The traditional method of baking in Greece was to use a beehive-shaped oven called an avli built on the side of a house. Those who couldn’t afford an oven would send their food to the local baker’s fourno (oven) for cooking. Pastitsio, baked macaroni with meat sauce and white sauce, with its Italian-derived name but […]
Archives for 2018
Christmastime in Venice with Cuttlefish in Its Ink
December 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The cooking of cuttlefish in its own ink is a method that goes back at least to the fourteenth century, as we know from an early cookery manuscript fragment from about 1300 (Frammento, Biblioteca Universitaria della Università di Bologna, MS 158, ffº 86r – 91v) where it is cooked with leeks, garlic, and spices to […]
Wampanoag Indian Dish from First Thanksgiving
November 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Between 1620 and 1621 Edward Winslow, who arrived on the Mayflower and was a leader of the English settlement at Plimouth in the Massachusetts colony, wrote with William Bradford Mourt’s Relation, the full title of which was A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New […]
New England Style Stuffing for Thanksgiving Turkey
November 14, 2018 by 2 Comments
Two of my children were born in Boston where we lived for 14 formative years and one by-product of that time is that our Thanksgiving menu is very New Englandy. We always stuff our roast turkey, and the stuffing often becomes the favorite side dish of the entire Thanksgiving. Everything is homemade, including the bread, […]
Best Deviled Eggs Recipe for Thanksgiving Favorites
November 5, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Our Thanksgivings usually begin a week before when family members begin the preparations for certain dishes, such as the turkey stock for the gravy or drying the bread cubes for the stuffing. On the morning of Thanksgiving we all chip in to begin making the appetizers. Our favorite appetizer are our deviled eggs. Originally, we […]
Peaches in Red Wine
October 3, 2018 by 2 Comments
When I eat ripe peaches or nectarines typically I’m leaning over the sink as the juices run off my chin. There are other ways to eat peaches and in this recipe inspired by a preparation from southern Italy the peaches are marinated in red wine. At first blush it doesn’t sound like it would work, […]
Joy of Simple Fish
September 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The easiest way to cook a firm fleshed fish is on the griddle. One could use halibut, mahimahi, catfish, salmon, swordfish, monkfish, grouper, yellowtail and a host of others. When I say a griddle, I mean a flat (not ridged) cast iron pan which is what we call a griddle. They are made in long […]
Black-eyed Peas and Tomato Salad for Meze Table
September 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Although this preparation of black-eyed peas and tomatoes is called a salad, in Lebanon it is usually an addition to the spread of various dishes found on a meze table. This salad is perfect for an end of the summer meal. Serve it with romaine lettuce leaves to be used as scoops. For ease of […]
Horta – Simple Greek-style Boiled Greens
September 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment
In Greece and its islands, horta is the name of any kind of boiled wild green, derived from the Greek word for “small garden,” a word that also gives, through the Latin, the Spanish word for large vegetable garden, huerta. There are many varieties of dishes called horta because there are many wild greens, cultivated […]
Exotic Watermelon Pudding from Sicily
August 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Watermelons are a typical, and beloved, conclusion to an American summer grill party. In Sicily, watermelons are also popular eaten in their raw state as well as being the main ingredient in an amazing sweet pudding for dessert. The main ingredients of this Sicilian gelu ‘i muluni, watermelon pudding, were all introduced by Arab farmers […]
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