Baked Haddock in Pinot Grigio with Stuffed Tomatoes,Escarole and Rigatoni Recipe

Tomatoes stuffed with bread crumb topping, with Haddock baked in a Pinot Grigio wine butter and garlic, sitting on a bed of sauteed Escarole and Rigatoni pasta..... When I was home last year in Upstate NY, we went out to dinner one night and this idea came to me when I saw the pasta served with linguine, fish and spinach. Looked great but something was missing in the flavors, so here is my version of that haddock dish ala Claudia style...

The flavors all compliment each other perfectly

I just love the grape tomatoes stuffed with Italian flavored buttery tasting bread crumbs

The Haddock is a flaky white delicious fish that melts in your mouth with a wonderful Pinot Grigio buttery enhanced flavor and of course what else? GARLIC!! .
Recipe as follows:

1 large piece of haddock for two (1 pound pictured)

1 pint of grape tomatoes sliced or 4 plum tomatoes sliced
Italian flavored breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus a few teaspoons
grating cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 stick butter softened
3/4 cup Pinot Griggio Wine

1 head of escarole boiled in salt water drained set aside (you can use spinach or any other kind of your favorite greens)

1 lb of your favorite pasta boiled in salt water
red pepper flakes
In a large pie plate, add 1/4 cup olive oil. place two pieces of haddock laying flat in plate in the oil. In a separate bowl mix 1 cup bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup grating cheese. Mix all together, add softened butter. Place sliced tomato over the haddock. Spread bread crumb mixture over haddock , pour 1/4 cup Pinot Grigio Wine on the bottom around the bottom of the fish. Bake on 400 degree preheated hot oven,  till browned and crisp on top.

In the meantime cook your favorite pasta in salted water, we used rigitoni. Drain. Place pasta in a large bowl.  Add a few teaspoon of olive oil to coat, set aside covered.

In a large fry pan, add 1/4 cup oil, saute the rest of the garlic till brown, add remaining 1/2 stick of butter, and 1/2 cup wine. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes.
Saute greens for around three minutes in about 1/4 cup of the oil mixture and reserve the rest for the pasta.

Assembly:

Pasta should be on the plate first, sauteed greens on top of the pasta. Add the fish with stuffed tomatoes on top...... sprinkle with more breadcrumbs, red pepper flakes and grating cheese and serve.

Printable Recipe

Peter's Broccoli Salad

When I work with my friend Peter at the shop, he is always stinking up the place with this yummy salad he buys next door at the Greek diner.What the heck is in that salad that wreaks? It's all the raw slices of garlic that are so yummy, but don't be kissin' anyone afterward (or breathing on anyone for that matter). I love this healthy salad, but can't bear to face a human soul after I take a

Filetto di maiale agli agrumi

La carne di maiale abbinata agli agrumi riesce veramente a dare il meglio di s�. Ho usato sia arance che limoni e il piatto � risultato profumatissimo. La preparazione � molto facile e la cottura in forno non asciuga il filetto in quanto il succo di arancia riesce a mantenere morbide le carni, la ricetta potete leggerla qui :

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Broccoli Rabe with Pasta Ceci (chickpea's) in a Light Wine Sauce

Chickpeas with fresh tomatoes, broccoli rabe, orzo, all in a light wine sauce,  a whole meal in one dish...

1 or 2 cans  14.5 oz cans chick pea's or dried 2 cups fresh chickpea's made(these were fresh from the crockpot overnight) I love chick pea's so you determine  at least 2 cups though.
2 cups of whole tomatoes pulsed in the food processor till leaving chunky or 6 fresh plum tomatoes pulsed  in the food processor
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Marsala wine
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder, oregano, basil, parsley
3 tablespoon extra  virgin olive oil
plenty of grated cheese
1/2 cup cooked orzo
1 bunch of broccoli rabe stems cut off, cleaned, chopped and boiled till soft around 25 minutes in a pan of boiling water, drain well and set aside.

In a large saucepan add oil saute garlic. Add chick pea's and drained broccoli rabe saute around three minutes. Add tomatoes, broth, wine, herbs. Cover and cook on very low simmer for a half hour.
In a small pan boil orzo pasta. Drain add at the end. Ladle into bowls serve with garlic bread and plenty of grating cheese.

