Pantry Meal #3: Portland Pie Co.'s Shipyard Pizza

My husband loves pizza. No, seriously he is obsessed. He could eat it every night if it is cooked the way he likes it; light crust,  saucy, sprinkled with oregano, garlic and not too much cheese. In our last house our neighbor would make him pies after a night out, and Dave would repeatedly tell him he missed his calling! Now that we aren't right across the street anymore the pizza cook offs have waned and the responsibility to make perfect pizza is on my shoulders.

While I love making pizza at home, my results can be hit or miss. I buy pizza dough from the grocery store or use English muffins or bagels for my base. I used to buy pizza sauce or use regular leftover marinara but recently discovered a simple, quick, and inexpensive way to make my own pizza sauce.

The hit in our house tonight was made with a very special pizza dough. The best store bought dough in my opinion is Portland Pie Co.'s Shipyard Beer pizza dough. It's not sold here in NJ, but I have a source (my big sister) near Albany who recently delivered me a frozen stash!

Once again, these pizza ideas come from my sister, a meal she prepared while I was visiting last fall. I let my dough come to room temperature and preheated the oven and pizza stone to 475 degrees. I prepared a Swiss and fig with caramelized onion spread pizza and a good ole margarita pie (pictured above) with fresh mozzarella and my easy pizza sauce (First frost already hit, no fresh basil for us). I drizzled olive oil over the crust prior to baking to create a pan style crunch.

So are you ready to never spend money on a jar of pizza sauce? The secret is to keep tomato paste on hand, your pantry ingredient for this meal. Maybe everyone else knew this, but I was shocked to discover how tasty my pizza sauce was. Combine 8 oz of water to one small can of tomato paste (costs about $0.60 per can/less if on sale) and season with herbs of your preference. I used oregano, garlic, and black pepper. Let the sauce sit so that it soaks in the flavor of the seasonings for at least ten minutes. One mixture made enough for three bar sized pizzas. So now I want to know, what will you be putting on your pizza?

Pantry Meals: Shrimp and Goat Cheesy Grits

I have a problem, my freezer is jam packed! I've challenged myself to a week of cooking meals from only ingredients on hand, mainly from my pantry or freezer. I see the benefits as two fold, budget wise: I will be in good shape in terms of groceries, and space wise: I'll make room for freezable winter dishes that I like to have on hand for cold lazy nights. So here goes nothing! The first meal I made uses frozen shrimp, an ingredient I like to have on hand for a quick appetizer or meatless entree. Next, I pulled some Bob's Red Mill southern style grits and a can of diced tomatoes from the pantry. After cooking the grits, I stirred in the tomatoes along with a creamy herb and garlic goat cheese. I sautéed the shrimp in earth balance butter and added a generous amount of black pepper. The grits were done in 5 minutes and dinner was on the table in less than 10! No chopping necessary thanks to the deliciously seasoned goat cheese. You can easily replicate this dish with any other creamy cheese such as ricotta or feta and add your favorite herbs.

Baking Turns Into Dinner...

My sister and I often send each other random links to new recipes we have tried out.  We are both pretty adventurous and we will try just about anything in terms of ingredients. More importantly we both keep a lot of the same ingredients in stock in our pantries.

Most recently, she sent me a recipe for Carrot Quinoa muffins. I know, it sounds like some health-nut dessert but its definitely not. Follow the link below to get the recipe.









I found myself shredding too much carrot and had been making some grilled chicken for my week's lunches, when I decided to throw together the extra ingredients from the muffins, into a delicious salad. The salad was comprised of the extra cooked quinoa, shredded carrot, diced apple, baby arugula, herbed goat cheese, grilled chicken, and my favorite go-to salad dressing, maple balsamic vinaigrette (another hit from my sister's collection!) This dressing is my secret weapon for dinner parties and will soon be yours as well!

