Greek Feast

Greece is my absolutely my favorite place!!!  My husband and I had the best time while we were there.  It was a quick trip; we hit Athens, Mykonos and Santorini in about 10 days!  The days stretch on forever, it was light out until about 11pm, there is amazing food (for cheap), friendly people, beautiful sunsets, active nightlife, breathtaking beaches and ocean views, a volcano, ruins, the acropolis...I mean what else can you ask for in a trip!  You can bet we will be traveling back there!

Every time you stop for a Mythos or Alpha (those are local beers) or a delish house glass of wine, they always give you yummy little snacks; love that!  We like to stop for lots of drinks and little snacks through out the day when we are traveling; we find we get to try more things that way and you get a little break from all of the running around trying to see everything.   And at the end of every meal they bring you some sort of dessert, fruit (I remember our first meal they brought us a piece of watermelon with seeds.  It occurred to me that I have not seen seeds in watermelon in the US in years upon years - odd!), or some lethal shot!

Everything we ate while traveling was spot on; here are a few of my favs:  stuffed wine leaves, moussaka, spanakopita, saganokia, baklava, and more!!  But my total addiction for food there was the souvlakis (gyros).  And the best place to get these was Souvlaki Row in Athens! 
Couple of things to know, so these can be made with a few types of meat or a combination, usually beef, lamb or pork.  They come on a pita and in addition to the meat they generally have tomatoes, red onions, tzatziki (yogurt/cucumber sauce) and the best places have french fries on them! 
Other piece you need to be aware of, is to avoid the restaurants for these; the best ones and the best prices are from the stands or window type shops(where you ordered at the window).  If you are on Souvlaki Row, the best one is right along the square and sells out of a little window. Now, if you need to sit down for a break and do try to order these at a restaurant, make sure you specify that you want the "sandwich", otherwise they will bring you out this ridiculous plate that is just not the same.

Now, as you may or may not know; souvlaki or gyro's meat is roasted on a vertical rotisserie; I don't know about for you, but that is a little outside what I can accomplish in my tiny kitchen.  So, this meal incorporates my very first meal I had in Athens!  It was a tiny little restaurant that was recommend by a local; in looking for it after we checked in, as we were incredibly jet-lagged and exhausted, we managed to walk past it about 5 times before we figured out it was the place we were looking for.  Our persistence paid off as the meal was excellent!  We had the most flavor filled seared pork that hit the spot just right!    So, for this feast, I took those same elements of this pork and the components of souvalki and combined them; and then added on a greek salad (which is where I incorporated my tomatoes and onions) and some olives to round out the meal.   This meal is really easy to make, but is great for hosting a dinner party; your guest will totally be impressed and feel transported to Greece! 



Wanderer's Shopping List
 Greek Pork
4lbs Boneless Pork Shoulder
10cloves Garlic
5sprigs Rosemary
10sprigs Oregano
1tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
1tsp Ground Pepper
1/2tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 Yellow Onion
1/2cup Chicken Broth
Olive Oil

Greek Salad
1 English Cucumber
12oz small Tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 Red Onion (to your liking)
2clove Garlic
2tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1tbsp Olive Oil
8oz Feta

Greek Fries
2 Baking Potatoes
2tbsp Paprika
1tbsp Granulated Garlic
2tsp Kosher Salt
2tbsp Fresh Dill
Olive Oil

Tzatziki

2clove garlic
4tbsp finely chopped cucumber
1 Lemon - juiced
2tbsp finely chopped dill
2cup greek yogurt

To go with
Mediterranean Flat Bread
Greek Olives

First we are going to start with the Pork.  Your fresh herbs are key to the flavor of this meat!  Break out your slow cooker; this is going to be some delicious tender meat.  Turn on slow cooker to low and coat with olive oil.  Slice onion and place in bottom of slow cooker.  Finely chop garlic, rosemary and oregano; mix with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.  Rub all over pork.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add pork to sear outside; rotating 2 minutes each side.  You want a nice brown sear all around the pork, just be careful not to burn your seasonings.   Once you have your sear, add to slow cooker on top of onions.  Add chicken broth to skillet and scrap of all those good bits.  Pour in slow cooker along the side.  Place lid on and let go for 6-8 hours. 

Now, you have plenty of time to make your salad, tzatziki and fries; I recommend for you to make the salad now for it to sit and soak up all the flavors and make the fries right before you eat this glorious feast.  But it is all your call.

For the Salad; dice your cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and finely chop your garlic.  Mix together with salt, vinegar and olive oil.  Refrigerate until ready to eat.  Just before serving add feta on top.

For the tzatiki; mix cucumber, garlic and lemon.  Let sit for five minutes.  Add dill and yogurt; mix and refrigerate.  See how easy that was!  Now you don't ever need to buy this pre-made from the store again; and it is going to taste so much better!

Now the fries; so we are going to do a little pre-work on these.  Cut your potatoes into strips; as close to the same size as you can get them.  Rinse and soak in salt water for 1 hour.  Rinse and dry completely.   Soaking the potatoes helps to keep them crisp when you bake them.  Set aside until 30 minutes before meal time.  Preheat oven to 350 and toss potatoes with olive oil, paprika, garlic and salt and spread out on baking sheet.  Make sure the potatoes have plenty of room and are not crowded on the sheet.  Bake for 20-30 minutes; flipping half way through.  Watch carefully so they do not burn.

When you turn your oven off, through your flat bread in there for just a couple minutes to warm it up.

Now the best part; time to eat!  Eat however you would like; but this is how I did mine.  Flat bread, pork, tzatiki, fries and them some salad and olives on the side.  So good!  Yamas!