Kourabiedes (κουραμπιέδες)

This Greek cookie is an almond shortbread cookie. Christmas time is coming and every home will certainly have Kourabiedes on offer for visiting house guests.

These cookies are fantastically simple in ingredients, not too difficult and I don't think I've met one person that doesn't like them. What's not to like about butter, roasted almonds and icing sugar?

Kourabiedes (κουραμπιέδες)
(recipe is for 2 baking trays/80 cookies)

1 lb. clarified butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups of roasted almonds, coarsely chopped
1 shot of brandy
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 heaping Tbsp. of baking powder
5 cups of of all purpose flour
Extra icing sugar (for powdering)

1. Using a mixer and a large bowl, cream your butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks and continue to mix.
2. Slowly pour in the vegetable oil while still mixing.
3. Add your brandy to a large glass and then add your baking powder and stir it until dissolved. Now pour this mixture, along with the vanilla extract and continue mixing until blended in.
4. Start kneading with hands the mixture and s-l-o-w-l-y add the flour to the mixture until all the flour has been absorbed. Add the almonds and knead them into the dough mixture.
5. Using your hand, grab a piece of dough the size of a walnut and form them into the shape of choice (I made crescents). Place each formed cookie on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat process until all dough has been shaped into cookies.
6. Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven (middle rack) for 30 minutes for each batch. Allow the cookies to completely cool (on the tray is fine).
7. Place about 2 cups of icing sugar in a large bowl and roll the cookies in the sugar to powder them.
8. The cookies should be stored in a sealed container, in a cool, dry place and they'll keep for 3 months.

ΚΑΛΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ!

Ciabatta

One of my goals is to improve on my baking skills. I made bread with my mom recently and I would call the result a success.

I wanted to try a bread that required an overnight starter as part of the recipe. A bread with a starter that needs at least one night for the yeast to bubble and rise just has to be superior, no?

I've noticed many food bloggers citing recipes from King Arthur Flour with great results and so my homework was cut in half going to the source of much success. I chose King Arthur's Ciabatta.

I was very pleased with the flavour of the Ciabatta and the crust was pretty good but I still did not get the desired look that I often see in a photo of a Ciabatta bread.

Would I need a baking stone? Should I have preheated my oven to 500F before lowering the heat then baking? Should I not use the convection bake feature?

I'll make this bread again, for sure but if you "bakers extroardinaire" out there have any tips on getting my Ciabatta to get that bakery look, I'm all ears.

Seafood Lasagna

Every year, my family's church has a "pot luck" dinner for it's parish. For those not in the know, a "pot luck" dinner is where each attendee of a party, dinner or gathering brings something to the table to be enjoyed by all.

Last year I made crab cakes on behalf of my family and my mom has reminded me that the St. Nicholas pot luck is upon once again.

The one catch with this dinner is that it has to be a fasting menu. No red meat. So, I consulted with "the momma" and we brainstormed a few ideas and we came up with a seafood lasagna.

This recipe is easy, uses inexpensive seafood (bay scallops & shrimp) and above all, it's creamy and delicious.

Since this was also an experiment, this recipe is small (made six pieces) and you can certainly double or triple the measurements to comply with your needs.

Seafood Lasagna

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 head of broccoli, broken up into florets
equal amount of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup of grated carrot
1 clove of garlic, smashed
salt and pepper to taste
few springs of fresh thyme
1 lb. of deveined, shelled shrimp
1 lb. of bay scallops
6 lasagna sheets (fresh or oven ready)
Grated Mozzarella cheese

Bechamel sauce
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup of grated Asiago cheese
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. of freshly grated nutmeg
8" X 5" casserole dish, greased

Preheat your oven to 400F, middle-top rack

1. Get a large skillet onto medium high heat and add your butter, onions and a dash of salt. Add your broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and thyme and stir to coat everything. Cover the skillet, lower heat to just under medium and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, remove thyme sprigs and reserve.
2. Start your Bechamel sauce. Add your butter into a large pot and when it starts to bubble, add your , lower heat to medium and constantly stir until the mixture has formed a paste and it's turned yellow-light brown. Now add your milk, keep on stirring under medium high heat. (If you get lumps, break them up with a potato masher)
3. Once your mixture has thickened, add your grated Asiago in batches and keep on stirring until it's all melted in and your Bechamel has become thick. Add your nutmeg and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
   
4. Add a couple of ladles of Bechamel sauce to your reserved skillet of vegetables plus your reserved shrimp and scallops. Mix to incorporate the seafood, vegetables and Bechamel and reserve.
5. Assemble your lasagna. Spoon some Bechamel onto the bottom of your casserole. Lay your first layer of lasagna sheets. Next, spread a layer of seafood & vegetable mixture then grated Mozzarella and Bechamel. Repeat once more.
6. Finish off your lasagna with a pasta layer, Bechamel sauce and lots of grated Romano cheese.
7. Place onto the middle-high rack of a pre-heated 400F oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the lasagna has nicely browned. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
   

Greek Style Roasted Chicken

One my favourite Greek dishes is a roasted chicken. Greeks will often have chicken served with rice, orzo or as in this instance, potatoes.

We are fond of one-pot meals or a complete meal in a roasting pan. A Greek roasted chicken has classic flavours....dried oregano, salt and pepper, olive oil and lots of fresh lemon juice.

I normally eat chicken at least once a week and I never tire of these flavours. What you have here is a roasting chicken on a bed of potatoes that suck up lemon, oil and chicken juices. How "nostimo" is that?

One final thought on chicken...if you're with family or good friends, don't be afraid to eat chicken with your hands. I just know that Colonel Sanders got the idea of "finger lickin' good" from long ago from having eaten roast Greek chicken!

