So what's for dinner?

stormie said:

Homemade pizza.

Once you get the hang of making the dough, chopping up the toppings, it's easy and takes just about twenty minutes prep time (excluding waiting for the dough to rise), and ten minutes cook time.

And I use canned crushed tomatoes, spooning it right onto the dough then adding basil and oregano and chopped garlic to it. Or you could just used sliced tomatoes (which is what I'm doing tonight, since we finally have a bumper crop of them).

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Which pizza dough recipe do you use? My last dough was way too thick and then the mushrooms lost so much water that it was soggy I haven't re-attempted since then.

I'll have to dig up the link for the crust we use lately, but I often lightly saute my veggies (especially mushrooms) so that some of the liquid can evaporate.

For one pound of pizza dough:

2 1/4 cups of white flour
3/4 cup warm water (not hot)
1 tsp. yeast ( I like pizza dough yeast)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 TBL olive oil

Pour the yeast into the water and let sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients in large bowl. Add water with the yeast.

Knead for about five minutes once all ingredients are mixed. Lightly coat with additional oil, cover with clean light cloth, and let sit in a warm spot for about two hours until it doubles in size. Punch down. Put flour on clean countertop, and with floured rolling pin, roll out dough to almost fit oiled pizza pan. Let sit in pan while you cut up the toppings. Then finish stretching dough gently with fingers.

If the dough is too tacky, add a bit of flour at a time until you can work with it. If it's too dry, add a bit of water at a time.

This recipe can be doubled. It also fits a 12 or 14 inch pan.

ETA: you can drain the mushrooms, olives, etc on a paper towel before adding them to the pizza.

My wife is out of town this week on business travel, so I'm cooking for myself. I have vowed not to pig out on prepared food, so tonight I sautéed a piece of potato-crusted cod from the grocery, and a mix of snow and snap peas and a round zucchini, all from my garden. The veggies were cooked quickly in a mix of olive and sesame oil, with some ground pepper and Goya Adobo powder. Turned out fabulous, my tummy be very happy right now.

The zucchini is a variety called "cannonball", which is dark green and globular. I picked one a few days ago, a little bigger than a baseball, and it kept in the fridge for five days while I went on a minor vacation trip. Was still in excellent condition tonight, just right for a one-person meal, and turned out to be very tasty, crisp with a nutty flavor, not nearly as bland as some zucchinis tend to be. It has made my short list for gardening again next year.

caw

blacbird, you inspired me. Last night we had panko, honey, and crushed red pepper crusted salmon, snow peas, and lightly steamed asparagus spears with fresh tomatoes tossed in a cold vinaigrette. So thank you.

stormie said:

For one pound of pizza dough:

2 1/4 cups of white flour
3/4 cup warm water (not hot)
1 tsp. yeast ( I like pizza dough yeast)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 TBL olive oil

Pour the yeast into the water and let sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients in large bowl. Add water with the yeast.

Knead for about five minutes once all ingredients are mixed. Lightly coat with additional oil, cover with clean light cloth, and let sit in a warm spot for about two hours until it doubles in size. Punch down. Put flour on clean countertop, and with floured rolling pin, roll out dough to almost fit oiled pizza pan. Let sit in pan while you cut up the toppings. Then finish stretching dough gently with fingers.

If the dough is too tacky, add a bit of flour at a time until you can work with it. If it's too dry, add a bit of water at a time.

This recipe can be doubled. It also fits a 12 or 14 inch pan.

ETA: you can drain the mushrooms, olives, etc on a paper towel before adding them to the pizza.

Click to expand...

Is this a thick or thin crust recipe? I really can't stand thick crusts, but I've found some pretty amazing thick crust recipes. Not so for my beloved thin crusts, every one I've found poofs up and becomes some weird middle-ground crust. ;_;

Lemon-zucchini-blueberry cake.

harmonyisarine said:

Is this a thick or thin crust recipe? I really can't stand thick crusts, but I've found some pretty amazing thick crust recipes. Not so for my beloved thin crusts, every one I've found poofs up and becomes some weird middle-ground crust. ;_;

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What I call "medium crust." Not too thin, not too thick. As I said, though, after rolling it out and placing it in a 12 - 14 inch pizza pan, let it rest in the pizza pan while you prepare the toppings. Then stretch gently to edges.

So--if you want cracker-thin crust, use at least a 14 inch pan, roll it out to a bit bigger than the pan, place in pan (a trick to handling the rolled-out dough is--using a lightly floured rolling pin, start at one end of the rolled-out dough, and lightly roll the dough up around the pin, then gently unroll into pan). Immediately add toppings and bake. By not letting the dough rest after rolling it out, and baking immediately, it should remain a thin crust. And make sure the oven is 500 degrees F. Ten minutes and it's done.

paella.

Homemade ham salad sandwich with store-bought potato salad. I made the ham salad last night for the first time and when I went online to find a recipe, I really all of the posts should have just said, "Call your mom and ask for her recipe". Some called for just cubing the ham, others called for using a meat grinder (which I did), some called for sweet pickle relish (which I used), all called for mayo (which I used), some called for onion, some not, some used celery, some didn't, others used red bell pepper, others left it out...I just went with quick and stupid based on the ingredients I had on hand. Viola.

