Greek Food From Top Greek Chef, In Greece!

Alexia Alexiadou Shares Secrets, Recipes With Russ Mitchell In Early ShowSeries, "Destination Unknown"

(CBS)  Few countries have as rich and fascinating a culinary history as Greece.

It's grounded in thousands of years of farming and cooking.

With news anchor Russ Mitchell in Athens for his leg of the Early Show series, "Destination Unkown," what better time -- or place -- for a sampling of some traditional Greek fare?

Russ was lucky enough to have it prepared for him by no less than Alexia Alexiadou -- chef, cookbook author, and publisher of Real Food magazine -- the top-selling food magazine in Greece.

She also discussed the important role of olive oil in Greek cuisine -- and how healthy it is.

RECIPES

Greek Pita with Souvlaki

Makes 8 sticks of souvlaki

Preparation time 1 hour

2 pounds pork loin with fat cut in 1 inch cubes
6 pieces of lard cut cubed
Salt, pepper, oregano
30 wooden sticks
1/2 cup olive oil
8 Greek pita breads
2 ripe tomatoes sliced
1 onion thinly sliced
1 portion of Tzatziki (recipe follows)

Season the meat and cover it with 1/3 cup olive oil. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Stick the marinated pork meat pieces on the wooden sticks together with the pieces of lard. Season the meat sticks.

Grill the meat sticks on charcoal or grill in the oven, 3 inches away from the heat.

Brush the pitta breads with a little olive oil and toast under the grill, on charcoal or in a toaster. Serve with freshly cut tomatoes and onions and tzatziki. The Greek method is to wrap the pitas around the stick, pull out the stick and fill the pita folder with slices of tomato, onions and some tzatziki.

Greek Cucumber and Yogurt Salad: "Tzatziki"

Serves 8

Preparation time 10 minutes

3 cups plain Greek yogurt (called: strained)
1 cucumber peeled and chopped in small cubes
4-5 garlic cloves crushed
a little salt
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

1. Drain the yogurt in a sieve lined with double-thick absorbent paper for some time in the refrigerator. The yogurt must contain no water.

2. Transfer the drained yogurt in a bowl and stir in the cucumber, garlic, oil and dill. Season to taste. Cover and chill. The more it stays in the refrigerator the tastier it becomes. Keep up to a week refrigerated.

For more recipes, go to Page 2.

[lewiston14]

Mate: Everything would have tanked the same whether Russ went on the trip or not. CBS will spend what amounts to chump change for this trip as opposed the AIG''s 1/2 million bailout party they had. Also unlike AIG and others Russ is expected to work and report his news. It%u2019s not a vacation.

[dean2dean]

earlyshowcbs.com nov.17th2008 i can''t find the chicken(oven fryed checken)that thay had on the show thin morning.hope i''m in the right place. if not i''m sorry, thank arlene