Thank You, Sara.

I would like to thank Sara, of Sara's Kitchen, for our dinner tonight. Last week, I read in Sara's blog about her braised endive with proscuitto, and thought, "Mmmmm, that sounds really good." So tonight, I'm starting out with my version of endive and proscuitto.

Since there are only two of us here right now, I only used 1 Belgian endive and 1 slice of proscuitto. Because I was out of my homemade chicken consomme (Quel horreur!), I used my homemade veal stock instead.

Instead of slicing the endive in half, I sliced in thirds. For those of you who read the reviews of Sandra Lee's food on Food Network, this is starting to sound a lot like some of them - the ones where the cooks try to make Sandra's recipes edible. But, rest assured, this isn't the case here.

I sauteed the endive pieces in a combination of butter and olive oil until nicely browned.

I placed the sauteed endive slices in a buttered pan, covered them with pieces of proscuitto, and poured the veal stock in the pan. The endive and proscuitto went, covered, into a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I added 1 tablespoon of cream and returned the dish, uncovered, back to the oven for 10 more minutes.

And here's the endive, proscuitto, veal stock, and cream. And I liked it. Very much. Rich ingredients and lovely flavors merged for a stand out dish. Next, I decided to try Sara's Penne with kale and walnuts.

I went out to my garden and picked some kale leaves. Ah ... the luxury of having one's own garden. I must say, I enjoy my fall garden even more than my summer garden. The fall garden lasts longer, I don't need to water, and I don't have to worry so much about pests. But gosh, I do miss my tomatoes!

I sliced a large shallot and sauteed it in butter and olive oil until caramelized.

Then I added my kale to the pan.

On hand, I have walnut oil, salt and pepper, and Parmesan cheese. (Sara's recipe called for ricotta salata, which I can't find down here.)

I used rotini pasta since that was what was on hand, not penne.

After cooking the pasta, I drained it in a colander, saving a little bit of the pasta water to add to the shallots and kale.

I added my rotini to the pan, with a pat of butter, because everything's bettah with buttah.

Previously, I had toasted some walnuts and they were added to the mix.

I cooked off the extra liquid and seasoned with salt and pepper.

After the liquid was cooked off, I drizzled with some walnut oil.

Finally, I sprinkled in Parmesan cheese.

Isn't this pretty?

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Braised endive with proscuitto on the left.

Rotini with kale and walnuts on the right.

The kale/pasta dish.

Endive/proscuitto. Thank you, Sara. Both were delicious. (There's that word again.)

I always love trying something different and getting ideas from other cooks and the fun thing about cooking is you can use the basic guidelines of a recipe and just substitute for the items you don't have or for those you would prefer to substitute. Now, I'm not saying be like Aunt Sandy and use "whatever you have," but use common sense in your substitutions. No penne? Use rotini. Hey, pasta is pretty much pasta, unless you're making your own, then that raises it to an altogether different level and it is sublime. No ricotta salata? Try another cheese. Experiment and substitute. This ain't rocket science. It's cookin'. And it's fun. Or it should be. What it should NOT be is this: Ribeye With Chocolate Spice Sauce. Or this: Grilled New York Strip With Chocolate Merlot Sauce. And thanks to Marilyn of Foodies Untie for helping me find those links, since the Food Network's new and improved website is a bitch to navigate.