Lemon Meringue Pie

This pie was not easy to make, and once I finished it I said that I probably wouldn't be making it again...

Then I had a bite.

But really how annoying is it to make a three component, gazillion-step recipe, with instructions to "Serve that day" (after cooling to room temperature). I did it though, and my friends and I were verrrrrrrry happy to dive into it the night I made it and find the lemon filling just the slightest bit warm, indicating how fresh it was. I had literally started making the thing early in the morning and my friends came over at like 8pm! And really, the pie the next day, having been refrigerated overnight, was great too, but it did bead up on top of the meringue. However, the filling and meringue did not separate or get oozy, and the flavor didn't dull, so I might make this one day ahead of time if I needed to. Well... at least I might do the crust ahead because that took hours of chilling in between steps, but I'd do the filling and meringue the same day - these components cannot be made separately ahead of time.

The recipe is from the ol' tried and true American Classics cookbook from Cooks Illustrated (and America's Test Kitchen). It's in fact the dish pictured on the cover, so I see it allllllllllll the time and was finally compelled to make it.

The recipe seriously is long and tedious (and I'd have to re-type it since it's not online), so I won't post it unless there is a request for it. I'm happy to do it though if anyone wants it, so just ask!

An interesting part of this pie is the crust, which is rolled out with graham cracker crumbs rather than extra flour. This makes the crust a little... heartier I guess is the right word. It does not get soggy next to custard fillings.

For this kind of pie, and many others, you have to bake the pie crust before putting in the filling. Pie crust is tricky, I don't care what anyone tells you. You make the dough, chill it, think it's lookin' good. You roll it out, still doing OK. Get it in the dish, crimp the edges with a fork or somehow manage to make the edges look decent - homemade looking, but decent. You're feeling good. You might even chill it for a while at this point, but then you throw it in the oven and it SHRINKS majorly and it BUBBLES up in the middle like a sopapilla. It can ruin your day.

I liked this pie crust recipe (which can be rolled graham cracker crumbs or flour depending on the type of filling), even though I had previously sworn by Martha's pate brise (an all butter dough). This one has butter and shortening. You can see from the before baking and after pics that it only shrank a little, and did not bubble up. Oh happy day!

Two main steps made this possible: 1: proper chillage (once it's in the pie dish, refrigerate 40 minutes and then freeze 20 minutes just before baking), and 2: pie weights (I have ceramic ones, but the link I made to heavier, metal ones on a chain is the kind I want for Christmas, hint hint anyone!). Some cookbooks will tell you that dry beans work just as well as actual "pie weights" but they do NOT. They are not heavy enough. You line the crust with foil to prevent too much browning, and press in the pie weights in, then bake. After 25-30 minutes you remove the foil and weights and allow it to continue cooking to brown for 5 or so more minutes.

Here's the pie as it went into the oven. A tip for any meringue pie recipe is to make sure that the meringue touches the edges of the crust all the way around the entire pie. This will make it stick and prevent the meringue from pulling into the middle.

It's so hard not to dive in as soon as it comes out of the oven!

So much baking, unlike cooking, is nerve-wracking because you discover if you've succeeded or failed at the same time as your guests do. But whatever the outcome, at least you've tried, right?! And always try to follow Julia Child's advice to NEVER APOLOGIZE; NEVER EXPLAIN. Everything turned out precisely how you intended it. (Or at least that's what they'll think!)

Another Chicken Dinner

Note: I don't know what is going on with some of the fonts and font sizes in this post - I can't fix them!

A lovely dinner for 4 or fewer: Lemon Chicken with Croutons, Spinach in Puff Pastry, and Plum Cake Tatin. All three recipes are from Ina Garten's book Barefoot in Paris. I can pick up any of her books and make a million combinations for an awesome meal.

