Pizza Margherita

From Gourmet magazine's January 2009 issue.


This pizza was full of simple flavors that got better the next day. If I could find some San Marzano tomatoes, I think I'll try those next time.



Pizza Margherita

yield: Makes 6 servings

active time: 35 min

total time: 1 3/4 hr (includes rising time)

The secret to a great pizza Margherita is to use the best ingredients you can find—and to approach them with restraint.

Ingredients:

For dough:

• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for dusting
• 3/4 cup warm water, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

For topping:

• 1 (14-to 15-ounces) can whole tomatoes in juice
• 2 large garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 basil leaves plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 6 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

• Equipment: a pizza stone

Make dough:

Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl and let stand until surface appears creamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t appear creamy, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Add 1 1/4 cups flour, remaining 1/2 cup water, salt, and oil and stir until smooth. Stir in enough flour (1/4 to 1/3 cup) for dough to begin to pull away from side of bowl. (Dough will be slightly wet.)

Knead on a floured surface, lightly reflouring when dough becomes too sticky, until smooth, soft, and elastic, about 8 minutes. Form into a ball, put in a bowl, and dust with flour. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, about 1 1/4 hours.

Make tomato sauce while dough rises:
Pulse tomatoes with juice in a blender briefly to make a chunky purée.

Cook garlic in oil in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until fragrant and pale golden, about 2 minutes. Add tomato purée, basil, sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 40 minutes. Season with salt and cool.

Heat pizza stone while dough rises:
At least 45 minutes before baking pizza, put stone on oven rack in lower third of electric oven (or on floor of gas oven) and preheat oven to 500°F.

Shape dough:
Do not punch down. Dust dough with flour, then transfer to a parchment-lined pizza peel or large baking sheet. Pat out dough evenly with your fingers and stretch into a 14-inch round, reflouring fingers if necessary.

Assemble pizza:
Spread sauce over dough, leaving a 1-inch border (there may be some sauce left over). Arrange cheese on top, leaving a 2- to 3-inch border.

Slide pizza on parchment onto pizza stone. Bake until dough is crisp and browned and cheese is golden and bubbling in spots, 13 to 16 minutes. Using peel or baking sheet, transfer pizza to a cutting board. Cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle with some basil leaves before slicing.

Cooks' notes:

•Dough can be allowed to rise slowly in the refrigerator (instead of in a warm place) for 1 day. Bring to room temperature before shaping.

•Tomato sauce can be made 5 days ahead and chilled.

Green Chili

There are certain recipes that I've always wondered about. Wondered if I'd ever really make them or know what makes them so dang tasty (especially when there are lots of variations).

Green chile is one of those meals that have been an enigma to me. Maybe it's just because I've never been around someone who would cook this type of food, maybe not.

I have a coworker who is quite the dynamic man. He is a tall, slightly older, masculine guy with a sarcastic and, at times, pun-filled sense of humor. He looks like he might ride Harley's (and does) and doesn't like to take too much crap from people. On the other hand, he loves his wife and loves to cook, especially spicy foods.

Last week, he brought in a little bit of green chile and shared with me. It was the second time he's done this, probably because he knows what a food nut I am. So, at lunch, I asked him how to make it. And I loved his answer.

He told me how to make it, exactly, well, sort of. There were no measurements, just the process and ingredients. But my brain really likes this sort of recipe. I understand it, so it sticks with me longer and easier. So, forgive me if I don't give exact measurements. Perhaps in the end you will understand green chile just like me, which is even better than a perfect recipe.

1 pound meat:
I like pork, but basically, the rule is that you want to find about 1 pound of meat that will be fairly tender after being pan sauted and then stewed for about 30 minutes. Because I couldn't find a small pork butt/shoulder roast, I settled for a pork ribeye roast. It cost me about $7 at Walmart for a 2.25 lb roast. I cut off just under half of the roast to use for my chile and threw the rest in the fridge for another dinner.