What's for Dinner? Saut� of Chicken w/ Apples & Leeks

I have had this in my recipe file since the fall and never got around to trying it during apple season.Well, now it's spring and leeks are in season, so I figured I would give it a test run.I don't often give simple recipes like these a 5 star rating, but this time I am going to.This is like a dumbed down version of (sorry that I am using that much hated phrase, but it is fitting for this)

Down to Earth: Beets & Lentils

People have always told me that I am very down to earth.Both of these ingredients are very "earthy", that's the only way to explain it.They both have such an earthy smell and flavor coming straight out of the dirt.If you remember our lentil lesson, I use lentils du Puy from France. They are a blue green color and hold up beautifully in salads and soups. (The caviar of lentils).This makes a

Italian Style Baked Potato Soup

2 baking potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup mixed carrots and celery, 3 garlic cloves all together put through a food processor ( if you like onions add 1/4 cup of those as well)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups instant mashed potato flakes
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon each dried basil, parsley, garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup half-and-half
Optional Toppings:
1/2 cup shredded Five Italian Cheeses
 8 oz chopped up prosciutto

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake potatoes for 1 hour, or until done. Cool. Remove skins.

Melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Saute veggies from the food processor about one minute. Stir in flour, and cook 5 minutes to make a roux. Pour in chicken stock and water. Add cornstarch and mashed potato flakes. Season with salt, pepper, and rest of herbs. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Cube cooled  potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces, and stir into soup, along with the half-and-half, add worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thick. Spoon into bowls, and garnish with shredded cheese, prosciutto.

Meatless Mondays: Mexican Stuffed Peppers

I love me some stuffed peppas and I don't make them often enough.My favorite being Neapolitan style, with fresh breadcrumbs, capers and raisins. What else did you expect? These delicious peppers were a happy accident. I had a lot of leftover white rice, so instead of throwing out the rice (no wasting food), I mixed them up with some pantry items to make a delicious, healthy vegetarian and very

Risotto alle fragole e Champagne Ros�

Le fragole usate come ingrediente in una ricetta salata? Si ! Credetemi, sono un'autentica sorpresa!Il risotto che vi propongo oggi ha un sapore delicato e profumatissimo,la ricetta potete leggerla qui :

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Blueberry Cornbread and My Messed Up Weekend

St. Augustine Beach Resort, rated 1 star, wished I read the reviews before I booked this horrible weekend! The view was  nice, but the inside of this place was horrible, I wouldn't leave my cats there.... Check out their webpage so deceiving!  The story is very long, but here's the short version. It took us over an hour to check in after a 2 1/2 hour drive. The keys didn't work on our door so we couldn't get in and then on the forth try it worked once. Changed rooms, keys still didn't work, so only one of us at a time could leave. So this view I took was nice but the service, filthy rooms and horrible customer service was enough to leave. After four hours in this place we asked for a refund, which didn't happen, the manager who the associates said wouldn't care or call back to try to accommodate this ruined weekend, we had to pay and leave. The view was gorgeous outside but horrible inside! Boy did it look awesome online, pictures must have been taken in the early 80's. It's a dump now! So off we went trying to save this vacation!

So we traveled around for three hours looking for another place to stay but being it was spring break it was a no go for us.. oh well it was still a pretty day and we got to be together. All was not lost!

? Here is this mornings breakfast cornbread, hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup fresh or fresh frozen blueberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350�F. Spray an 8� square baking pan with non stick baking spray or brush with butter and cornmeal and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder, zest and salt. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla, oil and butter. Add to flour mixture to wet mixture and stir just until blended. Sprinkle blueberries on top.
Pour 8 inch square baking pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes on 350 degrees or until tooth pick comes out clean. Serve with butter.

Well, all was not lost at least we ended up going through Daytona and took a little tour through the Harley dealership found this statue of Elvis pretty interesting... spent the rest of the day eating crab legs and drinking wine with my son Curt and his girlfriend Jenni... life is good!

