Nomasteryoda Cooks

Italian Pizza

2010-05-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

1 - recipe of Pizza dough - see Pizza dough.
1/4 - cup corn meal (for the peel)
4 - Tbsp olive oil - the more virgin the better
1 - 8oz. can Contadina tomato paste (has no salt)
5 - cloves fresh garlic - more if you like the taste
3 - 5 inch sprigs of fresh Rosemary, no stems, not chopped
1/4 - cup fresh Oregano - whole leaves, no stems, not chopped
5 - fresh leaves Basil - substitute with 1tsp dry if necessary
dash of crushed or ground black pepper
8 - oz bag of shredded Italian blend cheese - substitute low fat mozzarella and parmesean
1/2 - Red onion sliced in about 1/4 inch thick slices - you can use yellow or white if you prefer
1 - 12 oz can black olives - sliced or chopped
15 - green olives - preferably without pimentos - sliced
25 - Turkey pepperoni slices
6 - oz Turkey Italian sausage cooked, drained and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces - substitute pork if desired.

Directions:
Hand press, toss and/or roll the dough into a shape that will fit your peel or stone. You can substitute a pan if you don't own a stone. Spread the cornmeal on the pizza peel to cover the surface with the object to make the dough slide easily once placed on the peel.
Place the dough topside down onto the peel, hand spread the 3 Tbsp olive oil on the entire surface of the dough.

Crush then dice the garlic until you get a size you like and chop the herbs (oregano, rosemary and basil) until they are similar size to your garlic.

Spread about 1/2 the tomato paste onto the olive oil coated dough with a spoon, knife or spatula leaving about 1 inch at the edges. Sprinkle the herbs and garlic over the tomato paste.

Cover this with about 4 oz of the cheese, then add pepperonis randomly. Cover the pepperoni with the remaining cheese. - note: turkey pepperoni is much drier than pork - always cover with cheese.

At this point its important to shake the peel in short strokes to make sure your dough is not sticking to the peel.

Add remaining toppings in any order you wish, shovel the pizza onto your stone or pan and bake for about 11 minutes or until your cheese looks slightly brown. You may also turn down the oven at 4 minutes to 350 if you have a thicker crust and cook for about 15 minutes. Be sure to keep a watch on your pizza... burned pizza is not very tasty.

Use your peel to remove from the stone, place on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes to allow the molten cheese to cool a bit, slice and enjoy!

I'll post other variants later...

Pizza Dough

2009-02-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

This is a basic recipe I use for my Pizza and breads.
I have used once for a sticky bun and it worked
ok, but I've had better. I've been using this recipe since
1988.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour (or 1 cup more of the unbleached all-purpose flour)
1 cup water, lukewarm or slightly hotter
1 to 2 Tbsp sugar or 2 to 3 Tbsp honey
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
2 tsp bread yeast
2 to 3 Tbsp Olive Oil

Mix yeast and water in a large round bowl.
Add sugar or honey, salt, oil and stir.
Add 1 cup flour and stir

TIP:
Be sure you do rinse off any Anti-Bacterial soap before touching the dough, otherwise you will kill or severely retard the growth of your yeast.

Work the rest of the flour into the mix and use your hands, but be sure to work off the dough that sticks to your hands back into the dough, adding more flour if needed to make the dough stick to itself more than your hands.

Knead on a counter top or flour cloth if you have one (I've never used the later). Again, add flour if it becomes too sticky to work with. This kneading process should take no more than 10 minutes from start to finish.

Cover with a damp cloth, invert your large mixing bowl over it, or spread olive oil over the surface and allow to Rise for about 30 min. This last option is good if you want to break the doughball into bread-sized chunks for making loaves of bread like you find at the fancy Italian restaurants.

During this time you can turn on the oven to 500 and let it preheat the Pizza stone.

Adjustments for texture:
For a firm dough, punch down at 30 min. and allow to rise again for about 30 min. more.

