Greek Recipes

Tzatziki  Sauce

1-2 large cucumbers

16 oz. plain yogurt

1TBS minced garlic
2TBS olive oil
1TBS lemon Juice

Peel, seed and grate cucumber.  Put in colander with salt and set in sink.  Mix the rest of the ingredients in blender.  Put yogurt mixture in bowl, press as much water out of cucumber as possible and fold into the yogurt mixture. 

Serving ideas: with grilled meat, fresh vegetables, or Pita Chips, or as a sauce for gyros.      

For best results: strain yogurt for a couple hours with cheese cloth. This does not change the taste just makes the sauce thicker

Garlic Hummus

8-12 cloves garlic roasted
2 cans garbanzo beans
¼ C. tahini paste(found at health food store)
1 ½ t Cumin
2-4T olive oil
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt 

Roast garlic in toaster oven for about five minutes.  Combine everything except olive oil in food processor.  Once everything is well mixed add olive oil at the end slowly to achieve desired consistency.

Baklava

Pastry:
1 lb walnuts finely chopped
½ C. Sugar
2tsp. cinnamon
1 C. butter melted
1 pkg phyllo dough(found next to pie crust in freezer section)

Sauce:
1 C sugar
1 C water
1 TBSP Lemon juice
1 C honey
½ Tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 300

Combine and set aside walnuts sugar and cinnamon

Using pastry brush lightly brush bottom of 9X13 pan with melted butter.  Now you roll out the phyllo dough use a slightly damp cloth to keep the dough covered so it does not dry out, but make sure it is not too wet or the sheets of dough will stick together.  Place a layer of dough in the pan and brush with butter repeat six times.  Sprinkle 1 cup nut mixture on top.

Cut remaining dough sheets in half.  Using half sheets layer and butter the sheets eight times making sure to rotate where the uncovered area of the sheet is. Sprinkle evenly 1 cup nut mixture.  Repeat process until you have four layers of nuts.  Then layer the remaining dough with butter.  Cut pastry in desired shape (it does not cut well after baking because it is too fragile).  Bake for one hour until golden brown.

15 minutes before baklava is done mix together the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small sauce pan.  Cook for 15 minutes over medium high heat stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add the honey and vanilla stir until combined.

Remove Baklava  from the oven and pour the sauce over it.  Let the sauce soak through preferably over night and then serve to your friends and neighbors so you do not eat the entire pan.  Also do not refrigerate it is a middle Eastern dish and is meant to be questionable when eaten.