Megi Cooks

Sometimes peace looks like this……

That routine that keeps you alive and well, that peace that comes with knowing you have a place to show up to. A family you see grow, the people that come to talk something out, or the ones that need something to eat and just trust you.

There is solace in simplicity, this is my peace, seeing and greeting you guys, making you guys laugh. Not gonna lie sometimes I think you guys come for my jokes 😅

Grateful for this peace and your loyalty 🧿

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I tried to be cute and make a very simple Mediterranean spread. Spread was delicious in my eyes, in my taste. I have an issue where I think all people from the other side of the world like the same things. Silly me!

Guest sees spread and doesn’t touch anything, side eye on full beams!

Not hungry I ask… they reply well I’m lactose intolerant and I’m allergic to tomatoes. Utter shock my way like a ton of bricks. Surely she likes figs! I mean come on we are from the same side of the world. I said have a fig…

Brace yourself: she replies in full disgust,she doesn’t like figs! Balkan card revoked right then and there! Friendship over! This cannot work out!

This is another example where I take my love for them a little too seriously! This and Yankees!

I’m joking we are still friends but I do look at her differently now, I can’t help it.

Spread was speca me gjize, labne with spices and olive oil, teeny tiny tomatoes, FIGS, feta and toasted bread.

Labne, speca, olive oil and feta from 🥰

One stop shop! Qebap + pita + ajvar = a good easy lunch!

I mean can I show where I am from, from my “lunch” or what!

Hajde pashteta!

For the non Albanian non Balkan people chicken pâté with crackers! Bc why not!

I am who I am!

This is a reminder to get risky! 😉

You have one life to live, literally one life. Pick you and keep it moving. Your tribe will find you, your heart deserves peace.

Everyday you can wake up and pick you! And if you are struggling, please reach out. I can lend an ear and even suggest people that can help. I’ve been there. I dug myself out, you can too.

I believe in you and I trust that you will make the best decisions for you. Because if not you then who!

Can I just shout out my home girl from for designing the best logo ever!

I mean come on! She hit the nail on the head with this one! Exactly what we were looking for!

Lori,
thank you so much for being such an asset in our community and being so so supportive. You are one of a kind, a beautiful soul, I am so proud to know you.

*** Kur ju them promovoni njerzit tone, perdorini sherbimet e njerzve tone, eshte sepse ate po e bej vet. Le te rri leku ne komunitetin tone, le tja bejm hallall njeri tjetrit. Dhe te ecin sa me shume perpara!

Because as an Albanian I need more creative ways to eat onions 😂

When you go to your sisters house and she splurges, look at those eggs 👀! She wasn’t kidding around she really loves me! Thank you for the yummy breakfast!

And thank you everyone for the love and respect! I am truly grateful to have you all in my life.

Thinly sliced beef short rib! Pan seared with onions and garlic. Marinated with sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, and black pepper.

Traditional Korean dish called Galbi or Kalbi

incase you need a sandwich fix, go to Alidoro!!!!

It’s about to be that time of year! Where we mask our feelings with cute stuff, peppermint mochas, decorations, presents and ski trips. Like a to do list to keep up with the joneses.

Don’t fall for that ish, be vulnerable and follow your heart. Be vulnerable bc that’s the only way your authentic self comes out, any discrepancies you have in yourself and with the world is because you are suppressing vulnerability.

Take the breaks you need, nothing is more important than you! Prioritize yourself because no one else will. In the world of takers, you my dear giver need to slow down!

Coffee beans from ama coffee and gingerbread man from cute mug from

Why? Why well done? Why break my heart!!??

Why kill meat twice!!! Don’t do it!

This is perfect, it’s medium and not rare…

Friends don’t let friends eat their steak well done. 💔

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What a typical dinner staple in our house looks like!

Pan seared chicken seasoned with .al chicken seasoning and Mona rice from , sides spinach and carrots and God forbid we change that.

Of course they wanted them to be shapes as rice balls vs the standard shaper.

Hello!

I’m Megi and I want to feed you! I hate introduction, I prefer for my work to do the talking, no bells and whistles just hard work and good food! No decorations or fancy lighting, no filter or glitter just good wholesome food.

DM me for booking info!

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Lunch: these are Nora’s favorite, chicken wings and fries with a yogurt sauce made with .ajka peppers with ricotta. And a salad with feta. Fries seasoned with Vlora sea salt and garlic seasoning from .al

Simple and delicious, remember to add starch for crisper wings!

All products can be found and

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It’s a byrek kind of day.

Toast up the house with these beauties!

Cheese and spinach…. Classics!

Feta from bc if you know you know!

this post is for you and all the amazing work you guys are doing. I am super proud of your dedication and leadership. I wish you guys longevity and prosperity. Extremely honored to cook for you guys!

On todays lesson of the day, a good salt is the first step to good seasoning. You can season all you want but a good salt is key!

Still organizing my kitchen from this move these are half the salts that I have in my arsenal I mean kitchen 😂

Black salt powder, it has a mauve hue, you can smell the sulfur, I’d say move up to this one.

Smoked salt delicious when you need that smoke mesquite flavor, especially if you are making a pulled pork or chicken in your crockpot, this helps with the smokey flavor.

Celtic sea salt is my everyday salt, and now the Vlora sea salt for daily use.

