Pizza Dough

This is a great recipe from my great friend, Chrissy. I use it for lots of varieties of pizza and calzones. Start to finish, it only takes about an hour, doesn't need to be kneaded (see what I did there?), and you don't need any special equipment - just measuring cups and a spoon.

It's nice and dense and always bakes great: crusty on the outside, soft on the inside.

Pizza Dough

Makes: 11x14" pizza OR 12" round pizza OR one large (family size) calzone OR 8 small calzones

You'll need:

2 t active dry yeast

1 c warm water

1 t sugar

1 t salt

2 T olive oil (or vegetable oil)

2 1/2 c flour

Dump the yeast into the warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes. Don't bother stirring, because it'll pretty much dissolve itself. After 5 minutes, it looks like this:

Stir in the sugar, salt, and oil...

... and add the flour last.

Just stir with that spoon until it comes together into a ball.

Cover the bowl with a towel and let it stand for 15-20 minutes. Time to shape the dough.

If you're using something other than a pizza stone or a good nonstick baking pan, you'll want to grease the pan. This dough is quite sticky. You can spread it by just pushing it around with the back of a metal spoon, or grease your fingers and stretch it by hand, but the best option by far is a silicone dough roller like this one from Pampered Chef. It'll roll out that dough for you in about 30 seconds.

Sometimes having a specialized tool is TOTALLY worth it.

After shaping the dough and topping your pizza or filling your calzone, bake it at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Tip: Put some cornmeal on your pizza stone or greased pizza pan/cookie sheet, then slide your rolled-out dough on top, for a great crunch to your pizza.

Chicken Fajitas

Sizzle.

I don't know about you, but what I associate most with fajitas is the sound. You can always tell when someone at your restaurant ordered fajitas, because you can hear them traveling across the dining room, followed by that incredible smell. Anybody else want their own dining rooms to sound and smell (and taste) like that? 

This recipe is one of my favorites. I use this recipe almost exactly how I found it. The original website says the recipe was contributed by an 8-year-old. The girl must be a genius at flavor profiles, but yes, it is that easy.

The recipe is basically for a marinade, which, when you add cornstarch and throw everything in the skillet, becomes a glaze for the chicken and veggies. Bonus: Not only is this marinade extremely fast to prepare, you can do it the night before, the morning of, or 15 minutes before dinner - whenever you have time. When dinnertime rolls around, just dump it in a skillet, and you've got a sizzling dinner in about 10 minutes.

Chicken Fajitas
From: Food & Wine
Serves: 4

You'll need:
1 t chili powder
1 t salt
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/8 t ground chipotle pepper
1 T cornstarch
1/4 c water
3 T olive or canola oil, divided
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into 1/2"-wide strips
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 T lime juice
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
Small flour tortillas
Sour cream, cheddar or Mexican cheese, shredded lettuce, guacamole, diced tomatoes, etc.

Combine the spices, cornstarch, water, and 2 Tbsp. oil in a resealable bag and mix well. Add the chicken, green pepper, and onion; seal and knead gently to coat. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes, or overnight.

Ten or fifteen minutes before dinnertime, heat the remaining oil in a skillet. Empty the bag into the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, just until the chicken is cooked through. Your onions will be soft and your peppers tender-crisp: perfect. Remove from heat; drizzle with the lime juice, throw the cilantro on top, and voilà. You have a sizzling skillet full of flavor, just like the kind that walks past you in the restaurant and makes everyone turn and stare.

Serve on warmed flour tortillas with all your favorite toppings.

Baking Powder Biscuits

This is a recipe for anyone who thinks that baked goods from scratch are too much work or take too long. I have personally never been a big fan of those dinner rolls from the grocery store bakery, or those so-called biscuits that come in the exploding tube... but light, fluffy biscuits warm out of the oven? I'll take that every time. What's that you say? They're ready, start to finish, in less than 30 minutes? And all you need is a bowl, a spoon, and a floured surface?

Let's get started. 

 

Baking Powder Biscuits

From: Grandma Esther

Makes 12 

You'll need:
1 3/4 c flour, plus more for dusting
1 T sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
3/4 c milk
1/3 c vegetable or canola oil

Mix together the dry ingredients, then stir in the milk and oil. You'll have a thick, sticky dough. I dare you not to eat some... Whenever I make biscuits, every single member of my family troops into the kitchen for a bite. It's that good.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead lightly 10 times, adding flour to the dough and work surface as needed. If you like uniformly-shaped biscuits, try to get the dough into a roughly rectangular shape near the end of the kneading.

