How do you surprise a food savvy friend in the kitchen for their birthday? At Big Daddy's House you take their tastebuds on a trip to Greece for some refreshing Mediterranean dishes, that's how!
To give his friend Valerie Chaney a birthday menu she would remember, Chef gave her his take on a light, refreshing Greek menu by preparing cucumber-flavored
Herb Yogurt Chicken, a delightful
Eggplant Bruschetta with Pita chips, tasty
Grilled Halloumi Cheese, and Big Daddy's
Favorite Falafel Sandwhich.
Herb Yogurt Chicken 
Chef began by preparing the marinade for the chicken. In a large bowl Chef combined extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, fresh chopped oregano, fresh garlic, and a pinch of salt and gave it a good mix.
Boneless chicken breast with skin were then rinsed well and tossed in a bowl with the marinade, skin side down and wrapped in plastic for 30 minutes.
When it was time to grill, Aaron ensured things didn't get too smoky by keeping the marinade off the grill pan, placing the chicken breasts on the grill skin side down and grilling them for 6 minutes on each side.
The grilled chicken breasts were then placed in the oven andallowed to finish cooking at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
With the chicken finishing in the oven it was time to prepare the cucumber yogurt sauce. Chef began by peeling, seeding, and medium dicing a cucumber.
In a
large bowl, he then combined the cucumber with lemon juice, pepper, garlic, 1 cup of yogurt, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped dill and stirred the ingredients until they were well mixed. The sauce was then placed in the refrigerator.
Once the chicken was done it was taken out of the oven and sliced into thin strips...
...and served over a bed of spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, red onions and topped with the tasty cucumber flavored yogurt sauce. Yummy!
Eggplant Flatbread Bruschetta
For a quick, light refeshing snack, Big Daddy then began to prepare his flavorful bruschetta.
Deciding to go with flatbread due to it's fluffiness and ability to retain flavor, Chef
cut it into
wedges and then seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, pepper, and tossed in a bowl until well mixed.
The flatbread was then laid flat on a baking pan and Chef topped it off by crumbling feta cheese over each peice, being careful not to over do it due to the cheese's salt content.
The flatbread was then placed in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes
While the flatbread was baking in the oven, Big Daddy moved on to the bruschetta mix.
A medium sized eggplant was sliced lengthwise and seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, pepper, a pinch of salt.
It was then placed on the grill for 2 minutes per side.
Once the eggplant was done and set to the side to cool, Chef then diced and seeded an avocado, plum tomatoes, and placed them in a bowl with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
He then diced the eggplant and added to the mix as well as finely chopped thyme and oregano, as well as salt and tossed it all together until well mixed.
Now that's alot of freshness in one bowl!
How do you surprise a food savvy friend in the kitchen for their birthday? At Big Daddy's House you take their tastebuds on a trip to Greece for some refreshing Mediterranean dishes, that's how!
Chef began by preparing the marinade for the chicken. In a large bowl Chef combined extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, fresh chopped oregano, fresh garlic, and a pinch of salt and gave it a good mix.
When it was time to grill, Aaron ensured things didn't get too smoky by keeping the marinade off the grill pan, placing the chicken breasts on the grill skin side down and grilling them for 6 minutes on each side.
With the chicken finishing in the oven it was time to prepare the cucumber yogurt sauce. Chef began by peeling, seeding, and medium dicing a cucumber.
Once the chicken was done it was taken out of the oven and sliced into thin strips...
...and served over a bed of spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, red onions and topped with the tasty cucumber flavored yogurt sauce. Yummy!
For a quick, light refeshing snack, Big Daddy then began to prepare his flavorful bruschetta.
Deciding to go with flatbread due to it's fluffiness and ability to retain flavor, Chef cut it into
The flatbread was then laid flat on a baking pan and Chef topped it off by crumbling feta cheese over each peice, being careful not to over do it due to the cheese's salt content.
A medium sized eggplant was sliced lengthwise and seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, pepper, a pinch of salt.
He then diced the eggplant and added to the mix as well as finely chopped thyme and oregano, as well as salt and tossed it all together until well mixed.