My wife is making something with pork . . . sure to be good. She'll cook it in a cooking bag with packaged spices. Leftover pork will go into tacos or some such in a day or two. Sides? Some risotto from a packaged mix, plus a veggie or two.

I'll wash mine down with Gallo Hearty Burgundy, chilled in the fridge, since remnants of a cold (impaired sense of smell and taste) make the good stuff not worth the cost for the occasion. At five bucks for the magnum, HB is perfect for such occasions. SHE gets the really good stuff, though.

--Ken

We've got some steak on the grill, and I'm just about to try some fried green tomatoes. Never had them before, but the cool temps have stalled my tomatoes from ripening and my patience has run out. Fingers crossed!

stormie said:

What I call "medium crust." Not too thin, not too thick. As I said, though, after rolling it out and placing it in a 12 - 14 inch pizza pan, let it rest in the pizza pan while you prepare the toppings. Then stretch gently to edges.

So--if you want cracker-thin crust, use at least a 14 inch pan, roll it out to a bit bigger than the pan, place in pan (a trick to handling the rolled-out dough is--using a lightly floured rolling pin, start at one end of the rolled-out dough, and lightly roll the dough up around the pin, then gently unroll into pan). Immediately add toppings and bake. By not letting the dough rest after rolling it out, and baking immediately, it should remain a thin crust. And make sure the oven is 500 degrees F. Ten minutes and it's done.

Click to expand...

I'm going to be playing with so much pizza the next few weekends. It's going to be fantastic. Thank you for the recipes to try!

Ten minutes after I post this I'm going to get up and get the quiche from the oven.

Chuck Wagon Pasta e Fagioli:

Can o' chili w/beans.
Can o' chili w/o beans.
Pound o' whole wheat spaghetti.

Dump the chilis into a 1.5L VISIONS saucepan, put on the lid, chuck it into the microwave oven, punch up 10 minutes at 50% power followed by 99:99 minutes at 10% power (to keep it warm while the spaghetti cooks).

Cook up the spaghetti (boil up a gallon of water in an 8-quart or bigger covered pot, dump in the spaghetti all at once, stir nonstop for 3 minutes, put on the lid, turn off the heat, let sit for 7 minutes. Foolproof!).

Drain the spaghetti, let it rest in the colander for 3 minutes (to develop a sticky exterior), dump it back into the pot, pour in the heated chilis, stir it all together.

Serve topped with shredded Mexican-style cheese. Or have it cheese-filled (put a half-portion on your plate, pile on the cheese, top with another half-portion, wait a minute or two before digging in).

Ya hungry yet?

From-scratch clam chowder (with from-scratch bacon), and a matcha latte. Probably way too much milk and cream, but I've had a bad weekend and week and so I'm splurging. All the delicious things!

On Sunday, dinner will be a 6 course feast at the Michigan Renfaire, with craft wines and beers. Can't wait.

Yesterday, I wrapped pork medallions into parma ham and added a sage leaf on top. First in the pan, then finish in the oven. With sweet potato mash.

Tonight, turkey with a leek sherry sauce.

I ate a late lunch, and worked teaching class until 9:30 tonight, at which point my wife and visiting daughter had already eaten. So, for me alone, it was a couple pieces of toasted seed-rich dark bread topped by three sliced wild puffball mushrooms sautéed lightly in butter.

Magnificent. Puffball mushrooms are about the most underappreciated things I can think of. Up here in Alaska we don't get the really big ones I remember from growing up in the Midwest, which could get to be the size of footballs. But ours are a bit larger than hen's eggs, are found in late summer in grassy areas like lawns or parks or schoolgrounds (they look like eggs nestled down in the grass), and when firm and white, are just plain wonderful eating. They have a delicate flavor, not much like other mushrooms, and go well with lighter foods like fish or chicken. I've chopped them up into rice pilafs, too.

The puffballs on toast were much like egg whites in flavor, and just a little more delicate in texture. And they're really not hard to identify. If you can distinguish a cat from a catfish, you should have no trouble identifying puffballs. They grow just about everywhere in the U.S. and Europe. The really big ones, rarely known to weigh over 100 pounds, were prizes of royalty in the Middle Ages, sliced and grilled like meat for banquets.

caw

Lentil soup. So yummy, I can't wait to get home.

Pork chops marinated in coconut water, lime juice, ginger, fish sauce, coconut aminos, hoisin & chili-garlic sauce, then broiled & brown rice w/peas.

Cheap wine.

I ate a very late lunch.

caw

Couple pounds of pork loin in slow cooker with a Campbell's BBQ-apple-bourbon sauce.

Will also fix corn on the cob and steamed broccoli.

--Ken

Potato soup! With cream! And Home made bread!

zucchini boats with a spicey hot italian sausage.

Pizzoodles

Ground up a pound of cooked Italian sausage and stirred it into some leftover marinara sauce. Come dinner time, gonna stir in a pound of slightly undercooked egg noodles, then layer it into a baking dish (CorningWare, of course) with pepperoni and Mozzarella and bake it for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

That sounds good, Joe. Probably take-out again for us tonight. No one has time to get to the market lately. I wouldn't mind it if the food were actually good. So tired of getting beaten for $50 for junk. Where we live is kind of a dead spot for good restaurants. Good food to the West, good food to the East, but nothing close enough to get to at traffic time. I thought by now they were going to have a pill you could take to satisfy all your hunger and nutritional needs.