Wild garlic tzatziki

Since we started talking about wild garlic and those flaky flatbreads on my last post, let’s now move on to the serious stuff. Let’s talk about tzatziki; wild garlic tzatziki.

For those of you who don’t know what tzatziki is, it is a Greek sauce/dip that’s served alongside all sorts of meats and fish, as a mezes together with other small plates to dip your bread, pita or crunchy, fried vegetables in, and it is an integral part of souvlaki.

It is made with thick Greek yoghurt, garlic, cucumber, dill, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. That is all.
In Greece, by the way, what the rest of the world calls Greek yoghurt, we call strained yoghurt, which denotes its thickness in contrast to the other yoghurts we have in Greece. We have many kinds of yoghurt to choose from in my homecountry. ;)

It is one of my favorite sauces and one that I make almost every week to accompany my meals and I invariably use regular garlic to make it, but not this time; because this time I had my wild garlic find that I couldn’t wait to use in my tzatziki. And it was dreamy.

The wild garlic is a worthy substitute for the regular garlic cloves, adding a herby flavor and a more gentle garlic aftertaste without, however, being any less sharp or properly garlicky which is exactly what you seek when you crave tzatziki.

Wild garlic tzatziki

The amount of garlic you use is a matter of personal taste, some people like their tzatziki stronger than others, but tzatziki should have a garlic flavor, that’s the point, so don’t be prudent and follow my lead. You can always taste as you go and if you reach a point where you think it’s enough, just stop adding.

I used mainly the little stalks of the wild garlic in my tzatziki as they have the more pungent garlicky flavor but I added some wild garlic leaves as well that have a more herby flavor and that’s what made my tzatziki even more special.

Others will have you strain the cucumber before adding it to the tzatziki but I have never done that in my life and my tzatziki is always thick and proper. Yes, cucumber has a high water content and some of it will leak into your tzatziki making it a bit thinner, seeing, though, that real Greek tzatziki is made with thick, full-fat Greek yoghurt, the cucumber liquid leakage, especially in the time it takes from making the tzatziki to serving it on the same day (I wouldn’t advise you to make it in advance, it’s best served the day of) is minimal. The yoghurt is thick enough to not really be affected by this negligible amount of cucumber liquid. What would be ideal, however, is if you scooped out the center of the cucumber where all the seeds and most liquid are, before using it, even though I don’t do that every time and really don’t have an issue.

Yield: enough for 4 people (or 2 if you’re anything like my boyfriend and me)

Ingredients
500 g Greek yoghurt, full-fat
10-12 wild garlic little stalks, finely chopped
4-5 wild garlic leaves, chopped
Small handful of fresh dill, finely chopped
70 g peeled (and deseeded preferably) cucumber, cut into small cubes
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp red-wine vinegar
Freshly ground white pepper, 5-6 turns of the pepper mill
Salt, to taste

Olive oil and extra dill, for serving


Preparation
I advise you to always prepare tzatziki right before or no more than 1 hour before you need it. It’s ridiculously easy to make and you can always prep the ingredients beforehand and put together the sauce at the last minute. Trust me, it’s the best way to go when it comes to tzatziki.

In a large bowl, empty the yoghurt and add the chopped wild garlic (both stalks and leaves), the cucumber, olive oil, vinegar, pepper and a little salt. Mix well with a spoon to combine all the ingredients and give it a taste. Add more salt if needed.

Transfer to a serving bowl/plate, drizzle with a little more olive oil, sprinkle a little extra dill on top and serve.

Blistered Padrón peppers

Some of the things that happened these past couple of months:

My blog was featured on CNN Travel as one of five Greek food blogs you should be following!

I went on vacation to Greece and had the best time at home in Athens with my family and friends, however, the most fun was had in the island of Evvoia.

I finally got a proper tan, for my standards at least, after of course I got a sun burn, and now I only have the memory of said tan because there’s no sun in Holland at the moment to sustain it.

I swam in the bluest seas and stepped on more than one sea urchin. Ouch!

I ate and drank more than I should.

I discovered that I’m allergic to cats. My dream of becoming a cat lady when I grow old, is officially shattered.

I learned that taking a leap of faith can only lead to good things.

I cooked a lot, as always.
Like these peppers. The best mezes there is.

