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Greek Easter Without Lamb

We grew up celebrating both Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Easters and the Greek always did it better. When both landed on the same Sunday it was a family blowout. However, there was always a crowd that just did not like lamb so we always had alternatives. Here is a menu for a non-lamb dinner for a crowd.

Here is our plan for Greek Easter 2021!

Cheddar & Gruyere Toasts

Freeman’s Restaurant in the East Village of New York City is an outstanding casual, semi-hipster restaurant stuck away at the end of an alley that attracts huge crowds and tons of celebrities, authors, and a few tourists.  The New York Times described the restaurant best:  “…Appalachia, a British hunting lodge and a suburban 1950’s dinner party all…

Tzatziki with Fresh Herbs

There are so many variations of tzatziki sauce it is hard to keep up with.  I like a very robust and rich sauce.  It is important to make at least 4 hours ahead to ensure all the flavors blend together.  This is great to make and just have in the refrigerator for a quick snack…

Judy’s Hidden Valley Crackers

These oyster crackers are great as a stand-alone bar snack or to serve with tomato soup.  Ingredients ¾ Cup canola oil 2 packages. of Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning 1 teaspoon dill weed ¼ teaspoon. lemon pepper ¼ teaspoon garlic powder 16 oz. plain oyster crackers Making It Whisk together the first five ingredients…

Amazing Herbed Shrimp & Couscous for 20

This is a perfect brunch dish for a big crowd. Just make it in the morning and serve either room temperature or chilled. It is full of flavor and screams summer and white wine. Ingredients Four couscous: 4 cups tri-color Israeli (pearl) couscous 5 cups homemade chicken stock or very good quality from your butcher…

Marinated Skirt Steak

Wesley Maloney is the king of the kitchen, and for years she would serve up a perfectly charred skirt steak that had marinaded for 24 hours. The oil creates a high flash point that ignites the grill to caramelize the sugar in the ketchup, while the soy already deeply penetrated the beef for rich flavor.…

Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

The bundt cake has a stigma of Grandma’s house specialty. This is a great cake that is very easy to make and serves as something for just about every meal, from dinner dessert to a breakfast treat. Ingredients 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, separated 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and extra to prepare the…

It has been a very busy pandemic…here is some of the other stuff we have been cooking:

In case you want to add some lamb:

Lamb & Clams

Clams are always an easy dish, and I prefer them to mussels – they’re smaller, have better texture and far tastier. A while back, I was making my Greek version of chili using ground lamb and other Mediterranean ingredients. I found myself grilling some clams and ladling the Greek chili on top to serve as…

Lamb Kabobs

We like spicy lamb kabobs that have been marinated in rosemary, mustard powder, garlic, lemon juice and Sriracha that adds some heat to the dish. We also add some interesting flavors as well based on our world famous flak steak marinade that came from our dear friend Wesley Maloney. Kabobs signal a party or celebration…

Lamb Hummus Bruschetta

Notes from the road… As everyone knows, our firm does most of our work overseas for our US and international clients.  Since most of work is communications on global issues, coverage of most matters is spread throughout the world, not just with our friends in D.C.  So we pack our bags and off we go.…

Lamb Kaftas

We were in Istanbul for our friend Mohammed’s wedding and had plenty of time to explore the amazing food markets of Turkey.  We had lunch right near the famous spice market and had the most amazing Lamb Kaftas that varied from the traditional preparation at most spots around the world.  I have since tried to…

Lamb Chili & Clams

This is a simple recipe, especially if you have leftover Lamb Chili from the night before or you were smart enough to make extra and freeze it for future meals. The concept for this dish derives from the Seacoast of NH, one of the many places that I lived that had a huge influence in my cooking.…

Lamb Chili

I love chili, but not to the extent that it deserves half a day of work and 50 ingredients, some of which must come from specialty stores.  So this is an easy, tasty and different take on Chili that brings Tex-Mex and Greek cooking to a crossroads. Serves 8 people Ingredients 2 cups red onions,…

Lamb Stew

Danny Meyer is one of the best chefs and his iconic restaurants have been favorites for years.  His hospitality is legendary and every time I have asked for a recipe for something that I really liked, his team would be sure to email it a few days later.   I was at the bar at…

Lamb or Beef ‘Bolognese’

Mix a little cooking skills from Bologna to the great chefs of Crete and you can make a great meat sauce that is perfect with pasta, over clams, or countless other meals like a delicious Greek lasagna.  It is truly delicious and can be made and frozen up to 6 months.  This recipe works perfectly…

“Denver” Lamb Spareribs

Two great restaurants in Charleston, SC have the tastiest lamb ribs. With COVID, one only does private dinners and the other only prepares them on occasion. They are officially called Denver lamb spareribs, not to be confused with lamb chops. I have to specialty order them from my butcher, who will also remove the membrane…

Spiced Lamb on Hummus

Beirut.  We always try to land at the airport just before dinner so we can go directly to our favorite haunt in the old part of the city.  The food is fresh and amazing. The chef was kind enough to give us the secrets of some of his favorite dishes.  I simplified his hummus recipe…

Marinated & Grilled Lamb Chops

Lamb from Colorado and Pennsylvania produce the meatiest and mildest chops so if you are close to your butcher try to see if she can order some meat from these regions.  This is a really easy dish but you have to be careful not to over cook the lamb.  It is better to have to…

Spicy Lamb Gravy and Biscuits

This great start to a brunch is a Greek twist on an old southern staple, sausage gravy and biscuits.  Our true southern neighbor in Washington D.C., Jan, is an expert on all traditional southern regional dishes and has given this new approach a double thumbs up.  It has a kick to it and the spice in…

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