Cuttlefish Stuffed With Tomato, Basil and Feta
Here in Toronto, we’ve experienced the first real cold days (and evenings) where one just wants to tuck in at home and read a book, watch a movie or look back at photos of warmer times…summer in Greece. I find the act of looking through summer photos by the sea, swimming, long, drawn-out meals […]
Grilled Kebabs
This past summer saw me travel to both Greece and Turkey: neighbors, once foes, current rivals and friendly neighbors. Confused? There’s a lot of history between these two nations and to this day, ripples from the Ottoman Empire are felt in Greece (some good, some bad). Greece and Turkey also share some similarities when it […]
Bacon-Wrapped Scallops & Mushrooms
This dish is rich, definitely decadent with it’s unashamed use of bacon and inspired by a recent visit I had at a Japanese (Izakaya) bar here in Toronto. The most outstanding appetizer of the of two nights I spent at Izakaya was this dish made of scallops and enoki mushrooms wrapped in slab bacon. Presented […]
Beer-Can Chicken With Lemon Verbena & Thyme
I’ve been enjoying this method of preparing chicken for years now. I have yet to find anyone not like it…what’s not to like about moist chicken with crispy skin? Beer can chicken works as such: open a can of beer, drink about 1/3 of the beer, you may add add aromatics into the beer like […]
Grilled Manouri & Roasted Beet Salad
It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged about Manouri cheese and I promise not to allow this lapse of cheese to occur again. Cheeses are an integral part of Greek cuisine: we have Feta for salads or at the table with olives and bread, we have a wide array of firm sheep’s milk cheeses served at […]
Grilled Pork Steakettes
If you’ve ever eaten pork steaks then you can relate to my enthusiasm for this cut of pork. A pork steakette is cut from the pork butt, a square piece of meat that’s attached to the shoulder. The pork butt (also known as the Boston butt) comes from the shoulder (not the pig’s rear) and […]
Kypriakes Propetes
Last year I was given a review copy of Vefa Alexiadou’s book, “Vefa’s Kitchen” and the recipes in this heavy tome are endless! I could easily do a recipe a day (a la Julie Powell) and probably still have a few recipes to take me halfway into the next year. The recipe I want to […]
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Skewers
This dish takes a little patience but you’ll be rewarded with a succulent, slightly smoky appetizer that will fool the firmest chicken haters. What we have here are pieces of chicken breast that are wrapped with bacon, skewered with pieces of pepper and grilled until the bacon fat renders, leaving you with a moist, tender […]
Kotopoula sta Karbouna
UPDATE: Summer 2012 – CLOSED Here I am, writing to you from my family’s summer home, just outside of Nea Kallikratia, Halkidiki in northern Greece. The beach is just minutes away by foot and bars, tavernas, farmer’s markets are all nearby. My family has had a summer home here since 1989 after spending some summers […]
Grilled Flank Steak With a Warm Feta Sauce
I’m not sure if this flank steak tasted so good because it’s been so long since I last had a steak or, it was just plain awesome. I’ll be off to Greece in a few days and I will not be eating steak there. I figured I’d get my steak fix now or wait 42 […]