If I could live on mezedes, I would. Small plates with all things delicious, savory and different from one another, never too much of anything that you get bored. Variety, different flavors and textures, complementing each other and creating a complete meal.

This could definitely be a part of my dream meze spread.

Peppers, shallow-fried in olive oil until they blister and char and become impossibly delicious. A good sprinkling of coarse sea salt which brings out their savory and fruity flavor even more, a drizzling of good olive oil on top and you’re set. The perfect mezes for ouzo, wine, beer or whatever is the alcohol of your choice, and a great accompaniment to steak or burgers.

By the way, speaking of peppers, have you tried Spetzofai (Greek peppers and sausage dish)? If not, you need to get on it, asap.

Blistered Padrón peppers

If you can’t find Padrón peppers, you can use any other small, mild or mildly hot green peppers. Shishito peppers (Asian variety of similar peppers) are a good substitute. If you are in Greece, kerato peppers are a good substitute, even though they are longer than the pimientos de Padrón.

Padrón peppers are usually mild-flavored but some of them are very hot, so when you eat them it’s like playing Russian roulette, something that intensifies the pleasure, at least in my opinion.

Yield: 4 meze servings

Ingredients
300 g Padrón peppers (or other similar variety / see notes above), rinsed and patted dry
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling over the top
Sea salt flakes (I use Maldon)


Preparation
In a large and wide heavy-bottomed frying pan (like a cast-iron or iron pan), add the olive oil and heat over a medium-high heat. When the oil gets super hot and starts to smoke, add the peppers in a single layer and fry them for about 2 minutes or until their flesh softens and they blister and char on the bottom, without disturbing them at all, otherwise they won’t blister properly. Also, you need to be careful of any oil splattering on you, therefore, I would suggest you use a splatter protector/guard.
Turn the peppers on the other side and fry them for a further 2 minutes in the same manner, again without moving them around in the pan at all.
If your peppers are large, you should fry them and let them blister equally on all sides.
When ready, transfer them to a platter, drizzle with plenty of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with lots of sea salt.
They are best eaten straight away but you could keep them at room temperature and have them later.

Sourdough bruschetta with cherries, ricotta, seeds & nuts and miso dressing

Lately, my clothes, my face, my hair, my hands have all been covered in flour, because lately I’ve been making bread almost twice a week. It happens to me from time to time, this bread obsession, and each time it happens I enjoy it even more because we get to savor real bread, homemade bread, bread that has flavor and texture.

But what to do with all this bread, apart from eating it warm from the oven which is my absolute favorite thing to do? Well, bruschetta, what else? Seasonal fruits and vegetables are the best choices of course and since it’s cherry season, with the ruby red fruits taking over the markets and my fridge, I chose to top my bruschette with them.

Cherries, ricotta cheese, rocket, nasturtium leaves (picked from my very own (!!) plant, and those who know me understand what a feat this is since I manage to unintentionally kill every plant that enters my home within 24 hours), a mix of nuts and seeds —pumpkin seeds, black and white sesame seeds, hazelnuts —, and a flavor bomb which is the miso dressing. How I love miso you can’t even imagine!

This is a summer recipe, meaning it needs the minimum amount of effort to get an incredibly delicious outcome and there’s a plethora of flavors and textures going on in this seemingly simple bruschetta. There’s sweet flavor from the cherries, fresh, peppery and slightly bitter notes from the rocket and nasturtium leaves, nutty and earthy from the seeds and nuts, umami, salty flavor from the miso paste, while the sour flavor of the bread complements all the rest.

The textures dance from crispy (nuts) to creamy (ricotta), from juicy and plump (cherries) to crunchy (seeds), from smooth (dressing) to hard (bread crust) and they give you pleasure with every bite.

Get out your bread and your cherries and get on it!

Sourdough bruschetta with cherries, ricotta, seeds & nuts and miso dressing

Miso is a fermented paste made predominantly with soybeans but can also be made with rice or barley. I absolutely love its deep, umami flavor and I’ve been using it for years in savory and sweet dishes. There are numerous kinds of miso paste and here I used white miso (shiro miso), which is made with rice and has a milder flavor that’s suitable for dressings. Miso has a very interesting and multi-dimensional flavor but make sure to use good quality miso paste, otherwise the only flavor you’ll get will be that of salt.

