Category Archives: Greek

Baklava Cake

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Baklava Cake

Baklava Cake

Back when I was in my late teens and early 20’s, yogurt was NOT the big money product it is now. It was just eaten by the earth mother types and hippies and people tended to look at you like you were crazy to be eating this runny soured stuff. I, of course, though neither an earth mother nor a hippie (a fact that I always mourned. Had I been born about 10 years earlier, I would totally have been a stupid teen at Woodstock or living near Haight Ashbury), loved yogurt. Not plain; I thought it was nasty. But give me a cherry Yoplait and I was in heaven. I recall my older sister warning my then husband to watch out for me or I’d exist solely on yogurt and granola bars. Yeah, my pattern of poor eating choices goes WAY back.

Now however, you can get so many different styles and/or flavors of yogurt that it boggles the mind. We always have at least a full shelf of yogurt here at our house and besides eating it as is (still no plain though; ick!), I love to use it in cooking. Regular style yogurt, Greek, plain, flavored, you name it, I’ll find a way to incorporate it into baking. Well, this time, I took a recipe I had had forever for a yogurt cake and messed with it. Because…me. This originally came from what used to be recipezaar  and was a fair bit different. It had a syrup that was poured on it, which made me think of Baklava, one of my favorite desserts.  So I flavored the syrup to taste more like the one that gets poured over baklava and added more spice to the cake itself, as well as using a lemon yogurt in it to give another added layer of flavor.

This is a wonderfully moist cake. The syrups soaks in, flavoring it all and the cake itself has a wonderful taste, spiced and a bit lemony with a background hint of almond and vanilla. I served this with a simple vanilla yogurt I flavored. This isn’t the worlds prettiest cake, but it’s completely delicious. This is great for family, for a church potluck or a picnic, a family reunion. It would also be fantastic late at night with a glass of dry red wine. Is this exactly like Baklava? Of course not. There’s no phyllo, not a ton of chopped nuts, etc. But it reminds me of it, thus the name.

You know the drill… 🙂

Baklava Cake

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp (2 sticks)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 6 eggs, separated
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 3/4 teaspoon lemon oil (you can sub lemon extract, but you know how I feel about that stuff. Just break down and buy some lemon oil)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1/4 cup brandy or whiskey
  • 1 cup lemon Greek yogurt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup sliced toasted almonds, divided
  • Syrup-
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • zest from two lemons, in strips
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • Yogurt topping-
  • 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (it’s a bit too tart without it)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or oil a 13×9 inch baking pan.Then start your syrup so that it has time to cool- Simply combine all the syrup ingredients in a medium pot, stir to dissolve the sugar somewhat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and let it gently boil for about 15 minutes. it will reduce some and thicken up, though it’s not very thick even then. When that’s done, set it off the heat to cool.
  2. For the cake- in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the egg yolks, the extracts and the brandy. Beat on low speed until well combined.
  3. In a clean (preferably glass) bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set to the side for now.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and soda, salt and spices. Add it to the butter mixture, alternating with the yogurt (flour, yogurt, flour, yogurt, flour), beating well after each addition.
  5. Gently fold in the egg whites and half the toasted almonds, then spread the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake at 350 for 45 to 60 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  6. When done, immediately (and carefully) pour the cooled syrup over the cake, letting it soak in as you pour. If you don’t want to use it all, it stores in the fridge well and is wonderful used in a cup of tea. Once the syrup has been poured on, sprinkle the top of the cake with the rest of the almonds.
  7. Let it cool completely and serve with a dollop of the yogurt topping, which you make by simply combining the topping ingredients in a small bowl; easy peasy.

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Mediterranean Lamb Burgers With Balsamic Caramelized Onions & Feta Cheese

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Mediterranean Lamb Burgers With Balsamic Caramelized Onions, Feta

Mediterranean Lamb Burgers With Balsamic Caramelized Onions, Feta


Looks like a pretty plain burger, ehh? Well, don’t be deceived! That plain look isn’t the fault of the burger, just me as the one who photographed it hehe. Over a week ago, I made these for the first time. We absolutely loved the burger, but I absolutely hated the photos I took of it. So I asked on my Facebook page if the wonderful people who have my page liked trusted me enough to have me post the recipe even though the photos stunk. The answer was an overwhelming yes, that they trusted me enough even if the photos were bad. I was actually kind of touched to be honest.. But…. I just couldn’t do it. I mean, the photos really really stunk. So, I made the burgers again. Nobody minded hehe. They are truly yummy. And I tried the pictures again. Guess what? They sucked too. I am not capable of taking a good burger photo, it seems. I’m posting it anyway because these burgers deserve to be seen… to be eaten… quite possibly to be revered and worshiped on the alter of burgerness. Or something. Sorry. I had a moment there.