Greek Style Roasted Chicken

1 - 2 1/2 to 3 lbs chicken
olive oil oil
1 whole lemon (quartered)
garlic powder
salt and pepper
dried oregano
1 clove of garlic
couple of sprigs of
chopped fresh parsley
4 - 6 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered lengthwise
2 Tbsp. plain yellow mustard
1/2 cup water

Preheat your oven to 375F

1. Spread your potatoes onto the bottom of your roasting pan. Drizzle some olive oil, add mustard and season with salt, pepper and some dried oregano and squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon and add the water. Toss to throughly coat and reserve.
2. Rinse and pat dry your bird. Insert into the cavity the garlic, sprigs of thyme, parsley and 1/4 of a lemon.
3. Rub your chicken with olive oil, squeeze the juice of the remaining 1/4 lemon and season all over with salt, pepper, garlic powder, fresh thyme and dried oregano.
   
4. Place your bird onto the bed of potatoes and roast for approx. 90 minutes or until the juices of the bird run clear (internal temp. of 180F).
5. When your chicken is cooked, let it rest on serving dish for 15 minutes. Give the potatoes a good stir with a large spoon to coat the potatoes well with the sauce.
   

Beef Tenderloin With a Port Wine Sauce

A friend of mine who views this blog recently mentioned that I've not posted many Greek recipes of late. This is true but although I love Greek cuisine, I'm also drawn to other types of cooking and I'm eager to try new dishes and showcase foods that I personally like (and think you will enjoy too).

I promise, I have more Greek dishes on the way but in the meantime, it's time for carcass, beef and in this instance, beef tenderloin.

The BBQ is a lonely, cold creature - sitting outside and waiting to be fired up. I'm relegated to the oven for cooking my meals. Beef tenderloin was up for sacrifice at my temple of hunger!

Beef tenderloin is not cheap but I was lucky enough to find it at an affordable price this past summer. I was able to buy a whole tenderloin for approx. $30 a piece (and not from the back of a truck). One must remove the silver skin and trim the end pieces. The silver skin is discarded but the end pieces can be used for stews, stir frying or shish kebabs.

After you're done trimming, what is left of the tenderloin is the center piece, the Chateaubriand. It's a lean piece of of meat and for those of you that like your meat done beyond medium, this cut is not for you. Do not waste a cut of beef like this to dry it out. Go for a rib eye instead.

I have family members who (as do many Greeks) like their red meat well done but for the sake of the integrity of the beef tenderloin, the meat was going to be cooked medium-rare...too bad, so sad!

Beef Tenderloin With a Port Wine Sauce

1 beef tenderloin, about 10 inches long
butcher's twine
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
coarse salt
cracked black pepper
garlic powder
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, smashed
1 cup of beef stock
1/3 cup of Merlot red wine
2 springs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Splash of Port wine

Preheat your oven to 375F, middle rack

1. Pat dry your beef. Using butcher's twine, tie the meat at 3 (or 4) points in the beef. This will create a uniform and round piece of meat.
2. Rub the Dijon mustard all over the meat. Season your beef with coarse salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
3. Get a large, oven safe saute pan onto high heat. Add your olive oil and butter and when they start to bubble, start browning all sides of the beef and reduce heat to medium high. When you browned 3 sides of the meat, turn the last side face down into the pan and now place in the oven. (note: I use a meat thermometer that injects into the meat and my temperature reader is attached to a wire which leads to my counter top)
4. Roast your beef tenderloin until the internal temperature has reached 120F. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest for about 15 minutes before cutting.
5. Using the same saute pan, empty the fat from the pan and deglaze the pan drippings with red wine and stir with a wooden spoon and scrape up the brown bits. Add your shallot, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and beef stock and reduce on medium high heat until sauce is down to a third. Add your port and reduce for a few more minutes until your sauce has thickened some more. Stir in a dab of butter, remove garlic cloves and thyme springs, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and reserve.
6. Cut the butcher's twine off of your beef. Cut the meat into 1 inch pieces and serve with potatoes and steamed broccoli and your Port wine sauce.
   

Baked Omelet

If you like the flavours of a western omelet, then you'll surely enjoy Ina Garten's omelet for two. Despite it's title, I think the recipe is ample enough to feed four.

I liked this omelet more than the classic western because it combines potato in it and it didn't give me the usual heartburn I get from burnt onions or greasy pork product.

It's an easy dish, comes together quickly and the aroma will surely awaken your S.O. or other family members still in their deep sleep slumber.

One final note, Ina uses jalapeno peppers in the recipe and despite my love of heat and spicy foods, I substituted jalapeno with a fine dice of green bell pepper.

In my rule book, spicy foods appear after noon time. It's breakfast/brunch time...plenty of hours in the day to take in spicy foods.

Zucchini Linguine

Not only is this side dish easy but it's fun to recite...zucchini linguine. I'm a poet and I don't even know it!

I saw this recipe in a Greek food magazine that appears monthly in the weekend edition of Kathemerini (The Daily). Each month I head down to Toronto's Greek town (The Danforth) and I pick up Kathemerini and the latest copy of Gastronomos.

I like picking up the magazine to keep track of new food trends in Greece and to scrounge for new ideas.

This recipe is a cold side dish. I found it to be a great side to a fish serving and it can made all year around as zucchinis are found year 'round at the market and they aren't as temperamental as say, tomatoes.

I'm really fond of the thyme and zucchini pairing. I think they were made for each other. This dish is also my entry for this week's edition of Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Truffle at What's On My Plate.

This dish works similar to zucchini carpaccio in that the lemon juice "cures" the zucchini. If you're looking to skip on some pasta dishes and keep your silhouette from going to a pear shape, try zucchini linguine!

Zucchini Linguine

2 zucchinis, rinsed and sliced into long, thin strings (with a mandoline)
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
6-7 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. of capers, rinsed of brine
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tsp. of fresh thyme leaves coarse
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

1. Rinse your zucchinis. Using a mandoline, afix the slicing implement with the fine teeth. Using the hand guard, shave the zucchini lengthwise to make long, thin strings. Place in a bowl and reserve.
2. About 15 minutes before serving, squeeze the lemon juice over the zucchini and toss. Allow the lemon juice to "cure" the zucchini for 15 minutes.
3. Add your olive oil, parsley, thyme, capers and toss to coat the zucchini. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
   

Baked Rigatoni With Eggplant and Sausage

It looks like my hopes for a little bit more of Indian Summer are fading. Global warming has abated and the usual, seasonal, cold Canadian weather is here. We're expecting our first major snowfall here in the Toronto area. This means I won't be posting any dishes made on my grill anytime soon!

