by jphilo | Jan 14, 2011 | Family, Recipes
All right, food groupies, it’s time for round two of the New Year’s Pizza Bake Off. Last week, you received the recipe from the southern Minnesota contingent of the family. This week’s offering is from the northwest Iowa branch, a recipe they’ve perfected since their wedding in July. Theirs features a yummy whole wheat pizza crust, homemade sauce, and steamed broccoli as one of their toppings. Without any further ado, here’s recipe #2.
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 teaspoon honey
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups King Arthur’s whole wheat flour
Dissolve yeast in water. Add honey and oil. Add salt to flour. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix with a spoon until you must knead it. Knead dough 100 times per cup of flour, 50 times per half cup. Let rise for 45 minutes in a clean, moist, covered container. Push dough down and let it rise for 45 minutes again. Punch down and roll into a circle. Place on a pizza stone. (You can divide the dough in two for thin crust pizzas.)
Pizza Sauce
1 small can crushed tomatoes (use diced tomatoes if you prefer chunky sauce)
1 small can tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Italian spices (basil, thyme, marjoram, oregano, anise, fennel) to taste
1/4 chopped sweet red pepper
Saute onions and pepper in olive oil. When soft, add tomatoes and tomato paste. (You may want to mash diced tomatoes with a potato masher to reach desired consistency.) Add garlic, vinegar and other spices. Let simmer 15 minutes to saturate flavors.
Spread sauce on top of dough. Add toppings (this couple likes steamed broccoli florets, onion, olives, mushrooms) or anything else you like. Sprinkle with 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cheese starts to brown.
by jphilo | Jan 7, 2011 | Family, Recipes
One week ago today, when our kids were home, the two couples staged their own pizza bake-off for supper. Their creations posed for a photo shoot as they came out of the oven, and then we devoured the results. Bellies full, the cooks wrote down their recipes, so I could share them with you.
This week’s recipe comes from the southern Minnesota Philos. The dough recipe comes from an Italian Country cooking cookbook they found somewhere. The sauce and toppings are their own creations. Hiram and are now two of the recipe’s biggest fans. The Minnesota Philos even left some semolina so we can make it again. Then I’ll have to find a store around here that carries it. Any suggestions about where to look?
Southern Minnesota Pizza
Pizza Dough: Sauce:
3 cups all-purpose flour 1 can pizza sauce with three cloves of
1/3 cup semolina 3 cloves crushed garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water Toppings:
1/4 cup olive oil chopped mushrooms, onion, olives
2 teaspoons dried yeast
Combine flour. semolina and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Combine water, oil, and yeast in a small bowl and stir to dissolve yeast. Combine the two mixtures in the mixer bowl and mix with beater until smooth, then change to the dough hook and mix at moderate speed for 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and pliable. (If you don’t have a mixer with a dough hook, knead by hand for 15-20 minutes.)
Oil a bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn over to coat all sides with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and rest in a warm place until doubled in size (45 minutes to an hour) or overnight in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Punch down dough and roll out. (Our cooks made a thick crust pizza, but the dough could be divided for 2-3 thin crusted ones.) Transfer dough onto a heated pizza stone.
Combine pizza sauce and crushed garlic. Spread over crust. Add toppings and spread 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese over top. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
Bake at 500 degrees until bubbly in the middle. Cut into pieces and serve. Mmm, mmm.
Come back next week for the second pizza bake off recipe. It’s as good as this one, so you won’t want to miss it!
by jphilo | Dec 30, 2010 | Recipes
My friend, Ashley came over so we could do our traditional Christmas baking. The practice began seven years ago, when she was a second grader and I became her mentor the fall after I left teaching. Over the years we’ve decorated Christmas cookies, made Chinese noodle/peanut/chocolate clusters, no-bake oatmeal cookies, and more. This year, she suggested peanut butter blossom cookies, which we made once before.
The recipe on the back of the bag of Hershey Kisses. They said, “Mix dough, following the directions on the back of a package of Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix.”
Them was fighting words for Christmas baking purists like Ashley and me. So I hauled out the Betty Crocker Cookbook and found the recipe for peanut butter cookies. We made a double batch and used almost the entire bag of chocolate kisses. (Hiram and my new son valiantly volunteered to dispose of the leftovers.)
The end results were worth the extra effort. The cookies looked perfect and tasted scrumptious. They were so irresistible, I sent all but four home with Ashley. Her two teenage brothers will make short work of them, she assured me.
If you’re looking for a way to keep the kids busy during the rest of Christmas vacation, give this old-fashioned recipe a try. Maybe it will start your own baking tradition!
