Pizza Dough

February 20, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

This recipe was posted to go along with the Breakfast Pizza, but obviously it can be used as a base for any kind of pizza!

Pizza Dough

Originally this dough was for grilled barbequed pizza, but I’ve modified it to bake in the oven. This version is half of the original recipe, so feel free to double it (FYI, 1 cup + 2 tbsp doubled is 2 1/4 cups). Makes 1/2 lb of dough, enough for tw0 8 to 10-inch pizzas. Adapted from Everyday Food magazine, July/August 2010, Issue 74, page 96. Original recipe available here.

1/2 cup warm tap water

1/2 tsp honey

1 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 cup + 2 tbsp bread flour or all purpose flour (I usually sub in 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)

Pour warm tap water into a medium bowl (water should be quite warm – almost bath water warm). Stir in the honey and sprinkle with yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy (my yeast usually ends up looking more sludgey than foamy, but it still works fine!).

Whisk olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture. Add flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until it comes together in an elastic ball. Transfer to an oiled medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch down, cover, and let rise another 30 minutes while you prepare the pizza toppings. (Alternatively, let rise overnight in the refrigerator, remove from the fridge, punch down, then allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before proceeding.)

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Let rest for a few minutes before using.

Stretch and roll dough to desired shape, add toppings, and bake on parchment paper in a preheated 500˚ F oven for about 10 minutes, until bottom of dough is golden brown.

Sunday Roast Chicken & Gravy

February 20, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 5 Comments

Last weekend, Nate bought me a car stereo as an early Valentine’s present, and he and Sam installed in on Sunday. I made a roast chicken dinner for them to show my appreciation – nothing like comfort food to say “thank you”!

There are a bazillion different methods for roasting a chicken, and this one is a pretty standard variation: start with a high heat, turn it down slightly when the bird goes is, rub the skin with oil to make it crispy, season the outside and stuff the cavity with aromatics. I have found that best roasting vessel is a large cast iron frying pan with the chicken on a circular rack, because that way you can simply remove the chicken and rack from the pan and use it to make gravy, without losing any of the drippings or pan juices.

What makes a roast chicken special is the gravy, and I can confidently say that I make a mean gravy. Mostly I owe this to my Dad, whose secret ingredient in chicken and turkey gravy used to be finely chopped dried, salted, Chinese blackbeans. I know that sounds totally weird and gross, but the salty, umami flavour that they imparted to the gravy was SO GOOD. I’ve taken that idea and run with it, only now my secret ingredients are soy sauce, Marmite, Worchestershire sauce, and balsamic vinegar instead of black beans. The soy sauce adds saltiness and umami and more flavour than just salt would. It also adds colour, which I think is just as important as flavour – a nice, rich, brown gravy is way more appetizing to me than a pale, thin-looking one. The Marmite also adds a bit of salt and a meaty, almost yeasty flavour. Even if you don’t like Marmite, you will like what it does for gravy. Worchestershire is a pretty standard ingredient and adds good flavour, but be careful not to add too much, as it can be overpowering. My uncle Mike gave me the idea of adding a small amount of balsamic vinegar to the gravy at the end, to brighten the flavours and cut through the richness with a touch of acidity.

The most important thing to remember when making gravy is to keep tasting it and to add liquid and seasonings in small amounts, as it is always easier to add more than it is to subtract!…

Pork Picadillo

January 31, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

A blurry pork picadillo burrito

A few years ago my friend Lynette got me a year’s subscription to the Everyday Food magazine, published by Martha Stewart Living. I have a collection of about 20 issues now, and they all contain fantastically easy and delicious recipes that are great for a weekday meal (or a weekend meal, for that matter!). This pork picadillo from the June 2007 issue is a Latin-American/Mexican dish that can be used as a burrito filling, on nachos, in a quesadilla, over rice… you get the picture. I’ve only ever tried it in a burrito, but I can imagine that it would be just as good in any other application. I love the combination of smoky chipotle heat with a hint of cinnamon and cloves, along with the sweetness of the raisins. Sounds odd? Try it – it’s wonderful!

We had this in burritos along with cumin-spiced black beans, fresh Mexican-style farmer’s cheese (available at Fairways, of all places!), sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and cilantro. I am becoming a believer in the less-is-more approach to burritos – choose a few delicious toppings that compliment the flavour of the filling, rather than overwhelming it. It also makes the burrito easier to hold, fold, and eat!

