Homemade Meatball Sliders

As detailed last fall, we loved Emporio -- A Meatball Joint.  So when my normally non-red-meat-eating wife requested a dinner of Meatball Sliders, I was a little surprised.  When I asked if she wanted turkey meatballs, she said no, just regular ground meat.

So when it comes to meatballs, I turned to the source for my favorite ones -- my mom.  Her meatballs were always light, not dense like those ones you find at church functions, buffets at weddings, or in the frozen food section.

1 lb of ground meat (85-15%)
1 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of parmesean cheese
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 egg
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of parsley (I used dry parsley)
1 tsp olive oil

I got 14 slightly bigger than a golf ball-sized meatballs out of the recipe.  Since I knew I was going to put them on little slider buns, I flattened them a little on the bottom.  I baked them in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes, flipping them over after 15 minutes.

While they were baking in the oven, I made my standard pesto sauce (spinach, parm, olive oil, one garlic clove) but used some almonds, in lieu of pine nuts -- because I didn't want to spend money on both this week.

When the meatballs came out, I put one on each slider bun, then topped the meatball and bun top with the pesto sauce.  I sprinkled the slider with some fresh parm and served them up.

I asked DB~ how they compared to Emporio.  Of course she blew sunshine all over me and said they were better, but I have to admit that they were very, very good.  I asked her if they reminded her of Emporio and all she said she remembered of Emporio was "poop", thanks to db` having a blowout halfway through our meal.

My whole life, my mom has always made me a Tupperware container of meatballs and red sauce.  This was the first time I've made them on my own.  DB~ doesn't like red sauce, hence we eat pesto most of the time.  I don't even miss red sauce anymore, but it's nice to know that I have an excellent meatball recipe in my back pocket now.

New Year's Eve 2014 Dinner

DB~ and I took our pilgrimage to the Strip for our annual New Year's Eve dinner.  DB~ had her heart set on crab legs again, so we knew a trip to Wholey's was on the docket.  I wanted to eat something that had some feet on the ground, so I thought that Strip District Meats was in my future.  Each are on opposite ends of the Penn Avenue drag, so negotiating with an infant (and a few other stops in between) would be a challenge.

We got two jumbo crab legs for DB~.  After looking at them, DB~ remarked that she wanted to see the whole crab put together that spawned those legs.  My trip to Strip District Meats was a little more frustrating.  First, I had to wait to be served until an older lady was done making the counter girl check nearly every slab of ribs for the perfect ones.  It was excruciating.

Finally, when I was waited on I was told that they were completely out of rabbit tenderloins.  I had to switch to Plan B and chose one of my personal favorites -- quail.  Instantly, I knew that I wanted to do a raspberry-based sauce for the quail, so I picked up some of those.

When it was time to make dinner (meaning, when db` was going to bed), I did a peanut crust on the quail.  First, I seasoned two of them with salt and pepper.  Then I lightly brushed them with egg and pressed chopped peanuts on to the birds.  I put them in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

At the same time, I put in some yellow squash that were drizzled with homemade pesto.  After 10 minutes, I put some chunks of sheep-goat cheese on top, too.  When the squash came out, I stacked them in little towers for the presentation factor.

When the quail came out, I let them rest on the pan for a few minutes, then drizzled the reduced pureed raspberry, honey, balsamic vinegar sauce on the birds.  Each of us had some basic couscous to eat, as well.

Everything was great, even if we had to whisper to not wake up a sleeping infant.

Yam Casserole for Everyone!

When db` came on the scene, DB~ suggested that we make his baby food ourselves.  It's healthy, cheaper than buying the jars, and we know what's in it.  We'll make a batch of whatever pureed vegetable we buy for him (avocado, carrot, squash) and then freeze it in ice cube trays.  After the cubes have frozen, we put them in a Ziploc bag and take 1 or 2 cubes out for him for his meals.

My local Giant Eagle had a Manager's Special on yams, as they apparently WAY overbought for the holiday season.  At first, I thought the sign said 4 yams for $1.  Man, 25 cents a yam?  Great deal.  When I got closer, it actually said 4 LBS for $1.  I still got just four yams, but it cost me a whopping 54 cents.  That's only 13 cents a yam!

