Southwest BBQ Chicken Pizza Recipe

Two weeks ago, I helped the California Lavash team shoot photos of their new line of products. We spent two days cooking, chatting, foodstyling, taking photos and of course, eating. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well.

Here's one of my favorite dishes from the shoot: Southwestern chicken pizza. It takes no more than 15 minutes to prepare and it is oh, so good. All you need is delicious California Lavash naan, BBQ sauce, roasted chicken, corn salad, onions and a blend of Monterey Jack cheese and cheddar cheese. I replicated the same pizza for the vegetarians in my family by substituting black beans for the chicken. It's that easy!

Smoked Duck and Fig Tartine Recipe

“Tartine” is just a fancy word for an open-faced sandwich, using a single slice of bread with several ingredients on top. Growing up, my favorite was a tartine au Nutella, which as the name implies is a slice of bread slathered with the famous hazelnut chocolate spread.

Tartines can of course be savory, and today’s recipe combines, some of my favorite and most decadent ingredients. Fresh figs and red onions from our garden, sinful brie cheese, smoked duck, homemade mayonnaise and pistachios are all irresistible in their own right, and when layered together over a toasted naan, turn any meal into an unforgettable memory. This tartine hits every note; it's sweet, smoky and extraordinarily succulent.

This may be too expensive to be worth serving at a large party. So if you plan to make these appetizers for a group, you might want to substitute another kind of meat in place of the smoked duck.