The Delicious Life — when the difference between Dating and Eating is only one letter

Time 2020-10-14 01:05:26

Web Name: The Delicious Life — when the difference between Dating and Eating is only one letter

WebSite: http://www.thedeliciouslife.com

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Ok, ok, maybeI m the only one who says that.Sometimes, this is how I cook dinner. Especially on hot summer nights like these, which is kind of scary because it s technically still only the first week of summer and it is blazing hot outside. I don t know if I m ready for July and, good God, August. [click to continue…]You can throw garlic, cucumber, yogurt, salt, and maybe some fresh dill or mint together in any way, and it will always be good, but if you have the time to look after some details, well here is a recipe for Tzatziki that probably takes twice the time and three times the effort. Or maybe it takes normal time and effort and I just don t realize how slow I am with a knife.Recipe for Tzatziki made with chopped cucumber as opposed to shredded or grated cucumber first, very important Notes regarding yogurt and particularly the cucumber, follow.Use Tzatziki as a dip for pita bread and crudites as on the Epic Mediterranean Mezze Board pictured above, or as a base spread on toast, grilled flatbread, or pizza piled with other vibrant vegetables, or as a therapeutic.Tzatziki with Tiny Chopped Cucumbers [recipe]makes about 2½ cups, easily ratio d up or downINGREDIENTS2 cups sheep s milk Greek yogurt (see Notes below if you can t find Greek yogurt)2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed2 Persian cucumbers½ teaspoon salt + more to taste1 teaspoon lemon juice1 tablespoon olive oil + more for drizzlingoptional: 2-4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill and/or mintoptional garnish for serving as dip: chopped fresh dill and/or mintserve with: vegetable crudites, grilled flatbread, just itselfDIRECTIONSPush smashed garlic cloves into yogurt and set aside.Finely dice cucumbers into the smallest pieces you can; I go for 1/8-inch, which is a little smaller than half a centimeter. It takes a long time for me to cut it this way and is almost pointless because the cucumber s shape is overwhelmed by the yogurt, but I do it anyway because I can.Toss the diced cucumbers with ½ teaspoon salt, put into a mesh strainer set over a bowl, and let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to draw out as much water from the cucumbers as possible. You can also do this the night before and let the salted cucumbers sit in the strainer in the refrigerator. Some liquid will drain out on its own.Transfer the cucumbers to several layers of cheesecloth, a clean dish towel, or even a sturdy paper towel, gather up the corners and gently wring/press out as much remaining water from the cucumbers as possible.Stir the drained cucumbers, lemon juice, and olive oil into the yogurt. Cover and put in the refrigerator to allow the flavors (especially the garlic) to combine.When ready to serve, stir in the fresh chopped dill and or mint if using. Taste and adjust the salt; I usually end up adding another ½ teaspoon of salt. Remove the garlic cloves, and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with additional chopped fresh herbs.Tzatziki will keep in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days.GREEK YOGURT. Greek yogurt is thicker than yogurt that s labeled as simply yogurt because it has been strained of some of its water. Depending on the brand and the fat percentage of your Greek yogurt, your final product may be thicker or thinner. Always err on the side of thicker because it s easier to thin out with water or oil later. Use a full-fat Greek yogurt (for better flavor) and if the one you have seems thin, strain it for 15-30 minutes in a sieve lined with three or four layers of cheesecloth, or a paper coffee filter. You can drain the yogurt with the smashed garlic in it, and while you chop the cucumbers.PERSIAN or OTHER VARIETY of CUCUMBERS. The best cucumbers for Tzatziki are the small, thin-skinned seedless Persian cucumbers. I get them from the local farmers market, or organic at the grocery store. I have also seen similar small cucumbers at regular grocery called baby cucumbers, but not the Kirby pickling cucumbers. I have no idea if the baby cucumbers are scientifically the same kind of cucumber, but they work, as do the much larger English seedless cucumbers. What does not work as well are the dark, thick-skinned cucumbers with large seeds. If those cucumbers are the only ones you can find, peel them, scrape out the seeds with