Banana Yeast dough Cakes

I often end up with overripe bananas, that usually find their way into one-bowl type of cakes. As this time I was planning on making yeast dough roulades, I’ve decided to see how they would work in this type of dough.

Caponata

When I’ve found some ripe tomatoes, eggplants and peppers at the farm stand, I’ve decided it’s time to prepare a nice batch of Caponata – a tasty sweet and sour Sicilian eggplant dish.
Caponata is wonderful as a side dish, especially with fish and seafood, but also with chicken and other meats. It is also wonderful as a topping for Crostini, and can also be served as a dip, with crackers or toasted points.

Oats, Raisins and Cranberries Scones

Scones are such tasty and easy to make pastries, that whenever I bake them, I’m surprised I don’t bake them more often. These crumbly and not too sweet mini cakes, are wonderful when served fresh from the oven, with butter and jam.

Cod with Tomato-Saffron Sauce

When I saw this fresh wild Cod at the store, I knew it would benefit from quick steaming. Yet, I also knew its’ mild taste would benefit from a somewhat assertive flavoring.

Halibut with Lightly Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes and Raisins

I was fortunate enough to get some beautiful wild Halibut, and got curious about the origin of its name. At least according to Wikipedia “the name is derived from haly (holy) and butt (flat fish), for its popularity on Catholic holy days”. What a combination of the high and the low! Who knew?

Holy or not, I’ve decided to pair the fish with a favorite ingredient of mine – caramelized onions.

Colorful Couscous, Lentils and Raisins Salad

Preparing traditional couscous from scratch is a labor intensive task; it requires mixing semolina with oil and water, passing it through a sieve, steaming it in a special pot, mixing it again, and repeating the process once or twice more… No wonder that up until modern times, when the instant couscous was created, this great grain product was not as popular as it is today.

Chicken with caramelized onions and raisins

This dish requires very few ingredients, yet the result is just mouthwatering.