After I peeled the yam, I cut it into four chunks and put into boiling water for 15 minutes until fork tender.  I put them in the food processor and added a little of the starchy water from the boiling process to help blend them smoothly.  In one minute of steady processing, it was a perfectly smooth blend.  We got seven cubes out of yam for db`.  In essence, each db' cube only cost 2 cents.  He's basically eating for free.

DB~ looked at the db' yam mix and said that it looked pretty good, so tonight for dinner I peeled and boiled the remaining three yams.  I processed one yam for db` and got another seven cubes for him.  But for us, I processed the other two yams, then put the puree in a casserole dish.  I added approximately 1/4 cup of brown sugar, two teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice mix, and mixed it together.  Finally, I topped with some tiny marshmallows.  I baked this at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  The marshmallows melted in to the mix and the brown sugar/spice mix gave it a deep, rich tone.  The mix was so smooth and inviting to eat.

So, yes, essentially we're eating augmented baby food.  Tonight, it was pretty good.

Beer Cheese Soup

We're really embracing fall this year, probably more than any other year in memory.  Lot of soups, stews, and casseroles.  It's probably, at least on a sub-conscious level, because we're home a lot more with db`.

We loved this restaurant called Ziggy's that is no longer open, especially their beer cheese soup served with a pretzel on the side.  DB~ found a good recipe and we decided to give it a shot.

To my dutch oven, I melted 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and then added a diced mix of onion, celery, and carrot for the base.  Once this got soft after 8 minutes, I tossed in two diced cloves of garlic for another minute.

After that I added 1/4 cup of flour and tossed it with the vegetables to coat for 2 minutes.  I then added 4 cups of chicken stock to complete the base.  I let this simmer for 40 minutes.  Once the simmer was done, I took the vegetables out and put them in the food processor with a little chicken stock base to make it smooth.  Once they were all processed, I put them back in the dutch oven.

Now comes the part where it turns delicious.

I added 6 oz of Yuengling (the rest is for you!), 8 oz of shredded yellow cheddar and 8 oz of shredded white cheddar cheeses, and 4 oz of cream cheese.  It's important that the heat is just below boil so that these dairy products don't separate.  Whisk well so they all blend in nicely and don't clump.

Then put in 1 cup of heavy cream, a couple tablespoons of Dijon mustard, some salt and pepper.  Let it simmer for a few minutes.  DB~ made little pretzel rolls out of frozen Rhodes dinner rolls.  She melted some butter on top of them and sprinkled some sea salt, baked them for 10 minutes until they got a deep brown.

It's been a good fall for eatin' around these parts.

Stuffed Red Peppers

For whatever reason (and it's probably some sort of disturbing psychological reason), I enjoy when foods are stuffed inside of other food.  One of my favorite recipes to make is a variation on a classic recipe -- Stuffed Peppers.  

When I was a kid, that meant ground meat in a tomato-based sauce.  It was simple, hearty, but heavy.  My variation is a vegetarian recipe for DB~.  My least favorite food are mushrooms, at least in their whole state.  Used in a sauce, they're not bad, so I decided to do a rich mushroom sauce for my girl.

First I cooked some Arborio rice just as the straight recipe, not as a risotto.  It was still creamy when done.  While still warm, I added some dry cranberries in an effort to re-hydrate them a little bit.  I added some feta, dry basil leaves, salt/pepper, and a little chicken broth to keep it all moist.

While the Arborio was cooking, I started the mushroom sauce.  I first melted down a couple of tablespoons of butter, then added two cloves of garlic and sauteed them down.  I added a dash of pepper and then a cup and a half of diced mushrooms.  Once that mix was softened, I added a cup of chicken stock and cooked on medium-low heat for 10 minutes.  At the end, I added a couple of tbsp of more butter to make it rich.

Once the sauce was done, I spooned it over the stuffed peppers (which were split in half and laying on their sides).  In the 8 x 8 baking dish, once the peppers were packed in, I added some more chicken stock around the peppers to keep them moist in the oven.  I baked them for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

In the middle, I did some sauteed zucchini with an Italian herb seasoning.  Even though mushrooms grow in the dark and are fungi, I actually like them in a sauce, especially when they make DB~ happy.

Baked Chickpeas

Tired of having rice or potatoes as your side dish, but still blissfully in need of a starch for balance on the plate?  May I recommend trying baked chickpeas instead?

