Pizza Margherita

One of my first posts extolled the virtues of Margherita Pizza. So, I figured I had better share my recipe! I also did a little research about it and discovered:
1) It was supposedly named after a Queen Marghereta in whose honor the recipe was developed. She was visiting Italy and a chef created this pizza and was so pleased by her praise of it that he named it after her.
2) This is considered (unlike many pizzas today!) a more authentic Italian pizza. Although, to make it truly authentic would be difficult at home, it normally requires a VERY HOT (800 degrees!) pizza oven and would only cook for a minute or two!
3) This is most likely healthier than many pizzas, using only a few fresh ingredients.

So, without further ado:
PIZZA MARGHERITA (courtesy of Cook's Illustrated, although modified just a bit)
This recipe makes 2 pizzas, but as they're thin, it only serves about 3-4 adults. You can shape the second pizza while the first is cooking. They cook quickly and get cold quickly so be ready to eat when the first pizza comes out!
Crust:
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 c water
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c cake flour (although I usually substitute all-purpose flour, just measure one cup and remove one Tablespoon of flour from it before adding it to the recipe)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
Topping:
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small garlic clove, pressed through a garlic press or minced
1/4 c chopped fresh basil (I just roughly chop it)
table salt
8-oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, set pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk yeast into water to dissolve. In food processor, combine flours, salt, and sugar to combine. With machine running, pour liquid slowly through feed tube. Continue to mix until comes together in smooth, cohesive ball. If dough sticks to bowl, add a little flour at a time until it forms ball. Or, if dough appears dry, add a little water at a time until ball forms. Turn out of food processor bowl onto floured surface, and divide dough into two smooth balls. Place on greased baking sheet about 3 inches apart and cover loosely with greased plastic. Let rise until double, about 1 hour.
In clean food processor bowl, process tomatoes two or three 1-second pulses, until broken up a little. *Be cautious here, if you like chunkier bits of tomato, process less. If you process too much, it ends up almost like juice. Pretty much useless! Transfer tomatoes to fine-mesh strainer set over bowl and let drain 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to release liquid. Transfer to bowl and add sugar, garlic, 1 T of chopped basil and 1/4 tsp salt.
When dough has risen, working with one round at a time, carefully stretch or roll dough into 12" round (will be thin). At this point, if you have a pizza peel, you can proceed to top the pizza on the peel, then transfer to the stone. If, like me, you don't own a peel, carefully remove the hot stone from the oven, immediately place the dough round onto it and, working quickly, spread about 1/2 cup of sauce over the round, leaving about 1/2 inch border. Replace in oven and bake until crust just begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and quickly sprinkle half of cheese cubes evenly over, then replace in oven. Bake just 4-5 minutes more until cheese is melted. Shape 2nd pizza crust while baking. Remove pizza to large cutting board so stone is free to cook 2nd pizza. On finished pizza: sprinkle 1/2 of chopped basil, drizzle 1 tsp olive oil, and sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Slice and serve (while cooking the 2nd pizza!). Delizioso!

Cook's Prerogative?

So I feel a little guilty. I've been married 12 years, and have known for about 11 of those 12 years that my husband just really doesn't like beef stew. Yet for 11 years, I have continued to make beef stew. Not very often, maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I really thought about it last night for the first time. I made a nice savory, beefy stew with onions, carrots, potatoes, celery, beef, and the easy stew packet mix from McCormick. My husband, always the sport, ate his bowl without complaint. The only way I could tell he really didn't love it is that he "washed it down" with copious amounts of bread. Like almost half a loaf. My eight-year-old tasted one bite and refused to eat any more until we ordered him to eat his compulsory "five bites". My two year old had a bit more, but not a lot. And then there was me, savoring every delicious morsel. The truth is I really like beef stew a lot. I am a big comfort-food girl, especially in the cold weather months. I love the satisfying beefy taste of stew. I love the texture of the tender veggies and the meat almost melting in your mouth. I admit not being able to comprehend why my family dislikes this dish. Yet, here we were last night.
So I had a thought-should I continue to selfishly make this dish for my own enjoyment only? Is it the cook's prerogative to make things that she likes without regard to what everyone else thinks? The funny thing about this dish is it's not even really a recipe. It's not like it's an insult to my cooking skills that they don't like it. It's not really even cooking--chop everything up, dump in water and the mix and turn on the crockpot. I also wondered, are there dishes I cook that I don't like but I know my husband or family does? I can't think of any! Of course there are things I make for my kids that I think are nasty, case in point: boxed Mac and Cheese (like any normal American kid they don't like homemade mac and cheese!), hot dogs, etc. But those are not things I eat. I make them for the kids and make something else for me.
I still haven't come to a decision about this. But especially after writing about beef stew, I can't imagine never making it again. My mouth was practically watering trying to describe the taste and I was secretly grateful there's a serving of last night's dinner tucked away in a corner of my fridge. One of life's great dilemmas . . . .

