Homemade Pizza

. . . right down to the pizza dough.

(Updated 7/22/13 CHECK OUT BOBOLI COPYCAT RECIPE, WHICH IS EVEN EASIER TO WORK WITH!)

Bobby Flay's Pizza Dough

3-1/2 to 4 c. bread flour, plus more for rolling
  (Using bread flour will give you a crispier crust; I've also used all-purpose flour, which gives a chewier crust. Either is fine.)
1 t. sugar
1 envelope instant dry yeast
2 t. kosher salt
1-1/2 c. water, about 110F
2 T. olive oil, plus 2 t.

Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Add water and 2 T. of the oil. Beat until the dough forms into a ball.  If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 T. at a time, until the dough comes together into a solid ball.  If the dough is dry, add additional water, 1 T. at a time. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.

Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 t. of oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about an hour.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal pieces.  Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 mins. before rolling out.

I've been able to get one into a 9x13 pan, and the other into somewhat of a circle.  Sprinkle corn meal onto pan before putting dough on.  Place preferred toppings over dough.  Bake at 350-400 until done, or you can use a pizza stone and bake at a very high temp.

Original recipe, with directions for a bread dough mixer, can be found here.

Recipe -- Turkey Burgers with Mushroom and Blue Cheese

While in Pennsylvania, we visited the amazing Allentown Farmers Market. This isn't just a few fruit stands set up in a big parking lot. We're talking more than 60 stands, 90,000 square feet of indoor shopping, produce, deli meats and cheeses, Pennsylvania Dutch and European baked deliciousness, food for now, food for later, an incredible assortment of everything one could possibly want--all at prices comparable to my local grocery store.

Included among the peperoni rolls, the strudels, and the pickled eggs, we saw Blue Cheese Buffalo Burgers. It brought back memories of the many times I used to buy these in Colorado Springs. I was inspired.

Trevor and I also ate veggie burgers that had been prepared earlier by my cousin, a noted vegan chef. The burgers were wonderful, but the literally hours-long preparation was not for me. Still, I was further inspired. When we returned home, I found this recipe.

TURKEY BURGERS WITH MUSHROOM AND BLUE CHEESE

1 lb. lean ground turkey (I used 99%)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1. T. oil
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. pepper
4 oz. container crumbled blue cheese

Mix all ingredients together. Form into patties. The recipe calls for 4 patties; I was able to make 6, but we use small buns.

Instead of bbqing, I pan sauteed at just over medium heat for 6 mins. per side.

--

Trevor's friend declared them "awesomely delicious." When he was done, I told him there were mushrooms in the burgers. He was floored; he refuses to eat mushrooms. Trevor loved me more than he ever did before. Robert thought they were really good. Holly. Well, Holly took one look, said she didn't feel well, would eat later, and left. LOL.

I froze the remaining patties, but I think it would be best to cook them before freezing. (Wouldn't the mushrooms get soggy by being frozen?)

Delicious, healthy, feel-good about yourself meal.

Recipe -- Potato and Red Onion Frittata

I found this in Taste of Home magazine recently. I was a little nervous about trying it--I usually think recipes sound much better than they really are. But this was a huge hit. Robert and Trevor asked if I'd make it Christmas morning. Fine, but I'd like to have it sooner than that! And we ate it for dinner, along with rolls and fruit.

Potato and Red Onion Frittata

1 small red onion, chopped
4 T. butter, divided
6 large mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 lb. red potatoes (about 5 small), thinly sliced
6 eggs
1/3 c. milk
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
dash salt and pepper

In a 10-in. ovenproof skillet, saute onion over medium heat in 1 T. butter until tender. Add mushrooms and garlic; cook a few minutes longer until mushrooms are soft. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same skillet on medium heat, cook sliced potatoes in 2 T. butter until tender and golden brown. Remove.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk. Stir in cheese, and onion mixture. Melt remaining butter in the skillet; tilt pan to evenly coat. Add egg mixture. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until nearly set.

Top with potatoes; bake for 3-5 minutes or until eggs are completely set. Let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges. Yield: 4 servings.

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The original recipe did not call for mushrooms; it's easy to add any vegetables of your choice.

Amy's Dirty Rice

No photos here, but I'm adding this to remember it for future meals. I've had Amy's Dirty Rice a few times at potlucks and loved it; my family was hard to convince, but once Rob and Trevor tasted it, they were hooked too. Holly didn't try it, but it was fast, easy, and good enough for us to make again.

