Homemade Easy Cheesy Pizza

daphne on October 6, 2009

Homemade Pizza Dough — The dough takes about 15 – 20 minutes to put together, then sits for an hour or two or whatever works with your life.

Ingredients for dough

  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS for dough

  1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
  2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 5 minutes. Place dough in bowl, and cover loosely with a towel. Let stand at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a cookie sheet dusted with corn meal or flour or well greased.  Or use a flour-dusted pizza stone.
  5. Pre-bake crust at 425 for 8-10 min or so, then baked with toppings at 425 for about 7 min.

TOPPINGS

After pre-baking the crust, add sauce and toppings and return to the 425 oven just long enough to heat the toppings and melt the cheese, or about 8 minutes.

Anything works on top of pizza! Shredded mozzarella and jarred sauce, fresh goat cheese and homemade sauce.  Whatever floats your boat.

My kids love peanuts on theirs (gross, I know, but to each her own, right?)

My favorites are balsamic glazed onions, thinly sliced tomatoes, spinach and fresh mozzarella.  I use all the ingredients raw except the onions–here’s how I cook the onions.

Carmelized Onions with Balsamic

daphne on October 6, 2009

I put these onions into just about everything we eat.  I love love love them!  Next time I’m taking pictures to add here, I promise.

  • Slice an onion thin, then cut slices into thirds or so (about 4-5 inches long.)
  • If desired, add garlic to taste. I do a couple of cloves, or a heaping Tablespoon of crushed garlic.
  • Saute onions and garlic in heated olive oil (about 1-2 Tablespoons) until they begin to wilt.
  • When the pan gets dry, splash in about 1-2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Stir to coat all the onions, and continue to cook until they are soft and golden in color.

These are great as a pizza topping, in pasta, as a lasagna layer, or on top of your kids’ cheerios. Ok, maybe not on the cereal.

Shortbread Cake with Peaches and Raspberries

daphne on August 27, 2009

I adapted this recipe from the Stone Fruit Tea Cake recipe in Gourmet magazine (because raspberries make it taste better, and my name sounds yummier.)

Ingredients–

  • 2 cups diced and peeled peaches (about 2 large peaches)
  • ½ cup raspberries
  • 2 ¼ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 Tbls vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbls turbinado sugar (optional)

1. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

2. Cream sugar and butter for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

4. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined in a sticky dough.

5. Wrap in plastic wrap and smoosh down into a 1 inch disk. Freeze dough for ½ hour.

6. Preheat oven to 375°. Butter a round baking pan.

7. Divide dough in half. Spread one half the dough evenly on the bottom of the pan. Spread the fruit over the dough. Break the rest of the dough into 4-5 inch pieces and place on top of the fruit (they will spread and mash together.)

8. Sprinkle turbinado sugar across the top.  This is optional–it is not needed for taste since the cake is sweet enough, but it does add a little glitz and sparkle to the top of the cake, you know, if you’re serving it to princesses.

9.   Bake 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool a little before serving.

Dave’s Crazy Good Peach Salsa

daphne on August 27, 2009

This salsa fresca is unbelievably good.  This version is medium-mild, but you can always increase the number of jalepenos if you like it hot hot hot.  The key here is using ultra-fresh ingredients.

  • 2 c diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 c diced yellow bell pepper
  • 1 large diced, peeled peach
  • 1/4 seeded and diced jalapeno (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 c chopped red onion
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbls lime juice

Add all ingredients together and toss lightly.  Put it in the fridge for about an hour and serve cold.  The extra liquid can be drained off before serving.

Eggplant Parmesan

daphne on August 10, 2009

Ingredients:

  • Eggplant
  • Flour, wheat or white
  • One beaten egg, or milk
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Marinara Sauce
  • Mozzarella–fresh is best

If you use a fresh eggplant (picked within 5 or so days) there is no need to “sweat” it.  If it’s been around a little longer, salt the slices to draw out the bitter liquid.

  1. Peel the eggplant.
  2. Slice the eggplant into thin circles—I try for about 1/4 inch thick.
  3. Dredge the slices in flour to coat both sides.
  4. Dip the floured pieces in beaten egg or milk.
  5. Coat in breadcrumbs and fry in mild oil (I use canola) over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown.
  6. Flip and fry for a couple more minutes, then transfer to a cooking sheet.
  7. Top each piece with marinara sauce and fresh mozzarella.
  8. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and eggplant can be very easily cut.

Fresh Fried Fish

daphne on July 14, 2009

This simple recipe is the reason my kids love fish.

