Perfect Pizza Crust and Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza

I've been wanting to make my own pizza crust for a really long time, but for some reason I've been hesitant. I've never been much of a bread beaker and I tend to avoid recipes that deal with kneading or rising. Yesterday, though, Ross and I decided to be brave and try making our own pizza dough for Valentines Day dinner. (On a side note: I absolutely love when Ross gets involves with a cooking project. It makes it a lot more fun. Ross, if you're reading this. Hint, Hint!)

If you're going to start making pizza dough I figured that a recipe called "Perfect Pizza Crust" was the place to start. I cannot express to you just how impressed I was with this recipe. It had a big name to live up to, and it did. The crust really is pefect. It's the perfect thickness and it's crispy yet chewy at the same time. The pizza that came out of the oven was one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. I couldn't stop marveling in our accomplishment and that made every bite taste better! I can't wait to try this recipe again subbing some of the white flour for whole wheat.

If you're at all thinking about tackling pizza dough from scratch, search no further. This is the recipe you want.

I chose to throw some roasted garlic, pesto, chicken, mozzarella, and parmesan on mine, but with this dough I'm sure you could put anything on it and it would still be amazing!

The Perfect Pizza Curst
Source: Annies Eats (great blog!) orginally from Baking Illustrated
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
• 1 1/4 cups water, at room temp
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plug more for dusting
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Cornmeal
  
• olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing bowl
  

Directions:

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
3. To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
4. Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza Adapted from Annies Eats Ingredients:

• 1 perfect pizza crust (recipe above)
  
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bough or homemade)
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked
  
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. To roast the garlic: Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed. Remove garlic gloves and smash with a fork.
2. Spread roasted garlic over pizza dough. Do this to taste. I used almost the whole (small) bulb, but I LOVE roasted garlic.
   
3. Spread the pesto on the pizza.
4. Add the sliced, cooked chicken.
5. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
6. Top with fresh grated parmesan.
7. Bake on preheated pizza stone for 8 - 12 minutes.
   

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

After people see my blog/receive a plethora of baked goods from me, I get asked the same question a lot. "How are you NOT 300 pounds?". Well the answer is actually pretty simple. I don't eat dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Well it's little more complicated than that. For one, I go to the gym at least 4 - 5 days a week for about an hour. Second, I try to give away about 98% of what I bake. Usually I'll keep a couple of whatever I make in the house and send the rest out of the house as soon as possible. At the very least, I put it in the freezer (but let's be honest, that's not gonna keep me away for too long). I also (try) to limit my baking, and desserts in general, to once a week. Obviously, there are exceptions to this but I do well with guidelines so that's what I tell myself. And finally, and most importantly, I actually eat really healthy when it comes to non-dessert related items. I do the whole shebang. Whole grains, lots of fresh fruit and veggies, and lean proteins.

Sugar is my weakness. I go all out when it comes to sugar. Everything I bake is usually all the way. I give myself that liberty because of the above reasons and because when it comes to savory stuff I have no problems going light. I use reduced fat/non fat items on a regular basis. I swap out lean ground turkey for ground beef whenever I can. (I can't even remember the last time I ate a cheeseburger). You could tell me that I'm not allowed to eat another french fry for as long as I live and I'd be okay with that; but if you were to tell me no more cookies or ice cream then we'd have a problem.

So how come all you've seen so far is the sweet stuff? Well for one the blog is called "SugarCooking". But more realistically there are actually a few good reasons. 1) It gets dark around 6:00 at this time of year and that makes it hard to take pictures when we're sitting down to dinner. 2) Even if there was enough light to take pictures, I'm sometimes slow and I'd feel bad letting the food get cold so I could take pictures of it. 3) I actually eat a lot of the same foods (whole wheat pasta with a turkey bolognese, this pasta dish, grilled chicken with veggies, turkey and black bean chili) on a weekly basis and that would just be boring to blog about.

So why am I telling you about all this? Well, I'm going to make an effort to start blogging about more of the savory stuff I make. I've gotten a little faster at taking pictures and I have a good lighting set up now so that will take care of reasons 1 & 2 above. But the real driving force is I think this will inspire me to broaden the dinner repertoire in my house. So, I present to you the first of hopefully many healthy, savory dishes. This thai style pineapple fried rice is delicious. I was so impressed with how it came out. It was fragrant and flavorful and really hearty.

It came together really quickly. Just make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and measured before you start because everything goes into the pan pretty quickly so you won't have time to be running around measuring stuff in between steps. I chose to use brown rice instead of white rice. I also added tofu (quick, easy, and healthy) but I think chicken or shrimp would be a great addition too. The pineapple is absolutely the star of the meal though. It adds such an unexpected brightness and sweetness to the dish that really balances with the spices.

