Bake Me More

I will admit that I have yet to make homemade pizza dough. I have made plenty of yeasted breads, but never this. Usually I use the Pillsbury Refrigerated Dough. The fam really enjoys the dough, and it is a quick and easy fix. However, I came across this recipe (at Biggest Diabetic Loser) a couple of days ago and decided it was time. I actually purchased a food processor almost a year ago, and until this morning, had not taken it out of the box. I got a steal of a deal on it though…

This dough was very easy to make and had tasted great. Good enough that I made two batches then played around with the dough. From the first batch I made a pizza for lunch. With the second, I made a focaccia loaf and some pretzels (see my next post). No doubt I will use this recipe again and again.

Pizza Dough (via the food processor)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 package active yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Put 2 cups flour and salt in food processor and pulse.  Heat water to 110 degrees.  Add yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes until its all nice and bubbly.  Add olive oil to yeast/water mixture and stir.  Start food processor and slowly pour in yeast mixture. Add the remaining flour in portions, enough that the dough stops sticking to the sides.  I actually checks the “stickiness” of the dough. Then, let the processor run for about 5 minutes until the dough begins to form a ball. Mine made enough for a 14″ pizza, about 1/4″ thick. Note, I also let mine rise about 10 minutes, then I baked it at 425 for 5 minutes to crisp-en the dough.

Add your desired toppings and bake for another 7 minutes, or until the edges of the dough are lightly brown, and the cheese is melted. For my pizza today I used Ragu Pizza Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Bacon, Onion and grated Parmesan cheese. (I didn’t have any pepperoni, or I would have surely used it.)

…the Foccacia…

Ingredients:

• Prepared Pizza Dough
• Olive oil
• Herbs and seasonings as desired
• Parmesan Cheese, grated

Directions:

With half of the second dough, I rounded it and let it rise in an oiled pan for 30 minutes. Then I flattened the round to about and inch this and brushed olive oil infused with garlic and herbs…then a little of the grated Parmesan cheese. It baked at 425 for 15 minutes. It smelled downright amazing.

**In the Biggest Diabetic Losers post, she mentions using 1/2 – 3/4 cup flour following the yeast addition. I found that I needed closer to 1 cup. Maybe because I live in humid Florida, I don’t know… it still turned out great!

Shake for Dessert

Tonight’s dinner was a summertime favorite… yes it is March, but today the high was 80, and it was sunny and beautiful…a great day for grilling. We started our meal with BBQ chicken, home made potato salad and corn on the cob. Finishing out the meal, we had sugar cookies and warm blondies with ice cream. The fun though, was that the kids made the ice cream ~ no electricity involved, just a little elbow grease!

This recipe has been sitting idle for a while, and when I opened the freezer and saw that someone had cleaned out the ice cream, I knew it was a good time to dust off the recipe. Here goes:

“Shakin’ Ice Cream”

What you need:

• Ziploc bags, sandwich and freezer size (don’t go generic here)
• Milk
• Sugar
• Rock Salt (or ice cream salt)
• Ice

Each batch makes a nice single serving. I added strawberry Nesquick to some for a strawberry kick. You could use chocolate too.

Here’s how it works:

Sandwich size bags:

• Add 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 tbl sugar
• A couple squirts of syrup if desired

Freezer Bag:

• 1/4 cup rock salt
• Ice to fill 1/2 bag

Add contents to each bag and seal well. Insert the sandwich bag into the freezer bag, seal and shake! The longer they shake, the thicker the cream. Ours took about 5 – 7 minutes. Once the cream is thick, snip a corner off the bag and squeeze into a serving bowl. Voila, you have dessert! Eat fast though, it melts quickly!

Note: I found that the shaking got a little cold and tedious. It was actually easier (and seemed to work better) to wrap the bag in a large towel, place it on the counter and roll the bag back and forth.

My thoughts? It tasted great. Not something I would do everyday, it made a mess…especially when one of the bags busted and we had rock salt and ice all over the counter, but we had a great time and the kids work resulted in a great tasting treat they made themselves.

For the past seven weeks, my son has been studying our state (Florida) at school. This is always a big project for the 4th grade that is culminated by an entire day known as “Florida Day” and a field trip to the Nation’s Oldest City – St. Augustine. Florida Day is comprised mainly of foods native to Florida such as gator tail, shrimp, oranges, strawberries and of course Key Limes – which was my assigned dish.

While Key Lime Pie is native of Florida, I didn’t know how much interest a room full of 10 year olds would have, so I threw together some mini cupcakes… a sure fire hit with kids. This was also extremely last minute, so I did with what I had… both time and product. Here is what I made:

Key Lime Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 oz) box white cake mix (& the ingredients called for)
• 1 (4 serv.) box lime jello mix
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup ice water
• 4 – 5 key limes, or 2 regular
• 1 batch cream cheese frosting (I used a tub)

Directions:

Prepare cake mix as directed. Stir in the zest of one lime (less if using regular limes). Bake as directed for mini, or regular size cupcakes. Remove from oven and poke holes in each cupcake with a toothpick or small skewer. Once the cakes have cooled, prepare the jello: Pour 1 cup boiling water over mix and stir until dissolved, then add one cup ice cold water. Spoon liquid over cupcakes and place in the fridge for a few hours, until the jello has set. Remove and frost. Garnish as desired.

For the frosting, I stirred in a little jello powder that I had reserved. It gave the cream cheese frosting the nice lime hew. I also stirred in more lime zest to enhance the flavor of the key lime, then piped the frosting onto the cupcakes and garnished with a slice of the lime. I was very pleased with how they turned out… and my son brought back an empty dish…

Stir Fry’s are a dinner staple with my family. They are (generally) a low fat, low calorie, low budget… but very fulfilling meal that incorporates vegetables, meats (or not), and rice… all in one. They often come together very quickly too. Today’s lunch was a very easy version of the Asian dish Kung Pao Chicken. In all technicality, this is not your classic Kung Pao Chicken, however the chicken is marinated and cooked in an orange marmalade, and peanuts are added.

There was no written recipe base for this dish, as I have made so many Stir Fry’s, I doubt any of them have been exactly re-created. This Asian cuisine is so user friendly though, a specific recipe is usually not necessary.

Kung Pao Chicken (aka Orange Marmalade Chicken Stir Fry)

Serves 4 – 5, double as necessary

Ingredients:

• 2 large skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1/2 cup orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup peanuts (I used honey roasted because that’s all I had)
• 1 bag frozen stir fry mix (peppers, onions (mine included broccoli too)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbl cornstarch
• Seasonings, as desired
• 1 tbl Cornstarch
• Water
• Hot Cooked Rice

Directions:

Combine chicken, marmalade and peanuts in 1 - 2 tablespoons of oil in wok or skillet. When chicken is nearly cooked through, add stir fry mix and soy sauce. You may need to add water throughout the cooking process. The key is to maintain a liquid base which you will thicken before serving. Once the dish is heated through, in a small cover-able cup, combine the cornstarch with 2 – 3 tablespoons of liquid… for me, I used equal amounts of water and soy sauce. Shake the cup until the cornstarch is dissolved, then add to stir fry. Let stand long enough to thicken. Serve over rice.