Frank Ernhart

This recipe was created when searching for relatively low-fat blackberry shortcake that could be made quickly from scratch. The base recipe called for use of sugar for sweetener, and butter for shortening. I substituted sweet leaf Stevia for the sweetener. and olive oil for the shortening. This cuts the calories and the usual problems sugar creates in some people's diets. I like butter but most nutritionists would probably applaud the switch to olive oil.

This delicious dark meat chicken dish is a hybrid between the French clafoutis and the Italian pizza. To prepare this dish, part of the batter is "set" in the bottom of a casserole, then the other ingredients and the rest of the batter are added. The batter is made in a blender in 1 minute. The rest of the prep is mostly oven time (45 minutes to 1 hour) The result is a hot yummy dish that resembles a cobbler in appearance.

This recipe was created when searching for a relatively low fat dip recipe for veggies (like raw celery or carrot sticks, raw broccoli or cauliflower pieces, or other forms of raw veggies that have been cut to a form that can be easily dipped.) Although everyone seems to think dipping raw veggies into a dip then eating is healthy thing, it may not be as healthy as you think, because of the loads of calories and fats in some of the commercially prepared dips

Most people remember the wonderful stuffing from their grandmother's turkey at Thanksgiving. Whether it was the bread stuffing spiced with sage or one with the wonderful added flavor of oysters, it was a real comfort food. These days you can buy stuffing mix in a box that you can make on the stove top. It sounds great for busy people, but if you are health conscious and like to read the labels so you know what you are poking down your neck, you should take a second look.

Kielbasa or Italian sausage will add a wonderful blend of spicy goodness to this baked chicken breast recipe. All the flavors from the sausage blend with the flavor of the chicken. Since the sausage is already seasoned you don't really need much more seasoning but cayenne pepper gives this dish a little heat boost. You could use boiled ham in place of the sausage, but since ham is usually not seasoned as much as sausage, you might need to add a little extra sage and salt and pepper.

Another comfort food I remember from my youth is a barley soup or stew my mother used to make. Back in the 30's and 40s many electric stoves had a deep well cooker that made the soups, stew, beans. I remember the great taste her recipe gave.