Springtime Apple Cinnamon Cake

Is it ok to bake an apple cake when it's spring?Shouldn't I be baking rhubarb cakes instead? We've had 2 snows this week, so I think this fits in perfectly with the weather. (if this keeps up, I will be back to making stews).I always have apples in the house. I use them mostly during the fall and winter, however I can't pass up an apple dessert, no matter what the season. I would choose

Che c'� di buono oggi ? (4)

Oggi � il turno dei  Myosotis detti comunemente " Non ti scordar di me", hanno un colore meraviglioso, vero?.....Che sia finalmente arrivata la primavera? Arrivata per restare intendo, mica per fare scherzetti....Tempo stabile e temperatura gradevole, sarebbe un sogno.... Oggi ho scelto di riproporvi questo men� , passate un sereno weekend....

        Risotto alla crema di carciofi e mascarpone

                             Lonza di maiale in salsa cremosa

?                   Plumcake allo yogurt e nocciole

Weekend Eats

A Creamy Berry Puff Pancake is the perfect thing to make for that lazy weekend breakfast, why go out when you can pull this together in no time while you're still all comfy and cozy in your slippers!

Put the coffee on, relax and read the Sunday paper while it's baking in the oven, it only takes

20 - 25 minutes.

The batter takes 5 minutes to whisk up, it consists of ,** 1 cup of flour** 1 cup of milk** 4 beaten eggs** a pinch of salt** 1 teaspoon of vanilla** 1 tablespoon of sugar**

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in an 8 inch oven proof skillet, next pour 1 cup of the batter in, swirl it around and place it in a preheated 450F oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

You'll be able to make two 8 inch pans like I did, using 1 cup of batter in each or one large pan using all the batter plus the 2 tablespoons of butter. I would think at least a 12 inch skillet size would work, although I never tried it. I have a 14 inch and I figured that was too big.

The sides puffed up perfectly just like they're suppose to, creating the perfect vessel to fill!

I filled mine with berries and sweetened ricotta as the base, the ricotta was mixed with,

** orange zest and powdered sugar** **less than a cup of ricotta** ** 2 0r 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar**, taste it to your liking.

Slice it into generous wedges and drizzle with warm maple syrup for the perfect ending!

Recipe adapted from food.com

If you prefer brunch, make yourself this Pasta Frittata, you'll be amazed at the different variations you can create with just, **a handfull of leftover pasta** some eggs** a dollop of ricotta cheese** grated cheese** and fresh herbs**

After my frittata's start to "set" on top of the stove (where the egg mixture stops moving), I like to finish them off under the broiler, but don't walk away, keep watching it, believe me it could burn in a matter of seconds! Just get it nice and golden brown.

I like to serve this with an arugula salad tossed with an olive oil, lemon and parmesan dressing. So good!

If you want to add a little meat to your morning breakfast try this Baked Sausage and Eggs.

I like to serve this in individual gratin dishes for a nice presentation.

** Preheat your oven to 375F. ** Use 1 link of Italian sausage per serving, casings removed and browned before baking** Butter or brush olive oil into your gratin dish** Crack 2 eggs plus 1 egg white into each individual dish** Sprinkle your favorite dried seasonings over top along with grated parmesan cheese, I used fennel and oregano for mine** Scatter with halved cherry tomatoes** Bake until eggs set, ovens will vary**

Relax and enjoy your weekend!

Buon Appetito

Broiled Lobster with Garlic Butter

Hello everyone~ I am taking a few days off this weekend, so I wanted to tell my viewers not to wonder why I wasn't posting so often.  Will have something to post on Sunday.

We are just going to take a little break and get some fishing in and staying in a Hotel on the beach.  It's the only vacation with hubby's new job we will take this year, so I am going to make the most of it.

 Tonight before we left I decided to make one last post before taking off. Lobster is our favorite. I actually found Maine lobster this week and was so excited I had to buy it, although very pricey. So much better than Florida lobster, of course its a matter of preference.

 Here's how we make it..

?2  lobster tails approx 10 oz each

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

sea salt to taste ground white pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat the broiler to 450.

 In a large saucepan boil enough water to cover 2 tails. When it is at a rolling boil add tails. Boil tails for exactly 3 minutes. If you have a 12-14 oz. cook for 5 minutes.

