i challenge you

Not so long ago, in an episode of Good Eats , Alton Brown challenged his viewers to scope out foods in our local grocery stores that we've never cooked with before and try them. Feeling inspired by his challenge, I went searching for something new, well, new to me at least. The ingredient I found...mascarpone cheese. I decided on a breakfast for dinner meal that I saw on Giada de Laurentiis' show, Everyday Italian, and made the Breakfast Pizza which uses my not-so-secret ingredient.

A few notes about this recipe:

1. I didn't have a vanilla bean to add to my cinnamon-sugar mix, but I think it still tasted good without it. I do think the vanilla bean would have added another depth of flavor, but who has those on hand?

2. I used whole milk instead of heavy cream to make the mascarpone cheese creamier and easier to work with because that's what I had on hand. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, but I used 3-4 tablespoons before I really felt like I could spread the cheese mixture easily over the pizza crust.

3. The recipe says to put the berries on THEN sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-sugar mix, but doing so makes the berries look dirty. I'd recommend spreading the cheese mixture, then sprinkling with cinnamon-sugar and put the berries on last for a nicer presentation.

We all enjoyed the breakfast pizza. I found it to be a bit heavy with the other things I made from her menu for the meal, but I think it would be nice in a small serving and I may consider making it again someday when there are more people to feed.

So now I want to pass along Alton's challenge to you. Step out of your comfort zone and try a new ingredient. I hope you'll be delighted with your choice.

(And more on the rest of the recipes I tried from that episode of Everyday Italian later this week.)