Chinese take-in

Given many let-downs by Chinese take-out establishments, I rarely do Chinese take-out anymore. Off the top of my head, the only restaurant Chinese food worth eating is from the Mandarin

in Bountiful. Given that the Mandarin is 2,059 miles from where I currently live, I have to make my own Chinese.

I experimented with 2 recipes tonight, Orange-Flavored Chicken, and Stir-Fried Shrimp and Snow Peas in Coconut Curry Sauce, both courtesy of Cooks Illustrated. The shrimp dish was a bit bland, but I'll have to try making it again. I realized as I was cleaning up that I didn't shake up the coconut milk can well enough and most of the yummy stuff was still at the bottom. Oops. However, the chicken was FABULOUS. And not that tricky. So, here it is! Enjoy--

ORANGE-FLAVORED CHICKEN

Marinade and Sauce:

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

3/4 c low-sodium chicken broth

3/4 c orange juice, plus 1 1/2 tsp grated zest and 8 strips orange peel (use very sharp vegetable peeler), from 2 oranges

6 T white vinegar

1/4 c soy sauce

1/2 c packed dark brown sugar

3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 T)

1 piece fresh ginger (about 1"), grated (about 1 T)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (can add 1/2 extra for more heat if desired)

1 T cornstarch, plus 2 tsp

2 T water (cold)

8 small whole dried chiles (optional)

Coating and Frying:

3 large egg whites

1 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 c oil for frying

1) Place chicken in 1 gallon zipper-lock bag, set aside. Combine chicken broth, orange juice, grated zest, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, and cayenne in large saucepan, whisk until sugar is fully dissolved. Measure out 3/4 cup mixture and pour over chicken in bag. Press out air and seal bag. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes (no longer).

2) Bring remaining mixture in saucepan over high heat. In small bowl, stir together cornstarch and cold water, whisk into sauce. Simmer sauce, stirring until thick and translucent, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in orange peel and chiles, set aside.

3) Start oil heating over high heat in dutch oven or heavy pot, until registers 350. Place egg whites in pie plate and beat until frothy. In second pie plate, whisk cornstarch, cayenne, and baking soda until combined. Drain chicken in colander and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Place half of chicken in egg whites, turn to coat, then transfer to cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly. Place carefully in oil and fry until golden brown. Remove to paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with second half of chicken.

4) Add chicken to sauce, toss gently, and serve immediately.

Pork continued . . .

So I chatted with my local Wegmans butcher again today, curious about the spareribs. He confirmed that they usually are more moist and tender than baby backs, just due to a bit more marbling. I asked him about whether they were meatier, and he said that it just depends. He said that they really tried to bring in quality meats, which in this case means meatier ribs.
So, the lesson here: get to know your butcher! I think if you're going to splurge a bit on something like ribs, it's worth finding a place that really provides quality meats and has a knowledgeable butcher on staff. It doesn't have to be a fancy place, if you can find a supermarket that focuses on quality. Don't be afraid to ask questions, request specific cuts, and request high quality product. Good luck!

Pork spending . . .

