John,
I too had a hard tine cutting my loaf thin. Finally, I made a little stand for it and used my electric knife to cut the thinner strips. With my regular carving knife, your 1/8 of an inch slice was better than I did as a whole. But, honestly, I enjoyed the thinker slices just as much.

Scorereader

The last post on this thread was only three hours ago. how come it was kicked off the "active topics" board???? this crap could make a guy paranoid.

cheers, John

Besides being delicious it is also very healthy for the body and soul.

Hail Greece!

Thanks for the tips from several of you folks above. We made the Gyro meatloaf last week and the Tzatziki sauce to go along with it. They both were delicious.They both were better after sitting in the refrigerator for a couple of days than when we first ate them freshly made. Ours was baked in a loafpan because we do not have a rotisserie.

One observation: I tried shaving off very thin slices like they do at a Greek diner, but found it to be impossible – we settled for about 1/8th inch slices which I was able to achieve with a very sharp carving knife. Is there a knack or trick I’m missing here?

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by Scorereader

I always add lemon juice too. I wonder, if I can be a little creative and use some lemon zest? ( to get some of those lemon oils in there.) Would it end up being too tart?

There are a few recipes out there that add lemon zest. Sounds like it’s worth a shot — what’s the worst that could happen?

I always add lemon juice too. I wonder, if I can be a little creative and use some lemon zest? ( to get some of those lemon oils in there.) Would it end up being too tart?

I usally add dill to my sauce too. Gives it a nice depth of flavor.

Thanks for all the tips caratzas. I LOVE making tsaziki sauce, for pita with dip, over rice, on roasted potatoes and more.
I never added mint before, but I’m going to give that a try, especially for a gyro or other lamb dish.

quote:

Originally posted by caratzas

Oh, and it isn’t just for gyros — it’s a great sauce for roasted meats, or to serve as an appetizer with bread for dipping. Enjoy!

Thanks for all the details on prep. I love tzatziki and have made it at home several times (most recently for use on lamb burgers) but just had a simple recipe.

I make my tzatziki with only 1 clove of garlic, 1 cucumber, whole yogurt and olive oil blended up real smooth.

Oh, and it isn’t just for gyros — it’s a great sauce for roasted meats, or to serve as an appetizer with bread for dipping. Enjoy!

Comments on the recipes: The wikipedia one is as basic as you can get — kind of a "mother sauce." The allrecipes.com and Alton Brown ones add some VERY typically Greek flavors (lemon juice and dill, mint) — the stuff you get in diners around here typically has the dill but mint is, like I said, very Greek too — whether one’s recipe uses one or the other is a regional thing as much as anything else. Other ingredients to consider — black or white pepper, salt, paprika, onion, oregano. There is no one authentic recipe so experiment.

The allrecipes.com recipe misses a major point — if you want it to come out right HAVE TO use strained yogurt (see Alton’s recipe for instructions.) Unstrained yogurt will make the sauce too thin, and more importantly, straining the yogurt removes the bitter whey, leaving a much creamier, mellower base for the tzatziki. Almost all Greek recipes use strained yogurt.

Also, using a food processor to mix the sauce is unnecessary and might lead to less-than-optimum results. Just a bit of stirring until everything is blended together is good enough and helps keep the sauce from getting too runny or watery. For best results, stay away from non-fat or low-fat yogurt, both for flavor and to avoid the thickeners they use in the reduced-fat yogurts that will affect the texture — they keep it from straining right.

To their credit, allrecipes suggests letting the sauce sit for an hour. The sauce will be even better, though, if you let it sit overnight in the fridge. This will give the flavors a chance to meld and really bring out the garlic flavor (it will be less sharp/bitter than when you first make it, but also much stronger.) Keep this in mind if you aren’t a huge garlic fan — you may want to use a bit less if you’re going to let it sit overnight (I use more anyway, but hey — I’m Greek!) Some water may separate if you let it sit; just stir it back in before serving.

Kali orexi! (That’s Greek for Bon Appetit!)

Here’s a recipe from Good Eats on the Food Network…

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_30420,00.html

It’s actually a yogurt base-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzatziki
http://salad.allrecipes.com/AZ/TztzikiSc.asp