Day Two - Greece

Opa! Today's culinary tour stop brings us to Greece, the cradle of democracy, the Olympic games, and big fat weddings. Greensboro and the surrounding Piedmont Triad is home to many fantastic Greek and Mediterranean restaurants, and tonight I attempted to honor them (along with the country and its many wonderful people).

This was the first country in which I used a family recipe.  Ward Godwin is married to Elizabeth's best friend's sister (got that?) and I am lucky enough to consider him a friend. In planning this project, I was pointed in his direction because I was told that Ward had a Greek background and had a killer recipe for tzatziki sauce.  He was gracious enough to pass this along, which is what makes this blog so much fun for me.  It's great to see these kind of family recipes shared and passed along, and I look forward to trying more throughout the month.

Today's recipes include: tzatziki sauce with pita bread, fasoulakia, turkey souvlaki, and a minty Greek salad.

A note on the turkey: In preparing for this month's global grub escapades, I realized that I could quickly break the bank if I did not plan things out ahead of time. One of the ways that I was able to do this was to choose to substitute many of the dishes that called for chicken with turkey.

A turkey is one of the leaner proteins one can eat, and after Christmas they are a steal.  For a 14 and a half pound bird, I only had to spend around $14.00.  I cooked the turkey on Thursday, December 31, and divided it out into different portions. I froze those (expect for tonight's as I used it so quickly after it was cooked), and will use them throughout the month.  Doing this will allow me to not only eat healthier, but also do so in a way that is more economical.  I got so much out of the turkey that I plan on doing something like this once a month from here on out, it's too good of a deal to pass up.

Ok, on with the show!

Tzatziki sauce (Ward's recipe)

32oz Greek yogurt 1 seedless cucumber 1 clove of garlic 1 lemon Salt Pepper

I started this one earlier in the day to make sure the flavors had time to mix and mingle together. First, I peeled the cucumber and then chopped up half of it.  I put this half in a food processor with a little bit of lemon juice, and pureed it until it was the consistency of apple sauce.

Next, I zested the lemon, putting the zest in a bowl.  I then cut and squeezed the lemon, putting the juice in a bowl separate from the zest.

Once the cucumber had been pureed, I drained the liquid from it into the bowl with the lemon juice.  I then poured the container of plain Greek yogurt into a large mixing bowl.  I put the solids from the food processor into the yogurt and mixed well.

After mixing the yogurt and cucumber together, I grated the garlic into the mixture and stirred again. I then slowly added the liquids (lemon juice and cucumber juice) to the yogurt mixture, stirring to make sure I got the right consistency.

Next, I chopped the remaining half of cucumber into very tiny sections and added them to the yogurt. The last step was to add the lemon zest to taste (I added a lot of it, as I like mine with a little zing).  I mixed everything together again, and put it in the fridge for several hours to set.

Fashoulakia

1 pound green beans

1/2 container of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon mint

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon dill

2 tablespoons olive oil (I used butter in this case)

For this recipe, I actually used some green beans that I had cooked previously and frozen.  I melted the butter in a pot and then sauteed the garlic, mint, parsley, and dill.  Once it had browned, I added the green beans and tomatoes, and stirred until they were warm.

Turkey souvlaki

1/2 pound turkey

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon of salt

4 garlic cloves, minced

This was a very easy recipe to use and I thought it came out very well.  All I did was take the previously cooked turkey and add the other 5 ingredients together into the Ziploc bag containing the turkey.  I shook well, and let it marinade for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I put the turkey onto a skillet and cooked it for about 5 minutes or so, until it was hot but still juicy.

Minty Greek Salad

2 cups feta cheese

24 grape tomatoes, halved

24 kalamata olives

16 pitted green olives

1 cucumber, cut into chunks

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon mint

For this recipe, it was more about assembling than any real cooking.  I did it in layers: First, the tomatoes...

Then the olives...

Then the cucumber...

Then I added the remaining ingredients together and drizzled this mixture over everything.  I mixed well, and then let it set...

Tonight's meal was a resounding success!  We each tried the turkey souvlaki on a pita that I toasted, topped with some of the tzatziki sauce.  It was light and fresh and we both thought it was very flavorful.  The green beans turned out more savory than I had thought they would (it was a good thing), and the Greek salad was a nice addition as well.

We both had a traditional Greek drink to go along with dinner, Ouzo.  A clear licorice liquor that turns milky white when ice is added, we both agreed that it should have been saved for AFTER dinner, and not during.  Otherwise, Greek night at the Farabee home was great!