However, I do have a He-Man, stick to your ribs, macho Italian, satisfy the man's hunger kinda' dish. Before I proceed, I've gotta tell you that this is not a dish that's ready by the time your pasta is cooked. It's not a difficult dish but it does take a little more time but it's worth the trouble.

Baked rigatoni would be a good offering for a pot luck or if you want to bring something to a family gathering. It's big, hearty and you'll surely go back home with an empty tray and none of the lame excuses one gets trying to get their cookware back!

This recipe comes from Tyler Florence as part of his Ultimate series. You can view Tyler's approach here or view it below.

Baked Rigatoni With Eggplant and Sausage

Sea Salt
olive oil
6 links Italian sausage (about 3/4 pound)
1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces (or small ones are fine)
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large can (28 ounces) peeled whole tomatoes
Leaves from 1 small bunch basil
1 pound rigatoni
1 pound fresh mozzarella
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat for the pasta. Get yourself a 9 by 13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

1. Heat a 2 count of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and toss in the hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes, you want them nicely browned on the outside but still rare on the inside. Put the sausages in the baking dish.

2. Turn the heat down to medium. Add a generous 1/3 cup of oil to the skillet and get it hot. Add as many eggplant pieces as you can comfortably fit in a single layer and sprinkle well with salt. Cook, turning, for 7 to 8 minutes, until the eggplant is nice and browned, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Use a spatula to put the eggplant into the baking dish with the sausage. Cook the rest of the eggplant pieces, adding more oil to the pan, as needed, and putting the finished eggplant into the baking dish.

3. Add another 2 count of oil to the skillet, then your onion and garlic, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until translucent. Dump the whole can of tomatoes and their juices into a bowl and crush the tomatoes with your hands to break them up; add that to the pan with the basil and cook it down until pulpy and relatively thick. This will take about 15 minutes.

4. By this time your pasta water will be boiling. Add the rigatoni, give it a stir, and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, it should be slightly firm as it will cook further in the oven. Ladle out 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve; the drain the rigatoni.
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Chop the sausages into nice big, bite-size chunky pieces and return the pieces to the baking dish. Add the tomato sauce, rigatoni, and the reserved pasta water. Break up half the mozzarella over the mixture, season with salt and pepper, and gently mix with your hands or a spatula. Dust with the Parmigiano and drizzle with more olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Spread the remaining mozzarella in an even layer over the top and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
   

Baked Sea Bass

It's back to seafood folks. Yesterday I came upon some black sea bass fillets. I was told these were Atlantic sea bass, so I was buying something relatively local and the fish did not make a cross-country journey to get to my table.

Had the weather been better, I would have sought a whole fish to grill but at last, we're having usual, cold Canadian weather. However, in the first instance of Indian Summer and I'm firein' up the grill baby!

This dish is taken from a Dave Lieberman episode of Good Deal. Dave tries (and succeeds) in showing viewers how to have great meals on the cheap. I found my fish at an affordable price and the sides were cheap too (rice and steamed rapini).

People, this is a fish dish you have to try. I knew this was going to turn out when I was stirring the bread crumbs with the butter and herbs. The aroma got me high!

It's a quick dish and although I attacked the recipe a little differently, it still made for a very satisfying weekday meal.

You may view Dave's approach here but I'll lay down how I got down with the sea bass.

Baked Sea Bass (for 2)

1 cup of leftover bread
1 tablespoon butter, plus 1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 (6-ounce) sea bass fillets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
Few sprigs thyme, leaves removed
1 large clove of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 350F

1. Pulse the bread in a food processor to get slightly coarse bread crumbs. Coat a casserole dish just large enough to hold the fillets with 1 tablespoon butter ( I smeared the casserole with my buttered fingers. Place the fillets in the dish and reserve.
2. Melt the remaining 1/2 stick of butter in a large skillet with the smashed garlic. As soon as the butter starts to bubble, turn off the heat and let the garlic infuse the warm butter.
3. Remove the garlic chunks from the butter. Add the bread crumbs and lightly toss until all the butter has been absorbed. Turn the heat off, stir in the parsley, thyme and lemon zest and season to taste, with salt and pepper.
4. Season your fillets with salt and pepper. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fillets. Spread a layer of bread crumb mixture over the top of each fillet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until bread crumbs are golden brown and fish is cooked through.

Mom's Bread

The following recipe for bread was made under close supervision by my mom. When I was young, I remember her making huge batches of bread in dinner roll form for the revolving door of guests who would visit our home to celebrate my father's nameday on the day of the feast of St. Nicholas.

To this day, she sticks by the same recipe and to this day, that aroma of bread wafting through the house still sends me to cloud nine.

The bread recipe can be made into loaves or buns as we often do. This recipe is bare-bones traditional. There's no fancy yeasts, no breadmakers, no machinery to help with kneading. Get in there and make the bread and throw it in the oven.

It's bread as it should be, in it's lowest common denominator...honest, simple, with patience and made with love.

Mom's Bread

Starter
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast yeast
2 cups of warm water
1 tsp. of sugar

1. Add the yeast, sugar and water into a bowl. Cover & let the yeast activate, bubble, rise and get gooey for about 15 minutes.

Remaining Ingredients for Mom's Bread

16 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup fine semolina flour
6 cups of water
3 Tbsp. salt
1 cup olive oil

1. Into a large bowl, mix your flour, semolina and salt and mix them with your hand. Make a well in the center of your bowl.
2. Pour in your starter, oil and water. Using you hands, incorporate the flour from the sides of the bowl into the mixture. Keep mixing it until it’s soft and sticky.
   
3. Flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Keep kneading it until it becomes more elastic.
4. Add a bit of olive oil to the empty mixing bowl and using your fingers, coat the sides with it. Put the dough back into this bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and set it aside in a warm place to rise (wrapping with a blanket is also suggested to keep it warmer). Let it rise until it’s double in bulk, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
5. After it’s risen, punch the dough back down and turn it out onto the floured work surface. Knead it for another 5 minutes. Divide the dough into loaves (or any quantity and size that you prefer) and shape them. Place them on un-greased baking sheets – allowing for room between them when they rise. Cover the breads and sheets with clean towels and a blanket and let them rise again in a warm place – about 1 hour.
6. After they have risen for a second time, bake them in a pre-heated 375F oven.

Double Baked Stuffed Potato

I was encouraged to post my recipe for my "double baked, stuffed potato". I know, it's sounds like a mouthful and it is!

Over at The Great Big Vegetable Challenge there's a "Pimp My Potato" challenge and I thought it would be apt for me to "throw my spud" into the ring.

What I have done here is bake a russet potato, scoop out the meat of the spud, mix it with some tasty ingredients and the broil it.

Eating such a potato is not part of an everyday diet plan but it's worth making to treat yourself and guests to every so often.

For reasons of convenience, I zap my potatoes in a microwave. Most microwaves have a "baked potato" function or instructions on baking a potato using the microwave. Try it, the microwave can be your friend.

Double Baked Stuffed Potato (for four)

4 large Russet or baking potatoes
4 strips of bacon
4 scallions, finely chopped
1 cup of old cheddar, grated
unsalted butter or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream for garnish

1. Rinse and scrub the skins of your potatoes. Using a fork, poke both sides of your potatoes a couple of times to allow steam to escape. Allow approx. 6 minutes for each potato to bake (in this case 24 minutes) in your microwave. Take the potatoes out allow them to cool a bit for handling.
2. Bake, fry or microwave your bacon strips until crispy. Blot them on some paper towels to remove excess grease. Coarsely chop your bacon and reserve.
3. Take your now cooled potatoes and cut them in half. Using a spoon, carefully spoon out the meat of the potato (without piercing the skin) and place in a large bowl.
4. Add your butter (or olive oil), bacon, scallions, cheese and mix well while smashing the potatoes. Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.
5. Spoon your potato mixture back into the skins of the of the potatoes. Top each potato with more grated cheese.
6. Place all your potatoes onto a rack and place under the broiler for 5 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
7. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
   

Orecchiette With Rapini and Crispy Bread Crumbs

I've had orecchiette on my mind for awhile. Orecchiette are a small pasta translated from Italian as "little ears".

Many wonder what's behind the Italians' madness for having so many different shapes for basically the same pasta recipe? Well, after having this dish I'm convinced that pairing the type of pasta to the sauce is equally important to say, proper seasoning.

This rapini dish would not have worked using a spaghetti or say a macaroni. Just look at how the basins of the orecchiette hold the sauce in it! Now I know why orecchiette time & time over again are often paired with rapini. This was a fabulously tasty vegetarian dish that's easy, done in the time it takes to boil the pasta and inexpensive.

Rapini is also know as broccoli rabe or in Italian, "cime di rape". It's a common vegetable in Italian and Chinese cuisine. It's slightly bitter (in a good way) and I found a pleasant nuttyness to it. Rapini is also a relative to the turnip and with it being a green veg, it's loaded with vitamins A,C, K and has lots of iron, calcium and potassium.

Mark this entry as my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging #109 and it's hosted this week by Vanessa at What Geeks Eat.

Poached John Dory Fillet

It's Friday and some of you are screaming TGIF and you're eagerly awaiting the weekend. Some of you might even be listening to Loverboy!

Fridays for me also mean that it's no meat today (at least I try). One doesn't have to go "all out" vegan but the I like the break from meat each Friday.

I recently tried poaching fish and I was pleased with the result. Poaching simply means to cook something in a simmering liquid.

In this instance, I again used John Dory fillets. John Dorys are a white flat fish and you can sub this fish with flounder, grouper, turbot, soul or even a cod or tilapia fillet.

It's quick, it's easy and the fish is delicate and flaky. I served this dish with boiled potatoes and sauteed vegetables.

Poached John Dory Fillets

1 cup of water
1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbsp. chopped onion
2 Tbsp. chopped celery
a few peppercorns
1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp. fresh chopped tarragon
2 springs of fresh thyme
2 John Dory fillets
lemon wedges

1. In a skillet, place all ingredients except the fish and lemon wedges. Bring to a boil; cover reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Add fillets in a single layer, cover and poach for 2 minutes.
3. Serve with lemon wedges.
   

Penne With Five Cheeses

Okay,

I might have been a little hard on the Mrs....Mrs. Ina Garten that is, but she does still have some gems and this particular pasta dish was first tested and tasted 2 years ago in Greece.

It was a cool evening and we had family over and it was one of my few chances to use the kitchen (other than prepare a salad). Greece is hot, very hot in the summer and the kitchen is nowhere to be spending your vacation.

This pasta dish is very easy to make and the prep work is completed even before the pasta is ready. It's so simple, mix all the ingredients in a bowl then toss the cooked pasta and throw in a dish and bake until golden & gooey.

My relatives in Greece loved this pasta and the penne vanished from the serving dish. Serve it with a green salad, some red wine and you're off to play backgammon again!

This recipe is not Ina Garten's but I first saw it on her show and she gives due credit to the authors of the dish. I liked this penne dish so much that I bought the book called Cucina Simpatica, written by Johanne Killeen and George Germon.

One final note, in Greece I could not find fontina cheese but Gouda works just fine as a substitute.

French Onion Soup Gratinee

This soup made me cry. That's right...it brought me to tears. I had to cut 10 small onions which equaled the recipe's requisite 3 large onions. I now know why bags of small onions are less expensive. Buy large onions.

I've been doing lots of soups of late but hey, it's soup season and even the Soup Nazi can't keep me down. Today I tackled an old classic, French Onion Soup. This soup isn't new to me and I've made it for years.

