Pork Souvlaki & Fennel Coleslaw

Ever since he posted it I've been wanting to make the Pork Souvlaki from Kalofagas. I'm not sure why but Matt never seemed to be very interested in this dish. Well since he was out of town last week & I was putting the menu together myself I just went ahead & put this on there.

Oh, was he ever glad I did! This was some amazing pork. The marinade was so flavorful with the garlic, onion & oregano & it just made the pork melt in your mouth tender. I kept exactly to Peter's recipe except for the cut of meat. He called for a pork butt but that just seemed like a lot of meat for two of us so I used boneless country style ribs instead. He mentioned the fat in the butt helped with the flavor & to keep the meat moist so I picked these ribs because they had a nice amount of marbled fat as well. They worked just fine & I was able to buy just under a pound of meat & use half of the marinade. We served it with fennel tzatziki which really complimented the flavors well. We will be making this dish again, we couldn't stop raving about it. Next time I will serve it with pita bread & eat it like a sandwich.

For a side dish I made a Fennel Coleslaw which was recommended to me by a friend on Flickr. I thought the fennel in this dish would pair nicely with the fennel in the tzatziki. This was one of those dishes where after the first bite we weren't sure we liked it but the more we ate it the more that changed. By the end of dinner we both decided it was really good & Matt was in the kitchen eating all the leftovers.

I like the tang of the vinegar in the dressing & how despite the fact it has mayo in it, its not overly creamy. The red onion also gives it a little bit of a bite.

Fennel Coleslaw
adapted from Gourmet, July 05

Dressing

1/4 T fennel seeds, toasted & crushed
1/4 T anise seeds, toasted & crushed
4 t mayonnaise
2 T red wine vinegar
1/2 T lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Coleslaw

1/2 fennel bulb, stems discarded, cored & sliced thin
1/4 small green cabbage, sliced thin
1 small carrot, grated
1 small red onion, sliced thin
1 T fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Mix coleslaw ingredients together in a small bowl except for the parsley. Mix dressing ingredients together. Pour dressing over the coleslaw. Cover & chill until ready to serve. Mix parsley in right before serving. Best eaten the day it's made.

Makes 3 servings