Magical Mastiha … Appetizers

The morning of the Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 event, I opened up the shopping bag I’d brought back from my visit to MastihashopNY and surveyed my mastiha bounty. I’d indulged in purchasing a box of mastiha resin, a jar of pistachio spoon sweet and the cookbook Mastiha Cuisine written by Diane Kochilas (which I haven’t even gotten to open yet but will soon sit down and pour over). And then I quickly set out to begin prepping the day’s dishes …

Savvato tou Lazarou–Saturday of Lazarus

My fondest and most vibrant childhood memories are almost always centered around my family’s Easter preparations and celebrations. So many emotions come flooding back with a mere glimpse of all the women in the family gathered around the kitchen table making koulourakia on Holy Monday; with all the children coloring eggs in vibrant primary colors as used in Greece early on Holy Thursday; with the entire family getting ready to walk over to our church on Good Friday to follow the procession of the “Epitaphio”; with the men carrying in the baby lamb on

Eliopsomo me Anitho kai Melitzanosalata me Karydia / Olive Bread with Dill and Eggplant Dip with Walnuts

For the last six weeks or so, I’ve been baking a fresh loaf of bread at least three times a week. How, you ask? Just keep reading … … After seeing my grandmother regularly bake loaf after loaf of bread when I was a child and remembering how long she would sit and knead the dough, let it rise, knead again, let rise again, etc., etc., I was certain bread-making was not for me. Then one day I read a post lauding this new book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Then I read another post doing the same; and then another and another and another. Every

Ladokouloura me Mastiha kai Glykaniso Kai Pasta Elias–Savory Bread Rings w/ Mastic-Anise and an Olive Tapenade

Ladokouloura are an oil-based Greek biscuit/bread ring/biscotti that can take on a multitude of forms from sweet to savory. The sweet kind pair perfectly with a steamy cup of coffee or tea, while the savory are an ideal snack to offer up with some light meze or various dips and spreads. Aglaia Kremezi’s Foods of the Greek Islands features a flavorful recipe for ladokouloura, which I adapted here. Kremezi’s recipe is fairly simple enough (requiring the dough to merely make a few turns in the food processor followed by a little kneading by hand), but I wanted to