Take the tails out of water and let them rest for a few minutes to cool on a cutting board. Use a pair of good  kitchen shears,  to slit top of shell to � inch from end of tail. Not all the way . Pull the meat out of shell but leave the very end attached, that would be the end in the � inch you didn�t cut at the shell. Push the shell together and drape meat over top of shell carefully. � inch inside the shell and � inch outside the shell. Should your shell  not be stiff enough just drape over shell, the best you can do is  push it together. This will cause the lobster to puff up nicely when cooked.
Put the tails on a wire rack over a broiler pan in your preheated oven. Make sure and put about 1 cup of water in the pan below the rack. Put on middle rack of the oven.

 Baste tails with butter seasoning above.�Cook time should be about 10 minutes after the broiler is heated up to 450 degrees  on the middle rack and watch that they don't burn, if they cook too fast lower the rack. The tail will turn opaque white from translucent white. When the tails are done, the meat will be firm. Serve with garlic butter wine sauce below.
 
Garlic Butter Wine Sauce
3 tablespoons butter
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup white wine
 1 tablespoon fresh parsley

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic cook and stir until transparent, about 3 minutes. Season with tarragon, salt and white pepper. Increase the heat to medium, and stir in the white wine and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer, then whisk for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and sprinkle in parsley.  Dip lobster tail in sauce to serve. Suggestions to serve lobster with a salad, whipped potatoes or vegetable of choice. Enjoy!  Mom's favorite song....this one's dedicated to her...  missing you always....

Brooklyn Bites: Paulie Gee's Follow Your Dreams

So, remember my friend from Jersey, Paulie G.? The one who had the pizza tastings in his backyard that I wrote about 2 summers ago?Well, Paulie's obsession and life long dream has become a reality.He quit his day job as a computer nerd and opened a pizzeria in a fringe neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. Yeah, that's right. You don't have to be 20 something to do your thing.He bought a pizza oven

Girelle with Artichokes

Some women get their kicks from a new pair of jeans or the latest high fashion heels. Me? I�m as giddy as a clothes horse at Chanel when I discover a new pasta shape. In this case, my infatuation was over a curly-cued, adorable pasta I found called girelle, a word that means spinning tops.

I just loved the way they looked in their uncooked state � almost like a naval on a very pregnant gal whose innie has become an outie.  I had the urge to heap them into a big bowl and leave them on my coffee table, just to admire their whimsical, sculptural form. Well� almost�but my culinary urge overcame my aesthetic urge, bringing me to my senses and to this dish of artichokes and pasta, which I urge you to try. (That�s a lot of urges, isn�t it?) 

I used frozen artichoke hearts and they�re really quite good � plus they save you a lot of time and trouble of trimming fresh ones. If you want to use fresh artichokes however, there�s a primer on how to trim them here. Get the water boiling while you�re cooking the artichokes, because the whole thing comes together in about 15 minutes.

Before you know it, you�re sitting down to a big, warm, delicious bowl of pasta and artichokes. So dig in.

Pasta with Artichokes

serves four to six, depending on appetites

printable recipe here

• 1 pound pasta (I used girelle, but orecchiette, farfalle, or other shapes of pasta would be great too)
• 2 9-ounce boxes frozen artichoke hearts
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, or one large shallot, diced finely
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• a few sprigs of thyme
• minced parsley � about 1/4 cup
• salt, pepper
• a healthy drizzle of lemon-flavored olive oil  (I used a brand from Olio2Go - Gianfranco Becchina�s olio verde al limone), or if not available, juice of 1/2 lemon and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• parmesan cheese

Thaw the artichoke hearts. Using a saucepan, cook the onion in the olive oil until limp, then add the minced garlic. Let the garlic soften and add the artichoke hearts. Season them with salt and pepper. Add the wine and the vegetable broth (I was making asparagus that day, so I took the discarded ends and cooked them in water first to make my own vegetable broth. ) Cover the pot and cook the artichokes in the liquid over moderate heat for about 10 minutes. Check the pot occasionally to make sure the liquid doesn�t dry out. If necessary, add more broth, but this is not a soup-y sauce. Near the end of the 10 minutes, add the thyme and parsley. Turn off the heat and add about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and mix it all together. Place the pasta in a serving dish, drizzle some lemon-flavored olive oil on top (or the juice of a lemon and regular olive oil), add another sprinkling of parmesan cheese and serve.