Chickpeas may not be everyone's favorite bag of tea.  They have a slightly nutty flavor that could turn people off, plus their name isn't cool sounding.  But this recipe is easy to make and great tasting.

Preheat your oven to 375.  For two people, open one can of chickpeas and rinse them in a colander in the sink.  Then place them in a baking dish that has a lid that can on top.  Drizzle the chickpeas lightly with some olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Dice up a 1/4 cup of onion and 1 clove of garlic.  If you're feeling zany, put a dash of paprika on them too.  Mix the whole concoction together, add a little water to the baking dish to just come up to the sides of the chickpeas.  Put the baking dish with the lid on in the oven for 1 hour.

The first time I made this, I did them at 300 degrees for 2 hours, but people don't have that kind of time during the week.  Heck, with a 1 hour lag time, you have to pop these in the oven as soon as you walk in the door from work.

Oui, Monsieur et Madame

Last Saturday, DB~ surprised me by making dinner.  She just doesn't cook.  She'll bake, she'll make a killer dessert to take to a party.  Dinner?  Not really her thing.

But when she does it, she does it right.  For this one, she had to go to two different Giant Eagles, she thought about it for two weeks, and she was beet red by the time she was done.  But it was great.  DB~ tried to replicate the Croque Monsieur and Croque Madames we had in Paris at Angelina's.  She got it to the 90th percentile.

I'm not a fan of eggs, so I had the Monsieur, which is small square white bread, ham, melted gruyere cheese, and then a bechamel sauce on top, then put in the broiler.  DB~ had the Madame, which is the same sandwich with a fried egg on top.

I always appreciate when she does things in the kitchen, because truth be told it can be a grind to come up with four to five interesting dinners each week.  After dinner, DB~ said, "I give you a lot of credit, because I don't know how you do it every night."

We each do our tasks that we're good at.  That's why it works.

White Chicken Chili

DB~ has been on a roll lately.  This one was an instant-favorite and will be put in the semi-frequent rotation.

First, I sauteed a clove of garlic with some white onion in olive oil.  I added some salt, pepper, and cumin once they were soft.  Next, I added one can (2 cups) of chicken stock to the pan along with one can (drained) of navy beans.

While that was simmering for about 15 minutes, I cooked a chicken breast that I lightly seasoned with chili powder, salt, and pepper.  When it was cooked, I shredded it up into thin shreds that would be capable of absorbing liquid.

After the beans and stock had simmered for 15 minutes, I added 1/2 jar of salsa verde to the mix and got that simmering.  Once that was complete, I tossed in the shredded chicken to mingle for 5 additional minutes.

In those 5 minutes, here's the accouterments that I prepared to go in each serving bowl:

• Chunk of avocado
• Cilantro leaves
• Sour cream dollop

I ladled the white chicken chili into each bowl and put the cilantro leaves throughout, the avocado on the side, and the sour cream on top.  It definitely had some kick, thanks to the salsa verde, but we loved it.  It was much better than a typical, heavy ground meat based chili.

Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce and Langostinos

Yesterday was a Strip District kind of day, so DB~ asked if we could make a run.  We got down there at high noon exactly, so after looking for a free spot in vain on Penn Avenue, we parked in that huge lot behind the warehouses for $6.  Aside from our usual fun of "eat the street", which yesterday consisted of egg rolls, Reyna's tacos, and a peanut butter/chocolate crepe, we were on the hunt for a different dinner.

As it usually does, our journey took us into Wholey's.  When I was a kid, I hated Wholey's.  My dad tells me that a fishmonger handed me a fish, as if it were a lollipop, and I got freaked out.  It always smelled bad (which it kind of still does).  But back then, it was just a fish market.  Now they've made it a fun destination with a sushi bar, market for groceries, and plenty of free samples of lobster crab bisque.  There are always tons of kids in there now.

This time langostinos caught our eye.  I've always thought of them as faux-lobsters, but as DB~ researched they are more akin to hermit crabs.  We got an 8 oz. frozen box of them for $8.99.  DB~ had the excellent idea to serve them over pasta, so my mind went to a garlic-infused cream sauce.  After we got a couple of other things at Wholey's, we made our way to Penn Mac.

