A New Homemade Pizza

We have very limited choices for carry-out pizza around here, and while we usually enjoy not having to cook, we really, really like homemade pizza. This is a recipe I found a few weeks ago on a blog, and I thought it sounded  pretty delicious, and it was. Oh, it was…

Of course, I made a couple of changes, which I’ll note at the end of the recipe. Try this one. I mean it.

(Click on the recipe title to see the blog.)

Thin-Crust Chicken Bacon Artichoke Pizza

Thin crispy crust with a light garlic sauce, topped with grilled chicken, turkey bacon, mozzarella, baby spinach, marinated artichokes, and feta cheese

Yield:

8 large slices

Ingredients:

Crust Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water (115 degrees)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1 teaspoon dry yeast

Garlic Sauce Ingredients:

1/4 cup light or fat free Italian salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash black pepper

Toppings:

1/2 cup cubed or thinly sliced grilled or rotisserie chicken breast meat
1 cup (loosely measured) baby spinach leaves
1/3 to 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, blotted dry and cut into bite-size (small) pieces
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
2-3 slices turkey bacon ("fully cooked"), chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Green onion slices, optional
Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Instructions:

1. To make crust, place warm water and salt into a medium mixing bowl. Add a cup of the flour and the yeast, and stir. Add remaining flour (1/3 cup) and stir or knead into a sticky dough, adding additional water if needed. Allow dough to rest, covered with a clean towel, for at least 10 minutes but up to 30-45 minutes.

If you have a bread machine, this first step can be done by putting all crust ingredients into the machine and using the dough cycle to knead for 10-15 minutes, until a soft, sticky dough is formed. Stop the machine and allow dough to rest for at least 10 minutes, or up to 30-45 minutes.

2. Liberally butter a 16-inch round pizza pan, and then with your clean buttery hands, spread dough thinly over the pan. Be gentle and have patience, as this does make a perfectly thin crust!

3. Combine the garlic sauce ingredients and spread the sauce over the dough/crust and allow to rest for 15 minutes or longer (up to 45 minutes).

4. Sprinkle toppings evenly over sauce in order listed.

5. Bake pizza in a pre-heated 450-degree oven for 10 minutes or until top is browned and bubbly, and crust is slightly browned on the bottom. Watch carefully to avoid burning! :)

Cut pizza into 8 slices and serve hot, with parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy!*My Notes: our crust was not crispy, and I know why. I did not ‘liberally butter’ the pizza pan and use my buttery hands to spread the crust. Next time I’ll use the stone and see if I can stay away from the butter, yet get that crispy crust.

I added sautéed mushrooms. Everything is better with mushrooms. Yes it is!

Only half the pizza got spinach. Some things I just cannot get him to like…

Surprisingly, I had no feta cheese in the house. We didn’t miss it, but it would add a little touch of tang.

I used sliced fresh mozzarella instead of shredded.

No green onions, but next time I think I’ll add thinly sliced red onion.

After she took one bite, Jessica told me, “I keep telling you, we could cater!”  Hmmm… we?

 

Muffin Tin Monday

I discovered Muffin Tin Monday (MTM) a long time ago, and think this is such a fun way for kids to have a special meal or snack. A couple of years ago I put one together for Taylor when she was staying here, but am just coming back to it again now with Bradley. Take a peek at Muffin Tin Mom’s blog and see what the other participants are putting together for fun meals with their kids. I’m so excited to find fun picks and things for when Bradley gets a bit older.

Speaking of Bradley, he is eating most all table food now (except for things he cannot have until he’s one or two for allergy reasons), so the other day I put together this fun plate for his lunch.

The theme for this week’s meals was “ABC” so instead of a muffin tin, I used this sweet compartmentalized ABC plate. (I picked it up at Target at the beginning of summer when it was on clearance for 75 cents.)

I used white cupcake papers to hold the food: avocadoes for “A”, blueberries for “B”, and cheese toast for “C”.