Thai Style Pineapple Fried Rice Recipe: Adapted from Closet Cooking
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 shallots (thinly sliced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 red chili (optional, I omitted it because I was scared)
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 3 tablespoons chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce (or soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup cashews (roasted)
• 3-4 cups cooked brown rice (preferably a day old)
• 1 cup pineapple cut into bite sized pieces
• tofu (or any protein) (drained and cubed)
• soy sauce
  
• 1/4 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1/4 cup currants (or raisins)
• 2 green onions (sliced)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the shallots, garlic, chillies and stir-fry until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Add the egg and stir-fry for a minute.
4. Add the chicken stock, fish sauce, curry powder and sugar and stir-fry.
5. Add the cashews and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
6. Add the rice, break up any clumps and stir-fry for a few minutes.
7. Add the tofu and soy sauce to taste (I used about 1 tbls),gently stir.
8. Add the pineapple, peas and raisins and stir-fry to mix them in.
9. Remove from heat and serve garnished with chopped green onions.

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

Well I couldn't let Valentine's Day go by without baking some sort of dessert decorated with cute red, white, and pink sprinkles. These (not so red) red velvet cupcakes were the perfect vessel for such sprinkles. And the cream cheese icing. Ross will eat anything will cream cheese icing. Seriously I could serve him raw brussel sprouts with cream cheese icing and he'd gobble them down!

I decided to go the mini route because I think mini desserts are cuter, and well Valentine's Day is all about cute stuff. The red velvet cake came out really good. It was really moist and flavorful and everything you'd want from a red velvet cake. Unfortunately I didn't check the status of my red food coloring before I started putting together the batter so my cake didn't turn out as red as it should have.

I'm definitely keeping this in my collection for the next time the need for red velvet comes a long. The only thing I might change next time is to reduce the cocoa powder a little bit. I thought it tasted a little too chocolaty for red velvet, so I may knock it down to 2 tablespoons next time. Enjoy!

Recipe: Adapted from The Repressed Pastry Chef
Ingredients:

• 1c cake flour
• 1/4c cocoa
• 1/2tsp salt
• 2/3c vegetable oil
• 3/4c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1oz (2T) red food coloring
• 1/2tsp vanilla
• 1/2c buttermilk
• 1/2tsp baking soda
• 3/4tsp white vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   Line12-cupcake pans with cupcake liners and spray with cooking spray.
2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.
3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time.
4. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring (and water or syrup, if necessary). (Take care: it may splash.) Add vanilla.
   
5. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
6. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
7. Divide batter among cupcake pans, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for about 12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note:: The recipe above has been scaled down to 1/3 of the original recipe. The original recipe yields 3 dozen cupcakes: 3½ cups cake flour ½ cup cocoa powder 1½ teaspoons salt 2 cups vegetable oil 2¼ cups white sugar 3 large eggs 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring 1½ teaspoons vanilla 1¼ cup buttermilk 2 teaspoons baking soda 2½ teaspoons white vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting
Click here for my cream cheese frosting recipe

Coleslaw

Let me start by saying that I don't particularly like coleslaw (and on that note I don't like macaroni salad, potato salad, or egg salad). I basically don't like mushy things that are held together with copious amounts mayonnaise. This coleslaw is different though. It has a much lighter, fresher taste. It has the perfectly balance of sweet and tart.

I first stumbled across this recipe when I was having a bbq last summer and needed a quick side dish that I could make ahead. I wasn't even expecting to like the coleslaw, much less be making it again and again. But I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted it. It was nothing like the mushy, slimy stuff I had come to expect when hearing the word "coleslaw". I made it again last week for the super bowl to accompany some sliders I made. So, if you're a coleslaw hater, give this is a try. You may be surprised at how much you like it!

Recipe: Adapted from AllRecipes.com
Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package coleslaw mix *(See notes)
  
• 2 tablespoons finely minced onion
• 1/4 cup white sugar *(See notes)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• A sprinkling of poppy seeds (optional)
  

Directions

1. Combine the coleslaw and onion in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar and lemon juice; mix until smooth. Pour mixture over the coleslaw and onion; stir well and chill for 1 hour.

Notes:
1. All I found was a 14 oz package of coleslaw mix. So I still made all of the liquid, I just didn't pour it all over the coleslaw. I'd suggest pouring about 2/3 of it, mixing it, and then going from there. You can always add more.
2. The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of sugar. Some of the reviews stated it was a tad too sweet so I cut it back a little. I think it could be cut back even more if you like a more tart coleslaw.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares

Did you ever have one of those recipes where you had it bookmarked forever, and then you finally make it and you want to kick yourself for waiting so long? Well that is exactly what happened here. I can't even tell you how long this has been sitting in my list of "to make" recipes. Oh how I wish I had made these sooner!

