Mark's Sticky Buns

Mark has been making these sticky buns since he was a kid -- once making them at school for a class project. It's the type of simple recipe that turns an ordinary morning into something special. They don't take a whole lot of prep work, so no need to save this treat for special occasions. Any occasion will do -- today we celebrated the short work/school week.

Just make sure you plan a bit in advance. These need to rise in the fridge over night.

Mark's Sticky Buns
10-12 frozen dough balls
1 package vanilla pudding mix (not instant!)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

Arrange dough balls (still frozen) in a greased bundt pan. Mix together in a small bowl pudding mix, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture over dough balls and pour melted butter on top. Cover and let dough rise in the refrigerator over night. Take the pan out of the fridge in the morning and let rest on the counter while preheating the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Cocktail Party Food

Last night we had a great time visiting with old friends and getting to know some new ones. It's nice to feel connected to our neighbors and the parents of our kids' classmates.

Jessica put out quite a spread of delicious food and drinks and many of the guests brought tasty treats. I contributed two appetizers: pepperoni bread and crab empanadas.The pepperoni bread is quite easy to make (especially if you use frozen pizza dough). The empanadas take a little more work, but I found a few shortcuts that made a big difference in preparation time without sacrificing taste or presentation. The biggest shortcut is using frozen puff pastry, rather than making the traditional empanada dough (a combination of flour, salt, butter and water). My other trick is to doctor up jarred salsa in place of a from-scratch mango relish.

Pepperoni Bread
1 package frozen pizza dough, defrosted and risen
1/4 lb. sliced pepperoni
1/4 lb. sliced mozzerella (you can use shredded cheese)
1/4 lb. sliced provolone
2 Tbs. grated pecorino romano
egg wash

Roll out the dough to form a rectangle. Spread half of the pepperoni and cheeses over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Lightly wet the edges and roll up the bread into a loaf shape, folding under the ends to help seal in the cheese. Repeat with second dough. Place onto baking sheet, brush with egg wash and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, repeating the egg wash after 15 or 20 minutes.

(forgive me, the poor quality of this photo is because it's from my phone)


Crab Empanadas with Mango Salsa
2 packages frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalepeno, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
1 lb. picked lump crab meat
8 oz. goat cheese
big handful chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp. thyme
a few splashes of Tabasco (I used the garlic flavored version)
salt and pepper to taste
Mango Salsa*

Heat olive oil and saute onion and jalepeno over medium heat for about 5 minutes to soften, adding garlic in last minute. Set aside. In mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients (except salsa) with the onion and pepper mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Working with one sheet at a time, roll out puff pastry, sealing any tears with water. Using 3-inch cookie cutter, cut circles. (I was able to get 9 circles from each sheet of pastry). Fill each circle with approximately 1 Tbs. of filling. Moisten edge and fold over pastry to form a half-circle, pressing together edges to seal. Place on baking sheet and brush with egg wash. Bake for about 20 minutes, until starting to brown.

Serve with mango salsa.

* I purchased a mango-habanero salsa that was quite spicy. To sweeten it up a little, and play up the tropical flavors of this dish, I added some diced mango.

Note: This makes more filling than needed, even for 4 sheets of puff pastry. For a tasty treat, try tossing the remaining crab mixture with pasta.

Mom's Pot Roast

As long as I can remember, I've always loved my mom's pot roast. For some reason, mine never tastes quite as good. But, I try. And when it's cold and rainy, as it is today, my thoughts turn to a hearty meal of pot roast with a good french bread to dunk in the gravy.

Now, my mom always cooked her roast with a few simple additions: carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, water and onion soup mix. First she browned the meat, then added everything else and let it cook long at a low temperature in the electric fry pan. Before serving, she made a gravy using the cooking liquid and some Wondra gravy flour. Delicious.

In recent years, I have become a fan of omitting the potatoes and serving the roast and veggies over mashed potatoes. Sometimes I add half a bottle of beer to the cooking liquid or maybe a touch of red wine. Today I added a bay leaf, since I have some on hand, but it is fine without.

Mom's Pot Roast
2-3 lb. chuck roast
1 Tbs. olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 or 3 onions, peeled and quartered
5 carrots, peeled and cut into 2" lengths (or approx. 25 baby carrots)
2 celery stalks, cut into 2" lengths (I often leave this out because Mark doesn't like celery)
4 or 5 potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks (again, you can omit these and serve with mashed potatoes)
2 c. water
1 package dry onion soup mix
flour and water to thicken gravy

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Heat oil in electric fry pan (or oven proof pot with lid) and brown meat on both sides. Add onions, celery, carrots, and potatoes. Cook for a few minutes to give the veggies a little color. Add water and soup mix. Reduce heat to 275 - 325 degrees. The temperature you pick will determine how soon dinner will be ready. If you have the time, start early and cook at 275 degrees for at least an hour and a half. When ready, remove the meat to rest and reserve the veggies in a separate bowl. Turn up the heat and reduce the cooking liquid for 5 or 10 minutes. Thicken with flour to make a gravy. Cut up the meat and return with the vegetables to the gravy to serve. Or, you can serve the meat and veggies on a platter and keep the gravy on the side.