Seriously though, these are really really good. Add a few more reallys in there for good measure. Then git to cookin’. You want these. You really do. Don’t let the photo fool you. These are meaty, flavorful, tangy from the onions, a bit of a salty kick from the feta and creaminess from the cheese on top. You could dress these with tomatoes, ketchup, etc etc but they really don’t need anything. The meat is flavorful enough on its own and the onions just put it over the top.

Also, I did these in a grill pan indoors but feel free to grill them on the bbq.

                     Mediterranean Lamb Burgers With Balsamic Caramelized Onions & Feta Cheese

  • Burgers-
  • 2 lbs ground lamb
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 6 to 8 ounces crumbled feta cheese
  • 3 tablespoons Wish Bone brand Mediterranean Italian Dressing
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • choice of cheese for topping burger (I used Havarti)
  • Sriracha if desired for some heat (that’s what you see running off of mine there 😀 )
  • 6 burger buns
  • Balsamic Caramelized Onions-
  • 4 medium onions, sliced thinly into half moons
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • salt, to taste
  1. Get your burgers put together first because they will need to chill- In a large bowl, combine all the burger ingredients except the lamb and feta. Mix well. Put the lamb and feta on top and using your hands, lightly mix everything together. Don’t overwork the meat or you’ll have tough burgers in the end (and smushed cheese).
  2. Shape the meat into 6 patties. Again, don’t overwork it but make sure they are firmly together. Put on a plate, cover and chill while you make the onions. These are fairly soft burgers due to the dressing in them so they need to chill some to firm up. Do NOT skip that or you’ll end up with a crumbled mess when you try to cook them.
  3. While the burgers chill, make your onions- in a large pan, heat your oil and butter. Add in the thinly sliced onions and turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Let the onions cook over low heat until they are totally soft and transparent.
  4. Turn the heat up to barely medium and uncover the pan. Stirring frequently, cook the onions until they are a deep golden brown. Don’t rush this by turning up the heat. The process will take at least 25 minutes or so, probably longer.
  5. When they are nicely browned, pour in the balsamic vinegar and the brown sugar. Stir well to combine. Turn the heat back down to low and cook the onion mix, stirring frequently, until about 3/4’s of the vinegar is evaporated.
  6. For the burgers- Heat a good frying pan, preferably a cast iron grill pan, over medium high heat until it is almost smoking hot. Do NOT attempt this if all you have is a non stick pan. They can release toxic fumes if heated too high. If that’s all you have, just heat the pan for a minute over medium heat.
  7. Carefully lay your burgers in the pan (only three at a time for an average sized pan). They will spit and sputter all over so be careful not to burn yourself. Cook over medium high heat to desired doneness, about 130 degrees internal temp for medium rare, 145 for medium. I absolutely refuse to put a temp for medium well or well done. Just eat a shoe :-p
  8. To serve, simply put a burger on a bun, top with a scoop of the onions and some cheese. Eat. Love me forever. Set up a burger alter. Cry because I am incapable of taking burger photos that do this justice.

 

It’s All Greek To Me

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I’ve mentioned before that I have a crappy appetite.  It’s hard for me to find foods that I really like but when I do I rarely venture far from them *Cough Twinkies and Cheetos Cough* (and yes, they ARE foods. Kind of.) Like a medium rare ribeye, potato wedges and roasted brussel sprouts will always, always always be my all time favorite dinner. Nothing, not even Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food will replace it.

