Sunday Supper Greek Style- 2 recipes included

I participate in #SundaySupper on twitter where a group of
bloggers and other folks tweet about what they’re making for their Sunday
Supper.  It’s a great way to get
inspiration for meals, recipes and ideas plus “meet” a lot of foodies!  Isabelle (@familyfoodie) hosts this
every week as a way to bring people back to the table, eating and sharing time
with their families.
This past Sunday I tweeted and posted a picture of what I
made for Sunday Supper – a complete Greek dinner, full of amazing flavors and
surprisingly easy.  I have to thank
in part Chef Michael Symon for the inspiration and also for a couple of easy
recipes that I made when I took my class at the CIA (also found in The Culinary
Institute of America Cookbook).
I had bought some pork
loins on sale (buy one get one free) and was looking for a creative and
different way to cook them.  I was
flipping through the channels one day and stopped on Symon’s Suppers, Chef
Symon’s new series on The Cooking Channel.  He was grilling and one thing he was making was pork
souvlaki which is pork kabobs marinated in a Greek- style marinade.  I thought this would be perfect with
the zucchini pancakes and tzatziki sauce from the CIA cookbook.  

First thing I did was cut the pork loin
into bite size pieces, then made a marinade out of lemon juice, oregano, dill,
a little onion and then added enough olive oil to make a dressing.  Seasoned with salt and pepper. 





 I let the meat marinate for at least 30
minutes while I made the tzatziki sauce, which included sour cream, plain
yogurt, dill, salt and pepper and grated cucumber. 


A delicious, creamy accompaniment to the zucchini
pancakes.  After about an hour of
the sauce sitting in the fridge, it was time to create the batter for the
zucchini pancakes.  Grated zucchini
is added to eggs and flour then seasoned with dill, salt, pepper, scallions and
parsley.  Then feta cheese is
added.  The complete recipe for
both will follow below.
I thought it would be easier to cook the pork in a skillet
after it marinated so that’s what I did, although the original recipe called
for grilling.
If you’d like to make zucchini pancakes and tzatziki sauce
this is what you’ll need.
Tzatziki sauce: (From the Culinary Institute of America
Cookbook  p.208)
Makes 1 ½ cups
½ cup plain yogurt
½ cup sour cream
½ cup grated cucumber, squeezed dry
1 tsp minced garlic (I grate mine using a microplane)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon fresh mint or dill (I used dried so I didn’t
put in as much)
1 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the yogurt, sour cream, cucumber and garlic to a
food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the olive
oil, mint or dill, lemon juice and zest. 
Stir until well combined and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Keep refrigerated until use.
Zucchini Pancakes
3 cups coarsely grated zucchini
salt and pepper as needed                                  
2 cups chopped scallions
4 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup flour
1/3 cup chopped dill
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped tarragon
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
2/3 cup walnuts
Olive oil for frying

1.    
Place the grated zucchini in a colander.  Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 30
minutes.  Squeeze the zucchini by
pressing as much liquid as possible. 
Dry the zucchini by pressing between several layers of paper towels.
2.    
2. In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, scallions, eggs,
flour, dill, parsley, tarragon, salt and pepper until even blended.  Fold in the feta cheese.  Cover and refrigerate for up to 3
hours.  Stir before continuing.  Fold in walnuts.
3.    
Preheat oven to 300 to keep the pancakes warm as you
work.  Place a baking sheet in the
oven.
4.    
Add enough oil in the skillet to come to a depth of about 1/8
inch, and heat the oil until it shimmers. 
Working in batches, drop heaping tablespoons of the zucchini mixture
into the hot oil, leaving enough room for the pancakes to spread as they
cook.  Fry until the pancakes are
golden brown and cooked through about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer each batch to the baking sheet
in the oven to keep warm. Serve immediately with the tzatziki sauce.
Zucchini pancakes on plate in front
These recipes made a delicious side dish to go with the
Greek marinated pork, which was also amazing delicious.
Have a #SundaySupper you’d like to share?  Then be sure to tweet using the hastag
#SundaySupper. The more the merrier! 
You might even find your photos on the Sunday Supper pinterest
board.  So come and share your
family traditions @familyfoodie and #SundaySupper.