Roasted Fig, Prosciutto & Goat Cheese Pizza

This savory combination of slices of roasted figs, strips of sauteed prosciutto, crumbled goat cheese and mozzarella make a pizza that is wonderful on its own but cut into small squares, it would make a great appetizer.
Easy to assemble:
•roll out a rectangle of pizza dough
•remove and cut into slices figs from a 10 oz. container of Mt. Vikos glazed & roasted figs
•spread the remaining sauce from the glazed and roasted figs with a spatula onto the pizza dough and make a layer of sliced figs
•cut into small strips a package of prosciutto and saute with a roughly chopped Videlia onion,
spread evenly over the pizza
•top with crumbled goat cheese along with crumbled mozzarella
•sprinkle with freshly gorund pepper and paprika
•bake at 450 degree F. until brown and bubbly

Swiss Chard and Ravioli

This is a great combination...layers of Swiss chard, ravioli, a simple bechamel sauce, dash of red sauce, mushrooms, gorganzola and parmesan cheese. It's a quick fix—a matter of building a dish rich in flavor and texture. Pre-heat oven to 400F. In a ovenproof plate layer Swiss chard that has been chopped and sauteed, add a layer of cooked ravioli, cover with a thin layer of white sauce (to make add heaping TBS of flour to 1 C.cold skimmed milk, season and heat, stirring until thick) , sprinkle with grated fresh nutmeg, drizzle with a ready-prepared red sauce, top with sauteed mushrooms and a layer of gorganzola bits, finally top with a layer of grated Parmesan, Bake a few minutes and then switch to broil until bubbly. Serves two

Pumpkin Ravioli with Brandy Ginger Cream

Here's a way to dress up store bought fresh pumpkin/butternut squash ravioli. Slice three small onions and start to carmelize in olive oil. Add 5 Tbs candied ginger and 1 cup walnuts until all are browned. Add 1+ cup soy creamer, 1 Tbs non-fat yoghurt, 2 Tbs marscapone, 1 tablespoon pumpkin butter...simmer. Remove from heat and stir in 3 Tbs brandy. Add a 1 Tsp ginger powder and bring back to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over ravioli that has been drained and top with grated parmesan. Serves four with six ravioli @ person

Zuchini Mint Summer Soup

This crunchy cool summer soup is a snap to make and is fat-free!. Take four small zuchinis , cut into thick slices and steam for a few minutes until tender but crisp. Into a food processor, throw in a large handful of fresh mint , four stalks of celery heart (roughly chopped), 1 cup of no-fat Fage Greek yoghurt, 2/3 pint fat-free soy creamer, the zuchini slices and a large tablespoon of mint sauce. Chill. Serves 2-3
For the mint sauce, which is great with lamb, put into a food processor: 2-3 cloves garlic, a large handful of fresh mint, a cup of rice vinegar and sugar to take the edge off...your call. You can play around with the quantities depending on how much of a bite you want by up or down sizing the garlic.

Salmon n' Citrus Salad

This is a quick salad for a hot summer day. I combined 1 tin of salmon with thin slices of fresh fennel ( 2 small), 1 raddichio, 1 green and 1 yellow pepper, fresh chives & dill, salt and pepper plus two cups of penne. I tossed these ingredients with a dressing of 1/3 C freshly squeezed tangerine juice (orange juice would do)whisked with olive oil, 1 tsp honey, 1 TB Lemonaise Lite , 1TB honey mustard. Unlike a vinaigrette I used more juice than olive oil for a lighter dressing...the mayonnaise and mustard gave it more body. Served 3 generously

Lemon Shrimp Pasta

This dish tosses shrimp, sugar snap peas,and orrechietto pasta with a lemony garlic sauce. First, I microwaved the sugar snap peas, defrosted some frozen ready-to-eat shrimp under running cold water, set them aside and put the pasta water on to boil. When the pasta is about ready, saute 5 cloves of garlic cut into small pieces and 3/4 of a thinly sliced lemon in olive oil until soft. Then add 1 TBS lemon oil, a splash of Madeira, some tarragon, 1 heaping TBS of creme fraiche, a shake of Mrs. Dash ( a salt free seasoning), stir and add shrimp. Cook for a few minutes and add peas until flavors are well melded ( 1-2 minutes). Toss in the pasta and serve. This recipe gives you ample servings for two in about 30 minutes.

