The Greek Food

Category: Salads

  • Bouyourdi greek meze

    Bouyourdi greek meze

    Talking about the greek cuisine you will always hear different main dishes that are well known around the world. Many people have tried Mousaka, or the Greek bean soup –Fasolada or the Stuffed Tomatoes known as Gemista.

    Nevertheless I always remember my father saying that more than a nice dish he prefers to have a lot “mezedes”  in front of him where he can choose a small portion from different plates rather than one big one. That’s the meaning also of “mezes” a selection of small dishes served as breakfast, lunch or even dinner, with or without drinks but to ideally with Ouzo!

    Well, that’s the purpose of the following dish also. Ideally is served together with other small plates as a meze, but I guess you can also have it as a side dish or starter. Either way it doesn’t matter, I think the combination of tomato, feta cheese and hot peppers is ideal.

    Its name is Bouyourdi which basically is a Turkish word (buyruk) and means order or command. Which made me realise from where the phrase “Did the bouyourdi from the Tax Office came to you?” that we are saying in Greece originally came from…

    That is your Bouyourdi for today!

    Ingredients

    • 300gr feta cheese
    • 3-4 slices of tomato
    • Oregano
    • 1 small green pepper cut in small pieces
    • 1 small chilli pepper sliced
    • A small cup of Olive Oil
    Bouyourdi greek meze
    Bouyourdi is ready and hot. Feta is melting..

    Method

    Place the feta in a small round dish that you can put to the oven Spread the chilli peppers on top Then continue by spreading the tomatoes, as many as needed in order to cover the Feta.

    Add the green pepper and pour the olive oil to go everywhere. Sprinkle with oregano.

    Cook it in a moderate oven for around 15 minutes more or less. You will need to check that the feta cheese starts to melt or the peppers become a little bit brownish.

    Enjoy together with a cold glass of Ouzo 🙂

    Tip: So if you want to experience what a typical meal with various “Mezedes” could be in Greece, try to do the following. Rather than cooking one big dish, cook bouyourdi, then have Tzatziki , together with some shrimps Saganaki? , some bread, ofcourse Greek Salad , and maybe Pickles if you have. Put all the dishes in the middle and start eating a bit from everything together with Ouzo.  Proper Greece!

     

  • Tyrokafteri sauce – easy to make, delicious to taste

    Tyrokafteri sauce – easy to make, delicious to taste

    Ok, ok, lets be serious…you know it…I know it…we all know it! There has been at least one time in your life where you have been alone in the house and had some food and the only thing you wanted was a kind of sauce… something to dip.

    Just anything! But you didn’t…. L

    Ok ok caaaaaaaaalm down…that’s why we are here! That’s what we are going to do….we are going to save the moment …once again!

    The following is recipe for a sauce called Tyrokafteri. The direct translation to that is…hmmm…I guess spice cheese.  To be honest you will see it with different names across the web but …for now let’s settle with that…tyrokafteri or…greek spice cheese dip.

     

    Tyrokafteri Ingredients

    • 250gr of Greek Yogurt
    • 2 roasted sweet peppers
    • 1 green pepper
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 1 teaspoon of olive oil
    • 250 gr of Feta Cheese
    • 1/2  tea spoon of paprika
    • 1/2  tea spoon of oregano
    • 1 tea spoon of vinegar
    • 1 chilli pepper sliced (or more if you want)

    The process is really simple to be honest. Just mix everything on the mixer and serve. Ideally you can add more ingredients depending on your taste.

    As I said those may vary in different areas of Greece or in the Balkans also. Despite that, those are the basic ones for a quite good amount of tyrokafter

    How to make tyrokafteri?

    Make sure that it has a creamy look and serve it with…more or less everything you want. Ideally as you put the ingredients you want to keep tasting it so you are sure that it doesn’t become too much or less spicy for your likings.

    Usually tyrokatferi was a typical dip when I was going to my grandmother and had any meat related food… but you can easily use it as a dip with chips or just pita bread. Well, i hope you will like it….but if you dont! There is always tzatziki !

    Enjoy!

    p.s. try adding yogurt or tobasco ..the variations as always dont have any limit..but the basic ingredients are those.

  • Pickle Recipe (toursi): How to make your own traditional pickles

    Pickle Recipe (toursi): How to make your own traditional pickles

    One of the best things that you can have a side dish is pickles or  “toursi/τουρσί” as it is being called in Greek. You know about and you see them more or less every time on the super markets.

    I always used to have toursi at home because my father used to make it in a bowl by himself. Its not difficult to make and its really enjoyable and tasty.

    There are different kind of pickles depending where you are coming from, for example in USA and Canada they like to do cucumbers, while in Greece , Turkey and generally the Arabic countries I think we are more on green peppers and other vegetables.

    The process is basically really simple, you leave all the vegetables in a lot of vinegar and let it the vegetables receive it for some days.  But who am I to talk about those old and traditional recipes.