Cook meat and then cook onions (1 small chopped), garlic (2-3 cloves minced):
I trimmed the big fat and cubed the meat. I cooked the meat over medium heat in my dutch oven, in a little bit of vegetable oil to prevent sticking. Once it was browned, I took the meat out and set it aside, added a bit (2 tablespoons) more veggie oil and threw in one diced small onion and a few cloves of minced garlic. Cook until the onion is softened a bit, but don't burn the garlic.

Add jalapeno, spices; then add flour for a roux:
Add in one chopped jalapeno, some oregano, a tiny bit of cumin, salt and pepper. Next, add in a couple of tablespoons of flour and cook until the raw taste of the flour is gone, but don't darken the roux.

Add stock, crushed tomatoes, chiles:
Next, add in about 1-2 cups of chicken stock (depending on how thin you like yours, I only did one cup and figured I could add more if I wanted it later), a can of crushed/diced tomatoes and your chiles. I used a package of roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped chiles from Walmart...they were in the freezer section and they cost $3.50 for 30 ounces. I used half the bag in my stew. Stir the bottom of your pot with your wooden spoon to get the nice fond up off the bottom (the brown coloring and bits stuck to the bottom of your pot from cooking the meat and stuff).

Add the meat back in and simmer for about 30 minutes or so, until the meat is tender and tastes a little more like the stew.

It is a very nice basic recipe that you could alter very easily, depending on your tastes.

Buttery Soft Crescent Rolls

Since my friend gave me a bread machine, I've been looking for and trying new recipes that use it. Many of the times when I've searched online, people say that they like to use the machine to make their dough, and then bake in their regular oven.

I started thinking about it and realized that this is a great idea. Mostly because my kitchen usually isn't warm enough in winter for dough to rise. And the other great thing, is that you can make all sorts of bread items, not just loaves of bread.

I found this recipe on Recipezaar...and my 8 year old son gives them 4 out of 5 stars. It was very simple and the rolls really get large when you bake them. They fluff up and have a nice buttery taste.

Buttery Soft Crescent Rolls

1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. warm milk
1 egg
1/3 c. butter (softened)
1/3 c. white sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1 pkg (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast...about 2 1/4 teaspoons
1/4 c. butter (melted)

1. Place ingredients into bread maker in order recommended by manufacturer: water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Reserve additional butter butter (1/4 cup) for later.

2. Select dough/knead cycle and start. This cycle should mix dough and allow it to rise for 1 hour.

3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll into a circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with additional butter.

4. Cut into 16 pie shaped wedges. Roll wedges starting with wide end into crescent shapes.

5. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and allow to rise for an additional hour.

6. Bake for 10- 15 minutes at 375°F or until golden brown.

Making pasta using what's at hand...

I need to go grocery shopping. Really badly. You can tell when you open my refrigerator and see the back of it! So, when it was time to make dinner last night, I had to figure out something new.

I started with thin spaghetti, and the thought of olive oil and garlic. Then, I remembered that I had some spinach that needed to be eaten. It all took off from there.

Pasta with Garlic Spinach Cream Cheese Sauce

Boil your pasta in salted water till al dente.

Meanwhile, use about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and saute your fresh spinach. I used about 3-4 cups (it really wilts down to nothing). When the spinach is almost all wilted, add in 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic. Add a half cup of chicken broth. Simmer, reducing by about half the liquid. Add in about 1/3 block of cream cheese. Stir until melted. Toss hot pasta in sauce. Serve!

Took a little advice and made something good...

I took Ilva's advice and made something yummy for myself last weekend. I haven't been doing too much real cooking or baking lately, but my son perked up when I suggested that maybe we should bake a pie.

I used a couple of recipes from America's Test Kitchen...their all butter pastry for the crust and their recipe for Deep Dish Apple Pie. It turned out well, and I even liked it better cold!

