Greek Night!

We celebrated Greece last night in our kitchen with some good friends of ours from Mexico and another friend from Orem. England, Scotland, Mexico and Orem-Mexico were all represented at our dinner table. We had some Souvlakis with homemade Naan and then we finished off our party for the taste buds with some Baklava. I don't think Baklava comes from Greece but it's in the same region (Europe/middle east) so we counted it. I am still recovering. I will post the recipes below my ten for the week...

1. Souvlakis
2. A husband who helps with the dishes
3. Kids who go to bed at 7:30
4. Teething crackers
5. Presidente Torres y su familia
6. Granite countertops
7. Family scripture "study" in the morning
8. Inexpensive kids clothes
9. Kid's paintings
10. Rapid-Rise Yeast- it's magic!

Naan-

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted -
• DIRECTIONS
  
• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
• Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a baseball (not a softball). Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• During the second rising, preheat grill to medium heat (We used the George Foreman grill)
• At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter or cooking spray, and turn over- cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Souvlakis with Tsasiki and Cucumber Salsa-

• 2 Kirby cucumbers, divided
• 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt (3/4 pounds)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, divided
• 5 garlic cloves, minced, divided
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped mint
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 rounded teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 rounded teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
• 14 Naan (homemade or you can use packaged pita)
• 1/2 roast chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded- we cooked ours in the crockpot on high for 4.5 hours with garlic salt and pepper. Then, we took it out and shredded it.
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
• DIRECTONS

• Peel and grate 1 cucumber, then squeeze it with your hands to remove excess water. Stir together with yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, one third of garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to make tsatsiki.

  Cut remaining cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces and stir together with tomatoes, onion, parsley, mint, remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to make salsa.

  Gently simmer oil, oregano, rosemary, remaining garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss chicken with 3 tablespoons garlic oil prior to serving your meal. -Preheat grill to medium (we used the George Foreman generously sprayed with cooking spray between each naan) Grill the Naan for 2 minutes on each side.

• Assemble by taking Naan, spreading with Tsasiki, chicken and cucumber salsa. More great toppings we used were sauteed bell peppers and onions, and feta cheese. YUM!