During last year’s visit to Greece, I visited the largest island in Greece (and Mediterranean), located south of mainland Greece. My journey to Crete began from the opposite end of Greece, in the northernmost province of Macedonia. I left our summer home in Halkidiki and headed towards Thessaloniki (30 minutes) then took a train south to Athens (4 hours +) then took a ferry boat from the port of Piraeus and traveled overnight to Heraklion, Crete. From Heraklion my friend and I drove two hours to our final destination…Hania in western Crete.

The trip was kinda’ tiring but then again it wasn’t. I’ve seen the passion of the Cretans who live in the Toronto area, tasted some of their food and I’ve read the many stories and been introduced to the unique cuisine of Crete. When one hears of the Mediterranean diet, the Cretans are perhaps the most disciplined when it comes to refraining from red meat, focusing on vegetables, legumes, grains, cheeses and fish and seafood. Let’s not fool ourselves, the Cretans do enjoy meat and some the tastiest lamb, goat and pork were enjoyed while I was there.

I’ve not written much about my visit to Crete as I like to combine travelogue and recipes but the challenge with Cretan cuisine is recreating many of the dishes with local (Cretan) ingredients that cannot be sourced here. If there was a lesson to be learned from eating my way through Crete it was the re-enforcement of eating local, eating seasonal. I’ve moved my cooking towards this direction and I find I eat more economically and the food looks and taste better!

The dish I’m presenting to you today comes from Sfakia, on the south-western shores of Crete. Despite Crete being an island, I had a sense that the people were more tied to the land and mountains than the sea. Everywhere you go to in Crete, there are goats and sheep and lamb to be found. Practically every home has a pick-up truck to be used to trek into rougher terrain where the family’s herd or olive groves are. This dish is a riff on this recipe and I’ve made it a couple of times as a way to use up some of the leftover lamb from Easter Sunday.

Be it leftover lamb or fresh, this dish works either way and it’s an easy weeknight meal that can be whipped-up on your stove-top. All you need is lamb, olive oil, onions and scallions, some dry white wine, stock or water, salt and pepper, lemon juice, more olive oil, dried Greek oregano and the sauce is completed with thick & creamy, tangy Greek yogurt. I made this dish last night for my family (which included an aunt visiting from Greece) and the plates were returned clean! Serve with a rice pilaf, a Spring salad and dinner is done.

Sfakiano Lamb (Σφακιανό αρνί με γιαούρτι)

(serves 4-6)

approx. 2 lbs. of lamb (or goat), cut into chunks

coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 medium onion, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 dry white wine

1 1/2 cups low sodium stock (or water)

juice of 1/2 lemon

extra olive oil

1 tsp. dried Greek oregano

2 scallions, thinly sliced

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup plain yogurt (room temperature)

1. Rinse your meat and pat-dry then cut into 1 inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper and pre-heat your skillet to a medium-high heat. Add the lamb in and saute, turning the meat to brown all sides. Now add the onions and garlic and reduce the heat to medium and allow them to sweat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the wine and stock and bring to a boil then reduce back to a simmer, season lightly with salt and pepper and cover. Cook with the lid slightly ajar for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half and has thickened.
3. Take off the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice, add the oregano, scallions and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Stir and add your yogurt in one Tbsp. at a time until the your desired consistency is achieved. Serve with rice pilaf and pair with a Douloufakis Enotria white.

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© 2007-2011 Peter Minakis