Margherita Pizza

Every once in a while it's so nice when someone cooks for me.  Well, my husband (Kevin) has been doing just that, as he has been making pizzas.  This Margherita pizza has become our favorite.  What makes this pizza so good was the fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil.  Using a pre-made Boboli crust makes it easy for him to make pizza whenever he has the urge!

Ingredients:

12 inches thin pizza crust ( I use Boboli)
pizza sauce (small can-use only enough to lightly cover crust)
2 small roma tomatoes, cut thinly (salt and pepper tomatoes, to taste)
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
2-3 tablespoons fresh parmesan cheese
3-4 large basil leaves, cut into strips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Spread pizza sauce lightly over the pizza shell.
Place the thinly sliced tomatoes across the entire pizza.
Place the mozzarella cheese over the top.
Sprinkle on parmesan.
Cook the pizza in the oven for about 8 minutes and then spread basil over hot pizza.
Cook a few more minutes until sufficiently crispy and melted to your liking.

Add a little more Parmesan cheese if you like : )

Hint: It's also good to add some basil pesto to the sauce before spreading on the pizza shell.

Sardine Restaurant (Madison Wisconsin)

Sardine's in Madison, Wisconsin is a favorite brunch place (on Sunday's) for my family.  I haven't been there for dinner yet but knowing how good their brunch is we will be going soon.

I have two favorites - Baked creamed eggs with prosciutto, spinach, gruyere cheese, petite salad and sliced baguette and (pictured below) Crab, bacon and rock shrimp cakes with chipolte beurre blanc, two eggs any style, and a mixed greens salad with sweet corn, green beans, and tomatoes.  I'll have to go back soon and get a picture of the Baked creamed eggs, maybe next Sunday!   

Corn Chowder

It's sweet corn time and this is one soup to make with the sweet, crunchy fresh corn.  This recipe comes from the Barefoot Contessa.  If you like corn, it's the best corn chowder I've had!  The original recipe makes a lot so I cut it in half and it still serves 8-10.

Ingredients:

8 ounces bacon, chopped (you will use half for the soup and half for the garnish)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (I used salted butter so I cut down on the salt)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 -1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper  (add it to taste)

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

6 cups chicken stock

3cups medium-diced white boiling potatoes or new red potatoes, unpeeled (dice potatoes in small bite size pieces)

5 cups corn kernels, fresh (6-8 ears)

1 cups half-and-half

10 oz. sharp white Cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp-White)(add 8 oz to soup and 2 oz for garnish)

Method:

In a large stock pot on medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve.  (At this point I drained out most of the bacon grease and left only about a tablespoon)  Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cobs and blanch the kernels for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. (If using frozen corn, you can skip this step.) Add the corn to the soup, and then add the half-and-half and 8oz (reserve 2oz for garnish) Cheddar. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon and cheese.

Makes 8 servings

The other day I was cutting corn off the cob onto a cutting board and I had corn all over. I thought there has to be an easier way to do this so I searched-how to cut corn off the cob and this is what I found..
The hole in the middle of the bundt pan holds the corn and all the corn falls neatly into the pan. This is so clever I had to share.