culinary exploration

Follow me through the adventures that take place in my kitchen, in restaurants or in other kitchens. Cooking and food are my passions and I want to share my experiences of cooking, baking and eating with you.
I'm a Greek self-taught cook who lives in Chicago. I learned a lot about cooking from both of my grandmothers, my mom and dad, family and friends. Passing on timeless traditions through food is one thing I strive to do in life.

These are my journeys through culinary exploration...

clraptis (at) gmail (dot) com
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Posts tagged Florida

Jan 6
Grilled black grouper tacos from The Fish House in Fort Myers, FL

Grilled black grouper tacos from The Fish House in Fort Myers, FL
Posted at 11:10 PM 11 notes Tagged: tacosfishgrouperseafoodrestaurantsflorida

Nov 23
Gnocchi in a Pork Ragu from Portobello in the downtown Disney area One of the sales reps that I work with is Italian so he LOVES to find the best Italian restaurant for dinner.  We were discussing what we were going to order and when I said the gnocchi he told me he wanted the same, but was skeptical.  He’s very particular about the texture of his gnocchi and was worried they would over cook it as many restaurants do.  Trust me, there is nothing worse than a mushy potato dumpling.  I risked it and was more than pleased with my meal.  I let the rep have a taste of the gnocchi and he wasn’t disappointed either.  They were cooked perfectly - firm on the outside with just the right softness as you bite into them.  But the star of the dish was the sauce.  This pork ragu is supposedly “grandma’s recipe” and it tasted that way.  The shredded pork was plentiful and the sauce was very rich.  I won’t be surprised if I find myself in my own kitchen soon trying to recreate this sauce.  (sorry for the poor quality of the photo - had to use the camera on my phone)

Gnocchi in a Pork Ragu from Portobello in the downtown Disney area

One of the sales reps that I work with is Italian so he LOVES to find the best Italian restaurant for dinner.  We were discussing what we were going to order and when I said the gnocchi he told me he wanted the same, but was skeptical.  He’s very particular about the texture of his gnocchi and was worried they would over cook it as many restaurants do.  Trust me, there is nothing worse than a mushy potato dumpling. 

I risked it and was more than pleased with my meal.  I let the rep have a taste of the gnocchi and he wasn’t disappointed either.  They were cooked perfectly - firm on the outside with just the right softness as you bite into them.  But the star of the dish was the sauce.  This pork ragu is supposedly “grandma’s recipe” and it tasted that way.  The shredded pork was plentiful and the sauce was very rich.  I won’t be surprised if I find myself in my own kitchen soon trying to recreate this sauce. 

(sorry for the poor quality of the photo - had to use the camera on my phone)
Posted at 11:04 AM 6 notes Tagged: italian foodgnocchipork raguPortobelloDisneyFlorida

Mar 9
florida black grouper fish tacos with hush puppies from the fish house on fort myers beach you can get the fish grilled, broiled, blackened or fried… i went with grilled because i LOVE me some fresh grouper and IMO it’s the perfect way to cook that particular fish. also, hush puppies used to be my favorite when i was a kid.   

florida black grouper fish tacos with hush puppies

from the fish house on fort myers beach

you can get the fish grilled, broiled, blackened or fried… i went with grilled because i LOVE me some fresh grouper and IMO it’s the perfect way to cook that particular fish.

also, hush puppies used to be my favorite when i was a kid.   
Posted at 5:08 PM Tagged: restaurantsfishgrouperflorida