Souvlaki For The Soul

It’s blowing outside.
It’s cold.
And all I feel like doing is making a batch of soup and enjoying it with some sourdough rye bread.  I used some butternut pumpkin (squash) and thickened it with some red lentils.  It’s spiced up with some fresh chili, garam masala and ground cumin.  Enjoy your weekend everybody!
RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN SOUP [...]

With the colder weather in full swing I’ve been further experimenting with slow braises and casseroles.  The above dish is a result from playing around in the kitchen.  As I stated in my beef stifado recipe I like to use chuck steak in my casserole cooking.  It’s a cheap cut of meat, with a good [...]

I’ve decided to redo giouvarlakia this winter.  I’ve blogged about giouvarlakia before and you can find my recipe here.  I love the “heartiness” of this dish and I can eat them non stop. They definitely warm up the insides.  However, in my “extreme makeover” (ok, maybe not that extreme) I add a bunch of chopped [...]

Cooler weather demands comfort food.  And lots of red wine!  That’s my motto and I’m sticking to it!  Seriously though, that’s probably the best part about winter.  The stews, braises and casseroles.  This time around I wanted to attempt that classic Greek dish called “stifado”.  It’s a one pot aromatic stew utilising baby onions, red [...]

I was visiting my brother and his family in my hometown of Melbourne last week and had the chance to stay with them for a few days.  They live on the outskirts of the city and pretty much try to maintain a self sustaining lifestyle.  They grow everything in their back garden.  Broccoli, garlic, herbs, [...]

I will apologise to any vegetarians now if you find this post offensive.  Or maybe not!  My name is Peter and I’m a lamboholic!  Yep! That’s right.  It’s an addiction. It’s become so expensive to buy this stuff right now that I couldn’t resist these beautiful cutlets when I saw them at the butchers the [...]

This dish is another one of those Greek classics that was constantly featured in my childhood.  I probably didn’t appreciate it growing up but I love it as an adult.  It’s “more-ish” and I actually find it quite addictive!  In fact I ate it for three days straight!  It’s a healthy dish and literally translates [...]

Let’s continue on with our current “series” of “glorious greens”.  I want to give you a quick, easy and delicious recipe for that very controversial vegetable brussels sprouts.   Their “controversy” probably stems (well for me it does) from the awful childhood memories I had of them being overcooked.  This was then exacerbated by going to [...]

Along with the witlof the other day I also prepared some broccolini.  Broccolini as Wkipedia explains is “a green vegetable resembling broccoli”.  Huh?  I always thought it was just another version of broccoli.  Well it is.  It’s a cross between a young broccoli and kai-lan (chinese broccoli).  Whatever the case, its healthy and if cooked [...]

During my recent recovery (insert violin music in here) I tried to cleanse my body by eating a lot more greens. I picked up this beautiful batch of peas and sugar snap peas and cooked them by gently poaching them in some water. Whilst it was nourishing, all I could think of was “man these peas need some mint and meat and the assistance of some puff pastry”. As the weather has cooled down completely here in Sydney the thought of pies enters my head. I love making pies. I know its a bit of a cheat but I tend to buy ready made pastry. I swear one day I’ll get around to fiddling