Italian Comfort Food; Eggplant Parmesan

This dish is easy, delicious and filling.  It's packed full of veggies and robust flavors, and goes perfectly with a glass of full bodied, dry red wine.

I cut the eggplant into thin slices, and coat each slice with seasoned flour.  It's then pan fried in olive oil until it  lightly browns.

My sauce is simple, and you will see it used frequently in my dishes; I use tomato, olive oil, chopped onion, chopped spinach, garlic and herbs, and cook it down until it's fragrant and thick.

The filling between layers of eggplant is a mélange of finely chopped red peppers, onions, zuchini, squash, spinach and garlic. Each layer also gets a slice of fresh mozzarella, and some crumbled parmesan.  I top it off with several slices of eggplant, and bake it until it is hot and the cheese is melted.  It is then topped with a heaping serving of red sauce. Bueno!

Homemade; Fresh Salmon Ravioli With Red Sauce

We cooked this on September 18, 2010, so it was technically still summer. This dish was fun to make and absolutely wonderful to eat.  We made fresh pasta with my hand crank pasta maker, and cut the raviolis from the sheets of pasta.  The salmon was seasoned  with garlic, herbs, salt, pepper and olive oil, and then baked.  Our sauce is always homemade; slow cooked tomato, olive oil, cabernet, scallion, garlic, fresh basil and herbs, and salt and pepper, I added mushrooms at end. We stuffed the raviolis with salmon, basil, spinach and cream and parmesan cheeses.  Enjoy the pictures!

Summer Food; Grilled Tuna Steak Salad

It's the dead of winter and summer seems so far away.  I'm posting some summer dishes to tide myself over until my photos from last night arrive (I had someone over to take pictures while I cooked, I can't wait to see them!).  This is a grilled tuna steak with a spicy mango-pepper glaze and caramelized onions over Herb Salad. 

Breakfast; fried eggs and veggies

Seasoned eggs, fried and topped with veggies and smoked gouda.  Served with bagels and cream cheese.

Steak Night; Marinated, Broiled New York Strip.

In the winter I do steak under the broiler or in a frying pan, I opted for the broiler this time.  This steak is marinated in cabernet, olive oil, stone ground mustard, garlic, salt, pepper and herbs.  I broiled it for 5 minutes on both sides to medium-rare.  On the side we had quinoa with sauteed mushrooms, zuchini and peppers.

Autumn Butternut Squash with Bison and Cheddar Cheese

Fall is a season of colors, and season of changes. It is a season that finds us budling up in our favorite sweaters and seeking out food to fill our stomachs and warm our souls. This recipe will satisfy 4 hungry stomachs.





Here's what you need





1 medium butternut squash


1/2 lb ground bison


1 medium sweet onion (chopped)


2 cloves garlic (chopped)


2 large handfuls spinach (chopped)


10 medium white cheddar cheese pieces (chopped)


3 large tablespoons brown sugar


Greek yogurt


sea salt


cracked pepper


olive oil





1) Cut the squash in half and bake at 400 degrees for an hour or until soft, scoop out squash and set aside.





2) Cook bison, onions and garlic in a large skillet (add brown sugar, salt and pepper) until the bison is almost fully cooked.





3) Add squash to the skillet and continue to cook until bison is completely cooked.





4) Add spinach and cheese to the skillet, reduce heat, and cover. Stir occasionally until cheese is melted and the dish is evenly mixed.





5) Serve in a shallow bowl topped with a scoop of greek yogurt.