leaves, muddled in the glass
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 3 ounces water, iced, more or less to preference

Oven Baked Greek Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

For The Marinade:

• ½ cup plain Greek yoghurt, full fat preferred
• ¼ cup olive oil
• zest of one lemon
• ⅓ cup lemon juice
• 4-5 cloves garlic pressed or minced
• 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning (recipe also included a homemade one below)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Whisk together ingredients for marinade.  Toss chicken in marinade to fully coat.  Allow
  to sit for at least 15 minutes, or keep in the refrigerator for longer, up to overnight.
• When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425°F.
• Line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup.  Arrange chicken on baking sheet in a
  single layer.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.

Nutrition (estimate for convenience only)

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat:
4g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 743mg | Potassium: 516mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A:
85IU | Vitamin C: 8.8mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 2.4mg

Spinach and Cheese Pies (spanakopita

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 pound feta cheese
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 8 ounces grated cheese (kasseri or Romano or Parmesan)
• 10 ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• ½ C chopped parsley
• ½ C chopped dill weed
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• Fresh ground pepper (probably no salt needed, depending on how salty the feta is)
• 1 package (one pound) filo dough (thawed) – about 12+ sheets 14” x 18”

Instructions

• In a blender or mixer bowl, combine all ingredients except filo just until blended. Chill for at
  least one hour
• Filo is delicate so keep unused sheets under damp linen dish towels. Cut sheets into thirds
  parallel to the long side (4” + x 18”). With two sheets together, lay flat and drizzle with melted
  butter or oil. Put one large cookie dough scoop (about 1+ T) on one end of the strip. Bring one
  corner of the end to the opposite side of the strip, forming a triangle around the filling. Continue
  folding as our would an American flag to the end of the strip, maintaining the triangle shape.
• Tuck the remaining flap under and put the triangle on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
• Brush the tops of the triangles with melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees fir about 20 minutes or
  until golden brown

Mujaddara (Lebanese Rice and Lentils with Crispy Onions and Lemon Garlic Yogurt Sauce) Recipe – one for each house of 8

Crispy Onions

• 2 lbs. of onions, halved and sliced in ¼ inch slices
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1.5 cups vegetable oil

Method

• Toss onions & salt together in large bowl
• Microwave 5 minutes.  Rinse salt off.  Dry on paper towel lines tray.
• Heat onions and oil over high heat, stirring frequently until golden brown—about 25 to 30 minutes
•  Drain onions in colander.   Further drain onions on paper towel.

Yoghurt sauce

• 1 cup of plain yogurt
• 2 tbsps juice
• ½ tspn minced garlic
• ½ tspn salt

Method

• Whisk all ingredients together.

Rice and Lentils

Ingredients

• 1.25 cups Brown Lentils
• 1 tbspn salt
• 1.25 Basmati Rice
• 1 Recipe of Crispy Onions & 3 tbsps of reserved onion oil.
• 3 garlic minced garlic cloves
• 1 tspn ground coriander
• 1 tspn ground cumin
• ½ tspn ground cinnamon
• ½ tspn ground allspice
• ¼ tspn black pepper
• 1/8th tspn cayenne
• 1 tspn sugar
• 3 tbspns minced cilantro

Method

• Boil lentils and salt in 4 cups of water for 15 minutes.  Then, drain & set aside.
• Cover rice with hot water and let sit for 15 minutes.  Swish water and rice to release starch.  Pour off water carefully.  Repeat with cold water 4 times and then drain rice in fine mesh strainer.
• Cover 3 tblsps of reserved onion oil, garlic, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, cayenne on medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add rice to mixture and cook about 3 minutes.  Add 2.25 cups of water, sugar, 1 tbspn salt and bring to boil, reduce to low, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed—about 12 minutes.  Fluff rice, stir in half the crispy onions and cilantro.  Transfer to serving platter and top with other half of crispy onions.
• Serve with yogurt sauce.
• Let sit 10 minutes, add in ½ crispy onions