Crumbs on my face (and Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Sauce)

July 26 marked the 7-year anniversary of my first date with my husband. Ben took me to dinner . We ordered steak sandwiches and drank a half dozen beers each. I could really throw them back in those days. We spent the rest of the summer doing pretty much the same thing. It was great. We drank, we ate , we laughed. Nobody can make me laugh harder than Ben.

The first time I cooked dinner for Ben I made scallops. I actually didn’t know if he liked seafood. It was a simple recipe; I dipped them in melted butter, coated them in Ritz cracker crumbs, broiled them in my oven and served them with a wedges of lemon. Classy. Ben loved them, and we still talk about that meal. We've made some great food but we've had some misses. I recall one night when we had been drinking much of the day. I think it was St. Patricks's Day, but I may be making an excuse for the daytime drinking. In any event, we decided not to eat at the bar with our friends. We decided to come back to my apartment to make dinner. Tacos. Disaster. I nearly chopped my own hand off trying to get the pit out of an avocado. I don't think we talked while making or eating dinner. I remember thinking, I need to eat this quick so I can sober up. We passed out immediately after.

Ben and I are suckers for the same kinds of foods. Actually, we are suckers for most food. Though some foods rate higher than others. We both love pasta. We like to eat mountains of it.

After 7 years, I don’t feel embarrassed when I have crumbs on my face or suggest we eat pizza in bed. In the kindest way Ben lets me know about the food on my face and deters me from eating in our bed.

I created this recipe on a whim after I bought too many tomatoes over the weekend. And Ben and I had not had a pasta feast in quite some time. This recipe is under ten ingredients. Isn't that fabulous? I thought you'd think so.

Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Sauce

Preheat oven to 375

2 tablespoons olive oil

4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced.

5 medium to large ripe tomatoes (seeded, and chopped into half inch pieces)

2 medium eggplants (peeled and cut up into half inch pieces)

1 ½ teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ teaspoon red pepper flake

In dutch oven heat up two tablespoons of olive oil, and cook garlic for a minute or two, careful not to burn it. Add eggplant, tomatoes, salt, pepper and red pepper flake. Cook for another few minutes while stirring the vegetables.

Place in hot oven for 25 minutes, covered. Take out of oven to stir and break up tomatoes and eggplant. Cook for another 25 minutes. At this point the tomatoes and eggplant will be very soft. Stir until the sauce is cohesive.

Toss with 1 lb of al dente rigatoni (or whatever pasta you like best). Stir in 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.

The eggplant adds a meaty depth to the sauce.

Raspberry Cake

Home cooks should keep in mind they are not on "Top Chef." Don't get stressed out about cooking for your family or friends. People are thrilled to eat anything that's homemade. No need to learn how to make a "gastrique." Gastrique sounds like a competitor to "Beano", and I have no plans of finishing off a dish with it. People can take care of their stomach problems on their own.

Look for recipes that have a reasonable number of ingredients that are easy to find. If necessary, simply omit the 1/8 teaspoon of some random spice that costs $20 for 8 ounces. Some people will say never to make a recipe for the first time for guests. I break that rule all the time. Am I really going to make an entire cake for my husband and I the week before I make it for guests? No way! My waistline can't handle that. People are eager to like whatever you make, even if it's a tad overcooked, or bit dry or not exactly what you hoped. Your guests will love it. Promise. Of course, that's contingent on not making them sick, so careful on general food safety issues.

I made this raspberry cake for the very fist time for dinner guests last weekend. Everybody had seconds. The following day, I ate a slice after breakfast, after lunch, after mid-afternoon snack and post dinner. It's dense and sweet. It has lots of butter, sugar, eggs and almond paste. Blueberries or blackberries would work great if you are not a fan of raspberries.

The proper title is "Raspberry Frangipane Cake". It was featured in the Washington Post a few weeks ago. I called it Raspberry Cake because when I say "Frangipane" I sound like an idiot.

14 tablespoons of unsalted room temperature butter
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 tube almond paste (7 ounces)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extraxt
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups raspberries

Preheat oven to 350, and butter and flour a 9" round cake pan

In a large bowl, beat (with hand-held mixer) sugar, almond paste and butter. I sliced up the log of almond paste before adding. It's very thick and sandy so I recommend breaking it up. Turn mixer to low medium and add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla extract. With large spoon fold in the flour in increments.

The batter is delicious. I ate a lot of it during the folding segment.

Fold in the raspberries, being careful not to over-mix

Pour batter in cake pan and cook for 40-50 minutes. It took exactly 44 minutes in my oven. Top should be golden brown. Insert toothpick in center of cake and it should come out clean.

I dusted the top with powdered sugar and I served it with a dollop of (homemade) whipped cream.

Participatory Eating (and Sun-Dried Tomatoes)

Getting kids to eat more than hot dogs and chicken fingers is the modern parent's dilemma. Kids are picky, and of course they love Oscar Meyer and Tyson. I would very much like to say something negative about these corporations but I fear that I might disappear or take a fatal fall.