The dressing is a marriage of sorts between Japan and Greece. All the ingredients were Japanese apart from the oil. I used Greek extra virgin olive oil because that’s the kind of oil I always have in my kitchen and the one I always use unless it seriously affects the flavor of what I’m pairing it with, which is rare. You could certainly use a more neutral oil like vegetable, sunflower or peanut if you’d like.

I used my own white sourdough bread to make these bruschette. You could use a darker sourdough that would be even heartier.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the miso dressing
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp rice vinegar (without sugar)
1½ heaped tsp white (shiro) miso paste
1 tsp mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
Freshly ground white pepper, 5-6 turns of the pepper mill

for the seeds and nuts mix
A handful of blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
2 tsp white sesame seeds
2 tsp black sesame seeds (not Nigella seeds)
1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds

for the bruschette
4 large and slightly thick slices of sourdough bread, toasted
Fresh ricotta cheese, or Greek anthotyro if you can find it (250-300 g)
Fresh sweet cherries (I used Greek cherries), rinsed, pitted and cut in half (3-4 cherries per bruschetta)
Rocket leaves, rinsed and dried
Nasturtium leaves (optional), rinsed and dried
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper


Preparation

for the miso dressing
In a small bowl, add all the ingredients for the dressing and using a small wire whisk blend everything well until you have a smooth mixture. It will a little bit thick, like runny honey.

for the seeds and nuts mix
You can toast the hazelnuts (before you chop them) and the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over medium-low heat until they start releasing their aroma, or you can use them raw.
Mix all the seeds and nuts together in a small bowl and set aside.

assembling the bruschette
Take your bread slices and smear a good amount of ricotta cheese on top to have a thick layer. Season the ricotta with a little salt and white pepper.
Top the ricotta with a few rocket leaves and then arrange the halved cherries on top. Scatter each bruschetta with the nuts and seeds mix and pour the miso dressing over the top. Finish off with some nasturtium leaves, if using, and enjoy!

Spicy red kidney bean dip with za’atar

I make bread all the time lately, at least twice a week, as I am in a serious sourdough kick, and one thing I like to have around in my fridge is all sorts of spreads and dips. Especially now that summer is here (yes, it seems that we skipped spring and went straight into summer here in the Netherlands) they make the perfect snack with freshly baked bread.

Exhibit number one, this dip. A red kidney bean dip that is following along the lines of hummus in the sense that it’s made with tahini, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice but it also contains spices, because I’m a spice fiend. There’s cumin and two kinds of hot dried chilli pepper —pul biber (Aleppo pepper) and boukovo (Greek red chilli flakes)— that bring heat and a pungency that’s quite pleasant.

It’s a dip full of earthy and meaty flavors from the beans, with freshness from the dill, it is vibrant from the garlic and spices, rich from the tahini and extra virgin olive oil, and aromatic from the za’atar. Definitely worth dipping your best bread into it, or your favorite pita, rusks or crudités.

Spicy red kidney bean dip with za’atar

Za’atar is a Middle Eastern herb (with oregano, thyme, marjoram, depending on where it is made) and sumac blend with sesame seeds and it’s very aromatic and flavorful.

I always cook my own beans from dried, we Greeks do that, but you can certainly use canned and rinsed beans as well.

Yield: 4-6

Ingredients
250 g boiled red kidney beans (from a can or homemade)
1 garlic clove, finely grated
2½ Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp salt
1 Tbsp tahini, stirred well before measured
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp pul biber (Aleppo pepper)
¼ tsp boukovo (or dried red chilli flakes)

to serve
A handful fresh dill, finely chopped
Za’atar
Pul biber
Extra virgin olive oil

Special equipment: colander, food processor


Preparation
Whenever I boil beans for dips, I make a big batch and freeze about half for later use. For this recipe, I used 500 g dried red kidney beans and used 250 g boiled ones, the rest I put in freezer bags for other dips or salads.

If you’re going to boil your own beans from dried, the night before, place them in a very large bowl and add 2 liters of cold tap water. Soak them for 14-16 hours.

