Classicsouvlaki Recipes

SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• In a large glass bowl, mix together lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, oregano, and garlic; add pork, onions, and green peppers, and stir to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
• Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Thread pork, peppers, and onions onto skewers.
• Lightly oil grate. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or to desired doneness, turning skewers frequently for even cooking.

SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• To marinate meat: Cut tenderloin into bite-size chunks and put into a Tupperware with remaining marinade ingredients.
• Swish everything around to distribute, put in fridge and forget for a day (this long marination is not absolutely necessary- but longer means more flavour. If you haven't the time, just do what you can).
• When ready to BBQ, skewer meat onto metal or wooden skewers (remember to soak the wooden skewers in water for at least 1/2 an hour first) and bbq until the meat is nicely brown all over, and you know you can't possibly wait any longer to eat.
• To prepare the fixings: As you are barbecuing the meat, brush as many pita breads as there are souvlaki generously with olive oil and put on the bbq to crisp slightly or alternatively, into a hot frying pan, and cook about 30-45 seconds per side or until starting to brown and give off a yummy,'toasty' smell.
• Here is the 'technique' part.
• Have cut some squares of foil a bit larger than the pita breads.
• Put a square in the palm of your hand and lay a pita in the centre sitting in your flat palm.
• Take a skewer of meat and place in center of pita.
• Squeeze palm shut around meat to get a grip with the pita and pull out skewer, leaving meat inside the bread.
• Open up your palm slightly, making the pita gape open and throw in some onion, slices of tomato, a good dollop of tzatziki, some parsley, along with a healthy shake of salt.
• Roll sandwich up by squeezing palm again (gently this time as the salad stuff is inside) and enclosing neatly with the foil, giving a twist on the bottom so no yummy juices drip out onto your clothes as you are eating this!
• Enjoy our contribution to fast-food!
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• To freeze: Place meat and marinade in a freezer bag or rigid freezer container.
• To serve: Thaw in fridge overnight and proceed with cooking directions.

PORK SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• Place pork tenderloin cubes into a gallon-sized resealable bag.
• Stir olive oil, dry white wine, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Pour over pork in the bag and mix well.
• Let pork marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 day, up to 5 days.
• Remove pork cubes from marinade and thread onto metal skewers. Place bay leaf pieces between meat cubes.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Arrange skewers on the preheated grill. Turn the kabobs and baste with marinade frequently for the first 10 minutes of cooking, then discard marinade. Cook about 5 minutes longer, until pork is cooked through and juices run clear.

PORK SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• Put the pork in a large bowl with the oil, oregano, lemon zest and juice and paprika as well as a good pinch of salt. Toss everything together to combine and leave to marinate for 10 mins.
• Combine the yogurt, garlic and cucumber together in a bowl. Season with salt and set aside.
• Heat the grill to high. Thread the marinated pork and the peppers on four metal skewers, alternating between the pork and peppers as you go. Place on a non-stick baking sheet and grill for 3-4 mins on each side, or until cooked through and golden brown.
• Serve with the lettuce, yogurt mixture and chilli sauce, and flatbreads, if you like.

SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• Cut off any excess fat or membranes from the meat, then cut it into equal sized cubes.
• Toss the meat in a large bowl together with all the marinade ingredients, then refrigerate for a minimum of five hours (best overnight). Also, place the wooden skewers in a shallow container filled with water overnight.
• The next day, take the meat out of the refrigerator and first wait until it comes to room temperature and then skewer it.
• Grill the souvlaki over medium-high heat, about 3-4 minutes per side. Keep warm until ready to serve. Sprinkle the grilled souvlaki with lemon juice, salt, and Greek oregano.
• Serve just with bread, or inside a pita with tzatziki sauce and toppings of your choice.

SOUVLAKI (WICKED KEBABS)

Steps:

• For the kebabs: Put the pork chunks, dried mint, dried oregano, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and black pepper into a bowl and use your clean hands to mix everything together really well. Cover with plastic wrap or clingfilm, then pop into the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or longer if you want the flavours to get a bit more intense. Meanwhile, blacken the peppers directly over the flame of your hob, in a hot dry griddle pan or under a hot grill. Turn them every so often and when they look almost ruined, pop them into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or clingfilm and put to one side to steam for 5 minutes or so, this will help their skins to come off.
• To make the tzatziki: Coarsely grate the cucumber into a sieve set up over a bowl. Add a few good pinches of salt, then use your hands to squeeze out as much water as you can. Pour the water away, then tip the cucumber into the empty bowl and add the yoghurt. Pound the garlic in a pestle and mortar with a good pinch of salt until you have a paste, and spoon that into the bowl with the cucumber. Add the dried mint and red wine vinegar and mix really well. Have a taste to make sure you've got the balance right, then put aside. Preheat a griddle pan or grill on a high heat. Thread the skewers through the marinated pork pieces, leaving little spaces between them so that the heat cooks everything evenly. Cook the kebabs on the screaming hot griddle or grill for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally until done on all sides. Warm your flatbreads in the oven or in a hot dry pan while your kebabs are cooking. Just before your kebabs are ready, peel and deseed your blackened peppers, then tear them into strips and put them into a bowl. Roll up your mint leaves, finely slice them and add to the bowl along with the dill. Add a few splashes of red wine vinegar, a pinch or two of salt and pepper and a lug of extra-virgin olive oil. Toss and mix together, then have a taste to check the balance of flavours. Cut your lemon into wedges. Put a dollop of tzatziki and the meat from 1 skewer on each warmed flatbread. Top with some of the pepper mixture, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Life doesn't get much better.

TRADITIONAL SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• Mix together lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, oregano and garlic in a large container.
• Add Pork, onions, and peppers mixing well.
• Cover the mixture and put in refrigerator for 3 hours.
• Using skewers that have been soaked in water thread on peppers, onions, and meat.
• Preheat barbecue for medium.
• Lightly oil grate.
• Cook for 10-15 minutes, turning skewers often.
• Cook to desired doneness.

CLASSIC GREEK CHICKEN SOUVLAKI

Steps:

• Over a medium bowl, zest the lemon, making sure you do not grate any of the pith (white part of the peel). Add the juice of the lemons.
• Mince the garlic and add it to the bowl. Next, add the olive oil, oregano, spearmint, salt and pepper. Mix well. Reserve one third of your marinade to brush on your kebabs before serving.
• Cut the red onion into quarters, separate each one into 3 or 4 sections and then set aside.
• Cut the chicken in 1½-inch cubes and add to the bowl with the lemon, oil and herbs. Mix well to coat the chicken with the marinade, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4-6 hours (another trick is to mix them all in a large, zip-lock-style bag, tossing regularly).
• Prepare a grill or set a grill pan over two burners and heat over medium-high heat. Loosely thread the pieces of chicken onto the skewers, alternating the chicken with sections of onion. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken kebabs with salt and pepper. Place the skewers on the hot grill and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning a couple of times, until the chicken has nice grill marks and is cooked through. Brush some of the reserved marinade on the hot kebabs and remove to a serving plate. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
• Place the pita on the hot grill until just heated through.
• To serve, cut the pita into wedges and arrange on the plater, alongside some tzatziki sauce (made with Fage yogurt), chopped red onions, cubes of Greek Feta cheese, grape tomatoes cut in half. Generously sprinkle with some dried oregano. Add the warm kebabs on the platter and serve right away. Enjoy a real Greek feast!