New York Style Pizza

All pizza in my life is either consciously or subconsciously compared to Luigi's, the pizza place that was about 2 minutes from my family's house in New Jersey. I still have nightmares about the night I had several front teeth knocked out (tire swings and running around while yelling into a long pipe are not a good combination), and of course we had Luigi's pizza. I remember standing in the bathroom trying to rip the useless loose teeth from my mouth so I could get back to the dinner table before the pizza was all gone.

I can count on one hand with several fingers left over the number of times I've had good New York style pizza since moving from New Jersey. Since you can't buy it in Utah, perhaps it's possible to make it. I make pizza all the time, whether it be cooked on the stone, grilled, deep dish in the Dutch Oven, or some pizza-like food such as calzones or stromboli, and it turns out good, just not New York style. The only other time I've tried to make New York style, it just came out a crunchy failure.

However, I was inspired by the new 14 inch stone we just bought. We have well-seasoned 12 inch round and rectangle stones, but the unstained 14-incher was just begging for some New York love.

After reading several websites, I learned a few things:

• The dough needs to be kneaded longer to develop the gluten better. This allows the pizza to stretch more, so the middle can be thinner, instead of the thick, even focaccia-like crust I usually end up with.
  
• Put the oil in last after everything is mostly mixed (but before kneading), since it will prevent the gluten from developing if you add it too soon.
  
• Letting the dough sit 24 hours develops the taste of the crust better, which is also part of why the DO Bread tastes so good.
  
• The pizza needs to be cooked on the bottom rack of the oven so the cheese doesn't get too crispy too fast.
  
• The oven needs to be hot, preferably 800 degrees.
  

The first four items are simple enough. As tempting as it may be, I'm not going to purchase a commercial oven, build a wood-fired oven in the backyard, or disable the latch that locks the oven during the self-clean cycle, so I'm stuck with about 550 degrees (my guess, without an oven thermometer to measure exactly). To get the oven hot and keep it hot, I set the oven as high as it would go about 45 minutes before I was ready to put the pizza into the oven. The stone the pizza was to go on went on the bottom rack and another stone went on the second rack to try to create a little high temperature pocket between the two stones like this:


I followed the recipe from pizzamaking.com pretty closely, and I'd recommend you visit their site for additional tips and details:

3½ cups (16 ounces) high-gluten flour
9 ounces warm water
1 tablespoon classico olive oil
1 teaspoon instant yeast
¾ teaspoon salt

In a stand mixer (e.g., KitchenAid) fitted with the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until ingredients come together and form a scrappy dough. Add olive oil and mix for a few seconds longer until it's incorporated into the dough. Switch to the dough hook attachment and set mixer to medium speed. Allow mixer to knead the dough for a full 15 minutes at which time it should pass a windowpane test. Place dough in a large oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

When ready to make pizza, remove dough from refrigerator and allow to warm to room temperature. Preheat your oven (with pizza stone) to 550°F one hour prior to making pizza.

Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface. Press the dough into a flat, round disc. Use your fingers or the palm of your hand to press the dough out thin, leaving an outside raised edge. Place the dough over your fists and begin stretching it into a large circle. Place the dough on a pizza peel which was been dusted with flour, cornmeal, or semolina flour. Add your sauce, toppings, and cheese (perform this step rather quickly so that the dough will not have time to stick to the peel). Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is dark brown and somewhat charred. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving pan and slice.

Some people swear by certain special flours. I just used regular flour, plus a couple tablespoons of gluten. I used regular active yeast instead of instant, and I did activate it before adding the flour. Since you're proofing it in the refrigerator overnight, you probably don't need to use warm water, but I did. I took it out of the oven about 2.5 hours before baking, shaped the cold dough into two discs about the size of frisbee golf discs, covered them, and let them come up to room temperature before stretching them both out to 14 inches. Put parchment paper under the dough if you're not handy with a pizza peel.

For the sauce, rather than going with something exotic like alfredo or barbecue sauce like usual, I just blended up a couple cans of Italian style stewed tomatoes, added some oregano and simmered it for half an hour to thicken it up a little, and added mozzarella and pepperoni to both pies right before putting in the oven.

The result was good. It needs some work, but it's headed in the right direction. The crust was crunchy and brown around the edge and floppy in the middle, like it should be. The cheese didn't get too crispy like usually happens to me. It was melted just right. It didn't have large air bubbles in it, even with the overnight proof. I may try using less yeast and proofing it for 24 hours in a warm location instead of the refrigerator to see if I can get some bigger air bubbles in the dough.

