all the recipes
A TRIPLE-MOUSSAKA means using all 3 customary vegetables such as 1 layer each of fried or roasted potato slices, zucchini slices and eggplant slices with 2 layers of triple-meat sauce (not ground meats this time but braised & shredded meats with beef, veal and lamb) and 1 layer of a béchamel/mornay sauce. So in all, 6 lovely layers for...
Basic recipes with variations that everyone should know because they’re always part of other recipes, as toppings or as binders for the fillings. And if you follow me, then you know I use them often, so I’d like to make it simple enough to remember without having to look up the recipe all the time and without explaining it (and...
It’s already AUGUST 1st so how about if we prepare enough fillings for 25 VEGETARIAN TACOS to eat for the next 3 days or throw a small intimate party for our family and/or close friends and eat everything tonight ?! And don’t forget the watermelon cocktails and fruit salad … Tacos are so Mexican and yet, the...
It’s like biting into a piece of a cool and light summer morning, before the sun has had time to heat up the surroundings and scramble its crystal clarity. Or with less imagery, it’s like a munching on a thick, crumbly, crunchy cookie topped with fruit jam and big pieces of juicy fruit, except that this fruit-topped crunchy cookie is...
Did you make any BREAD during the “lockdown” or “partial confinement” period ? Did you have flour ? Did you have yeast ? Is everything almost back to “normal” where you are ? Are you all okay ? Is it ALL GOOD ?! If YES, have you tried quick-rise, normal-rise and slow-rise dough schedules ? Have you tried...
Six layers in all. Three layers of extra thick roasted eggplant slices and 2 layers of chunky braised & shredded “kokkinisto” triple-meat sauce and one layer of thickened bechamel topping (so it doesn’t slide off), all stacked together thickly and cooked individually for an impressive presentation. It reduces the need for...
And I mean instead of TOMATOES ! This fine month of September, many of you may be in the midst of or getting ready to prepare your home-made jarred tomatoes and sauces for the coming seasons until the next summer. Have you ever thought about EGGPLANTS ? Not only as a sauce, but also as a base for other sauces and foods ?! Eggplants, yes....
Nothings says joyful, relaxing and lazy “summer” more than a marinated seafood salad (even though seafood is more plentiful in the colder months) so a summery version must include vegetables, both leafy and water-gorged crunchy ones, to make it both seasonally coherent and complete ! My version is one third seafood, one third...
This comforting dish definitely has the flavors of ITALY but isn’t Italian in its form nor presentation nor originally an authentic Italian dish at all from Italy but actually an adaptation of a dish by Italian immigrants in America in the early 20th century. And yet, like modern-day versions of lasagna and pizza, it provides complete...
I’m a “hoarder” by nature (but I prefer “prudent planner”) and I do have a comfort zone that consists of having a stock of stuff I use regularly and often, which has nothing to do with the present “lockdown” situation. But I may have overdone it with too many fresh products (becoming less fresh over time)...
A “kokkinisto” which means “reddened” is a preparation of meat bathed in a sauce and is usually made with either larger pieces or cubes of stewed meat, when served with starchy accompaniments or prepared with ground meats when incorporated in other oven-baked dishes. This version is something in between and quite...
… with only 2 main ingredients : triple-strained and thickened Greek-style yogurt (as thick as Lebanese labneh but not salty) combined with sweetened condensed milk and a few little extra hints of the flavorings that you choose to use, whether it’s fresh lemon or lime juice, vanilla extract, floral waters such as orange blossom or...
In the olden days, whether in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, the Balkans, and also in further away Romania and some Middle-Eastern countries, every guest visiting any home, no matter how rich or poor the household was, could expect a cup of hot coffee, a cold glass of water and a small plate of room-temperature home-made "spoon sweets",...
TRIPLE-EVERYTHING simply means 3 types of beans, 3 types of onions, 3 types of citrus juice, 3 dried spices, 3 fresh herbs and 3 additional flavors (olive oil, garlic and pomegranate syrup) to bring it all together into something nice and nourishing, in under 15 minutes ! And with this warm weather and the confinement pantry ready to explode with...
A small and simple dish with honest and readily available flavors, using a MIREPOIX base and the simplicity of BEER, but pushing it until it becomes not only its foundation of flavor but the actual structure of the dish, with no interfering extras. A “MIREPOIX”, just like an Italian BATTUTO and SOFFRITTO and a variation of Spanish...