Doughnuts...A Halloween Tradition Continues

Consider this...fresh, homemade doughnuts for a Halloween treat. I really should get the whole story about where this tradition started -- and why!?! I never would have had the inclination to start making these on the same day as outfitting everyone in costumes and rushing through dinner to get out the door for trick-or-treating. But, alas, it is a a fond memory for my husband (and his siblings, and their friends, and their neighbors) and I oblige, making this special treat every year on Halloween.

Once you get the hang of it, you really do get a big bang for your buck, here. The hardest part is figuring out the timing. You need to start the process at least 4 hours before you want to start frying up these little gems. And you need to plan it so that once you start frying, no one needs help with their costumes for a good 20 minutes. Hot grease and Halloween costumes can lead to a very messy (and dangerous) situation.

This particular recipe comes from my mother-in-law's Betty Crocker cookbook. I checked other cook books, out of curiosity, to see how much variation there is to doughnut recipes and was surprised by what I found. Some use shortening (like this one), others use butter in the dough. I found one recipe that uses two packages of yeast, while this only takes one.

I'm sticking with this recipe, though. Especially now that I've earned the generous praise from a neighbor that "these are better than the Amish Market's!"

Note: I always double this recipe. Carole was known to make up to 4 batches at a time.

Raised Doughnuts
1 package active dry yeast or 1 cake compressed yeast
1/4 cup water
*   *   *
3/4 cup milk, scalded
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Soften active dry yeast in warm water (110 deg.) or compressed yeast in lukewarm water (85 deg.). Combine milk, shortening, sugar and salt; cool to lukewarm. Add 1 cup of the flour; beat well. Add softened yeast and egg; mix. Add enough of remaining flour to make soft dough. Turn out on lightly floured surface; knead till smooth and satiny (about 8 minutes). Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise till double (about 1 1/4 hours). Punch down. Let rise again till double (about 55 minutes).

Roll out dough 1/3 inch thick. Cut with floured doughnut cutter. Let rise till very light (30 to 40 minutes).

Fry in deep hot fat (375 deg.) till browned. Drain on paper towels. While warm dip doughnuts in granulated sugar or glaze with Orange Glaze. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen.

Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker.

Additional Notes:
1. This year I used peanut oil, with fantastic results. You need about 1 1/2 inches of oil in a high sided pot. Let one side cook to a light brown, then flip (just the one time!) to cook the other side.
2. You can re-roll the dough once, using up some of the scraps. Avoid doing this more than once, though, as the dough can get tough.
3. It really helps to have two people working during the final stages: one to fry and one to coat the finished, and still warm, doughnuts in sugar.
4. These really are best when eaten fresh (and still warm!) ...don't cook them too far in advance!

Easy Macaroni and Cheese

The title says it all. You really can't find an easier recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese. It's not extra creamy or topped with a fancy crumb topping, but this dish is consistently good. On top of that, it only takes one dish to prepare. No precooking noodles or sauce.

This recipe is courtesy of my mother-in-law, Carole. As the mother of four, I'm sure she loved the simplicity of the dish and the fact that it is agreeable to most tastes. She was known to have many more than her own four kids at the table -- friends were always welcome.

Easy Macaroni and Cheese
3 Tbs. butter
2 1/2 c. uncooked macaroni
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1/2 lb. sharp cheese grated
1 quart milk

Melt butter in the baking dish. Stir in the macaroni to coat with butter. Add the salt, pepper and cheese and stir. Then, add the milk and DO NOT STIR. Bake at 325 deg. for 1 hour.

Note: If you are cooking something else in the oven at a different temperature, just adjust the length of time you cook the macaroni and cheese as needed. It is done when top starts to brown.

Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee

My husband is a big fan of French Onion Soup. And, really, what's not to like about sweet onions, broth, bread and cheese? It is featured on so many menus for a good reason.

A few years back, I decided to try my hand at making this tasty treat. Somewhere along the line, I came across a full page, fully illustrated McCall's "Cooking School" lesson on how to make French Onion Soup. The results were pretty good. In the intervening years, we've enjoyed this home-version of a restaurant favorite many times.

Earlier this week, I found I had all of the ingredients on hand for French Onion soup. The changing leaves and cooler fall weather has me longing for soup. As I went looking for my old standby recipe, though, it occurred to me that maybe McCall's isn't the way to go for this dish. On a whim, I opened up my copy of "The French Chef Cookbook," by Julia Child to see what she had to say on the subject. As it turns out, she devoted a whole episode of her show to this marvelous soup.

