at home with ann

These are the best green beans.  The Best.  They are so good they make you excited about green beans.  Plus, they only take a few minutes to put together.  If you serve them with a very simple sauteed fish, like I did here, the whole meal takes about 10 minutes.  You could easily use this sauce with other vegetables, it would be delicious with asparagus. These measurements are approximate, I usually just throw all the ingredients in a bowl, so adjust to taste. Lemon Garlic Green Beans 4 cups green beans 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 garlic clove, grated or finely minced 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2-4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese Boil or steam beans until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Immediately immerse beans in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and maintain their bright green color. In a large bowl, mix together lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add in green beans a...

Like hummus, but not hummus.  If, like Colin, Tuscan Mashed Chickpeas are too much of a mouthful for you, you can gesture wildly and say, "hummah, hummah."  Sometimes in the afternoons I turn on the Food Network while I make dinner.  Barefoot Contessa is on at 4:30 and Colin says "Iinaaaah."  My poor child is growing up without Sesame Street and instead will be saying things like, "how easy is that?" The recipe says to serve this warm, but we also enjoyed it cold and at room temperature.  Tuscan Mashed Chickpeas original recipe from Barefoot Contessa 2 (15.5-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup chicken broth 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for serving 2 ripe medium-size tomatoes, seeded and small-diced (or about half a pint of grape tomatoes) 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice Kosher salt and freshly ground black ...

I think I've mentioned before that we went to the Amalfi Coast in Italy for our honeymoon.  Jon's brothers and sister gave us the extremely creative and generous gift of a day at Mamma Agata's Cooking School .  An experience unlike any other, we spent the entire day cooking, drinking wine, walking through their hillside gardens, and eating a gourmet meal.  At the end of the day, we were given a cookbook of the recipes we made, to recreate at home.  One of our favorite dishes was the Eggplant Parmesan.  While I will never find ingredients parallel to hers (tomatoes warmed in the sun on the Italian coast are spectacular), I have modified the recipe a bit to make it my own. Eggplant Parmesan inspired by Mamma Agata Ingredients: 2-3 medium eggplants (or 5-6 small) kosher salt 14 or 28 oz can crushed tomatoes garlic basil and oregano 8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 8 oz. smoked gouda, sliced parmesan cheese, for grating 1. Peel the eggplant into ...