Pizza Goes Gourmet



I have been craving pizza for a while now, but have felt too guilty about eating such a greasy, fatty food on a week night. (Didn't you know, calories don't count on weekends?) So, I decided to go with a pizza that was homemade, and made with fresh, quality ingredients. I stumbled across a fig and prosciutto pizza that looked amazing. Right now, Nathan and I are weirdly obsessed with fig - dried as a salad topping, pureed as a salad dressing, spread on crostini, the list goes on.
This pizza was adapted from the Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond - and if you have ever checked out her blog or any of her cookbooks, you know that we are already set up for success here. We absolutely loved this pizza - the homemade dough, the sweetness of the fig paired with the bitterness of the arugula, the fresh mozzerella...the list goes on. I would highly recommend that you branch out from your usual cheese and pepperoni and take the time to make a homemade dough topped with these fresh ingredients.

Fig-Prosciutto Pizza

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

Pizza Crust

• 1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil

For the Pizza:

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 Tablespoons Fig Preserves
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• 12 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella, Sliced Thin
• 6 ounces, weight Thinly Sliced Prosciutto
• 1 handful arugula
• Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Shaved Parmesan (we didn't have this and it was fine without but probably would be great with it!)

Directions:

Note - the pizza dough is enough for 3 pizzas, so only use 1/3rd of the dough for this recipe - or play around to make the pizza whatever size you want - ours took up a cookie sheet

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour.
Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Roll out 1/3 of the pizza dough as thinly as possible. Place on a large baking sheet.
Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Spread fig spread all over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Lay sliced of mozzarella all over the surface. Sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly. (Ours was ready at 12 minutes)
Remove from oven and immediately lay prosciutto over hot pizza. Just before serving, sprinkle on arugula and Parmesan shavings.
Cut and serve immediately!

Fiesta!

Stock Photo since I forgot to take one!

Over the weekend, Nathan and I went to a mexican-themed party at a friend's house. We had SUCH a great time, everyone is always so great about chipping in and we always end up with a ton of great food. I decided to bring mexican cornbread, churros & chocolate, and sopapilla cheesecake. The cornbread was ok, but I overcooked it a little so it was sort of dry. The desserts, however, turned out great! There is something about fried dough dipped in Nutella that is sort of magical, and then cheesecake with cinnamon sugar dough isn't too bad either!

Churros and Nutella Sauce

Idea from Forgiving Martha

These churros are great because they are so simple and they aren't fried - which while this dish isn't remotely healthy - at least cuts out some of the fat.

Ingredients:

One Package of frozen Puff Pastry Sheet (Pepperidge Farm comes with two sheets)

1/4 cup of melted butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup of sugar (mix with the tsp. of cinnamon)

Nutella

1/3 cup of milk (I used 2%)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450

Cut thawed puff pastry into 1" strips and put on parchment paper on a baking sheet

Spread melted butter onto strips

Bake strips at 450 for 8-10 minutes or until the strips are golden-colored

Take the strips out of the oven, spread with butter again, and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon mixture

Nutella Sauce:

On low-medium heat combine 1 jar of nutella with 1/3 cup of milk and stir until "dippable" - you may want less or more milk based on your preference. I would recommend adding a small amount at a time until you reached the desired consistency. Pour the sauce into a sealable container - I used Corningware.

Dip the churros into the warm nutella sauce. Yum!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Recipe from CopyKat Recipes

Ingredients:

2 can of crescent rolls (I used Pillsbury)

2 eight-oz. packages of cream cheese

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. lemon juice (I didn't use this - it might be good, but it was good without too!)

1/2 tsp lemon zest (I didn't use this - it might be good, but it was good without too!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with 1 can of the crescent rolls. I rolled out the dough a little bit with a rolling pin to get the perforated crescent roll marks out of it. Whip cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar (reserve the other 1/2 cup for the topping), the vanilla, and the optional lemon juice and zest. Spread this mixture over the bottom layer of crescent rolls. Top this layer with the second can of crescent rolls. Melt the butter and pour this over the top (it's going to seem like A LOT of butter - which it kind of is) and then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.



Slow-Cooker Success

So I realize the picture doesn't look great (thanks in part to me thinking it was a good idea to put a dollop of salsa on my already sad looking black beans) - but the flavor in these tacos was amazing. Pulled pork tacos sounds a little weird - but we aren't talking about barbecue pork here, we are talking about pork slow cooked in salsa and spices and even cocoa - yum! I actually have to thank Nathan for getting this together because while crock pot recipes are great, I always forget to assemble everything the night before - so I had to call him all panicky and instruct him over the phone on getting everything in the crock pot before he left for work. We serve them with corn on the cob and black beans. This leaves you with lots of leftovers, but it's one of those recipes that actually gets better the longer it sits as the flavors really soak into the meat. So if you make this, you will probably be having lots of tacos - but it also lends itself well to pork sandwiches which we had yesterday with mexican cornbread.

Slow-Cooked Pork Tacos

Adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients:

2 cups salsa

2 tbsp. chili powder

2 tbsp. dried oregano

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Salt

2 1/2 pound boneless pork butt or shoulder trimmed of excess fat (we used pork shoulder - cheaper)

Corn or flour tortillas (I like corn, Nathan likes flour)

Cilantro

3/4 cup sour cream (we used non-fat plain yogurt instead to save calories - you should give it a try - we actually like this better than sour cream)

1 lime cut into wedges (optional)

Directions:

In your slow-cooker (needs to be at least 4-6 quarts) combine the meat and the seasonings (salsa,chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 tsp. salt). Add the pork and coat it in the seasoning.