According to Julia, "to achieve true homemade taste, you'll need a homemade bouillon -- beef bones and shank meat simmered for several hours with the usual carrots, onions, celery, seasonings, and herbs. If your own bouillon is lacking, substitute canned beef bouillon."

Well, I admit, I don't have THOSE ingredients for making my soup. An already opened box of beef stock in the fridge is the real impetus for this particular soup-making adventure. So, guess I'm going to have to take the easy route this time. Maybe someday I'll get myself organized enough to have beef bones and shank meat on hand at the same time I'm craving French Onion Soup. I really like the idea of starting from scratch, but that's just not in the cards at this point in my life.

Julia uses a few more ingredients that McCall's, but I have most of what it takes so I decided to proceed with Julia's Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee.

Note: I used gruyere cheese instead of swiss and omitted the cognac.

3 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. (5-6 cups) thinly sliced yellow onions
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 Tbs. flour
2 qts. hot beef bouillon (or dilute canned bouillon with 2 c. water)
1 c. red or white wine (I chose red)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. sage
salt and pepper to taste
sliced french bread
olive oil or melted butter
optional: 1/4 c. cognac
peeled, 2-in. raw onion
2 oz. piece of swiss cheese
1 1/2 c. grated swiss and parmesan cheese, mixed

pictured: onions at the start of cooking process.

Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy 4-quart saucepan; add the sliced onions and stir. Cover and cook over moderately low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and translucent.

Uncover pan, raise heat, and stir in the salt and sugar. [I've never used sugar before, but according to Julia, "sugar, by caramelizing, helps onions to brown."] Cook, stirring, until onions are deep golden brown, at which point you need to lower the heat to medium and stir in the flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to brown the flour a bit, then remove from heat.

pictured: browned onions after whisking in flour.

Add a cup of hot bouillon, stirring with a whisk to blend. Add the rest of the bouillon and wine, bay leaf, sage and bring up to a simmer. Simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper.

At this point you can let the soup cool and store in the fridge until you are ready to put on the final touches for serving. Or, if you are ready for dinner (as I was, at this point I had already spent a couple of hours cooking), ladle the soup into a broiler-proof soup tureen, casserole, or individual soup bowls.

Grate a bit of raw onion into the soup, add a little shredded cheese (again, I used Gruyere, but Julia calls for Swiss), then top the soup with a few toasted pieces of French bread (brush the bread with olive oil before toasting). Top the bread with a generous mound of Swiss/Gruyere cheese and a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes (this really depends on whether you are starting with soup from the fridge or from the stove). When soup is hot, run it under the broiler for just a minute to brown cheese a bit.

It's raining (with a chance of meatballs)

Though I haven't yet seen the movie, I couldn't resist the reference. Tonight we're enjoying the first of two back-to-back nor'easters. The rain is falling on the windows and the temperature is dropping. A good night for a nice warm dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.

As written in an earlier post, my sauce "recipe" (I use quotes as I almost never actually look at a recipe, rather just throw ingredients in the pot) is borrowed from my sister-in-law Erin, who borrowed it from her mother-in-law Janet. Well, it's the same story for my meatballs. The same day I followed Erin around her kitchen watching her make sauce and guessing at the quantities of ingredients she was including, I also watched her whip up a batch of delicious meatballs. Thank you Erin and Janet for sharing your wonderful dishes!

My variation of Janet's meatballs has varied a bit (possibly quite a bit) from the original. This is due in part to me misplacing my notes from watching Erin cook that day so many years ago. Up until this year, I would follow my instructions written on Hello Kitty! notepaper when it came to making meatballs. I don't make them all that often and liked the reminder so I could get the proportions correct. Well, I've lost my notes. So, I'm left with my memory. Yes, I could have just picked up the phone and asked Erin, "how many eggs do you use?" But, I thought I'd made them often enough to swing it. Below is the recipe I came up with tonight.

Note: the red pepper flake makes for a spicy meatball. Adjust the amount you use (if any) based on how much heat you like. To test the spices in your meatballs before cooking the whole batch, make up a small patty of your mixture and cook it up in a fry pan. Then you can adjust your seasonings as necessary.

Ready to go into the oven...








Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef
3/4 lb. sweet Italian sausage
2 slices bread, soaked in water and squeezed in your hand to get most of the water out
2 eggs
1 Tbs. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 c. bread crumbs (plain -- if you want to use seasoned crumbs, adjust the following herbs as needed)
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. thyme

Mix all of the ingredients together in a big bowl by hand. You are going to get dirty (take off any rings before you begin), but it's the only way to go. Roll 1 inch balls in your palms and put on a jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with a 1 inch rim. Put the meatballs right up next to each other, no space in between. Cook at 375 deg. for about 35 minutes, or until nicely browned. Serve with sauce on sandwiches or with pasta.