One of our favorite
"splurges" is baby back ribs. They are a bit pricier meat than we normally buy but they sure are tasty.
Well, in the interest of saving money this week I made a surprising discovery in a new cut of ribs.
So, from what little research I have done, here is Pork Ribs 101 (if you know more than me, feel free to correct any errors!):
1) Baby back ribs are located along the backbone. They are generally liked because they are meaty and the bones are smaller and provide a "rack" that is manageable to cook and eat.
2) Spare ribs are located further down the side, more towards the stomach. The bones are generally larger and flatter. They contain a little more fat content. Here's where my research gets muddled because some of my sources said these can be less meaty--but keep reading . . .
3) Rib tips are the furthest in to the stomach, and are small and meaty
4) Country style ribs are up near the shoulder and contain no actual rib bones
So, the cut I bought at the store was labeled "Center Cut Pork Spareribs". Regular price, they were probably at least $1/lb cheaper than baby backs. On special (my bargain instincts kicking in!) they were even less. They looked just like baby backs, only the racks were larger. I had a brief chat with the butcher and he indicated his preference to these above baby backs. So I decided to give them a try.
SLAM DUNK. They were fantastic. I cooked them just like baby backs, and they were better. They were meatier (a little confusing, see #2 above), and more moist and tender (probably because of the increased fat marbling being closer to the stomach). If you decide to try them out I hope you have the same experience I did. Here's how I cook them: remove the tough membrane on the bone side of the rack. You may have to use a pair of pliers. Then, I rub them with our favorite dry rub, courtesy of Cook's Illustrated (recipe below). I wrap them in 2 layers of foil and cook them for 2-3 hours at about 350-375. The bones should be exposed, with the meat clearly pulling away. Last, I liberally brush them with Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce. If you want to make them ahead, you can stick them in the fridge then warm them up on the grill, just be sure to use lots of barbecue sauce and watch them so they don't dry out. TASTY!

Dry Rub for Barbecue
4 T sweet paprika
2 T chili powder
2 T ground cumin
2 T dark brown sugar
2 T salt
1 T dried oregano
1 T granulated sugar
2 T ground black pepper
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper
Mix all ingredients together, adjust seasonings as desired based on your taste. Will generously cover about 3 large racks of ribs.

A kitchen necessity . . .

No, the kitchen necessity I'm writing about is not a grilled cheese sandwich. Although, depending on how hungry you are . . .

Rather, I'm bragging about one of my Christmas gifts, a new Calphalon nonstick skillet.

Most of my cookware is professional stainless steel, which works great for most things. However, despite having at least a couple of frying pans in my stainless set and a couple of old well-seasoned cast iron skillets, I think a good nonstick frying pan is essential. Here's why:

1) We're very picky about our fried eggs around my house. I don't like them greasy, so a good nonstick pan with a little mist of nonstick spray is perfect. They must be perfectly over-medium. Cooked enough so the white part is not rubbery yet, but is not runny or mushy. And, even our kids don't like a fully-cooked yolk. (Am I making my kids into food snobs?) This new skillet, in addition to the nonstick properties, has a nice heavy-bottom which helps keep the temperature even, which makes it easier to get that yolk just perfect.

2) I love a good grilled cheese. I have found it difficult to do a good grilled cheese in a skillet. It's difficult to get the temperature right--too hot and the bread scorches before the cheese melts. Too cool and the bread gets a bit soggy. I used to get out my big old electric fry pan to do a good grilled cheese. I tested out my nice new pan this last week and wow. Perfect. It maintained a great even temperature and put a nice brown toasty crust on my bread. Another weird thing about me--I love cheese sandwiches dipped in marinara. It's so tasty! And a little less work to heat up than tomato soup.

Best thing about this new pan: I got a fantastic deal on it. We found a "Chef's Outlet" at the outlet shopping center near us. Because this pan was considered a "second" for minor cosmetic flaws which we have still to discover, it was an amazing steal at $32 (normally over $200). Doesn't get much better than this . . .

Used Food

Admissions first, I did not take this photo. It belongs on bonappetit.com. It looks fabulous, doesn't it?! This recipe really appealed to me in my November Bon Appetit magazine. It's for Turkey Empanadas and appealed to me because it looked and sounded tasty and best of all, called for turkey leftovers! We had plenty of turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, and stuffing left over after Christmas Dinner at a friend's house. So, I was so excited to try this recipe. I must say how much I LOVE puff pastry. It's one of the few prepared, packaged ingredients that I really like. The puff pastry didn't disappoint. I even tasted the turkey, stuffing, gravy, and everything else as I was assembling these. Increased anticipation.