But I do think there is a solution. You hear a lot of people say that getting your kids involved in the cooking process will perk up their food interest. Two summers ago, I made homemade pretzels with my nephews. They loved them. Granted, pretzels are not hard sell for kids, but their eyes lit up when we were making them. Children will want to eat the fruits of their labor. So obvious and logical, kids are so simple, I thought. What I didn't realize is that this is equally applicable to adults.

For example, I thought I hated sun dried tomatoes. They always seemed dry and chewy, and sometimes bitter. I had let a few bad sun-dried tomatoes ruin my perception. But then, I made them myself last week. And now I'm in love -- in love with the process and the taste. Perfectly simple to make, and the results are amazing. They are so versatile. You can put them on sandwiches or wraps, eat them plain, throw them in a salad, make a pesto, use them in spread, toss them with pasta, and much much more. I don't have the Tuscan sun available to me, so I made them in my oven.

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees
Halve and de-seed 3 lbs of plum tomatoes
Place them on a baking sheet
Sprinkle just the tiniest bit of salt
Let cook for 8 hours

Heaven! That's all you have to do. This is a seasonal recipe. The trick here is that the tomatoes you start with have to be sweet and ripe. Do not buy tomatoes at Safeway in December and try to makes this. I'm guessing that it will probably taste a lot like scotch tape.

After making these, my husband, who loves sun dried tomatoes, made a meatloaf. It was a Giada DeLaurentis recipe: "Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun-dried Tomatoes." I have to say it was incredible. I also happen to be a sucker for meatloaf.

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped up sun-dried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 lb ground turkey
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. Then spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan with vegetable oil and pour mixture in.

Cook for 50 minutes at 375. Temperature in the middle should reach 165 degrees.

"The Butter Dish" brought to you by SaltySourSpicySweet

It's a name change, not a game change. After much discussion (two ten-minute conversations), Kristin and I have decided to change the name of our blog. SaltySourSpicySweet has treated us well, but we (meaning I) had trouble with enunciating all those words starting with the letter "S". I would stutter and stammer when trying to spit the name out, and more often then not I was mixing up the word order. As a brand, I was screwing up the whole thing. Kristin, being a dear friend and understanding co-blogger agreed to the change. "The Butter Dish" is new new name, and we are so pleased to have butter in our title. We aren't changing our blogspot web address as of yet, so no need to change your bookmark if you have this address saved. Isn't it funny that I think you have this bookmarked?


So welcome, to "The Butter Dish", a place where we will continue to "dish" about recipes and eating. It's a double entendre, but not the sexual kind.

Tomato and Summer Vegetable Bake

I am hoping this recipe makes the cut for the Washington Post's tomato recipe contest. Deadline is July 15. If only this was American Idol and you all (my two readers) could text in your votes. But thankfully, unlike American Idol, recipe contests are not really about votes but about taste. At least, I hope that's the case. I've never entered a recipe contest before and I am hoping I win right out of the gate. Winning is about talent and ego. I think I've got the talent, and I am working on an overblown ego. I try to never listen or learn from mistakes (because I never make them, duh). I'm smarter and better looking then most. I'm also very humble and really "f*cking nice". You might recognize that last line, I took it from Mel Gibson. I understand he's got a tremendous ego, and a real way with women.

And now, my recipe.

1 medium summer squash sliced, 1/4 inch thick
1 medium zucchini sliced, 1/4 inch thick
5 medium tomatoes, sliced, 1/4 inch thick
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (use whatever bread you have in the house)
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese

First you need these vegetables to give off a bit of their water so you should sweat out the zucchini and squash. Slice them and then toss them in a colander with a dash of salt. Let them sit in colander over a bowl for 60 minutes. After that lay them out on a clean towel and press another clean towel to absorb excess moisture.

For the tomatoes, lay out the slices on a clean towel, sprinkle with a little salt and let them hang out for 30 minutes or so. Then, just like the zucchini and squash lay another clean towel to absorb the excess moisture. This step may seem annoying but it prevents this dish from become watery. I wish I could take credit for the idea but I got it from an an article in Cook's Illustrated a few years back.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Grease a 9" x 13" baking dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

In a large bowl toss together squash and zucchini with salt, pepper, garlic, parsley and the remaining olive oil. Lay out a layer of squash/zucchini in dish. Then lay out a layer of the tomatoes. After the tomatoes are down add a couple cracks of pepper and a pinch of salt. You want all the layers well seasoned. Repeat this until you are out of vegetables.

Please in hot oven for 30 minutes. Turn oven up t 425. Combine cheese and bread crumbs and pour over top. Bake for another 15-20 minutes. When the top is brown it's done.


Let cool for 15 minutes. This is great as a side dish and main dish.