The Dressing

3T balsamic

2t maple syrup

2t minced shallot

1t dijon

1/2 cup olive oil (add last, slowly while whisking)

salt and pepper

Make the Muffins: http://www.darcyeden.com/posts/2012/5/18/carrot-quinoa-muffins.html

Dinner in 20 Minutes: Panko Pork Cutlets with Chianti Balsamic Reduction with Roasted Garlic Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes

Craving a comforting fall inspired dinner, I had mashed potatoes on the mind early on in the day today. I always make my mashed potatoes with the peels still on, using my food processor to make them creamy and smooth. I tried a new ingredient this time around, a small pinch of cinnamon, and it added a nice sweet and spicy note in addition to the roasted garlic. I added almond milk, olive oil, salt & pepper, and roasted minced garlic to the food processor bowl.

I flayed boneless pork chops to make thin portions. Using an egg wash consisting of eggs, water and stone ground mustard, I breaded the pork in panko bread crumbs, fresh grated Parmesan cheese , garlic powder, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Then I pan fried in Olive oil until crispy and golden on each side.

To make the reduction I added equal parts of a leftover bottle of Chianti with Balsamic vinegar. I simmered over med low heat until it reduced to half and thickened. I drizzled the reduction over the plate and then plated the potatoes and cutlets. I ate my cutlets Milanese style over a bed of baby greens with an additional splash of french vinaigrette.

I suggest boiling the potatoes while you saute the cutlets. Transfer cooked cutlets to an oven safe dish and place in 200 degree oven to keep warm until ready to serve.  A side of some roasted apples and carrots would pair perfectly with this dish. What fall flavors are you craving when the weather starts cooling down?

The Slow Cooker Saves Dinner

I recently started working part time for a friend's family deli, (Gianella's of Glen Rock) and the evening hours are forcing me to get creative with dinner, and encouraging me to pull out my rarely used crock pot. The New York Times Dining section recently featured a recipe, with a picture that left me drooling: Grilled Baby Back Ribs with Spicy Peanut Shake. I purchased the ingredients fully intending to make them on a night I would be home and have the time required. Needless to say, that didn't happen! So I pulled out the Crock Pot and googled a variety of slow cooker worthy rib recipes. The following Thai inspired recipe is what I came up with. 

All of the marinade ingredients are usually in my pantry or fridge, making this a meal I can turn to time and time again as long as I have some ribs in the freezer. I paired it with two sides that are quick to heat/assemble; Trader Joe's Frozen Brown Rice, as well as, some raw baby carrots. The results were fall of the bone tender ribs that left the house smelling delicious.

What slow cooker recipe do make that you can't live without?

 Thai Style Crock Pot Ribs
1-16 oz can pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
1-2 T low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 T creamy or crunchy peanut butter
3.5 lbs pork baby back ribs
Salt to preference

Combine ingredients and allow ribs to marinate 8 hours or overnight in fridge. Place Ribs and marinade in slow cooker and cook on low setting for 8 hours. (It is ok to place the refrigerated crock into the warmer as long as you do not preheat the warmer)

Improving Childhood Recipes Part 1: Mac N Cheese

Mac n' cheese out of a box was a weekly staple in our home growing up. Easy and quick to make, it was our go to meal when friends stopped in, or to hold us over after school until dinner. Now a meal I keep on hand in case of emergencies and power outages, occasionally I get that craving and I have begun to come up with a myriad of ways to adjust the boxed dinner to the adult palate.  To start I use Annie's organic shells or the Trader Joe's version. Even though you can skip the butter in these recipes, I prefer the richness it contributes so I use my Earth Balance spread. I attempt to balance out the fat content of the mac n cheese by adding a veggie packed with antioxidants: sauteed spinach. To help add a new dimension of flavor I threw in some caramelized shallots and topped it off with a sprinkle of reduced fat shredded cheese (there goes that balance). Another version I made recently combined canned tuna, sauteed broccoli, and minced garlic. My husband's favorite is to just add some tomato sauce. What is your favorite way to make mac n' cheese?

