Welcome Back, Cotter!

I know I have been gone for a while. But those that are my Facebook friends know that I'm still around in some sort of cyberspace. True, most of the time I am bitching much more than I'm cooking, but the roots, the desire, still exist inside me, though dormant at times. I'm cooking again. Not that often, and not always that good, but we need money, we need to stop eating out, so I need to cook more often now. I have to push aside my laziness in going to the grocery store after work, when all I want to do is collapse on the couch.

It's getting warmer now. Something is stirring inside me, a new fervor to cook and discover and rise and fall. To cook, perchance to scheme.

The last three days I've cooked a derivative out of a derivative. It all started with an idea. We had chicken in the freezer - a triumph - and we hadn't had 'spanish chicken' in a while. Chicken poached in white wine, garlic and pimenton... Cooked till the liquid is reduced down to a sauce and the chicken is unbelievably flavored. I did an OK job of it one night while Rafa was out. Since he wasn't around to eat with me, I had a couple of filets leftover. Of course, the flavor is enhanced the next day and the day after that. I took full advantage of that.

I made pizza dough, using my favorite recipe. I added Maria's fabulous 'pasta spice' from Norway in the dough itself. The sauce I used for the pizza wasn't homemade - but I've made homemade before, and it has rocked, so I didn't feel too guilty about cheating. I topped the pizza with mozzarella and the chicken sliced into bite size pieces. It was delicious!!!!

And the next day, having some cheese leftover and remembering the puff pastry in the freezer, I made miniature puff pastry pizza pockets, filled with more chicken, cheese and sauce. I glazed the top of the pastry with olive oil mixed with more of Maria's spice, for added color and flavor. Fabulous snack....

On this lazy Memorial Day, I had a glance at some of my favorite books.... Francesca sent me a smaller version of the 'blue book', which has some lovely couscous salads in there. I don't have a patio or a bbq party invitation in the near future, but that doesn't mean I'm not making these soon, I hope. So watch this space.