Celebrating Easter with Total Greek Yoghurt

I always love being invited to Total Greek Yoghurt's events. This time, just before Easter we met at Cafe Caldesi Cooking School in London to cook a Greek meal created by Tonia Buxton to create family Greek Easter recipes for the modern day family.

Tonia is very animated when she talks about the food she loves and how and where she got her love of cooking from.

 

There was plenty of wine to drink and these two are Greek wines, the rose was fruity and fresh

And the red wine was full bodied and dark fruit such as plums and blackberries were very much in evidence.

 

We worked in teams and the three of us on my team shared the jobs.  Fiona MacLean of London Unattached and Manjiri Chitnis who writes Slice of Me.

As you would expect all of the recipes featured Total Greek Yoghurt. To make a Greek Style Yoghurt it takes 1 litre of milk to make 1 litre of yoghurt however to make 1 litre of Total Greek Yoghurt you need to start with 4 litres of milk. This is how it turns out so thick and creamy, never watery, and perfect for both sweet and savoury recipes.

All the ingredients prepped for the sea bream starter which was all cooked very quickly on the stove in a frying pan. Lovely and fresh flavours.

 

In our teams we made minted lamb patties with roasted vegetables

 





We ate our complete meal with the addition of a Greek side salad and a 'Greek ketchup' - tahini and Total Greek Yoghurt sauce with garlic and lemon juice.



And finally a typical Greek Easter dessert Avocreama. A filo pastry sheet baked then roughly broken to make the crunchy layers and the creamy layers a mixture of Total Greek Yoghurt and nuts and fragrant flower waters.

 

 

Many thanks to Total Greek Yoghurt for a fun day of cooking and learning about Greek Easter food traditions and how to make them modern.

 

I was not paid a fee to attend or to write a blog post. All opinions and photos are my own.

It's Total Greek Yoghurt's 30th Birthday and What a Bash!!

When I was invited to attend the Total Greek Yoghurt's 30th Birthday Bash I was delighted to accept.

I was there first for a baking Masterclass with Master Patissier Eric Lanlard which in itself was amazing fun but when that was finished the decks were cleared and the venue turned into a charming Greek taverna for the rest of the evening.

 

 

 

We had a view of the new Total Greek advert celebrating the fact that Total Greek Yoghurt has been in the UK for 30 years! There have been many Greek style yoghurts to have followed but Total Greek is the only one made in Greece and without any additives or flavours.

Up next was a cooking demo by acclaimed cook, cookbook writer and TV presenter Tonia Buxton who took us step by step through a Greek starter, main especially suitable for a BBQ but can be prepared indoors and a beautifully simple dessert.

 

The dessert was the most simple ice-cream recipe you can imagine. It was a rose petal and yoghurt ice cream and even though two of the ingredients were a bit more unusual (the rose water and the rose petal jam) you can get them in bigger supermarket branches in the UK.

 

Two essential ingredients and they are both available in the UK

 

Mixture ready for the freezer to emerge as ice-cream

 

Following the cooking demonstration there was plenty of time to chat and get up to date with fellow bloggers, music, plenty of drinks (including some Total Greek inspired cocktails) and loads of lovely canapes all inspired by Greece and Total Greek Yoghurt.

Fig and Feta Cheese tartlettes

Smiling daughter-in-law and fellow blogger Miss Donna

The highlight of the celebrations was a magnificant cake produced by Eric Lanlard specifically for the occasion.  There was enough to go around and loads left over for the Total Greek Yoghurt office staff to have for breakfast the next day! Well, cake does make the best breakfast!!

Cake Masterclass with Eric Lanlard - thanks Total Greek Yoghurt

Would I like to attend a cake Masterclass with French Master Patissier Eric Lanlard? Of couse I would!! As part of their 30th birthday celebrations Total Greek Yoghurt asked Eric to show us how to make a delicious and stunning cake.

My daughter-in-law Miss Donna has just started a baking blog and she was so excited to be asked along as well. This was Miss Donna's first blogging event and judging from her enjoyment it won't be her last!

What I never expected was to be settled at a work station with all the ingredients set out to make a cake just like the one Eric demonstrated to us.

There were two cakes already made, whipped cream, Total Greek Yoghurt (well it was their 'do'), an ouzo sugar syrup, a wonderful selection of fresh fruit and beautifully thin white chocolate cigarillos.

 

Eric proceeded to show us how to turn these ingredients, as well as sharing some very useful hints and tips, into a stunning summer fruit masterpiece!

Eric sliced the cake into thin layers, brushed a sponge with the ouzo syrup, pipped a mixture of whipped cream and Total Greek Yoghurt onto the sponge, layer of raspberries, a bit more cream and start again. You can make three or four layers and then stick the white chocolate cigarillos around the outside. Top with the fresh fruit and place some shards or gold leaf caramel in the top.

Tie a satin ribbon around it and as they say in France 'E Viola'!!