I added the salted hot chili because I was shocked at how delicious the spice was and how balanced it was with the salt. Definitely helped kick my chicken salad a few notches! Great job .al

I used to have truffle salt because one of my clients loved it, but it was so pungent that everything in my cupboard started to smell like it. So it requires double and triple bagging. Smoked salt as well at least double bag, it’s very fragrant.

Stay salty! 😂

Me: Mom do you like arepas?

Mom: Nuk e njof!
(I don’t know her)

Me: laughing my a&& off and then realizing I failed to teach her

Lesson: Our immigrant parents learn through us and with us. When we stop engaging in their learning process they stop evolving, they go back to their comfort zone of thinking and being. And that’s when we clash and bump heads! Keep pushing your boundaries and helping the. Push their boundaries it’s the only way of moving forward.

Bottom line she know knows arepas and likes them.

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Pancake recipe from

Can we admire the figs from ? Do you see those insides perfectly ripe, sweet and delicious!

The gooseberries were really good as well, it’s an acquired taste they are sweet and sour.

Flour used is Teuta 00, if you are in queens you can order from through , lucky you guys!

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Fresh bread and the Albanian fixings!

Olive oil, feta , bread by , spring onions, Olives, pepperroncini and pickles extra crunchy please, salt from Vlora .al

The love for figs is real, maybe an obsession. It’s my cigarette. If I see it I want it! I crave it!

This is my favorite salad, baby kale over regular kale every time, mixed greens, figs, avocado, olive oil and you already know that has the best olive oil, balsamic glaze, feta (creamy), salt, pepper and onion powder from .al
Pure ingredients for pure flavor. If you can’t pronounce it don’t put it on your food.

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Just a simple stuffed cucumber with feta! A little snack for the feta enthusiast in my life.

Feta from Albania
Cucumbers from New Jersey 😂

Does this count as a salad…. If it does ju baft mire 🥰

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Is there anything better than grilled vegetables?

I think not!

That char flavor, great olive oil, and just a good salt. Let your ingredients speak, you don’t have to over season contrary to what is going viral. If it’s fresh you are good! If it isn’t start over seasoning 🤷‍♀️

Olive oil from

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Peppers are not only an important vegetable in many cultures but one of the main flavor enhancers.

As a kid I hated them cooked, as an adult I love to experiment with them.

Peppers are low in calories and are loaded with good nutrition. All varieties are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, potassium, folic acid, and fiber. Plus, the spicy ones liven up bland food, making it more satisfying. Peppers come in all sizes and colors. (Webmd)

Photos from

I can definitely become a vegetarian with this!

Djath nape! Worth the type! Made by brought to the USA by

Check your local Balkan store for it! Warning you will finish it in one sitting.

Wine from Puglia,

And you already know my obsession with dark chocolate 🍫❤️

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When you go to the supermarket and just can’t stay away from delicious tropical things.

Bread!

Bread is life! There is not one culture that doesn’t have a bread. The cultivation of flour in humanity for our survival is crucial. So the moments we give up bread feel so grim. From it being in our DNA to people who were raised with food insecurity needing it to be at home, to stories of holocaust survivors having a piece of bread in their purse just incase. (Trauma)

We have demonized what has kept us alive all these years, we have stripped it from its full capacity of holding some nutrients bc of mass production.
I encourage you to start making your own bread, if gluten free make sourdough, you can easily look up amazing flatbreads make from all over the world that are made with beans and not grains. The beauty of this world is that we share ourselves through these recipes and learn new techniques from across the world.

These are my sourdoughs made with flour. I don’t know if it’s in my head but this flour is easier on my stomach and extremely easy to work with. We have been eating more sourdough for these reasons.

DM for recipe! Or bread making class 🥰

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Hi! This is my dinner!

Can I just tell you guys writing these captions is the toughest part. All I want to do is cook and get lost in my craft, then I remember this part … the part where I have to sell it you. The part where I can’t do it justice, partly bc what I’m making for my clients I can’t post or replicate at home. Dishes where caviar is being shipped from Russia and shrimp from the Adriatic Sea because apparently it’s sweeter. The duplicity of posting simple dishes while in actually making refined meals, takes a toll on a girl. So if my captions aren’t as catchy or interesting, I promise the food is.

When booking you’ll get a chef and show…😂
Partly because when I’m nervous I think I’m a comedian, or a therapist… your mood dictates mine, I’m there to help ease your event, dinner, date whatever it is. The beauty of this job is the interesting people. The weird text messages at midnight bc they are hungry bc they were too shy to eat on a date, or someone’s heart is broken so they called their girlfriends and now they need to eat and drink their sorrows away. Being part of these intimate places and spaces with people that carry heavy names, makes me feel immense privilege to see another part of life that I in other ways wouldn’t.
And of course I try to pull my friends in with me, if I level up we level up! And boosting about our traditional dishes, there are A list celebrities that have had mish te thate, there are big time lawyers and politicians that have had byrek!

Anyway if you read this THANK YOU! Of you didn’t you didn’t miss much, I just posted my dinner and ranted a little!

On to new adventures beautiful people!

PS. Salad is a salad pack from kale mix and I just added pan seared chicken.

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The best part about summer is the fruit! Bar none!

This is brunch for today! Ama coffee x3, rosé strawberries, cherries, and buttered rye toast, can’t forget the feta just incase hits the spot!

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