    Well, recently we got my father as a present a laptop so we can communicate a little bit more easily, and as a first job I made him write the recipe about toursi …the pickles recipe.  So here it is in his own style…the recipe for pickles as my father send it in his first email to me… 😀 (obviously translated…)

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B8XTCS3BKjH/

    How to make Pickles – Toursi

    • 600 to 700 grams of green peppers
    • Apple vinegar (portion depends on the size of your bowl)
    • Water
    • Pepper/Salt
    • Ginger

    We can replace them with other vegetable or put them all together if we have space.

    For example cauliflower, cabbage etc.

    • CAULIFLOWER. Wash and cut it and add it in the jar
    • CABBAGE. Cut the leaves Wash and cut it more or less as our palm
    • BULBS. Small onions like the ones we use for the stew, just clean them and add them inside .
    • GHERKINS. If you find small  (approximately 10cm)  add them inside. Only clean the top and the bottom place. After 5-6 days remove them and cut them in fat slices like in the salad. Add a little olive oil and eat them.

    Lets see now how can we make it.

    • Rinse all your vegetables and place all the vegetables in a bowl, add the salt and toss well. Allow to steep for 4 hours.
    • Squeeze excess liquid in batches with your hands and place in other bowl with enough vinegar to cover the half of the bowl and add water in the rest.
    • Throw in the pepper and a slice of Ginger. Close the lid and shake to make sure it goes everywhere.
    • Open up again and add a teaspoon of olive oil.
    • Close the lid and seal it for 7 days. Afterwards it should be ready to taste.

    Seal with lids and place in fridge. Keeps well for 6 weeks.

  • Lentil Salad

    Lentil Salad

    Lately I am trying to find more ways to cook healthy foods which I can take for my work lunch and the following was made for that exact reason.  Lentils were something that I missed lately but doing a soup, during summertime wasn’t exactly my thing.

    So I decided to see what else can we do with lentils, and I did..

    It’s a pretty famous dish to be honest in Greece and many Middle Eastern countries with different variations, and i have played around with lentils in a salad many times in the past. I like them as an ingredient as they can be used in various ways as i am recently learning.

    In addition to that they can be really fulfilling. So…fulfilling, tasty (well…at least i liked it :$ ) , healthy (not a doctor but i think it is healthy) and traditional …Middle East food . 🙂

    Ingredients

    • 300gr of lentils
    • Around 10-13 cherry tomatoes
    • 1 big green pepper chopped
    • 4-5 sping onions chopped
    • 3-4 teaspoons of olive oil
    • 1-2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard
    • 1 bay leave
    • salt and pepper
    • 1-2 teaspoons of vinegar

    Lentil Salad

    In a big pot we prepare the lentils as we would when we are making the lentil soup. Add the bay leave,  a bit of olive oil and let them boil for  45 mins.

    Drain them and let it cool down

    Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and add them in a big bowl, add the lentils when they have cooled down and then the chopped spring onions and all the other ingredients including the mustard.  Be careful with the quantities of the vinegar so make sure you taste and add a bit more if necessary.

    Use your hands and mix them to go around!

    Put the bowl to the fridge and leave it over there for 15-20 minutes and… it is ready!

     

  • Greek traditional Tzatziki recipe

    Greek traditional Tzatziki recipe

    Every time when they are talking about Greece there are some things that stand out. Of course it’s the fact about the economy and the Parthenon…bla bla bla…but one thing that really makes the difference is Ouzo and Tzatziki.

    Well, even if Tzatziki is not my specialty (my brothers is) , this is a classic recipe about making a traditional Greek tzatziki as a side dish , salad.

    Additionally, it is one of the main ingredients of the Greek Souvlaki  that you can find on practically any corner in Greece. Now the problem you might face with that is that it has a lot of garlic..

    So essentially, if you are going to a nice dinner party or you going out with your girlfriend/boyfriend maybe that is not the best sauce to go. On the other hand tzatziki is ideal when you are with friends and refreshing as any other time you eat yogurt.

    You dont need any equipment to do it or cooking, you just need to devote 15 minutes of your time for tzatziki.

    Here we go.

    INGREDIENTS FOR TZATZIKI SAUCE

    • 3 cups Greek yogurt (around 350gr)
    • 2-3 garlic clove, minced
    • 1 large English cucumber, diced (the long, skinny ones)
    • 1 tablespoon salt (for salting cucumbers)
    • 1 tablespoon fresh dill (or both, depending on preference) or 1 tablespoon of fresh mint, chopped (or both, depending on preference)

     

    HOW TO MAKE TZATZIKI

    In food processor or blender, add cucumbers, garlic, dill and/or mint, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, then stir into yogurt.

    Taste before adding any extra salt, then add salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend.

    Serve your tzatziki together with warm bread to make your grilled meat lunch even better!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2cc_4apFSo