Deliciously Simple

Around this time of year, I crave Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Not just any, but the ones you get at Lee's Marketplace. The problem...$4.49 for 8 cookies! Sorry, but I cannot justify that, no matter how jumbo and yummy they are (okay, I justifed it ONCE last month but that is it!). I've tried out different recipes in hopes of recreating the taste of Lee's. I have not had success until last Tuesday when I tried this one out. The best part...only 3 ingredients. Thank you Fonz for bringing this into my life!

1 box Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix

1 15 oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

Chocolate chips

Mix together, drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheet, bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Now, the secret is to let them cool and store for a few hours in a closed container (hard to do but please, do it for me!). It just does something to it that makes the cookie exactly how I like it. Oh, and I used jumbo semi-sweet chocolate chips because that's what Lee's uses :)

In A Dinner Rut...Recipe Tag

Lately I haven't been much in the mood to make dinner. I think I need some new ideas so I'm making up a little "Recipe Tag". I'm going to post an easy dinner recipe and then you post one on your blog and tell people to do the same. Then leave me a comment telling me so I can have a new recipe! Easy recipes that have common or few ingredients are best!

Chicken Casserole

2 C. cubed, cooked chicken
8 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 C. milk
1 C. coarsely crushed saltine crackers
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Mix crackers and butter. Put half in a casserole/baking dish. Layer chicken on top of crackers. Mix sour cream, cream of chicken soup and milk until creamy. Pour over chicken. Top with rest of crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve over rice. Complete the meal with a vegetable like steamed broccoli.

You can make this a little healthier by using fat free/reduced fat sour cream or plain yogurt, Campbell's Healthy Choice Cream of Chicken soup and leaving out the butter.

Cinnamon Rolls

Sorry I don't have a picture to go with this. For some reason I didn't take any. A lady in my class made these and brought them to class, and I told her she had to put the recipe on the class wiki site. Apparently she has a Bosch that can make like 7 loaves worth of bread dough, hence the large volume of ingredients.

I made half the recipe and it was overflowing out of the KitchenAid and still made a 9x13 pan of cinnamon rolls, plus two loaves of bread. You might want to divide everything by four, but then you'd miss out on the great bread in addition to the great cinnamon rolls. My comments are in [].


Basic dough recipe

Add to bowl in this order:

8 cups of 105 degree water
¾ cups vegetable oil
¾ cup sugar
2 Tbs Salt
3 Tbs instant yeast
8 cups of flour
Mix ingredients together on lowest setting. [I also put in a Table spoon each of Dough Enhancer and Gluten.]

Let mixture set and proof until mixture rises almost to the top of mixing bowl.

Add more flour one cup at a time (6-8 cups) with the mixer on medium until the dough pulls away and cleans the sides of the bowl. [I had to add a couple more cups than this to get it right.]


Cinnamon Rolls

Use 1/2 of the above dough mixture to make two 9x13 pans of cinnamon rolls; make the rest into bread.

Roll out dough into a rectangle
Melt 1/2 stick of butter and coat dough
Sprinkle on cinnamon to taste
Put on brown sugar to taste
Put on white sugar to taste
Add raisins and nuts if you like them

[Vague instructions, I know...put more sugar and cinnamon than you think you'll need.]

Roll dough and cut into pinwheels
Place in greased pans and let rise until double.
Bake at 350 on rack just below center for about 20-25 minutes.


Frosting

In a medium mixing bowl:

1 stick melted butter
4 oz of cream cheese (optional)
6-8 cups powdered sugar
3-4 Tbs evaporated milk

Stir together until smooth.
Drizzle on top of warm cinnamon rolls.
Serve with ice cold milk!

French Bread

I've tried making French bread before with the recipe in the Better Homes & Garden cookbook. It turns out okay, but a bit heavier than I think it should. Their bagel recipe is actually really good. One of these days I'll try the bagels with Dough Enhancer, which has helped in other bread I have made recently.

I found a recipe for French bread that is definitely moving in the right direction, although it's still not quite as light as the bread at our local grocery store, Lee's Marketplace.

I'm not going to reproduce the whole recipe here, since she actually goes into quite a bit of detail with all sorts of little tips to help the bread turn out just right, so I recommend following the link above and reading her whole post, but just in case something happens to her page, the ingredients are as follows:

4 cups bread flour
2 tsp active quick rising dry yeast
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm water

I used regular all-purpose white flour, plus a couple tablespoons of Dough Enhancer.