At Penn Mac, we didn't even dally at the cheese counter and see ol' Dearheart.  We went straight for the fresh pasta stand.  Although not as good or as many choices as Ohio Pasta at the West End Market in Cleveland, they still had probably a dozen selections.  We went with the Rosemary Linguini.  DB~ selected a tiny loaf of bread, as well.  Two bundles of fresh pasta and a mini loaf of bread?  That will be $3.76, please.

When it was time for dinner, I put two cups of heavy cream into a large skillet and put it on medium heat.  I diced up three cloves of garlic, sprinkled in some black pepper, and a sundried tomato seasoning.  Once it started to simmer and bubble, I turned it down to medium-low.  The langostinos needed to thaw for 10 minutes in cold water and then be patted dry.  After sampling the sauce, I added the juice from half of a lemon to it.  It gave the sauce a nice finish after the garlic led the way.

Fresh pasta only takes a couple of minutes to cook, so I got the water going and dropped it in.  I added the langostinos and let them get to know the sauce for about five minutes.  Once the pasta was drained, I spooned on the sauce and combined it very well.  I served this with some roasted eggplant and the bread.

It was surprisingly good and "restaurant quality" as we both agreed.  Hermit crab, fake lobster, whatever...langostinos are a good substitute.

Lemon Basil Ricotta Stuffed Shells

We have a really nice system worked out for dinner preparation between DB~ and I, as I've mentioned a few times.  She finds an interesting recipe online (primarily through Pinterest) and I make it.  Pretty simple.

Last week, DB~ found two really good ones and we tried them out.  The first was for Lemon Basil Ricotta Stuffed Shells.  The recipe is pretty much just as it sounds, so I could theoretically just end this post here, but I'll expound for you my loyal reader(s).

I salted a pot of water and brought it to a boil.  Once it was at a roil, I added 10 large shells to the water for 12 minutes.  They need to be big in order for them to be properly stuffed later on.

While that was going, I spooned out approximately 1/2 cup of low fat ricotta cheese into a bowl.  To that, I added some chopped basil.  I took 1/2 of a lemon and squeezed its juice into the bowl (watch out to not add seeds) and then zested the skin of that part of the lemon in for more flavor.

I stirred that together and that was that.  When the shells were cooked and drained, I stuffed each of them with a portion of the mixture and put them in a 8 x 8 baking dish into a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.

DB~ isn't a huge red sauce girl, plus I think red sauce would smother the delicate taste of lemon.  I made a butter and parmesean sauce that I spooned over the shells when they were done baking.  I roasted some red pepper strips in the oven at the same time as the shells were baking, as well.

This was a relatively easy dish to make, especially as a mid-week dish, and one that will make our list of recipes that we keep hanging on the side of the fridge.

Chicken Enchiladas

On Tuesday night, I made some Chicken Enchiladas for DB~ and I.  In each tortilla, I put a base drained, rinsed black beans.  Then I topped it with shredded chicken that I cooked in a skillet with salt, pepper, ancho chili powder, and the key ingredient of cumin.  I topped them off with some shredded cheese.

Once they were rolled and tucked tightly into an 8" x 8" baking dish, I topped them with a canned, red enchilada sauce.  On top of that, I added a generous amount of chopped green chiles.  I baked them in the oven at 400 for 25 minutes, enough to melt the cheese and get them hot, but not long enough to dry the sauce out.

I bedded the enchiladas on a sleeve of yellow rice.  I wish I had some sour cream to top them with when they came out, but otherwise they were fantastic.

Chicken Piccata

Last week, DB~ wanted something different for a chicken dish and suggested Chicken Piccata.  I found a recipe that was a variation on a basil-cream chicken dish that I already do.

I seasoned the chicken breasts with some salt and pepper and then dredged them in flour.  In a skillet over medium heat, I melted two tablespoons of butter and mixed in two tablespoons of olive oil.  Once blended, I added the chicken and browned each side for four minutes.

I removed the chicken and put it on a side plate, covering it with aluminum foil to retain the heat.  In the skillet, I melted one additional tablespoon of butter and added one cup of chicken stock, the juice of one fresh lemon, and 1/4 cup of rinsed capers.

