Semiserious Chefs

I make a large batch of this blend to keep on hand because I use it so often! This combination was first inspired by a Christmas gift from my Sister-in-Law. She gave us several Christmas ornament bulbs filled with herbs and spices for making dips. One was a very classic dill blend; 1 teaspoon dill […]

This sauce (pronounced greh-no-blue-os) originates comes from the French town of Grenoble. Very tangy by itself it pairs well with mild fish, and is perfectly rounded off with a topping of fresh parsley. Although most commonly cooked with fish or seafood it can, however, be served over a huge variety of dish choices, (see below) […]

This sauce is a SUPER EASY staple to have in your repertoire. Perhaps you’ll measure for the first few times you make it, but soon enough you will find that you can easily toss together a rough proportion, or even experiment with some of your other favorite flavors, (try adding ginger or substituting ponzu!) for […]

This recipe is my own creation inspired by my recent discovery of Ćwikła/Tsvikli, an Eastern European relish that uses beets and horseradish. This one, here, is a fantastic recipe, but I had a heck-of-a-time trying to come up with a better name than an obvious list of ingredients. As you can see from the title […]

As Ćwikła in Poland or tsvikli (цвіклі) in Ukraine this relish, a combination of beets and horseradish, is very commonly used as a spread on sliced bread, and is in-fact so popular that it is sometimes referred to as Ukrainian Kimchi. In Russian, hron (Хрoн) means simply horseradish, but also usually refers to this relish with both […]

First off, always give credit where credit is due. Although there are some subtle changes that make this recipe my own, I definitely used Anthony Bourdain’s recipe as a major leaping off point. As soon as I read that he uses a two day technique with a partial fry and a freeze in the middle, […]

Htipiti, Kopanisti, Tirokafteri I know those words are each a mouthful. χτυπητή: htee-pee-tee or ktee-pee-tee (also written as ktipiti or ctipiti) Κοπανιστή: cop-en-es-tee τυροκαυτερή: teer-oh-kaaf-tehr-ee. Not so bad, eh? Each being Greek, the last of these translates as ‘Spicy Cheese’ from tiri for cheese and kafteri for spicy, while kopanisti is used to describe something […]

While the Htipiti, made with roasted red peppers, is bold and sweet, this recipe for Kopanisti uses pepperoncinis, lemon juice, and mint, for a tangy and fresh flavor. Perfect with over crunchy bread and along side olives this dip is a wonderful addition to any Mezze platter.

As compared the boldness of the roasted red peppers in my Htipiti recipe or the tang of the lemon and pepperoncinis in the Kopanisti, I was expecting my last and final rendition, this very basic Tirokafteri below, to feel very bland. BOY WAS I WRONG! Sometimes the most simple of combinations really come together for […]

I LOVE roasted red peppers so when I first came across a recipe for Htipiti I was very excited for yet another use for these bold and sweet peppers! I was also very confused by the name, so I did a little research. Correctly spelled as χτυπητή in Greek you can often find it written […]