Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini, Red Pepper, and Onion

1 eggplant, sliced into rounds, salted, and dried (see above for salting procedure)
2 zucchinis, sliced on the bias
1 red pepper, sliced into 1-inch strips
1 red onion, quartered
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated mozzarella
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Toss eggplant with 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toss other vegetables with the remaining olive oil, salt, and pepper. Please in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Roast for 20 minutes, flip vegetables, and roast for an additional 15 minutes, until golden brown. Arrange veggies on a place, sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Spaghetti Carbonara With Spinach and Tomato

1/2 pound spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 slices Black Forest Ham,* cut into 1/2 in squares
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cup cooking liquid from pasta
1 egg
1 teaspoon butter
2 cups spinach, chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 small tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Salt and pepper

Put a large pot of well-salted water on to boil. When the water reaches a rolling boil add pasta and cook. Remove pasta from boiling water when it is still a little less done then you like it. The pasta will finish cooking in the pan with the sauce.

Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan with olive oil. Add onions and garlic. Cook until translucent. Season with pepper, but not salt. You'll get enough salt from the ham, cheese, and pasta liquid. Add ham and cook until crisp. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until the liquid has almost fully evaporated. Deglaze the pan with half a cup of cooking liquid from the pasta. Then add another half cup of cooking liquid. Reduce heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.

Before draining the pasta, set aside 1/4 cup of cooking liquid, which will be used to temper the egg. Add drained pasta to the pan with the sauce. When the cooking liquid has cooled slightly, add the egg and mix. Pour the egg/water mixture over the pasta and toss, allowing the egg to cook without forming curds. Turn off the heat and add butter, spinach, and cheese. Toss pasta, allowing the spinach to wilt.

Place in pasta bowls, sprinkle some Parmesan and fresh pepper, and garnish with tomatoes and pine nuts.

* Black Forest Ham can be replaced with bacon, prosuitto, or – for a vegitarian version – tempeh bacon.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Turkey Breast With Fennel and Red Pepper

1 1/2 to 2 pound turkey breast
5 slices prosciutto
1 bulb fennel
1 red pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut fennel into large chunks. Cut red pepper into 2 inch strips. Toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place on the bottom of a parchment-lined baking pan.

Place turkey breast on top of the vegetables. Add salt and pepper. * Wrap the top of the turkey with a single layer of prosciutto, slightly overlapping each piece.

Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 45 minutes. Remove foil, baste turkey with remaining olive oil, and return to the oven uncovered. Continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. Remove from the oven and rest for 15 minutes. The internal temperature should rise to 180 degrees.

* Since the prosciutto is salty, add less salt then you normally would to a roast.

Endive and Ham au Gratin

2 cups chicken stock
4 large heads of endive
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 ½ cup milk*
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
4 slices of ham
1 cup garlic crouton
Salt and pepper

Preheat the over to 375 degrees.

Poach the endive in chicken stock to remove some of the bitterness for 15 minutes.

To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Incorporate the flour into melted butter. Cook until the butter-flour combination for about a minute. Wisk in milk, then add cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted and the sauce become think, about 3 minutes.

Wrap each head of endive in ham and place with the seam side down in a baking dish. Pour the cheese sauce over top; cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Allow the endive to rest for 2 minutes before serving.

Garlic Breadcrumbs

3 slices of sandwich bread
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste

Cut the crust off the bread. Create bread crumbs by grating the bread on the fine side of a box grater. Finely mince garlic. Heat olive oil in a medium-sized frying pan. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add breadcrumbs and toast until light brown.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Filling*
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb
2 quarts strawberries
3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Crumble Topping
2 cups oats
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cold water

To make the filling chop rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces. Core and slice strawberries in half (cut larger berries into thirds). Mix fruit, flour, and sugar together and place into baking dish. Dot the top of the filling with butter.

