main courses recipes

cream of roasted mushroom soup (with home-made mushroom broth & fried forest mushrooms garnish)
cream of roasted mushroom soup (with home-made mushroom broth & fried forest mushrooms garnish)

A multi-step approach to make an earthy, autumnal and vibrant cream of mushroom soup, with layers of flavor and intensity, due to the combination of the simmered as well as the roasted and also fried ingredients, recombined and tamed to become a comforting soup, through its smoothness and its creaminess. As the title suggests, there are 4 parts...

05.11.2022
«gemista» stuffed green bell peppers with ground beef & rice & herbs
«gemista» stuffed green bell peppers with ground beef & rice & herbs

We’ve talked about “GEMISTA” before, which are all those different mediterranean and/or greek versions of stuffed vegetables, sometimes vegetarian and sometimes not. This partcicularly green bell pepper version is my favorite, stuffed with beef and rice and a larger mix of different grated vegetables inside, with more fresh...

11.06.2022
leek & goat cheese quiche
leek & goat cheese quiche

I don’t pay enough attention to leeks, even though they always flavor most of my broths, my spanakopita spinach pie as well as additions in many soups and stews and chicken & fish dishes, but it’s never the STAR of the dish ? So here’s a quiche with extra leek flavor because when I say LEEKS, I mean that 50% of the quiche...

29.01.2022
split pea soup : 2 versions
split pea soup : 2 versions

Here’s a reinterpreted soup from my childhood days growing up in Quebec, Canada where it is still very popular and available in every restaurant but pea soup is international and existed in Ancient Rome and Greece around 500 B.C. and was even sold in the streets by vendors during that era ! Could this be the most ancient soup in the world...

20.11.2021
a better “bifteki” ground meat patty (with beef & lamb)
a better “bifteki” ground meat patty (with beef & lamb)

It’s a good time to show you this improved recipe for northern Greek BIFTEKI since it’s my dad’s 85th birthday this weekend and he’s healthy, strong and happy and with the appetite of a young man ! My family back in Montreal will probably be having a few people over to celebrate with lots of preparations and I...

14.08.2021
a better «fasolakia lathera» greek green string bean stew
a better «fasolakia lathera» greek green string bean stew

FASOLAKIA are green string beans and LATHERA means with oil, because when making this meatless version, the extra virgin olive oil gives it both taste and body. My version also adds beer as well as yeast extract to give it more body and I roast the vegetables before adding them to the tomato base, making this simple stew into something...

15.10.2022
stuffed baby calamari with spinach & ricotta & fennel
stuffed baby calamari with spinach & ricotta & fennel

A seafood dish prepared in spring as we anticipate and wait for the summer to make its official entry.  These pleasantly tender, chewy & grilled baby calamari (which could either be made with squids or cuttlefish) are easy to prepare with bright lemony and fennel flavors and stuffed with a delicate filling of various greens, fresh...

30.04.2022
savoy cabbage & smoked sausage soup
savoy cabbage & smoked sausage soup

What else would you eat in this freezing weather ? Something hot, something you can chew on but also slurp, something meaty (unless you’re vegetarian and you add beans instead) and served in a large bowl that you can wrap your hands around to warm them up ! It’s just a simple rustic vegetable soup with cabbage and smoked...

15.01.2022
italian-style savory cake
italian-style savory cake

A savory cake that’s like a pre-assembled sandwich, made with cured meats and cold cuts, cheeses, some marinated vegetables, fresh aromatic herbs and some salad leaves too, all nestled comfortably in a baked aerated batter that is almost like a dough and simply sliced and eaten at room temperature or even toasted and warm ? A fine practical...

25.09.2021
roasted summer vegetable ratatouille lasagna
roasted summer vegetable ratatouille lasagna

A special seasonal dish prepared “once every summer holiday” (or maybe twice) made up of 6 layers of pasta, 4 individual & separate layers of roasted vegetable slices (1 layer of zucchini + 1 layer of eggplants + 1 layer of peppers + 1 layers tomatoes), each layer of which is slathered with some ratatouille-style tomato sauce,...

31.07.2021
traditional «spanakopita» greek spinach & feta pie
traditional «spanakopita» greek spinach & feta pie

I discovered a new type of filo dough. A sheet of dough so thick that 5 sheets weigh 400 grams ! This version here, at least the dough part, was an experiment, in addition to my other older pita recipes ! A traditional spanakopita is more rustic and could include a modifiable variety of ingredients but of course is composed of mostly spinach...

06.08.2022
chorizo & red onion & red pepper thin crust pizza
chorizo & red onion & red pepper thin crust pizza

Another new pizza recipe, celebrating the flavors of SPAIN and PORTUGAL, using the same techniques that I’ve used in the past but with different toppings and some modifications to get the Iberian flavor balances just right ! A balance between smokiness, spiciness, sweetness, acidity, freshness, crispiness & gooeyness. What’s...

26.02.2022
holiday-spiced duck legs confit
holiday-spiced duck legs confit

The simplified method for this traditional preserving method for seasonal duck meat could easily become an alternative for an easier do-ahead prepared holiday meal. The method, that involves pre-salting, some waiting and then preserving the salted meats in fat seems simple enough but sometimes we get the ratios wrong so here’s how I do it...

11.12.2021
stuffed & baked tomatoes with tuna & fennel & bulgur
stuffed & baked tomatoes with tuna & fennel & bulgur

I use these heirloom tomatoes like a "spell that I cast", to bring back the almost non-existent Parisian summer that eluded us this year, while the sun continued relentlessly hammering so many other countries ! Needless to say, I bought these beautiful heirloom tomatoes at the outdoor market. And to top it all off, my father in...

28.08.2021
piri-piri sauce oven-roasted cockerels
piri-piri sauce oven-roasted cockerels

Both an African (Angola & Mozambique) & European (Portugal) recipe, this succulent preparation with a whimsical sing-song name, refers to the sauce prepared with small bird’s eye or bird’s tongue chilis called PIRI-PIRI (or peri-peri or pili-pili), generously slathered on chicken most often but also used on shrimps and usually...

05.06.2021