This is a very complete meal, with the bread in the chicken dish and the vegetable as either the first course or the side dish. You can add any extra vegetables or potatoes in with the chicken to roast; I added quartered button mushrooms. If I'd had carrots I definitely would have tossed them in too.
Next time I make this - and I most definitely will - I'll not put all the croutons on the platter under the chicken with all the juices like the recipe instructs. I'll put some around the chicken, whole or cut into pieces, on the platter, and try not to let them get completely soaked because they end up very quickly (big surprise:) just soggy. The best part of having croutons is the crunch! I might make a gravy out of the juices too, or reduce it a little, or add a squeeze of fresh lemon to the juices right before pouring them over the chicken next time. But without taking those extra steps it was still really great! Lemon zest over top on the plate was a perfect final touch for me because I love lots of lemon flavor with chicken.
A perfect bite! Chicken, mushroom, caramelized onion, crouton, with pepper and lemon zest:
Lemon Chicken with Croutons
Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris

• 1 (4 to 5-pound) roasting chicken
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lemons, quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 6 cups (3/4-inch) bread cubes (1 baguette or round boule)
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Take the giblets out of the chicken and wash it inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers. Toss the onion with a little olive oil in a small roasting pan. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper. Place the lemons inside the chicken. Pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels, brush it with the melted butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Cover with foil and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (The onions may burn, but the flavor is good.)

Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until very hot. Lower the heat to medium-low and saute the bread cubes, tossing frequently, until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add more olive oil, as needed, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the croutons on a serving platter. Slice the chicken and place it, plus all the pan juices, over the croutons. Sprinkle with salt and serve warm.

I made a lot of tiny changes to this spinach in puff pastry recipe, so I'll note them within the recipe below.

Spinach in Puff Pastry
Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris

• 4 T. (half a stick) unsalted butter
  
• 2 cups chopped onions (about 2 onions)
• 1 T. chopped garlic (3 cloves)
• 2 - 10 ounce - boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
  
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions (2 scallions)
• 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (I used small cubes of Swiss - flavor is perfect and it's cheaper!)
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 extra-large eggs, beaten (I only had 2 large eggs to use, and it turned out just fine. More eggs would have made the filling firmer, but I didn't mind because I was serving this on a plate with a fork anyway.)
  
• 1 T. dry bread crumbs, plain or seasoned
• 2 t. kosher salt (do use this full amount - it seemed like a lot to me so I didn't, but then it needed to be salted later)
  
• 3/4 t. pepper
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg (I left this out)
  
• 1/4 cup toasted pignoli (pine) nuts (Left these out too)
• 2 sheets (one box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted overnight in the refrigerator (Without fail I forget to do this or don't plan ahead. Leave the frozen puff pastry on the counter near a hot stove for a little while and it will be fine. Just make sure it doesn't get too warm or it will get sticky.)
  
• 1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 T. water, for egg wash (so I ran out of eggs, right? So I used melted butter in place of egg wash, no problemo.)
  

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the butter in a saute pan and cook the onions over med-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Add garlic and cook for one more minute. Meanwhile, squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a bowl. Add the onions and garlic, scallions, both cheeses, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and pignolis. Mix well.

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the spinach mixture in the middle of the pastry, leaving a one inch border. Brush the border with egg wash. Roll out the second piece of puff pastry on a floured board until it's an inch larger in each direction. Place the second sheet of pastry over the spinach and seal the edges, crimping them with a fork. Brush the top with egg wash but don't let it drip down the sides or the pastry won't rise. (At this point I used a sharp knife and trimmed all four sides.) Make three small slits in the pastry top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned. Transfer to a cutting board and serve hot.

And, dessert! Hot, sweet, fruity, cakey, delicious! There are some interesting steps to this dish, but it's fun to make and can be made mostly ahead of time and then baked while you're eating dinner. I thought it looked so cool too, like an upside down cake. The red color is from the plums alone, darkened from the caramel. Andrew, my 2 year old, called it "jelly cake" because it did look like red jelly.

The intimidating part of this recipe is the sugar syrup. You have to cook water and sugar in a saucepan over high heat until it turns "a warm amber color, about 360 degrees." I think that a digital thermometer is an ESSENTIAL piece of kitchen equipment, but if you don't have one, still do make this recipe!! Cook the syrup until it turns brown - take it a little farther than you're probably comfortable with, but keep a close eye on it the entire time it's on the heat because it will burn fast once it's beyond it's perfect stage. However the syrup looks, because you will be skeptical, just continue with the recipe and it will turn out just fine.

