It seems that lately, I ‘ve been using cardamom almost every time I bake. As filling for buns, added to cream cheese frosting for a carrot cake or to crunchy granola. I ‘ve been more reluctant to incorporate it in savoury dishes, but I have discovered it gives great flavour to a quick vegetable rice and a nice kick to a simple pumpkin soup. [READ MORE]
Pairing fruit with cheese is often my go-to approach when making savoury dishes (have I mentioned this before? Probably. Talking about cheese is one of favourite pastime activities). I especially like to use pears, as I often find them to be overly sweet on their own. [READ MORE]
With September well underway, I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that summer is gone. It took me a while. Just two weeks ago, I was still in flip flops and light summers dresses, sunglasses almost permanently on, no watch, just suncream. It feels like I’ve blinked and found myself wearing layers again and trying assume a happy back-to-school attitude. [READ MORE]
I love radishes! Their beautiful colour (blinding reddish pink on the outside, soothing white on the inside), crunchy texture and, my favourite, their spicy taste. Like so, they are the perfect addition to a salad or a cheese plate. [READ MORE]
Yemista (meaning ‘stuffed ones’) is a traditional and very popular Greek vegetable dish (although one can also find variations with minced meat in the filling). For me, it’s the quintessential summer eat. Even though my mom doesn’t cook many traditional dishes, she would cook it as soon as we got to our summer house, ever since I was a kid; with the majority of the ingredients straight from the garden, and thus ‘officially’ marking the beginning of holiday season; it would also be the last dish we ‘d have before heading back to the city.
Along with stories about food and personal preferences, Marina also shared her chicken casserole recipe. Enjoy!
‘During the winter, I make a chicken casserole on the stovetop, at least once a week- It helps to keep the winter colds at bay!
Place an organic chicken in a large pot
Add the following:
a couple of roughly chopped carrots
3 or 4 shallots peeled and cut in half
2 sticks of celery roughly chopped
1 peeled garlic clove
a few thick slices of ginger
several black peppercorns, Maldon sea salt and a bunch of flat parsley, roughly chopped
Cover with water, bring to the boil and then turn down heat and simmer with the lid on for around an hour and a half.
Remove the chicken to a plate to cool and strain the broth, discarding all the vegetables.
Pour the clean broth back into the pan and add a couple peeled, more finely chopped carrots and if you like some kale, and simmer until cooked through.
I sometimes add some tiny pasta pieces at the same time as the carrot and then all the white meat from the chicken shredded or cut into small pieces.
Serve with just a squeeze of lemon juice, some more salt and pepper if needed and some chopped coriander or parsley.’
Alkyoni, my sis, is an amazing cook; she is not a big dessert person (whaaa? it infuriates me just writing about it. Eat some cake!) but (on the brighter side) she loves making delicious salads, hearty breakfasts and simple mouth-drooling asian dishes. [READ MORE]
My mother grew up in a city by the sea, where fish was not only in abundance, but you could also buy it daily from the docks, straight after it came out of the water. One of her fondest childhood memories was from her father coming home, early in the morning, post fish shopping. He would toss the fresh fish on the kitchen sink, clean and gut it, while updating my grandma on the equally fresh news of the day. He then made preparations to cook it when he’d come back from work, since my grandma’s charm and effervescence was equal to her lack of enthusiasm or willingness to be involved in any kind of house chore. As the eldest, my mom had to learn to cook from a very early age, and since then, fish has been quite predominant in her repertoire.
I grew up eating savoury pies. Both my grandmothers were excellent pie makers- even my mom’s mom, the non-domestic goddess one, could make a mean cheese pie with her eyes closed. When most of my friends had some sort of roast meat on Sunday, we often had pie. Filled with salty cheese or fresh greens or a combination of both, all wrapped in homemade crust bursting with olive oil. [READ MORE]
I’ve been under a California spall recently. Ever since I got my hands on this beautiful book, I’ve been day-dreaming of palm trees, sandy beaches, vineyards and houses on hills; I’ve been blasting The Beach Boys all day on my iPod and, going through photos from Coachella festivals, I’ve been wishing I were there.
As it happens, many of my wishes come true through food. I’ve been living vicariously through dishes, mine and others’ for a long time now, and even though this often only adds to my longing of visiting places, it also makes me appreciate food’s ability to minimize distances and help us appreciate what we have here, now. So while I am here, now, I can pay homage to the Golden State the best way I know how: through food. [READ MORE]