Rustic Tuscan Apple Cake Recipe aka Torta di mele

Requests to my kitchen come in various forms.  Some are subtle suggestions of a newspaper article folded and placed alongside my morning coffee.  This is one of those recipes. . .

Yellow Tomato Sauce

I found this recipe a while back and filed it away for tomato season.  This was a wonderfully fresh sauce that was great over pasta. 

Tomato and Mozzarella Salad- Caprese Salad

A supper easy summer salad to serve that always Wows a crowd.  Serve as side dish or main with really good crusty bread to sop up the extra vinegar and oil. 

Chocolate Sorbet Recipe

New Jersey’s July heat and humidity coupled with Chocolate fanatic cravings has finally met its match. 

Huevos Rancheros Recipe

One egg + one jalapeno + one tomato + one ounce Jack cheese + one whole wheat flour tortilla = Brunch for one.

Lunch for Two

Add in a loaf of fresh bread, a few crackers and a bottle of chilled white and you are set! J

Socca Recipe

I found a socca recipe a while back on Mark Bittman’s list of personal favorites and knew I had to try it. 

Herbed Goat Cheese Tea Sandwiches

I needed an appetizer for an afternoon barbecue that could be made ahead, travel well and served as everyone returned from a day of exploring Ocean Grove, NJ.  Tea sandwiches seemed like the perfect option. 

Black Plum Cake Recipe

It’s the start of plum season and I needed a dessert for North Plainfield’s Music Night that would be a sweet accompaniment to the wonderful jazz, rock and folk music that my neighbors create. 

Egg Drop Soup Recipe

Quick and easy soup for a hearty lunch or snack. 

Spicy Turkey Meatball Stew

Here is the last installment of the Turkey meatball adventure. 

Ground Turkey Chili Photo Only Recipe

 Happy Cinco de Mayo !  Create your own festa using ingredients that you like and   these photos as motivation.

Grilled Filet Mignons with Sautéed Spinach

An easy meal for a Saturday night with a nice bottle of red and good loaf of artisan bread, Steak and spinach is sure to please.  

Tilapia with Tomatoes and Capers

This is the very first recipe from handwritten recipe notebook circa 2004.  The tilapia was so good, it motivated me to try to organize my recipes.  I decided to move  from index cards, torn magazine articles and post it page markers throughout my cookbooks, to actually document my kitchen experiment in a running notebook.

Japanese Pizza Recipe -- Okonomiyaki

I have been meaning to try Okonomiyaki for some time now.  I’m not sure where I first stumbled upon it, but the concept of cabbage pizza was too good to pass up. 

Everything Oat Soda Bread Recipe

I have made Heidi’s Oat Soda Bread twice now and have loved it both times.  I love the loaf pan aspect of this soda bread which makes using this bread for sandwiches or toast much easier than  typical soda bread recipe. 
 

Tomato Curry Soup with Cumin, Cinnamon & Honey

I stumbled across this soup recipe today on Dinner Tonight as I scanned the what's cooking links on the side of this page.  It sounded perfect for my dinner tonight. The outside temperature dropped quickly today from high 60s to  mid 40s as a cold front moved into the region to push out the rain.  Soup was just what I needed to warm my bones. 

Dorie Greenspan’s Salted Butter Break-Ups

When I received Dorie’s Around My French Table Cookbook for Christmas, this shortbread cookie was one of the first that I flagged to try.  The beautiful photos and simplicity of the recipe won me over almost immediately.  Of course, I was on Christmas cookie overload, so the recipe was placed on my to bake someday list. 

Chimay Short Ribs Empanadas

Remember the Short Ribs – Braised in Belgium Style Ale Recipe  that I made a week or two ago?  The leftovers were terrific stuffed inside store bought frozen empanada shells (discos).   

Almond Cheese Bars Recipe

Another super simple, last minute dessert recipe that uses crescent rolls.  This is a variation of the basic Pillsbury recipe for sweet cheese delights which I first had at a holiday party.  These bars were the biggest hit of the dessert bar.  They beat all the other homemade holiday treats, hands down.