Richard Lipton

Pesto Cheesecake
(Serves 18)
This is a great starter for a gathering of friends and family for a tailgate party or any other occasion.

1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 dl) Romano cheese
2, 8 oz (2, 240 g) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 dl) ricotta
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup (1 dl) pesto *
Fresh Basil

Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C). Rub 1 tablespoon butter over sides and bottom of springform pan. Mix breadcrumbs with 2 tablespoons Romano cheese and coat pan with the breadcrumb mixture. Beat cream cheese, ricotta, remaining Romano cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper until light and airy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing thoroughly after each. Transfer half of the mixture into a separate bowl. Mix pesto sauce into remaining half and pour into springform pan. Smooth over the top and pour remaining mixture on top, gently, smoothing it over.

Bake in oven 45 minutes or until center no longer moves when shaken Place an on top of stove to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate over night, covered with plastic wrap. Run knife around the edges of the pan to loosen and then release the sides of the springform pan. Transfer to platter and spread crackers around the sides, garnishing with fresh basil leaves, if desired. Serve immediately. Serves 18

*Pesto Sauce

1 pound fresh Basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
4 cloves garlic
Olive oil as needed for sauce consistency
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients except olive oil in food processor. Blend until chopped finely. While
blending, add olive oil in steady stream until sauce consistency is reached. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later use.

Gorgonzola Tart
(Serves 8-10)
This tart can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve. A great starter or good accompanied with sliced vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, celery and carrots, small rounds of French bread or crackers.

3 lbs (1-½ kg) cream cheese, softened
1 lb (480 g) marscapone cheese, softened
1 lb (480 g) gorgonzola, softened
8 oz (240 g) proscuitto, chopped
1 cup (2 dl) leeks, diced
2/3 cup 1-1/3 dl) heavy cream
8 whole eggs
½ tsp Tabasco sauce
Black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp ground sage
Romano cheese, grated
Fresh bread crumbs

Sauté proscuitto, leeks, and sage to soften in 1 tablespoon butter. Pulse blend all cheeses in blender till mixed well. Add cream, eggs, and Tabasco sauce. Pulse blend in leek mixture until smooth. Season with pepper to taste. Place in cake pans, which have been buttered and sprinkled with equal parts Romano cheese and breadcrumbs.

Bake in water bath at 300° F (150° C for 50 minutes. Turn off oven and leave in oven 40 minutes longer. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate overnight. Remove from pan, slice and serve with crackers.

Foccacia (This is a tasty accompaniment to any Italian meal.)

2 cups (4 dl) high gluten bread flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 oz (15 g) Salt
3/4 oz ( 22 g) sugar
Basil, Oregano, and Thyme
1 oz (25-30 g) Yeast
1 quart (4 cups / 8 dl / 2 liters) warm water
Olive oil as needed

Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Place yeast in warm water and allow to become active (you will see air bubbles). Add just enough yeast water to make an elastic, non-sticky dough, adding more all-purpose flour as needed. Knead the dough 2 minutes and allow to rest, cover with a dry towel until doubled in size. Knead 30 seconds and place on olive oil rubbed baking sheet. Rub olive oil on top of bread. Shape to form, pressing to achieve a uniform dough. Allow to rise 30 minutes and bake in the oven at 350° F (180° C) until golden brown on top.

Basic Alfredo Sauce (A basic sauce to liven up and flavor the Italian meal.)
1 quart ( 4 Cups / 32 fl oz / 8 dl / 2 liters) heavy whipping cream
1/2 Cup (1 dl) Parmesan cheese, shredded
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 Cup chopped garlic
1/2 tsp olive oil

Sauté garlic in olive oil for 1-2 minutes over high heat. Reduce heat to low and add heavy cream, stirring often, until it simmers. Continue to simmer over low heat, stirring often until reduced to sauce consistency, 25-30 minutes maximum. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add cheese and stir briskly to mix well. Remove from heat and serve immediately, refrigerate for later use or add other ingredients for different tastes. Have fun and let your imagination run wild.

The third of the Italian "mother sauces" takes the longest to make. Marinara sauce is the most widely known, the healthiest, and the most versatile. Reducing this sauce over a simmer is the key, as you don't want the sauce to reduce too fast and become a paste and you don't want to give this sauce a chance to burn on the bottom (hence the stirring VERY often). Nutritionally speaking, tomatoes have a high concentration of acid, making them anti-oxidants and good for lowering cholesterol, burning fat, and preventing cancer (this week anyway). Who knows? Next week another scientific study could come out saying tomatoes are the fruits of all evils, :-) but for now they are OK.

Everyone has his/her own idea about Marinara, thinking that what comes out of the jar is what it should taste like. But what is not realized is that Marinara is the base for spaghetti sauce, puttanesca sauce, Bolognese sauce, and any and all other Italian tomato-based sauces. When the ingredients change, the flavor and the name change.

The recipes listed give you the ideal marinara sauce, a use for it (besides on your pasta), and the original "tool" used with which to eat these "mother" sauces. As mentioned in my article earlier, Marco Polo brought what we now consider pasta from China. Before that, freshly baked bread was eaten with these sauces.

