Greek Easter is on its way and roast lamb is the traditional Easter main dish. I grew up with the anual garlic studded roast leg of lamb with potatoes. As all Greek mamas do, the lamb is roasted to well done and the potatoes are soaked in the pan juices.. I kind of missed it Lamb has been plentiful and on sale in the stores recently, so I decided to indulge in racks of lamb to roast. Instead of roasting it as a whole rack (which is also fantastic), I decided to cut them into chops and roast those. I also trimmed about half of the extra fat from these chops as these had a real thick fat layer ..read more

Almost every culture I know of has some form of chicken soup.  All are wonderful in their own way. The Greek Avgolemono soup is quite a unique one. It’s a basic chicken soup with rice that is kicked up about a million notches with the addition of an egg and lemon sauce. The result is a silky, rich with the egg sauce and also light and refreshing lemon flavor. It’s an easy and straightforward recipe that involves only one unique technique of tempering the egg sauce. You would not want chicken soup with a float of scrambled eggs, so the eggs need to be brought up to temp in a measured manner. L ..read more

Kounoupidi means Cauliflower in Greek. A vegetable that’s had a love/hate relationship with the human race. Undoubtedly super healthy Like others in the Brassica family, is loaded with vitamin C, . It also has moderate levels of vitamin K, several of the B vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber. It’s often made as a mash, or gluten free pizza crusts, cut as steaks, or jest eaten raw on a veggie tray. It’s also avoided by many for it’s tendency to have a funky odor when cooking and reputation of having no flavor. But believe me when I say this is THE SINGLE BEST WAY to make cauliflower. It’s really ..read more

This afternoon I had no idea what to make for dinner. I did have a lamb chop and some pearl onions I did not use for Thanksgiving dinner. I remembered my mom would make a simple braised piece of meat, usually beef, in a small metal braising pan. I have that pan now.. I decided to put it to use and make a quick version of lamb stifado. Regular lamb stifado is more complex than this version. You would brown the meat before simmering really slow on the stovetop with tomato, spices and onions. Sometimes with a potato in there also. I decided to skip the browning. I just tossed the lamb pieces wit ..read more

Looking for a tasty sausage to cook? If you can find Isernio’s Parsley and Pecorino Chicken Sausage, get them. We discovered these delicious sausages at our local store and couldn’t resist sampling them. After trying them, we were hooked and decided to forget our dinner plans and roast 6 of them with some peppers. The best part? These chicken sausages only have 110 calories each, making them a healthy option for any meal. When it comes to cooking sausages, grilling is usually my go-to method. However, grilling can be time-consuming and often results in dry, split sausages. On this occasion, I ..read more

Kotopoulo me araka is greek for chicken with peas. This is one of the more popular ways to braise chicken. Nothing is tastier than nice braised chicken with a savory sauce of tomato, onion, peas and plenty of dill. With the potato pieces in the pot, you have a fantastic dinner. Agriculture is a way of life in the greek countryside. Kotopoulo me Araka was often prepared during the spring and early summer months when fresh peas were in abundance. I use my oval dutch oven to make braises, so the batch I make can feed an army or have leftover for a few days. One unique thing my recipe has is it’s ..read more

Saganaki, in Greek cuisine, typically refers to the small, two-handled frying pan that’s that dates back to ancient Greece. While saganaki can be used for a variety of dishes, the most popular version is undoubtedly the shrimp variation, known as “garides saganaki” in Greek. Shrimp Saganaki combines fresh shrimp, tomatoes, ouzo, herbs, and a touch of feta cheese to create a dish that’s just incredible. You will see this in just about every taverna in Greece. The flavors of shrimp, tomato, feta, and the fennel from the ouzo just pops. Many of the recipes for this found online calls for this di ..read more

I would always order Butter Chicken whenever I dined at Indian restaurants. I’ve always loved the creaminess of the dish. I ran across a recipe for it a few years ago in some magazine. It was kind of a Americanized version. No calls to toast and grind my own spices or use whole cardamoms. It just used bottled ones. It was quite simple. It’s still great. Over the years, it has evolved into something else. I wanted a quick version of it. Since I make it after a long day, I don’t have the time to marinate the chicken, or make the sauce with blended cashews. I also do not have the dried fenugreek ..read more

This fabulous looking cocktail has a fairly recent history In 2010, Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton. He gave her a 12-carat sapphire engagement ring. James Beard award winner Charlotte Voisey commemorated this wedding with a coctail that has the same hue as this stunning ring. The Blue Diamond is a gin based cocktail, It gets its amazong deep blue color from a combo of crème de violette and blue curacao. Creme de violette is a purple violet liqueur that is best known to color the Aviation. The blue curacao is an orange liquer, much like triple sec, but has been colored blue, lighter ..read more

Following the theme of KINDA GREEK, here’s a non Greek recipe. At least it’s close to Greece.. I already I know what you’re thinking. “This is tasty and I should make it”. Yes, you should! I love meatballs, but rarely had them with pine nuts and currants (or raisins) as I grew up eating the Greek version that’s full of mint. After being mind blown multiple times having this saucy side dish at Italian restaurants, I decided it’s got to be on this blog and went out to research how to make this. The following recipe is a “best of” the research and testing I did over the past few weeks. So here go ..read more