  • Fish fillets–I use a flaky white fish.  Use pieces of even thickness for easiest cooking.
  • Flour
  • Bread crumbs
  • Corn flour crumbs
  • Milk or Egg or Beer for dredging
  • Canola oil for frying
  1. Cut the fish fillets into equally sized pieces (more or less)
  2. Coat both sides of each fillet in flour.
  3. Dip floured fish into liquid.  I usually use milk since it’s the easiest, but you could also use a beaten egg or beer, white wine, etc.
  4. Coat wet fillet with mixture of corn flake crumbs and bread crumbs.  The corn flake crumbs are sweet, so use more for sweeter fish or less, per taste.
  5. In a frying pan over medium/high heat, heat a few tablespoons of oil
  6. When hot, put fillets in and cook for about 5 minutes per side, depending on thickness.
  7. When you can easily cut fish in half (it should separate in soft white flakes) with the side of a spatula, it is done.  If a fork or spatula won’t go through the fillet, it is not cooked yet.

Serve and enjoy. The kids love it plain, but I like to spoon salsa over the top for the grown-ups.

Annie’s Magical Chard Chips

daphne on March 4, 2009

My daughter actually said this last night:

Mom, can I eat the chard now, or do I have to wait for dinner?

I kid you not, this is good stuff.  Even I’ve been eating my greens lately; it’s that good.

Ingredients: Olive oil, chard, salt

Wash chard, and blot – leave it a little bit damp.
Slice and remove the stalks. Set aside for salads or other recipe.
Slice the leaves in half or quarters.

Drizzle oil on a baking sheet, and arrange the chard in a single layer.

Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 7-8 minutes in 400° oven.

Watch closely so leaves crisp but don’t char.  Eat as is or dip in your favorite dressing.

Swiss Chard, For the Family

daphne on February 23, 2009

It’s a super-veggie, packed with loads of vitamins, antioxidants, and a huge list of good stuff that the whole family can enjoy.  Or at least tolerate.  Or at very least you can distract them by talking about the wondrous array of fairy-land colors.  Or something.

Here’s how I get my kids to eat chard:

I cut up the leaves and the stalks, both parts are edible and worthy, and mix it into the girls’ salads.

They may moan a little, but sell it like a game: who can find all the gorgeous jewels, and make them disappear first? Tell them it’s the favorite food of princesses and fairies, or dragons and trains.  Whatever it takes, you know.

And here’s how the grown-ups eat their chard:

Chop the leaves, dice the stalks and saute away in about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, diced onions and chopped garlic.  Then hide it, like I do in this lasagna.

No-mush lasagna

daphne on February 22, 2009

Though I am an enormous fan of cheese, I never liked the goopy cheesy layers of traditional lasagna, so I made up my own version.

  • 12-14 lasagna noodles
  • 1 large tomato, sliced thin
  • fresh spinach, sliced into bite-sized pieces
  • swiss chard, cut small and sauteed in olive oil, diced onions and garlic
  • tomato sauce
  • Parmesan cheese
  • mozzarella, shredded or sliced
  • mushrooms, peppers, or any other veggie you’ve got around,
  • optional–ground turkey or meat
  1. Boil noodles according to package directions.
  2. Start with a layer of noodles.  Cover noodles with thinly sliced tomatoes.  Sprinkle with salt.
  3. Cover tomatoes with spinach, dollop entire layer with sauce (to taste) then sprinkle with cheese, (also to taste.)
  4. Layer with noodles, repeat.  I usually do a different veggie on each layer, ending with noodles and topped with cheese.
  5. Bake at 350°for about 30 minutes, or until cheese on top is bubbly and inside is piping hot.

Homemade Granola

daphne on February 11, 2009

This is the recipe that I cobbled together from a few sources.  Based on my wholly unscientific research, I found that the recipe is extremely forgiving.  Use what you’ve got in the kitchen. The kids will eat it.

  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup honey
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 Tbls water
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups of rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds
  • ¾ cup chopped pecans (or any other nut)
  • ¾ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened if you can find it. I couldn’t.)
  • 1 cup dried cranberries, raisins, or any other fruit combo.

Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter or spray a baking sheet.

Mix the first 7 ingredients together, and set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients—except for the dried fruit–in a large bowl, and add wet ingredients. Mix until everything is coated.

Spread the mixture on the baking sheet. Bake about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the granola is golden brown.

After baking, add the fruit.  Cool, and store in jars or Tupperware.

My favorite way to eat it is over plain yogurt and drizzled with a little more honey.  But then, I like things sweet.