all the recipes

PA-XI-MÀ-DIA is just the word that designates the Greek version of BISCUITS or BISCOTTI and this is a ‘staple product’ in my parent’s home (I mean the sweeter version and not the neutral ones resembling rusks). This is my adaptation of my mom’s version that just about everybody that I know and their friends have...

You know when you think people 'know stuff' but they actually don’t ? Fool that I am, I often forget this ! Many people’s culinary backgrounds & experiences are most often quite different from your own. It was time for me to explain KEFTEDES more precisely even though I had already posted a recipe using keftedes/greek...

“I TOLD YOU SO !” . . . even though many of you scoffed at me (and probably even considered blocking or blacklisting me). The oh-so-boring-and-simply SIMMERED & SAUTEED VEGETABLES that I posted one year ago (see recipe here) which I adjusted just for this recipe to less than half the initial amount and added eggplants too are,...

PULLING APART THE LAYERS & NO SLICING, PLEASE ... that’s all that matters to me when eating this type of sweet aromatic bread, whether rolled, braided or twisted. The mere idea (and this is just my sincere & humble opinion) of taking a knife to a “tsoureki” horrifies me and literally annihilates the...

YELLOW yet CRUNCHIER version TESTING 1-2-3 . . . I had a craving for shortbreads at the same time that I had a craving for cornbread and polenta. I needed to do some math, so as to figure out what makes a shortbread what it is and what happens if you modify this tried-and-tested basic recipe. A basic shortbread is truly basic : 1 part sugar, 2...

MU-HAM-MA-RA my love, a reinterpreted recipe from the war-torn & devastated land of SYRIA, previously known as the “culinary pearl of the middle-east and the levant”. May peace & harmony & genuine support come to you soon . . . This dip or spread is usually made with a roasted red peppers paste (like a caviar...

WHEN YOU NEED A TREAT ... like these little cakes for kids, after a long day at school. Nothing fancy, nor exotic. Two layers of of cake that are soft & dense & sweet and in the middle, one layer of pure creaminess. Just VANILLA flavors. Just SOFTNESS. Just INNOCENCE. A treat for “recess-time” for kids or an afternoon snack...

“I TOLD YOU I WAS GOING TO TRY to be more VEGETARIAN !” (at least more regularly and/or occasionally). So this is what I’m doing and maybe I’ll continue with a whole month of a series of vegetarian recipes (this is the 2nd one). A good vegetarian dish takes more time than a carnivorous one . . . This is how I see it :...

"YEAH, GO STEAL A LEG OF LAMB TODAY !" (a whole lamb would be too much to ask, but you are forgiven) . . . ARNI (lamb) KLEFTIKO (stolen) is the name of this dish. I can almost picture the scene : me stealing a lamb from a farm in the countryside and dragging the thing back to my Parisian apartment by bus, train, subway … A pilot...

This is the “SOUP of SOUPS” . . . a flavorful chicken & vegetable broth yet light & clear, slowly & patiently thickened with an ‘AVGOLEMONO’ sauce made with whipped egg whites combined with fresh lemon juice & egg yolks, coddling poached YUVARLAKIA (or giouvarlakia or yiouvarlakia, who knows how it should...

Here’s a 'recipe request' (which I sometimes entertain) from my sister STELLA who loves SLICED & TOASTED SANDWICH BREAD (particularly a healthy whole-wheat version with seeds). SLICED SANDWICH BREAD is just one of those things I rarely buy and rarely consume, unless on rare morning occasions of...

“THE FRESHNESS OF SPRING” . . . announced with a vegetarian pizza that incorporates this same attitude. Instead of the usual spicier, heavier, fattier pizzas that we all love and adore, why not make a pizza that is actually FRESHER-LIGHTER-BRIGHTER-ZESTIER-ZINGIER ? Is it a “SALAD-PIZZA” ? Not really, but the effect is...

SPA-NA-KÒ-RI-ZO (it just means spinach with rice in greek) . . . I hadn’t actually tried making this simple meat-less peasant dish myself that I grew up with, until a month ago and usually only having it when I visited my parents in Montreal. A friend’s wife asked me for the recipe a few months ago so I called my mother and...

Even though they’re SMOKY-SALTY-TOASTY-CRUNCHY, it breaks my heart to publish a chocolate holiday recipe today. As you may have noticed on the social networks, I’ve spent a few on-and-off working and vacationing weeks experimenting with different bread doughs, simply or in weird combinations. Like I said, the weeks that I’m off...

RED & RED & RED & RED . . . the predominant color of my past 4 recipes this February and each is infused with “heart” and “warmth”. But why George, why ? Because RED has become my reaction to “GRAY & BLUE”. RED is the opposite of the freezing icy weather we’ve been having here in...