1 head cauliflower, 1 tin anchovies, 3-5 cloves garlic, 1/4-1/2 c pine nuts, olive oil, 1/4-1/2 c golden raisins, pasta

Chop up  cauliflower; steam or boil until soft.  Reserve water for cooking pasta.  Toast  pine  nuts.  In 2-3 T. olive oil and/or oil drained off can of anchovies, cook garlic until fragrant.  Add 1 tin anchovies; mash up.  Add cauliflower; mash up.  Add raisins, cook about a minute more.  Toss with cooked pasta – spaghetti was Nana’s pick – and pine nuts.  Is ok but less surprising w/out anchovies.  Serves 3-6, depending on appetite and amount of pasta and size of cauliflower.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup half & half
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 12oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 package milk chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Grease a 9×9 pan.
2. Combine sugar and half & half in a sauce pan and heat on medium.
3. Stir constantly while bringing the mixture slowly to a boil.
4. Turn down the heat slightly and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the burner and stir in the chocolate chips, butter, and vanilla.
6. Stir until the fudge is smooth and pour it into the greased pan.
7. Let the fudge cool completely at room temperature without covering it. This is best if made a day ahead!

Fillings:

Cheese: (optional)
Any type – parmesan, provolone, mozzarella, and hard cheeses are all good
Vegetables: sauteed spinach, garlic, bell peppers, and/or mushrooms; artichoke hearts, olives, and/or capers. Pick any 2-3 veggies.
Meat: (optional)
I’ve tried all of these and they were good: pepperoni, prosciutto, and Italian-style vegetarian sausage.
Anything thinly sliced or ground will work well.
Sauce:
Pesto and/or red sauce as a filling, as a dip, or both). Red Gravy with Love is the best dipping sauce ever but a bit too chunky as a filling.

Dough:

(The perfect version is still in progress.)
1 cup water
1 package yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil, plus enough to coat a bowl

Instructions:

1. Heat 1 cup of water to 110 degrees (1 minute on high in the microwave usually does it.)
2. Pour yeast into the heated water and let it sit a few minutes.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough until smooth.
4. Coat a small bowl with olive oil, place the dough in it, and let it rise for an hour away from drafts.
5. Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a baking sheet and cover sparsely with toppings and sauce. (If you load it up too much it will be difficult to roll up!) Leave an inch on one of the long sides clear of toppings.
6. Roll up the dough from the side opposite from your topping-free inch. Press the filling-free inch into a tight seam on the roll and place it face down on the baking sheet.
7. Brush the roll with olive oil (or butter) and press shredded parmesan on the top (optional).
8. Make a couple small cuts across the top of the roll.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, until slightly browned.
10. Cut into slices and serve with dipping sauce (optional).

teff flour

white flour

water

salt

Add a small amount of teff to a small amount of water. Stir, and leave it on the counter for a few days. When you see it starting to develop bubbles, stir in a little white flour and a little more water. Let it sit again for another day or two. Add a little more teff and a little more water, and keep waiting. Your goal is to build toward a batter that’s about 50%/50% teff/white and that’s lively and quite thin–closer to the consistency of paint than to the consistency of dough. By the day you cook it you need to have at least a cup of batter for every two people you’re feeding–more if they’re hungry. When you’re ready to cook the injeras, add some salt (say half a teaspoon per cup of batter) and mix thoroughly. Take the largest non-stick frypan you have, grease lightly, and heat to the point where a drop of water tossed onto the surface skitters around. Reduce heat to medium, and pour a thin layer of batter into the pan. Cover with a lid, but check frequently–they cook really quickly. As soon as the entire top surface is dry, the injera is done. Remove it from the pan, set it aside, and pour another. The goal is to have a thin spongy pancake as large in diameter as possible, with lots of tiny holes in its upper surface. When serving, place one injera on each plate, pile wat or stewed greens or other foods on top, then use torn-off pieces of a second injera to scoop up mouthfuls of the toppings, finishing off by eating the base layer.

Teff can be found at health-food stores and (I’m told) at Whole Foods. You can even order it through Amazon. I’ve read that you can substitute buckwheat, but I imagine it probably has a different flavor.

1 1/2 cups rice, preferably black “Forbidden” rice, cooked

1 cup green lentils de puy, or French green lentils

1 large onion, thinly sliced into rings

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 T. ground coriander

1 T. ground ginger

1 T. turmeric

1 T. salt

1 t. chili powder

1 chili pepper, sliced

1 t. whole cumin seed

1 T. minced garlic

white wine vinegar or other vinegar of choice

Canola oil

Salt & pepper

Salsa of choice (I just chopped tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, and added a little lemon juice and salt)

First prepare the rice and lentils:

Cook rice according to directions on package or in rice cooker.