I got this mix to a simmer, with the residual flour acting as a thickener, and blended everything together.  I then put the chicken back in the skillet and covered it with the sauce, cooking it for just three more minutes.

It had a nice flavor profile of the saltiness of the capers coupled with the sweetness of the lemon.  It was a good suggestion by DB~ and will probably be in the semi-regular food rotation.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Rice and Mint

Last Friday, we had our neighbors over from across the street for dinner.  It was pretty depressing to see them walk 150 feet bundled up like they were getting ready to compete in the Iditarod, but such is life in the wake of the Polar Vortex 2014.

For dinner, we went Greek.  The main course was a roast pork tenderloin.  I made a 9 x 13 of spanokopita (which could have been the main dish, but we had the remains for lunch the next day) and stuffed tomatoes.

I prepared the tomatoes by cutting off the cap and reserving it.  I scooped out all the pulp and seeds and tossed them out.  To get the tomatoes to drain completely, I turned them upside down on the cutting board.

In a skillet, I sauteed some diced yellow onion and minced garlic in olive oil, then added a 1/2 cup of white rice.  Once the rice was coated, I added some chicken broth and simmered the rice for 15-20 minutes until it was al dente.

While the rice was going, I took some feta, olive oil, and chopped fresh mint and put them in a small bowl.  I mashed the feta with the oil and got it to a creamy consistency.  Once the rice was done cooking and had absorbed nearly all of the liquid, I added that mix in to the feta-mint mix.  I added a little salt and pepper, as well.

The rice/feta/mint amalgamation was evenly distributed among the four hollowed out tomatoes.  I then replaced the caps on the tomatoes and gently poured water around them as they were sitting in an 8 x 8 baking dish.  The tomatoes were cooked at 400 for 45 minutes and came out tender with tremendous flavor inside.

Spanakopita

Every year I work with sheets of fillo dough once a year.  It's during that time that I remember how much a pain in the rear end it is to work with fillo dough and then I don't do it for another year.  Tonight was my reminder.

I wanted to make my lady friend some homemade spanakopita.  I bought a 6 oz bag of spinach leaves at the "Iggle" and ended up chopping up the whole bag.  I wilted the chopped spinach in a skillet with a splash of water drizzled over top.  I mixed in some shakes of an interesting Greek spice mix we picked up in Chicago's Greektown last year.  It has salt, pepper, Greek oregano, cayenne, and cinnamon in the blend.  Once this was drained, I mixed in some feta cheese.

Then came time to work with the fillo sheets.  You have to keep them moist or else they'll dry out and flake apart, so I covered them on a baking sheet with a moist towel.  If you hold an individual sheet up, you can practically see through it.  I think each sheet is like 8 microns in thickness (42% serious).

I kept a small saucepan of melted butter on low so that I could dip my pastry brush in it easily.  After each layer of fillo, I brushed it with butter to prevent overburning.  After about 4 layers on the bottom, I added a spoonful of the spinach-feta.  3 more layers, then more spinach-feta.  3 more layers for the top, then I folded it into a giant triangle.  I made us each one of these and the flaky delights puffed a little in the oven.

I baked them for 20 minutes at 400 degrees and served with some rice pilaf and roasted squash and parsnips.  On a night when it was 15 degrees outside, this was the perfect comfort meal.

Roasted Acorn Squash

Here we are in the heart of fall.  Whether it's my imagination or not, I feel like I'm embracing fall more this year, especially in the kitchen.  It's feels like my dishes are hearty and the kinds that you want to curl up with next to a fireplace.

Lot of cinnamon, nutmeg, parsnips, pumpkin-infused flavors.  I wanted to try a different vegetable this week, as I feel like I'm falling into a kale rut and we need to move out of yellow squash.  I was hoping to get a butternut squash, but there were none available.  No eggplant, either, so I went back to the squash section and saw an acorn squash.

Last night, I made the acorn squash as the vegetable to our main dish.  I chopped it in half and scooped out the seeds and strings.  With some melted butter, I rubbed the inside of the squash and then sprinkled some salt over the acorn.  I then took some brown sugar and rubbed that on the melted butter, hoping to get it nice and carmelized in the oven.  The remnants of the melted butter made their way down into the bowl of the squash along with some excess brown sugar, creating a nice little soupy mix.

