Tag: greek

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A Greek Breakfast- Feta and Sundried Tomato Egg Skillet with Honey and Walnut topped Greek Yogurt

To top off our week in Greece I made a Greek breakfast spread. Ian often had Greek yogurt with walnuts and honey on his vacation along with other traditional foods such as fruits, pastries, and eggs. To pair with the yogurt and accruements I made a Greek inspired scramble with sundried tomatoes, feta, and some herbs.

It was simple, quick, and delicious although the addition of spinach would have brought the eggs to another level. I liked that this breakfast was not only easy, but had several foods that are often staples of the kitchen (at least my kitchen). The point being you don’t have to buy expensive or fancy ingredients to make a meal that perfectly represents a country. I have been spending more money on groceries lately with uncommon ingredients so I decided to take a step back and keep it simple for this bonus recipe.

With my Greek egg creation being so simple I don’t feel it needs a written recipe- add the desired eggs (fried or scrambled), fresh or sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, herbs (oregano and parsley is what I used), salt, pepper, and paprika. If you discover a Greek-inspired egg scramble combination that worked well for you let us know in the comments below!

Next we head to a US territory for a twist on an American classic!

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Greece Day 4 – Ian’s Gyro (Tzatziki recipe included)

For our final meal of the week we had a classic street foot of Greece- the Gyro. Pronounced like “yee-roh” (Greek for spin) this savory wrap is traditionally filled with a grilled meat (lamb or beef), tzatziki sauce, sliced tomato, and red onion wrapped inside pita bread. The sandwich did not become mass produced like it is now until the 1970s as American tourism quickly made it a fast food. It is now popular in the US especially in New York City.

It does originate from Greece, however it is believed to be very similar to the Turkish döner kebabs. The term gyro refers to the method the meat is traditionally cooked, rotating vertically on a spit. The Turkish kebabs are cooked in a similar fashion and alike ingredients. We were unable to achieve that, however we broke out our little Colman grill and got the job done. We used sirloin tips for our meat of choice, yum!

As for the tzatziki sauce it is a refreshing combination of Greek yogurt (make sure its plain!), shredded cucumber, lemon juice, and herbs. This sauce can be found in cuisine along the Balkans and the Middle East along with Greece with slightly different preparations. We were glad to use our nifty shredding attachment to make this step even more of a breeze!

This meal wasn’t new to us, but that wasn’t going to stop us from making it one of our four. We loved the tender meat with the cooling tzatziki and fresh vegetables. Our only downfall (slight) was the naan bread since I could not find pita bread anywhere! The naan made it VERY filling, but nonetheless it is one of our favorite dinners to make. With that said we rated it 9.5/10 (10/10 with pita). We hope you enjoy Ian’s recipes just as much as we do!

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Greece Day 3 – Garides tou Fournou

For our third day in Greece Ian made another recipe from Kokkari: Contemporary Greek Flavors. He has great understanding of Greek food from his experience as a line cook in a Greek-Italian restaurant and is part Greek himself. For those reasons that is why we decided to spend a week here – what a rough decision!

Ian and his family enjoying the ocean views

With Greece’s vast coastline and numerous islands it makes sense why seafood is a staple of their cuisine. Garides tou fournou roughly translates to baked shrimp and honors the delicious crustacean. Other common seafood that is used widely in Greek cuisine include sardines, squid, anchovies, smelt, mackerel, and bogue. It is not uncommon to find other varieties of seafood on the plate since this country is all about fresh ingredients. In this dish you will find shrimp that are topped with a flavorful shell-infused stock/tomato sauce and a healthy amount of feta. Yum yum!

The additional of dill to the sauce took me by surprise at first, but remembering our track record of dill and seafood pairing I knew it was going to be good. Thinking back to Libya as well we discovered the beautiful combination of dill, cinnamon, and tomatoes. You never know what unique pairings you are going to find by traveling by taste bud!

All aspects of the preparation and cooking was straightforward and easy to follow. The ingredients can easily be found in most grocery stores and it did not take long to finish. Making your own seafood stock is simple and a great way to save a little moolah. I don’t know why I had never thought to do that before..

We really enjoyed this meal and thought the addition of orzo was a must. Cooking the shrimp at a higher temperature allowed for a wonderful crust to form and give the dish a nice contrasting texture. Feta being incorporated in the sauce and garnished on top gave the sweet sauce a punch of saltiness (don’t go overboard adding salt to the dish!).

We loved this elevated shrimp dish and rated it 8.5/10. We give props to the orzo as well since this dish would be incomplete without it. If you don’t like shrimp you might be able to get away with scallops- let us know how that goes of course! If you still feel it needs more try pairing it with a fresh salad and a glass of your favorite white wine. Onto the last meal in Greece!

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Greece Day 2 – Soupa Avgolemono

Welcome to another day in Greece, today we will be making a refreshingly light soup that is great on a warm summer day or when you need a pick me up. This dish is dominated by the taste of lemon and dill.

This citrusy soup is a lesser known Greek classic and is believed to have made its way there with the Sephardic Jews. This ethnic group originating from the Iberian Peninsula has a cuisine that consists of stuffed vegetables, salads, fruits, nuts, herbs, lentils and chickpeas (to name a few). It was originally made with pomegranate or orange juice, but with the popularization of lemon juice in the 10th century it is now the preferred fruit juice.

Ian felt this recipe was straight forward, however there was a crucial part that you want to pay attention to. It was important to whisk the hot broth and egg/lemon juice mixture constantly to avoid cooking the egg. It is also the same method when adding it back into the remaining soup.

We thought the soup was unique compared to others we have made and enjoyed how the lemon and dill made it lighter and refreshing. We would have liked more rice than what was asked for since a 1/4 cup was not much.

If you prefer fish over chicken, a similar recipe we have cooked in the past called Lohikeitto might be the soup for you!

We did enjoy the Finnish lemon and dill soup a little more than this one. The rating we gave it was 7/10.

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(51) Greece Day 1 – Moussaka

Ya sou! Welcome to Greece, a stunning European country not only known for the white buildings and Greek mythology, but as the cradle of western civilization. It’s capital Athens is over 3,400 years old and is where democracy was born. It has an impressive 9,942 miles of coastline and over 6,000 islands. Ian was fortunate enough to visit Greece and all its beauty in the fall of 2019. He will be making three Greek dishes later on this week.. as for me I will be starting with the traditional moussaka!

Santorini, Greece. Source: Loveexploring.com

Moussaka is a classic Greek dish that is mostly made up of eggplant, potatoes, meat sauce and béchamel sauce. Most of us think of Greece when we think of this meal, however it is believed that it was created by Arabs which stars eggplant a vegetable they introduced to Europe. Moussaka is eaten by many throughout the Middle East and is prepared similar.

Nikos Tselementes, a Greek chef who was well educated on French cooking, decided to give the Middle Eastern dish some European flare by adding béchamel sauce. This is when the traditional Greek moussaka was born!

Béchamel sauce is at its core combination of a roux (butter and flour) and milk. To prepare the sauce in today’s dish 2 eggs and parmesan cheese were additions. The recipe I used can be found here.

To prepare the moussaka I layered a thin layer of béchamel sauce, potatoes, eggplant, the red meat sauce, and the remaining béchamel sauce with a healthy 😉 about of parmesan on top!

This meal was successful and very hearty. I would consider it a Greek “comfort food” with the sauces and potatoes. I loved the combination of both sauces. It was my first time eating it and I was not disappointed! We rated it 8/10.

Our next dish is a refreshing lemon soup that is light enough for a summer time gathering. Stay tuned 👀