Twice Baked Cherry Pie

        To be honest with you, Andrew is a superb baker with one tiny exception.  His cookies are crazy good.  His cupcakes, nirvana.  His cakes are sensational and he sends everyone into the stratosphere with most everything else he bakes.  But…he’s never been really comfortable making pie crust.  That is until this superb method appeared in Melissa Clark’s “A Good Appetite” column in the New York Times.  Now we love Melissa because she inspires us in everything she does.  She also tells it like it is:  Fruit pies, she says, suffer from dough that sometimes doesn’t even appear to have been baked and can be soggy, unappetizing affairs. 

The Essential Cherry Pitter from Williams-Sonoma

       

Scallop Saltimbocca

        When I lived in Rome, Saltimbocca was an introduction to the cuisine of the city itself.   “Saltimbocca alla Romana” featured veal, topped with Prosciutto and Sage in a Marsala and butter sauce.   It was very good and, because of its ingredients, more expensive than most entrees at the trattorias where we ate as students.  It was, therefore, a treat reserved for the days right after our allowances arrived from home.  

       Saltimbocca means “jump in the mouth” although I could never figure out if that was because the taste ‘jumped’ in your mouth or because the dish was so delicious, you literally couldn’t wait to eat it.  Either way, I love Saltimbocca.  So the other day, when I was looking for something quick and easy to cook, I gravitated to a Tyler Florence recipe (again) that featured Scallops, instead of veal, and a lemon, olive oil and butter sauce in lieu of the Marsala and butter sauce of my student days.  It is well worth repeating here.