Something different

I've been busy painting and haven't had time to write up any kitchen art..hope I haven't lost you. Here's an easy to prepare pasta dish with some unusual ingredients that turned out to be fabulous. Boil up some zucchetta pugliese pasta(they look like zuchinni-ends) or whatever pasta suits your fancy. While the pasta is cooking, dice four slices of Italian speck ( air dried bacon somewhat like prosciutto) and brown in olive oil with two cloves of diced garlic. Add one summer squash sliced on the diagonal, 1/2 sliced red pepper, a handful of walnuts, some thinly sliced radicchio ( aboout a half) and some herbs de Provence. Add a dash of Marsala and saute until tender. Then add 3 TBS crumbled goat cheese, a sprinkling of crumbled blue cheese and a touch of soy creamer to thin mixture. Simmer for a few minutes and then toss in pasta and serve. Serves two

Cold Snap & Mellow Food

All I need is a winter storm and a cold snap to think of comfort food and a good excuse to turn the oven on in the kitchen. After New England's recent storm, this meal was a warm welcome to a dreary day. I browned a pork loin which I had seared in a cast iron pan— seasoned with Mrs. Dash
( no salt) and herbs de Provence— and then put in it a 325 degree oven. After 15 minutes, I slathered it with a mixture of 1/2 dijon mustard and 1/2 fig sauce and added a splash of port to the pan.
A half hour before the roast was done, I added more port to deglaze the pan. For sides, I microwaved some sweet potatoes, and made some sweet sour red cabbage with apple and onion. It's a quick fix...slice an onion, saute in a cast iron pan, add shredded red cabbage and a thinly sliced apple, pour blasamic vinegar over the mixture, stir, add a little water, and some sugar to taste. Cover until tender. After you slice the roast, deglaze pan again with port and then add a dollop of creme fraiche... or for fewer calories a TBS of soy creamer. Drizzle sauce over pork.

Ratatouille

		Ratatouille...my favorite dish. The ingredients... the essence of Provencal cooking. A melange of tomatoes, peppers of all colors, zucchini, auburgine, zest of lemon, and cloves of garlic sauteed in olive oil with the scent of fresh rosemary, thyme and basil. A great dish anytime of year.

Turkey Enchiladas

Faced with some delicious leftover turkey and wanting a departure from the Thanksgiving melange of flavors, I went Mexican. Try this for something different: spread non-fat refried beans on wraps ( roll-ups), add a layer of salsa, leftover turkey, slivered almonds, crumbled goat cheese,and sprinkle with cumin . Roll up and put in a baking dish. Make a white sauce ( basically milk with heaping TBS flour to thicken- butter is optional) , add cinnamon and nutmeg and stir over heat until creamy. Cover enchiladas with sauce, top with coarsely grated parmesan and bake until bubbly. This works well with any leftover meat or poultry.

Ginger Chicken

Last night , I tried to be creative with two boring chicken breasts and came up with a spicy and aromatic sauce with the crunch of slivered almonds and the sweetness of raisins. I sauteed a large shallot in olive oil, browned the chicken breast and covered them with white wine. While they were simmering I added 2tbs powdered ginger ( fresh ginger would be better but alas I didn't have any on hand)2 tsp curry powder, large handfuls of raisins and slivered almonds and covered the pan. When they were done and the sauce thickened, I added a dollop of creme fraiche to compliment the pungent spices. I served the chicken and sauce over pappardelle pasta with some french green and yellow beans with baby carrots ( the frozen combo from Trader Joe's is excellent especially if you steam them until crunchy). Not so boring after all!

Sunday brunch

Poached pears in wine and cinnamon sticks are a great way to warm up the kitchen with the scent of fall. Sunday I made eggs benedict with a low fat ersatz "Hollandaise" that I think is even better than the real thing...and much easier. In a small sauce pan, put 4-5 TBS The Ojai Cook's Lemonaise Lite, 1 TBS spicy mustard, whisk in no-fat Half and Half ( or soy creamer) until the sauce is smooth and the consistency of hollandaise and heat until warm and bubbly. Top off rounds of toasted English muffins layered with ham ( or smoked salmon) with poached eggs and drizzle with sauce. I poached the pear halves ( I scooped out the seeds) turned them upsidedown with the skin on, poured in about an inch or two of white wine, added some cinnamon sticks, covered and put them in a 350 degree oven for about an hour until firm but tender. I served them with a ball of goat cheese that I had rolled in crushed pecans and drizzled with a blasamic glaze. I served the eggs and pears on a bed of baby spinach...it was delicious!

Spinach & Goat Cheese Pizza

Pizza seems like the perfect fall Friday night supper. The ingredients usually depend on what I have on hand and last night it was a lovely bunch of organic spinach. After rolling and spreading out a rectangle of prepared pizza dough on an oiled cookie sheet, I carmelized two sliced onions and added some mushrooms. Finally, I added the fresh spinach and tossed it in the onion/mushroom mixture for about 3 minutes. I then spread the mixture on the dough, added some herbs, black olives, dollops of goat cheese, a sprinkle of grated parmesan and baked it in a 450 degree oven until the crust was crispy. Delicious and quick!