Useful tip: if you scatter a thin layer of flour over the dough before folding it over that tenth time, your biscuits will split apart in the middle perfectly.

Smush the edges together and push and pull until it's a rectangle (if you care), and cut the dough into 12 even pieces. Place on an uncreased cookie sheet. Don't worry if they're close together; they'll expand upward, not outward.

Bake at 425 degrees for 9-11 minutes, until the tops and bottoms are just starting to brown.

See how beautifully they split open?

Serve with butter, jam, honey, or my personal favorite... apple butter. Mmm.

One more thing: if by some strange occurrence you have leftovers, they reheat beautifully in a toaster oven for breakfast. :)

Brown Sugar-Glazed Ham & Apples

Easy, easy, easy. My friend Chrissy made this for my husband and I a few years ago, and it is the only time in my life I didn't ask someone to write down the recipe. That's because there is no recipe. The name says it all. You need 3 ingredients and a skillet... who knew simple could taste so good?

Brown Sugar-Glazed Ham & Apples

From: My friend, Chrissy

You'll need: (take a wild guess)
brown sugar
ham (precooked, any kind, cut into bite-sized pieces)
apples (I recommend Golden Delicious but Gala are good too)

I don't measure anything when I make this. My guess would be:
brown sugar: about 2-3 T per person
ham: about 3 oz per person
apples: about 3/4 apple per person

Peel, core, and slice your apples. Put the slices in a large skillet on medium heat with the brown sugar.

Sauté the apples in the brown sugar until they are golden and soft. They are done whenever they are soft enough for your taste. I like mine to still have a little texture, but if you let them go a few more minutes, they'll be melt-in-your-mouth soft. Just a matter of preference. To me, these are perfect.

Throw in the pieces of ham and cook, stirring often, for just a few minutes until the ham is glazed and hot. If you let this step go too long, your ham will get tough. Just heat it and be done.

I always enjoy serving this with green beans and biscuits.

Streusel Coffee Cake

Layers of brown sugar streusel and soft, buttery cake? Yes, please. Bake this in the evening, brew coffee in the morning, and your day is off to a delicious and decadent start.

Streusel Coffee Cake
Adapted from Grandma Esther
Makes: 8 x 8" or 9 x 9" pan
Note: Pictures are of a double recipe, which fits perfectly into a 9 x 13" pan.

For the streusel, you'll need:
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c flour
1/2 t cinnamon
3 T firm butter

Use a pastry blender to cut all ingredients together, and set aside.

For the cake, you'll need:
2 c flour
1 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
5 T melted butter
1 c milk
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease an 8 x 8" or 9 x 9" baking dish. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on slow, beat in the melted butter, milk, and egg. Turn the mixer up to medium and beat for two minutes, scraping the sides occasionally. The batter should look like this.

Spread half the batter into your greased pan evenly, then spoon half the streusel over the top.

Repeat: Spread the other half of the batter evenly over the streusel, and the top with remaining streusel.

Bake about 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow it to cool before eating.

Pass the coffee, please.

Spicy Herb Croutons

Am I the only one who feels like they're getting ripped off every time you hand over $2 for teeny-weeny bag of - let's face it - stale bread? I agree every good salad needs a crunch, but those babies are overpriced and under-flavored. I mean... bo-ring.

However, I never believed there was another way until I... ahem... totally goofed up a loaf of white bread I was baking... Don't ask me why the center was a giant doughy air bubble...! Anyway, since I completely hate to throw out food, I thought to myself, "Self, isn't there something we can do with all the outer parts of this loaf? They're still perfectly edible. Just... oddly shaped." And then my self had a lightbulb moment and thought, "Croutons!" A few minutes of googling later, I had a recipe that looked promising.

Boy, was it so much more than promising. These croutons are dynamite. Like, try-not-to-eat-all-of-them-off-the-sheet-tray-while-they're-still-300-degrees good. Ruin-a-loaf-of-bread-specifically-to-make-croutons good. Make-you-look-forward-to-every-salad good.