Patriotic Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries

I've had steel cut oats before, but I have always bought them at my favorite coffee shop, Greenberry's. I always let them do the hard work, cooking the steel cut oats for half an hour in a huge black kettle. When I saw them in the store I decided to cheat and get the "Ready in 5" box, I could've cheated more and bought the "almost instant."I topped off my oats with sweetly fragrant sliced strawberries and New Jersey grown plump blueberries. No added sugar needed, the natural sweetness of the fruit perfectly complemented the oats. What are you eating that is Red, White, and Blue this week?

This is what you should be eating...

My original plan was to make a crisp and cool nicoise salad and partner it with a crusty homemade loaf of bread. Borrowed from the Food52 blog, and Jim Lahey's cookbook, this no knead bread was simple to make and just required some advance planning.

I prepared chopped chicken from a store bought leftover rotisserie chicken and added a generous drizzle of vinaigrette for my husband who isn't much of a tuna fan. I saved the tuna for myself. I boiled a few fingerling potatoes until fork tender, chopped them into 1 inch cubes and marinated them while hot in the same vinaigrette.

Next, I gathered my salad ingredients: hard boiled eggs, kalamata olives ( That's all I had in the house, adding Fairway's Nicoise olives to my grocery list this week!), hot cherry peppers, the cold potatoes, the tuna/chicken, marinated artichoke hearts, and baby spinach.

Then I realized I wanted pizza and with our new central air conditioning, I had no reason not to turn on the oven! I used flatbreads (lavash) from Trader Joe's and smeared each with a mixture of herbed goat cheese and half and half. I piled on my salad ingredients and drizzled the pizza with the vinaigrette dressing.

Popped into a 425 oven until the crust was golden brown at the edges, I could barely contain my excitement at trying what I was certain would become a staple summer pizza.
When it finally cooled down enough to sample, I knew it would not be the last time I made nicoise pizza. The next time I'll make sure to add asparagus, nicoise olives, and haricot verts.

Dinner Tonight 6-18-13

Tonight's meal was inspired by two of my favorite internet sources: Food52.com and Martha Stewart's Everyday Food website. I've paired Food52's delicious Spanish Roasted Potatoes with Martha's Crepes and improvised with fillings I have on hand. Tofurkey and cheddar fill these crepes and are topped with simple garnish of roasted cherry tomatoes tossed in olive oil, sea salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. The Potatoes are roasted with garlic until golden and crispy, then mixed with a creamy lemon and Dijon aioli.  

A colorful and flavorful dish to help brighten up this suddenly stormy evening. 

To drink I've chosen Leinenkugel's light & lemony summer shandy. It was difficult to get these potatoes onto the plate but somehow I managed to save half for dinner. Both our plates were licked clean and I have to say I'm sad there were no leftovers.

Quick Weeknight Meals: Cooking with Trader Joe's & Gardein: Mandarin Chickenless Chicken

 

My go-to recipe for busy weeknights, Mandarin Chicken-less Stir Fry

I use any vegetables I have on hand, sometimes I even pre-chop vegetables ahead of time so that when I don't have the time to prep a complicated meal, I have already done the hardest work. I saute the ingredients in the following order: onions, then by order of hardness; i.e. carrots, celery, peppers. Once the veggies are cooked, I remove and set aside. Next I saute the chickenless chicken morsels per the directions on the bag, and at the last minute combine the sauces, veggies, and morsels and heat through while stirring. I use Trader Joe's Satay sauce as a short cut adding in the sauce that comes with the Chickenless Mandarin Chicken for a sweet and savory dish that tastes like comfort food but is packed with good for you veggies! While I am sauteing, I prepare brown rice noodles or I use frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's. The results: a quick dinner that seems like it took me hours to prepare, and never any leftovers ;)

