We love pizza around here. I can remember several family gatherings when I was growing up where all of the adults would hang around the kitchen sipping wine which came from jugs pretending to have something to do with Burgundy. They would be discussing the day’s going-ons, spilling cornmeal, laughing, and assembling handmade pizzas. Those pizzas were the best!…
Ingredient: olive oil
Smoked salmon pizza with capers, red onion, and cream cheese
Start with the pizza crust recipe. For the smoked salmon pizza as an appetizer, I like to make the pizza a little smaller and thinner; therefore, one pizza crust recipe will make about 2 smaller pizzas. Incorporating some dill into the pizza crust goes particularly well with this one.
Lamb lollipops
My friend Holly makes the most delectable little lamb chops, or “lollipops”as we like to refer to them. There’s something about this dish which brings memories of warm summer evenings with friends. A little time in the marinade and a short stint on the grill and you have heaven on a stick. When choosing your rack of…
Chipotle hummus
We used to make this one in the restaurant a lot. Easy, spicy, good! Serve with pita chips or other chips.
Roasted butternut squash soup
Unfortunately, there were no butternuts emerging from the garden during this growing season. With all the garden items, I just didn’t make room this year. However, this squash is plentiful and easy to grow. Thankfully, I have access to the farmers markets and a decent selection at the local grocery as well. This recipe is…
Muffuletta
The muffuletta is the official New Orleans sandwich, at least it is in my opinion. Italian immigrants are rumored to have established the sandwich at the Central Grocery long ago, where it remains popular to this day. Sure, there are other ‘Nawlins sandwiches such as the “po’ boy”, which is a mighty fine sandwich in…
Salmon cakes
I had a pound of salmon in the fridge I had purchased locally the day before. The salmon was wild caught Soho from up north and it was expensive. Of course I understand that a nice salmon filet can be incredible when prepared simply on the grill and some folks might consider it blasphemous to…
Cassoulet
Cassoulet, that famous dish from the south of France. Not from the more familiar Provence, Marseille, Nimes part of the country, but more toward the Western portions of Southern France such as Carcassonne, Toulouse, and Narbonne. I am referring to the Languedoc area of France where once lived a peaceful religious order named the Cathars….