All-Butter Pie Pastry

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces), plus additional flour for work surface
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen for 10 minutes
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/3 cup ice water , or more if needed

1. For Pastry: Process flour, salt, and sugar together in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. Add butter and pulse until butter is size of large peas, about ten 1-second pulses.

2. Using fork, mix sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water in small bowl until combined. Add half of sour cream mixture to flour mixture; pulse for three 1-second pulses. Repeat with remaining sour cream mixture. Pinch dough with fingers; if dough is floury, dry, and does not hold together, add 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water and process until dough forms large clumps and no dry flour remains, three to five 1-second pulses.

3. Turn dough out onto work surface. Divide dough into 2 balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk; wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm but not hard, 1 to 2 hours, before rolling. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Let thoroughly chilled dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.)

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Use a combination of tart and sweet apples for this pie. Good choices for tart are Granny Smiths,
Empires, or Cortlands; for sweet, we recommend Golden Delicious, Jonagolds, or Braeburns.
Wrap leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 24 hours. To reheat, remove the wrap and warm the pie in a 350-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

1⁄2 cup (31⁄2 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1⁄4 cup (13⁄4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon juice and 1⁄2 teaspoon grated zest from 1 lemon
1⁄8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
21⁄2 pounds firm tart apples (about 5 medium), peeled and cut into 1⁄4-inch-thick slices (see note)
21⁄2 pounds firm sweet apples (about 5 medium), peeled and cut into 1⁄4-inch-thick slices (see note)
1 recipe Foolproof All-Butter Pie Pastry
1 egg white, beaten lightly

1. Mix 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, zest, and cinnamon in large bowl; add apples
and toss to combine. Transfer apples to Dutch oven (do not wash bowl) and cook, covered, over
medium heat, stirring frequently, until apples are tender when poked with fork but still hold
their shape, 15 to 20 minutes. (Apples and juices should gently simmer during cooking.) Transfer
apples and juices to rimmed baking sheet and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. While apples cool, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place empty rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Remove 1 disk of dough from refrigerator and roll out between 2 large sheets of parchment
paper or plastic wrap to 12-inch circle, about 1⁄8 inch thick. (If dough becomes soft and/or sticky,
return to refrigerator until firm.) Remove parchment from one side of dough and flip onto 9-
inch pie plate; peel off second layer of parchment. Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave dough that overhangs plate in place; refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, roll second disk of dough between 2 large sheets of parchment paper or
plastic wrap to 12-inch circle, about 1⁄8 inch thick. Refrigerate, leaving dough between parchment
sheets, until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Set large colander over now-empty bowl; transfer cooled apples to colander. Shake colander
to drain off as much juice as possible (cooked apples should measure about 8 cups); discard
juice. Transfer apples to dough-lined pie plate; sprinkle with lemon juice.

5. Remove parchment from one side of remaining dough and flip dough onto apples; peel off
second piece of parchment. Pinch edges of top and bottom dough rounds firmly together. Following illustrations 1 through 4, trim and seal edges of dough, then cut four 2-inch slits in top of dough. Brush surface with beaten egg white and sprinkle evenly with remaining teaspoon sugar.

6. Set pie on preheated baking sheet; bake until crust is dark golden brown, 45 to 55 minutes.
Transfer pie to wire rack and cool at least 11⁄2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve.

White Lasagna

White lasagna is one of those foods that I've always wanted to try making, but never have. Until now.

I have friends coming over for dinner tomorrow night and I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to make. My friends are awesome, a really nice couple who are fun to hang out with. Their house is so cute and designed in a style that I love (it's like straight out of a Pottery Barn catalog). They have hosted the last few times we've gotten together.

They like food, but their tastes are pretty simple. When I thought back to the last few meals at their place, they included steak, steak, hamburgers and tacos. I started asking them about their likes and dislikes so I could figure out what to make.

Their dislikes between the two of them include eggplant, raw onions, citrus, mushrooms and raw tomatoes. And those are just the ones that my friend thought of when we were talking.

