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.

Still messin'.............

I cook, I make a mess, I take the silly pictures....
and every once in a while I get around to posting the recipes and stories!

I'll throw in a super-easy recipe right now, just since I don't have to look anything up to do so. It's the cornbread in the bottom row of the collage.

Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread

1 package Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 cup grated cheddar (or other cheese)
1 minced jalapeno (seeds and membrane removed for less heat)

Prepare muffin mix according to package directions. Stir in grated cheese and minced jalapeno.

If you have a cast iron skillet, place it in the oven while it preheats, and then leave it to get hot for a few extra minutes. Carefully remove the skillet and add 2-3 tablespoons of butter and allow it to melt, then pour in the batter. (Spread it out to the edges but it won't fill the pan.) If you don't have a cast iron skillet, use another baking dish and don't preheat it, but still grease the pan with plenty of butter.

Then cook according to the package directions for cornbread.

Black and White Bagel

This food is perfect for any meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, or dessert.

Take a bagel. Put two pieces of dark chocolate on it and toast.
Spread the melty chocolate around that half, and spread cream cheese on the other half.Eat.

Frozen Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Banana Loaf

One of my all time favorite sweet flavor combos is peanut butter, chocolate, and banana. (Definitely my fave milkshake and banana split flavor!) Add some heavy cream, and NOTHING else except some crunchy topping, and you have a pretty perfect dessert in my opinion!

Frozen Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Banana Loaf
I think this is a Martha Stewart recipe, but I found it on another food blog.

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped into small pieces
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 ripe bananas
1 cup heavy cream whipped to stiff peaks (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts chopped (or crumbled Oreos; I used graham crackers because it was the best I had)
nonstick cooking spray and waxed paper for loaf pan

1. Coat an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; line with waxed paper, leaving overhang on both long sides. Set aside.

2. Melt chocolate; cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, in a food processor, purée bananas until smooth.

3. Stir peanut butter into cooled chocolate until combined, then stir in banana purée. Gently fold in whipped cream until combined. Pour into prepared pan; top with peanuts. Fold waxed paper over top; wrap tightly in plastic. Freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

4. To serve: Remove loaf from pan (run a hot towel across sides and bottom of pan, if necessary). Slice about 1/2 inch thick, as needed; rewrap remaining (unsliced) loaf, and freeze up to 1 month.

No-Knead Bread

I found this recipe on my all-time favorite food & cooking blog: The Amateur Gourmet, Adam Roberts. Apparently this no-knead bread technique has been around for a while, but I'd never heard of it because if I had, I'd have been making it every week since.

The first time I made this was just before going to Richmond for Christmas. It literally came out of the oven and was the last thing packed in the car; I almost didn't want to leave and let the aroma of baking bread be enjoyed by only the kittens, but the whole ride down was like sitting in a bakery. I've made it twice since then, trying both variations of using bread flour vs. AP flour, and flour vs. cornmeal as a coating. I have found the best combination for the softest bread and crust that's not too hard. Either bread or AP flour will work fine, but I liked the AP flour the best. Cornmeal is much better than flour for the coating, and I do suggest buying some for this rather than using flour because the crust comes out much nicer. (Ladies at the dinner swap yesterday - you got the loaf with the bread flour and flour coating. The winning combo came out of the oven later last night.) Also the first time I made it (and took the pics) I followed the timing exactly, but yesterday when I made two, I slacked and did not follow it precisely, and I didn't get the same rise and texture inside. I did hold the rising process at step 5, as I noted below, and I don't think that caused a problem at all.

I insist you make this, I really do. You just can't not. It's so easy!! Plan to make it for sure if we get a snow day, and I stress PLAN because you do have to start a day ahead. I scribbled down the recipe from Adam Roberts's blog on an envelope, but I now have it easily memorized because there's not much to it. It looks like a lot of steps but I broke it down that way to make it easiest to follow. This is the most bang for your buck type of recipe I've ever made - meaning so few ingredients, effort, and working time on your part for such a great end product. I'll even put in a nice little time-line for you.

Of course you can just click on Adam Roberts's blog for the recipe, which is hilarious and has great photos, but here's my spin:

No-Knead Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups of AP flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1.5 cups plus 2 tablespoons water (1 5/8ths cups)
Cornmeal (1/2 cup or so)

Directions:
1. [4:00pm day one] Place flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl and stir.

2. Add the water and mix in. Cover with plastic wrap.

3. Let rise for 12-18 hours (18 is better).
4. [10:00am day two] Flour your counter and plop the dough down on it. Fold the dough over onto it's self a couple of times. Place it back in the bowl and cover with the plastic wrap again.
5. Let rest for 15 minutes. (For one of my loaves yesterday, at this point I refrigerated it because I needed a few extra hours before baking, and that did work out nicely.)

6. [10:15am] Lay a clean kitchen towel down on the counter, and coat it with cornmeal.

7. Plop the dough onto the cornmeal in one big ball, then sprinkle more cornmeal over the top. Cover with another kitchen towel.

8. Let sit for 1.5 hours until the next step (the dough will sit like this for a total of 2 hours).
9. [11:45am] Place a 6-8 quart enamel coated cast iron pot, and it's lid, in the oven and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Let it heat up for 30 minutes.

