Manestra With Keftedes and Kofta Makaronia
This Greek meatball dish has to be one of my dad’s favourites and now that I’m adult, it’s one of mine. Keftedes are a Greek meatball/burger and although the spices and herbs may vary from home to home, it’s basically of ground mince, grated onion, soaked bread and spices. This dish falls in the Manestra […]
BBQ Spaghetti
I’m always amazed when parallels, cooking coincidences and similar ingredients arise out of two different, unrelated cuisines. I discovered such a parallel recently after watching a newly introduced series on the Food Network called Down Home With the Neelys. The Neelys run two family businesses in Tennessee and they are famous for their ribs and […]
John Dory Fillet With Lentils
As I’ve written in some of my earlier posts, Greek cuisine is going through an awakening. Much like other cuisines, the Greeks are reinterpreting traditional dishes with new ingredients and offering “new takes” and presentations. One such Greek chef at the forefront of this movement is Lefteris Lazarou. He’s well-known inside Greece and his star […]
Octopus With Penne
Nature can be funny. How can something as fugly as the octopus be so delicious? For those of you who do not like octopus, that’s all right with me. That means there’s more supply for me and perhaps the price of octopus will again drop to more affordable levels. Most (if not all) the octopus […]
Savory Halva Cake With Warm Mushroom Salad
I’m quite excited to have twisted an ingredient that’s usually seen as a Greek dessert and I’ve made it into something tasty, savory and new. Semolina flour is used to make Halva and you may also find Halva being used in Turkish desserts and even further east in India. Let’s examine what Semolina is. Semolina […]
Grilled Halloumi Salad
A little while back I introduced the “squeeky cheese” called Halloumi. I call it the squeaky cheese because that’s the noise it makes when you chew it…it squeaks! Halloumi is a firm, slightly briny cheese that’s enjoyed immensely in Cyprus and the middle east. Here, I’m showing you a grilled Halloumi. This cheese is great […]
The Paisano in Me
From as early as I can recall, I’ve always enjoyed pasta dishes and I’m pleased that there are endless pastas, recipes and combinations yet to be tried out. First, here’s a gift from me, well…a gift from Barilla pasta. A couple of weeks ago, Mario Batali guested on Rachel Ray’s talk show and he shared […]
The Day After Valentine’s
So last night, I went out to my regular drinking hole, The Artful Dodger pub and I knocked back a few pints, shared some laughs with regulars and commented on the absence of some other regulars. The pub was quieter than usual and that’s fine, it was Valentine’s but half the regulars who didn’t show […]
Spaghetti with a Greek Meat Sauce (μακαρονάδα)
…and one of my ingrained food memories is eating my grandmother’s (Yiayia) spaghetti and meat sauce.
Pastitsio
Pastitsio is a Greek classic. It is simply an oven baked pasta with a meat sauce and Bechamel Sauce. Pastitstio is the Greek form of the Italian word pasticcio, which means hodgepodge (among other things). I’ve heard many non-Greeks talk of pastistio as if it were some mythological dish beyond the reach of mere mortals, […]