Caramelized Onion, Fresh Pear, Goat Cheese and Sausage Pizza (Pizza Night!)

I love fruit and cheese plates.  So does my daughter--I still remember when as a kindergartener she ordered one as an appetizer.  So much for encouraging independence!  The bill!
The pairing of fresh pears and goat cheese is classic, and I had so much fun making this pear pizza, but you know there was another half of the pig pear left when I finished.  Since I'd had a hard time deciding between a sweet and a savory base for that pizza, I made the combination again and this time did it savory using a mess of caramelized onions that I'd made in the crock pot.  I also brought in my trusty guest photographer to make artistic 'action' shots.  Because it's Friday Night Pizza Night!

Even though both pizzas had the same type of dough base, and 2 of the same toppings, the results were completely different.  And delicious.  I threw a bit of sausage (from part of a leftover breakfast sausage patty) onto this, but you could leave it off if you desire.  I've loved fruit on savory pizzas since I lived in Germany, and now I'm looking around to see what else I could put on a pizza.  Grapes on a chicken pizza fennel focaccia?  Apples, bacon and cheddar? Peaches and pepperoni? What do you think? Check out my Visual Pizza Recipe Index for all of the pizza doughs, fruit pizzas, meat pizzas, and vegetarian pizzas I share each week on the blog.

Simple Sautéed Chinese Cabbage--Thursday Quick Take

This is a simple dish, true, but feeding the family day after day doesn't have to be elaborate.  Sometimes a simple side is just what's needed.

I love appliances.  I can be gone from the house from 4 to 6:30 pm and still sit down for dinner--including a fresh vegetable from the CSA farm share--at 6:45.
Earlier in the day I'd sautéed some chunks of chicken breast and tossed them into a crock pot along with a bottle of Thai red curry sauce.  I started a pot of brown Basmati rice in the rice cooker. Then I actually turned on the crock pot on to low and left for my chauffeuring duties.  While I was out I was pondering a side.  I could slice up some veggies with dip.  Or reheat the leftover creamed chard.  Then I remembered we'd gotten a Chinese cabbage the day before in the farm share box.  All set!  I got home, preheated the skillet while I was chopping the onions and slicing the cabbage, and we would have sat down to eat 15 minutes later.  We didn't, for another 30 minutes, because my son decided to take the dog for an extra long walk.  At least the dog didn't get loose, like that other time.

Simple Sautéed Chinese Cabbage

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 head Chinese cabbage, sliced into 1/2 inch-ish slices (separate the mostly stem from the mostly leaf)
Crazy Janes Mixed Up Salt (or salt and pepper) to taste
1 Tablespoon butter or cooking oil of your choice

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add a turn of oil.  Sauté the onion 3-5 minutes until it begins to soften.  Add the thicker stems of the cabbage, sauté and additional 5 minutes.  Add in the cabbage leaves and sauté 3-5 minutes until wilted.  Shake a bunch of Crazy Janes over top, and finish by letting a pat of butter melt over the dish.

Beef and Bok Choy Pie

The inspiration for this pie came from my family's love of pasties (the Cornish hand held meat pie) combined with my interest in tourtiere (the Canadian meat pie), coupled with a pile of bok choy from the CSA farm share and a freezer full of cow.  The result is very tasty (there was fighting over the leftovers).  Definitely a keeper.  I bet you could swap the bok choy for Swiss chard, tat soi, collard greens, or kohlrabi.  I stopped short of calling this a pot pie-the filling was moist but not really gravy-like.  If you are not lucky enough to live near a Penzey's, look near the chicken stock/vegetable broth aisle for jars of spoonable soup base.  It really makes the dish.