10. [12:15pm] Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid (KEEP THE POTHOLDER ON THE LID AFTER YOU REMOVE IT OR YOU WILL FORGET THAT IT'S HOT AND YOU WILL BURN YOURSELF). (OK that note was mainly for myself because you are smarter than me, but it is a good tip.)

11. Plop the dough into the pan, trying to let the bottom be flat and any folds or creases in the dough to be on top.
12. Put the lid back on and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
13. [12:45pm] Remove the lid and bake for another 15-30 minutes until it looks nice and brown.
14. [1:00 or 1:15pm] Let cool, at least for a few minutes, before you slice it.OK, now is the fun part. This isn't the type of bread I like to slice and eat plain because the crust is so crusty, unless it's still warm and you have butter on it. Here are some ideas:

Toast, then slap on some butter and jam (or Sue Ann's homemade blackberry preserves like I had this morning, way yum).

Grill or toast, then rub with a cut piece of garlic. Drizzle on extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper.

Or grill or toast and top with bruscetta. (Accd to my Amateur Gourmet: That's 5 plum tomatoes cut in half and cored and seeded (I used a soup spoon), cut into 1/4-inch cubes, and tossed with 3 cloves of chopped garlic (I like it garlicky), a bunch of basil leaves chiffonaded and then a splash of red wine vinegar, a heavier dose of olive oil (but not too much), salt and pepper. It's that easy and it'll knock your socks off. As my great-grandmother Helen would say: "It's the cat's pajamas and the snake's hips.")

Or, for garlic bread: make a mixture of softened butter, lotsa garlic (either fresh minced or garlic powder is good here too), parsley (fresh or dried, or dried Italian herb mix), salt and black pepper. Smear this on thick cut bread and toast or broil on a baking sheet.

For REAL garlic bread, shmear toasted bread with roasted garlic and olive oil.

Next time I make this bread, I'm going to add some roasted garlic cloves and maybe fresh thyme or chives, or some other herb, to the dough and bake it in. I think the smell of that baking would delay a road trip...

Mediterranean Pasta in Minutes

Over the holidays, I took a semi-cookcation and didn't do much cooking at all. I had made so many cookies, as you know... so I was ready for the break and more than willing to let my momma feed me! OOhhh baby you should have been there for her shrimp and grits too man, WOW.

But back at home I've been messing up my kitchen every day as usual. I became a huge fan of kalamata olives recently, and wanted to use them in a recipe, so I started searching and found the perfect one. This dish has many of my very favorite things: pasta, feta, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, cream, chicken, and oregano! All these things would make my "top 25 favorite foods" list for sure (hey maybe I should write that list...). Plus I'm likely to have most of these things already at home, which is always nice.

I found this recipe on foodtv.com, and it's been up for a few years and has hundreds of reviews and 5 stars. Also a good sign. I rely the reviews for tips, such as to reduce the amount of pasta and/or up the cream to make a nice sauce. I did both and found it to be necessary, as there is no sauce in your bowl because it's all soaked up by the pasta and chicken. These are strong flavors, so if I made this for company I'd probably leave out the chicken and serve it as a warm pasta side dish.

I didn't use the basil, which is yet another very strong flavor, but I think it would be good if you have it on hand. Rather than wasting the olive oil that the sun-dried tomatoes are packed it, I put some of it in at the end and it really made it good. Oh, and the jar of sun-dried tomatoes we got was 7oz, rather than 8 1/2, which of course is just fine (esp because they're not cheap). I also modified the recipe to use a block of feta and chop it into large chunks instead of pre-crumbled feta. I love getting a nice bite of it, but not having a little in every bite, sort of like it's cool to have the whole olives.
Mediterranean Pasta in Minutes
adapted from Tyler Florence's recipe

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, sliced diagonally (omit to use as a side dish)
  
• 1 (8 1/2-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes, julienned (reserve oil)
• 2 tablespoons (at least!) garlic, minced
  
• 3/4 to 1 pound fresh angel hair pasta
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (optional)
  
• 1 (8 1/2-ounce) can artichoke hearts in water, quartered and drained (1 cup)
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted (1/4 pound)
• 6 ounce block feta cheese, diced
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Boil water for pasta in a pasta pot, fitted with a strainer. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken strips until no longer pink -- about 3 minutes each side. Add sun-dried tomatoes and garlic to skillet. Saute for 2 minutes. In the meantime, add the fresh pasta to boiling water, cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.

Now add the basil, artichoke hearts, olives and feta cheese to the skillet. Saute 1 minute then stir in the cream. Strain the pasta and transfer to a large pasta bowl; add the chicken saute to the pasta and toss (or add the pasta to the skillet to combine). Season with oregano, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of the sun-dried tomato oil before serving.

This is just before adding the cream.

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who ordered cookies from me this holiday season! I had a blast in the kitchen doing what I love most. While I did get overwhelmed being up to my ears in cookies at times, it was fun!

I had 16 orders, which was probably the maximum that I could have handled in the time I gave myself. I had a few special orders, which I happily welcomed (gingerbread cookies and hot buttered rum mix). Thanks!

Throughout the year I'd be happy to continue to sell cookies and other baked items upon request. I'll probably post a special sale for Valentine's Day next.

Happy eating in 2009!