Pizza Dough made with Beer

I was in need of a quick dough for two medium sized pizzas, one a garden vegetable, and the other pepperoni. I found a couple of contenders in a search on the web. I have 200 cookbooks but my first thought is Google. Always.

I found a recipe that called for a bottle of beer and that totally reminded me of my mom's beer bread recipe. She photocopied her recipe card and paper clipped it to the bread chapter page in the Betty Crocker's cookbook she gave to me at my very first dinner party.

The pizza dough recipe asked for 4 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of quick yeast, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, as well as the beer.

Kneaded for 7 minutes by the mixer and let rise for a half to 2 hours.

Good dough however the house smelled like a brewery for the day.

A Healthy Lunch

A cheese omelet with sauteed asparagus and shiitake mushrooms 

with a side of cut nectarines and raspberries.

Pizza Porn

One of the fun things I discovered last year was Flickr groups, the other is how easy it is to make pizza. That's right! From scratch - the dough, the sauce, the toppings.

Then I discovered that you could put anything on a pizza - basically whatever was in your fridge or pantry.

Then I discovered great bottle sauce and stockpiled it like the end is near.

Then I discovered pre-made pizza crust super easy-to-make pizza dough that is better and cheaper than anything pre-made.

So even though I buy pepperoni, mozzarella, and bottled sauce (not Ragu), I make the dough. It's pretty easy to do if you have a KitchenAid with a dough hook too. What's that you say? No KitchenAid stand alone mixer. Well now you know what to ask for for your birthday, Christmas, or the next time you shop at Target.

I adapted the recipe from someone on the web, but I don't know who. Pisser! I would love to give credit.

Their secret ingredient was white wine. Me? I use sake. The yeastie beasties love sake.

So I'll have to find that recipe and report back.

Potstickers

Classic "what were you thinking" move. I made a pork roast the other day, a tenderloin. Just how much pork can one person eat. I'll tell you not as much as your eyes think.

So I chopped up some veggies and pork and made these charming little potstickers. I like them with mustard.

California Cheese Burger

California Sourdough Bread (toasted). Fresh Sirloin Ground Round (grilled). Havarti Cheese (melted on the burger). Bubbie Pickles (sliced length-wise). Best Foods Mayo (real). Dijon Mustard (Grey Poupon).

Local Pale Ale (Whatever).

Sunday Lunch. 

Super Bowl Saturday

My kind of salad loaded with pine nuts and sesame seeds.

In Memory Of Uncle Martin

I like pasta so much that I must have some Italian blood in me. I made spaghetti for lunch and it was so fulfilling. I'm not much of a big breakfast eater, so around lunchtime, I'm ready to stuff my face. I need something substantial when the weather gets chilly too. 

  

Plus it helps to promote memories. Ah sweet memories... About six years ago I went on a solo road trip to northern California. At one point I ended up in Occidental and there was an Italian restaurant named Negri's. It was just so Italian and so used to serving huge groups of people, and I was all alone and it was in the off hours so no one was there and the entire staff came out to greet me, seat me, and chat. Like a big Italian hug. 

Refreshing!

Corn Muffin Tops

I purchased one of those miniature muffin pans recently. I've always wanted one. The pan is super heavy duty and kind of non-stick but not Teflon. My first round of muffins were cheddar bacon corn muffins from scratch. And they were awful. I don't how I flubbed up the recipe, but I did. And in the trash they went. Too bad I don't have chickens or pigs or a dog, for that matter. I'm sure they would have ate them. Well no matter.

  

My second round, pictured above and below, were from a store bought mix. The package said grease the pan and I swear to you I did, but the muffins still did not want to come out whole. So instead of whole muffins, I have muffin tops and muffin bottoms. And they are quite tasty warmed with a drizzle of maple syrup for breakfast.

Peace Pasta

When we both work on the same day, neither one of us wants to cook anything elaborate. But we both want to eat! 

    

So he found boxed pasta. I know oh no blue box mac 'n cheese. Well, kinda. 

  

It's a nothing artificial added product that actually tastes quite good. We chopped up some vegetables, maybe brown some hamburger and diced onion too. And the pasta, as you can see, are these miniature peace signs. So very cute.

  

  Even comes in a tie dye box. With a bunny logo. 

Harvest Pantry Soup

This is my new site, well, actually it's an old site revamped, now titled Judy's Garden and Recipes. Since much of my creating in the kitchen is due to the inspiration of my garden, I thought to combine. So this will be a double post with my main blog, Judy's Notebook to get it going and hopefully I will have enough to say to keep it alive. 

My recipe tonight is Harvest Pantry Soup. In my garden I have zucchini, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes available for this soup. In the pantry I have canned beans, Orzo pasta, and chicken stock. 

This is an easy side dish to dinner or a quick main dish for lunch. I saute (all finely chopped) half an onion, two stalks of celery, and carrots in olive oil for a few minutes. Add to that dried oregano and basil, some cumin and ground coliander, and a bit of cayenne. And fresh garlic, minced. 

Cook for a bit. To that add a can of beans and 8 oz of chicken stock. Get to full burble and add a small amount of the pasta called Orzo. 

To this add chopped vegetables like green beans and zucchini, and simmer for awhile. 

When ready to serve, spoon into a bowl and add chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese. Stir. Top with tortilla chips. And enjoy a healthy yummy harvest soup!

Five A Day Salad

I read somewhere that you can live 14 years longer if you do four simple things.

1.Drink in moderation

2.Exercise

3.Stop smoking

4.Eat five helpings of fruits and vegetables a day

1. through 3. check, but 4. - not always. 

So here's my Five A Day Salad

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

2 kiwis cubed

1 mango cubed

1 tomato cubed and de-seeded (for the most part)

chopped parsley

lemon juice

salt and pepper.

Ta - Da! An easy salad perfect along side a baked chicken breast.

Savory Bread Pudding

It's not as easy as it looks this taking pictures of food. So please bear with me as I learn this process. 

It's always a struggle to finish off a loaf of bread before it gets stale. 

Plus I have some really nice Gruyere cheese from my favorite cheese shop, DiRaimondo's, so a nice savory bread pudding was in the makes. 

A little sliced Black Forest ham, chopped up, added some smoky saltiness and, of course, eggs and milk, and the thing was in the oven in no time at all. It came out crunchy on top and creamy delicious inside.