Winner Winner Pizza Dinner!

I love homemade pizza, but my kids don't.  They, of coarse, would rather have take out or even frozen pizza over a fresh, homemade pizza.  So, I'm on a quest to find one that they will love.

First of all, I want to share a little something with you..

I had never even attempted to make a yeast dough until a few months ago.  The idea of it really intimidated me for a long time.  I wouldn't even try it.  But then out of the blue, this past winter, I decided to make The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon bread, and now I'm hooked!  I love making yeast doughs now.  I can not tell you how gratifying and satisfying it is to make a successful dough. It's my new favorite thing and really makes me gitty. 

Anyway..

Tonight I made a deep dish pizza that I could make in my iron skillet.  I used the crust and sauce recipe from the Food and Whine blog.  I really liked the crust, but the sauce was a "Chicago style" sauce and was made with diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce. It was a little "juicier" than regular sauce and made the crust a little soggy in spots.  But, other than that, it was pretty good.  I made regular cheese pizza for the boys, and they loved it!  For mine and Rod's, I used pepperoni, mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, olives, and pineapple, and it was pretty darn good. :)

Deep Dish Crust

3/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 - 2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. honey or sugar

Sprinkle yeast over the warm water and let sit for 15 min.

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, cornmeal and yeast/water combo., olive oil and honey or sugar. Stir until moistened then dump out onto a well-floured surface. Add more flour in 1/4 cup increments while kneading dough until you achieve a soft dough that is neither sticky or stiff. (I have a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook, so, I combined the first four ingredients with the paddle attachment, on a med-low setting, and then switched to the hook and let it do the kneading.  You can stop it after adding the extra flour, to test the texture.) Remove dough to a well-oiled large bowl and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

While the dough is rising you can get the sauce going..

Chicago Style Pizza Sauce

2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz. can of tomatoes with juice (whole or diced)
1 tsp. salt *or less, depending on saltiness of tomatoes
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 teaspoon red chili flakes

Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant and softened. Add tomatoes and spices. Crush with a spoon if using whole tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature and simmer until sauce thickens.

Assemble Pizza

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of cast-iron skillet with Crisco. Transfer dough to skillet and press into bottom and sides until even thickness. Cover bottom of pizza with sauce and then a generous layer of mozzarella cheese.  Add toppings of your choice. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top and bake for 30-45 min or until crust is golden.

Lemon Tart with Strawberries.

I'm so excited for the spring and summer seasons.  I'm so ready to do lots of grilling and chow on fresh, seasonal fruits and veggies. I thought a good kick off to the spring season would be a lemon tart.  I found a pretty great deal on some great looking strawberries and decided I had to add them.  Hopefully the hubby will be happy to come home to one of his favorite desserts. :)


HAPPY SPRING!

French Pastry Pie Crust
(adapted from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons white sugar

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

5 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a small bowl, combine first three ingredients.  Add shortening and cut into flour mixture until it resembles crumbs.

In a separate small bowl, combine egg, vinegar and about 4 tablespoons of the water.  Add to flour mixture and stir together with a fork. Mix until dough forms a ball. If it is too dry you can add a little more water. Form into a disc and chill for about ten minutes.

When dough has chilled, roll out on a floured surface and then transfer to a pie plate or tart pan, and press into pan. Bake for 20 min.

Lemon Curd

(adapted from Alton Brown's recipe)

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

4 lemons, zested and juiced

1 stick of butter, cut into pats and chilled

Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over med-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth. 

Measure lemon juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (bowl should be big enough that the bottom doesn't touch the water) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next.

Pour curd into cooled pie crust bake at 350 for 15-20 min. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Garnish with sliced strawberries.

St. Paddy's Brinner!

Do you have some left over Corned Beef and Cabbage?

Make some hash!  I made some with our leftovers and had brinner tonight.  It was so easy and delicious. The boys liked it a lot better than the regular corned beef and cabbage.  If you made your "cb&c" today, then you could make the hash for Saturday's breakfast. Yum!

Corned Beef Hash

2 Tbsp butter

1 med onion, chopped

3 cups corned beef

3 cups cooked potatoes

salt and pepper

Heat butter in skillet(iron skillets are the best for this) over med heat.  When butter is "foamy" add onion and cook for a few minutes, or until translucent.

Increase heat to med-high and add meat and potatoes and spread into an even layer in bottom of pan and smash down a little bit with a spatula.  DO NOT stir. :)

Just let it cook.  After a few minutes, lift up with the spatula to see if it is browning.  If it is, then you can flip it over in sections and let the other side brown.  Repeat until most of it is nice and evenly browned.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a fried or poached egg.

St. Paddy's Day Food

Well, I made Corned Beef and Cabbage.  I really just did it for fun, not really expecting anyone (including myself) to eat much of it.  I was sure the boys would whine and fuss over just the name of it, and then the smell of the cabbage cooking would send them over the edge. 

I cooked the beef, potatoes and carrots in the crock pot all day, and then just steamed the cabbage when I got home from work, and it was not stinky at all. I also bought the smallest corned beef I could find, thinking we wouldn't eat it all. Now I'm afraid there won't be enough left over to make corned beef hash later!

