you'll have to excuse me, I just came back from the dentist and my gums itch. it's weird, but they do. it must be the drugs they use.
I really like to cook for people. it's really hard to cook for one and not have a week of eating the same food. so I use my sister and her boyfriend a lot to cook for. they are both foodie kinda folks so I get input. last sunday night I finally felt better after the road trip across country and catching a cold along the way, so I went to their house to cook.
the main course was pizza. I cook based on what I like so garlic is in basically everything. I made a corn meal crust I got off the martha stewart website. it was a good crust but with this pizza, I recommend a basic crust with a good edge.
ingredients:
1 large can of whole or sliced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, largely chopped
1 small eggplant
8 oz asiago cheese
1 package sliced salami or pepperoni
arugula and olive oil to top
When tomatoes are out of season (now) I like to use simple whole canned ones. Make sure to look at the label, that it is only tomatoes, water, salt and maybe vinegar. there should be no sugar or words you can't pronounce.
1. I roll out the dough and cook it first for like six minutes before adding ingredients. After the crust is pre-cooked, add the canned tomatoes, sliced to the entire crust.
2. top the tomatoes with the garlic evenly spreading throughout.
3. thinly slice the eggplant and add over the entirety of the pizza.
4. grate the cheese and cover the eggplant.
5. the salami goes on top. I am very generous and cover the whole pie.
cook at 450 until the cheese is a little brown and the salami starts to crisp. after slicing into pieces, top each slice with arugula and a lil olive oil.
next dessert! super easy recipe. both of these serve 4 or 5.
ingredients:
1. 2 sheets puff pastry
2. 1/2 pound cherries, pitted
3. 4 pears, sliced
4. 1 egg beaten
5. 1/3 cup sliced almonds
6. pinch of regular sugar
7. powdered sugar to top
first, put these on baking paper on a cookie tray. otherwise, they are hard to move. take a pasty brush and egg wash each of the puff pastries. evenly distribute the cherries and pears on the dough and sprinkle almonds and regular sugar on top.
bake in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until the dough is light/medium brown. cut into fours and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