Dulce de leche is hard to come by around here and I haven't gotten around to trying to make my own (plus that whole exploding can rumor kind of scares me). However, when I was in Miami over the holidays, there were jars of dulce de leche in every grocery store. I picked up one up and I knew exactly what I'd be making with it! These cheesecake squares are creamy and rich and decadent. Make sure you cut them into small pieces because just a bite or two is enough. I really love the way the creamy cheesecake contrasts with the texture of the glaze on top. At first I actually thought about skipping the glaze because I didn't want the chocolate to overpower the cheesecake, but I'm really glad I made it. Plus, it makes them look a heck of a lot more impressive.

I originally found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen. And after reading through Deb's description and a lot of the comments I noticed that some people mentioned it didn't have a strong dulce de leche flavor. It was more of a cheesecake flavor with a hint of dulce de leche. I decided to up the amount of dulce de leche I used. I figured I could do that and it would still hold its shape because the squares contain gelatin. You'll probably notice my squares are a little darker than Deb's and that's why. I reflected my change in the recipe below.

Recipe: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Ingredients

For crust
3 1/2 oz graham crackers, crumbled (1cup)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-oz envelope, will be just about half an envelope)
1/4 cup whole milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup dulce de leche

For glaze
3 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), coarsely chopped
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Directions

Make crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 sheets of foil (crisscrossed), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

Finely grind crackers with sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor. With motor running, add butter, blending until combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

Make filling: Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Beat together cream cheese, eggs, salt, and gelatin mixture in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, then stir in dulce de leche gently but thoroughly. Pour filling over crust, smoothing top, then bake in a hot water bath (I was able to fit mine in a 9×13-inch baking pan) in oven until center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours. Chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Glaze cake within 2 hours of serving: Heat all glaze ingredients in a double boiler or a small metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, then pour over cheesecake, tilting baking pan to coat top evenly. Chill, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Lift cheesecake from pan using foil overhang and cut into 1-inch squares with a thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut. (Don’t skip this step! A clean knife is essential for uber-neat squares.)

Note: Cheesecake (without glaze) can be chilled up to 3 days

Smores Cookies

These pictures should really speak for themselves, but in case you need more convincing, here we go. Chocolate chip cookie + graham cracker + marshmallows + hersheys bar = AMAZING.

I made these for the Super Bowl and everyone was really impressed with how they looked and tasted. I love the what the graham cracker crumbs add to the cookie. It really brings home that smores taste. And I absolutely love the way you can still see the letters on the Hershey bar.


Do you really need me to say more here? Just look at the picture! Go make these! Now! :)

Recipe: Adapted from Baked Perfection
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash of cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
• 3 Hershey bars, chopped
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet (I chilled the dough for an hour first; I always do).
3. Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 2-3 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Ricotta Ice Cream

I was so intrigued by this recipe that the second I saw it I knew I had to try it. So nevermind the fact that there's a blizzard outside, last night I was making ice cream. This ice cream tastes just like a frozen cannoli! The taste of the ice cream is incredible. The texture on the other hand is a little weird. It was sort of grainy because of the ricotta. I guess that I should throw out a disclaimer that I am very picky about textures. I don't like cottage cheese because it's too lumpy; I don't like pudding because it's too smooth (this is weird, I know). Ross didn't mind the texture at all. In fact, he loved everything about this ice cream.

The ice cream itself is really simple to make. It's basically just combining ricotta, milk, simple syrup, and vanilla extract and then pouring it into the ice cream maker. And I guess as far as ice creams go this one is on the healthier side. There are no eggs or heavy cream.

I decided to just make the ice cream and not the cones, but I think these would actually be very good inside of cones (or cannoli shells!) because the I think the crunchiness of the cones would disguise the grainy texture a little more. If you're looking for a really rich and creamy, decadent ice cream, then this isn't it. But if you want something delicious and different, try this!

Ricotta Ice Cream
Recipe: Giada de Laurentiis, Food Network
Ingredients:

• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup simple syrup, recipe follows
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips* (the original recipe calls for 1 cup, but I thought 1/2 was perfect)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese and milk until smooth. Add the simple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
   
2. Pour the ricotta mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Add the chocolate chips 10 minutes before the end of freezing.

Simple Syrup

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

In a saucepan, combine water and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Take the pan off the heat and allow the syrup to cool.