They prepared several delicious dishes for the evening, but these Eggplant Cakes in a Tomato Pesto Sauce were my favourite. You can serve this recipe as an appetizer, the first course for a dinner party or even at lunchtime with a green salad. Think of this as a savoury cake. Once the eggplant is cooked, simply combine with the rest of the ingredients and bake. The dish can be served with the pesto sauce (below), a tomato sauce or combine the two for a rich flavour experience.

Marseille Fish Soup – Soupe de Poissons You will want to make a big batch and freeze what you don’t eat. Making fish soup at home can be a very messy, labor-intensive process.

The pink colour for the waffles is healthy it comes from beets, which also adds a lovely, subtle flavour. Choose sandwich fillings to suit your tastes – vegetarian, meat lovers, grilled veggies, basil pesto, ricotta or goat cheese and few greens.

Ramp Pasta Made like Pate Nicoise: In Nice, they often make green gnocchi (Pate Nicoise) that simmers in the broth for the last 30 minutes. This year I tried something new, I made a classic Pate Nicoise (see recipe at the bottom), using wild ramps in place of the more traditional Swiss chard, and the results were stunning.

Admittedly, not everyone can manage a weekday dinner party with an hour (maximum) to prepare the meal before your guests arrive, but I like that sort of challenge. However, to be able to pull it off, you need to be organized. After many years of entertaining, there are several tips …

The good news is now many farmer’s markets like the one close to us in Tuscon have wonderful farm-raised birds. Enjoy this recipe for roast pheasant with a tasty orange and marsala sauce.

For this recipe, the potatoes are lightly crushed rather than mashed.  Enjoy crushed black truffle mash potatoes with shellfish or beef.

This pasta dish – saffron spaghetti with buttery scallops – was created out of what I found in Susan and Towny’s fridge when we visited recently. Now in fairness, she had some lovely East Coast scallops on hand, but it was all about the butter.

Spring Menu from Provence As we transition into Spring in Provence, I like to add both ginger and lemon to my recipes, for a zingy spice and natural acidity that will add brightness to our dishes. As I depart from the heavier winter soups and daubes, I enjoy making lighter, brighter dishes to …

The beautiful thing about eggs is you can eat them for any meal – breakfast, lunch or dinner. Egg dishes are generally quick to make, like this Mushroom and Truffle Omelette recipe.