17 November 2008

Lamb Souvlaki

"Show me another pleasure like dinner 
which comes every day and lasts an hour." 
- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat (1754-1838)


This evening's repast: Lamb Souvlaki, Greek salad, fresh made tzatziki, fresh made tyrokavteri, Trader Joe's hummus, Retsina wine.

I'd been marinating the lamb cubes since yesterday afternoon: olive oil, diced red onion, crushed garlic, fresh rosemary & thyme, a bay leaf, lemon juice, lemon zest, sea salt, ground pepper. Skewered them and roasted them on the grill so that they had a bit of char on the outside but were still quite rare inside.

Bought some Greek yogurt and mixed it together with some lemon juice, crushed garlic, English cucumber, a bit of dill, pinch of salt to fold together for the tzatziki.

To make the tyrokavteri I put some roasted red peppers into the food processor along with fresh Feta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, one jalapeno, and pureed until smooth & creamy. (I just realized I hadn't taken a picture of... which is fine, because it somewhat resembles pink hummus.)

The Trader Joe's hummus is so good, I decided not to concoct that particular dip tonight. They didn't let us down - a great hummus (for store-bought).

A fresh made Greek salad (a bit of Romaine, chopped green pepper, red pepper, red onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, and Kalamata olives, Feta, sea salt & ground pepper) and sesame pita rounded out the meal. 

Topped it off with a few glasses of Retsina - a special, resinated Greek wine that can only be made in certain areas of Greece, to the established recipe which goes back to the traditions of 5000 years ago. They used to store this wine in vessels sealed with pine resin. The wine picked up a bit of the distinctive flavor of the resin and voila, Retsina. A unique and wonderful taste addition to a great dinner. Takes me back to Ios... the only thing missing was dolmathes. Next time.
KJT - Seattle (2008)

2 comments:

cae said...

Okay, that's it. I'm moving in.

Anonymous said...

Well, last night I labored over creating a dinner themed: "Pig in a Blanket". First, I preheated the oven to 375, then, I opened a pkg of Pillsbury crescent rolls and carefully unfolded the dough. Next, I wrapped two sections of unfolded dough around a KOSHER frankfurter (that's German for hot dog). I placed the wrapped frankfurter's on an ungreased cookie sheet and baked at 375 for approx. 13 min. (Tip: I suggest Grey Poupon white wine dijon mustard and Emeril's Kicked Up Horsradish Mustard for dipping.) We enjoyed this fine meal with cheap red wine (I believe it was a California pinot).