It's an easy recipe but I think many are intimidated by the cleaning required of the soup pots with all that gooey cheese that sticks to the pots. Relax, it's not that bad. I've found that if you use any earthenware or bowls that are coated by some sort of enamel then you're washing duties are a breeze. Besides, why deny yourself one of the tastiest soups known to man?

French Onion Soup Gratinee (serves 6)

1/2 stick of butter
3 large onions, sliced (about 4 cups)
1 Tbsp. all purpose flower
3 bay leaves
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
7 cups of beef broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 loaf of French Stick
Gruyere cheese, grated
Parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot over medium heat, add the butter, onions, bay leaves, thyme and some salt and cook down for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the flour until well blended. Add the wine, beef broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
3. Cut 1-inch slices of French Stick from the loaf. Toast the slices in a toaster or in your oven (until just slightly browned).
4. Ladle soup into your soup vessels (oven safe) and place the slice of toasted bread on top of each soup.
5. Sprinkle lots of Gruyere on top of your bread and then top of with some Parmesan.
6. Place soup vessels on a tray (for easier handling) and place under your broiler for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned.

Greek Lentil Soup

This soup is another "familiar" dish to all Greek homes. Some eat it almost every week and others at the very least during the Great Lent.

It's a meatless soup and for those who fast to the nth degree and avoid oil during Lent, this soup still holds up well using just water.

I like this soup for Fridays. I don't have to fast on Fridays and nor am ultra-religious but I do like the "cleansing" one does on Fridays. Try it out...avoid meat for a day and be creative. You'll find comfort in simpler foods, different foods and perhaps even expand and develop an affinity for a new food.

Lentil Soup in Greek is called φακές (pronounced fah-KESS) and as kids, cousins, myself and other Greek kids would laugh because it always sounded like the elders were swearing!

I've gotten beyond that sillyness (actually I've giggling again) and I do love this soup. Once again, I use a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process for this soup.

Greek lentil soup becomes a meal when you pair it with bread, black olives and some pickled peppers and veggies. I think I'll make it again this Friday!

Greek Lentil Soup (φακές)

2 cups of small, brown lentil, rinsed
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
1 large carrot, peeled, halved and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
3 bay leaves
3/4 cup of pommodoro sauce (passata)
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
8 cups of water
3 cloves of garlic, smashed + 5 cloves of garlic, minced for the end
2 Tbsp. dried oregano
salt to taste

1. Into a large pressure cooker, add your lentils, olive oil, onions, carrot, pepper, tomatoes, paprika, bay leaves, smashed garlic and water. Close the lid the bring to a whistling boil on high heat.
2. As soon as your pressure cooker is whistling, turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 45 minutes.
3. Take off the heat, release the pressure from your pressure cooker and safely open the lid.
4. Add your 5 cloves of minced garlic, your oregano and adjust seasoning with salt or Vegeta seasoning.
5. Serve with good bread, black olives and pickled sweet peppers.
   

Carrot and Ginger Soup

This soup was made using no aids in food colouring other than it's natural ingredients. Look at that colour!

I just found out that carrots make for a lovely soup. This soup is velvety, sweet, savoury, a little spicy from the ginger and most definitely warming on a cold, rainy day like today.

I like soups like this that use unconventional ingredients for soup. They're a mystery right up until the person puts the spoon into their mouth.

Carrot and Ginger Soup

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium onions, diced
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp. of grated fresh ginger
5 cups of chicken/vegetable stock
1/4 cup of orange juice
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp. of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream for garnish

1. In a large pot, saute the onions, carrots, ginger, paprika, bay leaf and thyme. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid covered.
2. Add your stock and orange juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook down for 30-40 minutes or until the carrots have softened. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
3. Remove your thyme sprigs and bay leaf and puree your soup until there are no lumps left.
4. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
   

Scallops Provencal

Once again, I found myself on the sofa watching the Food Network. It's not like I'd channel surf and look at what else is on offer. Afterall, there's a writer's strike going on in Hollywood, which means reruns upon more reruns.

One of my favourite food personalities is Ina Garten or in particular, her recipes. They usually turn out as directed, aren't too difficult and most of her dishes would be impressive for dinner guests.

I last caught her doing a segment on Scallops Provencal and either the network messed up the recipe or Ina likes her shallots and garlic a little raw.

In her recipe, she asks that you continue to saute your scallops AND then add shallots, garlic, wine, parsley to make the pan sauce while the scallops cook through. This is wrong!

I'm laying out the recipe as I think it should be done. You may follow her steps but I think my approach is more logical. Sear the scallops (leave them whole), reserve them then, deglaze and saute your shallots, etc. to make a pan sauce .

I would add the scallops back into the finished sauce. You won't have a raw taste and the dish actually becomes wonderfully simple, delicious and it allows the flavour of the scallops to come through without being masked by any heavy sauces.

Scallops Provencal

1 lb sea scallops
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
3 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots (2 large)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, cut in 1/2

1. Sprinkle your scallops with salt and pepper. Dredge them with flour and get a large saute pan heated on your stove top.
2. In the pan, add 1 Tbsp of butter + 1 Tbsp of olive oil over high heat. Add your scallops then lower the heat to medium and allow the scallops to brown lightly on 1 side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3 to 4 minutes in total. (Saute the scallops in batches if you don't have a large pan)
3. In the same pan, pour in your white wine and delglaze the pan (mdeium heat) for a couple of minutes. Add your garlic, shallots and cook until softened (2-3 minutes).
4. Add your scallops back into the pan along with the butter (1 or 2 Tbsps.) and chopped parsley and toss to coat and warm the scallops through. Squeeze some lemon juice on top.
   
5. Serve on top of a bed of rice pilaf.
   

New England Clam Chowder

One of my favourite foods are "soups that eat like a meal". All one needs is a big bowl of soup, some crackers and dig in!

Up until about a year ago my clam chowder used to come from a can or whenever I visited a seafood restaurant. I pleased to announce those days are over.

This soup is rich, it's easy, it's thick, it's very flavourful and, it's affordable. One could go out and my fresh clams, steam them and pluck the meat out for this soup but the canned variety work just fine.