Technorati Tags: girelle,artichokes,pasta with artichokes,Olio2Go,Gianfranco Becchina

5 Star Rating: Salmon Wellingtons

I love anything wrapped in a package.This was so much easier than Beef Wellingtons, no liver mousse and no mushroom duxelles to make (and not everyone likes liver and mushrooms anyway) and much less expensive than filet mignon.I made this ahead, and baked it before serving. It made 8 dinner portions and looked pretty fancy, though it couldn't have been any easier.It's not often that I give a

Mazzancolle al vapore con verdurine e salsa allo yogurt e zenzero

Oggi vi propongo un'altra ricetta al vapore facile e leggera, si tratta di mazzancolle accompagnate da verdurine miste e da  una salsa allo yogurt resa pi� stuzzicante da un p� di zenzero...la ricetta potete leggerla qui :

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Amaretto Panna Cotta

All I can say is "What took me so long to make this!" A perfect and elegant dessert..and so delicious!

2 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from about 2 envelopes)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons half and half
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon Amaretto
Pour 2 tablespoons of cold half and half into a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over; stir to blend. Let stand 5 minutes to soften gelatin.

Heat cream, remaining half and half, and 1/3 cup of in small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles begin to form around edge of pan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture, Amaretto, and almond extract. Divide cream mixture among six ramekins and cool to room temperature. Chill ramekins, covered, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Dip ramekins, 1 at a time, into a bowl of hot water 3 seconds. Run a thin knife around edge of each ramekin and invert ramekin onto center of a small plate. Decorate with sliced chocolate and berries.

Peanut Butter Chicken Wraps

Strange title to this post. Peanut butter and chicken? Why not? If you can use peanut butter in sesame noodles, then why not with chicken?I made a delicious peanut butter dipping sauce for chicken satay last night and had some leftover. Why throw it away, when a sandwich was waiting to be slathered with it the next day.I also tried flax roll ups for the first time, and they were pretty good.

Pappardelle del bamboccione

E' da quando � nato il blog  che mio figlio Marco(23 anni) ha scoperto il piacere di cucinare....Mi ha sempre visto in cucina ma prima la cosa non lo coinvolgeva affatto... da un anno invece � sempre intorno ai fornelli a suggerire , provare, riprovare,ormai gli inviti a cena non si contano pi�,i suoi amici fanno  volentieri da cavia e casa mia � diventata una trattoria molto in voga.?....Spero che cucinare gli dia sempre pi� soddisfazioni....

P.S.  se ci fosse qualche brava ragazza che se lo portasse via ne sarei contenta, rivoglio la mia cucina !!!
Con questa ricetta Marco partecipa al contest di Max  :

                                          Oggi cucina lui...per lei!


Ingredienti per  2 persone :

200 gr. di pappardelle
2 salsicce
mezza bottiglia di passata di pomodoro
una spruzzata di cognac
100 gr. di ricotta di pecora
olio ev

In una larga padella versare un p� di olio ev,aggiungere le salsicce tagliate a pezzetti. Con una forchetta sgranarle bene e far perdere il loro colore rosato.Versare il cognac e lasciare che evapori. A questo punto aggiungere la passata di pomodoro e regolare di sale e pepe. Cuocere all'incirca un quarto d'ora a fiamma vivace, il sughetto deve restringersi un p�.Scolare la pasta e farla saltare in padella dentro al sugo. Al momento di impiattare formare con due cucchiaini delle piccole quenelle di ricotta ed aggiungerle alla pasta,se piace si pu� grattugiare sopra della ricotta salata 


Abbinamento vino : alla salute di Max abbiamo bevuto un vino calabrese molto buono, Nosside Cir� bianco DOC, az. Zito ,11,5� Vol, temperatura di servizio intorno ai 11/12� C

Cantine Zito

Foodbuzz Electrolux Tea Party with Crumpets and More!

?

Tea and Crumpets (see below for recipe)This great team is foodbuzz, electrolux and our own spokeswoman with famous Kelly Ripa, they are at it again to help Ovarian Cancer research. Come take a peek at what's happening here�. a great cause ladies!