The next day, rinse the beans under cold, running water, place them in a large pot and add 2 liters of cold tap water. Cover the pan and bring water to the boil over high heat. You will notice that once the water comes to a rolling boil, foam will rise up to the surface of the water. Remove the foam with a large spoon and drain the beans in a colander.
Return the beans in the pot and add 2 liters of boiling water. Bring them to the boil over high heat, then turn heat down to medium-low and cook the beans until they soften. This may take anywhere from 1½ to 2½ hours depending on the beans. Not all beans are the same so you need to keep an eye on them. You want them to be tender but not mushy. Start checking them after one hour. One way to check doneness, apart from simply tasting one of the beans, is by pressing one with your finger; if it breaks easily, it is ready, if not, you need to cook them for a while longer. The beans must not be tough otherwise your dip will be grainy.

Drain them in a colander. You should use the beans to make the dip when they are completely cool and make sure to keep some of the cooking liquid to add to the dip in case it is too thick.

If you are using canned/bottle beans, rinse them before using them in the dip, but make sure to reserve the liquid from the can/bottle in case you need to loosen the dip.

Place all the ingredients for the dip in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until they start to blend. Then process on high speed until you have a smooth puree (though it will never be completely smooth because the beans still have their skin). If the dip is too thick you may add some of the bean cooking liquid.
Give it a taste and add more salt if needed. Also, you may add more olive oil or lemon, depending on your liking.

Serve in a large bowl and top with the fresh dill, pul biber, za’atar and a drizzle of olive oil, with pita bread or any other kind of bread and vegetables to dip.

You can serve it right away or keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for 1 week. The flavor is better the next day you make it.

Pumpkin hummus with fresh chilli

Hummus lovers unite!

I have tried numerous kinds of hummus over the years, adding different vegetables (like beetroot), spices and aromatics to the classic, just-chickpeas version, and it never disappoints. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with even more combinations with great results and of course I plan to share those versions of hummus with you here.

Hummus is so versatile and so easy to whip up, literally, and it pairs beautifully with just about anything; seafood, meats, cooked and raw vegetables, or just straight up with a good loaf of crusty bread, toasted or not, with homemade pita, especially the Greek kind, with barley rusks or even with plain crackers.

This time, I decided to add fresh pumpkin to my hummus and some fresh, fiery, red chilli pepper to spice it up, as well as some ground cumin and cinnamon to make it more aromatic. I paired it with sumac-roasted pumpkin seeds that I sprinkled on top for extra crunch and fresh pomegranate seeds for color, tangy sweetness and freshness. It’s very creamy, utterly delicious and I hope you enjoy it too.

Pumpkin hummus with fresh chilli

It’s the best mezes to serve at a dinner or lunch, the perfect office snack paired with crunchy vegetables for dipping (cucumber, pepper, carrots) and if you are fasting during this period of Lent, it’s also Lenten-appropriate.

If you are daring, you can add some fresh Thai chilli that is way hotter than the regular red chilli pepper I used.
I used the classic, orange-colored pumpkin but you can also use butternut squash or kabocha squash.

Yield: enough for 6 people as an appetizer

Ingredients
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
1 fresh red chilli pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cumin
150 g peeled fresh pumpkin, cut into 2 cm pieces
220 g cooked (boiled) chickpeas (see here how to make them), or canned chickpeas, rinsed well and drained (but keep the chickpea juices!!)
50 g tahini
3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground white pepper
About 100 ml (7 Tbsp) chickpea juice (from homemade or canned chickpeas)
Salt

Sumac-roasted pumpkin seeds, to serve (see the recipe here)
Pomegranate seeds, to serve

Special equipment: large food processor


Preparation
In a wide frying pan, add the olive oil and heat over a medium heat. When it starts to shimmer, add the shallots and fry for 1 minute until soft. Add the garlic, the chilli pepper, the cinnamon and the cumin and fry for 1 minute stirring continuously, being careful not to burn the garlic or the hummus will have a bitter taste. Then add the pumpkin, a little salt and 2 Tbsp hot water and cook gently over a medium-low heat for about 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Once ready, transfer all the contents of the pan to a plate and allow to cool.

In the food processor, add the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, a little white pepper and the chickpea juice and process until smooth. Add the cooled down pumpkin and process again until you have a smooth and creamy hummus. Give it a taste and add more lemon juice if needed and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt.

Serve topped with sumac-roasted pumpkin seeds, a few pomegranate seeds and a good drizzle of olive oil.

You can keep it in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days. Take it out of the fridge half an hour before serving and stir it very well with a spoon or spatula to make it creamy and to fluff it up.