The posts have been a little less frequent in the last couple of weeks, mostly because I’ve been traveling, working more at the real job, and I’m heavily training for my first half Ironman, which is less than three weeks away. Also, I’m trying to make a more conscious effort to put out more quality posts. So sooooooorrrrreeeeey.
I’ve been sitting on this tzatziki post for a while, but looking back, I’m pleased with the effort and patience involved in making this dish. It’s not hard per se, but there are some small touches that made it particularly enjoyable and satisfying.
I’ve noticed in the last few years that there are a wider array of thick Greek yogurts available at your everyday supermarkets, particularly the Fage brand, and I think more Americans are starting to enjoy their lush, creamy texture and depth of flavor over the Yoplait of old. These dense yogurts are much closer to the consistency of a tzaziki sauce, which gets it richness from the straining of excess water found in regular yogurt. As such, you can create a fine tzaziki from these new yogurts without the extra straining steps, but using these thick Greek yogurts as the starting off point, with a little effort you can create an even more fantastic tzaziki that is less condiment and more of a meal unto itself.
Prior to 2003, I had only had tzaziki on a gyro, but I had my eyes opened when I had an appetizer of fresh pita and tzaziki at an alley way restaurant in Paris, and I couldn’t stop eating the stuff. If you’ve only had the mayonnaise-like pedestrian tzaziki served at fast food Greek joints, you really need to try this.
Anyways, you can see that I’ve started with the Trader Joe’s Greek Style yogurt, which I had not tried yet, but it was a great price and Trader Joe private label products are usually reliable. The rest of the dish is made with the traditional ingredients of garlic, cucumber, and dill. You can leave out the dill, but I love the flavor it adds to the tzaziki.
First I halved a large cucumber lengthwise and scooped out the guts with a small spoon by running it down the length of each halve.
Next I put out some cheese cloth (available here) in two colanders. In one I placed the cucumbers, which I cubed and salted generously, and in the other I scooped out the yogurt. The salt on the cucumber helps draw out the excess water.
Once you have your yogurt and cucumber in the cheese cloth, you are going to want to leave it there for three to four hours. That seems like an excessive amount of time, but your patience will pay off. The yogurt will be just fine.
This picture is at almost four hours. You can see the difference in this photo and the previous one. Pools of water are collected on the edges, and there should be some water that has already strained through the cloth. If you are using a regular yogurt, as apposed to a Greek yogurt, you are going to see quite a bit more water than this.
At this point, you can pull up the sides on the cheese cloth, twist it at the top, then help the water strain through by gently squeezing. This may take some time as there should be a fair amount of water, but you want to be careful not to push the yogurt through the top of the cloth. Repeat this process with the cucumber. You may be surprised at how much water is removed. Just think how much richer your tzaziki will be!
Once you are satisfied, simply mix the yogurt with the cucumber, minced garlic, and minced dill to taste. You may be tempted to season this with salt, but remember what happens when you add salt?
Now we’re left with a tzaziki of unparalleled creamy goodness. I ate a ton of it with some fresh pita from H&F Bread Co.
Of course, I did have a lot leftover, and darned if it isn’t good as a condiment (despite my lambasting earlier). I marinated some shrimp with garlic, dill, and olive oil, then grilled them in a pan.
My H&F pita, grilled shrimp, tzaziki, and carrot sandwich was delightful.
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