Take your pesto and brush it on the Foccacia dough before it goes in the oven. The same can be done with Marinara Sauce. Slice fresh tomatoes, place whole basil leaves on top, and sprinkle some parmesan cheese and enjoy a Foccacia Pizza. However you enjoy your sauce is up to you; just remember, when you make spaghetti and meat sauce, you are enjoying a Chinese-Italian-American dish and give thanks to the fusion that makes cooking fun to experiment with. These three cuisines have come together over the centuries to our table. Imagine what tomorrow could bring. Bon Appetit

Marinara Sauce
1, No. 10 can tomato sauce *1
2 pounds fresh basil, chiffonade cut *2
3 yellow onions, diced
1 pound garlic, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil

Sauté onions in 2 tbsp. olive oil over high heat until translucent. Add garlic and sauté another minute. Add tomato sauce and basil. Reduce heat to simmer, adding salt and pepper to taste. Reduce sauce over simmering heat, stirring often, for 2 hours. Serve with freshly baked foccacia bread or on top of Chicken Parmesan

*1 No. 10 can tomato sauce is equal to 6 lbs 8 oz of sauce or 104 ounces (3 kg 120 g)
*2 fresh basil cut chiffonade - fresh basil, cut in ribbon fashion allows the basil to cook evenly and gives a nice appearance to the finished sauce, rather than having little and big chunks of basil throughout the sauce.

Chicken Parmesan (This recipe is named for the region not for the cheese. )

1 Chicken Breast per person, flattened
(or other chicken parts such as drumsticks, thighs, etc.)
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups (8 dl) Italian breadcrumbs
Oil for frying
Marinara sauce as needed

Dredge chicken breasts in egg and then breadcrumbs. Sauté or deep fry breasts in hot oil until browned on both sides. Place chicken on baking sheet and top with marinara sauce and cheese of choice. Bake in the oven at 350° F (180° C) for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and chicken is done all the way through.

Foccacia
This is a tasty accompaniment to any Italian meal.

2 cups (4 dl) high gluten bread flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 oz (15 g) Salt
3/4 oz ( 22 g) sugar
Basil, Oregano, and Thyme
1 oz (25-30 g) Yeast
1 quart (4 cups / 8 dl / 2 liters) warm water
Olive oil as needed

Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Place yeast in warm water and allow to become active (you will see air bubbles). Add just enough yeast water to make an elastic, non-sticky dough, adding more all-purpose flour as needed. Knead the dough 2 minutes and allow to rest, cover with a dry towel until doubled in size. Knead 30 seconds and place on olive oil rubbed baking sheet. Rub olive oil on top of bread. Shape to form, pressing to achieve a uniform dough. Allow to rise 30 minutes and bake in the oven at 350° F (180° C) until golden brown on top.

Pesto Sauce

Pesto is the simplest of all the sauces, as there is no cooking, reducing, or stirring necessary. The key ingredients are Basil, olive oil, parmesan/Romano cheese, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and pine nuts.

1 pound (16 oz / 454 g) fresh Basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
4 cloves garlic
Olive oil as needed for sauce consistency
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients except olive oil in food processor. Blend until chopped finely. While blending, add olive oil in steady stream until sauce consistency is reached. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later use.

Thai Cooking Class Menu

Lemon Grass Roasted Chicken

1/2 cup Lemon grass, chopped
2 tbsp. shallots, chopped
1 tbsp, garlic, chopped
4 1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. sugar
1 whole chicken, separated in parts
2 tbsp. cilantro
1 tbsp. olive oil

Marinate chicken in first 8 ingredients for 4 hours to overnight. Bake in 350 degree oven 30 minutes. Baste with remaining marinade and top with cilantro and olive oil. Cook 10 minutes longer and serve.

Beef and Vermicelli Soup

4 oz. beef strips
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg
White pepper to taste

For Soup:
2 1/2 cups beef stock
2 oz. cabbage, chopped
2 oz celery, chopped
2 green onions, chopped diagonally
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 oz. Thai vermicelli
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Marinate beef in first 5 ingredients. Heat stock to boiling, reduce to a simmer and add vegetables and sauces. Add marinated beef with marinade. Add cilantro and noodles 10 minutes later. Stir until noodles are al dente. Serve and garnish with green onions, sliced thin, if desired.

Crawfish Spring Rolls

1 head cabbage, chiffonade cut
I yellow onion, julienne
2 lbs. crawfish tail meat, defrosted
2 tbsp. chopped garlic
2 bunches fresh mint, chopped
2 bunches fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp, black pepper
1 tbsp. sesame oil
4 eggs, beaten
Oil for frying
12 sheets Spring Roll Wrappers

Sauté all vegetables until wilted. Add in herbs and taste to adjust seasonings. Brush one sheet with egg wash, fill with 1 oz room temp filling and roll tightly. Deep fry till golden brown and serve. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling

Peanut Sauce

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp. garlic, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. cayenne
Water as needed
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Mix all ingredients together in bowl and adjust seasonings to taste and add water for desired consistency

Pad Thai

8 oz. rice noodles, soaked 30 minutes
8 oz. desired meat, julienne
8 oz shrimp, peel and devein
2 hot chilies, diced, if desired
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp, ginger powder
2 green onions, sliced thin
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp, rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. sesame oil
1 egg, beaten
2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté egg until done and move to the sides of the pan. Add oil, meat, and shrimp and sauté until just done. Add vegetables, herbs, and sauces until just cooked through. Add noodles and stir to mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasonings.