Technically, what makes a sour dough is using yeast from a previous bread making session but some bakers refer to slow rising bread as sour dough. There is a version of French bread I make that takes three days to rise, but the advantage is there is no yeast taste and slow rising breads stay fresh longer than fast rising bread. From a health perspective, slow rising breads break down the flour gluten, which makes it easier for the body to digest.
Read MoreAntipasto Salad
Antipasto is a refreshing salad usually served as an appetizer, but I often serve it as the entree, along with a nice loaf of Italian bread just out of the oven and a bottle of Cabernet.
Read MoreTaco Meatloaf
A Southwest spin on a Midwest classic. Black beans make a nice side, as does fire roasted corn that you can buy frozen at Trader Joe’s.
Read MoreDeviled Eggs
So, you’re stuck with all those hard boiled eggs your kids just had to color, and a person can only eat so many hard boiled eggs – what’s a person to do?
Read MoreDominic and Denali – A Story of Love and Loss but Not of Lost Love
By the nonstop way Dominic talked up Los Alamos and the national laboratory where he won a coveted Post Doc position, Denali envisioned some sort of undiscovered utopia, and to be fair, for brainiacs Los Alamos probably is Shangri-La. For normal people though, the stark reality is more akin to a social outpost on the dark side of Mars.
Read MoreGreek Salad with Freshly Made Dressing
Greek salads are not only fresh and packed with healthy produce, they make a great entry into a Greek-based dinner. The important thing is to use fresh produce and make the dressing ahead of time so it has a chance to marinate and emulsify.
Read MoreBaklava
The nice thing about this Baklava recipe is that it can be vegan, so is a perfect treat for anyone you know during Orthodox Lent, or who happens to be a vegan – that is of course if you substitute butter with margarine – but that is admittedly an extreme measure for times of intense need
Read MoreSpanakopita
A classic Greek pie made with phyllo dough, spinach, herbs and feta cheese. While I am usually a purest who makes all my ingredients from scratch, when it comes to phyllo, I buy frozen.
Read MoreAnchovy Crostini in Herbal Ricotta
The key to this recipe is using fresh lemons and making the ricotta cheese yourself (takes a half hour) so everything is fresh. I like to serve this spread topped with a sun-dried tomato on a freshly baked French Baguettes.
Read MoreBeef Wellington with Mushroom Sauce
Beef Wellington is perfect for date night or when you really really need to impresses, but I have to warn you that this is an expensive entree. Most people mistakenly think beef Wellington is a British meal, it’s actually French which shouldn’t be a surprise since the British haven’t really contributed anything of this caliber to cuisine.
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