Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

 

 
Michelle of bleeding espresso, Sara of Ms. Adventures In Italy and Jenn of The Leftover Queen are hosting the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest.

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (via FirstGiving.org)

and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;

OR

2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

AND

3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you've made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.

We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:

1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.
———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.
 
Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and help spread the word!
 
So without further ado, here is an "O" recipe for CARAMELIZED ONION TOASTS that I have adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe. I made it for two separate dinner parties over the weekend and it was devoured by young and old alike on both nights!
 
4 T unsalted butter
2 large onions, sliced
3 anchovy halves, chopped (I use anchovy paste, 1.5 t)
2 t chopped fresh thyme
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 baguette (mine was quite long and I only needed half each night)
1/3 c pitted kalamata olives
extra butter, softened for spreading on the bread
extra virgin olive oil
Parmigiano Reggiano
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
 
Heat 4T butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, anchovy paste, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until the onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
 
With a serrated knife shave off the top and bottom of the baguette so it will lie flat, cut off the ends and slice the loaf in half lengthwise. Spread cut side with softened butter.
 
Spread the caramelized onions over the loaves, garnish with the olives, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes until the bread is crispy around the edges. Sprinkle with the parmigiano, cut into pieces and serve.