Recipe: Pizza (Using Tyler Florence's Pizza Dough Recipe)

After tonight, I may not be able to order pizza to go ever again.  We made pizza from scratch using Tyler Florence's pizza dough recipe, and OMG - it's so easy and tasty.  The only drawback is that you need to allocate about an hour and a half from start to finish, so it's not a quick weekday pizza.

• 15 min to make the dough
• 1 hr to let the dough rise
• 20 min+ to get your other ingredient toppings together and to bake the pizza

Our pizza this evening had tomato sauce we made from scratch, shredded Italian blend cheese, fresh mozzarella, Italian sausage, white onion, green bell pepper, baby bella mushrooms -- and then we topped it with fresh basil.

I didn't want to stop eating.

And then we had dessert.  (I made homemade ice cream with vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg and crushed gingersnap cookies.)

I.  Love.  Food.

Recipe: Avocado and Tangerine Salad with Jalapeno Vinaigrette

I think a lot of unnecessary work goes into the Avocado and Tangerine Salad with Jalapeno Vinaigrette recipe (Bon Appetit Magazine, July 2013, p. 88). 

Skip the first 2 parts of the recipe.  Instead of simmering the tangerine juice and cooking the jalapeno, it's fine to mix the non-reduced juice and raw, finely chopped jalapeno into the dressing.  I also don't think using vegetable oil is necessary at all.

So, basically, the recipe involves:

• Making the dressing:  whisk the shallot, vinegar, tangerine juice, jalapeno, salt, pepper, olive oil together
• Toss the avocados, tangerines (or oranges), arugula, mint, and feta together
• Dress the salad
• Enjoy!

2013 Big Tex Choice Awards

The 2013 Big Tex Choice Awards (the annual fried-food competition hosted by the State Fair of Texas) were announced today.  Fried Thanksgiving Dinner won for Most Creative while the Deep Fried Cuban Roll won for Best Taste.  Which item sounds good to you?

You can try them all this year during the fair which runs from Sept 27th - Oct 20th.

Awesome Deep Fried Nutella – Cream cheese and Nutella are whipped and spread over flaky phyllo dough sheets, rolled up and deep fried. Served with a drizzle of honey and shaved almonds.

Deep Fried Cuban Roll – A filling of slow-cooked pork shoulder, chopped ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and secret sauce is spread onto a slice of Swiss cheese, rolled up in pastry dough and deep fried. Roll is served with a side of mojo sauce for dipping.

Fernie's Deep Fried King Ranch Casserole – This stick-to-your-ribs, Texas-shaped creation is cheesy, salty, spicy goodness dipped in zesty Southwestern egg wash, coated in panko bread crumbs, and deep fried until golden brown. Served with a side of red, white and blue tortilla chips and your choice of our homemade “salsafied” sour cream or queso.

Fried Thanksgiving Dinner – Mama’s homemade stuffing and diced roasted turkey are rolled in a ball. Next it’s dipped in Southern cream corn, rolled in seasoned cornmeal and fried to a golden brown. Served with old-fashioned giblet brown gravy. The zesty orange cranberry sauce fills your dipping needs and results in a complete Thanksgiving dinner — fried.

Golden Fried Millionaire Pie – Sweetened, fluffy cream cheese filling is loaded with golden pineapple and Texas pecans then wrapped in a flaky pie crust and fried to a golden brown. Topped with whipped cream, toasted coconut and candied pecans.

Southern Style Chicken-Fried Meatloaf – Homemade meatloaf slices are coated in an authentic Texas chicken-fried breading and deep fried until golden brown. Served with garlic mashed potatoes, Texas cream gravy, and a ketchup-brown sugar glaze for dipping.

Spinach Dip Bites – Creamy and delicious spinach artichoke dip bites are coated with crispy tortilla chips and flash-fried until golden brown. Bites are served with salsa for an additional kick.

Texas Fried Fireball – Pimento cheese, pickles, cayenne pepper and bacon are rolled into a ball, dipped in buttermilk, covered with a jalapeño-infused batter and deep fried. Served with chipotle ranch for dipping.

Recipe: Caprese Burgers

We made the Caprese Burgers recipe from Food and Wine Magazine (Aug 2012, p.64).  It was fine but not amazing.  It just didn't wow our taste buds, but it helped us use up some of the basil we've been growing.

Basically, the recipe calls for making a pesto using basil, salted roasted almonds, garlic, olive oil, pecorino-Romano cheese and salt & pepper.  The pesto is mixed into the meat and is also used on top of the burger which has fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. 

Again, it was fine.

But still, no burger compares to the Triple Smoke Burger recipe, the best burger recipe we've come across.

Recipe: Chile-Cumin Spice Paste on Pork and Grilled Green Beans and Peaches

Unlike the Three-Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Peach and Cucumber Salad recipe that we made last week, the Chile-Cumin Spice Paste (Food And Wine Magazine, Dec 2011 issue, p. 146) that we used on pork and the Grilled Green Beans and Peaches recipe (Bon Appetit Magazine, Jun 2013, p.38) were just ok.  I wouldn't make them again.

