Souvlaki

Last night for dinner I decided to do a little Greek street food. I made Souvlaki with a light Mediterranean orzo salad. How can you go wrong with grilled pig-on-a-stick on a nice sunny day? You really can't.

Traditionally Souvlaki is made of lamb, but in recent times it's often pork, or even chicken. It's simply small pieces of marinated meat that are grilled on a skewer then served either on the skewer, or on pita bread with tzatziki sauce. I served mine in the latter fashion. I also skewered and grilled some red onion and sweet peppers for toppings.

Ingredients
2 lb Pork, cut to 1 1/2" cubes (I used sirloin tip)
1/2 cup Dry white wine
3 cloves Garlic, chopped fine
1/2 cup Canola oil
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup Fresh oregano, chopped fine
2 Tbsp Kosher salt
2 tsp Black pepper, ground fresh
1 tsp Fish sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp Ground cumin
Juice of two lemons

Tzatziki Sauce
1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt, or drained plain yogurt
1/8 cup Honey
1 medium Cucumber
1 tsp Dried dill
1 tsp Sea salt (or Kosher)
1/2 tsp Ground white pepper
1/4 tsp Granulated garlic
1/4 tsp Ground cumin
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Important: Make sure that your dried herbs are fresh. They only last about six months, so if they're old get some new.

Method
Peel the cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise, then use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. This will help keep the sauce from being too watery.

Mince the cucumber, put it on some plastic wrap, and sprinkle with a bit of the salt.

Wrap the cucumber up in the plastic wrap and let sit for about 30 minutes. The salt will help draw some moisture out of the cucumber.

In the mean time, add all of the remaining sauce ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Cover and refrigerate.

When the cucumber has rested for 30 minutes, open one end of the plastic wrap and squeeze out as much water as you can.

Add the cucumber to the sauce, stir to combine, cover and refrigerate.

Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Put the pork in a large zip-top bag, add the marinade, seal while removing the air.

Place the bag in a lipped pan (to catch any leaks) and refrigerate four hours.

If you're using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least an hour.

Start your grill and prepare for direct cooking at medium-high heat (375-400º).

While your grill is heating, skewer the meat with five pieces on each skewer.

If you want to serve grilled vegetables, skewer them separately.

Souvlaki

Grill the pork and veggies direct for about four minutes per side.

Serve the pork on a warm pita smeared with tzatziki and topped with some grilled veggies.

Enjoy!

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14 Comments:
Anonymous Paula J said...
It helps me to know approximately how many people this will serve. It's just myself and my husband so I like to cut the recipe down to an appropriate size.
Blogger Katie said...
This is definitely being bookmarked for my grill. Wow!
Blogger Jeff said...
I think I've said it before but I sure wish you were my neighbor! Although, that could also be a form of torture smelling all the goodness you cook up. Can't wait to give this one a try.
Blogger Unknown said...
Paula - The recipe makes enough to serve 6-8 people, depending on their appetite.
Blogger Rikki said...
Well, now I know what's for dinner tonight! Thanks!
Anonymous Tabitha said...
Yum! Looks delish, smelled delish. We will definitely have to make this!
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Just made this tonight and it was very good. John, you hit one out of the park with this one. The pork had a wonderful flavor.
Blogger Chris said...
Excellent tip on separating the veggies and the meats for proper cooking of each.
Anonymous purabi naha said...
Wow, this Greek street food with that wonderful sauce looks amazing. I am going to save this recipe!
This is the first Greek food ever that I am saving.
Blogger Riggsme said...
Outstanding! My wife put it together and I grilled it. MMMMMMMM....tender and tasty. Cooked some onions and potatoes in tin foil along side, and some squash with olive oil and garlic salt. We'll make this again soon!
Anonymous Christopher Freeman said...
just out of curiosity, for the amounts listed, how many people would it serve on average.
Anonymous Christopher Freeman said...
Christopher - The recipe will serve 6-8, depending on their appetite.
Blogger Riggsme said...
Gotta say, we ran back the souvlaki tonight - outstanding again!
Anonymous Anonymous said...
The souvlaki was wonderful. I wasn't wild about the tzaziki (too much honey for me). But that's just me...not meaning any criticism towards your recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Candy

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