You may have noticed that I have not been posting as much of my normal “OMG, if I eat this my arteries will harden and fall out of my body” type of recipes. That has been a symptom of the above issue. No, I’m not pregnant before anyone guesses that lol. But there HAS been something going on. If you “like” my facebook page, you may have seen an update here and there about exercise and calories (frightening from me I know, but you can take the mental blow. I have faith in you.). Well, about 7 or so weeks ago, I began a pretty frightening undertaking. And part of that included much less of those delicious artery hardening foods. You see, I finally got fed up with my weight. And as of today, I am now 30 pounds lighter than I was about 7 weeks ago with about another 30 to go. It hasn’t been easy because I stopped making (to avoid eating them) all the baked goods I love. Thus why all of you haven’t been getting posts filled with those foods. *Sobs in abject shame* I’M SORRY!!! I’ll try to post more of them!! Seriously, I will. I am now able to have some  faith in my own abilities to stay away from the foods I need to avoid. I also have enough faith now, since I have been doing this for almost 2 months and am 30 pounds lighter, to know that when I DO make the fattening foods, that I can eat a piece and not feel like a failure. It’s hard to explain the way my mind works and the mindset I had. With me, I have always been all or nothing. If I wanted to lose weight and ate something bad for me, that’s it… I was a total failure and I gave up. Not this time though. I have my cheat days (today is one) and I eat what I want then I get back on the proverbial diet bandwagon. And please don’t tell me to not call it a diet but a “lifestyle change”. I’m not that modern lol. It’s a diet. I’m fine with that. It’s just a word used to describe the changes I’ve made.

So today, for said cheat day, I made something that can be either quite good for you or somewhat not, depending on what you do to it before eating it. I absolutely love Greek food and one of the things I get at the fair every Summer is a Gyro. But a good Gyro, made with beef and/or lamb, is hard to do right in a home setting. I don’t like the ground meat ones so there’s where that all or nothing mentality came in. I couldn’t have a huge chunk of meat turning on a spit in my kitchen and one of those cool knives they use to cut the meat, I wasn’t going the beef/lamb route. So I used chicken.

Now is this authentic? Is the Greek government going to call me and give me an award for the best Chicken Gyro ever made? Nope. But is this based on “real” Greek food and does it have a flavor that won’t disappoint? Oh. My. Yes. It does. It is tangy from lemon juice, redolent of oregano, mint, dill and covered in Tzatziki Sauce and Feta cheese. Then, to kill that “good for you” idea, I shoved them in pitas. I mean, really… Gyros with no pita? I’m pretty sure that’s against the law. But it was a honey wheat one in my defense!!! Like one extra gram of fiber and I’m sure the word “grain” was on the package somewhere! *grins*

So c’mon. Get to cooking. Your family will love you and quite possibly erect a statue in your honor. Just make sure they wash their hands first. That sauce drips everywhere.

Don’t be put off by the long ingredient list. Most of it is for either the marinade or the Tzatziki, both of which go together very quickly.

Chicken Gyros With Tzatziki

  • 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • Marinade-
  • 2/3 cup good quality olive oil
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • zest from 2 lemons
  • 5 (yes, you read that right) minced garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons Oregano (this is one recipe where I will recommend dried herbs, not fresh. The flavor is stronger generally speaking)
  • 1 tablespoon dried mint
  • 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt (or to taste. I usually end up having to sprinkle more on the cooked chicken)
  • Fresh ground pepper to taste
  • zest from one orange
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • Tzatziki Sauce-
  • 1 1/2 cups good quality Greek yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (please don’t use fat free in this; it makes it watery)
  • 2 large cucumbers, grated (food processor works well) and then excess liquid squeezed out
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill (I have used both dried and fresh in Tzatziki. In my opinion, the dried works better because the fresh leaves an unpleasant “leafy” texture)
  • To Serve-
  • Pita bread or flatbread
  • Sliced red onions
  • sliced tomato
  • feta cheese
  1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large non metal bowl. Stir well to combine. Add in the chicken thighs and stir well to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
  2. Meanwhile, while chicken marinates, make your Tzatziki.
  3. Combine the yogurt and sour cream. Add in the lemon juice, garlic, dill salt and pepper. Stir. Gently fold in the grated cucumber, then the olive oil. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 4. If marinating the chicken overnight, wait until about 2 to 3 hours before serving to make the sauce.
  4. Heat charcoal grill to a medium high heat. If using gas grill, I’m not an expert there but I would guess medium high there too.
  5. Remove chicken from marinade and grill over medium high heat (this could easily be done on an indoor grill pan too) until the chicken has reached an internal temp of about 155, about 4 minutes on each side.
  6. Let the chicken rest for about ten minutes, then serve in/with pita bread, onions and tomatoes and Tzatziki. Sprinkle feta on it. Eat, drip sauce. Enjoy. Write me fan mail.