Tzatziki Sauce

The next stop on our tour of cultural cuisines is Greece. As an island nation located near the Mediterranean Sea with a proud history, Greece has no shortfall when it comes to traditions – or food for that matter. Grecian culture is bursting with flavorful and delicious recipes; however, I chose to prepare a simple, yet classic Greek staple. Tzatziki sauce is a dip made from yogurt, cucumber, and other herbs. Traditionally, Tzatziki sauce is used to add flavor to other dishes such as souvlaki or gyros. In addition to being great as a complement to an appetizing main dish, this tangy sauce is perfect as a dip on pita chips or vegetables.

This recipe is easy to make and the instructions are straightforward, which makes preparation and cleanup hassle-free. Tzatziki sauce requires only a few ingredients that are common in grocery stores – this means you won’t have to search for some obscure ingredient in the “specialty” food aisle only to find that it’s not available. Honestly, this recipe was so simple that it was quite a relief after the nightmare that was the Hamantashen recipe I made a few weeks ago. Start with a cucumber, one clove of garlic, a sixteen ounce container of plain Greek style yogurt, fresh chopped parsley, mint, and lemon juice. Follow the directions below and in less than four hours you’ll be enjoying an awesome dip that will be sure to spice up all your social affairs.

Here is the recipe I used from All Recipes.com with a few minor improvements:

Ingredients for Tzatziki Sauce 

Ingredients:

o   1 (16 ounce) container of low-fat plain Greek yogurt

o   1 cucumber (peeled, seeded, and grated)

o   1 clove of garlic (minced) or ¼ of a teaspoon of minced garlic in a bottle

o   1 tablespoon of fresh parsley (chopped)

o   1 tablespoon of fresh mint (chopped)

o   1 tablespoon of juice from a fresh lemon or lemon juice from a bottle

o   Salt and pepper to taste (I personally didn’t use any…)

o   Optional: Pita chips to eat with the dip

             Directions:

o   Peel, cut, and seed cucumber – grate slices with a cheese grater or mixer attachment

o   Lay grated cucumber on a plate lined with paper towel; allow to drain for 1 to 2 hours

o   Combine the rest of the ingredients and the cucumber into a bowl; stir well until evenly mixed

o   Refrigerate sauce for at least 2 hours prior to serving

Grated cucumber 

Seeded cucumber

Chopped mint

 

Sources:

o   http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-tzatziki.htm

o   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tzatziki-Sauce-Yogurt-and-Cucumber-Dip/Detail.aspx?prop24=RD_RelatedRecipes

Photos courtesy of me

Classic Hamantashen

         On Purim, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the deliverance of  the Jewish people in ancient Persia from a plot that had been formed to destroy them, Askenazi  Jews eat triangular pastries called Hamantashen which means "Haman's pockets." The pastries are rolled in small circles, filled with a fruit filling, and folded into a triangular shape. The traditional filling for Hamantashen is poppy seed; however, apple, chocolate, prune, and other fruit fillings are becoming more common. Purim is held every year on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month of Adar.


        I chose to make Hamantashen for my first recipe because it seemed easy to make. After all, anyone can make a cookie, right? Wrong. These cookies are quite difficult to make and require several hours of effort. However, I pushed through during the long process that led to my slightly deformed caramel apple Hamantashen cookies. First, I prepared a batch of Dulce de Leche, a sweet and salty caramel sauce, for the apple filling. This task presented the first of many struggles; the roasting pan, filled with water and the sweetened condensed milk in a pie dish, was quite heavy. I am lucky that I didn't burn my arms putting into the oven. Two hours later, I took the perfectly baked Dulce out of the oven and whisked it to perfection.

Dulce de Leche before

Whipped Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche after

     








         Next, I prepared the four medium sized Granny Smith apples for the filling. I peeled, cut, and grated the apples. If you haven't grated apple slices with only a cheese grater, then you can't possibly know the struggle that ensued in my kitchen that afternoon. Let's just say that my hands became quite raw. The apple filling simmered on the stove for thirty minutes while I worked on my Anatomy homework. During the final five minutes of cooking, the apple sauce mixture decided to burn the bottom of the saucepan. This occurred because I used Splenda, instead of regular sugar like the recipe suggested. Nevertheless, the sauce turned out very sweet when combined with the Dulce.
   
  

Hamantashen that is ready to be baked

Caramel Apple Hamantashen

        

        
      
       The final part of the process proved to be the biggest challenge of all. The dough recipe was simple enough, but it did not call for any liquid to soften it up. I ended up adding a little water to the dough when I rolled it out. I used the bottom of a glass to cut out the circles and folded them into triangles. Unfortunately, the dough didn't stick together very well in the oven. My cookies turned out slightly deformed but delicious. I suggest that you break up the cooking into different days. For example, make the Dulce de Leche the night before and store it in the refrigerator.

    Here is the Hamantashen recipe I used with a few minor modifications:

Dough:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs

• 1 cup of sugar or 1 cup of Splenda (be sure to check the cookies five minutes early)

•  1/2 cup of vegetable oil

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Rind of 1 lemon, grated (use a cheese grater)

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 5 cups of flour

• 2 tsp. of baking powder

• 1 tbsp. of water 

Directions

•  Preheat oven to 350

• Grease cookie sheets

• Beat eggs and sugar together

• Add remaining ingredients, mix well, divide into four parts

• Roll out each part separately to about 1/8 of an inch 

• Cut into 3 inch circles using a glass 

• Put about 1 tsp. of filling in the center of the circle

• Fold the right and left sides together into a triangular shape

• Cook for 20 minutes until light golden brown

Filling:

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 lbs. Granny Smith apples (about 4 medium apples) 

• 3/4 cup sugar 

• 1/3 cup Dulce de Leche

• Salt to taste

 Directions

• Peel and core the apples

•  Shred them into fine shreds using a hand grater or food processor shredding attachment

• In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and 3/4 cup of water, bring to a boil 

• Add the shredded apples to the boiling water and return to a boil
  

• Reduce heat to medium and let the mixture simmer for 25-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, till most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture resembles a very thick applesauce 
  

• Stir in the Dulce de Leche; add salt to taste 

• Refrigerate mixture for at least 1 hour before using it to fill Hamantashen

Dulce de Leche:

 Ingredients

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) 

• 1/8 tsp salt (or more to taste)

Directions 

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees  Pour can of sweetened condensed milk into a ceramic pie plate or dish. Sprinkle the milk lightly with about 1/8 tsp of salt Cover tightly with foil.   

• Place the filled pie plate into a large roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with water till it reaches about halfway up the sides of the pie plate Place the roasting pan into the oven.   

• Let the mixture cook slowly for 75-90 minutes, check the water level every half hour to make sure it hasn't dried out too much. Add water as needed    

• At 75 minutes, begin checking the color of the Dulce de Leche. When it reaches a rich light brown caramel color, you'll know it's ready. The longer you let it cook, the thicker and darker it will become.

• Take the pie plate and roasting pan out of the oven. Carefully remove the pie plate from the hot roasting pan. Take off the foil  Whisk the Dulce de Leche mixture. Use warm, or allow to cool to room temperature depending on your intended use. 

• Store in the refrigerator. The sauce will keep for up to 4 weeks when refrigerated.

Sources: 

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/1366/jewish/Traditional-Hamantashen.html
http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2012/03/caramel-apple-filling-for-hamantaschen/
http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2012/02/dulce-de-leche/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim

Photos Courtesy of me