Homemade pizza

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's finally happened!  I've moved into a kitchen that I keep clean enough to take pictures in!  And thus begins the posts that have pictures with them :)  You're about to get more than you ever asked for...

[In hindsight, homemade bread can be kind of tricky if you don't have experience with it, so I'm glad I included so many pictures.]

Homemade pizza is one of my family's all-time favorite foods.  All growing up, it was a special meal because it took a little while to make, and it was often the chosen meal for birthdays, coming home from college, and other special occasions.  The crust for this recipe makes more of a soft, bread-like crust instead of a crispy one, but I'll leave instructions to make it either way if you prefer a crispy crust.  This is my mom's recipe :)

First, let me introduce the star of the show:  

My friends, this is Bosch, Jr.  "Junior" because it's the small version of the glorious mixer variety called "Bosch."  My parents gave it to me my sophomore year of college and I love it.  (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

Okay, so step one: Mix together 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of yeast, and 1 1/4 cups of hot water.  How can you tell if "hot" is hot enough?  My mom told me it's like this: It should be almost too hot to put your finger in the water coming out of the tap, but not hot enough for steam to also be coming out.  After putting everything together, wait for the yeast to activate.  Here are some pictures in case you're new to bread-making:

This picture was taken pretty soon after putting everything in the bowl.  See how the yeast has started to get a little fluffy, but there are still some small yeast particles, too?

This is after the yeast has been activated.  You'll see the particles float to the top of the water and then quickly fluff up.  At the beginning, you'll wonder if it's happening, but just give it a little time.  All of a sudden big clumps will start to fluff up and then you'll know the party has started!

Next, add in 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 cup of vegetable/canola oil, and beat everything together for two minutes.

Yum! :)

After the two minutes, knead in more flour until the mixture pulls away from the sides.  This is the confusing part, at least for me.  Lucky for you, I took plenty of pictures during the process so you can see exactly what it should look like.  The amount of flour that gets added will depend on how humid the weather is, how humid your house is, whatever the flour feels like doing... you get the idea :)  I like to add the flour 1/2 cup at a time and often have to add about 2 cups, just to give you an idea. 

This is the dough before any extra flour...

And this is it after some extra flour has been added.  See how it's starting to pull away from the sides?

 

Ok, that picture is a pretty good one of the dough pulling away from the sides.  It's a little hard to get a picture of during the actual process, but I hope that helps.

 

Alright!  So when the dough has enough flour to have pulled away from the sides (as shown above), take it out of the bowl (put some oil on your hands!) and stretch it out a little.  Hold onto one end of the dough and work it between your hands - like how you might hold a baby up in the air and bounce it up and down - and it will stretch into a tube.  Lay this onto your greased cookie sheet.  By stretching it out now, you have made the rolling-out process later much easier.

 

 

Set the timer for 40 minutes.

 

Yay!  They've risen!  (I always make a double batch, so that's why there are two.)  Now set the oven to 350 degrees, roll the dough out to cover the whole pan, and cook your dough for 15 minutes.

 

Rolled out... I use the sophisticated cup method.

...and baked!

Now you're ready to add on the toppings.  I use canned spaghetti sauce for the sauce, and this time chose to make one pepperoni pizza and one Hawaiian.  

 

Check out that sweet spatula in the spaghetti sauce can. Why yes, it does have arms and legs.

We tried using sliceable mozzarella this time.  Not sure how I felt about that.  Much trickier than just using grated.

Bake your pizzas at 350 for 10 minutes if you want a very bready-textured crust, or for 20-25 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown for a crispier crust.  ¡Buen provecho!

Homemade Pizza
makes one cookie sheet of pizza crust

1 tsp sugar
1 T yeast
1 1/4 c water
1 1/2 c flour (+ additional)
1 tsp salt
1/4 c oil

Pizza toppings

Put sugar, yeast, and hot water into mixer and let stand until yeast is activated.  Add the rest of the ingredients and beat for 2 minutes.  Continue to knead while adding in flour until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Shape dough into a tube and lay out to rise on a cookie sheet.  Let rise 40 minutes.  Roll the dough out to fill up the cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Put on desired toppings and bake an additional 10 minutes for a soft crust or 20-25 minutes for a crispier crust.

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Chicken & Pea Sauce

This recipe is about as "family recipe" as they come at my house.  So much so, in fact, that I'm surprised I haven't posted it here before now.  History of the name: This sauce is supposed to have peas in it, hence the name Chicken & Pea Sauce.  My dad doesn't like peas in the sauce, though, so we usually have them on the side.  Now that I'm married, I sometimes serve peas with this and sometimes serve something else, but we still always call it Chicken & Pea Sauce. :)

(This sauce is incredibly forgiving.  Sometimes I add onions; it's really good with a packet of Italian dressing mix; if I don't have sour cream I use cream cheese + however much milk to make it the thinness I want; it's very tasty with vegetables mixed in, ...etc.)

2 cups chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
cheddar cheese, to taste

Cook chicken in a pot.  Add soup, sour cream, milk, salt, and pepper just to boiling.  Reduce heat and cook until it reaches desired thickness.  Best served over rice, home-smashed potatoes, or baked potatoes. 