To my dismay I discovered a truth that describes accurately my relationship with leftovers. You may do whatever you want to them, but most of the time they still taste like leftovers, or as my husband's family coined the title to this post "Used Food". So, here's my guilty admission that I don't really like to eat leftovers. Every once in a while there is something that is okay. But most of the time I eat leftovers because I feel guilty. That if this food is not consumed in some way that it will be wasteful. Maybe in my next life I'll be better!

Still, this recipe is not half-bad and next year I may just make it again, maybe with "New Food" this time!

TURKEY EMPANADAS
Ingredients
2 cups diced cooked turkey (white and dark meat)
1/2 cup chilled gravy
1 1/2 cups 17.3-ounce packages frozen puff pastry (3 sheets), thawed
1 cup mashed potatoes, divided
1 cup stuffing, divided
1 egg white, beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon cold water (for glaze)
Cranberry sauce

Mix turkey with chilled gravy in small bowl. Roll out 3 pastry sheets to 12-inch-long rectangles on floured work surface. Cut out 2 six-inch rounds from each pastry sheet, using small plate as guide (6 rounds total). Place each round on one 8- to 9-inch parchment square.
Spoon 2 1/2 tablespoons mashed potatoes onto half of each pastry round; press lightly to flatten, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with 2 to 3 tablespoons stuffing, then about 1/3 cup turkey mixture.
Brush glaze around filling on 1 pastry half. Fold plain pastry half over filling, stretching dough to cover. Seal edges with fork tines. Repeat to form 5 more empanadas. Transfer empanadas (still on parchment squares) to 2 rimmed baking sheets (3 on each sheet), spacing 2 inches apart. Chill empanadas 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Press edges of empanadas again with fork tines. Brush empanadas with egg-white glaze and cut small slits in top to allow steam to escape. Bake empanadas 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake empanadas until puffed and golden, 25 to 35 minutes longer. Serve empanadas, passing cranberry sauce alongside.

An oldie but goodie . . .

This image is a familiar one for most of us. The cheerful red and white checked book is almost an icon to American home cooking. I actually own two different editions of this cookbook.
This picture is of the 1976 edition, the one I imagine my mother probably received for her wedding. The book that contained the one recipe that my family has probably made most over the years.
I remember making this recipe many times growing up.
The funny thing is, by the time I remember starting to make this recipe, the cookbook had started to disintegrate with much use and many of the most well-loved pages had fallen out. This particular page had not only fallen out, but was dog-eared, wrinkled, and a little discolored with grease. But, we always made the recipe from this little scrap of the original page. I'm sure we must have written it down other places, and at times one or more of us had the recipe mostly committed to memory. But we were always on the search for this poor little page. I think it's nothing short of a miracle that it never got lost. . . I wonder if my mother still has it?
I now make the recipe from a copy. But I never forget what the original looked like. I don't use my "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook for new recipes much--maybe I should? I actually really like it for: the substitutions list on the back inside cover, the "canning and freezing" section for its basic instructions, and a few very basic but essential recipes: white and hollandaise sauces, butter frosting, and angel food cake (from scratch--the ONLY way to go!). But I'll always be grateful for this one recipe because it will ALWAYS taste like my home:
CHOCOLATE CHIPPERS
1 c shortening
1 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 package of chocolate chips
1 c broken nuts (optional)

Cream shortening, sugars, eggs, and vanilla with electric mixer. Mix flour, salt, and soda in separate bowl until well combined. Add to sugar mixture and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop with spoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes at 350. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen average-sized cookies. A tip from my dad: The cookies are better a little under-done, so don't let them get too brown. A tip from me: take a plate to someone else because if they sit around the kitchen you may eat them all yourself. Happy Baking!

Some Like it Hot!