Spicy Herb Croutons
Adapted from Guy Fieri
Makes: about 4 cups

You'll need:
1/3 olive oil or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t dried parsley
1 t dried basil
1 t pepper
1/2 t salt
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t cayenne pepper
4 cups bread, cut into small cubes (Italian, sourdough, homemade, white... your choice)

Mix all ingredients except the bread, then pour over the bread cubes, tossing and stirring to coat evenly. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes. Cooking time will depend on how large your bread is cubed.

Allow the croutons to cool, then store in an airtight container. Try not to eat too many straight off the pan... save them for those salads. :)

Easy Cheesy Polenta

I had never heard of polenta until I became a Food Network junkie a few years ago. Turns out, it's an incredibly easy and versatile starch that can accompany any number of delicious meals. And once you've mastered the basic technique, you can start playing with the flavors and add-ins. 

Easy Cheesy Polenta
From: adapted from Giada de Laurentis
Serves: 4-5 (see note about leftovers)

You'll need:
4 1/2 c water
1/2 T salt, plus more for seasoning
1 1/4 c polenta or yellow cornmeal
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
3/4 c milk, room temperature
5 T butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2" pieces
3 T chopped fresh parsley
ground black pepper

Bring the water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the salt, and reduce heat to low. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal and cook, stirring often, about 15-20 minutes, until the cornmeal is soft and the mixture is thick. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan, milk, butter, and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Note about leftovers: Something happens to polenta when it cools... namely, it hardens from something like mashed potatoes to something like a hard cheese. You can reconstitute it by heating and adding some milk. However... there is a far more fun and delectable alternative.

I first had fried polenta at a Brazilian restaurant a couple years ago, and my husband and I fell in love with it. So, here's my recommendation: make a larger batch of polenta than you actually need, and before the leftovers cool, spread them evenly into a square or rectangular container. A day or two later, heat about 1/4" of oil in a shallow pan. Cut the polenta into rectangular bars about 1/2" thick. Fry them in batches about 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels and immediately sprinkle with a little salt. Serve with hot marinara or pizza sauce for dipping.

Mmm.

Cornbread (or Muffins)

I've always loved cornbread, but for a lot of my life, my experience with this Southern staple was reduced to the kind of cornbread that comes in a boxed mix... You know what I mean. And while those mixes are cheap and taste okay, the first time my friend gave me a piece of her REAL cornbread, I knew I could never go back. This is the real deal. Buttery and only slightly crumbly, quick and easy.

This is actually a choose-your-own-adventure recipe: You can opt for an 8 x 8" pan, which is perfect for cutting up and throwing in a bowl of chili, OR, to maximize those amazing crispy golden-brown edges, you can make a pan of muffins. 

That delightful crunch on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside... This is my new favorite thing.

Cornbread

From: my friend Chrissy's mom

Makes: 8 x 8" pan OR 9-12 muffins

You'll need:

1 c flour

3/4 c cornmeal

2-4 T sugar (depending how sweet you want it)

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1 egg

2/3 c milk

1/3 c butter, very soft

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 x 8" baking dish OR a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg, milk, and butter. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, mixing until just combined. 

For the pan, pour into the greased dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

For muffins, spoon evenly into 9-12 muffins.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Ta-da!

Serve with maple syrup for breakfast, chili for lunch, or barbecue for dinner.

Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Soup

Aaaaahh, soup. The best part about this cold and dreary time of year. 

I'm so glad I've gotten over my pregnancy-induced mushroom phobia, because this soup is the very essence of warm, hearty, wintertime warm-you-up-from-the-inside goodness.

Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Soup

Adapted from damndelicious.net

Serves: 5-6

You'll need:

1 T olive oil

1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, diced small

salt & pepper

2 T butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces mushroom (cremini, white, or button), thinly sliced

1 onion, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 t dried thyme

1/4 c flour

4 c chicken stock or broth

1 bay leaf

1/2 c cream, half & half, or whole milk

2 T chopped fresh parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste, and sauté in the oil until cooked through, about 2-4 minutes. 

Remove from the pot and set aside.

Melt the butter in the stock pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 7-10 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, about 1 minute until lightly browned. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock and add the cooked chicken and bay leaf.

Cook, whisking occasionally, about 5 minutes until the soup has thickened slightly. Stir in the dairy product of your choice and salt and pepper to taste. Cook 1-2 minutes until heated through, and garnish with fresh parsley.