main courses recipes

“THE FRESHNESS OF SPRING” . . . announced with a vegetarian pizza that incorporates this same attitude. Instead of the usual spicier, heavier, fattier pizzas that we all love and adore, why not make a pizza that is actually FRESHER-LIGHTER-BRIGHTER-ZESTIER-ZINGIER ? Is it a “SALAD-PIZZA” ? Not really, but the effect is...

"YEAH, GO STEAL A LEG OF LAMB TODAY !" (a whole lamb would be too much to ask, but you are forgiven) . . . ARNI (lamb) KLEFTIKO (stolen) is the name of this dish. I can almost picture the scene : me stealing a lamb from a farm in the countryside and dragging the thing back to my Parisian apartment by bus, train, subway … A pilot...

SALT COD RECIPE N°5 . . . and 2-3 more to come (but most probably next winter). It’s cold out there and it’s going to get colder next week so just eat some POTAGE or STEW or a good thick SOUP now ! This is more of an early spring dish in Spain but salt cod is a staple for me (but you know that already). I still remember my...

I HAVE BEEN SO LAZY ever since the end of all the holidays followed by my birthday too and taking down all the Christmas decorations (boo hoo) and this cold weather and those grey skies . . . It’s a miracle that I even have the energy to type all of this up ! I just want to take it easy and eat “leftovers” or dream that there...

STELLA is my darling sister in Montreal. This recipe is for HER. We all call her STELLA-WELLA (because it rhymes) or STELLITSA (which signifies little Stella in greek). She is tall & thin & pretty and very organized with a good head for business and finances (which is why she works for a branch of the UN international...

“I TOLD YOU SO !” . . . even though many of you scoffed at me (and probably even considered blocking or blacklisting me). The oh-so-boring-and-simply SIMMERED & SAUTEED VEGETABLES that I posted one year ago (see recipe here) which I adjusted just for this recipe to less than half the initial amount and added eggplants too are,...

This is the “SOUP of SOUPS” . . . a flavorful chicken & vegetable broth yet light & clear, slowly & patiently thickened with an ‘AVGOLEMONO’ sauce made with whipped egg whites combined with fresh lemon juice & egg yolks, coddling poached YUVARLAKIA (or giouvarlakia or yiouvarlakia, who knows how it should...

BRINY & SALTY & FISHY FLAVORS : shredded SALTED COD, smothered with mashed POTATOES and OLIVE OIL, to be transformed into something creamier and with (of course) my additions like the crispy scalloped potato topping and those BLACK OLIVES (inside and out), adding more depth and intensity (if that’s even possible)...

TICK-TOCK & DING-DONG & JINGLING BELLS & HO-HO-HO & LITTLE KIDS GIGGLING & GROWN-UPS CLINKING-CLANKING GLASSES and ME, STILL GETTING ALL EXCITED ABOUT HOLIDAY MEAL PREPARATIONS (even at my age) and when it comes to preparing all that stuff, I’m a lot of things but I’m definitely not lazy ! IT’S A...

GOOD-BYE MONTREAL & HELLO PARIS ! *and I'm gonna have a little nap now . . .  I’m ending my short trip to Montreal and return back to Paris with one of my favorites which is a complete meal too (even though this type of recipe or assembly of diverse and slightly messy elements may not even deserve to even be a recipe...

“I TOLD YOU I WAS GOING TO TRY to be more VEGETARIAN !” (at least more regularly and/or occasionally). So this is what I’m doing and maybe I’ll continue with a whole month of a series of vegetarian recipes (this is the 2nd one). A good vegetarian dish takes more time than a carnivorous one . . . This is how I see it :...

The ever-changing dates of Chinese New Year are like the never-changing dates of Christmas on December 25th, New Year’s Day on January 1st, Valentine’s Day on February 14th and Saint-Patrick’s Day on March 17th . . . it doesn’t matter what day it will be on this year nor what your ethnic origins or cultural or...

“I MISS FAMILY-FOOD-MAKING-DAYS” . . . I miss making sausages with them every winter back in Montreal. I miss the hand-operated manual machine we used to have and that big wooden board we had to attach it to, in order to have an appropriate workspace and to avoid damaging the rest of the kitchen installations. I miss the ache of all...

« A PIZZA FOR EACH SEASON » . . . or how to take advantage of the last zucchinis & eggplants of the season, before you actually start making & preserving jars of your own home-made tomato sauce for the colder autumn & winter months upon us already !  Seriously ? Are you actually planning to do...

“PICNICKING” mediterranean-style . . . yeah, I love all of that ! I wasn’t planning to publish a “PISSALADIERE” recipe but because it’s picnicking season and because I’ll be talking about PICNICS and how to organize them very-very-very soon (in the next few days perhaps), it just made sense to include...