Assemble the crumble topping by mixing together oats, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt, and nutmeg. Cut butter into pieces and incorporate into the oat mixture with your fingers, as you would while making a piecrust. Add in water one tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together. Evenly place the topping over the fruit. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 until the juice from the fruit is bubbling around the edges of the crumble. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

Allow the crumble to cool before serving.

* I used a deep baking disk. For 2 or 3 inch baking dishes, use 1 pound of rhubarb and 1 and 1/2 quarts of strawberries.

Coconut Rice

2/3 cup water
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Bring water to a boil.

Meanwhile, lightly toast the rice by placing olive oil in a small pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add rice and salt. Stir over a high heat until the rice is fragrant, but before it becomes brown. Remove from heat.

Mix the coconut milk and boiling water together. Add to rice. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is full absorbed, 15 to 17 minutes.* Remove from heat and keep covered until ready to use. Fluff rice with a fork and serve.

* Try not to remove the lid while the rice is steaming.

Orange Coconut Fool

2 oranges
1 can of coconut milk
1 tablespoons sugar
A pinch of salt
Chopped, toasted almonds

Cut two rounds from the orange. Supreme the rest of the orange.*

Chill the can of coconut milk to allow the cream to rise and become firm. Open and remove cream, reserving liquid for another use. In a large bowl add coconut cream, sugar, and salt. Beat with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. (Note: This will take slightly longer then when making whipped cream.)

To assemble to fools, place some orange sections at the bottom of a glass. Then add a layer of whipped coconut cream, then chopped walnuts. Repeat until the glasses are filled.

* To supreme an orange you cut off the bottom, creating a flat surface for it to sit on; and cut off the top to revealing the flesh. Next, remove the rind and pith by slicing around the flesh. Then, holding the orange over a bowl to capture all the juice, cut away each section of the flesh.

Turkey Cutlets With Caper Pan Sauce

In German supermarkets schnitzel cuts (thin pieces of turkey, beef, veal, or pork) are common. I love the turkey schnitzel for this dish since it cooks in a flash. If you can’t find schnitzel cuts, turkey or chicken breast filets pounded thin will also work.

• Four turkey cutlets
• ½ cup flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion finely diced
• ½ tablespoon anchovy paste
• ¼ cup sherry
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ½ tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons capers
• Salt and pepper

Lightly coat turkey cutlets in flour. Cook turkey in olive oil in a hot sauté pan on one side until it releases easily from the pan and is lightly browned, approximately three minuets. Cook on the second side for another two minutes. Remove cutlets from the pan and set aside.

Add onions and cook until translucent. Mix in anchovy paste then deglaze the pan with the sherry, scraping all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the sherry is almost evaporated, add the chicken stock. Bring stock to a boil, then lower the heat and allow the stock to reduce by half. Pour any juice that has collected on the plate with the turkey into the pan. Whisk in butter and then add the capers. Pour sauce over the cutlets and serve.

Pizza

Dough
I doubled a pizza dough recipe from Epicurious. I don’t have a food processor in Germany, so I made it all by hand and it was super easy. I spread the dough on a cookie sheet and made a rectangular pizza. Also, to make the crust crisp on the bottom I first cooked the crust in a hot oven (about 400 degrees) until the top turned lightly golden. Then I remove the pizza, add the topping and cooked until the cheese melted.

Caramelized Onion Pizza
• 5 onions cut in half, then thinly sliced from root to top
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• ½ cup grated mozzarella
• 32 anchovy filets
• 16 black olives, pit removed and cut in half

Cook onions in oil over a low heat in a medium-sized sauté pan until they are a rich, bark brown, aproximely 30 minutes.

Pre-bake the pizza crust as described above. Spread mustard over the top of the pizza dough. Evenly cover with cheese, then onions. Make “Xs” with two anchovy fillets. (My pan allows for four Xs across, three deep.) Place half and olive on either of each X. Bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Mushroom Pizza
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1 ½ cup shredded mozerella
• 10 mushrooms, sliced

Pre-bake the pizza crust as described above. Spread sauce over the top of the pizza dough. Evenly cover with cheese. Scatter with mushrooms. Bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Pizza Sauce
By slowly reducing the liquid, you get a lot of flavor and a sauce that is not too wet, which will protect the crispness of the crust.