I roasted it off in a 375 oven for 1 hour.  I served each half on the plate and we each scooped our own squash out.  It was quite tender and had a great brown sugar flavor with the touch of butter, as well.  I'll probably make this at least one more time this fall.

Shrimp Fritters

For whatever reason, I've never been able to make a good beer batter.  I've tried numerous times to make beer battered shrimp and it has turned out poorly.  This has bothered me to no end.

So I found a recipe on Saveur's website for Shrimp Fritters.  It called for using chickpea flour, but there was no way I was going to search and then buy that, so I substituted corn meal instead.

1/2 lb of peeled/deveined shrimp, chopped fine
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup of corn meal
2 tbsp of flour
1/2 tsp of paprika
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced

Lemon wedges to squeeze on top
Salt and pepper to season when done

I sauteed the onions in a tbsp of oil until soft and set aside
In a bowl, I mixed the dry ingredients together, then added the onions and shrimp.  I mixed this together and let it set up for 10 minutes.

In a skillet, I heated the oil and then put about 1 tablespoon of shrimp batter into the hot skillet.  I got about 7 out of this recipe and fried them all at once.

I fried them for 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat, being careful not to burn the sides, and then flipped them over.

I patted them dry, sprinkled salt/pepper on them, and squeezed the lemon juice on top.  They were good, but next time I'm going to add some garlic into the batter for some extra flavor.  At least I finally made a good batter (w/o beer) that I can use in the future.

Leeks, Tomato, Goat Cheese in a Puff Pastry Shell

As I've mentioned numerous times before, a lot of our meals are determined by DB~ seeing a recipe (usually on Pinterest) and then saying "Can you make this?"  (or something close to it).

Before I met DB~, it would have been strange for me to eat a vegetarian meal for dinner.  I suppose it was my upbringing with a fairly traditional meat-and-potatoes family, but even on pasta nights we had meatballs and sausage.  I'm counting seafood as a protein, in this case, as well.  I'm taking straight up veggies only type of meal.

But here we are and it seems that at least once or twice a week, I'm nomming down a meal with nary a piece of land animal or sea animal flesh in sight.  And I'm OK with that.

This concoction was based off of a picture of flatbread with these various ingredients on it.  I modified it to use Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Shells (not the sheets).  I took all six shells out and  egg-washed the tops of them.  I then put them in the oven at 425 F for 20 minutes to pre-bake.

While that was going on I sauteed some leeks in olive oil with a dash of garlic salt and pepper to soften them up.  I cut up a tomato to small puff pastry shell-sized pieces and crumbled goat cheese.  When the leeks were done after about 10 minutes, DB~ squeezed some fresh lemon juice on them.

I took the puff pastry shells out of the oven and cut the tops off of them.  I then layered on (in this order) goat cheese, tomato, leek, and replaced the top of the shell.  I put them back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes to get all the flavors mingled and the cheese to soften even more.

I made a side of roasted asparagus as well, with parmesean cheese sprinkled on top after it was taken out of the oven.  A small portion of rice completed the meal.

It's OK to not eat a dead animal, typed the blogger as he was on his way out the door for a hamburger tonight....

Homemade Pizza with Pesto, Goat Cheese, Pears

My friend Stevie Numbers had a Holiday Pizza Party back in December and it opened my eyes to making your own pizza dough.  It was hard to go back to making pizza on Boboli crusts after trying his simple but tasty pizza dough recipe.

His recipe is very similar to a standard pizza dough recipe you can find on the Nets:
2 cups of flour (I made it scant 2 cups to keep it a little smaller)
1 pack of yeast (I used quick rise)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 cup of warm water
1 tsp of olive oil drizzled on the dough after formed and resting

After mixing the flour, yeast, and sugar add the warm water and form the dough.  I let it rest for 1 hour (with a damp towel on top of the bowl), as DB~ made a quick errand run.  This was the second time I made my own dough and it was much improved this time.  The first time was perfectly fine, but this one was much lighter -- perhaps to the quick rise yeast or perhaps to the longer rest time.

For the topping, I made a quick pesto with some basil I had laying around.  I added a 1/4 cup of grated mozzarella, some pine nuts, and a splash of olive oil to keep it moving in the food processor.  After I put some flour on my pizza stone, I added the dough to the stone and worked it around the circle.  I spread the pesto, added some crumbled goat cheese, sliced some ultra-thin pears, and then topped with some chopped wild chives we foraged last week in North Park..

