English Speaking People are Word Thieves!

As I go food shopping I see many products with Hellenic/Greek names and I feel obligated to explain the origin of these names. I took a few pictures at the supermarket and I post them here with a terse explanation about the origin of their name.

Here they sell balsamic vinegar. I remember by grandfather, Ioannis Panagiotopoulos, who would drink certain teas as a balsam (βάλσαμο). Balsam is a substance that you get from a tree or plant. 

Tzatziki Sauce - Τζατζίκι

So many times people tell me that they make the best tzatziki in the world but in reality their recipe spells disaster.

The yogurt and cucumber MUST be strained because they contain a lot of extra liquid that makes a soggy tzatziki sauce and has a strange feeling when you eat it. Pay attention and continue reading.

This recipe is authentic and easily made.

May I whine a little? Who was the ad wizard that created all these "Greek" yogurt products? They have NOTHING TO DO WITH GREECE AND GREEK YOGURT. These products taste terrible and they have nothing to do with Greek yogurt.

There is one problem with tzatziki sauce, though. It has garlic and I strongly suggest to stay away from it if you are planning on a hot date later on that day or meeting you boss for the first time after eating it.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup of plain yogurt
• one medium cucumber
• ONE medium garlic clove - if you are planing on a hot date (good luck)
• or TWO medium garlic cloves if you just don't give a hoot
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup of dill. 

Feel free to multiply these ingredients if you are planning for several side dishes.

Start with the plain yogurt...

Important: Strain the yogurt for 30 minutes...

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Foil Wrapped Vegetables

For dinner tonight I prepared a beautiful grilled pork tenderloin with a generous side of grilled vegetables wrapped in a pocket made of aluminum foil.

I had cooked pork tenderloin on the grill before and that was neither the challenge nor the inspiration for this entry. It was the vegetables that I wanted to cook them differently. I had these mind numbing thoughts of grilled vegetables and I just could not solidify them to a normal state of recipe execution. I had to do a lot of improvisation.

I went to the supermarket and purchased a variety of vegetables for this event: broccoli, asparagus, and onions.

I am getting ahead of myself.

First I had to prepare the pork. I took it out of the package, washed it and then trimmed as much as I could of the fat.

I drizzled some olive oil and...time for the mustard! I rubbed about three tablespoons of mustard on the pork.

Then, I mixed the rub ingredients together

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder,
• 1 tablespoon onion powder,
• 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper, 
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin 

and sprinkled them on the pork. Of course, the olive oil and the mustard helps and the rub sticks on the pork.  Here is the pork tenderloin next to the rub waiting to be processed.