Amy's Dirty Rice

1/2 onion, chopped
1 lb. sausage (I used lower fat Jimmy Dean)
1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained

Fry the sausage and onion together until sausage in brown and onion is soft and cooked through. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to package directions. When both are done, combine in one of the pans (whichever is big enough), add mushrooms and mix well.

This also makes a great potluck dish (I'm planning to bring it to one next week), as it doesn't have to stay piping hot to taste good.

Robert makes pizza

Pizza is hard to come by out here. We consider ourselves fortunate to have a Dominos in town, but on the flip side of that is that we have to travel 20+ minutes to get there. An option would be to meet them at the outer boundary of their delivery area, but we've never been quite that desperate.

Our favorite Dominos pizza is Philly Cheesesteak, and Robert's fine tuned his own recipe. It's even better than the original. (If Dominos Philly Cheesesteak can somehow be called "original.")

One Boboli crust, smeared with Ragu Alfredo Sauce, and topped with some mozzarella cheese.

We tried this Boboli substitute, but the Boboli is far superior.
The "light" version of sauce works just fine.

Top with sauteed onions and green peppers, along with three Steak'Ums, fried and thinly sliced.

Steak'Ums are found in the freezer section.
Who ever thought they'd actually be good?

Top with sauteed mushrooms.

And more mozzarella.

Bake according to the crust directions.

Oh, and he's making fajita burritos tonight.

I'm considering Liz's advice. I think I should marry this man.

Recipe - Nacho Dogs

Due to an abundance of hot dogs in my freezer, I recently put out a plea for hot dog recipes to my loopy friends. Renita passed on a link from Food Network, which included for this great Bobby Flay recipe. What really convinced me was the number of great reviews people had posted. That, and a desperate need for something a little different and new.


The complete and real recipe can be found here, but this is how I made them:

Nacho Dogs

Guacamole:
2 avocados, mashed
1 jalapeno, finely diced
3 T. red onion, finely diced
1 lime, juiced
1 T. oil
3 T. chopped cilantro leaves
salt
pepper

Combine all ingredients; mix well; set aside.


Salsa:
I used jarred salsa in the fridge.

Hot Dogs:
8 hot dogs
8 buns
1-1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
handful of pickled jalapenos, finely diced
crushed tortilla chips

Grill hot dogs to desired doneness. Place hotdogs in buns, top with cheese, jalapenos, guacamole, salsa and tortilla chips.

Trevor and I loved it. Robert and Holly were much more dubious, pulled ketchup and mustard
out of the fridge, and ate their guac with chips, separate from their dogs. But the nice thing about this recipe is that everyone can fix it their own way. I'll definitely be making these again; I'd take them over regular hot dogs any day!

Big Burritos

Emily asked that I post the burrito "recipe." There really isn't one; we recreate Qdoba's Vegetarian Burrito. We used to eat a lot of Chipotle and Qdoba. It didn't matter so much which one; my favorite really hinged on which had better customer service in the long run.

It will come as no surprise that we don't have one of these nearby. In fact, the nearest Qdoba and Chipotle both are in North Carolina. (Just shoot me now!)

* * *

Giant Burritos

Big white tortillas, heated briefly in microwave.

6 cups of hot white rice (about 2 c. dry), cooked with 1-2 T. lime juice, and 1/2 t. dried coriander or a few tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro, or both.

One or two cans of black or pinto beans (your choice); drained well, and heated in microwave.

One package of shredded cheese.

Salsa(s) of your choice.

Sour cream.

Two or three avocados, mashed up with salt and pepper added.

* * * *

Set up ingredients, assembly line style. When everyone has added what they want, pretend to attempt to roll up the burrito. IF you really can roll it up, there's not enough stuff inside, so go back and add more. If you can't roll it up, you have enough filling and are ready to eat. Serve with a knife and fork.


*The difference is that Qdoba/Chipotle can roll up these burritos. However, I can't.

Taco Seasoning

***UPDATE*** Choose this BETTER TACOS recipe instead!

We had taco salad last night, but I didn't have any taco seasoning mix. I found this online, and it was great--so great that we'll be using this instead of a pre-packaged mix from now on!

TACO SEASONING

1 T. chili powder
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. onion powder
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/4 t. oregano
1/2 t. paprika
1-1/2 t. cumin
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper


Add to meat, along with 3/4 to 1 c. water; simmer until liquid is halved, or whenever you think it's ready.