It actually wasn't bad!  I loved it, and ate a whole plate of it. The boys didn't "love" it, but they did eat it without complaining (of coarse, knowing they could have milkshakes for dessert afterwards probably helped (-: ). The verdict from the hubby is still out, since he won't be able to eat it until he gets home from work later. But, all in all, I would say it was much better than expected. I also made a yummy Irish Soda Bread to go with it, and Shamrock Shakes for dessert.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you enjoy the recipes!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

3 lb corned beef w/seasonings

10 red potatoes, quartered

4-5 carrots, chunked

1 lg onion, cut into wedges

2 Tbsp yellow mustard

2 Tbsp brown sugar

3/4 can of Guinness beer

water

Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in bottom of crock pot. Place corned beef and seasonings on top of vegetables. Rub beef with mustard and sprinkle with brown sugar. Pour beer over meat and veggies and then add water just until meat is covered. Cover crock pot and cook for 8-10 hours, or until meat is tender.

Steamed Cabbage

1 head of cabbage

3 Tbsp butter 

water

Cut cabbage into small wedges and place in a microwave safe dish. Dot with butter and add about 1/4 inch of water to dish. Cover and microwave for about 8 minutes. Serve with corned beef and vegetables.

Irish Soda Bread

4-4 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

4 Tbsp butter

1 lg egg, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cup butter milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 4 cups flour, sugar, salt and soda. 

Cut the butter into flour mixture(you can use your fingers, a pastry cutter or two knives) until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Add egg and buttermilk and mix with spoon until the dough is too thick to stir, then use hands to knead in to a ball. Add a little more flour if dough is too sticky.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Place dough "ball" on lightly greased baking sheet or iron skillet and score it, by marking an "x" an inch and a half deep in the top of the dough.  Bake for 35-45 minutes (iron skillet may take longer).  The bread is done when a skewer is inserted in the middle and comes out clean.

Shamrock Shakes

3 cups vanilla ice cream

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Green food coloring 

 Blend all ingredients in a blender until thick and smooth. Pour into glasses and serve!

Catching Up

I have had "writer's block" with my blog lately.  I guess I just haven't cooked much that I felt was worth the time to post on here, but I made up for it in the last couple days.  

Yesterday we had Care Group after church and I needed a quick and tasty dessert.  I searched the web and found a recipe for cookie bars that looked really good. I don't usually like cookie bars.  I LOVE chocolate chip cookies, but cookie bars usually have a texture and flavor that just doesn't thrill me.  But these were great!  They were soft and had great flavor, and best of all, they were super easy. The pan was cleaned out at care group and the family requested more for our movie last night.

Today, I have the day off to spend with my kiddos on their spring break, and I woke up in the mood to bake. I had some fresh blueberries in the fridge and was dying to make something yummy with them. I came across a recipe for Blueberry Corn Muffins and was intrigued. Another great recipe! It gave us something a little different from the norm and I thought they were yummy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
11.5 oz bag chocolate chips (I have a big bag from Sam's, so I used 2 cups)

Heat oven to 350, and lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.

Mix the butter and sugars in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well.

Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt, stir until completely blended.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread into the pan, and bake for 25-27 minutes,(I baked them for 20, so they would be really soft) or until light golden brown on top. Cool and cut into squares.

Blueberry Corn Muffins

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup corn meal

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg (slightly beaten)

1 cup half & half

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

Preheat the oven to 400º F and spray muffin tin with non-stick spray. In a medium bowl, combine flour, corn meal, sugars, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a small bowl, hand mix egg, half & half, canola oil, vanilla until combined. Add to dry ingredients and combine so that it comes together, being careful, not to over mix. Fold in the blueberries. Evenly distribute batter in muffin pan.  Bake for 15-20 min, or until golden brown.

A Home Run

I hit a home run with dinner tonight.  I know it may sound silly, but for me, there aren't very many things that bring as much satisfaction as making a meal that all three boys will eat.  Especially when it does not involve a box of mac n cheese!

I realize that most moms have, at some point, made oven "fried" chicken tenders, so this may not be a big revelation to most.  But, I still wanted to share, just in case someone out there hasn't tried it.  This version is  based off the one we make at church camp.

  

I also made my new favorite potatoes, Ree Drummond's Crash Hot Potatoes.  They are SO good, and the kids love to eat them with ketchup.

Then, there is the roasted broccoli.  Now, this is the item I am most excited about.  When I was making these tonight, my seven year old walked through the kitchen, just as I was pulling them out of the oven, and said, "Oh yea, I love broccoli.  You make the best broccoli ever, mom!"

A month ago he would have moaned and groaned and cried as I forced him to sit in his chair and try one piece of broccoli.  Now he asks for seconds!  So, if you or others in your house have issues with broccoli, I urge you to try it this way.  It just may change how you feel about it.

Reece's plate, when he was done...

Chicken Tenders


1 lb chicken tenders
2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
2-3 egg whites, room temperature
1-2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 tsp seasoned salt
olive oil spray


Set oven to 400 degrees.


Mix the butter and egg whites together in a shallow bowl. In seperate shallow bowl, mix bread crumbs and seasoned salt. Dip chicken in butter and egg to coat, then in the bread crumbs. Arrange chicken on baking sheet sprayed with oil. Then spray tops of chicken with a light layer of the olive oil.


Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is done and the juices run clear.






Crash Hot Potatoes


10 new potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
rosemary or dill(optional)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in potatoes and cook until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place potatoes on the cookie sheet, leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with salt and black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary or dill.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Roasted Broccoli

1-2 bundles fresh broccoli

olive oil

salt and pepper

parmesan cheese

Cut broccoli florets from the stalks leaving 1-2 in of stalk attatched to the florets.  Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with about 3 tablespoons of oil, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Spread out into a single layer and roast for 20-25 min or until broccoli is tender and slightly browned.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.