Plum Cake Tatin
Ina Garten, Barefoot in Paris

nocoupons

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
• 10 to 12 purple "prune" plums, cut in half and pitted (I just chose the purple ones over the orange/purple ones; they weren't labeled "prune." It took 5 and a half of them.)
  
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I used large because that's what I had.)
  
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Confectioners' sugar (optional - I think unnecessary)
  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.

Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the plums.

Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.

Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Bruschetta with Crunchy Jalepeno Topping

I went to a farmer's market the other day, and I had this random thought to make some interesting bruschetta to have with dinner. We had leftovers of chili and pasta salad in the fridge to eat up, and lots of fresh vegetables to also use in the bruschetta topping.

Huge baskets of fresh jalepenos looked perfect at the market, so that's what I thought I'd use as the main ingredient for the fresh salsa-like topping for the fresh focattia bread I got at the Hearvest Bread Company. I really wanted sourdough, but they didn't have any made that day.

This is not a recipe really, I just chopped everything pretty tiny and threw it in the bowl until I was satisfied with it. I wanted lots of jalepenos, so I used only the outside flesh of the pepper, no ribs or seeds, and it wasn't very spicy. On the last pepper I chopped (I used 5 I think) I did add a little bit of the ribs because it needed a little heat though. Since I had celery and cucumber I threw them in and they added lots of cool crunch. Red onion and grape tomatoes, salt, pepper, a tiny splash of each olive oil and red wine vinegar, and done! If I had herbs like basil, cilantro, or mint, I would have thrown some in - dang I do have a mint plant on my porch but I totally forgot about it! Oh well, my point is use whatever you have... or think you have. Chop it fine or use the food processor and add ingredients until you like the balance of tastes. Tomatoes are the classic ingredient. I wouldn't put those in the processor, but if you use them, leave in all the juices and everything. If you think it needs a little perk up, throw in the olive oil, your favorite vinegar, lemon or lime juice and it will make a world of difference. Don't top the bread ahead of time if you're serving people, but when you spoon it on the bread do get the juices onto the bread because it's yummy!

Cut the bread in slices, toast, and then rub with a cut piece of garlic and drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper on top. That is bruschetta. It's great with many types of bread; focaccia would never be my first choice, but it was good, this one had stuff like fennel seeds baked in. Whatever topping you like - could be simply chopped tomatoes in a dressing, is a bonus! If you make this, leave a comment and let me know what you used!

Steamed Artichokes

As soon as the weather starts to get warmer, one of the first things Erol and I look forward to eating is steamed artichokes! Other foods that say "summer" to me are panzanella salad - already made twice so far since winter! - and gazpacho, which I'll wait for real summer to hit before enjoying.

There's really nothing I love more than sitting on the sofa with Erol late in the evening, watching tv or movies, and eating a huge artichoke dipped in melted butter, fresh lemon juice, and crunchy kosher salt. We'll do this every couple of weeks, at least, until fall!

Have you ever eaten a steamed artichoke? They are so much fun to eat. Plus they're like popcorn or mashed potatoes in that they're an ideal vehicle for butter and salt. Add some lemon and you're pretty much in heaven. Here's how to do it TONIGHT:

Steamed Artichoke
1. Buy the largest artichoke you can find that has no major blemishes and has fairly tight leaves. Some have leaves that are closed in and some, like the ones we had yesterday, are sticking out a little, but they're still tight and not loose.

2. Place a saucepan on the stove (one pan for each artichoke), and fill it with about an inch of water. Use ether large rings of raw onion or a piece of foil crumpled and formed into a ring shape, and place this in the saucepan for the artichoke to sit on. You can also add to the water a clove of garlic, but it doesn't need many extra flavorings.

