Sunday, January 31, 2010

Greek Night at Handcrafted Carolyn's House!

Last night I made dinner kind of late, but that was because I was busy editing photos for yesterday's FOYD and the previous post pics, too.  :)  


I made Tzatziki, Greek Chicken, Garlic-Parmesean Potatoes and Apple/Pear Crisp.


Tzatziki:


1.5 cups Greek Yogurt (or Plain unsweetened, low fat yogurt that has been drained overnight, use good quality paper towels, or cheesecloth)
1 largeish Cucumber
2 cloves garlic
Juice from 1/2 large lemon
Generous amounts of Salt-Free It's A Dilly, and Greek Seasoning.
(If I had had money to buy spices for this, I would have simply bought fresh dill and fresh mint)
Pinch of Rosemary Salt
(If you are feeling adventurous, get some Kalamata olives, mince them up finely and use half the traditional tzatziki to make an olive-y one. My boyfriend REALLY liked this one!)


My friend Betsey says:  Just throw it all into the food processor and you're good to go.
However, I don't have a food processor, so I just chopped/minced everything up, then added everything together (in the container I was planning to store it in), stirring with a spoon.  The longer you refrigerate it, the more garlic-y it will get.  At my house, that is a plus, we LOVE garlic.  (Couldn't you tell?)


Greek Chicken: (adapted from this recipe)
2 Chicken Breasts, cut in half (NOT lengthwise)
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp Dill
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
Juice from 1/2 a large lemon
Feta Cheese


Mix everything EXCEPT Feta Cheese together in a container with a lid.  Refrigerate for about 30 mins, or more depending on what else you are making. (I marinated mine for about 45 mins because I was making the forthcoming potatoes while it marinated.)


Here is the Garlic Potatoes Recipe from Karen Gaudette, as give to my via twitter:


"2 lbs red potatoes 1/4ed, 1/4 cup butter melted, 2 minced garlic cloves, tsp salt, juice o 1 lemon, tbsp parm cheese.  Put tatos in baking dish. Combine butter et al, pour & stir to coat. Bake covered 4 30 min, then addtl 30 or til done"


Mine was a little different, but here goes:


3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into roughly 1"x1" pieces
2 finely minced cloves of garlic
1/4 c parmesean cheese (I just used the rest of what was in the baggie)
2 tbsp (roughly) extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp rosemary salt
1 tsp lemon juice (from a plastic lemon, since I only had 1 lemon, I used it in the first two)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Put potatoes into baking dish. (check!)  Mix together the rest of the stuffs, pour over potatoes, mix well.  (check, check, check!)  Bake for roughly 35-45 mins.  Or until potatoes are fork tender. 




Apple/Pear Crisp


Filling:
2 pears, cored, peeled if you want (I like the skins, plus more fiber!)
3 apples, cored, peeled if you want (see above!)^
2 tbsp. whole wheat Flour

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 c Agave Nectar
2 tbsp Apple Juice
2 tbsp Orange Juice

Topping:

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c Agave Nectar

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Cinnamon1/2 to 3/4 cup  cold cubed butter

1.5 cups oats

2 tbsp. whole wheat Flour


Preheat Oven to 350 degree F.


Slather/Schmear the baking dish of your choice with butter/shortening/Pam cooking spray.  I personally just rub the end of the butter all over the bottom.  Also, I used an oblong pan, I might say about 10"x7".  Some recipes call for a deep 9" pie dish.  Whatever you have that can fit that much fruit in it should be good.


Cut fruit into thin slices (about 1/4" or so).  Remove cores and skins if you like.  I am too lazy, plus there is good stuff in the skins, so I leave them on.  Just make sure you wash the fruit well first if you are leaving the skins on.  


Put fruit into a large bowl along with all the other stuff under the heading "Filling."  Toss to coat everything evenly.  You may wish to taste the filling, to see if is sweet enough for you.  The topping is plenty sweet, so you may not want as sweet of a filling.  Then, dump filling into greased baking dish, and make sure the filling is evenly distributed. 


Next, I used the same big bowl I just emptied to make the topping.  No sense in letting those flavors still in the bowl go to waste!  You should use a pastry cutter to do this step, but I used a fork, because I don't have a pastry cutter.  All topping ingredients go into the bowl and you begin to cut everything together.  


It should turn out crumbly, but when you squeeze some in your hand, it should stick together.  I used 1 cup of butter and it turned out like oatmeal cookie dough, which was awesome, so I went with it.  If it seems too squishy, you can add more oats.  Or just pretend you meant to make it with a cookie-like topping.  


Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Then, turn on your broiler and crisp the top for a few minutes, just until it starts to brown nicely.  If you have a semi-fancy oven like me, use the "Lo Broil" setting.  If not, just keep an eye on it the ENTIRE time it is under there.  








Viola, you have recreated my Saturday night meal.  :)  Enjoy!  If you decide to use these recipes, please let me know how they came out!  Problems?  Let me know! I can try to help you problem solve.  

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the Tzatziki shout out! Nom. We gotta get you a food processor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. No problem, I have to give credit where credit is due. I kind of like a chunky tzatziki though so it worked out. :)

    ReplyDelete

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