I baked it at 450 degrees for 12 minutes

It was fantastic and one of my favorite specialty pizzas we've ever had.  It was so light and the basil pesto was fantastic.  I'll have to ask Numbers to add this one to his deep repertoire of pizza recipes for his next Holiday Party.

Steamed Won Tons

I've always thought it would be hard to make won tons correctly, but recently on the Food Network I was watching a show that made it seem pretty easy.  So on Wednesday I gave it a shot.

I put some carrots in my food processor and pulsed it a few times to get a good grind.  I bought a bag of shredded cabbage and gave it another chop to make it smaller.  Finally, I diced up some uncooked shrimp (after peeling and deveining them, of course).  I put all that in a bowl and added some rice vinegar, ginger, and a dash of white pepper and mixed all of it together.

I bought a package of won ton wrappers (48 in a package) and put 12 on a baking sheet.  Using a spoon, I put a small amount of filling in the center of each wrapper.  With a small bowl of water next to me, I dipped my finger in the water and ran it around the edge of each wrapper.  Then I used the most common technique for won ton wrapping by taking two opposite corners of the wrapper and bringing it into the middle.  I pressed the edges together to get a good seal.  Then I brought a third edge into the middle and sealed.  The fourth corner was brought in at the end and sealed all around.  I decided to make 8 more for 20 total.

For a finishing sauce I put some hoisin sauce in a saucepan and added some diced green onions.  After adding a splash of water, I reduced this on low for about 15 minutes.

I wanted to use my Asian steamer basket to prepare them and figured it would take 10 minutes to prepare the bunch.  I added some of the shredded cabbage to the bottom to cover the slats and prevent the won tons from sticking.  I set my wok on the range top and added a few cups of water to generate the steam.  The first batch turned out great so I put them in the steamer while we started to eat dinner.

As we were enjoying the won tons and the quinoa-goat cheese-currant salad I made as a side (future post), I noticed a little bit of smoke coming from the steamer basket.  There was an interesting charred wood smell in the air, too.  Both DB~ and I went over to investigate.  Sure enough, I didn't add more water to the wok for the second batch so the steamer basket was essentially smoldering from the raw heat.  As I type this, the smell of charred wood still hangs in the air of our house, even with the windows open on this crisp spring evening.

Even though I need to buy a new steamer basket, it was worth it.  I'll probably make some ravioli with the won ton wrappers tomorrow and freeze them for this week.

Zucchini Ricotta Boats and Avocado Parm Chicken

When DB~ and I have our food game clicking on all cylinders, it goes like this:
DB~ finds a recipe on Pinterest or the Internets
DB~ turns to me and says "Can you make this?"
I say "Sure.  I can make that."
Then I anxiously try to figure out how to make it

And so last week, she found a picture on Pinterest of these zucchinis topped with basil and tomato. I couldn't exactly remember if they were stuffed with ricotta, but I figured that would probably taste good.

So I cut a zucchini in half lengthwise, then scooped out the interior zucchini.  I diced that zucchini up and mixed it with some ricotta.  After that was blended, I added some garlic salt and rosemary to the bowl.  This mix was then re-stuffed into the green vessels and topped with chiffonaded basil and tomato slices.

I baked these for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.  DB~ is always complementary of my cooking, but I figure the first time she says it is because she wants me to keep cooking so that she doesn't have to.  (Kidding.  Kinda.).  But she legitimately liked these as she told me 2 times during dinner how good they were.  I'm sure I'll be trotting this recipe out on future dinner guests.

I paired the Zucchini Boats with another Pinterest picture she showed me of Avocado Parmesan Chicken.  There's not really anything super exotic here...I double breaded chicken breasts, first with an egg wash then a flour dredge (seasoned with sundried tomato seasoning), followed by egg and seasoned bread crumbs.

I baked this (first, before the zucchini) for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, I took it out and topped it with avocado slices and then parmesan cheese and baked it for 15 more minutes.  The avocados, near-literally, melted in our mouths when we ate them.

I'm not sure if these were the tastiest dishes I ever made, but they sure were the prettiest.