Tzatziki

In my last post I mentioned that my New Year’s get-together is an all-day, all-hors d’oeuvre event. A dairy fest and, several hours later, a meat-fest followed, several hours later by dessert.

Some of the tidbits I serve are homemade, some not, some fancy, others plain, some elaborate, some easy.

This one is amazingly easy and you can to make it ahead, in fact, you have to make it ahead. It’s refreshing, looks pretty and fits in perfectly with some of the other stuff I’m thinking of serving: Herbed Feta Cheese with Sundried Tomatoes and Olives, Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Rollups, Herb and Cheese Gougeres (Choux Puffs), Fresh Tomato Puff Pastry Pizzas.

Happy New Year everyone.

Tzatziki (Cacik)

• 3 cups thick, Greek style non-fat yogurt

• 3 medium cucumbers

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 tablespoons olive oil

Place a double layer of cheesecloth in a strainer. Spoon the yogurt into the lined strainer and set it over a bowl. Let rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Place the yogurt in a bowl (discard the liquid that has accumulated in the bowl). Peel the cucumbers and cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop and discard the seeds. Grate the cucumber in a food processor or by hand. Strain the cucumber through a sieve, pressing down to extract as much liquid as possible. When the yogurt is ready, stir in the cucumbers, garlic, mint, dill, salt, lemon juice and olive oil.  Stir to blend all the ingredients thoroughly. 

Makes about 4 cups, serving 10-12 people.

Tdaziki

I don’t eat potato chips anymore because they’re a “trigger food” for me. That’s a term I learned from Dr. Stephen Gullo, a psychologist who is also an expert on weight management. I interviewed him once for an article on “how to control your weight during the holiday season.” 

He more or less said that trigger foods are the ones that you eat, and eat and eat and eat and also stimulate you to eat other food in addition to the trigger food, so you wind up eating more than you should or even want to. Trigger foods are different for each person.

For me it’s potato chips. I could eat an entire 7-ounce bag. In fact, I have. 

It’s not totally bad though because I am fussy about brand. I won’t eat just any potato chips. 

When I’m in a supermarket I run down the potato chip aisle so I won’t be tempted. Unfortunately, about a year ago my local Stop&Shop had 7-ounce bags of Lay’s on sale for 10/$10. It was too good to pass up, so I bought 2 bags and well, you know what happened. It’s just my husband and me in the house and he doesn’t eat potato chips.

But this coming Sunday night at my annual Dinner-at-the-Oscars for my brother and sister-in-law, I will not serve chip-and-dip. We get together during the afternoon and they stay until the award ceremony is over. That means some snacking when they come, dinner at 7 o’clock-ish.

This year during the afternoon I’ll be serving Tdaziki, a yogurt dip that I make with Chobani nonfat plain yogurt, which is so thick, rich and delicious that it’s almost hard to believe it really is what it says it is.

Tdaziki has grated cucumbers plus fresh dill and mint, so it is truly refreshing and bursting with flavor, making it the perfect dip for cut up vegetables, chunks of crusty Italian bread, pretzels and (gasp) even potato chips.

The recipe is from my book, Hip Kosher. Try it. You’ll like it. And I know that yogurt dip probably isn’t a bad trigger food for anyone. 

Tdaziki

• 3 cups thick, Greek-style nonfat yogurt
• 3 medium cucumbers
• 1 large clove garlic, mashed
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Place a double layer of cheesecloth in a strainer. Spoon the yogurt into the lined strainer and set it over a bowl. Let rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Place the yogurt in a bowl (discard the liquid that has accumulated in the bowl). Peel the cucumbers and cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop and discard the seeds. Grate the cucumber in a food processor or by hand. Press the cucumber in a sieve, pressing down to extract as much liquid as possible. When the yogurt is ready, stir in the cucumbers, garlic, mint, dill, salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Stir to blend ingredients thoroughly.

Makes one quart, serving 10-12 people

Menu for World Cup Watching

Great food for World Cup Watching. June 13th games include:

Slovenia v. Algeria

Germany v. Australia

Serbia v. Ghana

If you’re entertaining fans at home here is a menu and some recipes for you.

Put some shrimps on the ‘barbie for the Australian team.

For the Slovenian team grill some kielbasa until it’s crisp, put it on a hot dog roll and top it off with a hunk of hot sauerkraut.

Hey fans of Serbia, try some Cevapici, which are mixed meat burgers (you can make them into sausage shapes), serve them on pita bread with a blob of Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce (see recipe below).

Slice sweet potatoes and fry them until they’re crispy, then sprinkle with cinnamon. That’s another good side dish that fans of the team from Ghana will enjoy.

Couscous with Dates, Raisins and Toasted Almonds is another delicious dish that would be terrific for fans of the Algerian team (see recipe below).

Beer, beer, great, cold German beer for the German team.

Have fun everyone!

Cevapici

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground lamb

1 small grated onion

2 large eggs

3 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped

salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Pita Bread

Yogurt Dip

Combine the pork, beef and lamb in a bowl. Add the onion, eggs, garlic and salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Shape into patties or sausage shapes. Refrigerate for one hour. Preheat and outdoor grill or oven broiler (you can also fry these in a saute pan or grill pan). Grill, turning occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until completely cooked through and crispy. Serve on top of pita bread with yogurt sauce. Makes 8-10 servings

Yogurt Dip

2 cups Greek style plain yogurt

1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and grated

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Makes about 2 cups

Couscous with Dates, Raisins and Toasted Almonds

2 cups water

1 cup quick cooking couscous

1/2 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

1/4 cup raisins

2-3 chopped scallions

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

2 tablespoons olive oil

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Slowly pour in the couscous, stir, cover the pan and turn off the heat. Let rest for 5 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Spoon the couscous into a bowl. Add the dates, almonds, raisins, scallions, orange peel and olive oil. Stir. Let cool to room temperature and serve. Makes 4-6 servings

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