tzatziki [Recipes]

2016 May 28
I made the best tzatziki a couple of weeks ago, and I have to repeat the process. This time, I'll make twice as much with half as much garlic. Man, that stuff really piles on after it sits.

INGREDIENTS
- 1 tub of real yogourt (no more than 3 ingredients), probably Liberte or Astro.
- 4 mini cucumbers, peeled and shredded.
- 2-4 large cloves of garlic, crushed.
- fresh lemon juice, half of a lemon.
- kosher salt (optional), pinch.

Don't get the Greek yogourt, especially if it has extra thickeners in it. Yuck.
Line a colander or sieve with paper towel, over a bowl, and dump the whole tub of yogourt in. Cover with plastic wrap and put back in the fridge. A couple of hours will do the trick, but I usually let it sit overnight or the whole day while I'm at work: 8 hours. It will have reduced by about a third or more. You can discard the whey. I haven't found a use for it. The Dragonlady will usually drink a big glug of it first.

This thick, creamy mess is what Greek yogourt is supposed to be. It's easy, but it takes a little time and effort.

After grating the mini cukes, squeeze the water out of them with a paper or kitchen towel. No, not a dish towel. Don't make your life hell. Someone actually likes those dish towels. Hopefully you have some muslin towels that you have in the kitchen for this purpose. They're cheap. Go get some.

I made half this much last time and used 4 cloves of garlic. This time I'm making a full tub and using 3 cloves. I think that should be about right. For me.

Combine well, and let it sit in the fridge. You can use it right away, but some maturation will really intensify the flavours.

2016 May 28
Rizak, I have been making my own yogurt for a while now and used to discard the whey. Not any more. I recently made pancakes with it and they were the best darn pancakes I have ever made. I now keep the whey in one cup portions in the freezer and haul it out when I make pancakes. You can use it wherever buttermilk is called for but this is the only thing I have used it for. I also realize that if you don't eat pancakes this is a totally useless tid bit of information.

2016 May 28
Who doesn't eat pancakes?

2016 May 28
Want my recipe?

2016 May 28
Add dill. You won't be sorry.

...unless you hate dill.

2016 May 29
I did a cooking class with Mary Costa who is a English?/greek chef who grow up in Greece and her family used to own a greek restaurant in Greece when she was growing up.

She make a wonderful tiziki and it was done straining Astro Balkan style yogurt and it needs to be the full fat kind.. I think I did follow a recipe one time for tiziki and I used a low fat one and it just did not taste right...

2016 May 29
Here is a picture of what drained out. 400 ml from a 750g tub!
This is the Greeking process.