We love mediterranean food. Besides being light and healthy, the recipes are bursting with natural, fresh flavors. Plus most dishes come together quickly and easily-so they’re great for weeknights.

When we first met, Daddy Chaos was a self-proclaimed vegetable hater. He was very much a meat and potatoes (mashed or french fries only, please) kind of guy. We’ve come a long way since those days, and one of the first meals I made that broke the barrier was homemade gyros with tzatziki, fresh tomato slices, and red onions. I’ll post the gyros recipe in the future, but chicken souvlaki is essentially the same meal at our house except using marinaded chicken in place of lamb.

If you’re not familiar with souvlaki or tzatziki let me introduce you. I am not Greek, nor have I wikipedia-ed souvlaki so this is my interpretation-feel free to add your thoughts in the comments. I have seen souvlaki made from either chicken or pork but it is generally just cubes of meat marinaded primarily in lemon juice, olive oil and spices, then skewered and grilled, and served with warm flat bread. It can be eaten like a sandwich with toppings of cucumbers, red peppers, tomatoes, onions, or a pickle relish. In addition, a creamy yogurt and cucumber sauce-tzatziki-is served as well. The flavors are bright and fresh but also recognizable. Many people have probably had a similar dish by a different name and never known of its mediterranean roots. To further broaden the uses of this delicious marinade you could also use it on any combination of chicken pieces or pork chops. The tzatziki is flavorful yet cooling-made creamy and tangy from the yogurt but I have also seen it made with sour cream. It would go fabulously with blackened chicken or any ultra-spicy dish as well.

Chicken Souvlaki-Greek Marinade

• 1lb chicken pieces (we use boneless, skinless breasts on skewers)
• 1/4-1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp Greek oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup water

1. Combine all ingredients and marinade chicken pieces at least 2 hours or longer for more intense flavor.
2. Grill chicken over a high flame until juices run clear.
3. Serve! For souvlaki, serve with pita or flat bread, red onion, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce

• 2 cups thick style Greek yogurt
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice
• salt and pepper

1. Combine all ingredients, chill.

This is also great with some dill added, or grated onion. If using regular yogurt, strain it overnight through a coffee filter until thick and creamy. Although, if you can’t find Greek yogurt I’d almost rather you use sour cream. Just don’t settle for runny, watery tzatziki!

Whats for dinner this week?

Have you had a game night lately?  You really should.  We try to have Game Night maybe once a month or so.  We make drinks and snacks and play board games until the wee hours.  It’s a ton of fun and fodder for weeks of inside jokes.  Last week’s game night was mojitos and Cranium.  I swear the people who make the Cranium games are geniuses.  They have some really fun, easy kids games and their adult games are hilarious.

Here’s the hostess with the mostess mastering charades.  Notice the empty mojito glass. 

Don’t pay attention to the mess behind me.  This is what constitutes cleaning up for company at my house apparently.  Since you can’t play games and have drinks without snacks we usually divvy it up potluck style.  My contribution was a super quick, onion dip that I got from Mr. Chaos’ mother.  Next time, I’d like to plan ahead (hahahaha) and try this dip or this one to see if I can replicate the flavor without the onion soup mix.  Since that won’t happen anytime soon, here’s the recipe.  It is tasty and fast if you ever need to entertain on the fly.

Easiest Onion Dip

• 16 oz sour cream
• 3 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 1 packet onion soup mix

1. Combine!  Chill 30 min before serving.

So what movie title was I acting out?

We don’t drink many mixed drinks here in the Chaos household, generally preferring a nice glass of wine or an interesting beer. When we do have mixed drinks we tend to like simple concoctions with fresh lime wedges or other fruit. Mojitos fit the bill perfectly. Simply consisting of mint, lime juice, sugar, rum and club soda, mojitos are refreshing and light and perfect for a patio party during sultry summer nights. Lucky for us, it will be steamy here for several more months weeks. Tip your bartender well, but don’t be afraid to make mojitos at home. Once you get the hang of it they are pretty simple. The bar tool called for in this recipe is a muddler, but you can lightly crush your mint leaves however you see fit.