Follow standard breadmaking procedures or if you're feeling meticulous, follow all her directions closely. The main differences are to cook the bread in a Dutch Oven or on a pizza stone and preheat the oven with DO/stone to 450 for an hour and to throw half a cup of water on the oven floor for an uncovered stone or a fourth a cup of water inside the Dutch Oven when you put the bread in. The water will evaporate quickly since it's so hot and the steam in the oven helps get the texture right. I don't understand exactly why humidity helps make the crust crunchier, but I'm not a chemist - I'm a computer guy.

I was in the mood for something a little fancy, so instead of doing two regular looking loaves, I did one big circular braided loaf, and the result is below:

My next experiment with bread in the Dutch Oven may be this Swirled Bread.

Grilled Pizza

I've been wanting to try grilled pizza for awhile. I've seen recipes and videos for doing it, and it doesn't seem to be extremely difficult, except you just have to watch things a little closer as you can burn things faster on the grill. So on Sunday, Kirsten took the girls to church and I stayed home with the boys, since Lando was all spotted with hives, which have since cleared up. Sitting at home, my mind wandered in the direction of food, specifically pizza, and I decided to finally try grilled pizza.

I enjoy making pizza, and if you recall just a short time ago, I posted about making Dutch Oven pizza, and how it wouldn't work to make the pizza on the camp chef stove/grill. Well, it actually works pretty nicely on the grill. As usual, we start with Jay's Signature Pizza Crust for the dough, but instead of splitting the dough in two, I split it into four. Normally we make two 12 inch pizzas, but I rolled the crust out thinner and made four 8 to 10 inch pizzas. One of the great things about making more pizzas is you can have a bigger variety in toppings.

As the dough was raising, I defrosted some chicken and marinated it with some fake buttermilk (milk with about a teaspoon of vinegar) and some chili powder. Marinating chicken in buttermilk gives it a really nice texture, even if you only have a half hour or so to marinate it. I grilled the chicken when the dough was just about ready, plus we had some cooked sausage leftover with the Tamarancho Chicken I made at a family party the night before (I'll post that recipe later).

To cook the pizzas, place the rolled out dough on the hot grill until one side is nicely browned. After cooking one side, flip the crusts over and add the toppings to the browned side. About 5 or 6 minutes per side is about right, depending on how hot you have it. When the other side is browned and the cheese is melted, it's done. You don't want flames directly on the dough, so make sure your gas grill has a flame guard or if you're using charcoal there shouldn't be any flames.

Two of the pizzas on the grill.

Here are the four cooked pizzas, clockwise from the bottom left: barbecue chicken, ham, italian sausage, and alfredo chicken.

And below is T going after a piece of pizza. He'd have stuffed it in his mouth if we let him.

DO Pizza

We made deep dish Dutch Oven pizza recently. Often I'll just cook them in the DO inside the regular oven, but we made two kinds of pizza and wanted both done at the same time, so I cooked them with charcoal inside our old charcoal grill - it hasn't seen much action since we got the camp chef. The camp chef wasn't really an option in this case, however, since you need to put more heat on the top than on the bottom when cooking breads.

We made alfredo chicken pizza with Bertolli's sauce and barbecue chicken pizza with Sweet Baby Ray's. Behold, the single piece of barbecue chicken pizza left at the end of dinner:

For the dough, I used our favorite, Jay's Signature Pizza Crust and put a little vegetable oil in the DO right before putting in the dough and let it raise a little while before topping it. I cook the chicken before putting it on the pizza, then just add sauce and cheese. The girls don't really like red sauces, so the alfredo sauce is a great alternative. It's just as easy to pour on alfredo or barbecue sauce and end up with a gourmet pizza as it is to add plain old Ragu. Sometimes I'll add bacon, ham, onions, green peppers, or whatever other toppings we have in the fridge.

The alfredo chicken pizza, had a bit of a problem. Since I cooked it in our charcoal grill, the legs of the bottom DO went through the grill and the bottom of the pot was resting directly on the charcoal, and the bottom of the crust actually burned. It turned out okay, since the crust around the edge was fine, so we scraped the toppings off the burnt part and stuffed it inside the puffy pan crust from the edge.