3. Wash the artichoke, then cut the stem leaving as much as an inch. Peel off the last row or two of leaves from the stem end, and use a small paring knife to trim away the outside skin of the stem. Cut the top 1/4 off using a serrated knife. With scissors cut the tips off of the remaining leaves to remove the spikes.

4. Immediately after prepping the artichoke squeeze lemon over the whole thing generously for flavor and also to prevent it from turning brown.

5. Place the artichoke upside down in the center of the pan on the ring of onion or foil. Throw the spent lemon wedges in the pan too. Cover the pan with the lid if it fits, or tightly with foil if it doesn't (it probably won't unless you use your biggest pot). Turn the heat onto medium and let 'er rip for about an hour. If the water gets low add some more.

6. Check for doneness by poking a skewer or dry piece of spaghetti straight down into the stem. A toothpick won't be long enough for this job. If it goes straight through the artichoke pretty easily, it's cooked!

7. Take out the artichoke using tongs and let it drain for a minute on a paper towel.

Erol ate his with just lemon and salt, but you know me, I gotsta have the butta.

Eating artichokes is similar to eating blue crabs in that you have to work for it, and it's not going to fill you up. We had a small dinner and then later ate artichokes, like popcorn.

My rule is pretty much if it's soft, it's good eats. Start peeling the leaves off from the bottom, dip in your poison, and scrape the inside of the leaf on your bottom teeth. For first few rows you're not getting much artichoke because they're generally tough. But soon you'll get little nibbles of soft artichoke at the ends of the leaves, and later, half of the actual leaves will be soft and yellow and you can eat that part, like you can see below. Those are the best ones.

Now when you're done with the leaves it gets even more interactive. You get to the choke, which is inedible, and you have to scrape it out with a spoon. This part is spikey little blades, but they're easily removed.

When the choke is gone, you have the artichoke heart. Break it apart and eat the middle and any part that's soft, all the way down the center of the stem.

Margee's Fudge

My grandma Margee is an excellent cook with several specialties - and every time I try to make one of her recipes, it is just not the same as when she makes it. Doesn't it usually turn out that way when you try to make someone else's signature dish?? Especially with older, handwritten recipes, when you just know there's more to it than what's written down.

Of course, if you go and change the recipe on purpose, yet expect it to have the same qualities as Grandma's, you're going to be in for a surprise! I always do that to myself... The results are always fine and good, but I've decided that no matter what, nothing is better than the real thing when what you want is the real thing. (The exact brands of ingredients may have something to do with it too... Remind me to ask Margee which chocolate she uses...)

That's why everyone looks forward to Christmastime when Margee makes tons of her homemade fudge and passes it around in tins collected over the years, with wax paper in between the layers of chocolate fudge with pecan halves or pieces on each irregular (but perfect) rectangle piece.

My reason this time for altering the recipe is that I didn't have too much chocolate in my cupboard (wha???? it was true), and I had some white chocolate that I never had a reason to use. So I made Chocolate-White Chocolate Swirl Fudge. I made this as a thank you token for some friends, and it got great reviews. But they've never tasted Margee's.

Margee's Original Chocolate Fudge
Margaret Waldrop

18 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 jar marshmallow fluff
2 cups chopped pecans (optional)
1 t. vanilla
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/8 t. salt
13 oz. evaporated milk

Butter a 12x7" pan. In a saucepan, put sugar, butter, salt, and evaporated milk. Stir 20 minutes until softball stage (236 degrees). Remove from heat and add marshmallow fluff, nuts (if using), vanilla, and chocolate. Beat until thick, then pour into prepared pan to cool. Once cool, cut into pieces.

-In stead of stirring in the nuts, Margee places pecan halves on the fudge while it's cooling in the pan so they stick. I think she estimates one piece of pecan for each square and cuts the pieces of fudge accordingly once it's cool.

-Chocolate-White Chocolate Fudge variation: Use 9oz. semi-sweet chocolate and 9oz. white chocolate. After combining all ingredients except the chocolate, divide the mixture into two bowls and add the dark chocolate to one bowl and white to the other. Layer them in the pan and swirl with a knife.