He’d been sick and wasn’t eating great quantities, so this looks pretty chintzy on food, but it was fine for him that day. In fact, he didn’t eat the blueberries until later. Of course, at 10 1/2 months old, there is no way he was leaving this plate and cupcake papers on his high chair tray and eating from it. To pre-empt the mess that would have been him tossing the plate, I showed it to him, then we dumped the avocado and the cheese toast on his tray so he could feed himself.

I hope this becomes a fun tradition he and I have together, and as he gets older he can help plan and prepare the MTM. I’d have loved to have done this on home visits when I was a family educator for Head Start. What a great way to get kids and parents together in the kitchen to create nutritious meals, and possibly try new foods!

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy!

Randy went fishing in South Dakota last month and brought home some walleye. This is a very flavorful and firm white fish and I was quite happy when he gave me a package of fillets to take home.

I did some recipe searching so we could make the most of our walleye, but pretty much it was just breading and frying, so that’s what we did. I first dredged the fillets in flour, then dipped in beaten egg, then covered them with panko crumbs. Greg fried them in some canola oil in a cast iron skillet and they came out golden brown and crispy on the outside, juicy and flavorful on the inside.

To go along with our delicious fish, we had zucchini fritters and sweet corn. I made two simple sauces, just mayonnaise and ketchup mixed together for one, and mayo with sweet pickle relish for the second.

I did email Randy after we finished eating and told him that if he should have any extra walleye hanging around, to please think of us!

Wrapping the Salmon

Last week when Greg grilled our salmon for supper, I gave him an extra piece so I’d have leftovers. There was an idea in a Martha magazine for a wrap using salmon mixed with cream cheese and cilantro.

I didn’t have any cilantro, but was able to run out to the garden and snip some dill instead. Chopped that up, crumbled up the salmon, and mixed both with part of a brick of low-fat cream cheese.

After spreading the mixture onto a flour tortilla, I added thin-sliced tomato and avocado for a yummy lunch wrap.

I had enough mixture left for three more tortillas. Those were sliced into rounds for finger food at another lunch. Bradley loved them!

Mediterranean Herb Paste

Supper tonight was a small pork loin on the grill. Greg does lots of rubs and we have a small selection of bbq sauces that we use often with pork, but I wanted something a little different to go with the brown & wild rice we were also having. A quick perusal of my recipe files found this herb paste that I think I got from the Herb Companion web site last summer.

Since we’re somewhat into our gardening season finally, I do have these fresh herbs growing in the back yard. As usual, it was a kick to go outside and cut the herbs as I needed them.

I had a 1.12 lb pork loin to cook on the grill. Just covered the top of the loin with some of this paste, then Greg grilled it for about 25 minutes over medium indirect heat.

Mediterranean Herb Paste
By Pat Crocker
Makes 3/4 cup
Make and use this in several different dishes in a week. It can form the
basis for a vinaigrette dressing, soup, dips, spreads and even be used as a
flavoring for savory muffins and scones.
. 10 garlic cloves
. ½ cup fresh sage leaves, chopped
. ½ cup fresh thyme leaves
. ¼ cup fresh rosemary leaves, snipped
. 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
. 1 tablespoon sea salt
. ¼ cup olive oil
. 1 tablespoon tarragon or white wine vinegar
1. Pulse garlic in food processor 3 or 4 times or until garlic is finely
chopped. Add sage, thyme and rosemary; pulse 3 or 4 times until finely
chopped. Add mustard and salt; pulse until blended.
2. Gradually add 3 tablespoons oil, processing until blended. Add vinegar
and remaining olive oil and process until blended.

This smells amazing! It was good on the loin – I think I would marinate the meat with it overnight next time so more of the flavor is absorbed.

There is about half of the recipe left, so I thought I’d mix it with some fresh mozzarella and slice some tomatoes for a salad. I’ll let you know how that goes…

Rhubarb Blueberry Jam

I was gifted quite a bit of rhubarb recently, enough to make a few desserts and a double batch of this delicious jam. My son, Nick, just loves it, and he’s the pickiest eater we have.

Since it’s a freezer jam, there’s no pectin or hot water bath. Just follow the directions for cooking, pour into the jars, put on a lid, let cool, and pop into the freezer. We love it on toasted English muffins.