Lunch on Beach Drive: Spring Break Stop in St. Petersburg

Our last full day in Florida, we dropped off my sister Meg, her wife Jackie, and their daughter Ellie to Tampa airport and took a detour on our way back to Sarasota, making a stop in St. Petersburg. We visited the new version of the Dali Museum in downtown St. Pete's and afterwards strolled down Beach Drive to find a place to eat lunch. Cassis American Brasserie's menu jumped out at me, so we took a table on the sidewalk to people watch. The city is filled with beautiful sculptures and we had a front row seat to one of the prettiest. Dave ordered a wedge salad, chicken soup, and the special cajun ribeye sandwich. I ordered onion rings and a spinach, strawberry, and beet salad. Seriously the best onion rings ev-er! I had the Beach Drive Lemonade with muddled strawberries and lemon, raspberry vodka, and simple syrup, perfectly refreshing! Can't wait to come back next spring...

Good Morning English Muffins & a Soft Boiled Egg

Take Two Finally an excuse to use the egg cups I inherited from my late Grandma Peggy! Last night while making lunch for my hubby, I started craving the soft boiled eggs my Mom used to make when we were children. Granted, Mom used a coffee mug and muddled the egg with salt and pepper, making it more of a mayo-less egg salad. Soft boiling eggs perfectly seems to be a task not easily mastered by cutting my hard boiling time in half...Oh well, it was delicious nonetheless. I placed enough water to cover the egg in a pot and brought to a boil. Once boiling I removed from heat and let sit for 6 minutes. Now, my yolk was not as soft as I typically like it so next time I will cut down my time in one minute increments until I get it right.  While I waited for my soft boiled egg I smeared a toasted whole wheat English muffin with raw almond butter, strawberry preserves, and an organic banana. Unfortunately, Allie thought the English muffin looked irresistible, so she gulped it down while my back was turned. (See guilty face below) I am trying to cut back on my caffeine, so green tea and chamomile with a touch of honey was the finishing touch on my breakfast. I have been playing around with the myfitnesspal website and iphone app and below I have included the nutritional information for this meal.

The guilty but satisified puppy...

Breakfast Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar Publix - English Muffin - Original, 1 muffin 100 24 2 4 210 1 Trader Joe's - Almond Butter Raw Crunchy Unsalted, 2 tbsp 190 6 17 8 0 2 Egg - Egg, Hard-Boiled, 60 g 70 1 5 6 65 0 Bananas - Raw, 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 105 27 0 1 1 14 Green Tea - Lipton, 1 tea bag 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bigelow - Cozy Chamomile Herb Tea, 1 Bag 0 0 0 0 0 0 Honey, 0.5 tbsp 32 9 0 0 0 9 Trader Joe's - Fresh Strawberry Preserves, 1 g 3 1 0 0 0 1 Totals 500 68 24 19 276 27

Cricket Hill & Bivio: Supporting Small Businesses and Reaping the Rewards

For those of you who don't know about the Cricket Hill Brewery tour every Friday in Fairfield, you know now. Every Friday from 5pm to 7pm, for $4 you get to sample four of their session beers, listen to some music, and make some interesting new friends. The key to this brew tour is that once you have gone, you must tell your friends, or escort them yourself. Opened in 2001, Cricket Hill is laid back and low key, and the perfect start to your weekend. You can also buy growlers of your favorite brew to take home.

Following the brew tour, growler in hand, we head to our new favorite local restaurant Bivio. Down the street in Little Falls, Bivio offers Naples style pizza, cooked to perfection in a wood burning oven, which will instantly transport you to Italy. The menu features a handful of quality items, with specials daily, and artisan bread available for purchase.  I watched two ladies last night debate whether they should stay and wait for a table, the selfish part of me said let them go, more Bivio for me.  Yet I found myself quietly speaking aloud, "wait, its worth it, don't go!"

