Cream Filled Diples
December is almost here and you’re planning (or already) making your holiday treats. We may not have as many visitors or visiting as many people this year but there’s nothing to stop you from gifting a box of cookies and pastries. Besides Melomakarona and Kourabiedes (standard Greek Christmas cookies), many families from the Peloponnese will […]
Classic Spaghetti Carbonara
This is an Italian classic (Roman) but I first tasted this dish when I visited the Greek island of Corfu in 1988. Carbonara is very popular in Greece and it’s often found on menus alongside other pastas & pizzas. Legend has it the name “carbonara” comes from all the black pepper in the dish…reminiscent of […]
Beef Kokkinisto with Makaronia
There are dishes that every Greek family knows. We’ve all had this dish at home or at a taverna. There may be some minor differences but the basics of the dish remain. In today’s case, we’re talking about Beef Kokkinisto aka “reddened” beef. This is a slow cooked beef stew in tomato sauce with spices. […]
Beef Noodles With Metaxa and Mushrooms
I’ve made this dish many times: back in Greece with kavourma, with pork, chicken, veal, beef and pictured here, with leftover ribeye steak. The dish works best with thin pieces of meat that brown and cook quickly and will remain tender when the sauce and pasta are cooked as well. In essence, it a beef […]
Chorizo Carbonara
I first tried Carbonara the summer of 1988, in Corfu during my summer vacation in Greece. This pasta dish is made with eggs, lots of black pepper, diced guanciale (or pancetta) and here in Canada, bacon does the trick too! Traditionalists will scream if you add cream (ha-ha) and if you make a Carbonara properly, […]
How to Cook Bacon
I love bacon. I have with breakfast, in sandwiches, on salads, on burgers, in pastas, on a baked potato. Cooking bacon sounds easy right? I’ve seen people fry it in oil, in the microwave or people just using that pre-cooked bacon. No. When you go out for breakfast or brunch, diners are cooking bacon on […]
Spaghetti With Grouper, Capers, Kalamata Olives
This dish takes me back to a visit I took to the island of Santorini. A beautiful island of steep cliffs, villages dotted atop of these cliffs and the blue Aegean sea below. The island also boasts of many excellent tavernas serving local specialties, lamb and many fish and seafood dishes. One dish that stood […]
Lobster Kritharotto
In Greece, a favourite pasta shape is that of kritharaki…our name for orzo. This pasta is usually featured in a baked Giouvestsi or stove-top manestra – both very comforting dishes that still transport me to Yiayia’s cooking. Today, I’m making Kritharotto…a play on risotto. Rather than toast Arborio rice then patiently alternate between stirring and […]
Mushrooms with Egg Noodles
I’ve love mushrooms and pasta, in this instance egg noodles. When I was young my mom used to give me buttered egg noodles and top with grated cheese or crumbled feta. I still eat this is a grown-up. This dish has more adult flavours and you can tweak the ingredients to your liking: go all […]
Recap – Cretan Carnival Supper Club
One of my favourite periods during the year is the Carnival celebrations that occur for six weeks prior to Lent (fast before Easter). Last weekend’s Greek Supper Club guests transported guests to Crete. From the extra- virgin olive oil and sparkling and still water, to the dishes and bread on the table to the Greek […]