all the recipes

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...

The easiest Italian salad (as an accompaniment or entrée or even light summer meal) to prepare, requires a fine balance of subtle flavors and adjustments depending on the ingredients used, so we’ll talk about all these little adjustments and how to accentuate the individual flavors to make them the best that they can be, before...

Poor little raisins, so often forgotten and considered much less interesting or fancier than other red or blue dried fruits. And yet, at home, we often had an after dinner ritual, instead of eating overly sweet desserts (which was rare in our home after dinner), we enjoyed eating freshly peeled or sliced fruits or the other option, which was to...

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...

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...

For all the lovers of GREEN PEPPERS, who are so often ignored because we are so few and forced to enjoy only sweeter roasted red peppers (also great but different), here’s an easy way to enjoy the earlier, greener summer harvests for a bit longer ! I know so many people whose first reaction is to cringe at the sight of a green pepper,...

This is the simplest recipe that I’ve ever had the opportunity to prepare. The simple association of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt which is TOUM, is a Mediterranean’s dream and the result is often almost as white as snow, but not for my reinterpreted version. It’s more intense and darker. But why ? Even though...

Back to the huge loquat tree in our garden that gives dozens of kilograms of fruits every 2 years ! Of course, jam or fruit preserves are a must but what to do with the seeds ? Make “NESPOLINO” which is yet another bittersweet liqueur, made with the seeds of a fruit called a loquat (or japanese medlar) and which is quite similar to...

Try to imagine a dense and moist cocoa, walnut and cinnamon cookie, wrapped in a layer of puff-pastry dough and then soaked in a sweet aromatic syrup, with hints of vanilla, citrus and cognac. This is my version of greek ROXAKIA ! My mother’s younger sister and thus my aunt, ANNA, who spent her younger years raising me when my parents...

The Orthodox Easter festivities this year are exactly one week after the Catholic and Protestant Easter holidays, so I thought I’d post a recipe for these cookies today, on this first Easter Monday, when most of you will be officially on holiday from work and school, instead of waiting until next weekend ! There are so many variations to...

… Because most of us have been doing it backwards and wrong and for sooooo long ! I’ve always known how to approximately make taramosalata dip, also known as “tarama” which should be a pale, creamy and almost mousse-like preparation of salt-cured fish roe, soaked bread, olive oil, lemon juice and some onion and my very...

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...

Whether you call it shaksouka or tchoukchouka or chakchouka, this preparation has as many variations as it does names and spellings ! Many similar dishes sound the same, include other vegetables and/or meats and could be prepared with chickpeas and shredded flatbreads called chakchoukha or with eggplant called şakşuka. The original version...

What could compare to the pleasure of having one dozen fresh BREAD ROLLS on your table ? The added pleasure of moist and stringy bread rolls, with a thin and crispy crust, that are easy and quick to prepare, shape and bake ! And on top of that, they almost look like cinnamon rolls. What are you waiting for ? It’s amazing how altering some...

A spring version with floral notes and pink and red tones, for yet another variation of these soft amaretti cookies, to be prepared for the Easter (both Catholic and Orthodox) or Passover or Ramadan festivities this year. They’re still as easy to make with one part egg white + two parts sugar + three parts ground almond powder, with new...