Just Add Yoghurt

After a two year break, I’m back to share some yoghurt goodness with you all. Where have I been the last few years? Well…I’ve moved house, started a new job, attempted to form a gym routine, finished a Graduate Diploma in Communications (Public Relations) and met (warning…cliché moment) the love of my life. While I haven’t blogged for the last few years, my passion for yoghurt, food and travel hasn’t wavered. I’ve still experimented with food (both failed and succeeded), eaten a lot of yoghurt and travelled. To ease back into it, I thought it fitting that I share a... “I can’t believe I found yoghurt here” story. In September 2014 my partner, let’s call him Mr Bball (he likes basketball – go 36ers! ), and I went to China for a two week holiday. If you haven’t been to China, I recommend it. Amazing food, beautiful sites, fascinating people and an amazing history. I knew that I would find a lot of familiar foods in China – dumplings, noodles, spicy soups, stir fry’s and even...

So it has been a while since I last posted. Moving back to Adelaide, starting a new job and a postgraduate course has left little time. However I am now committed to getting this blog back up and running and experimenting with cooking again. My cousin and his friend have just invited me to participate in our own My Kitchen Rules challenge. We each make a three course meal per week and score each other. The winner will get a free meal. Love the idea and can't wait to experiment. I do plan to have yoghurt as the main ingredient for at least one of the courses. I'll keep you updated on how I go! I will quickly share a new recipe with you...Salmon with tahini and yoghurt dressing. This meal I made for my Mum, Dad, Sister and Brother-in-Law - my Dad a very harsh critic. Salmon: I marinated the salmon is garlic (2 cloves), ginger (1 tablespoon), chili (1 teaspoon), lemon, olive oil and a soy, chili balsamic. Then cooked it on a grill, skin side down. I accompanied this...

This is a delayed post, however before leaving Sydney one of my workmates challenged me to cook something with yoghurt and peanut butter. I love peanut butter, especially in sweets. The most amazing peanut butter inspired dessert I've ever eaten was from a restaurant in Melbourne called Gills Diner . With a European inspired menu, Gills Diner served up a reeses peanut butter cup inspired dessert with a rich yet light chocolate tart accompanied by a peanut butter ice cream that made me giddy with every bite. The peanut butter ice cream was a perfect combination of salty and sweet and when accompanied with rich dark chocolate, became a match made in heaven. Check out Gills Diner below: It was amazing - it almost overtook my grandma's cheesecake, as the best dessert I've ever eaten. ALMOST! So with the idea of chocolate and peanut butter in mind, I made what I know and love - cookies. The cookies included: plain flour, sugar, butter, dark chocolate, peanut butter and...

The last 4 months have been crazy, with my big move back to my home town Adelaide. While I miss all my friends in Sydney, I love being back home with family, friends and a bigger Greek population! This is evident by the vast range of Yiros shops and lack of Kebab shops. It's a beautiful sight, seeing proper tzaziki on a yiros. Better yet, my Uncle Bill owns a yiros shop called The North Adelaide Burger Bar on O'Connell St - commonly called the the Red and White. The Red and White is home of the AB. The AB includes hot chips, layered with yiros meat, topped with real tzaziki made by my uncle, finished with tomato sauce. It is fantastic! Doesn't look amazing, but trust me...give it a go. I had my first AB only 3 weeks ago with my cousin. However it's amazing how when you turn to someone in Adelaide and say AB, they know exactly what you are talking about. The AB and the Red and White is now a South Australian institution, replacing the likes of pie floaters. The siz...

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...