Surprisingly, one of the highlights of this soup is the fresh parsley that's tossed in at the end. Through most of my life, I've hated parsley. It was simply a garnish tossed to the side before eating my meal.

I'm highlighting parsley for Weekend Herb Blogging. This week's event is hosted by The Expatriate Chef at The Expatriate's Kitchen.

Parsley is probably the world's most popular herb. It derives its name from the Greek word meaning "rock celery" (parsley is a relative to celery). It is a biennial plant that will return to the garden year after year once it is established.

Another thing I'd like to highlight about this chowder is that no flour was used as a thickener. This recipe came from Michael Smith of Chef at Home and it's a winner and it's not a surprise as he's from the Maritimes. Instead of flour, this soup is thickened by a grated potato. I made two additions to the chowder. I added a grated carrot for sweetness and colour and I added 1 large potato, diced into spoon sized pieces.


New England Clam Chowder

• 8 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1 medium cooking onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 carrot, grated
  
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup of cream
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 large baking potato, peeled and diced
  
• 2 x 5 oz cans of clam meat
• 2 x large bay leafs
• 1 tsp of fresh thyme leaves
• 1 cup of grated baking potato
• 1 x can of unsweetened evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley
• Salt and pepper

1. Brown the bacon until crisp in a thick-bottomed soup pot. Pour off half of the fat. Add the onions and celery, carrot, grated potato with a splash of water and sauté for a few minutes until soft.
2. Add the white wine, cream, milk and the juice from the clams (reserve the actual clams for the end so they don’t toughen). Add the bay leaf, thyme and diced potato and bring the mixture to a slow simmer. Continue simmering for 20 minutes until the diced potato softens and your soup has thickened.
   
3. Add the reserved clam meat, evaporated milk and parsley. Bring back to heat. Taste the chowder and add enough salt and pepper to season it. Serve immediately with your favourite crackers!

Chicken Chasseur

This past summer I watched Bobby Flay make a French classic called Chicken Chasseur or Hunter-style chicken. With a name like that, I guess this is the French answer to Chicken Cacciatore (another hunter plate).

Ya know, before this Bobby Flay episode, I had never heard of this dish and I had bookmarked it to try in the fall.

After reading the recipe, I changed the method up a bit. Rather than brown the chicken in the saute pan then finish off in the oven, I simply roasted my chicken quarters in the oven and then used some drippings and utilized the pan juices to make my sauce. The twist in execution worked wonderfully. I wanted to be assured of well cooked chicken and keep my crispy skin.

Sometimes with these dishes, the skin ends up being rubbery and I never liked the feeling I got when the skin snapped back in my face during a meal.

This dish isn't difficult. It's certainly a weeknight meal if you don't mind starting a little earlier (or eating a little later). The sauce is good and thick, the parsley (I had no chervil) and tarragon complement chicken very well and the pairing with my "mock mashed potatoes" was a hit.

Try out the chicken chasseur. There are many recipes online, not much deviation in the ingredients and it's a safe bet that the whole family will like this comforting dish.

Seared Salmon on Baby Spinach

This next dish is a popular one from Epicurious and it's one I first tried with my ex. If you take a look at the recipe, there are 12 pages of comments (mostly positive) made and 93% would make this dish again. Another interesting tidbit about this dish is that I've had about 3 friends suggest this recipe to me and I've saddened them when I told them, "sorry, I've already tried it".

I've probably made this dish a dozen times (with my own twist of course) and it's still a "gourmet-ish" dish that's easy for a weeknight.

I also still see the ex's comment (in the review section) made on our behalf and today I still make this salmon with angel hair pasta. I find the pasta a good accompaniment to mop-up the sauce and the spinach.

My recommendations on this dish is to smear butter on the skin side of the salmon then season with salt and pepper and saute in the pan when the olive oil just starts to smoke...that's crispy skin to die for!

I would also increase the recipe for the pan sauce by a 1/3 if you're making pasta with this dish and double up on the baby spinach. The stuff wilts real easy and the recipe "as is" is a little chintzy in the spinach.

Grab some salmon, try it on a weeknight, open a bottle (or two) of wine, make the dinner as a couple or with a "friend", have some fun and if the dish turns out real good like when I made it, you'll get lucky (insert evil laugh here)!

Greek-Style Roast Lamb With Potatoes

Us Greeks do enjoy our lamb. Although we don't have it on our weekly roster of meals, it's always revisited. Lamb is often spit-roasted for Easter, lamb chops get the grill treatment, tougher pieces get braised or turned into stews and as I'm showing you today, roasting the lamb.

I found a good deal on some lamb shoulder at the market and my intent was to roast it just like a bone-in leg of lamb. If lamb seems out of your budget, try lamb shoulders. I bought mine for $11.00 and it fed 4 people generously.

Roasting lamb for myself (and as experienced by others) can end in varying, underwhelmed results. Sometimes it's overcooked and dry, other times it's too rare or to much fat and even some gaminess in the flavour.

I think I finally got the method right. The herbs I used are pairings with lamb (rosemary, oregano and thyme) but the I roasted and prepped it a little differently this time. The result? A lovely browned lamb, juicy and succulent on the inside and crisp roasted potatoes that absorbed the lamb juices. I achieved all this despite my having to roast the lamb to a medium-well doneness as the natives (Greeks) would have had my head!

If you want a rarer lamb, invest in a meat thermometer. I have one that has a wire attached so the display is outside of the oven and I even have an alarm to alert me just before my set doneness.

Greek-Style Roast Lamb With Potatoes

12 cloves of garlic
3 Tbsp. dried oregano
3 Tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary
3 Tbsp fresh chopped thyme
3/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cups lemon juice
1 cup white wine
salt and ground pepper
1 8-lb leg or shoulder of lamb
6 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into quarters lengthwise

1. Finely chop the garlic, herbs and add olive oil, wine lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper (to taste) in to a container and mix well.
   
