My idea of a perfect pizza is a crispy, but chewy toothsome crust covered in fresh, bright crunchy toppings. Honestly, I can’t create a summer menu without a pizza course! But that is really almost true year-round. I challenge myself to keep it new and different, despite that I have made countless pizzas in every variation you can imagine from different crusts to unusual toppings. Lately I have been using artSAVOR blends to create more subtle and unexpected flavors. As pleasant evenings abound during the summer in Southern California, I am using the outdoor grill as often as possible. This incredibly simple and rustic pizza benefits from the summer herb garden plus artSAVOR 30 to elevate four kinds of cheese melted into deliciousness on the artisan crust topped with crunchy summer vegetables. This is all the best of summer brought together in a pizza!

I fell in love with summer rolls many years ago at a small Vietnamese restaurant. Light, fresh, healthy, versatile so and easy to make, they remind me of a very simple Persian appetizer called “Noon o Sabzi” (bread and greens). This Persian treat is a platter of fresh herbs, peppery greens, radishes, onion and cheese served with thin lavash bread. The diner chooses a selection of herbs to roll in the lavash like a summer roll. My shrimp and vegetable summer rolls add the perfect fresh starter to my summery menu. I love creating with rice papers as they provide a perfect background to deliver everything from beef, seafood, poultry to vegetarian. For this recipe I am using artSAVOR 75 for the dip to creating all many levels of flavor deliver savory deliciousness in every bite.

It is so exhilarating to live a life that frees your mind from limitations and rules when exercising creativity. I respect and honor important rules and traditions, but when it comes to creating in my culinary atelier, my “kitchen”, it is a matter of not feeling restricted to what everyone else does. You would be very surprised if you knew how far from my original idea for this recipe ended.

I had thought to use artSAVOR 50 to season the chicken artSAVOR 10 for the vegetables and bread. Somehow to my surprise, I was out of both and redirected to artSAVOR 40 and artSAVOR 30 respectively. This launched a pantry purge which I do from time to time to toss things past their “use by” date. I found a bottle of Persian pickled lime that I had completely forgotten. Then my favorite question popped into my head, “What if?” The rest is history. The time from start to service was about an hour.

From a simple three ingredient to complex layers of many ingredients, pizza is staple appetizer on my menus. I have lost count of the dozens of variations I have created over the years. I cannot even count how many styles and varieties of pizzas I have made over the years. I wish I had written some notes. The good news is the varieties are endless and fun. Pizza is so versatile that it can serve as a light amuse bouche to a hearty main course. Choosing from a selection of fresh herbs, to the varied dried herbal flavors found in every artSAVOR provides nearly endless possibilities to build flavor. For this is so much fun! The dried leek, dill, marjoram and cilantro in artSAVOR 90 adds amazing depth to this recipe. The bacon and the sunny side up eggs are both optional if you want to keep this very herbaceous and simple.

There are times when elegant and sophisticated does not required complicated preparations. This gorgeous seafood cocktail is easy and requires minimal fuss, yet has my creative touch. Boiled shrimp and lobster with their buttery flavor and texture call for paring with complimentary dipping sauces that deliver layers of flavor – tanginess, citrusy, sweet, sour, umami, and even a bit smoky. My artSAVOR 75 vinaigrette and store bought Cocktail Sauce (I prefer Whole Foods 365 or Trader Joes) mixed with artSAVOR 75 are the answer to that call, delivering all those flavors to make your bite a celebration.

To enhance the buttery luscious texture of the monster crab legs, I set out bowls of melted butter, lemon juice, artSAVOR enhanced cocktail and vinaigrette sauces. The simple addition of artSAVOR 75 to a store bought cocktail sauce or vinaigrette will elevate this seafood platter to new and delicious heights!

A veritable symphony of flavors, – sweet, sour, citrusy, tangy, bitter, nutty, and salty – this simple orange salad is a prelude to my Mediterranean inspired dinner. You will revel in the simplicity of this refreshing alternative to plain green salad. Orange slices arranged on a bed of slightly bitter curly frisée topped with creamy, tangy goat cheese and slivered pistachios. This summery salad is so easy. All you need is to drizzle my artSAVOR 75 Champagne vinaigrette for the crowning crescendo to this savory concerto.

When I am creating flavor in a specific dish or developing a blend, much like a perfumer creating a fragrance with top, heart and base notes, I have a range of savory ingredients that I use to create unique and compelling flavors. I always keep in mind the existing notes consider the main ingredient in a dish which it is important to understand whether beef, salmon, lamb or even the lowly tomato. It provides the melody line of my flavor concerto which I then accentuate by using herbs and a few spices to develop layers of tangy, citrusy, sour, umami and even a bit smoky notes to tease and thrill the palate. This process while not rote, is instinctive for me as I think about an ingredient like beef skirt steak.

I chose artSAVOR 30 as the perfect blend to at accentuate the skirt steak with the addition of one of my favorite spices, Sumac. It is already in the blend, but I have added more to the rub to add tart, citrusy almost lemon peppery heart notes to the preparation. Bright deep red Sumac berries come from an evergreen bush indigenous to the Middle East but grows around the world. Tart, sour and fruity, sumac like salt, brings out the flavor in food, marinades, dressings, meat, rice dishes and kabob. Ground sumac is commonly found on the table in a shaker like salt and pepper and a key ingredient in many Middle Eastern spice blends. I think you will fall in love with sumac and with this delicious skirt steak preparation.