I don’t have my original recipe, but a quick internet search gave me several versions. This one is the closest to what I remember mine being. The only change I made is to use strawberry jello – I don’t care for raspberries.

RHUBARB BLUEBERRY JAM
Printed from COOKS.COM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 c. rhubarb, cut fine
1 c. water
5 c. sugar
1 c. blueberry pie filling
2 (3 oz.) pkgs. raspberry gelatin (I used strawberry)
Cook rhubarb in water until tender; add sugar and cook five more minutes.
Add pie filling and cook eight minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from
heat and stir gelatin in until completely dissolved. Pour into jars and
seal. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

**I used about med-high heat. The jars will cool on the counter for a few hours, then go into the frig, then the freezer. BE CAREFUL when you freeze glass. Freezing makes glass brittle and it should be handled with care.

Enjoy!

Chicken Kebab Salad

One afternoon in March I was watching Food Network while rocking the baby to sleep, and Tyler Florence was making these yummy-looking chicken kebabs.  I’ve had this recipe on my menu plan a couple of times, but couldn’t buy the fresh bay leaves until we were in Lincoln a few weeks ago. Then I needed a good grilling day when the wind wasn’t blowing 300 mph. Finally it happened last week. These were a snap to put together. Here’s the recipe as I took it from the Food Network web site, then I have some notes on what I actually did after that:

Chicken Kebab Salad
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, 2007
  Prep Time: 15 min
  Inactive Prep Time: 30 min
  Cook Time: 35 min
  Level: Easy
  Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the kebabs:
  a.. 8 links sweet Italian pork sausage
  b.. 1 crusty baguette
  c.. 2 to 3 medium, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  d.. 12 fresh bay leaves
  e.. 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  f.. 2 lemons
  g.. Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad and dressing:
  a.. 2 anchovies
  b.. 2 cloves garlic
  c.. 1/2 lemon, juiced
  d.. 2 egg yolks*
  e.. 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus shavings for garnish
  f.. 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  g.. 2 tablespoons water
  h.. Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  i.. 2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
  j.. Flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
  k.. 2 lemons, cut into wedges, for garnish
Directions
Special equipment: 4 large foot-long skewers, metal or thick bamboo work
best, soaked in water for half an hour if using bamboo or wood.
Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
For the kebabs:
Slice chicken thinly, cut the baguette into 1/2-inch rounds, and cut the
sausage links up into chunks, alternating cuts at 45 degree angles for nice
triangular shapes.
Now prepare the kebabs. Take the skewers 1 at a time and begin threading the components alternately. Start with a piece of bread, then chicken, bay leaf, sausage, and bread; repeat this 3 times to fill the skewers, ending with bread.
Lay the prepared kebabs out on your board and drizzle liberally with
extra-virgin olive oil. Squeeze the lemon juice all over and season well
with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the prepared kebabs onto
preheated grill and cook for about 7 to 10 minutes per side, or until cooked
through.
While kebabs are roasting you can prepare the salad. In a blender combine
the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, egg yolks and grated Parmesan. Pulse a
couple of times to combine, then add the water and blend again. With the
motor running, gradually pour the oil through the feed tube and continue to
blend until emulsified. Season, to taste, with salt and some freshly ground
black pepper.
In a large mixing bowl add the chopped romaine. When the kebabs are done, remove from the oven and slide the kebab components off the skewers directly into the bowl. Add some dressing and gently toss to combine.
To plate, garnish with parsley leaves, shaved Parmesan and fresh lemon
wedges.

**My notes: For the salad portion of this recipe, I cut up a couple of heads of Romaine, then just used Cardini’s Caesar Salad dressing.

For the kebabs, I added half mushrooms to the skewers after each sausage piece. I think my grill was a little too hot since some of the bread was burned. I did cook them for 7 minutes on each side, though, to make sure the chicken was fully cooked.

This was a light but flavorful supper. I think it could be made without the fresh bay leaves and still taste great. The bread chunks made for large croutons.

This is one I’ll make again when the weather is hot and no one wants a heavy meal.