I am cutting back a bit on my whole wheat craze by using less whole wheat flour and more unbleached all purpose flour in my baking. To be honest, the difference is noticeable.

For this pizza, I altered my Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe just a little and I think I prefer it this way. Click on my whole wheat pizza crust link to follow the recipe. I made the following change with the flour: 2 cups unbleached white flour, 1.5 cups whole wheat flour.

Here are my toppings:

• roasted red pepper
• sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
• roasted yellow tomatoes
• roasted garlic
• 1 cipollini onion, sliced into slivers, sauteed in olive oil until golden and then tossed in a little balsamic vinegar
• fresh mozzarella cheese

And, of course, freshly grated parmesan and wine (I had an Oregon Pinot Noir).

Enjoy.

I love baking blue corn bread, and now that I no longer bake with packaged butter, I am in the process of an experiment where I remake all of my baked dishes with fresh, homemade butter. I adapted my Chunky Corn Bread recipe for fresh butter, and, guess what? It turned out fantastic! (If I may say so myself…)

For this month’s Taste and Create, I was paired with Padmajha from Seduce Your Tastebuds. She is a fantastic cook with recipes that go way beyond my perceived comfort zone in the kitchen. Luckily, living here in Boulder, CO, I was able to rely on my friends at Savory Spice Shop to buy some fresh, high quality Fenugreek Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Curry Leaves, and Asafetida. With excellent ingredients, this dish turned out to be quite easy and incredibly delicious.

Here is the link to Padmajha’s recipe.

Here is what I did-

Ingredients:

• 5 Yukon Gold Potatoes (I found some local organic potatoes at Whole Foods)
• 1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes, separated from their juices (It is not the season for fresh tomatoes, so I will repeat this dish once Colorado’s growing season is in full bloom)
• 1 TB olive oil
• a pinch of asafetida
• 1 TB cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 4 dried thai chilies
• 1 TB grated ginger
• 6-8 curry leaves
• 1 cup water
• sea salt

This meal is Maple Shallot Salmon, brown rice with a Maple Shallot Dressing, and parmesan peas (a personal favorite of mine). I marinated the Salmon for 30 minutes prior to baking it at 375 for 20 or so minutes. I also decided to make plain brown basmati rice so I could use whatever was left over to make home made rice milk. So, I made a dressing to pour over the baked fish and cooked rice. Finally, my favorite veggie dish- boiled peas in freshly grated parmesan cheese. I could eat these peas every day.

Salmon Marinade Ingredients:

• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 TB freshly grated ginger
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB water
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper (which you can find at Savory Spice Shop)
• 2 green onions, chopped

I prepared the marinade in a small bowl and poured it evenly over my cold-water-washed, dried, and de-boned salmon that was sitting on a foil-covered flat baking tray. I preheated the oven to 375 and let the salmon soak in some flavors. Right before it went in the oven, I poured the juice of 1/2 lemon on top.

Meanwhile, I prepared some brown basmati rice, which took 45 minutes or so. I usually add something to flavor the rice as it cooks, but, making rice milk with the leftover rice prohibited that. Instead, I made this dressing to drizzle over the meal.

Maple Shallot Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB maple syrup
• 1 TB toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 TB dried ginger (fresh will work, of course. Just use a little less than dried.)
• 1 TB dried shallots (I bought mine, like ALL of my spices, from Savory Spice Shop)
• 1 green onion, chopped
• juice from 1/2 lime