My Big Fat Greek Elk Recipes

MY BIG FAT GREEK ELK

Steps:

• 1. Make Tzatziki sauce: chop cucumber into small pieces. combine in a bowl with yogurt, garlic clove (minced), dill, and feta. stir and refrigerate until dinner time.
• 2. Brown meat in large saucepan with a bit of olive oil. While browning, once meat is brown yet still very moist (don't drain), put in mint leaves, cumin, and salt and pepper.
• 3. slice eggplant and cover with mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano. either grill or saute.
• 4. cut pit in half, toast sides.
• 5. Assemble: pit half, cover with tzatziki sauce, eggplant slices, romaine lettuce ground meat, sun dried tomatoes, more tzatziki, and other half of pita. GOOD TO GO!
• 6. eat it as messy as it comes! you'll make a mess but its so worth it! As i stated in my explanation, instead of ground meat you could form patties and make it into a burger! enjoy!

MY BIG FAT GREEK PASTITSIO

Steps:

• In a nonstick skillet sprayed with nonstick spray, saute the onion over medium-high heat until translucent, 2-3 minutes or so.
• Add meat to the pan and cook over medium heat until browned all the way through; drain fat.
• Add tomato sauce, garlic,just 1 tsp of the cinnamon, and some salt to taste.
• Simmer on low heat 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter.
• Once the butter has melted, stir in the flour, whisking until blended.
• Remove pan from heat and whisk in the milk slowly until blended.
• Return pan to heat and let simmer over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring often,or until thick and smooth.
• Remove sauce from heat and let cool slightly.
• In a bowl, beat eggs and then add small portion of the cream sauce, whisking quickly as you do.
• Whisk in a bit more of the sauce, then add all the rest and whisk well until smooth.
• (You can to be careful not to add too much at first or you will cook the eggs.) Season sauce with some salt& pepper and a dash of nutmeg to taste, mixing well.
• Grease a 9x13" casserole with deep sides well and place hot macaroni in it.
• Top with meat sauce, then sprinkle meat sauce with remaining 1 tsp cinnamon.
• Pour cream sauce over all to cover.
• You may need to shake the pan a little to make everything settle in (not too hard- you don't want sauce flying everywhere).
• You may have a little extra cream sauce left over, depending on how deep your pan is.
• Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for approximately 40 minutes or until custard is firm (no jiggling).
• Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

MY BIG FAT GREEK SALAD

Steps:

• Peel off a few strips of cucumber skin using a channel knife, creating a striped pattern. Cut cucumbers in half crosswise. Cut each half into quarters before cutting into 1/4- to 1/2-inch slices. Place into a colander; toss with some kosher salt and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cut cherry tomatoes in half. Rinse cucumbers; drain thoroughly for 10 to 15 minutes more.
• While cucumbers are draining, slice onion thinly. Cut bell pepper into strips. Turn knife diagonally and cut strips into diamond-shaped pieces. Slice Kalamata and green olives.
• Combine cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, olives, and 2 tablespoons oregano in a bowl. Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Sprinkle in vinegar and toss thoroughly. Drizzle in olive oil. Add about 2/3 of the feta cheese and toss again. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.
• Give the salad another mix. Taste and season as desired. Scatter remaining feta cheese on top and garnish with remaining oregano.

MY BIG FAT GREEK TURKEY BURGERS

Steps:

• 1. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, garlic, dill, salt and pepper.
• 2. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the feta cheese, dill and ¼ tsp black pepper and stir to combine.
• 3. Divide the turkey into 4 equal sized rounds. Make 2 equal sized patties out of each round so you have 8 patties total. Put 2 tbsp of the spinach-feta mixture onto half of the patties. Top with remaining patties working the turkey around the edges to seal burgers closed. Season the burgers on both sides with the salt and remaining ¼ tsp pepper.
• 4. Spray a nonstick grill pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat, or prepare the grill. Grill the patties until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
• 5. To serve, place a burger on the bottom half of each bun, top with about 2 tbsp of yogurt sauce, then 2 or 3 cucumber slices and lettuce leaf. Top with the other half of the bun and serve.