So off we went to our stations and followed what Eric had showed us and we created our own masterpiece! Here is mine and we were given a box to take it home! Cake heaven here I come!!!

Oh and of course it tasted as good as it looked - ummmm divine!

Thank you so much Total Greek Yoghurt for giving us the fantastic Masterclass with Eric Lanlard!

And by the way Happy 30th Birthday Total Greek Yoghurt!!

Fish is The Dish sets a Challenge

Fish is the Dish has come up with a challenge for individuals as well as families. Omega3 is essential for our bodies especially for brain development. It's what helps us learn new things and remember them.

Most people don't have enough Omega3 in their diets and one of the easiest way to get more is by eating more fish.  Just two fish meals per week should give you the minimum amount of Omega3 in your system.

Fish is the Dish has sent me a consignment of fish from Delish Fish and challenged me to make two fish meals per week for six weeks and to see if Mr R and I notice any difference in our energy levels and general well being.

 

For the first of my two meals this week I made a Japanese marinated Black Cod. This is a recipe that I learned when I attended Yuki's Kitchen at the beginning of March.  I marinated the cod in a mixture of typical Jamapese ingredients including miso paste and sake.  Because Yuki has a cook book coming out in June she has asked me not to put the recipe on my blog at this point and I will respect that.

I marinated the cod in a zip lock bag for most of the day and then cooked it in the oven for about 10 minutes. It tasted exotic and full of Japanese flavours.  Mr R was impressed for sure!

 

For my second meal this week I chose Wild Hake.  I scored the filets, seasoned with a drizzle of sunflower oil, salt & pepper, and a combination of dried herbs my sister sent me from North Carolina.

I pan fried the fish in a hot griddle pan skin side down until the transluscent fish was turning opaque about half way up the fillet then I turned them over and continued to cook for 3-4 more minutes.

 

 

 

 I served the fish on a bed of puree made from a tin of chick peas, Total Greek Yogurt, garlic, lemon rind and juice, fresh corriander, salt & pepper and the spice mix from North Carolina. I mixed this all up in my Vitamix blender.

And the finished dinner got a round of applause from Mr R!

Dinner Party Cooking with Total Greek Yoghurt

I always love being invited to attend an event put on by Total Greek Yoghurt! They are usually fun and this was no exception.  We met at L'Atelier Des Chef at their Wigmore Street location on a cold wintry evening which made the welcome champagne very welcome indeed!

We were there to cook with Paul Merrett, Chef and Total Greek Yoghurt fanatic and to produce and eat a easy and effective dinner party menu. Each recipe used Total Greek Yoghurt which reinforces its versatility and that it is not just for breakfast with your muesli.

A friendly little fellow!!

All of the ingredients were weighed out and ready for us to get stuck in.

 

First of all Paul talked us through each recipe and then was around to see that we kept on the right track.

Our starter was Seared Squid with Choritzo, Spiced Chickpea Puree and Corriander Total Greek Yoghurt. This was quick and easy and a good tip was to get it all prepped before you start. I often have both squid and choritzo in my  fridge & freezer so this is certainly on the menu plan. It was a perfect flavour combination along with smoked paprika and harissa paste, cumin seeds, chickpeas and of course Total Greek Yoghurt.

The main course we prepared was a Crusted Rack of Lamb with Baba Ganouche and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. Amongst the ingredients for the sweet potato salad was crumbled feta cheese, pomegranite seeds, rocket and oil and balsamic vinegar.

The lamb was really tender and tasty but a tad too rare for my liking, a little more colour and it would have been perfect.

Main course ready to serve

The pudding used fresh spring rhubarb which was sweet and tender and coupled with marscapone and greek yoghurt made a visually beautiful and tasty pudding which to end our DIY dinner!

The finished team effort pudding. Tasted absolutely lovely too!!

The recipe for the syllabub is below just in time for the start of the English rhubarb season:-

Rhubarb & Greek Yoghurt Syllabub with Poached Rhubarb

Makes 5 generous portions

Ingredients

For the poached Yorkshire rhubarb:

250g rhubarb

75g caster sugar

For the syllabub

400g TOTAL Greek Yoghurt

200g Mascarpone

2 vanilla pods scraped

250g rhubarb puree

25ml sweet white wine

Icing sugar to sweeten

Method

1.       First make the rhubarb puree so that it can cool. Chop the rhubarb up into even small pieces and put in a pan.

2.       Sprinkle over the sugar and pour in the sweet white wine slowly bringing to a simmer.

3.       Blend to a puree and cool.

4.       Whisk the Greek yoghurt, mascarpone and vanilla until light and fluffy – this is best on an electric mixer but possible by hand.

5.       Fold in the rhubarb puree.

6.       Sweeten further if necessary by adding icing sugar.

7.       Pipe into a cocktail or trifle glass.

8.       Top with the poached rhubarb.

Many thanks to Total Greek Yoghurt for inviting me to this event.