Greek Grilled Meat

Last week I shared my favorite American way to make Barbecue Ribs in the Oven, now I would like to share with you how I have learned to grill meat while living in Greece.

The seasoning is basic and is used on all of the meats, beef, pork and lamb. My Mother In Law has been making Grilled meat at the Taverna the same way for the past 30 plus years. I will be sharing her "Secret Recipe" along with how she makes Tzatziki (a Greek yogurt sauce) that is tasty with meat.

A Grill

Meat you wish to Grill

Salt

Pepper

Ground Cayenne Red Pepper

Greek Oregano

Lemon

Tzatziki:

Greek Yogurt

English Cucumber

Garlic

Salt

Lemon or Vinegar

3 Tbs. Salt

1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper

1/2 tsp. Ground Cayenne Red Pepper

2 tsp. Greek Oregano (or any Oregano, but from Greece is the best, hehe ;)

That's it! Mix it all together and sprinkle on to your meat, above I am showing a Rib Chop, but we also grilled some Lamb chops (we add a dash more Oregano on the lamb) and we also use this same seasoning when making Beef chops.

Now I can't really help you with this, this next step is pretty special, we use our huge old fireplace, but I am sure a regular grill will work just as well :)

Also very special to the way we grill is we use φλουδες (bark from felled trees) if you don't have that, then you can use charcoal or whatever way you are used to grilling.

Now this next step is very important, once your meat is cooked to your preference it is very important that you squeeze lemon on top! Seriously this step CAN NOT be missed, you must squeeze lemon on top.

My Mother In Law makes fresh Tzatziki on an almost daily basis, my kids love it and eat a lot of it, in fact they prefer tzatziki over ketchup as their sauce when eating french fries!

A very easy recipe, but do allow at least 2-3 hours in the fridge to develop a better flavor before eating.

Tzatziki:

2 cups Greek Yogurt

1 English Cucumber (these cucumber have lesser seeds and people have less digestive issues with them)

5 cloves of Garlic (less if you are not a garlic fan or are on a first date)

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp Lemon juice or white Vinegar

dash of pepper

1. Peel or partially peel your cucumber and grate
2. Leave on a sideways plate, so the juices run out (or drain through a sieve if you are all fancy :)
3. Be sure all juices from the cucumber are removed add the tsp of salt to help the cucumber release it's juices
4. Then mix the cucumber, yogurt, garlic, your choice of acid (lemon or vinegar) and pepper
5. Give it a taste, does it need more salt, don't add more garlic, the garlic will develop with time that's why you need to put it in the fridge for a little bit.

And you are done, eat it with your meat with bread or with French Fries like my kids!

My Mother In Law also made Ηορτα (Greek version of Southern Greens) fresh from her garden just marinated with salt, lemon and Olive Oil.

While cooking our lunch we had some tourist come and they had a Pork chop as well with fresh garden tomato slices and also some Greek Sausages.

The very last photo is how we Grill at Easter, on the outside grill a whole lamb and Κοκορετσι (lamb intestines wrapped around other internal lamb organs)

I would love to hear if you try out some Greek seasoning on your next Grill Event!