Leann Underwood

I love the simplicity of really good Margherita Pizza. This was first time I ever used a pizza stone. It really makes a big difference in the quality of the crust. I started with a pizza dough recipe in the red Betty Crocker cookbook I've had since I was a very young bride. To shape, I placed the dough in the middle of a large piece of parchment paper. Using only my hands, I poured olive oil on the top and pressed the dough out in a circle. The sauce consisted of 1 carton of diced Pomi tomates drained in a strainer for 30 minutes. Place in a bowl, add 1 - 2 teaspoons of dried basil, a couple of tablespooons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Sliver a small bunch of fresh basil. Slice 2 fresh Roma tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices and drain on paper towels. Chop a 6 - 8 oz ball of Bufala or whole milk cows Mozzerela cheese into 1 inch pieces Oil the prepared pizza dough. Place half the tomato mixture on dough and spread to edges evenly. Spread the fresh basil evenly on top of the tomato m

This is the same recipe as the Madeleine recipe found on Epicurious , but with 4 oz of chocolate. They're not at light and spongey as the orignial, but they are tasty. I'll be trying these again with a different approach. Stay tuned...

Made these Madeleines twice now. Great recipe but the timing in the oven wrong. Bake only 10 minutes. Also, the batter is improved with a pinch of baking powder per the suggestions of the reviews.

I served this with Black Cod and Fennel. The lemon and nuts provided a nice balance against the sweetness of the Fennel Pollen. Toast in 2 tablespoons of butter a generous 1/4 cup of pine nuts. Set aside. Use 1 cup of Arborio rice, 4 cups of chicken broth, 1/2 teaspoon of Herbes de Provence, and a scant 1 tsp salt to traditionally cook the risotto until all 4 cups of liquid are absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in pinenuts and any remaining butter, add the the zest of 1/2 a lemon, plus 2 more tablespoons of butter. Stir well. Chop about 2 handfuls of Arugual in half. Stir into the still hot risotto. Serve.

Friday night the fish turned out so good, I plan to make this again to server to a dinner party. With a mortar and pestal grind about 1 tsp. of fennel pollen . Add 1/2 teaspoon of saffron salt and 1/4 tsp. of white pepper. Mix well. Sprinkle evenly over two fillets of fish. Bake at 350 for apx. 20 minutes.

This turned out to be a deliciously warm autumn dish. Start by baking the pierced squash whole at 350 degrees for about 45-60 min. Remove and allow to cool for handling. Cut open, remove seeds, and remove the squash strings tranfering to a bowl. Carefully clean a pound of Chanterelles. Melt a half cup of butter in a pan, add mushrooms and sautee until tender. Toss the Spaghetti squash with the cooked mushrooms together, all remaining liquids, salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.