• 1 onion finely diced
• ½ tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 2 cups pureed tomatoes

In a medium sized, heavy bottomed pot sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent, about three minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add red wine and cook until almost comely evaporated. Add tomato paste and dried herbs and cook for another minute. Pour in tomato puree. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the sauce has reduced by half.

Pear Vinaigrette

I used an emulsion blender to make this vinaigrette. If you don't have one, a food processor or blender will also work.

1 pear, pealed and core removed
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Puree the pear in a bowl using an emulsion blender. Add vinegar, salt, and pepper. With the blender running slowly pour in the olive oil.

Crepes

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
A pinch of salt
A pinch of nutmeg
A drop of vanilla extract

Whisk all of the ingredients together. Let batter rest for at least half and hour. In a hot medium skillet* add a few drop of oil. Pour in one ladle full of batter. Twirl the pan around so that the batter extends to the edges of the pan. Cook until the top is almost dry. Flip. Cook for another minute.

The crepes can be filled with just about anything – fruit, meat, cheese – or better yet, smeared with Nutella.

* Most people suggest using a nonstick pan for making crepes. I don't have a nonstick skillet the right size, so I just used a regular frying pan.

Blood Orange Vinaigrette*

Juice of 1 blood orange
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

Whisk everything together and pour over salad.

* Since the oranges are sweeter than lemons, limes, or vinegar – the usual acids in vinaigrettes you don't need to follow the traditional ratio of one part acid to three parts oil.

Kiwi Salsa

This salsa literally took me less then five minutes to assemble. (The Quesadillas were in the oven when I discovered that the jar of salsa I bought tasted like cocktail sauce.)

2 Kiwis
1/2 red or orange pepper
1/2 small red onion
1 teaspoon Asian-style hot sauce
Salt and pepper

Peel kiwi and cut into small dices. Finely chop pepper and onion. Add hot sauce. Toss together. Season with salt and pepper.

Sherry-laced chicken and cheese tortellini soup with spinach and caramelized onions*

2 onions
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 chicken breasts
10 whole peppercorns
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup Sherry
2 cups fresh spinach
1 half-pound package of cheese tortellini
Salt and pepper

Rough cut half of one onion, one carrot, and one stalk of celery. In a medium-size pot sauté the onion in one teaspoon of olive oil for about a minute. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for another minute. Add the chicken breasts and cover the contents of the pot by two inches with water. Add peppercorns. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Poach the chicken for twenty minutes skimming any film off the top of poaching liquid.

Caramelize one of the onions in a small frying pan. Cut the onion in half from root to tip, remove the skin, and slice into long thin slices from the root to tip. Cook in 2 teaspoons of olive oil over low heat until dark brown, tossing occasionally to avoid burning. (You will have leftovers, which is a good thing. Toss then in a salad or put them on a sandwich.)

While the chicken is poaching and the onion caramelizing, finely chop the remaining half of the onion, carrot, and celery and mince the garlic. When the chicken is opaque all the way through, remove it from the liquid and set aside to cool. Strain the poaching liquid and discard the vegetables. Set the liquid aside.

Cook tortellini according to package instructions.

Put the pot back on the stove. Add 1 teaspoon of oil and sauté the onion and garlic for about a minute. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for another two minutes. Add the Sherry to deglaze the pan and allow the liquid to evaporate. Add the poaching liquid and season with salt and pepper.

Shred the chicken. Chop spinach. Assemble ingredients in a bowl and pour over hot broth. Garnish with a slice of Parmesan sliced with a vegetable peeler.

* In the post above I used leeks, but in the past I've made this soup with caramelized onions, which are better. Onions have a more intense flavor and get a more beautiful brown color.