Heads & Tales: Uptown and Downtown

If there’s one glaring thing I noticed about New York City since my last visit there is that’s is safer. The last time I was in New York, the mayor was David Dinkins, Bill Clinton was being inaugurated as President and Times Square still teemed with Peep Shows. Fast forward to 2008, post 9/11 New […]
Miskotini With Feta

I’ve been enjoying Greek-made pasta of late. The folks at Misko who make an array of pasta were kind enough to send me samples of their Greek pasta varieties. Most Greeks will acknowledge we didn’t invent pasta but most Greeks will assure you (and demonstrate if you like) their love of eating pasta. I’ll be […]
Oven Baked Sole With Chickpeas

One of the facets of Greek cooking that I love is that it’s so versatile. It touches upon vegetables, fruits, poultry, meats and mince, seafood, legumes, grains and pasta. Greek food relies on herbs to flavour dishes, and an array of spices. Greek food can be complex and it can be easy. This fish dish […]
Lia’s Spinach Carbonara
With autumn taking a firm grip on the weather, thoughts and memories wander back to my summer vacation in Greece. There’s Greek countryside, the sea, the people, friends and family. Most of my mom’s side of the family lives there and this is one of the important reasons why I go back to Greece as […]
Aromatic Giouvetsi
When you get this dish simmering down, you’ll understand exactly why I call this version “aromatic giouvetsi”. This version is not a family recipe as my mom’s versions usually just employes bay leaves and sometimes allspice berries. Here, a quadruple kick of spices sends the aroma and flavour of this traditional dish to new heights. […]
Tagliatelle of Wild Mushrooms
One of the most wonderful ingredients in the fall has to be mushrooms. Many people’s tastes change but ever since my childhood I’ve love mushrooms. Here in Canada, Gordon Ramsey’s the “F-Word” is now showing and although it’s been viewed in the UK for a few years now, it’s finally reached our shores. The “F-Word” […]
Clams Tossed in Herbs and Spaghetti
As the cooler months approach in Greece, the availability of shellfish also increases. Greece has it’s own mussels, scallops, cockles, razor clams and the subject of today’s dish, clams. Some of you may not have a good source (or any source) of fresh seafood so if you have to, use canned clams but to capture […]
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 […]
Linguine With Tapenade
Here’s another dish from that little gem of a book on olives called“Cooking With Olives and Their Oils”. This gleaming black sauce resembles a caviar, don’t it? The French have a habit of giving a rustic dish a chi-chi-frou-frou name and then charging an extra 4 euros for the dish! How much would you pay […]
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 […]