this is the same pizza dough recipe as last time – two weeks ago – but a different spin on ingredients. Bleu cheese, red onion, kalamata olives, and a simple tomato sauce. I bought a hunk of NICE bleu cheese from Balducci’s a while ago and i think it is nearly peaked.
To make the sauce, i just opened a can of petit diced tomatoes, added a tablespoon or so dried basil, and garlic powder, and pulse it with our immersion blender. The amount of sauce that you see above turned out to be a bit too much for this thickness of dough. I stretched this dough pretty thin in the middle, and it became a little soggy from the sauce.
Time to stock up on King Arthur Flour! I have decided to join the ranks of other great cooking bloggers and participating in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge. The book by Peter Reinhart is the source for my pizza dough recipe. The photos of his breads in the book are so beautiful, that i had been too intimidated to attempt them. Until now. I look forward to learning more about bread types and making in the upcoming weeks!
The schedule so far is as follows:
- May 18th – Anadama Bread (Anna, Damn It)
- May 24th – Greek Celebration Bread
- May 31th – Bagels (watch out Bodos!)
- June 7th – Rich Man’s Brioche (mmm… butter)
- many more to come!
Out of respect for this wonderful book (and copyright laws) i will not be publishing the bread recipes on my site. SORRY! You may be able to find part of (some of) the recipes on Googlebooks.
I am super excited about the challenge – wish me luck!
Filed under: DINNER | Tags: bread, chickpeas, feta, pasta, spinach, tomatoes, vegetarian
THE PASTA – is a Shape Magazine dish, which i adapted in a few ways.
- 8 oz. farfalle pasta
- 2 T evoo
- 4 C baby spinach
- 1/3 C packed golden raisins (not just for color – the flavor is better)
- 1 3/4 C chickpeas (approx. one can)
- 4 oz. feta cheese (about 1/2 C)
- 1/2 C thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes
- S + P to taste
- chopped walnuts if desired.
- cook the pasta to al dente. drain, drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat.
- while the pasta is still hot, add spinach, tomatoes, chickpeas, and raisins. put the cover back on to help the spinach wilt a little.
- when the pasta has cooled, add the feta and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with walnuts if you like.
THE PULL APARTS – recipe was found on gourmet.com – and they were just as good as i had hoped. Joe observed that they taste a lot like cheeze-its, but have the texture of a bialy.
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon mild honey
- 2/3 cup warm milk (105–115°F), divided
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 Tbsp for sprinkling
- 1 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 t salt
- 3 large eggs
- 4 T unsalted butter, cut into T pieces and softened
- 1 tablespoon water
- Stir together yeast, honey, and 1/3 cup warm milk in mixer bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.Whisk together flour (2 1/2 cups), cheese, and salt, then mix into yeast mixture along with remaining 1/3 cup warm milk at low speed. Increase speed to medium and beat in 2 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until a very soft dough forms, about 3 minutes. Beat in butter, 1 Tbsp at a time, until dough is elastic, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape dough into center of bowl and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp flour. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Punch down dough (do not knead) and turn out onto a floured surface. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a ball by cupping your hand and pushing dough against work surface as you roll in a circular motion. Arrange rolls 1 inch apart in a buttered 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth). Let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and dough fills pan, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
- Whisk together remaining egg with water and brush on tops of rolls. (You will have leftover egg wash.) Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Loosen edges of rolls from pan with a sharp knife and invert rolls onto a rack, then reinvert and cool at least 20 minutes.
not to brag or anything, but there were two things that made this meal good. the guacamole and the gin + tonic. the taco meat was prepared per the back of the McCormick seasoning package. it was good, but nothing i can take credit for.
Guacamole recipe (posted on 090421)
this chicken is sooo good. we found grape tomates on sale at the store yesterday and this recipe was the first thing that we both thought of. the mangos were also on sale (50¢ apiece!) and made a good salad with spinach, feta, and almonds.
