Just Add Yoghurt

I've recently moved back to my hometown, Adelaide. However before departing I had to go back to one of my favourite Turkish places in Sydney. Lucky enough, my flatmates had the same idea. They kindly took me out to dinner to wish me luck and the destination,  The Cushion House in Glebe. Now for those who read my European Food Safari post, you would have seen that my favourite yoghurt based meal in Europe was a dish I had in Turkey called Iskender. The other dish I also love is called Manti. It's like little turkish meat filled dumplings with a beautiful yoghurt and garlic sauce, finished off with a rich tomato sauce and paprika. It's such a nice and fresh dish. Often meat filled dumplings can be heavy, however at The Cushion House the manti is done so small and so perfectly that with two bites, they melt. The yoghurt on top adds a tang and helps with digestion. A little tip, share a pide and manti with someone and get some turkish bread to dip in the leftover yog...

Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to a Lebanese cooking class. My beautiful friend Sarah got me a voucher to go for my birthday. So together we headed East, not sure what this class would be like. There we joined a Friends in the Kitchen class , lead by chef and teacher Lanette MacDonald. Lanette was an interesting lady. Full of enthusiasm she, along with Annette who runs the program, took us through an exciting menu. While speedy, it was entertaining, with Lanette sharing stories of her life as a chef, teacher and Thermo Mix ambassador. Honestly, her life sounded amazing. Her speedy nature was without doubt spurred by her afternoon engagement - drinking French Champagne with Testuya on his boat! Who could blame her for trying to get through it fast. Anyway, back to the menu. What I loved about this menu was how fresh and light it was. I had to write about it, with the main dish containing yoghurt. And, while a Lebanese cooking class, I had a glimpse of my favourite yoghurt in...

I have just returned from an amazing four week European holiday. Four weeks of sightseeing, eating, drinking, swimming and chilling. What I love about a holiday is the ability to wake up and think... "What am I going to do today?" No routine. What I particularly like about this holiday however, was the food. You have already read about my experience in Dubai. Now I will give an overview of London, Paris, Rome, Rhodes and Marmaris. LONDON When I think of British fare, I think pie and mash, bangers and mash and eggs and chips. I wasn't disappointed. I ate a traditional pie with mash, liquor and red wine vinegar. Individually they weren't exciting, together they were amazing! A typical Australian, I asked whether they had tomato sauce. I was laughed at and told, use the vinegar. They were right - a great substitute. In terms of yoghurt, the Brits seem to be fond of frozen yoghurt, despite the poor excuse of a summer they have. I stayed in Bayswater and th...

So here I am, one week into a one month trip. So far I've been to Dubai and London. Dubai was interesting. A very new city and everything looked like the plastic wrapper had just been removed. The traffic was smooth, the NSW state government could learn a thing or two about city planning, and the heat was borderline unbearable. After a day of 4wding, camel riding and sand boarding through the desert we sat down for a Arabic meal. After our terrible sand boarding display we needed a meal. At a small place where we were the only tourists, we were served an amazing chicken manti with rice and shish kebab. My cousin and I shared. Then to my delight, additional sides were bought over, including a tub of natural yoghurt. The yoghurt was smooth, refreshing and not tart. It complimented the weather and strong flavour of the food. My cousin even loved it. The yoghurt was called linikas pasterised yoghurt. Next post I will tell you about London.

My workmate elegantly put up on my blog "Milo and Yoghurt...go!" This one I had to say excited me. Everytime I eat milo I feel like a kid again. That's what I love about food, it's ability to take you back to memorable moments in your life. Even a piece of kraft single cheese on a piece of toast reminds me of all the amazing times I had at my grandma's growing up. Time at grandma's house with my cousins was always my favourite part of the school holidays. So yes, I was excited and I felt like a kid again. Growing up I used to love eating chocolate mousse, it was just beautiful. So a milo and yoghurt mousse came straight to mind. Smooth, rich and light. However milo itself isn't overly sweet and the yoghurt will make the mousse rather tart. So I thought it needed something to even out the flavour. Like lemon compliments tequila, strawberries compliment chocolate. So I thought a sweet strawberry compote would work well. In terms of visuals, I needed somethin...