For a thin, crispy crust put into the fridge overnight or for 2 hours & bring out within
30 min prior to making the pizza. This crust is much like Shakey's Pizza, which I used to enjoy back in the 1980's.

You can also work in about 1/4 cup course cornmeal to make interesting dough.

TIP:
If you are making bread, then cover the bowl with a damp flour cloth or dish towel. Allow
this to sit for about 30 minutes. Add remaining flour and mix / knead as above.

Baking Pizza dough and or bread:
Bake on a Pizza Stone and use a good cornmeal as the sliding agent for moving the pizza dough onto the stone via the Pizza Peel (pizza shovel).

I've found that with thicker pizzas you can cook for 4-5 minutes then turn down the oven to 350 and cook longer. That way you don't burn the toppings, the crust is just right on the bottom and the pizza crust is not too soft inside.

... Enjoy!!

original posting: 8/30/07 - updated 4/12/09

fruit pie

2007-09-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

pie
adapted from Throwdown with Bobby Flay
on food network sept 4, 2007
note: I have not made this pie yet....

secrets to good pie crust:

shred butter into the flour, sugar, salt mix
they used 1tsp sugar, 1.5tsp salt, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup butter.

quickly mix with your hands until mixed well... like cornmeal.
add very cold water/milk (1/2 cup or so)

knead into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2hrs

prepare your fruit .. they used 2 cups chopped strawberries, 1cup blueberries 1 cup raspberries and 1 cup blackberries
all chopped to desired sizes

divide in to for top and bottom
roll out the bottom first into a round shape
using plastic wrap over to keep from sticking to the pin... makes it simpler to use too.

place into the pan
add fruit
top with 1/4 cup butter - cut from the stick is fine

add 1/4-1/3 cup flour to thicken the mix
place the top on
pinch or fold over edge to seal
using milk and sugar or water and sugar, brush the top
cut the vent holes...

bake until done

Thai-Japanese Chicken, Veggie StirFry

2007-08-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

Thaw 6-10 frozen chicken tenderloins in
microwave safe dish (8-10 minutes).
Cook chicken in skillet - medium-hi heat until done.

Note: using fresh chicken is better, but don't try to speed up the thawing or skip to cooking in the pan with the veggies... you'll regret it. Separation of flavor until you are ready to combine helps the taste.

Cut while in pan & add some spices.
1 Tbsp spicy Thai spice
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
Simmer & add water as needed to prevent drying.

Meanwhile...
Heat 2 quarts water until warm, remove from heat.
Immerse rice noodle sticks (Japanese) water
and remove when ready (follow pkg directions).

Pan stir-fry:
2-4 cups cabbage slaw (prepackaged)
in 2Tbsp olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Add to slaw:
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion
Stir and Cook for about 4 minutes more...

Add these to the slaw...
1 small can sliced water chestnuts
1 small can bamboo shoots
Cooking for maybe 6 min.

Add to the slaw mix...
3/4 - 1 cup ginger dressing
There are brands without MSG...

Add to this..
1/4 cup brown sugar

Note: I changed to Turbinado (raw cane sugar)

1/4 cup sweetened coconut
Stir until mixed well and sugar is dissolved.

Simmer for about 5 more minutes... do not over cook!!
then pour over chicken in skillet.

dish up the noodles onto plates (4)
divide chicken/veg mix on top and serve while hot....

Serve with my Quick Egg Drop Soup

Quick Egg Drop Soup

2007-08-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Very simple to make...

Boil 1 quart water with one or 2 cubes
chicken stock (or veggie)

Crack open 2 eggs and add to a small bowl...
Now for the hard part:
Using a fork to strain or thin eggs,
Add the 2 eggs in an attempt at making strings of egg...
(or go clumpy if you like clumpy eggdrop soup).

Cook until done... about 6 minutes is good for my taste.

Makes about 1 -2 quarts soup (serves 4)...

(add salt, pepper and some chopped green chives if so desired.)