I take that back. 

I'd make use the chile-cumin spice paste again but bump up the spice level by 100% (I'm a "spice girl" - ha ha) by using more chipotles in adobo, but I won't be keeping the green beans & peaches recipe.  It was just blah.  Really blah.  I think the peach and cucumber salad we made last week was tons better.  Perhaps we didn't carmelize the peaches enough, but the flavors themselves were just, well, eh.

Recipe: Raspberry and Aperol Floats

I am a huge fan of Aperol.  Aperol is like Campari and is actually produced by the Campari company.  It's hard to describe the taste -- it has a slightly bitter orange and herbal-y (I made up that word) flavor to it.

I made the Raspberry and Aperol Floats recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine (July 2013, p. 79) the other day, and it is delicious!!!!  If you like Aperol, try this drink.  It involves making a very easy thyme-infused simple syrup and then muddling it and the raspberries in a glass.  Add Aperol, ice cream, and club soda. . . Voila!

Recipe: Sambal Chicken Skewers

The cover photo of the July 2013 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine has Sriracha-Glazed Chicken Skewers (aka Sambal Chicken Skewers - recipe is on p. 69).  This recipe is hot, hot, hot!  It was really easy to make -- it just takes 7 ingredients that I've listed below -- but beware of the heat (note that I love spice and found these HOT).  We served these with rice and a refreshing salad.

• light brown sugar
• rice vinegar
• hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek which you can find in the international aisle of your grocery store)
• fish sauce
• sriracha (go easy on this -- a quarter cup is a lot)
• ginger
• chicken

What's food would you save from your fridge?

Last night, our power went out.  We were watching a movie, and all of sudden heard a boom and then everything in the house went dark.  It turns out the wire running electricity to our house went kaput, so we didn't have electricity for almost 9 hours. 

Great.

We had just gone to the grocery store and loaded up on groceries for the week.

Today, we cleaned out the fridge, and it made me think -- the next time the power goes out and there's a chance that it'll be out for more than 4 hours, we'll be heading to the grocery store to get ice so we can save some of the food and place them in coolers. 

What would YOU save from the fridge?  (For us, I think it'd be whatever costs the most to replace. . . plus all cheeses )

BTW, here's a link to the CDC's website regarding food safety when your power goes out.

Art-inspired Dinner

Rothko-inspired bramble jelly shot

Phase-Mother Earth inspired chocolate & vanilla cake

A few weeks ago, our friends threw an art-themed dinner party which was inspired by Caitlin Freeman's book Modern Art Desserts.  Everyone invited brought a dish, and we each had to guess what artist/artwork inspired the dish.  It was tons 'o fun, and I'm hoping we do it again soon.

We made 2 items:

1. A bramble cocktail jelly shot that was inspired by Marc Rothko's work.
2. A cake inspired by Nubuo Sekine's Phase-Mother Earth which is considered to be a pivotal work of the Mono-ha Japanese art movement of the late 60s and early 70s.  Phase-Mother Earth was a large cylindrical tower made of packed earth which was removed from a cylindrical hole with the same shape.

The jelly shots were a hit and fun to eat.  (From now on, I think I'm going to make a fun jelly shot for every dinner party we have.)

The cake turned out fine, we just had to do some minor repairs at the end.  Making the cake was an interesting undertaking as you probably imagine from looking at the photo.  I do need to find a great cake recipe that produces somewhat dense and moist cake AND that is meant for layering so if anyone has a tried-and-true recipe, please let me know and respond in the comments!

Recipe: Three-Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Peach-Cucumber Salad

We've been on a roll with testing new recipes -- another great dish!  This one is the Three-Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Peach-Cucumber Salad recipe from Food & Wine Magazine's September 2013 issue (p.90).

It's a quick and easy dish to make during the weekday after work.  It took about 30 minutes max.

Tips:

• The pork was very peppery, so just beware!  
• Cut the salt in half.
• Used white peaches (my favorite).
• Take a look at the recipe link above to see the photo from Food & Wine Magazine.  The magazine didn't picture a photo, so I didn't think to dice up the cucumbers and peaches (I sliced them instead).  The dice looks nice.
• We had rice leftover from another meal, so I had that instead of naan, though, we'll try yogurt and naan next time.

Recipe: Shrimp, Chorizo and Corn Salad

This Shrimp, Chorizo and Corn Salad recipe from Cooking Light (July 2013, p.134) is a keeper.  We don't receive the Cooking Light Magazine, and I'm usually not a huge fan because their recipes often don't have enough flavor, but this one is GREAT, and we'll definitely be making it again as a quick weeknight meal.  Instead of having this as a salad, we had this for dinner as our main entrée over rice.

