all the recipes
We’re living in interesting times. Everything seems backwards, topsy-turvy, inside-out, but life goes on and it’s my sister Stella’s birthday today ! Despite the worrying situation and anxiety, everything has slowed down and almost stopped for almost everybody. For me so far, it’s been 1 workless month of partial...
It’s an easier and simpler method to make this Greek LAGANA flatbread (quite similar to an Italian focaccia) that is both moist and airy on the inside and crunchy on the outside and much tastier than a traditional version too ! Why ? Let me explain … It’s a question of the dough hydration (or the ratio of the liquid...
It’s BEAN season (or actually the season for those dried beans that we should use up during the winter) and I don’t feel like I eat enough of them, which ideally would be at least once a week, whether they’re chickpeas or lentils or fancier mixes and my absolute favorite : giant LIMA BEANS (also called BUTTER BEANS in English and...
RETSINA is a Greek dry white wine with resinous flavors because of the wooden caskets it is aged in, that are sealed with Aleppo pine sap. In my opinion, it’s an ideal alternative flavoring for winter dishes, just like rosemary and pine nuts for savory dishes and mastic resin for sweets. Other years, I focused on warmer flavors like...
The secret to their "domed" shape is not just due to using a mini ice-cream scoop. The cookie dough must be chilled and then baked in a very hot oven (just at the beginning) so that they retain their shapes and don’t flatten and spread out ! And the rest is easy : 1 cup of flour and ½ cup of everything else and 1 egg,...
It’s a comforting MINESTRONE soup with equal parts of everything : an initial 18 cups of the 6 different chopped vegetables and beans and crushed tomatoes and pasta (before partly reducing in volume to 14 cups), all simmering in an equal amount of 12 cups of prepared broth made with extra vegetables and scraps and 2 cups of pasta...
I know you’re feeling the cold temperatures out there (just like I am), so perhaps something hot & spicy (instead of a soup) can warm you up this weekend and get your blood boiling (or at least pumping) a little more ! The roasted red pepper & tomato sauce was an experiment, using a jar of roasted red peppers to transform a...
A delightful northern Spanish celebratory dish that’s involves rolling up 4 different layers and creating a multi-layered spiralling loaf, starting with a layer of freshly chopped tuna blended with onions, garlic, parsley, white wine, breadcrumbs and flour, then a layer of Serrano dry-cured ham slices, then an egg omelet layer, then the...
These cookies truly look like SNOWBALLS so the flavors should remind you of winter, whether it’s the colder and crisper smells outside or the warmer more domestic smells inside of a warm oven or a chimney fire, comforting your bones as you’re eating them. KOURABIEDES are like buttery shortbreads, but less crispy and more...
Every season needs its SALAD, according to what’s available and how hot or cold it is out there. It’s autumn so it’ll be some colder and fresher ingredients combined with some warmer, fried or boiled or toasted ingredients on top; and even though my modest version of such a well-known dish, from the southwest of France,...
I’m almost certain you all have APPLES ! Right ? Along with some citrus fruits and maybe bananas too … the basics in the world of fruits. Let’s make an easy and modifiable apple cake that’s perhaps a little bit healthier too, but that’s up to you and your taste buds, because I’m sure you’ve all become top...
Or the “1-2-5” COOKIE since all the main ingredients each weigh 125 grams and are easy to remember, even the little added extras measure 1¼ tsp each which is also 1,25 teaspoons right ? And the baking time is 12 ½ minutes too. I also tried baking them at 125°C and then let them sit in a turned off oven but...
HAPPY NEW YEAR wishes with a sunny brunch recipe to better kick it off and perhaps a few resolutions to at least try everything once in your life, before it’s too late, because until you do or try something yourself, you’ll never realize the efforts it required to achieve it and hence may never learn to appreciate it enough...
A chunkier & heartier version of a perfect winter meal with a bottom layer of beer-braised beef, later shredded, cooked with vegetables, later chopped, followed by a layer of whole corn kernels and creamed corn layer too and topped with a layer of partly-crushed boiled root vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips and white carrots and then...
It’s something LIGHTER & CLEARER & ZESTIER and more of an autumnal or northern Mediterranean style fish stew or soup, without the tomato base and heavier spices typical of a summery and southern Mediterranean Fisherman’s or Bouillabaisse fish stew, which I also love, especially when its intensity and heat inevitably make me...