You know that frustrating feeling when you go to a restaurant, you have the most *amazing* dish and you know that you won’t for the life of you be able to have this again ever because the restaurant has an ever-changing menu and they won’t give you a recipe so you can make it yourself at home? SO FRUSTRATING!
Well, that won’t happen with The Real Greek.
Not only do they keep classics and favourites right and centre on their menu all year round, but they also just released a cookbook running you through those same recipes that have made their success on London’s restaurant scene.
A stunning collaboration between the team of experienced chefs at The Real Greek and the restaurant’s consultant Tonia Buxton, the cookbook is a comprehensive guide to creating restaurant standard food at home.
From delicious meze dishes to scrumptious feast, it’s the perfect companion for beginners and well-read foodies alike to explore the wonders of Greek food.
With over 100 recipes to choose from, deciding where to start was no easy job, but I decided to try recreating one of the dishes we indulged in at The Real Greek cookbook launch: Marinated chicken skewers.
The ones we had at the restaurant were simply beautiful: tender chuncks of chicken with sweet pepper and onion pieces, basted in a light and fresh marinade, with the subtle flavour of the charcoal there had been cooked over.
So I was curious to see if I could achieve the same results at home.
And the good news is, I did! …oh, and there’s another good news!
I teamed up with Blink Publishing to give out a copy of The Real Greek with Tonia Buxton cookbook so you also get to cook restaurant-worthy Greek recipes from the comfort of your own home!
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Chicken Skewers (serves 4-6)
Ingredients: 6 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless, cut into 3cm chunks), 1 small red pepper (deseeded), 1 small yellow pepper (deseeded), 1 red onion; For the marinade: 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary, 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves, 1 tsp ground paprika, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. In a large bowl, mix together the ingredients for the marinade. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken chunks, coating them well, then marinade for at least 1 hour, but preferably longer (ideally overnight in the fridge).
2. Cut the peppers into 2 cm pieces. Quarter the onion and cut the leaves into 2cm pieces.
3. Soak 6 wooden skewers to prevent them from charring. When ready to cook, thread the chicken, peppers and onion alternately onto the skewers. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cook under a medium-hot grill or in a griddle pan for 8-10 minutes, turning every couple of minutes and basting with any remaining marinade.
5. Cut each skewer in half and arrange crossways on individual serving plates.
I served my Greek chicken skewers with a side of tzatziki and pan-fried pepper slices, but lemon mayonnaise would also work well.
A’meze’ing, isn’t it?
The Real Greek with Tonia Buxton, RRP £20, out now, Blink Publishing
I have no idea – I’ve probably had Greek food before but I probably didn’t know it was Greek haha! I’ve been so much more into cooking this last year and trying different recipes so Greek is definitely something I’d like to have a go at!
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I’ve got my fingers crossed for you then Jenny!
Sandra x
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Not a recipe but I love tzatziki! 🙂
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SO DO I!! With warm bread, grilled meat and fish (or even by itself with a spoon!) I don’t think I could ever get bored of it!
Sandra x
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We order food in from The Real Greek in Spitalfields a lot because my boyfriend has a halloumi addiction. Heaven help me if he knew there was a cookbook!
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Can I move in? I have a teeny tiny halloumi addiction myself (and by that I mean there’s hardly a week when some doesn’t make its way into my farmdrop order…)
Sandra x
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HUmmous! Does that count?
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Not the biggest fan of hummus myself (unless it’s from Maroush, theirs is OMG-SO-GOOOOOOD!!) but it definitely is a classic!
Sandra x
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This is making me soo hungry! It looks absolutely delicious! Would love to try and have a go myself! Yum yum!
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I love greek food! Love the grilled halloumi cheese, so delicious
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