Spaghetti Tossed in Shrimp Butter
This is one of the tastiest pasta dishes you will ever have. Really. How can it not be good when the sauce contains onions, garlic, lots of shrimp, mushrooms, red peppers, Ouzo , butter, cream cheese and the surprise ingredient? Vanilla extract! This pasta dish is a riff on shrimp butter that I’ve used for […]
Journey to the Land of Xinomavro
No, I am not talking about some far off province of China but today’s post centers on Xinomavro, an ancient Greek varietal that literally translates to “sour black”. Considered the most commonly grown grape in Greece, this wild varietal is very popular with those who drink it and those who make it. No one Xinomavro […]
Spaghetti With Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Dry Mizithra Cheese
Last weekend brought the end to the meat-eating phase of Apokries (Greek Carnival) and now Greeks are in the homestretch – the last week of Apokries. It’s Tyrini or Cheesefare Week with many Greeks forgoing meat and only eating dishes with cheese…lots of cheese! Pasta’s popularity goes beyond the happy bellies of Italian diners and […]
Ellasonitiko (Slow Roasted Pork Belly With Crackling)
Last summer was a hot one and avoid the cities and stay near the beaches where most of my friends and family are, anyways. Once the temperatures get cooler, the evenings longer – that’s when it’s time to head into the city and explore without sweating off half your body weight. September is a wonderful […]
Tsiknopempti – Greek Carnival Dinner Recap
Last night’s dinner was probably my most ambitious to date…record sold out crowd of over 60 guests, a menu with a over a dozen items and all this being cooked in a kitchen I have never worked in before. My first Tsiknopempti dinner was a delicious success with lots of Kechribari retsina, Babatzim Ouzo, Alfa […]
Big Fat Greek Dinner in Buffalo, New York
Last weekend will be a very memorable one. For the first time I took my Greek Supper Club concept to the western New York area and cooked another Big Fat Greek Dinner. There were some similarities to the menu and some new items as well! The sold-out (50 guests) dinner took place at the recently […]
Monkfish With Kritharaki, Fennel & Orange
One of my favourite fish is monkfish or angler fish. In Greece they call this fish peskandritsa and it usally is big, it’s fugly but it’s versatile and delicious. If you’re the type that doesn’t want to fuss with pin bones, no worries. Monkifish is large, triangular with the the body tapering as you near […]
Slow-Roasted Leg of Lamb (The Greek Way)
Greeks know their way around lamb and we unabashedly cook it well and I mean well done. Do not confuse well done with dry, hard to chew meat. You are not going to experience this here. I treat a leg of lamb much like a lamb shank, brown the meat then place in a roasting […]
Misko Pasta With Sausage & Red Pepper Sauce
Greeks have been preserving the Summer’s bounty for ages – anything from sun-drying tomatoes, pickling, curing olives to even meats. In Florina (where my parents come from), you can see red shepherds peppers air-drying outside of homes in the late summer warm and breezy air. These dried peppers can then be re-hydrated in hot water […]
Roasted Beets With Almond-Potato Skordalia
This dish is a play on a Greek favourite – roasted beet salad with lots of garlic. This is a side dish enjoyed my many and more creative types have even come up with doing a mash-up (pun intended) of a beet skordalia. Inspired by a dish from the Kokkari cookbook and restaurant in San […]
