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nm1999

Active member
I have been cooking Greek food at home lately and I seem to have gotten stuck in a bit of a rut. Well, there's truly no such thing with Greek cooking because it's all delicious, but I do seem to be cooking the same things all the time. Here's what I have been cooking. Let me know if you have ideas of dishes I should try next:

** Tiropita and Spanakopita - I seem to alternate between them

** Souvlaki - I have the routine down with this and it's an easy one to put together. I make it with lamb, pork, chicken, or beef. Mostly it's either lamb or chicken, though.

** Dolmades

I think what I am looking for are dishes that are a bit simpler to put together than these.
 
Off the top of my head, here are some new ideas:
1. Spanakopita, but make your own phyllo.
2. Soutzoukakia
3. Giouverlakia
4. Fasolada
5. Fakes
6. Tigania (chicken or beef)
7. Giouvetsi
8. Stifado (with beef or rabbit)
9. Gemista
10. Gyros (chicken or pork) - if you do pork then try making tzatziki, if you so chicken then try making "sauce" which is a combination of Greek yogurt, mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise that Greeks put on a gyros.
 
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Off the top of my head, here are some new ideas:
1. Spanakopita, but make your own phyllo.
2. Soutzoukakia
3. Giouverlakia
4. Fasolada
5. Fakes
6. Tigania (chicken or beef)
7. Giouvetsi
8. Stifado (with beef or rabbit)
9. Gemista
10. Gyros (chicken or pork) - if you do pork then try making tzatziki, if you so chicken then try making "sauce" which is a combination of Greek yogurt, mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise that Greeks put on a gyros.

Thank you so much for chiming in! I think I will try to make that sauce or the gyros. Do you by any chance know the proportions? This is a great list, I can't wait to get started! For the Stifado, I beef will be a bit easier for me to find than rabbit - but I think I might try to track some rabbit down.
 
Where I am at, it is getting cold out but I have been getting a kick out of running the grill even as the days get shorter and colder. So, I have been cooking a lot of souvlaki, loukaniko, and recently I am on a big soutzoukakia kick. For those, make Greek meatballs and instead of rolling them out, work the meat onto skewers to cook.
 
Biftekia me patates sto fourno, Pastitsio (which is time consuming but freezable so you have dinner for another day), Imam.
 
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What Is the Best Way to Serve Taramosalata?

I absolutely love taramosalata and have it pretty regularly at home, but I’m having some people over soon and was wondering about the best way to serve it when entertaining.

Normally I just eat it with some bread or pita, so I don’t really put much thought into presentation. For guests, though, I’d like to make it part of a nice Greek-style spread with a few other things on the table. I was thinking warm pita triangles, crusty bread, maybe some cucumber and other vegetables for dipping, but I’m curious what everyone else usually serves with it.

Do you drizzle a little olive oil over the top or add any kind of garnish? And are there particular meze that you think pair especially well with taramosalata?

I’d love some ideas for making it look a little more special while still keeping everything traditional and simple.

Favorite Greek Cheeses Beyond Feta

Feta gets most of the attention when people talk about Greek cheese, but there are so many other varieties worth trying. I’m curious which Greek cheeses everyone enjoys most beyond feta.

Graviera is one of my favorites because it works so well on a cheese plate, grated over dishes, or just eaten with bread. Kasseri is another one I really like, especially melted. I’ve also been interested in trying more regional cheeses like metsovone, manouri, kefalotyri, and formaela.

Some Greek cheeses seem to be much easier to find outside Greece than others, so I’d also love to know which ones people regularly buy and where they usually find them.

What Greek cheeses do you keep coming back to? Are there certain ones you associate with a particular region, dish, or family tradition? And if someone has mostly eaten feta, which Greek cheese would you recommend they try next?

My Family’s Keftedes Recipe

Keftedes are one of those foods that always remind me of family gatherings. Everyone seems to make them a little differently, but this is the basic version my family has always used.

For about a pound of ground beef, we add one small grated onion, a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a little fresh mint, one egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, oregano, and a small splash of red wine vinegar. Sometimes we add a little grated garlic as well.

The important part is mixing everything well and then letting the mixture sit in the refrigerator for a little while before shaping the keftedes. We make them fairly small, roll them lightly in flour, and fry them in olive oil until browned on the outside and cooked through.

We usually serve them with lemon, potatoes, salad, or tzatziki.

How does your family make keftedes? I’m especially curious about which herbs and seasonings everyone uses. Thought I'd share!

How Much Garlic in a Batch of Tzatziki?

How much garlic do you usually put in a batch of tzatziki? I think I may be using a little too much. I usually make mine with about 2 cups of Greek yogurt and 4 cloves of garlic, along with cucumber, olive oil, and the other usual ingredients.

It tastes great when I first make it, but we usually take about three days to finish the batch. By the second or third day, the garlic flavor and smell become really strong. Some people in my household love that and don’t mind it at all, but others think it becomes a bit overpowering. I’m starting to agree that four cloves might be too much, especially since the garlic seems to get stronger as it sits.

What do you all do? How many cloves would you use for about 2 cups of Greek yogurt?

Do You Make Avgolemono Thick or Brothy?

I usually prefer avgolemono somewhere in the middle. I don’t like it so thick that it feels almost like a cream soup, but I also don’t want it completely thin and brothy. For me, the best version has enough egg and lemon to give the broth some body while still keeping it light.

A lot probably depends on what kind of avgolemono you’re making, too. In chicken soup, I like it a little more brothy because I want the rice or orzo and chicken to still stand out. With something like lahanodolmades, I don’t mind the avgolemono sauce being thicker because it is coating the food rather than serving as the soup itself.

The lemon level matters just as much as the thickness. I like enough lemon to make it bright and noticeable, but not so much that it overwhelms everything else. I think balance is really the key.
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