We always make pizza at scout camp, and I haven't had that problem before, since we stack the DOs on the ground. With the legs on the hard ground, the bottom of the pot stays just off the coals. The last time we made pizza at camp, we couldn't agree on what kinds of pizza to make, so we ended up making four. The four DOs stacked high were a sight to see. I'll have to see if I can find a copy of that picture.

More Dutch Oven Bread

I've been playing a little bit with the DO bread that I discovered recently. The original recipe called for a very hot oven. By dropping the temperature down slightly to 425, it doesn't seem to get so brown so fast. I think some of it maybe has to do with the seasoning in the DO it's being cooked in, since it browns faster in one of my DOs than in the other. I don't know if there's a little excess oil and it smokes a lot inside the pot if that makes it darker maybe, but the lower temperature seems to reduce that issue.

The other thing I tried was adding gluten and dough enhancer. The following picture is two loaves of bread, exactly the same except that the one on the right has 2 teaspoons of gluten and 2 teaspoons of dough enhancer in addition to the regular recipe, whereas the one on the left is the standard recipe, both with white flour.


You'll notice the one on the right is tall and round instead of flat like the one on the left. They both still taste good, as you'll see the one on the left got cut into before I even had a chance to take the picture.

I don't know the difference between dough enhancer and gluten, so I also made another two loaves, one with 2 teaspons of gluten and the other with 2 teaspoons of dough enhancer. They turned out about the same. When I did those two loaves, I made one with sunflower seeds and the other with garlic, basic, and rosemary (partially because I needed a way to tell the two apart and partially because I just wanted to try something else). Both turned out great. One of these days I'll make some with wheat flour.

For the garlic herb loaf, I cut 5 or 6 cloves of garlic into about 4 strips each and added that with a few sprinkles of the herbs. For the sunflower one I threw in a handful of sunflower seeds and I also stuck some on top when it was just about to go in the oven. Since this is a no-knead, slow-rise bread, you have to put in any extras right at the beginning.

Chicken Recipes

50 Ways To Turn a Paltry Breast into a Funky Feast

I haven't tried any of these but they look good, quick, and easy...a priority for me when cooking! These recipes are for a single breast so adjust according to your situation.

Wok This Way

THE BASICS: For a stir-fry, cut a raw chicken breast into bite-size pieces or thin strips. Cook it in a nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat until browned (three to five minutes) and add one of the following groups of ingredients--in the order listed--and cook for five more minutes, stirring frequently.

1. Bell Pepper Mix: 1 Tbsp -reduced-sodium soy sauce; 2 tsp sesame oil; 1/2 c green or red bell pepper strips; 1/4 -medium onion, cut lengthwise into strips; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2. Veggie Blend: 1 Tbsp hoisin sauce; 2 tsp sesame oil; 1/3 c matchstick carrots; 1/3 c chopped celery; 1 scallion, sliced; 2 Tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts

3. Asparagus & Cashew: 1 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce; 2 tsp sesame oil; 1/2 c asparagus tips; 2 Tbsp chopped unsalted cashews

4. Sweet Lemon: 1 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce; 1 Tbsp lemon juice; 1 tsp lemon zest; 1 tsp honey; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1/2 c snow peas; 1 c chopped celery

5. Asian Broccoli: 1 whisked egg; 1/2 c (or more) chopped broccoli; 1/4 medium onion, cut lengthwise into long strips; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes; 1 Tbsp reduced--sodium soy sauce

6. Hoisin Snow Peas: 1 whisked egg; 1/2 c snow peas; 1/2 c green or red bell pepper strips; 1/4 onion, cut lengthwise into long strips; 1 Tbsp hoisin sauce

TIP Sesame oil gives stir-fries a distinct flavor. Nutritionally, it's similar to olive oil because it's full of heart-healthy unsaturated fats. (Make sure you get plain, not toasted, sesame oil.) But if you don't have it, use canola or peanut oil, not olive, which goes up in smoke at high temps.

Get Baked

THE BASICS: Preheat the oven to 350°F and douse your chicken in sauce, rub it with spices, crust it with goodies, or stuff it with savories. Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes.

SAUCES Watery baths like salsa will do just fine in the oven. But thicker sauces, like barbecue or ranch, must be mixed with water or broth or you'll be left with sticky, blackened char. Use a small baking dish with raised sides to keep the meat swimming.

