The Cook Book Challenge - Week 5 : Greek

Week 5 : Greek

Recipe : Lamb Souvlaki with Flat breads and Tzatziki

Cook Book : Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes and Ainsley Harriott's Gourmet Express

This week's challenge was a litle difficult.  For some reason, out of all the cookbooks I own, I don't really have many Greek recipes.... hmmm.  Maybe I should get one of George's books??   After searching for a while I came across a dish I wanted to make for the challenge.  Truth be told, I doubt that I would have tried this recipe if it wasn't for this challenge.  However, I'm happy to say that I'm so glad I did because it was simply delicious and it may even make it into our weekday rotation.

I made this early in the week as I knew I had a busy week ahead and wouldn't have any time to make it.  I'm also glad that I made all components of this recipe including the flatbread.  It would have been easier to go out and buy it but I wanted to have the homemade experience for hubby.  Besides I love baking bread and would love to practice and gain the experience.  On the whole, the dish was absolutely a pleasure to cook and of course, eat.

Mama Tahsia's Tzatziki.

1/2 cucumber

200g Greek Yoghurt

4 tbls chopped fresh mint

2 garlic cloves, crushed

pinch of dried oregano

pinch of caster sugar

juice of 1 lime

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the cucumber in half, length ways and remove the seeds.  Grate the cucumber into a sieve set over a bowl.  Squeeze out any excess water by pressing the cucumber down into the sieve and transfer to a bowl.  Add the yogurt, mint, garlic, oregano, caster sugar and lime juice.  Season to taste and chill until ready.

Lamb Souvlaki.

2 kg boned shoulder of lamb

1 tbls dried oregano

juice of 1 large lemon

150ml extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Cut the lamb into cubes and place in to a bowl with the oregano, lemon juice, olive oil, 2 tsp salt and some black pepper and leave to marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.

Thread about 5 pieces of meat onto sskewers and on top of the stove or on the barbecue for 6 minutes, turning them 2-3 times during cooking. Cook in batches if necessary.  Transfer to a serving platter and keep warm while you cook the remainder.

Flatbreads .

350g bread flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp easy blend yeast

2 tbls extra virgin olive oil.

Sift the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl and make a well in the center.  Add 250ml warm water and olive oil and mix together to make a soft dough.  Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.  Put back into a bowl, covre and leave somewhere warm for about 1 hour until doubled in size.

Punch back the dough, turn it out onto a ligtly floured surface and knead once more until smooth.  Divide into 8 pieces and roll each one into a ball.  Cover and leave to rise for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 240deg.  Working with one ball of dough at a time, roll it out flat until it is about 22 cm across.  Place it on a greased baking sheet, spray lightly with a little water and bake for 2-3 minutes.  Keep warm in a tea towel.  Repeat for the rest of the bread.

Week 5 challenge, here I come.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie