Project Food Blog The Classics, Souvlaki with Tzatzki
After I passed the first challenge I had a lot of ideas for the second challenge but struggled to decide what I want to do. My main cuisine is most definitely Eastern food but I’m also quite competent with British food (as I work as a chef here). Even though the restaurant I work serves dishes like Beef Wellington I’ve never had the chance to make it.
I also thought about doing something like roasted grouse with black pudding, a traditional Scottish main course) but because of my work schedule and the very limited time between these food challenges I couldn’t get to a butcher. Therefore I wasn’t sure what to do.
One of my favourite chefs in the UK is Jamie Oliver and I was looking through his website and I saw something called Navajo Flatbreads. I absolutely love flatbreads like pita but my baking isn’t great. I also thought about one of my favourite type of foods, the kebab, although I really didn’t have a clue how to make this. So, with a bit of research I found a recipe for “souvlaki”.
The recipe I found was again by Jamie Oliver but he used pork but from what I’ve read real kebabs should be made with lamb. I’ve always been a fan of Greek food but have never made anything Greek so this, for me, was well out of my comfort zone.
Two things are really different about my souvlaki compared to Jamie Oliver’s recipe. One is he uses red wine vinegar but I don’t like vinegar with my meat and also I used lemon juice to give the food a tangy taste.
For the tzatziki I used a recipe which I learnt while working in a fine dining restaurant in Birmingham.
I know a lot of people think kebabs is not healthy but I believe a good home made kebab could be healthy than you think if you have plenty of salad with kebabs. So I also made a sweet corn salad with the kebab. The inspiration came from Olive magazine but I’ve changed the dressing part to personal taste.
I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I enjoyed making the food but it was fun making something completely different to what I normally cook.
Souvlaki with Tzatzki
Ingredients
Ingredients for Souvlaki Kebab
- 800 g lamb shoulder cut into 2cm dice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 lemon only use juice
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- Salt and pepper
Ingredients for flatbed
- 2 cups white bread flour
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp fresh mint chop finely (you can use any fresh or dried herbs you like)
Ingredients for sweetcorn salad
- 2 corn on the cobs
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 10 cherry tomatoes cut into half
- 1/2 red onion thin slice it
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 pinch Black Pepper
Ingredients for Tzatzki
- 250 g Greek yoghurt
- 1 cucumber
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 handful fresh mint chop finely
- 1 lemon only use juice
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 pinch black pepper powder
Instructions
Procedures for Souvlaki Kebab
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Marinade the diced lamb shoulder with all of the ingredients and leave it for a couple hours to marinade.
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BBQ it or use griddle pan to cook it.
Procedures for flatbread
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Mix flour, salt, baking powder and herbs evenly with a fork or whisk.
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Add warm water and olive oil into step 1 and knead it until it’s nice and soft.
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Leave it with cling film or wet tea towel cover on top to allow it relax for 20~30 minutes.
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Divide the dough into 5~6 equal-sized balls, then flatten them with your hands and keep each flatbread about 1cm in thickness.
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BBQ the flatbread or cook them in a dry frying pan. It’s cooked when you see both side has nice light brown colour on it. I used a griddle pan as I love the griddle marks it leaves but also the taste.
Procedures for sweetcorn salad
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Cook the corn in boiling water with 1 tablespoon butter and ½ tablespoon salt for 10 minutes. Slice from the cob.
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Mix all the ingredients together and leave it on aside at least 15 minutes before you serve.
Procedures for Tzatzki
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Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and remove seeds with a small teaspoon, as illustrated below.
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Grate the cucumber first and place it into a colander. Sprinkle a good pinch of salt on it and mix evenly. Leave it aside for at least 30 minutes and squeeze out as much water as you can. Throw the water away and put the cucumber into a clean bowl.
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Grate the garlic and add it into step 1.
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Mix all the ingredients together and it’s ready to serve.
this is lovely Liv 🙂 you’ve really gone out of your comfort zone (Asian dishes) and conquered this one beautifully. congratulations btw for making it to round 2 and i don’t have doubts you’ll go farther down the road 🙂
Congrats on making something that’s new to you, Liv. I’m sure you’ll do well on this round, too. I’ll vote for you. 🙂
Great job Liv. Looks yummy. Best wishes!
Yum! I love souvlaki. That looks delicious. Best of luck in round 2.
Your photos are beautiful…best of luck! Theresa
I love Jamie Oliver as well. Nice post Liv! I love Greek food, specially Souvlaki.
Hello Adelina,
Thank you very much for your comment.
Great job on going outside your comfort zone. Good luck on PFB
Hi Sharlene,
Many thanks for your comment. I’ve voted for you too. good luck in competition.
Your photos are airy and wonderful. Voted you.
(Here’s my post:
See my entry here: http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/869)
Hi Amelia,
I’ve vote for you too. Your entry is great and I feel sorry that I have to compete with you. 🙂
Looks fantastic, I think you nailed it. Voted for you. Good luck!
Hello fooddreamer,
Thank you very much for your vote. I’m really really appreciate it.
Your food blog are truly amazing. It inspired me a lot.
Beautiful post! you have my vote.
Hello Hyosun,
thank you so much for voted for me. I’m really appreciate it.
this looks delicious 🙂 Good luck with project food and you got my vote for this one! Feel free to drop by 🙂 Good luck and best wishes for making to the top !! WOOHOO
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca
Hello Jen,
Thank you for voted for me. I love your blog very much too.
Liv, what a great choice for you second challenge. I love Kebabs but have never made them, I thought they would be very time consuming – I was wrong. I love the sweet corn salad too. You’ve made such a healthy and delicious meal. Good Luck :)!
Hi Nancy, thanks for your ever kind comment. I also thought a kebab would take a long time to make but apart from the marination it really didn’t. Cooking the meat as I did took just a few minutes but the preparation and marinade took longer. This was the first time I bought corn on the cob for a really long time and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Amazing the difference between fresh corn and the corn in the can which is much more common. Thanks, Liv.
Looks really beautiful, well done. Just a btw, but pork is perfectly traditional in greek souvlaki. Lamb is often goat in greece :0)
Hi Greedy Rosie, thanks for your comment. I really wasn’t familiar with Greek food but typed what I did from research but really enjoyed this challenge (great fun learning something out of my comfort zone). Are you familiar with Greek food? What do you mean by lamb is often goat in greece?
Thanks
Liv
Good job- the corn looks soooo tasty!
Lisa.
Gorgeous post, as always. I voted for you!
Good luck! =)
You can check out my PFB post at : http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/2/view/864
Hi Liv, wow I am impressed…This is just wonderful 🙂 You know I will be cheering you on to the finish line…Great job here, I am so impressed 🙂
Very beautiful…thanks for sharing!
Great pictures; great post. You have my vote!
Wow – your photos are making me drool! Looks delicious. Good luck in the competition!
Hi Liv,
Lovely to find your blog via PFB. I’m a half-Scot Aussie relocated to Shanghai, and discovering Chinese food in all it’s glory. I do pine a bit for the quietness and open countryside of Scotland and Australia though!
Voted for you, and will keep reading to see what you’re up to in Edinburgh.
Cheers,
Fiona
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on souvlaki.
Regards