all the recipes

APPLES AGAIN ?! Yes … but with walnuts this time and puff pastry … be BRAVE, another LAST apple dessert recipe this weekend and then nothing until next autumn or winter ! What else was I supposed to do ? I still had a jar of my apple compote in the refrigerator. I still had puff pastry that I had frozen and many, many,...

I like my hummus CHUNKIER (not too smooth & silky) and I NEVER ADD WATER … and of course it has to have lots of lemon, garlic, cumin and SCALLIONS. Is it truly a “hummus” ? It doesn’t matter, it’s how we like it ! If I hadn’t prepared and served this version of hummus several times in the past 2 weeks, I...

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...

2016 will be the YEAR for “TIPS & TRICKS” . . . not necessarily mine, but just stuff I’ve learned over the years (accompanied by many mistakes) ! Let’s begin with puff-pastry dough, there’s the authentic way of making it, where you have to flatten the butter and sandwich it inside...

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...

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR !!! (which is tomorrow on February 8 and celebrated for 1 week) … and here are my traditional Chinese new year peanut cookies, but with a Canadian touch, a chocolate-covered candied-cherry heart, in the middle …   WHY, you ask ? I’m not Chinese as you know, but several of my Canadian friends...

Stephanie & Caroline  – better known as the "TATIN SISTERS" never had a mold like this to make elongated, easier-to-make and easier-to-serve upside down apple pie or  “taaaaarte tatiiiiiiin”  ! This interesting dessert which is now a classic, was invented accidentally around the end...

Let’s start at the very beginning, A very good place to start, When you read you begin with A-B-C, When you sing you begin with Do-Re-Mi, Dough- (yeah, it's funny) -Re-Mi, The first 3 ingredients just happen to be, Flour, Butter, Water … Flour-Butter-Water-Puff-Pastryyyyy !  …...

TOO MUCH DRINKING & TOO MUCH EATING & maybe TOO MUCH TOBACCO too, last night ?! Let’s start the year right and DETOXIFY ! 12 ingredients (including the water) to cleanse your bodies … drink 2 cups each and take it easy today. The different spices will do your liver a lot of good, as well as your tired digestive system...

“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,...

“Can’t you just make up a recipe with only 5 ingredients, that even I can make ?” … says (a friend & neighbor) Frank, to me last night as we were leaving an exhibition in Paris, of my friend Isabelle Stell’s beautiful & whimsical drawings (check it out, she has a website of her collection of drawings...

"GIGANTES" = GIANTS … and this is what we call these LIMA or BUTTER BEANS in Greek (to be more precise: fasolia gigantes).  This is a dish prepared by my mom. The last time I enjoyed this vegetarian dish was last summer in Montreal, and many of you went crazy when I posted an iphone picture of the meal on the social...

Because it’s my BIRTHDAY today, because I’m trying to stay SIMPLE, because WE HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR, because we were (and still are) "CHARLIE", because I also want to be "GEORGIE" again & because LIFE MUST GO ON … here’s my birthday cake to ME ! We’re invited...

This is my way of telling you : « ON NEW YEAR'S EVE, PLEASE TRY TO REMEMBER TO DRINK 1 GLASS OF SPARKLING WATER after EACH COCKTAIL or GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE … & add some AROMATIC BITTERS to turn it  into a LIGHT, REFRESHING & ALCOHOL-FREE...

“This weird and perhaps not-so-attractive thing, is a delight and you’d be crazy not to make some quickly !” Of course, this isn’t my invention, this is an Italian and Portuguese holiday sweet, often called “chocolate salami” … I simply re-adapted my chocolate and biscuit blocks (see recipe here) for...