all the recipes
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2 ALL !!! … with a multi-layered, multi-glazed puff-pastry creation, filled with a chestnut cream mixture and topped with a candied chestnut, but not for today of course but rather for the days around Epiphany coming up on January 6, which is when people most often enjoy a traditional “galette des rois” in...
The chilly winter months (I feel like it’s freezing here and I don’t remember November being so cold in the past !) lend themselves to and actually encourage, denser, darker cakes filled with sweet dried fruits and a touch of alcohol of course, to better warm your bones ! Here’s a version with at least 7 varieties of...
Let’s prepare a Halloween version of this reinterpreted amaretti recipe together, but without the almonds. Once again, it’s still as easy as 1-2-3 but with 1 part egg white + 2 parts sugar + 3 parts ground peanut (not almond) powder and a few extras like cocoa powder, mini-chocolate chips and chopped roasted & salted...
Is “tiramisu” a dessert classic ? For my generation, perhaps not, since it only appeared and was most probably first prepared in the early 70’s in Italy, then was modified and reinterpreted over time until today, 50 years later, everywhere. This dessert is a simple assembly of repeated layers made of ladyfinger cookies,...
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,...
These spicy and aromatic Greek Christmas cookies, (sometimes loosely translated as honey macaroons but rather resembling a syrup-drenched Mediterranean version of gingerbread or a softer speculoos cookie, but without the ginger and with lots of orange), exist in as many variations as there are villages in Greece and cities around the world where...
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...
Do you have any over-ripe and mushy bananas on your kitchen counter or already frozen solid in your freezer in the hope of using them one day soon ? Do you also have other tropical ingredients like pineapple, coconut, ginger, lime, cardamom and vanilla ? Perhaps it’s time to make a very tropical banana bread. And even...
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...
A dip made with fresh bread & fresh herbs, not to be enjoyed with other starches like breads nor chips nor crackers but rather with more summery preparations like fresh or grilled vegetables as well as grilled meats, fish and seafood too. I often will simultaneously buy lots of small “bouquets” of fresh herbs at the market and...
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...
It’s getting colder out there, folks are still staying home a lot and inviting friends over more often and hummus is often served, being one of the most popular Mediterranean and Middle Eastern appetizer and accompaniment around the world today … Here’s a better way to make it and an easier way to remember how to make...
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...
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...
A new & improved, easy summer dessert classic, with lemon of course and good quality olive oil, but also lime (for a more complex flavor) and buttermilk (for extra fluffiness and moistness), but you’ll have to work fast because of the reactive chemistry of the mixture but I’ll explain ! As you all know, this is one of the...