Onion Rings

This is a very common sight in my messy kitchen: several cookbooks open, often all Barefoot Contessa's, flags and notes all over the place.
Oh and the butter, too, isn't a rare sight.

This isn't a rare sight either, come to think of it. This is a nice (and cheap!) bottle of Pino Noir from the Russian River Valley. And very cool Candlewick glasses from Auntie Carroll; I spotted the very same shaped glasses in a scene in Benjamin Button!
So to the onion rings.... Last week Erol was craving steaks with blue cheese, and I thought this was the perfect time to make these onion rings.
They turned out perfectly - light and crispy with great flavor. I planned on concocting a spicy mayo-based sauce (ala Outback) but they didn't need it. Unlike with a beer batter, you won't take a bite and end up wrestling with the entire piece of onion that comes out of the batter; each bite comes off cleanly, which is not a huge deal, it's just kinda satisfying.

I will make these again, but next time I will use my Dutch oven (super heavy cast iron, enamel coated pan) rather than my regular stock pot. The oil temp did not reman steady in this pot, which was frustrating. For this meal my main focus was on these onion rings and I wanted to serve them right away, so unfortunately my steaks suffered a bit and became a little overcooked. I won't make that mistake again because these onion rings hold up longer than the recipe indicates, and they stay crunchy for a long time, so I'll do them first next time and then concentrate on the steak.
Cornmeal Fried Onion Rings
Ina Garten

2 large Spanish onions (or 3 yellow onions)
2 cups buttermilk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (medium) yellow cornmeal
1 quart vegetable oil

Peel the onions, slice them 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick, and separate them into rings. Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the onion rings, toss well, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. (The onion rings can sit in the buttermilk for a few hours.) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

When you're ready to fry the onion rings, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large pot or Dutch oven. (A candy thermometer attached to the side of the pot will help you maintain the proper temperature.) Working in batches, lift some onions out of the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture. Drop into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, until golden brown, turning them once with tongs. Don't crowd them! Place the finished onion rings on the baking sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt, and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the next batch. Continue frying the onion rings and placing them in the warm oven until all the onions are fried. They will remain crisp in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Pizza Party!!

How to have your own make-your-own-pizza party:

Step 1: Friends. Invite over some awesome friends, the more certifiable the better! Haha just kidding - normal people will be just fine, too.

Step 2: Ingredients. You definitely don't have to make everything from scratch, but why not?? It doesn't take much time and it's fun and satisfying. The menu was Caesar salad, pizzas with several toppings to choose from, and almond cake.

Step 3: Assembly. Do what you can ahead of time, and do what you must last minute. I prepped every single thing for this party that day, including shopping for the groceries. I first made the pizza dough, then the almond cake, the Caesar dressing, and then prepared the pizza toppings and cubed the leftover sourdough baguette for croutons. All of this can be done a day or more ahead of time.

Step 4: Party time! Fry up the croutons, toss the salad, let your friends serve themselves. Later roll out the pizza dough and set out all the toppings, and all you have to do is throw them in the oven.

I forgot to take a proper picture of the salad, so I snapped one half-way through my bowl. It was lemony, salty, creamy, cruncy, and delish! Caesar Dressing
Ina Garten

1 extra-large egg yolk at room temperature (or substitute 2 T. mayo)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
8 to 10 anchovy fillets (optional) - I used a big squirt of anchovy paste
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
2 teaspoons kosher salt - I used only 1 t. and that was plenty
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good mild olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the egg yolks (or mayo), mustard, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until smooth. With the food processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube until thick. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and pulse 3 times.

If you don't have a food processor (or don't want to get it out and have to clean it after...), wisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Store the dressing in a container that you can shake before adding it to the lettuce, and use it cool or at room temp.

Croutons
Bakery bread such as French or Italian bread, baguette, or sourdough
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper

Preheat broiler, or oven to 450. Cut the bread into medium-sized cubes. Toss them onto a baking sheet in an even layer and drizzle generously with olive oil, add salt and pepper, and toss to coat evenly. Broil or bake them just until nicely browned and crunchy.

