Home Pizza

The best part about making pizza at home is that it's exactly what you want it to be.

These ones are made with store-bought artisanal crusts and topped with all those pantry items I try to keep handy - sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichoke, basil, bacon and sausage - but I'm sure you have your favorites. We also used mozzarella pearls mixes with soy cheese. Bake for 10 minutes at 425°.

Images by MadeForJen

Comfort (Veggie) Mac N Cheese

I've never met anyone who doesn't love mac 'n cheese, and we're no exception.

For this one, however, we decided to add in a little extra velvety smooth with the addition of a fried egg. When cut open, the yolk adds to the texture of the cheese.

Being that Jen doesn't eat milk products, this one uses both gluten free macaroni (quinoa based) and block soy cheese, along with unflavored soy milk. Yes, I cheated a bit because I used real butter because the consistency and taste hold better when melted.

The garnish is a bit of julienned sundried tomato and some chopped basil for a little herb to offset the richness.


Enjoy!  Images by MadeForJen

Sweet, Savory and Salty

Most chefs agree that the best dishes have mixed flavor and texture profiles that both compliment and offset each other.  The basic idea is to have no single flavor dominate because it becomes overwhelming.

Here's a simple snack plate that you might try: a piece of salted chocolate paired with blue cheese and a juicy sweet fruit. In this case, a 1/2 oz chunk of homemade dark chocolate with sel gris (grey sea salt) is plated with a piquant blue (Bleu d'Avergne) and a juicy, ripe lychee.  Mix to your taste - if blue is too strong, go with more mild, like a cheddar or gouda. If lychee is too sweet, figs or pear are also good.

Image by MadeForJen

Grilled Egg and Cheese

I love grilled cheese. I mean, I really love grilled cheese. Something so wonderful about the buttery, caramelized bread filled with oozing velvety cheese stretching and pouring from inside. Brings back memories of childhood and everything in between.

This is a little spin on the basic grilled cheese because, well, I love eggs too. This is a great sandwich when you need breakfast on the run, or just sitting down for a little TV time with comfort food.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 slices bread
Cheese - here I used both mozzarella (in the eggs) and white cheddar (in the bread)
Chopped parsley
1 Tb butter
Olive oil

Blend 1 egg with some of the chopped cheese and parsley in a bowl. Drizzle a bit of olive oil into a skillet over medium heat. Once hot (just beginning to smoke), pour the egg mix into the pan. Fry like an omelette, not scrambled (cook until brown on one side, lifting the edge and allowing the wet mix to slide under every so often, then turn over entirely). Remove from heat and set aside.

Drop half of the butter into a skillet (cast iron preferably) over medium heat and melt.  Place one slice of bread, cheese slices to cover, then add the egg on top, more cheese slices, and the other slice of bread. At this point leave it alone.  Let the bread become caramelized on the one side. Once ready, lift the sandwich with a spatula, put the rest of the butter in the pan, and flip over the sandwich onto the butter and caramelize.

Perfect by itself but even better with a cup of cappuccino!

Image by MadeForJen