In the meantime, sort through lentils, rinse, then cover with water and bring to boil.  Lower heat to medium-low and cover.  Cook for 20-25 minutes, then drain.

For the fish:

Salt and pepper the catfish filets.  Squeeze juice of half a lemon into the coriander, ginger, turmeric, chili powder, and 1 t. salt to make a paste and rub the paste into the filets.  Bake in pyrex baking dish at 400 for 10-12 minutes.  They can also be pan fried in canola oil.

For the onions:

Put a tablespoon or two of canola oil into a pan and heat it.  After it heats, add the cumin seeds, some sliced chile pepper and minced garlic and sautee quickly until the fragrances release — the cumin seeds release fragrance quickly, maybe after half a minute.  Saute onions in the oil until they start to brown.  (I was too lazy to carmelize them but I added some water and cooked them until the water evaporated so they were soft.)  Add the onions to the rice and toss with some vinegar (I used white wine vinegar but red, sherry, or cider would probably all be fine) salt, and lemon juice, to taste.

Mix the lentils and rice together, with a little vinegar and oil to taste.  Serve fish on top of a bed of the rice-lentil mixture.  Top with salsa.

1/3 cup of green olives, pitted

1 onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

one orange or tangerine, thinly sliced

1 cup chicken broth or water

1/2 cup orange juice

1 splash of red wine vinegar

6 garlic cloves

1/2 cup flour

olive oil

salt & pepper

1/4 cup chopped pistachios

Preheat pan over medium-high heat.  Add several tablespoons olive oil.

Make sure thighs are dry.  Salt and pepper on both sides.  Dredge in flour, shake off excess.  Brown chicken in batches, about 3-4 minutes a side.  Remove and set aside.

Add onions and whole cloves of garlic to oil in pan and saute until translucent.  Add splash of vinegar to deglaze pan.

Put chicken back in pan and add olives, oranges, juice, and broth.  Bring to boil and reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, when chicken is cooked through and tender.

Serve over couscous or rice.  Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top.

Directions:
• Preheat a waffle iron.
• In a big bowl, mix the flour, cornmeal baking powder and salt.
• Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a small bowl and the yolks into another small bowl. Whisk the milk, yogurt, and oil into the yolks. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until moist yet still lumpy. Add spices or citrus zest, if using.
• Beat the egg whites with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Increase to high, add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form when the beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes. Fold the egg whites into the batter just until the whites are almost incorporated (fold gently to avoid deflating the whipped whites).
• Coat the waffle iron with oil and scoop about one-fourth of batter onto the grids, spreading gently. Close the lid and cook until the steam is almost gone and the tops are golden. Lift the waffle from the iron with a fork. Re-oil the grids and repeat with the remaining batter.

To keep waffles warm, set oven to 225ºF and place the waffles directly on the oven rack. If you have leftover waffles, cool them completely then freeze in a zipper-lock bag for up to 6 months. Reheat in a toaster or in a 325ºF oven.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (the higher the quality of peanut butter, the better!)
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 12oz packages semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Mix the peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar.
2. Roll into small balls and place them on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Put them in the refrigerator.
3. In a double boiler, melt chocolate and shortening. Turn off the heat.
4. Use a toothpick to dip each ball in the chocolate, leaving a small circle around the toothpick uncovered by chocolate. When the chocolate cools, it will get difficult and messy to dip the peanut butter balls in it, so reheat the chocolate if necessary.
5. Use your finger to smooth over each toothpick hole.
6. Refrigerate for thirty minutes until chocolate is firm.

Olive Oil

Fresh Sage leaves

Salt

Pepper

Spaghetti

Put water on for pasta. After water boils, add salt. Add pasta. Melt a healthy amount of butter in a fry pan. Add some olive oil. When pan is hot add salt and pepper. Add sage leaves. Fry leaves. Cook pasta very al dante. Drain pasta and add to the pan with butter and sage. Mix.

Top with parmigiano.

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

grated lemon zest

1 cup white flour

dash salt

1 tsp baking powder

dose of good vanilla

In food processor mix ricotta, eggs, sagar and lemon until smooth. Transfer mixture to bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth. Put mixture in buttered and floured 9″ cake pan. Bake at 350 for around an hour/until toothpick comes out clean.

*great alone/topped with fresh fruit.