Back in Black
Today, I’m cooking with a black ingredient, a new ingredient. I’m talking about black trumpet mushrooms. The black trumpet is a Chanterelle mushroom and although you may not find them fresh at your market, one can easily find the dried variety (which I bought at my local Asian store). I don’t think I’ve ever cooked […]
Pasta Shells With Fresh Tomatoes & Feta
One of my favourite pasta shapes of late, are shells, or “kohilia” in Greek. This shape of pasta is great for trapping the sauce and cheese inside the shell, making for a very falvourful meal. This is one of the quickest sauces you’ll ever come across but I remind you that this dish only works […]
Succulent Poached Salmon With a Fennel & Orange Relish
It’s Royal Foodie Joust time and this my first entry since I won back in July for my Apricot and Pistachio Cake. The “Joust” was created by Jenn The Leftover Queen and the premise is simple…a friendly competition where a dish has to be presented using three chosen ingredients. The winner of each Joust chooses […]
Calamari Souvlaki (Καλαμάρια-Σουβλάκι)
Yesterday in Naxos, today back at my homebase of Halkidiki, where our summer home is. No worries, we’re still be the sea. For years (since 1980), my family has been coming to Nea Kallikratia for our summer vacations. Here in Toronto, people head north to their cottages to spend the summers but us…we just go […]
Chianti Chicken
I’ve had my eye on this dish for awhile. We’re at the end of summer and here in Ontario the harvest is in full swing. Grapes are at their peak and this next dish marries sweet with savory. As you can see, we have a show-stopper here but this ain’t just another pretty dish it […]
Garidomakaronada With Ouzo and Fresh Tomato
Now isn’t this title a mouthful? Garidomakaronada is a compound word in Greek meaning “pasta & shrimp”. Garides are shrimp, makaronia is general word, like pasta. The bounty of fresh tomatoes is here and for this very short window of time, a tomato sauce can be made from fresh tomatoes and one can actually pull […]
Sardines, Mt. Olympus and the “Gri-Gri” boats of Greece
As I’ve written before, the town Nea Kallikratia where our summer home is located is a vibrant tourist and fishing town. Nea Kallikratia is located about 3o minutes south of Thessaloniki and it’s situated on the Thermaic Gulf. On a clear day one can see clearly across the Gulf and almost touch Mount Olmypus. With […]
Soutzoukakia Smyrneika With Olives
Homebase for me when in Greece is the fishing and tourist town of Nea Kallikratia in Halkidiki. It’s situated about 30 minutes south of Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki. It’s home away from home and I’m welcomed by family and friends. The people who have summer homes here are mostly from Thessaloniki and the rest […]
Tequila Chicken
There’s just one more night before I head off to sunny, inviting, satiating and glorious Greece. Like anyone about to go on vacation, my days are filled with tying up loose ends at work, tidying up around the house and eating what I have left in the fridge. To those that can look into your […]
Greek Garden Pesto
I don’t think I’ve shown you the herbs that are grown in my garden and in the end, used in the dishes I make. Photographed and currently growing are Genoa basil, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, mint, Greek oregano, thyme, sage, chives, Greek basil, French tarragon and lemon thyme. The Genoa basil was produced by using the […]