March meze Madness! Keftedes with fresh pita, tzatziki and cucumber meze

This week its March Meze Madness! over at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

So i made ourselves a little meze party for dinner, when my boyfriend came home from his work he almost couldn't wait to get started. I'm glad whe both like tzatziki. Whe ate the hole bowl so that will keep colds and the vampires away;-)

Keftedes (fried meatballs)

Tessa says,"These are very popular in Greece. They are lovely as a meze with a dish of feta and a few other bits and pieces. Of course they are also great with french fries. Many Greeks roll their keftedes in a little flour before frying."

Serves 35 balls

10½ ounces unpeeled potatoes [about 2]
1 pound 2 ounces ground beef
1 red onion, grated
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried mint
good pinch of ground cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper
all-purpose flour, for dusting
olive oil for frying
lemon quarters, for serving

Boil the potatoes, covered, in plenty of water until they are soft when pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, put the beef, onion, parsley, oregano, mint, cinnamon and egg into a bowl and mix. Drain the cooked potatoes and when they are cool enough to handle, peel and break up into the bowl. Season well with salt and pepper, then mash everything together with a potato masher. Knead again with your hands to make a compact mix. Form walnut-size balls of about 1 ounce each, but you can make them smaller or bigger if you like. Scatter some flour onto a flat plate and roll the balls lightly in the flour, keeping them in compact balls.

Heat olive oil to a depth of about 1/4 inch in a large nonstick skillet. Add as many balls as will fit to the skillet and fry until they are golden on all sides, flicking them gently to roll over. You will probably have to fry in two batches. Remove carefully with tongs and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Add a little salt (as fried things are always good with a last sprinkling of salt). Serve hot, with a few drops of lemon juice.

Pita bread

Makes 8 pitas

Tessa says,"Generally in Greece pita is found at a souvlaki house and some grill spaces. But it is also wonderful served plain instead of bread at your table with dips etc.
In Greece, the pita are more often wrapped than stuffed for souvlaki and kebabs, so they need to be a bit softer. They are then heated up at the barbecue, or in the oven or chargrill pan before filling. If you will be eating them straight away. However, cook them a little longer, until they just start to colour. These can be frozen once cooked and then just pulled out to thaw."

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
450G (2 cups) bread flour
6 tablespoons olive oil

Sprinkle the yeast in a large bowl. Add the honey and 3 tablespoons warm water and mix to dissolve. Leave it till it starts to activate and get frothy. Add salt, flour, oil, and 7 oz water to the dough and mix until a rough dough slumps around your spoon. Change to your hands and knead until you have a soft springy dough, 8-10 minutes. It will seem sticky at first, but that is good, so only add more flour if the dough clings to your hands.

Wipe out the bowl with an oiled paper towel. Put the dough in, cover with plastic wrap, then a heavy cloth, and leave in a warm place to puff up until about double in size (1 1/2-2 hours).

Preheat the oven to 400. Punch down the dough and divide into 8 balls. Press each ball into a flat disk with your hands and leave for 5 minutes for them to relax.
Roll out the disks into a circle about 1/6" thick. Brush lightly with olive oil and put onto unfloured baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time util they are firmed on the first side, 5 minutes or so, then turn them over amd bake for another 3 minutes, or until the top surface is dry. You will finish cooking them under the broiler or in the oven when you are about to serve, so they should be a little underdone.
Remove and immeaditely stack them on top of each other and wrap in plastic wrap to keep them pliable. To serve, brush each side lightly with olive oil and put under the broiler to warm both sides.

Tzatziki(Yogurt, Cucumber, Garlic)

Serves a nice bowlful

Tessa says, "This is a subtle amount of garlic comparred with some versions that you might come across. So you can add more if you like. If the garlic bothers you, you can leave it out completely, but it's not really tzatziki then. Tzatziki is a beauty as it takes just about anything to a different level. wonderful with chips, lamb chops, bread and many other dishes."

2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small cucumber
1 teaspoon salt
250g Greek yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped mint       

Using the flat of your knife, crush the garlic with a pinch of salt into a paste. Put into a small bowl with the oil, and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest.

Top and tail the cucumber and peel it. I like it striped, with one strip peeled and the next left unpeeled. Using the large holes of the grater, grate the cucumber into a sieve. Scatter with the salt and leave it for 30 minutes or so to drain, turning it over a couple of times and even pressing it down with your hands or a wooden spoon.

Put the yogurt into a bowl for serving. Add the garlic and oil, the mint and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Fold the cucumber through and taste for salt. This can be stored in the fridge, covered, for a couple of days. The cucumber will give up a little water, but stir it through to loosen the tzatziki.

Cucumber meze

Serves 2

Tessa says,"This is extremely instant and extremely simple. The kind of thing you could eat a bucket of in summer. The recipe is easy to double; just reduce the olive oil slightly-about 1½ tablespoons.

Serves 2

1 cucumber, about 200g peeled and sliced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
about 1 Tablebspoon olive oil

Mix the cumcumber, lemon juice, and mint together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss again. Just before serving, drizzle the cucumber slices with olive oil.