RECIPE: REC: Barefoot Contessa's Tzatziki

RECIPE:
D

deb-in-mi

Well-known member
I made this a couple of days ago and it was so delicious! Very fresh tasting. I bought Greek-style strained yogurt which I just love (more fat/calories - but more flavour too!)

Also - I chopped the cucumber instead of grating it - I wanted the dish to be a bit chunkier.

Tzatziki

Copyright, 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All rights reserved

1 pound (1 pint) plain yogurt (whole milk or low fat)

1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled and seeded

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh dill

Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Place the yogurt in a cheesecloth or paper towel-lined sieve and set it over a bowl. Grate the cucumber and toss it with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt; place it in another sieve, and set it over another bowl. Place both bowls in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours so the yogurt and cucumber can drain.

Transfer the thickened yogurt to a large bowl. Squeeze as much liquid from the cucumber as you can and add the cucumber to the yogurt. Mix in the sour cream, vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dill, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. You can serve it immediately, but I prefer to allow the tzatziki to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours for the flavors to blend. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

 
This sounds really good. What brand of Greek yogurt do you use?

I am able to get yogurt through our food co-op, but I don't remember the name of the brand that I used to buy at Trader Joe's. Thanks deb.

 
The brand is: Fage

And I don't think you really need to drain it (over a sieve). I did an experiment - drained one container and not the other. The paper towel of the strained one was drenched although there was no liquid in the bowl under the sieve, and the yogurt was not as wet - but for this particular dish I'm not sure if it is necessary.

Deb

 
Thanks Deb, that is the brand that is available to me. I actually have

a yogurt drainer that I use to drain the yogurt. I can't wait to make this.

 
Excellent... I'm trying to stop my father-in-law from making tzatziki with whipping cream... Oh,

the humanity.... I can't even look at his version anymore. It's like a heart attack on a spoon.

I think I'll make a batch of the Contessa's version and just let him stumble on it.... smileys/wink.gif






Smetana's Glasses

 
I use this recipe too. Sometimes I sub un-strained Greek yogurt for the...

...sour cream and use strained Greek yogurt for the yogurt part. I get both at Trader Joe's.

Excellent stuff, and thick and creamy. Absolutely fantastic with Jeff Smith's Souvlaki recipe.

Coincidentally, I have this meal planned for later this week, along with grilled pita and Greek Rice. Woohoo!!!

Michael

 
Michael, could you post your Greek Rice recipe? smileys/smile.gif Sounds like a great menu!

 
Gooood schtuff.....I make this rice dish allllll the time, with simple

variations now and then. One of my all time favorites. Thanks, Michael for sharing it.

edited to add...

sometimes I stir in a tbsp or more of black olive tapenade.

another time, in place of spinach, I added shreds of arugula and chopped fresh tomato.

 
Souvlaki recipe?

Can you post the souvlaki recipe or a link to it. Google didn't turn up Jeff Smith's. Thanks.

 
Do you have Jeff Smith's recipe for Gyros? Unless I am mixing them up.

It used a boneless leg of lamb that you marinated overnight in olive oil, oregano, garlic and other ingredients I cannot remember. Then you grill it and slice it thin and serve in pita bread. I do not care for lamb at all, and I even liked this. If you have it, could you just post the recipe ingredients? Thanks!

 
If you've got a Middle Eastern market in your area....you can find Labne, which would also be good

I'm absolutely smitten with Labne. It's like the Fage except its got a slight bit more tang (and it's less expensive). I use it often and my favorite application is to spread it on a crostini with chopped tomatoes and little pepper. Squirt of lemon and a pass of olive oli. YUM. Or sometimes I use lemon pepper.

Here's a technique for making your own Labne..and a great sounding recipe.

http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/EGGSandCHEESE/ShangleshLabne_-_dairy.html

 
REC: (and FRC) Evelyn, Jeff and Michael's Souvlaki

(This is a re-post of a post I wrote over on Epi a few years back. I have updated it today, since recipes do change over time.)