Joe is going to KILL me for making two desserts in one day, but i had NO CHOICE. after i made a batch of Bradley muffins this afternoon to cure my chocolate craving, i still had half of a large can of pumpkin left. i also happened to have one can of condensed milk in the pantry (i don’t even know what else to use condensed milk for besides pumpkin pie), and buttermilk leftover in the fridge for the crust. so, what’s a good homemaker to do?
super-easy pie crust:
- 1 c. all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 C buttermilk
- 1/4 C vegetable oil
- measure flour and salt. add milk and oil. stir only until dry ingredients are blended in.
- roll between 2 pieces of wax paper. remove top layer of wax paper and transfer crust into pie plate with bottom wax paper still intact and on top. remove wax paper from crust and shape edges as desired.
- refrigerate until ready to use.
pie filling:
- 3/4 C sugar
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/4 t ground cloves
- 1/2 t ground ginger
- 1 t ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 15 oz. canned pumpkin
- 12 oz. can condensed milk (well shaken)
- mix together sugar and spices, then add pumpkin and eggs. slowly incorporate condensed milk.
- pour into pie crust and bake at 425° for 15 minutes. lower oven temp to 350° and bake an addt’l 40-50 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test.
- let cool for 1 hour (to set) before serving.
so… it’s chocolate time again, let the cravings begin! working with what i have in our ‘pantry’, i decided to satiate my chocolate yen with a nice, semi-healthy, batch of bradley muffins. while fishing around, i found a box of cocoa and some semi-sweet chips and though, why not?unfortunately, i only had a big can of libby’s pumpkin on hand, so i had eyeball the halfway point, and figure out what to do with the second half of can…
i am so naughty!
- 15 oz. libby’s pumpkin
- 1 box devil’s food cake mix
- 4 T dutch process cocoa
- 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
- mix all the ingredients (chips last) and bake for 23 minutes at 350°.
these ‘muffins’ came out slightly crunchy on the outside, rich and fudgy on the inside. that is to say – PERFECT.
In my cooking experience thus far, i have made potato gnocchi (with skins was a disaster), sweet potato gnocchi, and ricotta gnocchi. the ricotta gnocchi was tasty, but so rich and heavy that i don’t think i will ever make it again. Sweet potato gnocchi is probably my favorite, but i always struggle with what SAUCE to make for it. certainly not tomato, and i have an aversion to white sauces. tonight i was cooking for four guys and myself, so this regular potato gnocchi was a simple, filling, and cheap dish to make.
- 3 lbs potatoes, peeled (i used russet because they were on sale and we bought a big bag)
- 2 1/2 C all purpose flour (i substituted 1 C with white wheat and it was still good)
- 2t salt
- 1 1/2 eggs, lightly beaten (i hate being wasteful like this…)
- steam potatoes for 26 min, or until fully soft.
- mash them while they are still warm, getting out all the lumps you can.
- mix in eggs, flour, and salt.
- roll dough out on well floured counter, with floured hands, to form a 1/2″ diameter rope. cut into 1/4-1/2″ wide pieces and press dough into shape using a long-pronged fork.
- bring a large pot of salted water to rapid boil. cook the gnocchi just until they bob to the top – about 2-3 minutes. scoop them out with a slotted spoon and let them drain.
i have always struggeled trying to keep gnocchi warm after cooking them, and let them drain long enough so they don’t get soggy. i just do the best that i can to shake off extra water as i scoop them from the cooking pot.
wow. these are so good. i can’t take all the credit here. joe found this recipe in a GQ magazine. ohhh, i’m so glad he did!
- 2 C all purpose flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 1 t salt
- 1 1/2 C buttermilk
- 1/2 C milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4 t sugar
- 2 t vanilla
- 3 T butter, melted
- combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, and wet ingredients in a small one.
- heat a large skillet over medium heat till water sizzles in it. preheat the oven to 25o°.
- when the pan is ready, add wet ingredients to dry, and gently mix, leaving good clumps (trust me – they mix a bit in the pan and it’s better this way)
- pour about 1/3 C batter at a time, storing the done ones in the oven to keep warm.
strawberry compote – see below the old recipe
two skinny jenkins 