7. Fiesta: 1/3 c salsa

8. Melted Fiesta: 2 Tbsp jalapeño cheese dip, 2 Tbsp salsa, 1 Tbsp water

9. Italian: 2 Tbsp marinara sauce, 2 Tbsp water

10. Texas Style: 2 Tbsp barbecue sauce, 2 Tbsp water

11. Ranch Dipped: 2 Tbsp ranch dressing, 2 Tbsp water

12. Honey Mustard: 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 Tbsp honey, 1 tsp olive oil

13. Spiced Up: 3 Tbsp chicken broth; 1 Tbsp mustard; 1 clove garlic, crushed

14. Cream of Mushroom: 2 Tbsp condensed mushroom soup, 2 Tbsp water

15. Pesto: 2 Tbsp pesto, 2 Tbsp reduced-sodium chicken broth

16. Sweet & Sour: 2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 c crushed pineapple with juice

17. Coconut Curry: 3 Tbsp chicken broth, 2 Tbsp light coconut milk, 1/4 tsp curry powder

18. Apple Glaze: 1/3 c chicken broth, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, 1 Tbsp apple juice

19. BBQ Sauce: 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar; 1 Tbsp barbecue sauce; 1 clove garlic, crushed

20. Hot Stuff: 2 Tbsp hot sauce, 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 tsp chili powder

21. Herbed Citrus: 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp orange marmalade, 1/4 tsp rosemary

RUBBED Rub these mixtures evenly over each breast, then coat with cooking spray.

22. Chili Covered: 1/4 tsp each garlic powder, chili powder, black pepper, and oregano; salt to taste

23. Three-Alarm Fire: 1/4 tsp each black pepper, chili powder, red pepper flakes, cumin, and hot sauce

24. Tri-Herb Rub: 1/4 tsp each dried basil, rosemary, and thyme; salt and pepper to taste

CRUSTED Crack an egg into a shallow bowl, whisk it, dip the chicken in it, and then roll the chicken in a plate of one of these coatings:

25. Nut Covered: 1/3 c finely chopped nuts

26. Italian Topped: 1 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese, 1 Tbsp Italian breadcrumbs, a pinch of black pepper

27. Faux Fried: 1/2 c crushed corn or bran flakes

STUFFED Pound the daylights out of your chicken breast with a meat tenderizer until it's uniformly thin. Then arrange any of the following ingredients on the breast, roll it up, and secure it with toothpicks or kitchen twine.

28. Ham & Cheese: 1 slice cheddar cheese, 2 slices deli ham, 1/4 tsp black pepper

29. Stromboli: 1 slice mozzarella cheese; 3 slices pepperoni; 3 leaves fresh basil, chopped

30. Pizza: 1 slice mozzarella; 1/4 c chopped tomatoes; 3 leaves fresh basil, chopped

31. Spinach Stuffed: 1 small handful baby spinach leaves, chopped; 1 Tbsp blue-cheese crumbles; 1 clove garlic, crushed

32. Deli Style: 1 slice mozzarella, 1 slice salami, 1 Tbsp chopped roasted red pepper

33. Sun-dried Tomato: 1 1/2 Tbsp part-skim ricotta cheese, 1 Tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 1/4 tsp oregano

34. Mediterranean: 1 1/2 Tbsp part-skim ricotta cheese, 1 Tbsp diced olives, 1/4 tsp lemon zest

35. Parmesan Pesto: 1 Tbsp pesto, 1 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp black pepper

TIP To lock in juices, sear the breast in a hot skillet for 1–2 minutes per side before baking.

Grill Power

THE BASICS: Soak the chicken in these marinades for at least an hour. Heat a grill or place a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat on the stove. Cook for three to five minutes per side.

