Monday, September 24, 2012

Home Made Pizza = Awesome



 I am sure that it is no surprise that I love cooking. I am also a big believer in not paying for anything that I can make at home myself. Today I will bid adieu to all the local and non- local pizza establishments because thanks to Pinterest (another one of my addictions) I found a recipe for great and very easy pizza dough from the blog Kayotic Kitchen. I am so excited I could make more but I really should not for obvious health reasons. Anywhoo here is a nice and easy recipe to make good use of your new found pizza dough making skills.

Semi-Healthy Home Made Cheese Pizza

Pizza Dough (Follow recipe. It will make about 2 medium size pizzas)


Sauce/Base
2 TBSP Butter
3 Small Green Onions (finley sliced)
4 Large Garlic Cloves (minced)
1 Large Carrot (Sliced into 1/4 inch pieces)
2 1/2 Medium Red Peppers (Blanched and skin and seeds removed)

Toppings
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (Whole or skim, your choice)
Add whatever else your heart desires

Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Divide the pizza dough into two balls  and roll out in whatever shape you prefer. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Place 1 TBSP of butter in a frying pan heating it on medium heat to melt. Add the green onions and garlic and saute until well cooked and fragrant.

Place the carrot and red peppers in a food processor adding in the sauted garlic and green onions. Process until all the ingredients are finely ground.

Place the remaining TBSP of butter in the frying pan and saute your paste for about 10 minutes until it reaches a paste consistency.



Once you have your pizza dough rolled out to your satisfaction bush the edges with olive oil. Divide the carrot and pepper mixture in half. Spread on the pizza dough evenly.


 



Divide your cheese in half and sprinkle over each of your prepared pizzas.


Place in the oven one pizza at a time and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and the edges of the dough start to brown.

Allow to cool for five minutes, cut and serve. 

This recipe is also a great way to get the kiddies eating their veggies and they will love it. My daughter is a really picky eater and she gobbled it up.

Enjoy :)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Phylo Banana Ricotta Pastry


 One of the great things about phylo dough is that more often than not you will have a surplus by buying just one pack of it. This is particularly true if you use it sparingly like I always seem to do. I wanted to finish up a pack of it before it became completely unusable, so I concocted a little something sweet and savory. I took some ricotta, bananas, a little maple syrup (thank you Arianna for bringing me some real deal one from Toronto. You have made me immensely happy), nutmeg, Parmesan and of course the phylo and here is what I came up with.

Phylo Banana Ricotta Pastry

2 sheets Phylo Dough
3 TBSP Butter (melted)
1 1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1 TBSP Ground Nutmeg
3 TBSP Maple Syrup
1 Banana (sliced into 1/4 inch pieces)
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan (To garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Take your phylo one sheet at a time and brush with the melted butter. Lay one sheet on top of the other and fold in half. place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl combine the ricotta, nutmeg and maple syrup until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Place this mixture on the center of your phylo dough and distribute evenly forming a strip about 2 inches in thickness making sure to end the strip about 2 inches away for each end and leaving enough room on the sides to allow room for you to fold the pastry over the filling.


Place the banana slices along the entire length of the ricotta strip. Fold the pastry over the filling and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until your pastry has reached a golden brown throughout.

Allow to cool before serving. You can serve this with a nice hazel nut or vanilla ice cream or just drizzle with either maple syrup or honey.

Enjoy :)

Friday, September 14, 2012

Roast Pork Slider Sandwhiches

A while back I posted about a nice roast pork I made. I had a lot of it left over so that week I had to get creative with ways to serve it up so that it would not be the same old thing. Since we had some slider buns and a bit of mild Feta cheese I decided that this would be a great way to make use of some of that roast pork. I just shredded the pork, placed the meat on the lower half of the buns and sprinkled them with feta. I popped those bad boys in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes, et viola. Here is the result of that venture.
 
 
 





Sunday, September 9, 2012

Dough, Brooklyn - World's Greates Doughnuts


Last month, thanks to a great post by the lovely folks at With Love From Brooklyn (WLFB, my abreviation), I went in search of New York's best doughnut. This is how I finally got around to checking out Dough. I had been told about it by some of my friends,but it was the post by WLFB of the article by The Village Voice, 10 Best Doughnuts in New York, that finally got me there. They definitely deserve that number one spot. Their doughnuts are plump and fluffy, and the glazes are creative and packed with flavor. These are not your run of the mill doughnuts. With flavor combinations like passion fruit with cocoa nibs, strawberry jalpeno and hibiscus tea, this place will leave you wondering what new combinations they can come up with next. A trip here is a definite must for any doughnut lover as they are quite possibly one of the best in the world.

My half dozen in the picture above consisted of the following:
Top Row: Plain Glazed, Passion Fruit with Cocoa Nibs, Dulce de Leche
Bottom Row: Blood Orange, Coconut, Hibiscus

Word to the wise though if you are an out of towner (i.e. Not a Brooklynite) be aware that this doughnut shop is located on the border of the Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy neighborhoods. This area, while beautiful is still a place where one must exercise caution and make plenty of use of common sense. Please do not behave like tourists or show up in designer wear expecting to find lots of really cute boutiques around. Also, bring cash because they do not take credit cards.