File this one in your “Sunday Dinners” roster of recipes since most of us don’t have a few hours to spend after getting home from work and none of us likely want to eat dinner around 11PM. Sundays are made for relaxin’ and slow food rules! One of my favourite cuts of pork are used [...]
Those of you who are from Slavic countries may be familiar with Pierogies – crescent-shaped dumplings usually filled with potato and cheese and varying to meat, saurkraut fillings and even dessert varieties. Here in Canada, I was introduced to Pierogies through the two very large Ukrainian and Polish communities here in Canada. The Polish community [...]
This recipe combines some of my favourite flavours: earthy mushrooms and nutty, smoky wild rice which really isn’t a rice! Wild rice is the seed of an aquatic rice that’s been consumed by Native Indians. Here in Canada, wild rice is grown in shallow lakes in rivers in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and north-western [...]
Growing in a Greek household, yogurt has been part of our diet since as early as I can recall. My mom would make homemade yogurt starting with a large pot of milk on the stovetop that she would bring to just scalding then take off the heat and add reserved batch/starter of yogurt and allow [...]
When I head into Thessaloniki (from Halkidiki) it’s to grab a bite with some family and friends and each and every time – a culinary surprise waits for me – guaranteed! A conversation with my friend Yianni goes like this: Me: I’m coming in to the city, what’s new, what’s hot – where shall we [...]
This past summer while in Greece I visited the island of Lefkada, situated on the Ionian side of Greece. Each day was spent visiting a new beach and each evening it was a new dining adventure. Sometimes it was seafood and sometimes meat. Many dishes were sampled – some good, some were “meh” and others…memorable. [...]
The first time I visited the Greek islands on the Ionian side of Greece was back in ’88 when I took a bus from Thessaloniki to Igoumenitsa and from there the short ferry boat ride to Corfu. Until about a few years ago this trip took a day with a 7 hour ride through winding [...]
A Turkish dish that’s entered the kitchen’s (and bellies) of Greeks is Imam Baildi – the literal translation being “the imam fainted”. From the all the olive oil ingested in this olden dish. I’m calling this Imam as the canoes of eggplant filled with vegetables and topped with cheese still resemble this classic. I’m avoiding [...]
Eggplants are in season in Greece from August and here in Canada, you can still find sweet (not bitter) eggplants at your local grocer or farmer’s market. Eggplant is one of the ingredients in classic vegetarian dish called Briam and the similar dish (we’re cooking today) called Tourlou. Toulou is like a ratatouille but not [...]
This past summer in Greece I cemented my affections for pork butt, a particular cut of pork that’s diverse, very forgiving to cook with and it always come out juicy and delicious. The pork butt comes from the front end of the pig (nowhere near its rear), located near the shoulder. It’s not as pretty [...]
