Chicken Souvlaki

Balcer Rating: 4

 Chicken Souvlaki

In Greece, souvlaki typically refers to skewers of grilled lamb. In America, chicken is more common, and it's often served in pita bread. Precooked chicken makes these sandwiches a snap to prepare. Serve with tabbouleh.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt (we made a side just for Jackson made with plain coconut yogurt and it tasted great!)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil, divided
• 1 1/4 teaspoons bottled minced garlic, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

• 2 cups sliced roasted skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 4 (6-inch) pitas, cut in half
• 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cup chopped peeled cucumber
• 1/2 cup chopped plum tomato
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

Preparation

Combine feta cheese, yogurt, dill, 1 teaspoon oil, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic in a small bowl, stirring well.
Heat remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 teaspoon garlic and oregano to pan, and sauté for 20 seconds. Add chicken, and cook for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Place 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each pita half, and top with 2 tablespoons yogurt mixture, 2 tablespoons shredded lettuce, 1 tablespoon cucumber, and 1 tablespoon tomato. Divide onion evenly among pitas.


This one is a staple in our home and even the picky eaters eat it!!

Baklava with Wildflower Honey

Balcer Rating: 4.5

Baklava with Wildflower Honey

Wildflower honey adds a delicate floral scent to this classic dessert, but almond honey would also work well in this recipe. If you can't find unsalted pistachios, use salted and omit the added 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Ingredients

• Syrup:
• 1 1/2 cups wildflower honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
  
• Filling:
• 2/3 cup unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup blanched unsalted almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
  
• Remaining ingredients:
• Cooking spray
• 24 (14 x 9-inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
• 1 tablespoon water

Preparation

To prepare syrup, combine honey, 1/2 cup water, juice, cloves, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over low heat; stir until honey is completely dissolved (about 2 minutes). Increase heat to medium; cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 230° (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat; keep warm. Remove solids with a slotted spoon; discard.
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare filling, combine pistachios and next 6 ingredients (through salt); set aside.
Lightly coat a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Working with 1 phyllo sheet at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), place 1 phyllo sheet lengthwise in bottom of prepared pan, allowing end of sheet to extend over edges of dish; lightly coat with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with 5 phyllo sheets and cooking spray for a total of 6 layers. Sprinkle phyllo evenly with one-third of nut mixture (about 2/3 cup). Repeat procedure with phyllo, cooking spray, and nut mixture 2 more times. Top last layer of nut mixture with remaining 6 sheets phyllo, each one lightly coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat top phyllo sheet with cooking spray; press baklava gently into pan. Sprinkle baklava surface with 1 tablespoon water.
Make 3 even lengthwise cuts and 7 even crosswise cuts to form 32 portions using a sharp knife. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until the phyllo is golden brown. Remove from oven. Drizzle honey mixture evenly over baklava. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Store covered at room temperature.

This finished product:

It tastes pretty good for my first attempt. I did find that I didn't put enough oil between the sheets so many of them didn't stay together. Some of the pieces were a little too dry, so I would make more of the syrup for the next batch!

Greece

 Greece is a small European country that is rich in history, culture and mythology. The population of Greece was calculated as 10,815,197 in the 2011 census. Athens is the capital city.

The climate in Greece is typical of the central Mediterranean area; summers are warm and dry with plenty of sunshine, while the winter months remain mild, with some rain.

One of the first things that comes to mind when Greece is mentioned is the fabulous food, the second is Greek Mythology. Who hasn't heard the stories of Zeus, Hades, Apollo, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Poseidon?  Greek mythology also gave us the griffin, pegasus, Medusa, sirens, phoenix and the minotaur, among many others!

Ας φάνε! (Let us eat!)

And it begins.....

We have drawn our first country! I am prepping the recipes now.

I am so excited to start off 2013 with some of my favorite foods!!

Here is the scoop!

For the entire year of 2013 we will be traveling via our taste buds to 52 countries! We will take the opportunity to learn about authentic cuisine from each country, as well as customs, culture, native crops, music, and politics. We hope to inspire our children to explore and be open to new experiences! We will blog about each country and each meal will be photographed and recipes published. Here is a list of the countries we will be using. It is not the order we will do them. We plan to have the order completely random so the children will draw the country at the beginning of each week prior to our trip to the market.

Afghanistan
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
China
Columbia
Cuba
Czech Republic
Egypt
England
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Haiti
Hungary
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Korea
Libya
Mexico
Mongolia
Morocco
Native North America
Norway
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tahiti
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
Venezuela
Vietnam