Question about Tzatziki

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DramaQueen

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I want to make tzatziki for my card club tomorrow night. I have some beautiful, fresh mint and have looked through recipes but they all use dill OR mint. Can I use both mint and dill together for this?
Does it matter if the yogurt is Greek or not? The recipes all call for Greek yogurt.
 
I have used both herbs together and there is nothing wrong with it. I think it is just a matter of personal taste. Yes Greek Yogurt is ideal as it is thicker and less watery, if it can't be found I would use sour cream instead of regular yogurt. It comes out richer but also tasty:)
 
if you use regular yogurt I would definately strain it in a cheese cloth if you have it....if not you can use a non fuzzy dish towl....wrap the yogurt and either tie it over a deep bowl with a large spoon so its not sitting in the liquid or put the wrapped yogurt in a strainer...let it sit for a couple of hours to get as much liquid out as possible.
 
Dill is much much much better... in OUR Greek opinions!!!


And yes... Greek yougart is best but you can drain the reg!
 
I want to make tzatziki for my card club tomorrow night. I have some beautiful, fresh mint and have looked through recipes but they all use dill OR mint. Can I use both mint and dill together for this?
Does it matter if the yogurt is Greek or not? The recipes all call for Greek yogurt.


Hi Dramaqueen,
You can use either or or both - depends on what you are serving it with! The dill works well with fish and a mint only, with pureed garlic works, well with a slow roast of lamb or BBQ lamb. Both work well when used as a dip If serving as a dip then it is a matter of taste. Personally, I use mint as a dip or both as a dip but dill if serving with fish.

For me, the critical ingredients are the yogurt and the cucumber. Find/buy the thickest Greek yogurt you can buy. How you handle the cucumber is critical. Top and tail and peel the cucumber. Divide into 4 and cut out the seeds. Grate, finely slice or finely dice the cucumber and place in a colander with a little salt and leave for about 30 minutes, rinse in cold water and leave to drain or dry handfulls in kitchen paper. It is important to remove both the salt and liquid. Failure to remove the salt might make the final mixture too salty and failure to remove the liquid will dilute the yogurt. Add the prepared cucumber to the yogurt together with the chooped herb(s) of you choice, stir well, taste and season with black pepper, EVOO and salt if necessary.

Greek yogurt may be used with just cucumber, prepared as above with or without garlic (cream using a knife or use a microplane etc), with mint, or dill or a mixture. The EVOO or OO should just be sufficient to cut through the acid of the yogurt but still leave an acid note or tingle on the tongue. If you go to far with the EVOO/OO add a touch of lemon juice.

I worked as a chef in Athens so my advice is informed by this - I have no doubt that others will disagree with me.

Hope this helps,
Archiduc
 
Hi Dramaqueen,
You can use either or or both - depends on what you are serving it with! The dill works well with fish and a mint only, with pureed garlic works, well with a slow roast of lamb or BBQ lamb. Both work well when used as a dip If serving as a dip then it is a matter of taste. Personally, I use mint as a dip or both as a dip but dill if serving with fish.

For me, the critical ingredients are the yogurt and the cucumber. Find/buy the thickest Greek yogurt you can buy. How you handle the cucumber is critical. Top and tail and peel the cucumber. Divide into 4 and cut out the seeds. Grate, finely slice or finely dice the cucumber and place in a colander with a little salt and leave for about 30 minutes, rinse in cold water and leave to drain or dry handfulls in kitchen paper. It is important to remove both the salt and liquid. Failure to remove the salt might make the final mixture too salty and failure to remove the liquid will dilute the yogurt. Add the prepared cucumber to the yogurt together with the chooped herb(s) of you choice, stir well, taste and season with black pepper, EVOO and salt if necessary.

Greek yogurt may be used with just cucumber, prepared as above with or without garlic (cream using a knife or use a microplane etc), with mint, or dill or a mixture. The EVOO or OO should just be sufficient to cut through the acid of the yogurt but still leave an acid note or tingle on the tongue. If you go to far with the EVOO/OO add a touch of lemon juice.

I worked as a chef in Athens so my advice is informed by this - I have no doubt that others will disagree with me.

Hope this helps,
Archiduc

Sounds good to me Archiduc. I've made this before but using only fresh dill. I wondered if it would taste strange with both dill and mint. I guess not.
 
I second what Archiduc says. I wasn't a chef in Athens, but I did live there for a while. Thick yogurt, drained cucumber, fresh dill or mint (anytime I had it, it was dill IIRC), fresh garlic, EVOO and a bit of salt. Any recipe with sour cream, mayonaise, or salad dressing isn't tzatziki, and dried herbs or garlic isn't the same either.
 
Okay, I made the tzatziki using Greek yogurt from Fresh and Easy. I've never had Greek yogurt before and have to agree that this is the best tasting yogurt I've ever had. I used both mint and dill and I have to say this made it so much better. Thanks for your help. I've discovered Greek yogurt and that's a bonus.
 
I second what Archiduc says. I wasn't a chef in Athens, but I did live there for a while. Thick yogurt, drained cucumber, fresh dill or mint (anytime I had it, it was dill IIRC), fresh garlic, EVOO and a bit of salt. Any recipe with sour cream, mayonaise, or salad dressing isn't tzatziki, and dried herbs or garlic isn't the same either.

Our family recipe has always had garlic, but our family isn't from Athens which may be part of the difference. Sour cream or mayonaise, though, just seem odd.
 
Well, I served the tzatziki with dill and mint and my friends loved it. They ate the whole dang thing. I was keeping a little aside for myself but they asked if there was any more and I had to bring it out. I have to admit that I will be buying GREEK yogurt from now on. Much better than any yogurt I've had yet.
I purchased this from Fresh and Easy and it's their own brand. I didn't get fat free or low fat but will try their low fat next time.

Thanks for all your help. It seems that the combination of dill and mint was, after all, a winner.
 
I agree with all of Archiduc's info, and if in a pinch and I cannot find fresh dill (or just don't have it on hand) I soak some dried dill in lemon juice and salt to really extract the flavor.
Archiduc...do you know any Askounes family?
 
So what do you serve this with? Pita chips?

I had pita chips, large dipping pretzels and warmed pita bread cut into triangles. They went for the pita bread. Me too.

By the way I made that blue cheese, apple, avocado sandwich thing with pita bread and not only did it taste terrific, but nothing fell out. :LOL:
 
Do you cook your pita bread? Or do you use the pita pocket?

No Glorie, I didn't make my own pita bread. I bought a package of Greek pita from my local Fresh and Easy. Good stuff by the way. I just heated the pita and cut it into triangles.

When I made the sandwich I just stuffed everything into the pocket and put it under the broiler to warm the cheese. Wow,
 
Mmmm, pds - yes please! I know some people don't cook/warm their pita's. I was just curious how it was done, whether it was pan fried or deep fried or what
 
I make a mixture of
olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic salt
onion powder
and oregano
and brush it on the pita and then
fry it in the fry pan just until it browns and starts to "bubble" Flip and do the other side...
You can then dip it in mustard or "whatever sauce you like. Oh it's good!


Don't use too much olive oil..or it gets mushy!!
 
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