A Greek Inspired Family Dinner Menu
Totally influenced by my gyros obsessed children and our Kefalonia holiday; a sunshine dinner in the wilds of Yorkshire. Well, wildish.
Eating out on holiday ranks in my Top Five best things to do and I don’t say that lightly. There are a few things that hit this list, including getting off a plane into hot weather, buying flowers at the market to bring home and (a rare one, yes) getting my house tidy to the point where I walk around the rooms feeling smug thinking how tidy it is. Oh and finally, my Sleep App showing that I have had a full eight hours at 100% sleep quality. WINNING.
My family also love eating out. I have one child still at school and two away at University, so the times that we sit down together at a table are rare. Going on holiday is a chance for us all to be together and we very much enjoy the whole evening experience. From arranging to meet at the sofas at 7pm for a drink, to getting ready to go out, to choosing the restaurant, right through to the end of the evening when they try and convince Joe (who is almost teetotal) to drink flaming sambucas in the nearest bar and then harass him for being boring as he wants to go to bed.
When they were younger, we would head STRAIGHT for the all inclusive holidays for pure ease of living. I cannot understand why anyone with three children under eight would choose to take them to an actual restaurant, an action that is more akin to an endurance test than an act of fun. A few hours of hoping that the iPad will stop them from complaining about the slowness of the food, praying that there’s a kids menu and that - the worst - they won’t knock their drinks over. Knocking their drinks over was standard practice, right up until they hit teens. I still have memories of taking them to Wagamamas and Max, inexplicably, managing to throw his hot chocolate across the tables and on to a woman wearing a fluffy cream jumper (true story). One of my most popular ever posts over the last eight years was, in fact, this one below (have taken the paywall off for free subs), where I charted our family holiday progress throughout their childhood. I still have shocking flashbacks from the camping drama.
Anyway, nowadays they are far more inclined to sample local holiday restaurants which is an excellent result, although they still love a holiday buffet (you know, the ones where everyone eats at different times and you can’t chat as there is always someone getting up to get more, whilst you sit surrounded by discarded plates). We clocked up a few excellent meals on our holiday to Kefalonia a few weeks ago (you can read all about it here) but by far the most popular of dishes for my kids was the gyros. If it was on the menu, it was ordered, so I thought it was worth trying to recreate this when we got home, if only to have a meal in my repertoire that was guaranteed to be eaten by all. So here’s a menu that is perfect for a family dinner whilst also reminding us of warm evenings eating outside on checked tablecloths with carafes of house white.
To Start:
So this is obviously completely non authentic version of the Greek speciality which is made of a combination of cod roe, onion, stale bread and olive oil and which is my favourite all time dip. I know, it divides opinion but the real thing is off the scale delish and I do believe that this original dish is ruined for many by the pink stuff that comes off the supermarket shelves (if you have access to cod roe and want to try it out then The Guardian has a great recipe here that you can try). Anyway, this recipe is super easy, very tasty and appealing to many who don’t fancy the roe route. Yes, calling it taramasalata IS a push but it’s delicious with toasted pitta bread and you can use the leftovers on bagels or toast. YUM.
Smoked Salmon Taramasalata
YOU WILL NEED: 100g smoked salmon, 200g pot of cream cheese, 100g creme fraiche, juice of one lemon, one tsp paprika, coarse ground black pepper.
METHOD: Blitz all together, reserving a little bit of the smoked salmon to chop for the top. Sprinkle with paprika and you’re good to go. Serve with black kalamata olives and toasted pitta bread.
The Main Event:
Our holiday to Kefalonia was peppered with servings of this dish which my family are all obssessed with. It’s super easy to pull together, serves a crowd and also makes you feel as if you are eating a takeaway when you are not. Kind of like a gastronomic guilty pleasure, really. You’ll need to make the tzatziki separately but it’s worth it as homemade is the BEST (you’ll find a Reel on my Instagram here with step by step instructions if you want to see it in action). The potato wedges can be crammed in to your wrap depending on the size or eaten separately.
Chicken Gyros & Homemade Paprika Wedges
YOU WILL NEED:
To marinate: 750g chicken (breast or thigh) sliced into strips; 200ml Greek yoghurt mixed with 1 tsp each of sweet paprika, oregano and ground coriander; half a tsp each of cayenne pepper and black pepper; juice of a lemon, 2 chopped garlic cloves; final good splash of olive oil.
Tzatziki: 300ml Greek yoghurt; half a cucumber grated and strained; two chopped garlic cloves; half a lemon juice; good splash of olive oil; chopped fresh mint.
Paprika wedges: 600g Maris Piper or similar; olive oil and 1 tsp smoked paprika.
To serve: Greek flatbreads (mine are from Waitrose); three sliced juicy vine tomatoes; one thinly sliced red onion;
METHOD: Marinate your chicken in the yoghurt mix for around two hours. Whilst marinating, mix all tzatziki ingredients together and stick in fridge. Slice your potatoes into thinnish wedges, then put in a bowl and toss with a few tbsps of olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper. Lay on a baking tray and cook at 200g for around 30 minutes.
Remove chicken then add to a baking tray and cook in the oven or grill until cooked - I added mine to the oven at the same time as the potatoes and it was all cooked together at 200 degrees - or BBQ on skewers if you are up for it. Serve the chicken and wedges on a board with warmed flatbreads, tomato and red onions and tzatziki so that people can build their gyros. These are SO GOOD.
To Finish:
I LOVE a walnut cake and this is a Greek classic, found on the Mia Kouppa website which has endless delicious recipes to try. This one is super easy to make and is delicious with ice cream or creme fraiche left over from your taramasalata starter. It lasts for ages, too.
Karydopita - Greek Walnut Cake
YOU WILL NEED:
For the cake: 250g blitzed walnuts; 6 eggs, 300g plain flour; 400g granulated sugar; 235ml milk; half a tsp ground cloves; 1 tsp cinnamon; 2 tsp baking powder; 235ml vegetable oil.
For the syrup: 235ml water; 300g caster sugar; 1 tsp lemon juice; cinnamon stick and a slice of lemon.
METHOD: Add syrup ingredients to a saucepan and bring to boil, then simmer for 5 mins. Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Mix all of your cake ingredients together and pour the batter into a prepared greased and lined tin. Cook for 50-60 minutes until a skewer comes clean, then remove from oven (but keep in tin) and skewer holes in before pouring on the syrup and allowing it to cool. Remove and serve. Side note: I cooked mine in a round cake tin and it took almost 90 minutes - I would 100% cook this in a shallow rectangular tin so that you can cut into square. Just make sure you do the skewer test method; when it comes out clean, it’s job done. PS: It also tastes good with butter on.
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That kebab recipe looks good 😍 I'm going to add it to the menu next week, thanks!
Just in case you're not aware, the other article you linked is still behind the paywall.