I found the recipe to be flexible; I used garlic salt instead of garlic powder, omitted the paprika entirely (couldn't find mine!), used dried onion instead of onion powder, and cut the salt by more than half.

Strawberry Soup and Quesadillas

Lee posted her Strawberry Soup recipe to SHS last summer, and I've finally gotten around to making it. Soooo simple to make, the ingredients are similar to a smoothie.

Lee's Strawberry Soup

20 oz. bag frozen strawberries
1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used skim vanilla)
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla

Puree all ingredients in a blender. Pour into a serving bowl, cover and chill for 2 or more hours. Garnish with fresh mint leaves. Serve chilled in small custard cups.

I didn't read this closely ahead of time, so I made it right before dinner. Next time, I'll try chilling it for two hours. I don't think it would taste any different, but it may thin out a little. I used twice as much milk, so mine was a little thinner anyway. Fresh mint leaves? LOL. I do have dried though and crumbled some on top. I'd say it made 8 servings, about 4-5 oz. each?

The kids LOVED this, both asking for seconds. Robert began drinking it until I commented that I'd already asked Trevor not to do that! It was a great summer recipe that I can imagine will become a staple. It would be easy to cut the sugar at least in half, and I plan to try different fruits too . . . peach or mango come to mind.

* * * * *

We've always eaten some variation of quesadillas. This current version is from my mom. I bake them in the oven, because I'd have to watch the stove too closely and my food would surely burn.

Quesadillas

2 tortillas per person
choice of cheeses, we like cheddar, monterey jack or mozzarella, and Mexican blend
choice of toppings such as sliced olives, jalapenos, chopped onion (red, yellow or green), roasted red peppers, cilantro, and any handy leftover grilled meat

Place tortilla on baking sheet. Neatly spread cheese, and then other toppings over cheese. Bake at 375 until cheese is bubbly. Top with second tortilla, turn off heat, and let sit in oven 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and slice into 6 pieces with pizza cutter.

Okay, one of these is quite a bit for one person, but it's a meal for us!

Wednesday

It was a regular day all around, beginning with our usual blue and cloudless sky. We went above freezing for the first time in several days.

Although I thought the kids would have a full school day, they were done earlier than expected. When talking with Trevor tonight, it appears that the only school subjects he likes are breakfast read alouds (currently The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) and sometimes Shurley English. (Hah, that was a surprise!). I'm sure if I ask him next week, I'll get entirely different answers--in fact, I KNOW I'll get different answers. :)

I asked Holly the same questions later. I'm still in shock that she said her favorite subject is math. Math has never been a consistently wonderful subject here, and I've never been completely happy for long with our math curriculum choices. Holly's disliked math for a long, long time, and I began seeing that our math program was no longer a good fit. With one of those ironies that shows God's sense of humor, I switched her back to Singapore Math, something I'd previously said I'd NEVER use again (and Trevor's been using for almost a year). It's currently working out beautifully, within such a short time, it was obvious to me that she was thinking differently about the problems. Whatever changes we might make down the road, it's great right now.

Earlier this week, Trevor asked when we'd have quiche for dinner--so we had it tonight. This is a recipe from the Goldy Bear Mystery series by Diane Mott Davidson that I've posted about before.


Crustless Jarlsberg Quiche

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
1-1/2 c. milk (can use fat free)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2-1/2 c. cottage cheese (I use lo-fat)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
9 eggs
11 oz. cream cheese, softened (I use the light cream cheese)
3/4 lb. Jarlsberg cheese, grated (I use regular Swiss cheese)
1/3 c. parmesan cheese, freshly grated (not canned)

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat, add the flour, and stir just until mixture bubbles. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly. Stir this cream sauce until it thickens. Set aside to cool.

Stir baking powder, mustard and salt into cottage cheese. Beat eggs well, then beat in softened cream cheese and cottage cheese mixture. Slowly beat in cream sauce, then thoroughly incorporate Jarlsberg and Parmesan. Pour into two buttered 10" pie plates. Bake for about 45 minutes or until puffed and browned. Cool at least 10 mins. before serving. Cut each quiche into eight large wedges.

In the past, I've halved the recipe (click link), and it's been enough for the four of us. But after tonight, I'll start making two quiches again. They go fast, and any leftovers heat up very well the next day.

We also had my favorite salad, greens with fresh mozzarella (totally different than the regular stuff!), tomatoes, pine nuts, and Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette. His salad dressing is the best! The kids had orange slices and bread sticks too.

Nothing new around here, but that's certainly not a bad thing!