Unlike green/string beans, fava beans are more familiar to most in their dried form. They are also called broad beans for a reason, as they are substantially broader and bigger than green beans.

I usually pair pork tenderloin with fruit, but this time, as I also had a nice red cabbage head,  I’ve decided to go in a different direction. I roasted the cabbage with only salt and pepper, then poured a bit of maple syrup and red wine vinegar over it, when it came out of the oven. It was delicious.

Visiting the South is not complete without tasting a Shrimps and Grits dish at least once. Since at one point or another one has to go back home, it’s nice to be able to recreate this dish, and even better – to prepare it according to your personal preferences.

The following dishes can be made and served on their own, or, as I have done here, served together as a quick summer dinner.

It’s Okra season, and to those who love these weirdly shaped green pods, this means tasty okra dishes.

I had variations of sweet and sour shrimps and pineapple soup in several Vietnamese restaurants, some were good, others less so. Yet, even with the lesser ones, I always liked the combination of flavors of the shrimps, pineapple, okra and hardly cooked tomatoes, and I decided to make this soup at home.

This tasty and aromatic bake is the easiest way to serve pasta to a large party. It is based on the  East-European Jewish “Kugel” dish, that is more known in its sweet version.

Soda bread is the perfect bread to bake when you want a fresh warm loaf, without waiting for the dough to rise. The texture is obviously denser than yeast dough bread, but the easiness and quickness of making this bread compensate for that.
Unlike in traditional Irish soda bread, here I, once again, used different types of flour in the dough, in order to give it a more interesting texture and higher nutritional value.

Quick and easy to prepare, these tasty bar cookies will please anyone who loves the combination of peanut butter and jelly.

The following hearty dish, is perfect for a cold day. The Ossobuco steak (cross-cut beef shank, with the bone in the center), is one of the richest and tastiest cuts. Inspired by the traditional “ossobuco in bianco” (ossobuco in white sauce) dish, that originated around Milan, I’ve decided to cook it with smothered onions and mushrooms, beef stock, white wine, mustard, juniper berries and bay leaves. The result was a falling-of-the-bones tender meat and bone marrow, with rich and aromatic sauce.

While these quick, “all in one bowl”, muffins look somewhat plain, they are loaded with healthy and tasty ingredients, such as banana, dried fruits, pumpkin seeds and spelt flour, – all that is needed to make them a perfect guilt-free snack.

I am a big fan of tomatoes, in any shape or form, and I’m always looking for new varieties. With fresh summer tomatoes gone by now, the next option is to check which hothouse tomatoes are available at the store. When I saw the brownish-dark red Kumato tomatoes, I had to give them a try.

Leisurely eaten weekend brunch is something to look forward to all week. Here is a quick and easy to make dish, that doesn’t require any preparations in advance.
The Swiss Chard frittata can be served as is, but the addition of poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce, elevate it to another level.

After my successful experiment with cooking chicken in cider and apples (recipe can be found HERE), I decided to use these ingredients to prepare pork tenderloin (also known as pork fillet).

After the heavy dinners of this week, it was time for some lighter vegetarian dishes, and, as I often do, I used zucchini as a base for a cheese bake. This bake is one of them: it is hearty and filling, yet not heavy at all, mostly due to the fact it contains no flour or any other starch.

Upside-down cakes got a bad reputation in the States, and it is no wonder why, when most of the recipes for it call for “a box of yellow cake mix, canned pineapples in heavy syrup and artificially colored red maraschino cherries”…
Yet, upside-down cakes are wonderful when prepared properly, with fresh ingredients; the sugar and butter at the bottom caramelize lightly, blending nicely with the fruit, and with the cake batter on top. Add to this the fact that the cake is very easy to make, and you can’t help but wonder why on earth anyone would consider ruining this nice cake with all those horrid ingredients. So, here’s a chance to redeem the cakes’ bad reputation.

Sometimes it’s nice to just toss the “light” cake recipes out the window, and go with a really fluffy and rich cake, with a texture that can only be obtained by using meringue – a rich whipped mixture of egg whites and sugar.

This tasty cake is yet another variation of my all time favorite sponge cake recipe (postedHERE). In this version, I substituted half of the orange juice with cranberry juice, which gave it another layer of both acidity and sweetens, and pinkish color.

This tasty bake is well loved in the Sephardic cuisine (check HERE for information about it), and is traditionally served for Saturday brunch. The bake is usually served with Tzatziki (recipe can be foundHERE), hard boiled eggs and fresh vegetables or vegetable salad. Another tasty option is to serve it with a bit of date or maple syrup. The combination of sweet and salty is addictive.

Whenever I find fresh, plump leeks at the vegetable store, I grab a few. Their delicate onion flavor is great in many dishes like soups, quiches, risotto, and especially in these tasty leek and potato patties – again from the fabulous Sephardic kitchen. I’m sure you’ll love them once you’ll make them.

Leeks and potatoes patties are a favorite of mine, and I make them often, when leeks are in season (clickHEREfor the recipe). So when I’ve found nice leeks at the store, I was planning on making them again.

Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs, and I always enjoy finding new ways of using it. This time, the tasty classic combination of chicken with tarragon and white wine cream sauce, came to mind, but at the same time, I wanted a lighter sauce. Another favorite pairing – tarragon with mushrooms – also came to mind, and as I had both, it made sense to use them all in one dish. After sautéing the ingredients in a pot, I let it braise in the oven, which resulted an almost fall-of-the bones tender chicken.