a spoon, the way you d remove seeds from a cantaloupe or honeydew melon, then proceed with chopping and the rest of the recipe. The deeply curvy, striped cucumbers in the photo below are Armenian cucumbers sometimes available during mid- to late-summer at some of the local Southern California Farmers Markets. Because they are so pretty, I sliced them and put them on the board to use for dipping.CUCUMBER PREP. Many recipes direct you to grate or shred the cucumbers, which is quite honestly much faster than dicing cucumbers not only by hand, but into microscopic pixels. However, something about the long shreds of cucumber in tzatziki made me feel a little like I might end up flossing my teeth. I also don t love the way yogurt coated strands of shredded cucumber look when they hang from pita wedges or chips when tzatziki is eaten as a dip. It is a weird, very personal pet peeve. If you shred or grate your cucumber, that s cool, I will probably never know. If you dice your cucumber into tiny pieces, I will definitely know about it because you will email or DM me about how your tzatziki life has changed.KOSHER SALT. I use Diamond Crystal brand, which is in the burgundy red box.OLIVE OIL. The olive oil here is more for consistency and texture, not for flavor since the garlic flavor will be pretty strong, so use an everyday olive oil like California Olive Ranch. Of course, if you have a Greek olive oil, use it!TOOLS and EQUIPMENTMESH STRAINER. I have a set of three different sizes, and use the medium one to drain the salted cucumbers. (The larger one is great for sifting flours and straining stock).No yeast. No special equipment. You don t even need an oven. It s the perfect bread for someone who doesn t bake bread.The cooked flatbreads are great cut or torn into wedges to eat with dips, or used whole and topped with any number of spreads and toppings. You can also use the uncooked dough as an easy stand-in for pizza dough and make a skillet pizza, with the understanding that it is definitely different in taste and texture from a regular yeast raised pizza dough. Yogurt Skillet Flatbread recipe first, Notes and Shopping Resources follow, not that you will need to shop for anything because you probably have the four ingredients.Yogurt Skillet Flatbread [recipe]makes two 8-inch flatbreads, can, and probably should, be doubledINGREDIENTS1 cup all-purpose flour1½ teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon salt½ cup full-fat plain (strained) Greek yogurtwater as neededDIRECTIONSIn a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add yogurt and gently toss everything together with a spoon (or even your hands) until a ball comes together in the middle of the bowl. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is too dry. The dough should be just sticky enough to stick but pull away from your hands, but not so sticky that it actually sticks and doesn t come off.Transfer the dough and as much of the bits from the bowl to a floured work surface and knead until the dough comes together into a sticky, lumpy ball. Divide the dough into two roughly equal pieces. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or an overturned bowl and let rest for 20-30 minutes.Lightly flour a clean work surface. Take one dough ball and using whatever rolling pin, wine bottle, or tall glass (I used a pint glass here) gently roll the ball out into an 8-inch diameter round, or about as close to round as you can get it.Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. (You can heat the skillet while you roll out your first ball of dough.) Carefully pick up the rolled out dough from your work surface with your hands and lay it down in a single layer in the skillet.Cook the flatbread until bubbles form on the top and the underside has deep golden brown spots, about five minutes. Flip the flatbread over and cook until you see the same deep dark spots. At this point, you can use tongs as the flatbread will have become more sturdy. Remove flatbread to a plate, cover with a clean towel to keep warm. Wipe out the cast iron skillet with a damp paper towel.Continue rolling and cooking the second flatbread in the same way.Yogurt Skillet Flatbreads will keep in the refrigerator tightly sealed for a couple of days. Re-heat both sides in a hot skillet for a few minutes.FLOUR. I use Bob s Red Mill organic all-purpose white flour. These flatbreads are pretty forgiving with respect to bread so go ahead use whole wheat flour, cake flour, whatever you have. I doubt you have cake flour if you re not a baker and are making these flatbreads though.YOGURT. Depending on the brand, the type (regular, Greek, icelandic) and the fat percentage of your yogurt, your dough may be stickier or drier. Always err on the side of sticky, which is harder to roll out, but will result in a less tough flatbread.KOSHER SALT. I use Diamond Crystal brand, which is in the burgundy red box.OLIVE OIL. The olive oil here is more for consistency and texture, not for flavor, so use an everyday olive oil like California Olive Ranch.TOOLS and EQUIPMENTSIEVE. I have a set of three different sizes, and use the large one to sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together, even though you don t need to sift for this recipe. It is habit.CAST IRON SKILLET. I have had anenamel-covered 10-inch cast iron skillet by Staubfor years and I have never used anything else because I love it.Was going to spend the entire summer island-hopping around the Mediterranean on my superyacht but plans got derailed this year because of coronavirus and also because I don’t actually have my own superyacht.Looks like an Epic Mediterranean Mezze Board at home is going to have to do. Unless you have a superyacht; in which case please DM me.How to put together an epic Mediterranean Mezze Board, which is mostly a list of items for the board, and links to recipes or favorite store brands of the dips and spreads!It s like tzatziki, but with roasted beets instead of cucumber, and totally puréed instead of stirred, so really not anything like tzatziki and more like Roasted Beet and Yogurt Dip. Still going to call it Beetziki though.Use Beetziki as a dip for pita bread and crudites as on the Epic Mediterranean Mezze Board, or as a base spread on toast, grilled flatbread, or pizza piled with other vibrant vegetables.Beetziki: Tzatziki with Roasted Beets [recipe]makes about 2 cupsINGREDIENTS1 large beet, roasted and peeled (see below NOTES and RESOURCES for how)1 clove garlic2 cups full-fat yogurt, strained (see below NOTES and RESOURCES for how)1 teaspoon salt + more to taste2 tablespoons olive oiloptional for serving as dip: extra chopped roasted beets, chopped fresh parsley or other green herbs like scallions and dill, crumbled feta, toasted walnutsserve with: vegetable crudites, grilled flatbreadDIRECTIONSRoughly chop roasted, peeled beet. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons of chopped beet for garnish if you d like.Place garlic, remaining chopped roasted beet, yogurt, and 1 teaspoon of salt in food processor. Pulse, then process until smooth. Drizzle in olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time, until the beet yogurt is the consistency of hummus. If you prefer a little thinner, add more olive oil.Transfer Beetziki to bowl, taste, and season with additional salt if necessary.If serving Beetziki as a dip, transfer to serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle optional garnish ingredients in center.Beetziki will keep in refrigerator in tightly sealed container for three days. Use a container that will not stain (e.g. glass).NOTES and RESOURCESBEETS. I use red beets for this, and that s primarily for the color, though golden beets would work just as well for flavor (and not stain everything in their wake). 1 large beet can mean anything, especially in the later winter when beets can get to be the size of a small melon. There s a picture of the biggest beet I ve ever seen below. You re looking for a beet that will render about 1 cup after roasting, peeling, and chopping. To roast a beet, generously rub it with olive oil, wrap it tightly in a foil packets, and roast in a 400°F oven for about 45 minutes, or until a knife can pierce through to the center without resistance.YOGURT. Depending on the brand, the type (regular, Greek, icelandic) and the fat percentage of your yogurt, your product just before it s final might be thinner or thicker than you prefer. Always err on the side of thicker because it s easier to thin out with water or oil later. Use a full fat yogurt (for better flavor) and strain it as much as you can in a sieve lined with three or four layers of cheesecloth, or a paper coffee filter. You can drain the yogurt while you roast your beet.TOOLS and EQUIPMENTSIEVE. I have a set of three different sizes, and use the medium one to drain yogurt. (The larger one is great for sifting flours and straining stock).FOOD PROCESSOR. I have been using my small 4-cup Cuisinart FOR YEARS. I will only upgrade when this one falls apart because it still works like a dream, but most importantly, it s easy to clean and PUT AWAY. This 4-cup capacity is the right size for small jobs like dips and spreads.

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