Mojito

• 6 large mint leaves
• 1/6 wedge of lime
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 oz better quality white rum
• crushed ice
• 6-8 oz club soda

1. Place mint leaves, lime wedge, and sugar in a high ball glass and muddle-just to gently crush the mint leaves to release the oils. It’s not necessary to grind the leaves to a pulp. The mojito in the picture was a little overzealously muddled.
2. Add the rum and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add crushed ice and club soda. Stir and garnish with sugar cane, lime wedge, or a mint sprig.

I found they are much easier to drink with a straw. Also, one of our local restaurants serves these with a sugar cane stick and I searched and searched but to no avail. Every store was all: What’s a mojito? What’s sugar cane? So, I had to get the rock candy stirrers instead-which were kind of cool anyway.

Come by Saturday and see if you can identify the movie title I had to act out in our game of Charades.

Check out my second attempt here! 

So I was only kind of exaggerating when I suggested making my own condiments. I mean I already make my own butter. Ok, so I don’t actually make the butter, but I could. I have always liked the idea of making my own condiments because 1) I think it’s healthier and 2) I can make them taste the way we like. Plus, I want my kids to understand what’s in the food they eat. I’m not the biggest hippie on the block but something about the ingredients not in mayonnaise declaration on the mayonnaise jar creeps me out.

I am of the generation that has always had a plethora of prepared condiments at our disposal. Ketchup bottles and Kraft salad dressings emerged whole on the seventh day and the only way to get them was to buy them from a store. One day, when I realized I liked cooking food with taste and that didn’t come from a box or a plastic tray, I started experimenting with mango ketchup and wasabi mayo. First ingredients? Ketchup. Mayonnaise. It took a long time for my brain to bridge the gap between understanding that these ingredient had ingredients and a recipe and somewhere out there someone knew how to make them from tomato sauce and eggs and oil. Ever since I have had a secret crush on making my own from scratch condiments. So watch out ketchup: I’ve got my eye on you.

My first foray into condiment making was mayonnaise. I really struggled with whether or not to post the recipe because I didn’t like the way it turned out. I am posting the recipe, though, with the hopes that all of you foodies can help me figure it out because I really, really want to be successful. I want to use it as a base for sauces and casseroles. I want to slather it on a delicately constructed ham sandwich and be instantly transported to a cafe in France. I refuse to believe that my tastes have been so homogenized by processed food that I no longer enjoy the real thing when I taste it.

Here’s the recipe and the problem:

Blender Mayonnaise

makes 1 1/2 cups, from the Joy of Cooking

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• dash red pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/4 cup oil, divided
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients and 1/4 cup oil in the blender. Blend on high until combined.
2. With the blender running add 1/2 cup oil, then lemon juice.
3. Continue by slowly adding the last 1/2 cup oil. Blend until thick.

Yeah, so I cheated a little. I picked the blender recipe because while I like making things from scratch, I also like being successful and not flipping out over a recipe and I get busy. The blender recipe went great, it emulsified just fine and was easy and quick-important factors in whether I ever bother making it again. The problem: it was too tangy. I mean really tangy-unpleasantly tangy. Maybe I’m just not a huge mayo fan to begin with; I like a nice thin smear of it and I use it when called for in recipes-but’s that’s it. I’m not trying to eat it with chips or off a spoon or anything.

The question that follows is this: am I so accustomed to store-bought mayo that tastes like nothing, that I don’t recognize real mayonnaise for what it is? Or can I just adjust the recipe? Is that what mayonnaise tastes like and I just need to get used to it? Does anyone have a suggestion or a better recipe?

I might try this recipe from Wasabi Bratwurst next time since it says it can be made in the blender. -Katie