Tag: pizza

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Foodie Friday #10

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Foodie Friday…

Perhaps its because I’m lazy, since I’ve certainly been making awesome recipes.

So as much as I like my little explanations, I’ll probably also have some versions like this one. Short sweet descriptions, and then links.

But consider this the super awesomely massive version. Great for number 10!

Empanadas. They’re like the cornish pasties I’d love to make (and haven’t) except smaller! But don’t forget to season the filling… Or be prepared to get out a dip. Like I have to. Hummus for the win!

Mini pop tarts. This weekend was the that of the pie crusts.  These were totally worth it, though I need to invest in a real rolling pin. An empty wine bottle will not cut it.

Pizza dough. I’ve fallen in love with this thick one from Alton Brown and this thin one from Inspiration Kitchen.

Goldfish cheese crackers. Delicious and puffy. Just don’t leave the leftovers in your overheated office… Not a good decision on my part.

Caramels. Still love this recipe to death. You don’t even have to stir!

Risotto pudding. Takes longer than a half hour (like my silly mind thought), but so uber worth it. I did sub in mostly lactose free milk and it was fantastic. Fun fact: Joy the Baker was the first blog I ever followed, and I still do today!

Mom’s soup. No link here, because it’s more of a word of mouth. Diceup any leftover soup worthy veggies you’ve got, saute until soft. Then one can of diced tomatoes to about two cans of chicken stock (give or take). Simmer for at least a half hour, or until you finish whatever else you’re cooking. You know, like risotto pudding…

Hummus. I’m pretty sure I just google it every time, and then ignore the recipes, but this is what I tried last. I added roasted peppers, though, and its amazing. This infographic is cool too. Maybe I’ll try one of those next!

Avocado chocolate mousse. I think it might just be my new favorite dessert. Now, this is the recipe I started with, but I first investigated others. And really I should have stuck with one. But helpful hints: Don’t just pour in chocolate chips. If you wanna use them, melt them first. Perhaps soften any hardened dates BEFORE you try to use them, or else they’ll soften in the refrigerator. Which is fine but odd. Also, if you can let it sit in the fridge for more than two hours, do so… I think it tastes even better. Also it counts as a breakfast replacement. Don’t try to eat it after breakfast, because you won’t want to eat lunch.

Scones. Already hands down my favorite breakfast-dessert. (But don’t worry, pancakes come as a close second) But with this fantastic recipe, you don’t need an egg or any butter. Just heavy cream. I actually used whipping cream, and I subbed in chocolate chips for currants. My new favorite recipe. Period.

Barley. Now this is simply just how to cook barley, but I had been carting around some barley for years, so I was happy to learn how to make it. And I do happen to love it. Though I’ll make it with chicken stock or salted water next time.

Tomato sauce. Simple, but I’ve been getting these delightful cherry and plum sized tomato buckets from Sam’s Club, and they are fantastic. So I thought, oh, I’ll just roast up some tomatoes and put it into my food processor with some garlic. I may have added the oil too. It’s delicious. And definitely use it for both pizza and pasta.

Pasta. Definitely try out this. Though invest in a rolling pin if you don’t have one. May I repeat. An empty wine bottle is not a replacement. P.S. I froze mine, and they still cook up a dream!

Nutella-ish. Try and follow a recipe. This one is a great one too! Don’t improvise unless you know what you’re doing. Or else you’ll come out with something like dough. And then try to smooth it out with oil. And then consequently, straight from the fridge your Nutella-ish will not be spreadable. Smooshable, but not quite spreadable. Great on the scones though!

So that’s it for this extended Foodie Friday!

I know that I’m forgetting a thing or two, so I can just tack them on to any future post.

See you next week!

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Foodie Friday #9

Why hello again!

I’ve been making lots of food (cause I need to eat, of course), but only a few new things over the past couple of weeks.

Including some nice pizza crusts, for thin crust pizzas! I made a batch of this dough, divided it into four pizzas, so I’d have crusts that would fit in my trusty cast iron pan, which makes it so easy to come home, preheat the oven and stuff some toppings on the crust and stick the pizza in the oven for a couple of minutes basically until the cheese melts. Easy as pie, and a nice change of pace from having to make something each night, but the downside is having no leftovers for lunch.

I found a nice recipe for granola bars, which I’ve made twice now. The first time, I actually had some nuts, and I used crunchy peanut butter, so it felt like actual granola bar quality stuff, but it ended up being super crumbly. So the second time, I supplemented the oats with Rice Krispies, and added some more peanut butter, actually double the peanut butter, but it ended up being hard enough, but still crumbly, which I think was because the Rice Krispies fill up more air spaces than the nuts did, so I had more material to cover. I’ll be trying again sometime, once I actually get some more nuts.

The Kitchn had a nice recipe for ricotta spaetzle, which is probably going to be my go to meal every time ricotta is available to me. It was delicious and really easy to make! I need to work on some timing, though, so I’ll have nice fresh spaetzle as well as something to eat it with, because I’ve mostly been eating it with butter, since that’s the only thing available right after pulling them from the pot.

I ate the same potato and sweet potato for three days straight! The first day I had them straight from the oven with some cheese and salt, and some salt and sugar. The second day I cut them up to make something resembling a hash. And for dinner that night (and lunch and dinner the next) I included it in the next endeavor.

Have you ever watched a tv show, any tv show, and suddenly had a craving for whatever the characters (or people) were eating? I don’t know about you, but when I watch Supernatural I start to crave pie. This time, though I was watching the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and the restaurant made the most delicious looking pot pie. And I thought to myself, I love pot pie and I have puff pastry in the freezer: I think its time to make pot pie! I kinda just went by feel and the loose directions given in the show… I made a roux, cut up a carrot, added in the potato hash, added a cup of chicken stock, put in some pork (since it was my meat of the week). I covered it with puff pastry, and set it in a 375* oven. I then fried up the remaining puff pastry and topped with cinnamon sugar while I waited. And after a half hour or so, the pot pie came out smelling wonderfully! Since everything had been cooked previously (except the carrot), I didn’t have to worry about eating raw food, I was more worried about the puff pastry baking, and all in all, it was a good experiment!

Are you obsessed with ginger? Because I’m obsessed with ginger, and therefore it was time to make candied ginger! I used this recipe, which worked perfectly and created the most addictive ginger. Next time I might make thin coins instead, though, since the slivers were inconvenient to sift out of the sugar, but I kept the ginger sugar, as well as the crystallized syrup left over from the candying. I’m thinking tea!

I even used some of the ginger sugar in a baked apple I made! I recently bought these ginormous apples, which were nearly twice as big as my small fist. So what better to make than a baked apple? I mixed together some salt, some ginger sugar, some cinammon sugar, some brown sugar, and some toasted oats, and then stuffed it in a basically cored apple at 400* for 25 minutes. So good!

And a long anticipated bread update! I’ve been pretty satisfied with my bread, so much that I’ve begun to forgo the recipe, and I’ve started to just play around a bit. This week, though, I switched it up and made rolls, and they are delicious! I’ll probably end up wasting less bread this way, since they’re the perfect size to keep in my freezer and pull out for a lunch, while my bread has been been a bit too big to stuff in the freezer, even sliced, so I always run into the end of the bread that is basically inedible without lots of chewing or turning it into croutons. But with rolls, this could be different!

What have you been making?