36. Booze Infused: 2 Tbsp bourbon, 1 tsp deli-style mustard, 1/4 tsp black pepper

37. Sweet Booze Infused: 2 Tbsp bourbon; 1 tsp honey; 1 clove garlic, crushed

38. Red Wine Dressed: 2 Tbsp red wine; 1 tsp barbecue sauce; 1 clove garlic, crushed

39. White Wine Dressed: 2 Tbsp white wine; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1/4 tsp thyme

40. Rich & Creamy: 2 Tbsp plain yogurt, 1/4 tsp dill

41. Curry Cream: 2 Tbsp plain yogurt, 1 tsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp curry powder

42. Margaritaville: 2 Tbsp lime juice, 1 tsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp cilantro

43. Cumin & Lime: 2 Tbsp lime juice, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

44. Lemon Zest: 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp lemon zest, 1/4 tsp black pepper

45. Balsamic Herb: 2 Tbsp vinaigrette, 1/4 tsp rosemary

46. Ginger Spiced: 2 Tbsp orange juice, 1/4 tsp powdered ginger, 1/4 tsp cilantro

47. O-juiced: 2 Tbsp orange juice, 1 Tbsp hoisin sauce, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

48. Soda Popped: 2 Tbsp cola, 1/4 tsp black pepper

49. Red Pepper Pop: 1 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

50. Hawaiian Punch: 2 Tbsp pineapple juice; 1 clove garlic, crushed; 1/4 tsp black pepper

TIP Mix the marinade ingredients well in a resealable plastic bag, drop in the chicken, seal, shake, and refrigerate.

Spiced Pita Chips

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 whole-wheat pitas, cut into 1/8's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine olive oil and all spices in a large bowl. Add pita wedges and toss to coat, Spread in 1 layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, tossing once, or until pita is brown and crisp. Cool completely before serving.

I made these yesterday and sorry to say it, but Rob didn't get any. He wasn't feeling very well after work (allergies have hit him hard the last couple days) and when he finally got up off the couch around 9:00 last night, he called me (I was out walking with a friend) and asked if there were any more pita chips...oops! Nope, I ate them all! I ate them with hummus. For those of you who haven't tried hummus....try it! I tried it for the first time last Thanksgiving and it is really good. I think I always associated it with haggis so I was always afraid to try it...hummus, haggis, both don't sound very appetizing! Trust me, you'll like hummus...sorry, can't testify in behalf of haggis. That's not something I will be trying! You can buy hummus in the deli section at the grocery store.

No-Knead Bread

This recipe is originally from the New York Times (or watch the video), but I found it through my sister's friend Christy. The most difficult part is how sticky it is, but really takes very little time other than a bit of planning ahead. I haven't tried mixing anything in it yet, but I plan to - maybe some garlic or sunflower seeds. I bake it inside a 12" Dutch Oven, but it would probably fit in a 10" one pretty easily. I'd add a picture of it cut up, but once it is cut, it does not last long enough to get a picture.



No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1 1/2 hours plus 14 to 20 hours' rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf.

Green Drink....YUMMY!!

The Baby Catcher had an "Ode to Green Drink" post last week and since I had a bag of spinach I needed to use up, I decided to try it out this morning. I kinda made up my own concoction with what I had so here it is...

6 oz. bag of spinach

1 C. Naked juice

1/2 lb. strawberries

1 1/2 bananas

1 C. ice

I think mine was weighted towards the fruity side. Maybe next time I'll get braver and add more greens! Check out her blog. It has lots of good info about the benefits of greens in your diet.

I even had Rob drink a glass before he left for work. He is the master of smoothies. Whenever we have yogurt in the fridge and bananas that are about to go bad, he'll whip up smoothies to go along with dinner. The kids love it and we play a game that they have to guess the secret ingredient(s). Some of the secret ingredients have included carrots, marshmallows, Trix, graham crackers, a slice of Banana Cream Pie, peanut butter... I think there was only one time that the crazy mix was nasty!

Stromboli

I made Stromboli for dinner tonight, based off this recipe. I was looking for a calzone recipe originally, then stromboli fever hit me. They're really similar food items, just the calzone is a pocket, whereas you roll up a stromboli.

I used our favorite pizza crust recipe, Jay's Signature Pizza Crust, which is big enough for two pizzas. I made a full recipe of the dough and split it in half to make two stromboli. I used roast beef, turkey, and ham since that's what lunch meat we had, plus monterrey jack, swiss, and parmesan cheeses. Ashlee actually liked it, so that was pleasantly surprising. Some other recipes I found called for italian sausage, onions, peppers, olives, mushrooms, etc.

Roll out the dough about 12" by 10"
Layer on the meat and cheese, leaving about an inch around the edge
Sprinkle on italian seasoning
Roll it up (starting from the skinnier edge)
Set it seam-side down on a pan sprinkled with corn meal.

Brush on egg white or olive oil and add poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic salt, parmesan, or whatever you feel like on top. You may add some decorative knife cuts if you'd like. (I did and it kind of split open and oozed out, which isn't actually a bad thing if you like crispy dripping cheese like I do.)

Bake on a pizza stone at 375 for about 35 minutes (or just on the pan if you don't have a stone).