I love football. I love to watch the games, I love "football food". One of my favorite football foods is hot wings. Sometimes I just need something spicy.
Cook's Illustrated has a really great recipe, which stars "Frank's RedHot Sauce". They are FABULOUSLY spicy, and the blue cheese helps tone it down just a little so you can eat more than a couple! My only complaint with hot wings: sometimes there's just not enough meat. So, yesterday I made the recipe with chunks of chicken instead of wings. Heavenly. Although maybe not quite the depth of flavor with the hot wings (I imagine the skin, bone-on meat, and darker meat add a little extra flavor). So, however you prefer it, here's the recipe:

Buffalo Wings:
SAUCE:
4 T butter
1/2 c Frank's Louisiana RedHot Sauce (original is best)
2 T Tabasco (I couldn't find it, so I used Cholula, plenty spicy-YUM!)
1 T dark brown sugar
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
WINGS:
1-2 quarts of oil for frying
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp table salt
3 T cornstarch
3 lbs chicken wings OR 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
CREAMY BLUE CHEESE (Absolutely essential!!):
2 1/2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (I don't like a strong blue like Stilton, rather a Danish or some other blue a bit more on the mild side, but use what you like!)
3 T buttermilk
3 T sour cream
2 T mayonnaise
2 tsp white wine (or just plain white) vinegar
Veggies if you like, we think celery is essential and also like apples with the blue cheese

Heat oil in large dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat to about 360. (Cook's note: if you don't have a thermometer for measuring oil temperature, you really should get one. When frying, it's important to have the oil at the right temperature to prevent food from either absorbing too much oil at a too-low temperature, or ending up with food scorched on the outside and raw on the inside from a too-high temperature!).
Sauce: Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining sauce ingredients, whisk well, and set aside.
Wings: Cut through skin between 2 larger sections of wing, pop joint by bending sections back, then cut through to separate 2 portions. Hack off wing tip and discard. If using chicken breasts, cut breasts into equal-sized chunks, about 2-inch chunks work well. Heat oven to 200 (use it to keep the wings warm while you finish cooking). Add cayenne, black pepper, salt, and cornstarch to large bowl and whisk to combine. Add meat and toss well to combine (I think it works best to use your hands). When oil is at temperature, fry meat in 2 batches (don't overcrowd the pot!), frying until golden and removing to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Keep the first batch in the warm oven until the second batch is done. The wings can sit in the warm oven up to 1 1/2 hours, so if you're preparing other foods these can be done a bit in advance. Just before eating, toss the wings in the sauce. Serve immediately.
Blue Cheese Dressing: Mash blue cheese and buttermilk together with a fork in a small bowl until it resembles cottage cheese (only blue!). Mix in remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve alongside wings and veggies. TASTY!

Fondue Failure

Fondue is a long-standing tradition with my husband's family. It's a great New-Years-Eve meal, with lots of time to sit and enjoy eating. They have always done the hot oil fondue. Last night, I really wanted to try and do cheese fondue. The catch: we don't consume alcohol.

I knew that texture could be an issue when trying to substitute out the alcohol. So, I did some research and everything I read claimed that adding an acid, like lemon juice, would solve the problem. So, I made two different pots of cheese fondue:

Pot 1: chicken broth, lemon juice, emmentaler, gruyere, smoked pavarti (a fabulous cheese! thanks to Harry the cheese guy at Wegmans . . . ), cornstarch.

Pot 2: apple cider, lemon juice, mustard powder, cornstarch, sharp cheddar.

The results: Disappointing. I followed all the advice to melt the cheese "low and slow" with constant stirring. The resulting fondue was grainy in texture, the cheese just refused to incorporate. I tried raising the temperature, adding more lemon juice, whisking, and just about everything I could think of! Finally I had to serve the fondues, which were tasty (the favorite was the traditional Swiss fondue with the emmentaler and gruyere) but lumpy and grainy in texture. I guess this is an item for further study. The food chemistry must prove that something about the alcohol allows the cheese to incorporate. Some friends suggested trying a non-alcoholic wine, but would that make any difference?

The bright spot: the websites I looked at had some great suggestions for dipping. We did the traditional baguette, but also had blanched veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, and mushrooms), cooked steak and shrimp and sausage, and grape tomatoes (surprisingly tasty!). And of course the dessert fondues (chocolate and caramel) were fabulous.

Happy New Year!