Pesto al Fresco

Today, a bunch of fresh basil that was part of the still life I was painting started to wilt. I realized that I should make use of it for dinner. Pesto came to mind, but I had a taste for a texture that was different. Here's what I came up with... and it was delicious! In a food proceessor, I did the usual by blending up cloves of garlic , a bunch of fresh basil, some pine nuts and olive oil to a pesto paste. I then cooked up some mezza ziti ( spaghetti length ziti) chopped some fresh tomatoes, and heated a small amount of goat cheese. When I assembled the pasta, I tossed it with the pesto, added a sprinkle of walnuts, surrounded it with the fresh tomatoes, and topped the dish with a dollop of warm goat cheese. It was superb...not your usual dense pesto but a layered combination of crunchy walnuts, juicy tomatoes, pasta coated with pesto and topped with warm goat cheese. It was exceptional.

Fall Cassoulet

This was a great combination of lowfat garlic/chicken sausage, fennel, and cannellini beans in a tomato and wine sauce. Perfect for a cool fall day... a good excuse to turn the oven on to take the chill off. In a cast iron pan, saute 3-4 garlic cloves with chicken and garlic sausage in olive oil until brown. Add a large quartered fennel bulb and brown, add 1 can diced tomatoes , a splash of red wine, majoram, basil, thyme and a stick of cinnamon ...cover and put in a 325 degree oven for 1/2 hour. Then gently stir in two cans cannellini or white northern beans. Turn heat down to 300 degrees and bake for another 1/2 hour or so. Serves 2-3 generously

Salmon Supreme

Here's a great marinade for oven-roasting salmon:
roast three whole garlic bulbs drizzled with olive oil in the oven. In a blender put in roasted cloves, Key Lime juice (or fresh lemon juice), olive oil, Dijon mustard, and a tad of maple syrup. Blend until thick (there may still be some chunks of garlic which is all to the good). Line a baking pan with parchment paper, place filet on top, slather marinade on top, cover with saran wrap and put in refrigerator for the day. Remove saran wrap (don't remove marinade), sprinkle tarragon, pink peppercorns and dill on top... bake in 350 degree F oven until there is no resistance when poked with a fork. Remove from oven, grab hold of the parchment paper and slide the filet gently onto a platter ( the skin underneath will remain on the parchment paper) Serve with asparagus and a pilau of wild rice. Here's an easy lowfat sauce for fish and asparagus...take 3-4 TBS Dijon mustard, slowly whisk in Key Lime or lemon juice until creamy, add sugar to taste, top with dill.

Too hot to cook...

The hot weather has returned to Boston and who wants to cook? Here's a refreshing salad, with no fat and full of crunch. Combine sliced celery & cucumber, with videlia relish and canned salmon. Toss mixture with that creamy, thick non- fat Greek yoghurt ( FAGE is the brand) and season to taste. Heap the mixture on a large tomato cut into sections and lettuce, garnish with fresh dill.

A winning meal!

Started to get hungry during the Red Sox/ Yankees game and went for a quick fix. During a break, I hurriedly butterflied two boneless center cut pork chops and stuffed them with a layer of fig sauce, goat cheese and roasted pine nuts, sprinkled them with herbs ( sage and rosemary), sauteed them in olive olive until browned and then put them in the oven at 325 to slow roast. Twenty minutes later, ( during a station break) I added a splash of port. Forty-five minutes later, I took them out, plated them, turned on the asparagus to steam, tossed the salad and deglazed the pan with more port for a sauce. During a break, I served the pork with spears of asparagus and baby arugula salad with walnuts, pear and feta...turns out it was not only a great win for the Red Sox but a superb meal!

Papparadella Provencal

Here's a quick but elegant way to celebrate the last of the market's
summer
vegetables...
Toss thick slices of Italian eggplant, zuchini, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and black olives in olive oil and season with 2 generous TBS of herbs de Provence, salt and pepper. In a large cast iron frying pan, saute 3-4 cloves of garlic (diced) in olive oil, add the vegetables, splash port (or red wine) over the mixture, stir and cook until tender. At the last minute stir a little Aged Balsamic vinegar into the vegetables and serve over a dish of papparadella (or your favorite pasta)that has been drizzled with olive oil. Top with grated parmesan Reggiano.

Currying flavor...the scent of autumn

Today, I was inspired by all of the luscious fall colors of squash in the market. The result was an aromatic vegetable curry that was full of flavor and autumn spice. Although it was easy to assemble, it did need time on top of the stove for the flavors to mellow. Start by sauteing a large onion cut into eighths in olive oil, add equal amounts of bite-sized chunks of potato and peeled squash (I used butternut squash) , saute for a couple of minutes then add 2 cups chicken boullion or broth, 1 TBS ginger, 1 TBS curry powder, large handful of raisins, a few whole cloves, 1 TBS whole cardamon pods ( or powder), two cinnamon sticks and gently stir. Cook covered over low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes, (stir occasionally to prevent sticking) add a quartered firm pear and continue simmering until squash and potatoes are tender.