A Taste of Crete – Snails
This dish has been a long time comin’. Remember when I picked and jarred my own grape vine leaves for dolmades? Well…that same patch also was rampant with snails. After consulting Maria of Organically Cooked, I went and harvested a bucket of snails which would have to be plumped and purged of any food they […]
A Reprise of Greek Appetizers
Ask a bunch of Greeks over for dinner and drinks and it’s expected that your spread’s going to have some dips for noshing on . In continuing with my replay of my Birthday dinner, today I’m offering up three Greek dips, Cretan Dakos and to help stave off palate fatigue, a simple and delicious fruit […]
Prawns Tourkolimano
Tourkolimano is a small, natural harbour on the northeast coast of Piraeaus, near Athens. This dish gets it’s name from here but it can be tasted all around the world, wherever one might find a Greek taverna. This classic dish is extremely quick to make and the most difficult task is your prep work. Beyond […]
Grilled Sesame Scallops
It’s playtime by the grill again kiddies. We’ve been having some hot, dry days that are followed by cool, great for sleep evenings and there’s no sign of rain for days. At last, summer as I know it is here. This means that the cooking theater known as the patio is back in action. Everything […]
Strawberry Salad
After experiencing a longer and colder winter than usual, it comes as no surprise that Ontario’s seasonal produce is appearing later on the shelves. Local field strawberries are appearing in the markets and one bite into them reminds me that local is always best. No need to steep these in sugar or any other flavour […]
Korean BBQ (Kalbi)
This past week I was downtown and between meetings and I was left with a few free hours in between. After scouring Yonge Street for a dinner, I finally settled on having some Korean BBQ. What you have here is beef short ribs that are marinated over night and then quickly grilled over high heat […]
Something Old, Something New – Seafood Edition
Last Friday was one of the few evenings where it hasn’t rained around dinner time. We’re now officially into summer and it’s been quite rainy. Me thinks summer in Toronto might be cancelled. This is one of the few instances where I hope I’m wrong. I have two dishes at the plate today. The “something […]
Salad of Green Apples and Cabrales Cheese
A common theme that seems to repeat itself over the past few days is the demise of Tastespotting and many of you have already lamented of the void it left when it shut down. In a healthy, free-enterprise and spirited punch of creativity, many of you have offered up to replace, emulate or substitute a […]
Shrimp and Chorizo Skewers
This has to be one of the best non-recipes. How do I instruct you, what instructions are there to follow or is there any technique involved? Shrimp and Chorizo Skewers (serves 4) 16 shrimp (21-25 count), peeled, de-veined, tails on Spanish Chorizo sausage, cut into 1/4 inch rounds small wooden skewers 1/4 cup olive oil […]
Greeks, Beer and Bavarians
One of summer’s biggest pleasures is quaffing on an ice cold beer. My earliest memory of drinking (enjoying) beer was during my visit to Greece in 1980. I was under 16 but that would not stop my uncles from serving me beer (or other spirits) with a meal. Greece is more renowned for it’s wines […]