Help us celebrate summer as we bring on the beautiful food!

Desserts / June 29, 2015

Before I started streaming music, CD’s were my shopping weakness. I used to stop at that little CD kiosk in Target Stores that displayed a selection of mood music for every occasion. It seemed time stopped as I let my fingers dance over the preview buttons, starting and stopping the snippets of Rhumba, Waltzes and even the cawing of tropical birds while I imagined myself helpless under the spell of digital dreams. “Music for Dinner!” or “Songs for Your Engagement” and even “Nature Spa Sounds,” were only a few of the choices.

If you recall, even Pottery Barn got in the act, creating music to play while you dined on everything from tacos to tuna tar-tar. But never have I ever seen a kiosk with music that is meant to be played WHILE YOU COOK.

Seriously. Don’t you think the sound of crisp zucchini slices hitting the hot oil is inspiring? And the rattle and bump of the rolling pin as it smooths out a disc of carefully mixed pie dough is positively toe-tapping! How about the sizzle of a good red wine as you pour it over perfectly sauteed Shitake mushrooms and hear the “aaahhhh?” as it reduces into an intense syrup? See, see? I told you. It’s a symphony of sounds and it should have its own soundtrack.

When I cook I think of these things. It is as though I am playing with more than just foods and textures. I am playing with edible arpeggios. From Motets, to Cantatas or even to Oratorios. Each of my creations attempts to hit every high note even before they hit the plate.

Take these selections featured here in this post. All of them colorful, exciting, and they all include a melody that you’ll be humming for days.
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Arugula Pesto

Ingredients:

4 C fresh, washed, dry arugula
1/3 C freshly grated Parmigiana Reggiano cheese(not the dense store bought)
2 cloves garlic,quartered
1/8 t pepper
¼ t salt
¼-1/3 C mild oil(canola or sun flower)

Directions:

Using a food processor, arrange the arugula, garlic, and cheese in the container, and just a little bit of the oil. Pulse and begin to puree ingredients. As it gets more incorporated, add more oil, and keep adding until you get to a moist consistency. Serve with your favorite meal!

Marsala Maple Poached Forelle Pears

Fab in Forty Minutes or Less

Servings 4

Ingredients:

4 Forelle pears, peeled, leaving stem intact
2-3 C Marsala wine
1/3 Real maple syrup
1 T butter
3 heaping T loosely packed brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Direction:

Peel the pears, being careful to leave the stems intact. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top of each. Cut the bottom of the pears so they stand up. In a deep saucepan, place the peeled pears cut side down arrange around the pan. Add 2 C of the wine and the maple syrup and stir to combine. Should come up about 1 ½ inches around the base of the pear. Bring to a boil, reduce heat so that it is bubbling but not a violent boil. Cover, with the lid very slightly askew, and poach for about 20 minutes, until tender. You can baste the pears once in the middle of the poaching process.
When done, remove pears and place in a glass dish, and let sit for about a half hour to cool. In the meantime, bring the remaining poaching liquid to a boil, and add a little more wine, and the brown sugar. Cook on medium low for about 5 minutes. You will see that it is starting to thicken with the added sugar. Turn off heat, stir in the butter, and let cool. If it’s going to be more than a couple hours to serving time, refrigerate the pears, but the syrup can stay in the pan.
To serve, place a pear in a dish, drizzle the syrup over the pear letting it pool at the base. Serve with wafers and ice cream and garnish with chopped mint.