Alternately, these can be made on the stove top in a large skillet. Heat the largest skillet you have on high. Add the olive oil, then the bread cubes, salt, and pepper. Stir around to coat, and cook them until browned and crunchy.

Yesterday I used a sourdough baguette and cooked them in a skillet on the stovetop.

OK, next comes pizza! Here are the before and after pics:Top left is Eric & Lisa's (aka the "Pile It On and Pile It On Good" pie). You wouldn't believe what's under that mountain of mozarella and blanket of pepperoni! They get an A+.

Top right is the masterpiece of the brothers Garcia, Marcelo and Hugo. It is supposedly Cindy Crawford with a mustach and a booger (did I mention this is more fun when your friends are certifiable??). They get a B because besides the fact that it's a creepy looking abstract face, it actually looks quite easily edible.

Bottom right is the work of Gretchen. Irratic sauce placing, sparce cheese, clemintine segments???? ("But people put pineapple on pizza!!" she says.) She gets a B-. Love ya, girl, but that's one sloppy looking pizza pie! LOL!! But she did say it tasted good.

Bottom right is mine and Erol's - his half is sausage and mushroom and mine is pepperoni and green peppers. It tasted great!

Here was the set-up: rolled out pizza dough on cornmeal, jarred tomato sauce (I was going to make my own, but decided to take this shortcut), shredded mozzarella (freshly grated in the food processor - I don't buy pre-shredded unless I really need the convenience), cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni, sliced mushrooms and green peppers. (Aparently the bowl of citrus was placed in too close proximity to the rest of the toppings; the mistake could have been made by any of us. I'll bump G's grade up to a B+.) Pizza Dough
Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

Makes 2 12-inch pizzas (I made the recipe twice for our pizza party)

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
14 ounces (about 2 3/4 cups) flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 t. table salt
1 1/2 T olive oil, plus more for bowl

In a small bowl, sprinkle sugar and yeast over warm water; stir with a fork until yeast and sugar dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt to combine. Add yeast mixture and oil; pulse until mixture comes together but is still slightly tacky. Dough should pull away cleanly from your fingers after it's squeezed. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead 4 or 5 times, until a smooth ball forms.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, smooth side up. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.

Punch down dough. Fold dough back onto itself four or five times, then turn smooth side up. Replace plastic wrap; let dough rise again in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 30-40 minutes.

Punch down dough; turn out onto a floured work surface. Using a bench scraper or knive, divide the dough into two equal pieces. Knead each piece four of five times, then form a smooth ball.

--> At this point each ball of dough can be wrapped loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerated until you're ready to use them. Let them come back to room temp before the next step though.

Preheat the oven to 400. Sprinkle your work surface with cornmeal and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to form the crust. Transfer the dough onto a sheetpan and add your favorite toppings. (Or if you have a baking/pizza stone, let it preheat in the oven and add then top your pizza on a flat surface like the back of a sheetpan, something that allows you to easily slide the pizza, with toppings, onto the baking stone.) Bake until it's done according to how you like it, about 10 minutes or so. For a crisper crust without using a baking stone, when the pizza is almost finished cooking slide it off the pan and directly onto the oven rack for a few minutes.

For dessert we had almond cake, which was so easy to make and smelled soooooooo yummy. I'll definitely be making this cake again!

Almond Cake
from Cooking for Mr. Latte, which I discovered from the Amateur Gourmet blog post that raved about this cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream (8oz), at room temperature
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
7-ounce tube almond paste
4 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 tsp almond extract
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting the cake

Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan.

Mix the sour cream with baking soda. In another bowl, sift the flour and salt together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the almond paste, a little at a time, at medium speed, and then beat for 8 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time; mix until incorporated. It will look curdled; don't worry. Blend in the almond extract and sour cream mixture. Mixing at low, gradually add the flour mixture; beat just until blended.

Pour the batter into a prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake about 1 hour, until dark golden brown and it shrinks from the sides of the pan. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. It will sink in the middle as it cools. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve.

You can store this cake for up to two weeks in the fridge. I recommend bringing it back to room temp before serving.