2. Place the lamb in a dish or large bag and pour half of the marinade over the lamb (reserve the other half for the next day's step). Coat the lamb well with the marinade and refrigerate overnight.
3. The next day, bring your lamb and marinade to room temperature an hour before cooking.
4. Pierce the lamb with a knife all over the meat and rub the remaining marinade all over the meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper. At this point you also want to prepare your potatoes. Toss in olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon juice, coat with salt and pepper and set aside.
   
5. Into a preheated oven of 425F, roast your lamb with the lid on for 30 minutes with the potatoes around the lamb. After, reduce your heat to 375F and roast for another45 minutes to an hour (the last half hour, take the lid off to give the lamb it's nice colour).
6. Serve with seasonal vegetables, some good Greek red wine and enjoy.
   

Giovarlakia Soup

I've talked about the phenomenon of liking foods as an adult that you hated as a kid right? Well, this dish is also not one those!

Giovarlakia (You-ver-lawk-ya) soup is another Greek comfort dish that I always liked, be it as a child or in my pseudo-adulthood.

This is a meatball soup, finished off in the very familiar Avgolemono Sauce. It's also a quick dish, provided one has ready made stock and you don't mind rolling some meatballs.

I've had many varieties of Giovarlakia. Some good, some bad, some too thick, some too thin. Some like their meatballs real big, others real small.

I'll explain how I think Gioverlakia should be made. First, use a good chicken, veal or clear beef stock, be it homemade or store bought. It's a soup with delicate flavours and when you finish the soup with the Avgolemono mixture, one gets to appreciate the taste of the quality stock.

This soup should be a "medium thick". If made too thick, it can become paste-like the next day as the rice will absorb liquid. The soup should also not be thin or too sour from too much lemon. Did I mention it should be "medium thick?"

Finally, although my family always made large meatballs for this soup, I've found little, spoon-sized meatballs to work best.

Once again, the familiar flavour of Avgolemono has entered a Greek dish. Try this one out. It's a soup that eats like a meal, accompanied by crusty bread and finished off with freshly cracked pepper on the soup.

It's a cold, bone chilling day but I'm comforted by by big bowl of Giovarlakia soup.

Giovarlakia Soup

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
1/3 cup Arborio rice + 1/2 cup Arborio rice for the soup
2 tsp. Vegeta Seasoning
2 tsp. pepper
2 quarts of good stock

Avgolemono
2 eggs
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. of flour

1. Mix your ground beef, egg, 1/3 cup of rice, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Form the entire mixture into meatballs.
2. Bring your stock to boil in a large pot. Drop your meatballs and 1/2 cup rice into the stock and bring back to a boil. Once you have a boil, reduce to a simmer (medium) with a just closed lid and cook for about 20 minutes. Take off the heat.
3. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, flour and lemon juice. While beating, add 1 cup of water.
4. Take a ladle of stock from your pot and slowly add it to your egg/lemon mixture while whisking.
5. Slowly add your egg/lemon mixture back into your pot of soup and simultaneously keep on stirring as you're pouring.
6. Adjust seasoning with salt and reserve for five minutes. Serve with some fresh parsley, cracked black pepper and some good bread.
   

Spinach Salad With Pomegranates

My dad recently returned from Greece and one of the things he "liberated" are some pomegranates from our tree at our summer home in Greece.

I keep telling him he shouldn't be bringing stuff back but he insists on "sneaking" some back into the country. It could be worse, I used to have a friend who worked for Canada Customs at Toronto's airport and he would tell us some pretty funny stories.

The one that stands out the most was the lady from eastern Europe that smelled funny. When one arrives in Canada by air, you're given a card to fill out to expedite the "interrogation" by customs officers. It's the standard customs stuff concerning what you bought by way of tobacco, booze, jewelry, fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products.

This lady arrived in Canada and when she finally arrived at the customs desk, the officer noticed a weird smell. The officer immediately instructed her go to the left for "further" investigation.

A female customs officer then checked her out thoroughly but the luggage contained nothing smelly, nor did her purse or carry-on bag. Now the lady with the weird smell was summoned into an examination room...the strip search (again by a female officer).

The lady was instructed to undress. First her top came off. Nothing. Next, she was instructed to take off her dress.

The customs officer burst into laughter. The lady had tied a rope around her waist and had a big, honkin' salami dangling between her legs! "No meats are allowed to be brought in, ma'am".

Spinach Salad With Pomegranates

3 cups of baby spinach
1 small red onion, halved then sliced
1/2 cup button mushrooms, sliced
3 strips of crispy bacon, chopped
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, quartered
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. of dry tarragon
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Into a large salad bowl, add your mustard and vinegar. Now slowly pour in your olive oil while whisking until you've reached your desired consistency. Add salt & pepper and reserve.
2. Prepare your remaining salad ingredients and reserve until salad is to be served.
   
3. Add the remaining salad ingredients, toss gently and serve.
   

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Today is your lucky day. I'm sharing my mom's recipe for making homemade Greek-style yogurt. I've seen people lament that they cannot find good Greek yogurt or some have even invested in a yogurt maker.

Forget about it! All you need is some homogenized milk, some plain yogurt and containers for your finished product.

Giaourti (yogurt) is an integral part of Greek cuisine. It's part of a Greek breakfast, eaten as a snack or dessert and it's used to make the famous Greek Tzatziki dip.

I longed for homemade yogurt and summoned the mom to impart her recipe. A funny side note on this recipe is that after the milk came to a boil, she lowered the heat to a simmer and she dropped a ramekin into the milk. I asked her why she did this and she said, "that's the "pethera" or mother-in-law watching that the milk doesn't overboil".

"Huh" I asked? You see the mother-in-law never does any work and the bride (nifi) had the burden of all the house chores. The mother-in-law would do nothing other than menial tasks so, you get her to watch over the milk so that it doesn't overboil.

Bingo! I just learned that an earthenware utensil (ramekin) will prevent overboiling and another mother-in-law slur!

