Seared Halibut With Greens & Chickpeas
Here in Canada we still have snow on the ground. A cruel joke served by Mother Nature after having a mostly mild winter here in the Great White North. Back in Greece, they survived a relatively mild winter, sparing many Greeks who feared the cold with little money or means to heat their homes. The […]
Cuttlefish Lemonato
Cuttlefish Lemonato (serves 4 as a meze plate) 1 kg. of baby cuttlefish, gutted and cleaned, patted dry 1 medium onion, sliced the tops of 2 scallions, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1/3 cup olive oil water salt and pepper to taste dried Greek oregano juice of half a lemon Place your skillet over […]
Artichokes ala Polita
A Lenten favourite as artichokes are in season during this period. The “ala Polita” refers to the dish’s origins…Constantinople. Artichokes a la Polita (serves 4) 12 fresh artichokes, trimmed & cleaned 2 medium onions, sliced 4 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into thirds 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 in. segments 1/4 cup olive oil 1 Tbsp. of […]
Spaghetti With Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Dry Mizithra Cheese
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 […]
Ellasonitiko (Slow Roasted Pork Belly With Crackling)
Last summer was a hot one and avoid the cities and stay near the beaches where most of my friends and family are, anyways. Once the temperatures get cooler, the evenings longer – that’s when it’s time to head into the city and explore without sweating off half your body weight. September is a wonderful […]
Monkfish With Kritharaki, Fennel & Orange
One of my favourite fish is monkfish or angler fish. In Greece they call this fish peskandritsa and it usally is big, it’s fugly but it’s versatile and delicious. If you’re the type that doesn’t want to fuss with pin bones, no worries. Monkifish is large, triangular with the the body tapering as you near […]
Piroski
There are about 11 million Greeks in today’s Greece and about another 11 million throughout the rest of the world. Greeks have long traveled beyond familiar land and have made their new beginnings in far off lands. Eons ago, Greeks had settlements in Egypt, as far west as southern France and as far east as […]
Cream of Chickpea Soup With Shrimp & Oxymeli
This recipe features alot of ancient Greek ingredients: chick peas…this was the starch of the day before potatoes and rice. Then we have shrimp – fish and seafood were prominent in the ancient Greek diet and they still are a big part of the diet in today’s Greece. Oxymeli, a Greek compound word meaning “acid-honey” […]
Slow-Roasted Leg of Lamb (The Greek Way)
Greeks know their way around lamb and we unabashedly cook it well and I mean well done. Do not confuse well done with dry, hard to chew meat. You are not going to experience this here. I treat a leg of lamb much like a lamb shank, brown the meat then place in a roasting […]
Misko Pasta With Sausage & Red Pepper Sauce
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 […]