Cook, covered, until the meat can easily be pulled apart - high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours

To warm the tortillas before serving, put them in a 350 degrees oven wrapped in foil for about 15 minutes

While the tortillas are warming up, shred the pork with two forks and the stir the meat into the cooking liquid.

Serve with tortillas, cilantro, sour cream (or yogurt in our case), lime, and extra salsa.

Easy Seafood

During the summer especially, we like to eat some type of seafood once a week. Usually we have tilapia or another type of white fish. Why? Well to be honest with you, because it's cheap - and we like it too! I should probably branch out more and start marinating and grilling some salmon, or splurging on some red snapper - but I found a way to jazz up tilapia that was pretty darn good. For dinner the other night, we made Cooking Light's version of almond-crusted tilapia and served it with some french bread and fresh green beans from my in-laws garden. The crust made the tilapia surprising filling and gave it some crunch, which I tend to think fish needs to compensate for it's floppy texture. This recipe was so simple, quick (ready within 15 minutes), and healthy as well!

Almond-Crusted Tilapia

Adapted this recipe from: Cooking Light

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of almonds

2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

1 tsp seasoning (I used Adobo) - Cooking Light recommends Mrs. Dash garlic & herb

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon dijon mustard  or 1 egg white (Nathan doesn't like dijon, so we instead coated his in egg white before dredging it in the almond mixture)

2 (6-ounce) tilapia filets

Parsley for a garnish

Directions:

Place the almonds, breadcrumbs, seasoning, and pepper in a food processor or a blender and process until the mixture is finely ground. Put this mixture in a shallow dish for dredging the fish in.

Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat and brush the mustard or egg whites over the fish. Dredge the fish in the crumb mixture. Add fish to pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Be SURE to have enough oil in the pan, otherwise your crumb topping will burn. When it's ready, the fish will flake easily and be warm all the way through. Remove it from the pan and sprinkle with parsley if you choose to!

Forgot to Make Dinner!

So last night, I forgot to put the pork in the slow-cooker for our slow-cooked pork tacos (which we will be enjoying tonight by the way) - so, I was in the predicament of having to scrounge around for something to make. Now, I'm a week-to-week shopper. I have the most organized shopping list you have ever seen - every single meal planned out, and we only buy the groceries that we will be eating for that week. The pros to this are that it's great for the budget, and we don't have a lot of junk or impulse purchases around the house. The con is when you don't feel like cooking, or simply forget to make something in advance, and you don't have a whole lot of options.
One of our favorite options on a night like this is breakfast for dinner. We usually have some Bisquick around for quick waffles, and eggs and veggies for an omelette. However, coming off of my great cooking class-filled-weekend, I didn't want to settle with Bisquick. As soon as Nathan called and said he was bringing home some blackberries that he had picked at the farm, a great idea popped into my head. We decided to amp up our waffles and eggs, and went with lemon pancakes with blackberry syrup and a broccolli and feta frittata. For being a last minute idea, this was the best meal we had all week. This meal is perfect for summer time, it's light yet filling - and the fresh fruit flavors, and the smells coming out of your kitchen from the lemon and simmering blackberries are beautiful!

He liked it...I promise

Lemon Panckes with Blackberry Syrup

This recipe was too perfect to adapt - I made it precisely from Greedy Gourmand

Makes 7 small pancakes.

Lemon pancakes:
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tbs sugar
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

Blackberry syrup:
1 cup frozen blackberries
1/4cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt. Add the egg and buttermilk. 
Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat with a little butter.  Add 1/3 cup of batter to the pan and cook a few minutes on both sides, until just lightly golden brown. 

Meanwhile, combine blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, cook until syrup reduces to desired consistency. Syrup will thicken upon cooling.

 

Long Time, No Post

I haven't posted in a while - but I've definitely been cooking! Over the weekend, Nathan and I went to a bed & breakfast (The Inn at Meander) for "Weekends in the Kitchen" - which featured gourment meals and two wonderful cooking classes. In our classes we made everything from corn soup to pots de creme - and it was all delicious! We plan to use some of our new recipes this coming weekend!

Anyways, since we have been back - Nathan and I have started a new tradition. When we get home from work we like to sit on our back deck with a drink in hand and an easy, but delicious snack. This week we have alternated between crostini topped with goat cheese and fig preserve and sourdough crostini and sheepsmilk cheese dipped in an olive oil and herb blend. To make this, simply slice a baguette or french-style bread of your choice into about 1" pieces, brush with olive oil, and broil at 400 degrees until the bread is golden. Then top with the goat cheese (for option one) and put back in the oven for about 2-3 minutes for the cheese to get bubbly and melty (technical terms). Finally, drop on some fig preserve. For our second snack, the herb mixture was a little more complex - not hard to make, just lots of ingredients. However, once you make it, you can store it in a glass jar in the fridge, and whip it out whenever you want to impress your friends with a delicious snack. We like to serve ours with baguette and a good-quality hard cheese (we are currently using a peppered sheepsmilk cheese).

Olive Oil and Herb Dip

Adapted from food.com

http://www.food.com/recipe/carrabbas-bread-dipping-spice-53876

For this recipe, if you use fresh herbs - they will need to be combined in a food processor to get to be the same size. I just used the ones from my spice rack, and they could just be combined with a spoon or whisk. 

 

• 1 tablespoon minced basil 
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme 
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary 
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil 
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Combine all of the dry ingredients (not the olive oil and lemon juice...yet)

Stir in oil and lemon juice

When ready to serve - mix with about 1 tsp of herbs to every 3 tbsp of olive oil

Tastes great on crusty breads, and drizzled over cheeses.