Homemade Greek Yogurt

4 litres of homogenized milk
1/2 cup of plain yogurt (containing active live cultures)

1. In a large pot, bring your milk to a boil. Reduce the milk to a simmer and place a ramekin into the pot to prevent overboiling. Simmer for 15 minutes and take off the heat (do not cover with a lid).
2. Allow the milk to cool until you've reached a temperature between 110 - 115F (you may use a candy thermometer for this. Your milk should be warm enough to hold your finger in it for 12 seconds.
3. Take some warm milk and mix it with your starter yogurt. Now add it to the rest of your milk and mix well.
4. Set your oven to "warm" or about 200F. Your ideal "incubation" temperature is 110F. Start ladling your milk into plastic containers with lids. You may place the containers of yogurt in the oven (oven turned off) OR place a blanket on the counter and lay your closed tubs of yogurt on it and cover with another good blanket. Your yogurt should set in 8-12 hours.
   
5. Refrigerate your yogurt for at least 4 hours. Your yogurt will be good for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy!
   

Beef and Mushroom Pie

After having much success making turkey pot pie with leftovers I was looking forward to trying a similar recipe for leftover beef.

I made a Prime Rib last weekend (I won't show the result as I had to have it well done for relatives) and I had some leftover roast beef and bones.

As tasty as Prime Rib is (and as expensive as it is), it simply isn't as good the next day as a leftover. I used to force feed myself with leftover roast beef but to be frank, it was a chore.

The Beef and mushroom pie recipe follows a similar path as it's turkey cousin, using leftover over meat, stock and some sauteed veggies with a pastry top to finish off the dish.

I'm delighted to share that the dish turned out remarkably well. The meat was tender and flaky, the biscuit dough turned out wonderfully this time as I did not forget to add the cream this time.

However, the one major step everyone should follow is braising the meat before using it for the pie. In my instance I had placed the bones and leftover meat in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes and my result was a rich beef stock and flaky, tender beef. Perfect...I'm ready for Beef and Mushroom pie! The next time I make this, I will include some frozen peas, otherwise this was a textbook comfort food dish.

Beef and Mushroom Pie

1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 medium sized onions, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch circles
2 cup of button mushrooms, halved
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp. of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup of flour
1 1/2 lbs. of bite-sized pieces of beef
1 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place your butter into a large saucepan to melt on medium-high heat. Add your onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, thyme and bay leaves. Turn down the heat to medium-low and let them cook & soften for about 15 minutes.
2. Add your flour, turn up the heat to medium and stir constantly to mix the flour. Allow the flour to cook off for about 5 minutes. Add your stock and wine and bring the heat back up to high. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat back down to medium, stir constantly and allow the sauce to simmer until it thickens to a consistency of a creamed soup.
3. Remove the bay leaves. Add your beef pieces, Worcestershire Sauce and peas mix them in as well. Adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper. Reserve.

Sour Cream Biscuit Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup frozen butter
1/2 cup half/half cream
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Into a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a food processor. Using a box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour. Add your sour cream and half/half cream. Pulse a few times until the mixture looks dry with some buttery lumps.
2. Take the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough several times. Roll the dough out and cut it into the shape & size of the vessels you'll use to bake your turkey pot pies.

Assembly

1. Preheat your oven to 425F, rack in the middle.
2. Spoon your pie filling into your baking vessels of choice.
3. Set the biscuit dough over the pie filling and brush the tops with an egg wash (1 lightly beaten egg with 3 Tbsp. water).
4. Place the baking vessels on a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the tops are golden-brown.

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

It's wonderful to see so many people embracing seasonal foods and experimenting, trying new dishes.

Pumpkin, squash, gourds and all those funny looking autumn veggies that are currently out there have turned out to be quite versatile. I've seen soups, pastas, stews, fritters, dips, sauces and in my case today, a dessert.

I remember as a kid the only use we had for a pumpkin was to carve it for Halloween, toast the seeds for snacks and sometimes go through the trouble of carving out the meat of the pumpkin for a pie.

Soon, I will see lots of abandoned pumpkins on peoples' boulevards, waiting to be picked up by the city's garbage collection. The plight of the neglected pumpkin saddens me.

We must take action! On gargbage day, tell your neighbors to reclaim their pumpkin, to steam it, cook it, roast, freeze it...just don't let that pumpkin go into composting Purgatory!

Enough of my tongue in cheek rant, on to the dessert. I've played around with this concept for a month now and I've finally achieved my desired result (tastewise).

I did the "brulee" using my oven's broiler but there's nothing like caramelizing your creme like a torch and there's no fear of warming the custard.

Otherwise, I'm sticking to this recipe. It's easy, it's quick and if you wait for the scalding milk/cream mixture to cool as directed, you won't get scrambled eggs.

The main inspiration for this dessert came from Gale Gand and her recipe was found at the Food Network. I tweaked the spices a bit, added some chopped pistachios and I trimmed the cream by replacing it with evaporated milk and the resulting custard was just fine.

I also strained the mixture before pouring it into the ramekins as I found some stringy pieces of pumpkin in previous attempts. Give this a go. It's even easy enough to offer as a weeknight dessert.

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

1 1/2 cups of evaporated milk
1/2 heavy cream
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 pinches of nutmeg
1 pinch of ginger
1/2 tsp of fennel seeds
2 cloves
2 Tbsp. chopped pistachios
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
coarse brown sugar for the "brulee"

Preheat the oven to 325F

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, cream, spices over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until it comes to a boil. Take off the heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together. Whisking constantly, gradually pour it in the hot milk/cream mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin puree.
3. Pour the mixture through a strainer, pushing through the liquid with the bottom of a ladle. Discard any solids.
4. Pour the mixture into 4 ramekins and arrange in a hot water bath. Bake in the center of the oven for 30-40 minutes until almost set (the middle should still jiggle).
5. Remove from the water bath and let cool for 20 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
6. When ready to serve, pour as much coarse sugar as will fit on the custard. Pour off the remaining sugar onto the next custard and repeat until you've coated each custard with coarse sugar.
7. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and broil until the sugar has caramelized or use a kitchen torch to create your brulees. Let cool for 1 minute before serving.