Few tips:

• We love garlic and so added extra
• We doubled the amount of red and yellow tomatoes
• Instead of Spanish chorizo, we used Andouille sausage
• Next time, we're not going to add as much lemon juice -- didn't think it was needed
• Added the basil at the very end

Recipe: Hanger Steak with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce

I don't have a photo for this Hanger Steak with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine (Oct 2011, p. 54), but oh my gosh, it was DELICIOUS and so easy.  We made this for dinner with a side of mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts and had a nice Cab to go along with it. . .  I think the meal turned out better than many fine dining restaurant meals we've had.

When I say that the recipe was easy to make -- it was easy.  The ingredients include just olive oil, assorted mushrooms, salt & pepper, hanger steak, garlic, rosemary, dry red wine, chicken stock (we used beef stock) and fresh tarragon.

Recipe: La Bete Noire

I forgot to take a photo of the entire torte,
and now there's only one piece left and I can't seem to
take a great photo of it.  So, here's a close-up.

Need a flourless chocolate torte recipe (that just so happens to be gluten-free since there's, well, no flour in it)? 

Look no farther than La Bete Noir (meaning "The Black Beast") from Bon Appetit Magazine (Sept 2006) that one of my interns recommended to me.  This dessert is for chocolate lovers.  Take a bite, and the chocolate literally melts in your mouth in an instant and yet the dessert isn't too sweet -- it has a perfect balance of richness and sweetness. 

I craved a piece this morning and had a sliver with my morning coffee (after yoga!). 

Recipe: Garlicky Rice

We don't subscribe to Cooking Light;  however, my mother-in-law gets the magazine and passed the July 2013 issue to us.  We made the Spiced Chicken Thighs with Garlicky Rice recipe (p.58), and while the chicken was a bit bland, the rice was quite good!  

I usually make rice in a rice cooker, but here's their recipe for making it on the stove.

• Melt 1 tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat
• Add 1 tbsp minced fresh garlic; saute for 1 minute.
• Add 1 cup of uncooked basmati rice;  cook 30 seconds stirring constantly.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water and 3/8 teaspoon of salt;  bring to a boil.
• Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes or until the rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
• Let stand for 5 minutes.
• Fluff rice.
• Stir in parsley and black pepper.

Creative Cupcakes for the Shoe Lover

Aren't these cupcakes so cute?  My co-worker is an amazing baker and made these for another colleague's birthday. 

The shoe is a cupcake and Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookie, and the heel is a Pepperidge Farm Pirouette.  For the bows, she rolled out some Starburst candy, cut them into thin strips and formed them into bows.  So creative!

Recipe: Thai Chicken Curry

I love Thai food and had been wanting to make Thai Chicken Curry ever since I saw the recipe in Bon Appetit's January 2013 issue (see the photo on p.29 or the link to the recipe above -- it looks mouthwatering; recipe is on p.30 in the magazine).

What a disappointment.  I should've known from reading the reviews on epicurious.com that it wouldn't taste as expected.  While it does have curry paste and coconut milk, there isn't any oomph to the dish, if you know what I mean.  The flavors weren't bold at all, and there was almost no hint of spice.  I'm not keeping this recipe around.  It just didn't fit my expectations of a Thai dish.

Champagne Cork: Mytik Diam

Last night, we opened a bottle of Champagne -- the cork had Mytik Diam on it as you can see in the photo.  I thought, "How cool.  Maybe it's a Latin phrase like carpe diem or something that represents what the brand is about."

Yeah, never mind.  I just looked it up, and it's the name of the cork brand.

Pop-Tarts Ice Cream

 

Why didn't anyone think of this before? 

Carl's Jr. is rolling out a new Hand-Scooped Strawberry Pop-Tarts Ice Cream Sandwich to all of its 1,391 restaurants as a limited time offer starting today.

For a limited time, the dessert will be FREE with the purchase of a Super Bacon Cheeseburger combination meal at participating restaurants. The ice cream sandwich will be sold for a recommended $1.49 if purchased separately.  (That sounds like a 3,000 calorie meal.)

I'm not a huge fan of Strawberry Pop-Tarts, but I can imagine Frosted Blueberry or S'mores being pretty good.

What would Gordon Ramsey say?

I was going through the photos on my phone and came across this one that I'd taken last month. 

An example of REALLY awful food photography and marketing at Twisted Root.  What would Gordon Ramsey say?

Recipe: Slice-and-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Want dessert but don't have anything in the house?  If you cook and bake pretty frequently, you probably have all of the ingredients below to make these Slice-and-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Bon Appetit (April 2013 issue, p. 32). 

Ingredients needed:  flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, nutmeg, unsalted butter, sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, old-fashioned oats, raisins.

Things I did differently:

• Halved the amount of raisins -- substituted one cup for a cup of chocolate chips to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!
• Didn't have whole wheat flour on-hand, so I used all-purpose flour.
• Didn't want to wait to freeze the dough, so I baked them right away.
• It's probably obvious from the photo, but I made very LARGE cookies.