CROCKPOT: Put raw chicken, soup, and seasonings in crockpot.  Cook as long as you cook chicken (on low 6-10 hrs or high 4-6 hrs).  When chicken is cooked, shred.  Add sour cream, milk, and cheese and let sit until melted and heated through.
 

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Black Bean Soup

I do not claim this recipe as my own, but I will call it a "family" recipe - We love it so much it's a regular in our house.  We like it best with a little bit of sour cream on top and tortillas to dip in it.  And just so you know, it tastes about a million times better than it looks. :)


(from Our Best Bites)

1 T olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3/4 C diced carrots (about 2 med carrots)

3/4 C diced celery (about 2 ribs)

1 C diced onion (about 1 sm-med onion)

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 3.5oz can green chilies

2 cans low-sodium beef broth

1 t kosher salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t cumin

1/2 t dry oregano leaves

1 bay leaf

Optional Toppings: sour cream, tortilla chips, grated cheese, chopped cilantro, tortillas, etc.

1. Place a large stock pot on the stove-top and set to medium-high heat.  When pan is warm, add olive oil.  Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute 4-5 minutes.

2. Add in the black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.

3. Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.

4. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf from soup. 

5. Place soup in a blender. (You could use an immersion blender in place of this step.) Place lid on blender, but remove the stopper in the lid to let heat escape. Place a paper towel over the hole to avoid splatters. 

6. Puree soup until completely smooth.  Optionally you could pulse until a semi-chunky soup is achieved. Squeeze in the juice from one lime and pulse to combine.

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Cinnamon-Apple Pork Chops

I have no idea where I found this recipe, but I first tried it because it was advertised as a 30-minute meal.  It really does only take about 30 minutes! so it stuck in the rotation and has become a favorite at our house.  It's definitely one of Joel's favorite things to have for dinner.  Best served with rice.  This is the original recipe - look at the end to see my personal notes.

Prep/Total time: 25-30 minutes

4 boneless pork chops (**can use ribs)
2 T butter, divided
3 T brown sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg  (**can be replaced by a dash or two of allspice)
1/4 t salt
4 medium Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced
optional: 2 T chopped pecans

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook pork chops in 1 T butter for 4-5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.  You may be tempted to check the pork more often than this - don't do it! If you leave them for this amount of time on each side, they will develop a tasty golden brown crunchiness.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Remove pork chops and keep warm.  Add the apples, pecans, brown sugar mixture and remaining butter to the pan; cook and stir until apples are tender.  Serve with chops.

Notes:
- I usually take the pork chops out of the pan and put them on a plate (not paper or it will absorb the juices!) until the apple mixture is almost ready.  I then add them and their juices back to the pan to reheat and absorb some of the apple flavor until the apples are done.
- We love the sauce so we often double it for the four apples.  The sauce gets sticky so I often use a tablespoon or two of water to get it the texture we like it.
- If you're using ribs and think it'd be a good idea to cook them in the crockpot to get them nice and tender, don't do it!  The tastes of the pork and the sauce do not meld well together at all if you do.  If you decide to remedy that by adding applesauce to the crockpot with the ribs, especially don't do it!  Trust me.

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Beef Stroganoff

(inspiration taken from Paula Deen's recipe and my mom's)

*Note on the ingredient amounts: The amounts on everything but the broth, flour, onion, and cream of chicken soup were eyeballed. I have included my best guesses.

Ingredients:

1-2 T olive oil, separated

1 medium onion, sliced

1 New York steak (about a pound)

2 T flour

½ T salt

½ T garlic powder

½ tsp black pepper

1 can beef broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

½-1 cup sour cream (to taste)

Directions:

1. Sauté the onion in a pot with 1/2-1 T olive oil.

2. Cut up steak into small bite-sized pieces and add to the onion.

3. Add flour, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.  Stir until combined.

4. Add another 1/2 T or so of olive oil to moisten things up a little.  

5. Put lid on the pot and cook until meat is cooked through.  You will need to stir it occasionally because the meat will start to develop delicious crunchies on the bottom of the pot that will burn if left alone the whole time.  

6. When meat is cooked through, add broth and cream of chicken soup.  Stir until combined.

7. Put lid back on the pot and simmer for about 30 minutes.

*If you like your stroganoff thicker, simmer covered for about 20 minutes and then remove the lid until it's as thick as you like it.

8. Before serving, add sour cream and stir until fully incorporated.

9. Serve over noodles.

10. Try not to freak out - it's delicious.

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Banana Towers

Banana Towers

(Family Recipe)

9x13 Pan:

1 box Graham Crackers

2 large boxes Cook n' Serve Vanilla Pudding

8 Bananas

Whipping Cream to taste

8x8 Pan:

1/2 box Graham Crackers

1 large box and 1 small box Cook n' Serve Vanilla Pudding

4 Bananas

Whipping Cream to taste

1. Cook Pudding as directed, using a little less milk (I took out about 1/3 cup per 2 cups of milk). Allow pudding to cool completely.

2. Slice Bananas into pudding.

3. Layer in pan: 1 layer of whole graham crackers, 1/2 of the pudding and banana mixture, 1 layer of whole graham crackers, remaining pudding and banana mixture, one layer of crumpled up graham crackers.

4. Let stand in the fridge for a couple hours before serving. Top with whipping cream and eat up!

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