main courses recipes

Is it really SPRING season, with a maximum high of 12°C in the daytime and 3°C at night ?! I don’t know what the weather is like where you live but here the spring has turned back into winter once again ! Temperatures have dropped 10-15°C in 1 week and won’t be going much higher for the next few weeks. So it’s...

“Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling …” okay, I’m not Irish, but it is Saint Patrick’s day soon ! And nor is Daniel Gritzer (a chef and the culinary director of the serious eats website) who published this recipe. But when I discovered his version of this irish stew (published on January 7, my birthday)...

CRISPY on the TOP, TENDER and MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH goodness, right UNDER . . .   This is my next phase of experimenting with Asian-style cooking.The first experiment was the Chinese New Year peanut cookies with a Canadian chocolate-cherry touch (see recipe and images here). Now it’s the crispy pork belly with a European touch,...

“THE SO TENDER & FRAGRANT MEAT JUST SLIPS OFF THE BONE, THE VEGETABLES ARE WELL COOKED YET FIRM … WHAT ELSE ?!” This is what I made for our Christmas day lunch. The winter holiday seasoning was composed of a dry mix of herbs and spices with allspice, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, orange zest and dark brown sugar,...

Here’s a soup to warm up even the iciest of hearts … This idea was thought up by my friend and neighbor Fred (who often supplies me with loads of fruits and vegetables from his father’s countryside garden, outside of Paris, so double-thanks to Fred-the-friend). We often use squash and pumpkins for sweet dishes, and when we make...

“PASTA E FAGIOLE” or as I prefer to call it, simply and modestly, PASTA & BEANS SOUP . . . because everything is translatable (or almost) and saying it in Italian doesn’t make it any fancier nor more authentic ! This is one comfort dish that my friend Tony (now living in New York but initially from Montreal and who...

*reminder for Friday night : BEER & MUSSELS & (a few) CLAMS & fresh BREAD & maybe some FRIES with MAYONNAISE too ! This is an easy, end-of-the-week dish for two, especially if prepared with fresh vegetables and herbs. Obviously, the official name of this dish is "moules marinières" or...

I DID IT ... "MYYYYYYY WAAAAAAY" ! Of course I did, why would I talk about it if I didn’t ? Of course, my mama’s chicken is delicious. The problem with greek-style lemon & oregano roasted chicken is that it’s always flavorful, but often, the skin isn’t crispy enough, or not crispy everywhere...

"Before bringing me into the world in Montreal, my mother had crazy cravings for CAULIFLOWER ! " I was born on January 7 (the day of the Greek Orthodox Christmas) which means that her cravings occurred in the cold and blizzardy winter and it was my poor aunt who would go out hunting to find her some, sometimes coming back with...

Dear ladies and gentlemen … if a 30-minute ONE-POT or ONE-PAN PASTA dish is your «thing», then please move along, this particular recipe isn’t for you ! I realize how frightening it seems, for the time it involves as well as the enormous quantities and varieties of meats used. This much meat and sacrifice desserve...

If you’re going to be celebrating something special, you better have a big fat greek pita pie to share with everyone ! As many have heard, a serious and massive refugee situation is going on in Greece. Despite the difficulties that the Greek citizens have been going through these past several years, not to mention the horrible...

WEIRD WEATHER, right ?! I don’t how it’s been where you live, but here in Paris, we’ve had a mild winter this year. Then it’s gets cold (as it should), then warm again, like spring or autumn, then cold again … « climate change » weirdness, I guess …   This vegetarian soup...

I PREFER OYSTERS FRESH & RAW (with no added vinegar, nor lemon, nor shallots, nor anything) but always accompanied with BREAD & VERY SALTY BUTTER and a COLD POTATO SALAD and a second green and leafy SPINACH & ARUGULA SALAD too … But I obviously couldn’t present this to you as a recipe ! So this oyster chowder...

As you all may have heard, the COP21 United Nations Conference for Climate Change is taking place in Paris until December 11, 2015. The countries and their governments will try to come to some common and binding agreements to control climate change and save the planet (& us). The world is waiting ! … Many NGO’s and...

I thought ONION SOUP "AU GRATIN" (with gooey melted cheese on top) was a typical Quebec dish. I was wrong, but only partly…. It’s French but then again so is Québec (historically speaking) being called Nouvelle France until 1763 (including Ontario to the west, some of the Maritime provinces to the east and all...