The original recipe makes a lot, but it freezes well. I’ve reduced it by roughly half and adjusted the seasonings a bit. Usually the Everyday Food magazine recipes are available on the Martha Stewart website, but for some reason I can’t find this one

Pork Picadillo

(adapted from Everyday Food, Issue 43, pg 66, June 2007)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 an onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

coarse salt and ground pepper

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 chipoltes in adobo, finely chopped (or about 1 tbsp chipotle purée)

1 tsp ancho, chipotle, or regular chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

just over 1 pound of lean ground pork (lean is important, otherwise you end up with greasy filling)

1 14 oz can of chopped or crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1/4 cup raisins, chopped

In a 2-quart pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Add tomato paste, chipotle, chili powder, cinnamon, and cloves; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork and cook until no longer pink, stirring to break up any lumps. Add tomatoes, vinegar, and raisins, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partly covered, until thickened, 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve as a burrito or quesadilla filling, over rice, on nachos, in a stuffed pepper, over a baked potato… Makes at least enough for 4 burritos.

Huevos Rancheros

January 30, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

Last night we had burritos with pork picadillo filling (recipe here), and this morning for breakfast I made huevos rancheros with the leftover beans and tortillas. This is a take on the version of huevos that is served at our favorite breakfast place, Spoons Diner. Nate orders this about 90% of the time we go there, and the other week I finally tried it myself – delicious! I have no idea how authentic it is (probably not very!) but it is sure good, and very filling.

Huevos Rancheros

In a cast iron pan over medium-high heat, brown a flour tortilla on one side. Flip it over in the pan and remove the pan from the heat. Spread beans (I used whole black beans spiced with cumin, but you could use refrieds or whatever you want) over the tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. I used cheddar and a Mexican-style fresh farmer’s cheese. Place the pan under the broiler until the tortilla is browned and the cheese is melted.

Meanwhile, in a small non-stick, oven-safe pan, melt a little butter and fry 2 eggs (or just one, depending on how hungry you are). Season with salt and pepper, but do not flip over – instead, sprinkle with more cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the yolks are still a little bit jiggly.

Place the tortilla on a plate. Stir together about 1 tbsp of sour cream and 1 tsp of chipotle puree (or chipotle powder, or regular chili powder) and drizzle over the tortilla. Top with the cheesey eggs and dollop with salsa. Guacamole would also be good. Dig in.

Serves one.

Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps

January 30, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

Have you ever had Lesley Stowe’s Rosemary Raisin Pecan Raincoast Crisps? Would you agree that they are among the best things you have ever tasted?

I came across a recipe for these amazing crackers at Dinner with Julie a few months ago, and made a mental note to try them out. I am currently doing a 30-day no-refined-sugar challenge with a friend of mine, and I wanted to experiment with using alternative sweeteners in baking. Seeing as the recipe for these crisps calls for only a small amount (1/4 cup) of brown sugar, I thought it would be a good place to start experimenting, and it would also give me a delicious snack to nibble on so that I wouldn’t miss refined-sugary treats so much!

There are lots of tips on the web for substituting liquid sweeteners in place of dry sugar in baking, but the resource I used was this one. You need to add more or less sweetener depending on how sweet it is compared to regular sugar, and also to reduce the liquid in the recipe to adjust for the added moisture. Following this advice, I used 1/3 cup of brown rice syrup plus about 1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses in place of the brown sugar, and decreased the amount of buttermilk by a smidgeon (probably about 2 tablespoons). I also substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of all purpose.

These crackers are sort of like biscotti, in that you bake them once (in a loaf pan), then slice them thin and bake again until crisp. When the loaves were baking, they smelled incredible – just like the originals. I was a bit worried about the colour, as they seemed very light, but I just put a batch through their second baking, and they look, smell, and taste exactly like the real thing!

Here’s the recipe, with my edits to make it refined-sugar-free. Enjoy!

Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps (no refined sugar!)

Original recipe from Dinner with Julie can be found here.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 scant cups buttermilk

1/3 cup brown rice syrup

1 tbsp. blackstrap molasses

1/4 cup honey

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup flax seed, ground

1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease two 8×4 inch loaf pans or spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl stir together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a smaller bowl whisk together buttermilk, brown rice syrup, molasses, and honey. Stir into the flour mixture using only a few strokes (it should still be lumpy like muffin batter). Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just blended.

Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 35 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the pans and cool completely.

When the loaves and completely cool, slice as thin as possible and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet (I used parchment paper, just in case!). The original recipe suggests freezing the loaves to make slicing easier, which is what I did, and I would recommend it. It also means you can bake one loaf at a time, and leave one loaf frozen for later! To slice, I used a freshly-sharpened straight-edge knife, rather than a serrated knife.

Bake the slices in a 300˚ F oven for about 15 minutes, flip, and bake another 10 minutes, until crisp and dark brown (be careful not to burn them – it’s a fine line!). Cool on a rack. Warning: these are addictive – good thing you have another loaf in the freezer for later, hey? 😉

Makes about 8 dozen crisps.

Pizza Dough

Pizza Dough

Sunday Roast Chicken & Gravy

Pork Picadillo

Pork Picadillo

Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros

Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps

Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps (no refined sugar!)

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