You know those people who over analyse commercials. "I like that ad, it represents the product, desired brand and has a clear CTA." or "I hate that ad, it makes no sense and I couldn't tell you what the product even is." I'm going to let you in on a secret, I'm one of those people. I've driven many housemates crazy. I've also driven many housemates to start analysing commercials themselves. So the other night it dawned on me, all the commercials about yoghurt are about the sweet variety - there are barely any about Greek yoghurt. They focus on low fat sweet yoghurt, 'a great snack that helps you stay healthy.' However it is the traditional Greek yoghurt that is considered a superfood. Recently I read an article on health.com - this article mentions a number of health benefits associated with eating Greek yoghurt. These benefits include lowering bloodpressure, improving digestion, building stronger bones, improving lactose intolerance, ...

Shopping for yoghurt is like choosing a movie. Depends on your mood, who you are with and why you are choosing/shopping in the first place. Looking for a laugh, you watch an Adam Sandler film. On a date and want to set a romantic mood, then a classic with Audrey Hepburn is a perfect pick. Want a violence hit, then you can't go past a Quentin Tarantino flick. Choosing a Greek yoghurt is the same. Typically Greek yoghurts are known for its tang. However there are many creamier, subtle options. Do you want to use it in a sweet, a curry, a pasta or a dip? Consider this while shopping. If you are after a creamier, thin, subtle Greek yoghurt then I can't go past Black Swan low fat Greek yoghurt. Perfect in sweets this yoghurt will challenge your perception of Greek yoghurts, much like the film 'Snakes on a Plane' challenges your perception of a thriller, or is it a comedy? Coles low fat Greek yoghurt has that tang that you like following a shot of tequila. However the texture...

Firstly, thanks Alex! I don't really like jelly, so this challenge was going to be hard. I started off by thinking of what I had eaten with jelly in the past. When I was in high school, I worked at the Cheesecake Shop. Occassionally we sold trifle; custard, jelly, sponge and fruit. Then I thought of this breakfast trifle I read about at a gorgeous little cafe in Stanmore. This trifle had Greek yoghurt, muesli and fruit layered in a glass. So I combined both concepts and made (for lack of a better word) a 'Greek trifle.' I used a layer of strawberry jelly, topped with savoiardi biscuits (like what is used in a tiramasu), then a layer of berries, another layer of savoiardi biscuits and finished off with a dollop of Greek yoghurt. Originally I intended to use a white chocolate yoghurt custard however when I tested it on one, it was WAY too sweet. So I opted for just the yoghurt. The tartness of the yoghurt complimented the sweetness of the jelly, biscuits and berries. I had s...

Alright, my first challenge. I admit, I've never cooked a dish combining chocolate and Greek yoghurt before. But how hard could it be? Famous last words. The first thing that came to my head - chocolate tart. A chocolate tart is often made with cream, so I thought...why wouldn't it work with Greek yoghurt instead? A bit of a stretch I know, however it was decided. I'd make a chocolate tart. I started by making a sweet pastry with flour, icing sugar and butter. For the chocolate mixture, I adapted a custard recipe which included: 1 cup of caster sugar, 4 eggs, approximately 100g of Lindt dark chocolate and 1 cup of Greek yoghurt (black swan, low fat). First I whisked the sugar and eggs together. Then I added the Greek yoghurt. Next was melting the dark chocolate. To make sure the custard mixture didn't curdle I added a small amount of it to the dark chocolate. Once mixed together, I added the rest of the custard mixture. I added the chocolate mixture to each pastry cup a...

I grew up always being told that I was similar to my Papou (Grandpa) who passed away before I was born - I had his sarcastic personality and while he was more quiet then me (I'm loud...I won't lie), we were both genuine people. However it was my great-grandpa that I took after in the food department. Before I go on with this story...a little bit of background. I'm 24, living in Sydney, grew up in Adelaide (which no matter what people say... I LOVE ), I support the Adelaide Crows , I'm Greek and this is my first blog. To start I want to be honest and say that yes, all of the reality TV cooking shows have given me the kick up the ass I needed to start this blog. However it is my families passion for food that gave me this idea (also my friend Nicky - thanks Nicky! ). There are two things I know about my great-grandpa. One was that it took a few goes to get my great-grandma to agree to marry him. The second is his love of Greek yoghurt - this is a trait I inherited. I alwa...