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
1 bag Hershey kisses or chocolate stars
1 cup butter
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1 /2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cream butter, peanut butter, sugars, and eggs until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. (Surface will look crackled.) Take out of oven and immediately place an unwrapped chocolate kiss or star in the middle of each cookie. Cool completely before storing. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
by jphilo | Dec 23, 2010 | Recipes
A couple weeks ago, my refrigerator was overflowing with stir fry veggies. But when I went to get chicken breasts from the freezer, we were all out. I rummaged around and came up with a small package of boneless pork chops.
Hmmm.
A a new stir fry meat deserved a new marinate. After some searching, I settled on a honey-mustard marinate meant for grilling. I cut the chops into thin strips and let them marinate for several hours in the fridge.
Hmmm.
How to keep the honey from burning during the stir fry process? I would broil them while stir frying the veggies.
Hooray!
It worked like a charm. So well, in fact, it’s time to share the recipe with you. Give it a try and see what you think. And if you modify/improve upon it, leave a comment so others can try it, too.
Honey-Mustard Pork Stir Fry
1/2 cup honey (I cut this to 1/4 cup and liked it better)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard (regular mustard also works)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Whisk ingredients in a bowl. Cut 2 lean boneless pork chops into thin strips. Marinate them in the honey-mustard mixture for at least 30 minutes or as long as you like.
Wash veggies and cut them into bite-sized pieces until you have 4 – 5 cups. We like pea pods, broccoli, cabbage, green onions, carrots, and sweet peppers. Set aside.
Arrange pork strips on a broiler pan. Broil for 5 – 7 minutes. Pour the marinate into a sauce pan. Heat to boiling and let boil 2 – 3 minutes. Remove from oven.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive or peanut oil in a wok or frying pan. Stir fry the vegetables, starting with the hardest, thickest ones (carrots and broccoli) and adding the softer, thinner ones last. Then add pork and stir fry one minute. Add as much marinate as you want and bring it to a boil.
Serve on a bed of rice. Delish!
by jphilo | Dec 16, 2010 | Recipes
In Monday’s post, I wrote about the Camp Crook 125th Anniversary Cookbook sent by a friend. So today, I want to share a recipe from it for Blueberry Oat Muffins. The recipe was submitted by Rhonda Cordell. She’s a rancher who delivers calves Caesarean when necessary (no, she’s not a vet but you do what you gotta do in that country) and is also a fantastic cook, gardener, photographer, and seamstress.
I tried the recipe Saturday, when the blizzard was howling. We ate them with ham and bean soup for supper. Hiram pronounced it a perfect snowstorm meal. But don’t wait for another blizzard to try this recipe. It’s perfect for all sorts of weather!
Blueberry Oat Muffins
1/2 cup oatmeal 1/4 teaspoon soda
2/3 cup apple juice (I used cider) 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar ( I would cut to 1/4 cup) 1 egg
1 1 /4 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup frozen blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Mix oatmeal and apple juice together. Let sit for 10 minutes. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In blender, mix egg and oil. (I whisked them vigorously with a wire whisk instead.) Add this to oatmeal/juice mixture and mix well. Stir frozen blueberries into dry ingredients. Add oatmeal/juice/egg/oil mixture to dry ingredients and stir until flour is moistened. (Do not over mix.) Spoon into muffin liners until 2/3 full.
Before baking, sprinkle muffins with 1 teaspoon of this mixture: 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Rhonda adds this note: Delicious! Can make large batches and freeze in Ziplock bags.
by jphilo | Dec 8, 2010 | Recipes
Our weather has been cold, cold, cold this week. And without any snow on the ground (for which I am supremely grateful), outdoor winter fun isn’t too alluring yet. So this is a good time to get some Christmas baking done, especially if you have company coming.
This recipe is easy, quick, and fills the house with the yeasty aroma of fresh baked bread. The loaves freeze well, so you can prepare them ahead of time. Pull a loaf out of the freezer before you go to bed, and in the morning treat your guests to tasty, crunchy toast. They’ll love it!
English Muffin Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups warm milk (120 – 130 degrees)
½ cup warm water (120-130 degrees)
Cornmeal
In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda. Add warm milk and water; beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Stir in whole wheat flour and remaining all-purpose flour. Batter will be stiff. Do not knead.
Grease two 8-1/2 inch x 4-1/2 inch loaf pans and sprinkle the bottoms and sides with cornmeal. Pour batter into pans and sprinkle cornmeal on tops. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Make at 375 degrees or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.
