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 Click here to I recently saw a delicious dessert in The New York Times for an easy to make Lemon Cheesecake Tart by Yossy Arefi. I thought this would be a lovely dessert for Easter. You’ll need a pan with a removable bottom, I used a fluted tart pan. For the recipe you need flour, sugar, fine salt, lemon zest and juice, unsalted butter, cream cheese and eggs.
 Lately I have been interested in bread baking. I like a crusty loaf with a light and slightly airy crumb structure. A few weeks ago, I viewed a video with Mark Bittman of The New York Times and Jim Lahey, of Sullivan Street Bakery, where Mr. Lahey demonstrated his no knead bread recipe. It looked very easy; so, I gave it a go. For his recipe you’ll need all-purpose flour or bread flour, instant yeast, kosher salt and cornmeal.
If you watch the video with Jim and Mark, you’ll notice that Jim starts with 3 cups of all-purpose flour and 1-1/4 teaspoon of salt. In the adapted version by Mark Bittman, his recipe uses 3-1/3 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of salt, however, I followed the recipe from the video. In the video, after mixing the dough by hand, you’ll see some oil has been added to the bowl; I didn’t notice this part earlier. Jim Lahey baked his bread in LeCreuset Dutch Oven, I used a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven.
 A few weeks ago on public broadcasting, 177 Milk Street aired an episode on focaccia. What is focaccia? In Italy it’s considered a street food, a flat bread made with a dough similar to pizza. Focaccia can either be sweet or savory. The version Milk Street demonstrated was savory. The focaccia was topped with green Castelvetrano and grape tomatoes. The dough has a high ratio of water to flour, which makes the focaccia light and airy.
For the recipe you will need bread flour, yeast, granulated sugar, water, olive oil, grape tomatoes, Castelvetrano olives, dried oregano, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. You will also need an extra-large bowl in which the dough will rise.
 Can you believe it, Thanksgiving is 26 days away! I’ve been digging through my recipe files to come up with a menu. This year I’ve been blessed with both my son and daughter coming to dinner with their families. We haven’t had a holiday with both children together in a long time.
Recently, I found a recipe on The New York Times Cooking webpage for Apple Crumb Crostata. Who can resist a baked good with a crumb topping, I know I can’t. The recipe is by famed pastry chef, Claudia Fleming, formerly of Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan. 
I miss Medusa Stone Fired Pizza in Asbury Park. While they had their standard pizza offerings, it was their seasonal pizzas that really really appealed to me. Recently my son-law-sent me a recipe from the website “The Pioneer Woman” for White Pizza with Butternut Squash and Prosciutto. Occasionally I enjoy eating something other than a pizza with red sauce and mozzarella. This savory pie sounded very appealing and takes advantage of the new crop of squash.
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