Serve with marinara or spaghetti sauce to dip it in.

Curry with Basmati Rice

On MLK day I was in the mood for something a little different to eat and actually had the time to cook something, so I made some Curry with Basmati Rice. I also made some Teriyaki chicken on the new Camp Chef grill, even though that departs a bit from the Indian theme. I could have just thrown the chicken in the curry, but I wanted to BBQ something. The chicken was just a basic teriyaki marinade. Here's the Indian recipes:

Vegetable Curry

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup cubed butternut squash
1 cup green beans, trimmed and chopped into 2-inch pieces
1 cup broccoli or cauliflower florets
1 14.5-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 8-ounce can no-salt-added tomato sauce

PREPARATION

Heat oil in large pot or Dutch oven. Add curry powder and cumin and stir for 1 minute until aromatic.

Add onion, carrots and potatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add squash, green beans and broccoli and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender and sauce has thickened. Serve with Basmati or whole grain rice.

Serves 4-6 [original recipe]

I didn't have squash or green beans, so I just left them out. In talking to one of the Indian programmers that work for me, he said that they never put broccoli in curry, so I guess you'll need to leave that out if you want to be more authentic. We happened to not have any onions, but I did have half a leftover shallot from when we made Dave's French Dip recipe, and that worked out great.

Herbed Basmati Rice

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons margarine
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup uncooked basmati rice
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion tops
2 teaspoons minced fresh basil
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Thyme sprigs (optional)

PREPARATION

Melt margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add rice; stir well. Add water and salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in green onions, basil, and thyme. Sprinkle with cheese; garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Serves 4 [original recipe]

This is the recipe I used for the rice, but I didn't have green onions or the fresh herbs, so I just put in dried herbs. I cooked it in our rice cooker. Make sure you actually get basmati rice, not regular rice. Ooh, it definitely makes a difference and makes the house smell sweet. If you've been in an Indian restaurant, you'll recognize the smell right away.

Favorite Childhood Christmas Treats

Just thought I'd share some of my favorite Christmas treats from when I was younger. For as long as I can remember, my family made goodie plates and went caroling on Christmas Eve. These are a few of the things we would make.

Magic Cookie Bars
1/2 C. margarine or butter
12 whole graham crackers, finely crushed
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 package chocolate chips
1 1/2 C. marshmallows
1 1/2 C. coconut
1 C. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for glass dish). In a 9x13 baking dish, melt margarine in oven. Sprinkle crumbs over margarine, mix together, and press. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Top evenly with remaining ingredients in above order. Press down firmly. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Chill thoroughly if desired. Cut into bars. YUMMY!

Peanut Butter Balls (from my Beehive leader, Crystal Young)
3 milk chocolate Hershey bars
1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
1 cup (1 tub) Imperial margarine
2 C. peanut butter (1 18 oz. jar)

Melt chocolate in double broiler. Mix all other ingredients with hands in a large bowl. Shape into balls then roll in melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper and place in refrigerator.

Toffee
1 C. sugar
1 C. butter (do NOT use margarine)
2 Hershey chocolate bars
Sliced almonds

Grease 9x13 pan. Melt butter and sugar in a pan. Cook and stir constantly until mixture turns a caramel color. Pour into greased pan and quickly spread out evenly. Break up chocolate bars and place on top of hot toffee. Smooth evenly over toffee. Sprinkle almonds on top. Let cool and break into pieces.

This can be a touchy recipe, but it is very easy to make. You just have to make sure not to burn the toffee.

What's for Sunday Dinner

I'm not usually much of a meatloaf fan, but this is one that is very yummy. Of course, everything's better with bacon!

Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf

~Glaze~
1/2 C. ketchup
4 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 tsp. cider or white vinegar

~Meatloaf~
2 tsp. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. hot red pepper sauce
1/2 C. milk
2 lbs. ground beef
1 C. saltine crackers, crushed (I just use bread crumbs)
10 slices of bacon

For the glaze, mix all ingredients in small saucepan; set aside.

For the meatloaf, heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in medium skillet. Add onion and garlic; saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients. Mix eggs, thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worchestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and milk. Add egg mixture to meat in large bowl along with crumbs and onion and garlic. Mix well. Place on a foil lined shallow baking dish and form into a loaf approximately 9 in. by 5 in. Brush with half of glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking only bacon tip ends under. Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf is 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze and serve with meatloaf.