? ?? Electrolux and Kelly Ripa are at it again! Starting today on Kelly Confidential, you can select a perfect tea party outfit for Kelly's Tea Party for a Cause. Electrolux will donate $1 to the OvarianCancer Research Fund.
But together we can do more! Foodbuzz and Electrolux are partnering to host this and I can help! Foodbuzz asks all Featured Publishers (as I am) to construct a post around this theme. Foodbuzz will also donate $50 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund for every tea party recipe created by a Featured Publisher before March 23rd!
Whether you fancy sweets or appetizers we have a little of everything here to make your tea party perfect!For a  very worthwhile cause!

?
?

Pistachio Tea Cakes

???

White Chocolate Covered Strawberries

??

Chicken Parm Poppers

???

Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms

?? ? ??
??

Coconut Shrimp

?????

Avocado Bruschetta

???? ??Hoping this is a huge success with the wonderful partnership of Foodbuzz, Electrolux and Kelly Ripa for this very worthy cause! Enjoy your tea party!

 Tea and Crumpets Recipe

1/2 cup warm water
2 teaspoons sugar or honey
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups milk


In a large bowl, stir the sugar or honey into the warm water. Sprinkle the active dry yeast over the top and let it sit until it bubbles, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and let it sit for about half an hour in a warm place.

Grease a griddle or frying pan and the crumpet rings or cookie cutters. Place the rings on the cooking surface and preheat all.
Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into each 3" ring and cook over medium low heat until set, about 10 minutes. Do not cook too quickly. The top should be full of holes when they are ready to turn.

Remove the rings from the crumpets, turn, and brown the other side, if desired, for a minute or so. Repeat until all the batter is used.
When toasting make sure your using something to heat just one side when splitting. Serve with jam, butter or both.We love Earl Grey, plain, you can add fresh slices of lemon and honey if you prefer!

The tablescaper

Veal w/ Artichokes & Lemon & Good News!

I know veal is a touchy subject for many people, and we rarely eat it except for Veal Milanese, one of my favorite dinners, reserved for special occasions. You can certainly make this dish with chicken if you like, but make sure it is pounded super thin.This simple pan sauce is basically a piccata, but it tastes like something special, though it takes all of 10 minutes to prepare the entire

Spring: Polenta Terrine w/ Roasted Vegetables

Pinch me. It's finally spring!For Meatless Mondays and the first day of spring, I made this beautiful vegetarian meal. I saw it on Lisa's site a while back and remembered that I wanted to make this once spring started to show up. Think spring. Think produce. Primavera!Polenta is my new friend. I buy this wonderful stuff from my Italian market and it cooks up in just a few minutes. It's

Pear and Cranberry Crisp

I know spring is in the air, but I couldn�t let winter depart without posting this pear and cranberry crisp. It�s something I always order at the end of a meal at a local restaurant called Enoterra and it rings all the right bells. I�ve made plenty of apple and peach crisps in my life, so how different could it be to throw a pear and cranberry crisp together that tastes like Enoterra�s? Easier than you think actually.

I�ve still got some cranberries in the freezer and I had one more �Harry and David� pear in the fridge.  One of their large pears made enough crisp for two people (assuming you�re not a glutton) and I baked it in a small ovenproof dish. You might want to use two pears if you�re using the brown bosc pears from the supermarket that would also be delicious in this recipe. 

Start by peeling the pears, slicing them, and mixing them and the cranberries with some freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar and a few other ingredients.

Then press it down firmly with your hand into a buttered oven-proof container:

Top it with a crumbly mixture of sugar, flour and butter:

And bake for a while until it�s browned and crispy on top and bubbling with goodness:

Oh shoot, I forgot the vanilla ice cream! Guess I�ll just have to make the crisp all over again. 

Yes, that�s better. Excuse me while I retreat to a corner and indulge.

Pear and Cranberry Crisp

Printable Recipe Here

• 1 large pear (or two small pears)
• 1/4 cup cranberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• a small grinding of nutmeg
• a shake of cinnamon
• 1 t. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. flour

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 3 T. room temperature butter

Slice the pears and place into a bowl with the cranberries. Add the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice and flour. Mix everything together and press into a buttered baking dish. Press as hard as you can because the pears will release a lot of water and sink down into the dish.

In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar and butter with your fingers until you have small clumps. Sprinkle the clumps over the pear mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until browned. It�s a good idea to place the oven-proof container on a baking sheet or piece of aluminum foil in case there is some spillage.

Technorati Tags: pear-cranberry crisp,Enoterra