Pictured left to right: Bianca, Margarita, Porcini (& Cricket Hill Jersey Red Devil)

We started with the colorful salad special; roasted beets, goat cheese, and candied walnuts over mixed greens. Then ordered three pies: Bianca, Margarita, and Porcini. Bianca ruined it, the standout in the bunch, overshadowing the understated deliciousness of the others. My recommendation: Start with the Margarita, move to the Porcini, and finish with the Bianca. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Eat slowly, enjoy every bite, and save room for some homemade tiramisu with side of espresso.

Quinoa Meal # 3: Cold and Rainy Nights Call for Hot Soup!

I recently did my first detox for three days from the Whole Living website. The plan included only three meals and dinner was a vegetable based soup that I fell in love with. The soup uses the heat of the broth to steam the greens, keeping them from getting too soggy and retaining their bright green color. Find the inspiration recipe here: http://www.wholeliving.com/176596/carrot-spinach-soup-dill

If you want to make this soup last for a few more days, make smaller  one cup servings of the broth and pair with a salad or sandwich. If you can do the vegetable prep ahead of time, this recipe would take a little over a half an hour with no active cooking. ( I did two loads of laundry, folded, loaded the dishwasher, and finished typing up this blog in the time it took the soup to simmer!)

Tonight's dinner uses up the last of the quinoa in a hearty vegetable based soup inspired by the detox dinner:

Portabello & Spinach Quinoa Soup
 Serves 2

1-2 Portabello mushrooms, sliced in 1-2 inch pieces
1 T EVOO
2 cups of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of quinoa

Broth:
1 T EVOO
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tsp Tumeric
4 carrots, peeled and diced
6 cups of water
Salt & pepper to season

Add oil to stock pot over medium heat, add onions. Cook 3-5 minutes until translucent, stirring frequently. Add tumeric to onions and stir. Add carrots and saute for one minute, add water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer, and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute mushrooms until soft and blackened. Set aside.

Place 1/2 c of quinoa in a large bowl, ( I use glass mixing bowls) place half the mushrooms on top, and one cup of the spinach. Pour 2 1/2-3 cups of the broth over the spinach, cover and let sit for a few minutes until spinach is wilted. Serve with a side of toasty warm, fresh artisan bread, such as a baguette.

Quinoa Meal #2: Colorful Greek Quinoa Salad

Mondays are my long day, so I need a sturdy lunch that can travel well and keep me satisfied since there is little time for an adequate dinner. Lunch today uses the second portion of my pre-made quinoa in a cold salad with a mixture of colorful produce. This salad is inspired by our favorite local Greek restaurant, Zorba.

Paired with a lowfat yogurt parfait, and a snack size portion of pistachio nuts, I'll have enough protein to keep me feeling fuller longer, not to mention the benefits of the antioxidant packed produce.

I layered quinoa, cherry tomatoes; diced, feta cheese, yellow bell pepper; diced, and a  quick homemade vinaigrette (I mix equal parts red vinegar & evoo; Season with about a teaspoon of minced shallot, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and oregano) over bright green baby spinach.

No More Boring Oatmeal...

Red Breakfast Quinoa: with bananas, cinnamon sugar, and almond milk

Good morning! Weekdays I rely on smoothies for a fast, portable, and healthy breakfast. On the weekends I generally prefer to treat myself to something more hearty. As I lie awake in bed this morning, I envisioned banana pancakes, but realized I was out of veggie sausage. No tofu in the house to make a scramble, I was left to the good ole standby, oatmeal. Then I remembered a recipe I had seen on whole living, to use quinoa in place of oats. Out came my rice cooker and in went one part quinoa to two parts water and about 20 minutes later I had enough to make at least three meals with. So today covers meal number one: Red Breakfast Quinoa with cinnamon sugar, bananas, and almond milk. You can either add the milk cold to the hot quinoa, or heat it first to be more of an authentic oatmeal dish. The variations on this breakfast are endless! Quinoa quick facts: Not a grain but rather a seed, contains the most amino acids of any plant source of protein, gluten-free.