It had never occurred to me to make a mousse out of cheese until I read about this Parmesan Mousse with Pears in Red Wine Sauce that Ilva posted over at Lucullian Delights.

Ilva found the recipe in a magazine and reduced the proportion of mousse to fruit as the Parmesan flavor is so strong. I too found the Parmesan flavor to be quite strong and rich, so I have doubled the fruit and added some spicy pecans for a textural contrast in my version. This is a delicious unique dessert, perfect for anyone who finds the best dessert to be a nice wedge of cheese.

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I don’t recall when I first combined kale & capers, but it is certainly a winning combination. The salty brine of the capers and the thick texture of the kale are reminiscent of seaweed. Paired with creamy white beans, this is a delicious, healthy, quick and easy meal that I make again and again. I usually use dry navy beans, this time I tried it with a can of butter beans that had been sitting in the cupboard, and I think it turned out even better than usual with the larger soft beans. I imagine that black-eyed peas would work well too.

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A few weeks ago I made the Crisp Polenta Cake with Spicy Greens from Joyce Goldstein’s Antipasti. I was really disappointed with the results, the greens weren’t particularly delicious and the texture of the polenta was a bit difficult to swallow. The recipe is meant to serve 8-12 people (and I halved it), but the two of us finished off all the greens and had tons of the polenta cake leftover

The next day I dug around in the fridge and came up with some left over garlic scape pesto and a wedge of Parmesan. The oils from the pesto seeped into the top layer of the polenta, and the second baking made the polenta just that much crisper. Topped with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan, the leftovers were much easier to swallow.

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I saw these gorgeous purple speckled beans at the farmer’s market last week and had to try them. The vendor said they were Dragon Tongue beans and that just made them even more appealing. I bought a pound and researched them when I got home, not much came up - I learned that they taste like a spicier version of the more common green bean, and I was disappointed to read that they lose their purple flecks when cooked.

I decided to make a crunchy butter to cook them in with ingredients I had on hand - a shallot, a handful of almonds, and a bit of lemon juice.

The citrus kept the taste light and allowed the subtle spiciness of the beans to come through. I was pleasantly surprised to see that while the pods did in fact lose their unique color with cooking, the individual beans remained purple, making a visually unique and delicious side dish..

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I’m always disappointed when French Onion Soup is on the menu at restaurants and I can’t have it because it’s made with beef broth, so whenever I see a unique variation on the recipe I save it. I have several soup versions to try, but these dumplings posted by Kerry over at Serious Eats caught my eye as I had a half packet of wonton wrappers that needed to be used up.

I made a vegetarian version of the recipe, using what ingredients I had on hand, and these dumplings were so rich and delicious, I made them again to finish off the wonton wrappers a few days later. I substituted Jack Daniels for the cognac the first time, and dark rum the second. Both substitutions worked well, creating a lovely rich broth.

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I always end up with a nearly full packet of fresh rosemary kicking around in my produce drawer for months on end as unlike other fresh herbs, it just drys out instead of going bad & I rarely make recipes that call for it.

So when I came across Vera’s recipe for Yogurt Panna Cotta with Rosemary Cornmeal Cookies over at Baking Obsession, I made sure to save the recipe for the cookies, and they quickly floated to the top of my dessert recipes to try (quite a large collection as we rarely eat dessert).

Of course I made a few modifications, Vera’s recipe claims to make 5 1/2 dozen cookies and that would be way too many for us to handle, so I halved it and still wondered how I was going to fit them all on my one cookie sheet. Somehow I came out with 14 cookies, which was a relief & the perfect amount for us and our guests. I also made these cookies gluten free by substituting in quinoa flour and I used less sugar.

They came out wonderful with a delicious unique flavor. Next time I think I’ll attempt a zabaione with them.

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Quick tip - if a recipe calls for applesauce (not something I generally keep in my pantry), it’s fast and easy to make it from scratch.

To make one cup of applesauce simply peel and core two apples. Place in a pot with an inch of water covering the bottom. Cover the pot and heat on high. Once the water is at a strong boil, reduce the heat to medium high. When the apples are completely soft (approximately 20 minutes from start to finish I think, I wasn’t paying a ton of attention) drain them, reserving the water, and mash them using a ricer (I’m sure just mashing them with a fork or in a blender would have decent results as well). Add cinnamon and/or sugar if desired, use the reserved water to thin out the consistency if necessary - I did neither.

I used the applesauce to make these Facon, Apple & Cheddar Fritters, if you use a soy based facon they just happen to be gluten free.

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