appetizers recipes

Here’s a new variation of an accompaniment for your meat & cheese platters and other appetizers, that isn’t a sliced baguette or flatbreads nor dry and crunchy breadsticks or crackers; here are your new freshly-baked and tender bread bites ! These bread bites visually resemble the different versions of the crunchy and dry...

I’ve always loved big stuffed mushrooms as appetizers, but they have to be warm and gooey (and not cold) so the idea here is to bake them inside a pastry shell, (even though upside-down mushroom caps are already shells) and to fill them up with creamy yet delicate creamy ingredients ! Of course, you’ll need the quite large mushrooms...

Some people love CANNED SARDINES and some people hate them, even if they often appreciate their tinier anchovy cousins. And how about using sardines as a filling for puff-pastry appetizers, combined with pickled red onions, preserved lemon, capers, pickled green peppercorns and black olives and a few fresh herbs ? The combination...

This is the simplest recipe that I’ve ever had the opportunity to prepare. The simple association of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt which is TOUM, is a Mediterranean’s dream and the result is often almost as white as snow, but not for my reinterpreted version. It’s more intense and darker. But why ? Even though...

I hadn’t realized that I had never shown you all how to make the simplest of all Greek-style cheese pies or called “TIROPITA” when large and then sliced into squares or smaller turnovers called “TIROPITAKIA” when shaped or folded into small triangles to become 2-bites appetizers ! Of course I’ve shown you...

Or how to elegantly & classically use up and/or reuse that great quantity of pre-boiled & colorful easter eggs that we prepare for the orthodox easter festivities, to be cracked in competition with everyone you meet and then gobbled up, over and over and over ! Many of you probably don’t know this but folks who celebrate the...

There is rarely a dip you can make that can be put together as rapidly and easily and since it’s New Year’s Eve very soon, here’s a last minute idea for something refreshing; the secret though is to let the delicate artichoke flavors shine through without overpowering them, so take it easy with the additions & best wishes for...

An easy recipe that combines puff-pastry cases, to be filled with your poultry leftovers from any holiday meal and a home-made béchamel sauce, to become an impressive starter to a meal or to be served by two VOL-AU-VENT per guest with a salad as a main meal. This version combines poultry, regular or wild mushrooms, some extras for...

It’s getting colder out there, folks are still staying home a lot and inviting friends over more often and hummus is often served, being one of the most popular Mediterranean and Middle Eastern appetizer and accompaniment around the world today … Here’s a better way to make it and an easier way to remember how to make...

Just like PILLOWS and INFLATED MATTRESSES ! What interesting puff-pastry architectures indeed ! Originally, the “vol-au-vent” culinary term signified “windblown”, to describe the hollow, light and airy puff-pastry cases or patty cases, prepared and pre-baked, to be later filled with sweet and/or savory fillings, most often...

It’s spring (or green) onion season so it’s time that they meet up with whipped feta cheese, greek yogurt and fresh herbs to become a creamy dip with lots of bite ! I admit that the recipe I’ve published represents half the amount I usually prepare because I make double when friends are coming over so I can have some leftover...

Moutabal is a Middle Eastern and more precisely a Levantine appetizer (Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asian region), made with roasted smoky eggplants, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, yogurt salt & pepper and nothing else ! I’ve tested different ratios of ingredients and have concluded that LESS IS MORE and I’ll explain...

… Because most of us have been doing it backwards and wrong and for sooooo long ! I’ve always known how to approximately make taramosalata dip, also known as “tarama” which should be a pale, creamy and almost mousse-like preparation of salt-cured fish roe, soaked bread, olive oil, lemon juice and some onion and my very...

A dip made with fresh bread & fresh herbs, not to be enjoyed with other starches like breads nor chips nor crackers but rather with more summery preparations like fresh or grilled vegetables as well as grilled meats, fish and seafood too. I often will simultaneously buy lots of small “bouquets” of fresh herbs at the market and...

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...