Evelyn from Athens posted her version of souvlaki (Greek grilled meat on skewers) awhile back, and eloquently gave us all a view of life in Athens, a magnificent place to visit, to eat the food, and enjoy the antiquity and the truly friendly and welcoming Greek people. When I was 19 I did the Europe-backpack thing, and spent some time in Athens, as well as on the Island of Crete. Our time there was truly the highlight of our 3 month trip.

While on Crete, we stayed in a small fishing village on the less-touristy southern coast. Each little hotel along the beach/fishing boat landing had a kitchen and a few tables on the boardwalk. They served, among other wonderful peasant food, these delicious shish-kebabs. You could get marinated lamb or pork, and the flavor was truly memorable.

In my search to reproduce this delicacy, I came across a recipe from Jeff Smith's companion-to-his-PBS-series "The Frugal Gourmet" cookbook. It was good, but not exactly what I wanted. Then I saw Evelyn's recipe here on the swap (20 years later!). She got me all worked up again, and I have been tinkering with Jeff Smith's recipe and hers, along with my own tweaks.

I like the result a lot:

Evelyn, Jeff, and Michael's Souvlaki

3 lbs. (approx.) boneless lamb, pork or chicken (Boneless leg of lamb or boneless pork shoulder or Boston Butt roast works well. Boneless/skinless chicken breasts are good too!)

1 cup e.v. olive oil
8 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
Juice of 1 large or 2 medium lemons
1/4 cup Low Salt soy sauce (Kikkoman is good)
2 tbsp. Greek oregano
1 tbsp. freshly ground pepper (or less, to taste)
2 large onions, quartered, then cut into eighths
2 large (or three medium) green bell peppers, cut into eighths

Cube meat into large-ish 1 1/2 inch pieces, trimming visible fat and connective tissue as you go.

Combine marinade ingredients and wisk to emulsify.

Place meat, onions and bell peppers in a large ziplock bag or non-reactive pan and add marinade. Place in fridge for at least 8 hours, overnight is best, turning the bag whenever you think about it.

Thread meat onto (metal) skewers and grill over hot coals until browned on all sides.

Enjoy!

NOTES: I usually start out with about a 4-lb roast, and get approximately 3 to 3 1/2 lbs of cubed, trimmed meat. I have used boneless pork loin (whole, in the bag, on sale at the market!). With pork loin you have to be extra careful not to over-cook, as it dries out much quicker.

This marinade is also fantastic with cubed boneless chicken breasts.

Please juice fresh lemons. The bottled stuff is horrid, and won't get you there.

Greek oregano is definitely different from Mexican oregano. Try to get it.

The addition of lite soy (low salt soy) is from Jeff Smith's recipe. It's obviously not authentic, but it does add a terrific dimension to the flavor of the end product, and I won't make them without it! Kikkoman lite soy is my favorite. Please don't use La Choy, or some other chemical-tasting brand. Lite soy has less salt, and if you use regular soy, the dish may be too salty.

I usually grill vegetables along with this dish, and serve them with the meat and some grilled soft pita bread that I get from a local middle-eastern deli. Jeff Smith's recipe calls for green bell peppers and onions to be marinated along with the meat, then put on the skewers. I get a little nervous with this, as the veggies are in the same bag with raw meat, and I don't feel 100% confident that the veggies will get heated properly to keep the chance of food- bourne illness down. So, what I usually do is make a double batch of marinade and double the amount of onions and peppers. Then I marinate the meat with half the onions and peppers and discard them with the used marinade. I marinate the extra onions and peppers in a separate zip-lock bag and grill those along with the meat. You can also use the extra batch of marinade to brush on thick-sliced onions and peppers. Either way works well.

We serve this with yogurt sauce, crumbled feta cheese and a simple Greek salad.

Have fun!!

Michael

 
I looked through my cookbooks

for my Jeff Smith cookbooks and noticed I am missing cookbooks from the move, including all of his. Accckkkkkk. I will check the library to see if they have any of his cookbooks. Thanks Michael, your souvlaki looks like a great alternative.

 
Dawn, I have most of his including the Three Ancient Cuisines and I don't see Gryros >>

in the index, would it have another name? I'll look again under lamb.

 
I am almost positive it was gyros,

it was from his show, so maybe it wasn't in his cookbooks, but I thought he was promoting his cookbooks by making his recipes on his television program. Thanks for checking for me!

 
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