Snails Stifado With Creamy Sour Trahana
A couple of weeks ago I hosted a Cretan-themed dinner, featuring traditional dishes from Greece’s largest island – Crete. This island is considered the birthplace of the Mediterranean Diet and these folks like to stick to their traditions. That includes using their staples with include snails and sour trahana. Snails…you want to call them escargot? […]
Nistisima Paximadia
Here I am, mid-week into the first week of Lent. The first day is the hardest and then each day it becomes easier and easier. One meal that’s a challenge is breakfast. I eat breakfast, rarely skip and when I do, I fell out or sorts – almost ill for the rest of the day. […]
Awesome Osso Bucco
Osso Bucco is a northern Italian dish, from the Lombardy region (near Milano). The old school Osso Bucco did not include tomatoes (as they appeared in Italy after the dishes creation). This dish is made with veal shanks and icing on the cake for this dish has to be the marrow inside each bone. After […]
It’s Easy to Speak of Parlour Lounge
I recently was invited to come check out Parlour, located on Adelaide West in Toronto’s entertainment district. Surrounded by loud bars and nightclubs, this oasis of sophisticated entertainment allows the option to head to a spot that has a full bar and kitchen, minus the din and crowds of the surrounded clubs. Owned and operated […]
Wasabi Mussels Saganaki
If you’ve visited Thessaloniki and the nearby Halkidiki, you likely will have enjoyed mussels saganaki. This dish is a specialty of the region where mussels are served in two-handles vessel, a wonderful appetizer on all seafood tavernas in the area. The most common versions are a tomato based mussels saganaki with a touch of got […]
Pizza With Rapini & Italian Sausage
While I was writing my book and researching info on Mediterranean cooking, I learned that the foraging of wild greens went beyond Greece – folks in Italy, southern France and in the Balkans like their bitter greens…and so should you! Here in Canada, we don’t have the wealth of wild greens available to us in […]
California Dreamin’ With Ravenswood Wines
The first time I enjoyed a glass of Zinfandel was back in 2002 when I visited San Francisco and took a day-long tour of the vineyards of Napa. Prior to this trip I only heard of white zinfandel, a rose-looking wine that was popular with the ladies and wine lightweights. Erase any notions you’ve had […]
Wine Walkabout With Bill Hardy
I’ve always liked Australians, never have had a bad experience with them and from my travels and many experiences I’ve enjoyed the company of Aussies over good drink and conversation. Bill Hardy underlined this as I spent an evening as one of guests at the Hardy’s Winemaker Dinner at the Edward Day Gallery on Queen […]
An Evening at Modus With Margrit Mondavi
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending an evening with Margrit Mondavi and the just one-month young Modus Ristorante. Margrit Mondavi is the widow of Napa Valley wine pioneer Robert Mondavi. Modus Ristorante is owned by Sam Genkov who you may remember from Restaurant Makeover (“I’m watching you”) where his Bravi […]
Mussels With Fennel & White Wine Sauce
A short while ago I wrote about having lunch at one of Toronto’s great new places to eat seafood – Diana’s in Scarborough. As sexy as it was having a Lobster Club House sandwich, the real star of that lunch were the steamed mussels in a white wine and fennel sauce. Tremendous. I asked our […]
