While I was writing my book and researching info on Mediterranean cooking, I learned that the foraging of wild greens went beyond Greece – folks in Italy, southern France and in the Balkans like their bitter greens…and so should you! Here in Canada, we don’t have the wealth of wild greens available to us in [...]
One of my favourite Greek dishes contains ripe, sweet tomatoes, Feta cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, eggs. I’m speaking of course of Strapetsatha, an oft-made dish by Greeks be for breakfast or for dinner (yes, Greeks love egg dishes for dinner). Strapetsatha is traditionally made by scrambling the egg and tomato mixture and there are the [...]
Grilled Halloumi With a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (appetizer for 6) 1/3 cup diced red onion 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 clove of garlic, smashed 1 roasted red pepper, peeled, seeded and chopped 1/2 cup of hand-crushed plum tomatoes (from good quality canned variety) salt and pepper to taste pinch of Boukovo (chilli flakes) [...]
This is one of the tastiest pasta dishes you will ever have. Really. How can it not be good when the sauce contains onions, garlic, lots of shrimp, mushrooms, red peppers, Ouzo , butter, cream cheese and the surprise ingredient? Vanilla extract! This pasta dish is a riff on shrimp butter that I’ve used for [...]
I recently had the pleasure of catering an evening of Greek & Mediterranean nibbles on the occasion of a client’s 50 birthday. I was instructed to make appetizers, perfect for people who want to stand and mingle or sit and chat. The challenge with a small bite menu is that there are usually twice the [...]
Last weekend brought the end to the meat-eating phase of Apokries (Greek Carnival) and now Greeks are in the homestretch – the last week of Apokries. It’s Tyrini or Cheesefare Week with many Greeks forgoing meat and only eating dishes with cheese…lots of cheese! Pasta’s popularity goes beyond the happy bellies of Italian diners and [...]
Greeks have been preserving the Summer’s bounty for ages – anything from sun-drying tomatoes, pickling, curing olives to even meats. In Florina (where my parents come from), you can see red shepherds peppers air-drying outside of homes in the late summer warm and breezy air. These dried peppers can then be re-hydrated in hot water [...]
I made this salad this past Sunday for guests who attended my Ancient Greek Food & Wine dinner. The main ingredient here is bulghur wheat, an ancient ingredient made of cracked durum wheat, parboiled and then dried. It gets sifted and then separated according to the size of the kernels. It’s a whole grain, super-healthy [...]
I am delighted that my recent recipe for Cauliflower Stifado was very well received and many readers tried out the dish and loved it! I am back today with another cauliflower dish, this time it’s tossed with pasta, green and black olives, capers with a pinch of heat and lots of shaved Greek Graviera cheese. [...]
NO…not the boxed one most of us grew up with but a down home, comforting casserole of elbow macaroni tossed in a cheese sauce and baked until just golden and crisp on top. I’ve always loved macaroni and cheese and today I am going to share the my recipe, which also borrows some inspiration from [...]
