main courses recipes

"CURIOSITY is my prime motivator. MEMORY is my second. EVENTS are my third. It seems that the past 20 months have been punctuated by more events than I care to admit to, mostly tragic and man-made, sometimes naturally catastrophic . . ." My cooking inspirations are sensitive to these events and launch a tumult and churning in my mind,...

Do you know exactly what is in your "HOTDOGS" ?! I DO . . . which is why I decided to make these little guys . . . even though it obviously takes some time, all good things do ! 3rd week of JULY, a time when barbecuing can safely begin and continue until AUGUST and maybe mid-SEPTEMBER, if you’re lucky. The...

There’s been a lot of talk about “MISO-BUTTER” lately … MISO-what ? WHAT-butter ?! Here’s the story: several years ago, chef David Chang from the Momofuku restaurant in New York came up with this rather Japanese approach to asparagus. Roast the asparagus, place it on top of a miso paste & butter sauce...

If you’re going to be celebrating something special, you better have a big fat greek pita pie to share with everyone ! As many have heard, a serious and massive refugee situation is going on in Greece. Despite the difficulties that the Greek citizens have been going through these past several years, not to mention the horrible...

WEIRD WEATHER, right ?! I don’t how it’s been where you live, but here in Paris, we’ve had a mild winter this year. Then it’s gets cold (as it should), then warm again, like spring or autumn, then cold again … « climate change » weirdness, I guess …   This vegetarian soup...

Dried "VEGETABLE FLAKES" are nothing to “snicker” at  . . . (I can almost picture your mocking grins and my hand slowly raising itself and getting ready to give you a little slap) … HOW DARE I ?! It’s that stuff you’ve noticed when face-to-face with a vegetable soup that you add boiling water...

Dearest UNITED KINGDOM … What is this I hear ?! You want to leave US, your EU, your FAMILY, your NEIGHBORS, your CAMARADES ? your CLUB ? I’ve just made a batch of one your national dishes ?! Won’t you reconsider ? We all know that we can’t always get what we want all the time nor please everyone all at once. And sure,...

Is it really SPRING season, with a maximum high of 12°C in the daytime and 3°C at night ?! I don’t know what the weather is like where you live but here the spring has turned back into winter once again ! Temperatures have dropped 10-15°C in 1 week and won’t be going much higher for the next few weeks. So it’s...

“Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling …” okay, I’m not Irish, but it is Saint Patrick’s day soon ! And nor is Daniel Gritzer (a chef and the culinary director of the serious eats website) who published this recipe. But when I discovered his version of this irish stew (published on January 7, my birthday)...

CRISPY on the TOP, TENDER and MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH goodness, right UNDER . . .   This is my next phase of experimenting with Asian-style cooking.The first experiment was the Chinese New Year peanut cookies with a Canadian chocolate-cherry touch (see recipe and images here). Now it’s the crispy pork belly with a European touch,...

. . . of the northern Spanish bean & cured meats stew, as prepared by “PEPA” (a.k.a. Angel’s mama) who is visiting us in Paris for 10 days to see us and cook, cook, and cook ! Here’s the wikipedia definition : fabada asturiana, often simply known as fabada, is a rich Spanish bean stew, originally from and most...

ASPARAGUS are like OYSTERS, they’re better whole or as plain and as simple and transformed as little as possible ... BUT if your asparagus stalks are larger and less tender than the thinner and younger stalks, then you need to play around and try something new. In this case it’s OKAY to slice them into thin strips. People say...

“PASTA E FAGIOLE” or as I prefer to call it, simply and modestly, PASTA & BEANS SOUP . . . because everything is translatable (or almost) and saying it in Italian doesn’t make it any fancier nor more authentic ! This is one comfort dish that my friend Tony (now living in New York but initially from Montreal and who...

*reminder for Friday night : BEER & MUSSELS & (a few) CLAMS & fresh BREAD & maybe some FRIES with MAYONNAISE too ! This is an easy, end-of-the-week dish for two, especially if prepared with fresh vegetables and herbs. Obviously, the official name of this dish is "moules marinières" or...

I DID IT ... "MYYYYYYY WAAAAAAY" ! Of course I did, why would I talk about it if I didn’t ? Of course, my mama’s chicken is delicious. The problem with greek-style lemon & oregano roasted chicken is that it’s always flavorful, but often, the skin isn’t crispy enough, or not crispy everywhere...