So, I'm trying to play it pretty safe because I want them to be happy with the food. But I also wanted to try making something new and different, partly for me and partly for them.

This white lasagna recipe includes chicken, spinach, mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese and a white sauce made from butter, onions, garlic, milk, chicken broth, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.

The other thing I'm going to make is Caesar salad, with fresh dressing. We'll see how much anchovy I can sneak into the dressing without making it too fishy.

I'll post some pics of the finished products and report on whether or not they liked the food.

Sausage Meatball Subs

When I was a teenager, I liked going to Subway occasionally to get a meatball sandwich. But sometime between then and now, I realized that the Subway sandwiches I thought were okay, really weren't that tasty.

Perhaps my palette became more refined...maybe their food got worse? I'd like to think that it's the former and not the latter.

So, I always figure that if you have a very specific taste memory in mind, you need to go recipe hunting. I was lucky enough not to have to look too far. I found this recipe on my favorite site for recipes, Allrecipes.

I recommend finding a sharp provolone for topping these...mozzarella doesn't seem to be strong enough to taste compared to the meatballs. Also, the bread is a very important factor. You'll need to find one that crusty enough to stand up to being gnawed on, but tasty enough to bring something to the party. Fresh baked is a MUST.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound Italian Sausage Roll
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 6 hoagie buns (try a good baguette!)
  
• 6 tablespoons grated mozzarella cheese (I recommend sharp/aged provolone instead)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. In bowl, combine sausage, oatmeal, eggs and Parmesan cheese. Shape into 1 inch balls. In skillet over medium heat, cook meatballs until browned and cooked through. Reduce heat to low. Add spaghetti sauce and cook until sauce is hot. Spoon meatballs and sauce into buns and top with mozzarella cheese.

Best Biscuits

I love this biscuit recipe. I am a little picky when it comes to biscuits, but this recipe is on my top ten homemade biscuits list. For a couple of reasons. They are simple to make. In about 10 minutes or less, you can be sliding these into the oven. They rise beautifully and have a flavor that is nice enough for both sausage patties or some nice jam.

I brush some butter on the top of these when they're just about done baking. Be careful not to over bake these, they'll be a little light on the top but more done on the bottom if your oven is like mine.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1/3 cup shortening
* 1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Creamy Potato Soup

I tried this recipe from Recipezaar this weekend. I think that I should've boiled my potatoes a little bit longer, but overall the flavor was good. Next time, I'm going to add a sprig of fresh rosemary and some parsley for extra flavor.

Recipe that I must try!

My sister blogged about picking up some yummy pepper shooters at a hoagie shop in Philadelphia. Pepper shooters are cherry peppers (hot) stuffed with a hunk of sharp provolone cheese wrapped in prosciutto. They also had salamancinis, which are pepperoncinis stuffed with a hunk of sharp provolone wrapped with salami.

Her boyfriend asked her to try to recreate the peppers at home. So, of course, my sister tried to meet the challenge and moved forward. Her shooters looked like this. However, she did say that they didn't turn out quite how they were at the store, so I started looking online for a recipe to try.

Here is what I found:

16 cherry peppers
1/3 pound grated provolone cheese
3 to 4 ounces prosciutto
Salt and white pepper to taste

For the marinade:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
\ cup red wine vinegar (don't know what this measurement was supposed to be, so I figure just add to taste)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon chopped fresh garlic
{ cup chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, basil, thyme, marjoram, oregano, etc.)

Whisk marinade ingredients together in a non-reactive bowl and set aside.

Remove the stems and cores (with seeds) from the peppers using a sharp paring knife. Quickly blanch if desired, and then dry the peppers well with paper towels. In a small bowl, mix the cheese and prosciutto with the salt and pepper. Carefully fill each pepper with the cheese mixture and place in jars or a shallow non-reactive casserole dish. Refrigerate.