Food Like That: Recipes your mouth will like

This is a very simple recipe that barely deserves a write up. However, it WAS delicious.

This is called "Opa's" because my dad has made this (or something similar to it) for a long time. The three basic ingredients always remain the same: sauted squid, tomatoes, and some sort of meat. Opa usually uses some nice thick cut bacon or some German speck.

I often make eggplant slices baked in the oven, and when I saw these "baby" eggplants, I thought they would be good whole. And they are! Here's a page with a bunch of different kinds of eggplants pictured: http://www.evergreenseeds.com/oreg.html

According to the "Soup Bible" this version of a Tuscan Bean Soup, a One-Pot-Meal that uses cannellini beans, leeks, cabbage and good olive oil, tastes even better when it's reheated.

Broccoli, chicken or vegetable stock, a few slices of toasted bread, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper is all you need to make this tasty recipe from the "Soup Bible". (Broccoli grows abundantly around Rome and is served in this soup with garlic toasts.)

This recipe came from Isa Duffek (Bowen Islander, originally from Austria). I substituted Yukon Gold potatoes for the little red potatoes. Next time I would use more Rosemary, but I am still trying to nurture the little offshoot from the big Rosemary bush that didn't survive the last winter, so Rosemary gets used sparingly for now.

Not at all like "mashed" potatoes. Tender white or red potatoes that are boiled, then crushed in a baking pan and finished in the oven.

This sweet, sour and smokey BBQ sauce is distantly related to Memphis-style BBQ sauces. Like them, it is vinegary and tomato-based; unlike them, it has a more complex flavor from the addition of cinnamon, maple syrup and smoked chipotle peppers (which also help give the sauce a moderate kick.) The sauce was created for use with goat ribs, but should suit any meat that is usually barbecued.

A random night's meatloaf that turned out tasty

An appetizer, with scampis in a delicous garlic cream sauce.