Time to go for a 'dip'
This month I am giving you a recipe to transport you straight to a Greek taverna. You know that time of day, pre-dinner, when the sun is setting, you have had a great day poolside sipping cocktails, been back to your room, put on your best ‘I just rolled off the beach looking like this but it actually took me an hour to get right’ floaty frock, and now as you muse over what to eat for dinner, you’re ready for a cold glass of white wine and the snack to end all snacks.
I have recently started delivering food to the good people of Bury St Edmunds and this dish made up the first course of the Greek menu. I had so much feedback on these ‘dips’ that I am genuinely considering bottling and selling them. But until then, you can recreate them at home with this simple recipe.
I was lucky enough to travel to the Greek Islands a few years back and, of course, as soon as our plane touched down in Athens, the forecast changed and we were in for seven days of rain. However, all was not lost. I befriended a wonderful lady who welcomed me into her kitchen and for three days we cooked, drank ouzo and laughed til we couldn’t breathe. I managed to scribble a few of the recipes down and through my drunken handwriting I have deciphered and re-written them for you below. Enjoy!
Greek crackerbreads, kalamata tapenade & tzatziki
Serves 2
Spotify playlist: Sups
Tipple of choice: Crisp dry white wine
GREEK CRACKERBREADS
Ingredients:
200g kalamata olives
3 tablespoons capers
2 anchovies chopped (you can omit this if you are veggie)
1 fat clove of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ lemon juiced
Method:
Preheat the oven to 230⁰C.
Put all dry ingredients and olive oil into a food processor and pulse until combined.
Add in the cold water and blitz until everything sticks together. Turn out onto a surface and bring together in a ball with your hands. If the mix is feeling a little dry, wet your hands to add more water. Keep repeating this rather than pouring more water into the mix as you will have more control over the dough.
Once in a ball, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins.
When it is time to roll, flour a surface, remove the dough from the fridge and cut into four portions.
Roll each piece of dough out as thin as possible. There is no strict rule to shape here, just the size of your baking sheet will do as you are going to break the crackers into shards. Keep flouring. You should be able to see your fingers through it if you hold the dough up to the light. If you wanted to be super fancy, you could do this step in a pasta machine.
Once rolled out, place on a lined baking sheet and put into the hot oven for 4 minutes, flip the cracker and bake for another 4 minutes.
Whilst the cracker is in the oven, watch it like a hawk as they can catch.
Once it is golden brown, turn the oven off but leave the cracker in the oven for an hour so it dries out completely and is super crispy. If you have a particularly ferocious oven, leave the door ajar for the last hour. When they are done, break into shards. They will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days.
TZATZIKI
Ingredients:
500g Greek yoghurt
1 cucumber
2 x garlic cloves, crushed/minced/
grated
Splash of white wine vinegar
Big glug of extra virgin olive oil
Big pinch of sea salt
Ingredients:
Put the yoghurt, garlic, vinegar, oil and salt in a large bowl. Stir to make sure everything is well mixed, cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
For the cucumber, use a peeler to take off alternate strips of peel down the length of the cucumber so you are left with a stripey number. Slice him in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard.
Grate the cucumber flesh into a muslin and squeeze with all your might to get the moisture out.
Set a sieve over a bowl, put the cucumber-filled muslin in the sieve and leave in the fridge overnight. (The overnight stage is not completely necessary, you could eave it for as long as you have or indeed, mix everything together immediately, but as with most things, the longer you leave it, the more the flavours will develop and it really does level this dish up.)
Next day, combine your grated cucumber and yoghurt mix, taste and season if needed.
Discard the cucumber water that has collected OR – top tip – it is delicious thrown into a Hendricks and tonic. Just saying.
KALAMATA TAPENADE
Ingredients:
200g kalamata olives
3 tablespoonscapers
2 anchovies chopped (you can omit this if you are veggie)
1 fat clove of garlic crushed
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ lemon juiced
Method:
I make my tapenade in a nutribullet. Not sure this is the authentic way but it is certainly the easiest. You can use a pestle and mortar if you want the real deal.
Now read carefully because this is a complicated one. . .
Destone your olives. I urge you to buy your olives whole and destone at home as the flavour is unparalleled. Kalamata olives are so soft that all you need to do is put them on a chopping board and roll your palm over them and the stones will pop out.
Put your olives, capers, anchovies, garlic and thyme in your processor and blitz. You want to keep texture here – it shouldn’t be smooth.
Muddle in the olive oil and lemon, stir, taste, pepper if needed.
That is it and it is GLORIOUS!
Find out about Hannah’s upcoming Supper Clubs and what she is currently cooking via Instagram @WanderSups
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