Southwestern Rice & Corn Casserole

My first taste of victory came last summer in a "people's choice" corn recipe contest at the Woodbury Farmer's Market. For my recipe, I decided to combine several of the ingredients I love into a "tex-mex" casserole. I guess the market patrons that voted enjoy the combination of corn, tomatoes, rice, beans and cheese, too.

In order to perfect my recipe I made the dish several times in the weeks leading up to the contest. First I tried starting with un-cooked rice. Unhappy with the results - the rice wasn't fluffy enough - I switched to cooking the rice in advance. I also started with plain diced tomatoes from a can, but switching to the Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilies made a big improvement in the tex-mex taste I was trying to achieve.

I had fun with this recipe and I hope you do, too. It's easy to modify to fit what you have on hand and what "tex-mex" tastes you like (or don't like). It might be fun to try kidney beans. Or, maybe macaroni instead of rice? (I'm not sure how that would work, but it might taste good!) You could even try adding ground beef or shredded chicken (with or without taco seasoning) to make this a main course casserole.

Southwestern Rice and Corn Casserole
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 Tbs. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilies
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c. cooked rice
1 tsp. salt
4 ears of corn, kernels and milk removed from the cob with a knife
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped (optional)
1 c. grated mexican blend cheese

Saute the onion in butter and olive oil until soft and starting to brown. Stir in chili pepper and cumin and cook, stirring, 15-30 seconds. Add tomatoes and chicken broth and simmer 10 minutes. Add beans, rice, corn and cilantro; stir to combine. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Bake at 350 deg. for 40 minutes, adding cheese during last 10 minutes.

More Fun with Tomatoes

I have been inundated with cherry tomatoes from my garden lately. So, the other day when I was in the mood for gazpacho, I got creative. How could I enjoy the flavor of gazpacho and use my cherry tomatoes? Adding to the challenge was the fact that I had no tomato juice in my pantry, a key ingredient in every gazpacho recipe I've ever seen. My solution? Gazpacho Chopped Salad. I diced up a bunch of tomatoes, peppers, onion and cucumber -- all gazpacho staples. Then, I mixed it all together with a dressing that included a little honey, lime and lemon juice, Tabasco and fresh basil.

Gazpacho Chopped Salad

salad:
10-15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 orange pepper, diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
1/4 red onion, diced and soaked in ice water for 5 minutes
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

dressing:
1 clove minced garlic
2 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
few dashes of Tabasco
juice of 1/4 lemon
juice of 1/2 lime
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Blend ingredients together for dressing. Adjust seasonings to taste. Mix together with salad ingredients. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

Note: some gazpacho recipes call for the addition of day old bread. If you have some on hand, it's a nice addition. Dice the bread and stir into salad before serving. Or, as shown in picture above, slice bread, spray with olive oil, lightly toast and serve next to salad.

Roasted Tomato Soup

It looks like a bomb went off in my kitchen. Today I brought two entries to the Woodbury Farmer's Market tomato recipe competition. I've prepared one recipe for the competition before and with a little encouragement from Colleen thought I was up to the challenge of two.

Other than using every bowl, spoon and knife in my collection, the endeavor was a success. Only one of my entries placed today, but how can I complain when my Roasted Tomato Soup received first place? Apparently the soup category was "hotly" contested. It was anyone's guess as to which of the soup entries Chef Dom (of The Spot in Woodbury) would pick. Here's his choice for the "blue ribbon."

Roasted Tomato Soup
2-3 lbs. plum tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 roasted pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 Tbs. fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1 Tbs. fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Halve tomatoes and place skin side down in baking dish. Drizzle with approx. 2 Tbs. of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast 30 minutes, flipping tomatoes after 20 minutes. Once cooled, puree roasted peppers and tomatoes and pan juices in a blender or Cuisinart.

In a soup pot, heat 1 Tbs. olive oil and saute garlic for 1 minute before adding chicken broth, spices and roasted tomato and pepper mixture. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add cream. Adjust seasonings and serve with french bread croutons.

Enchiladas Rojas

We like enchiladas at our house and eat them quite often -- whether at home or at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Esperanza in Lindenwold, NJ. If you like real Mexican food, you've got to try this place. Check out their website here. When they first opened, the dining area was about 1/3 of the current size and reminded me of a place you'd find in Tiajuana. A couple of years back they remodeled and expanded which greatly alleviates the wait for seating on Friday and Saturday evenings. It's still the same great food, though the new space doesn't have quite the same intimate feel.

At home, I admit that I often cheat when it comes to making this versatile dish. When I'm in a rush, I'll used canned sauce. And, I've found that shredding a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket makes a great filling. Perhaps my biggest shortcut, though, and it's a step many fine cooks insist on, is to skip frying the tortillas before filling. I just can't bring myself to dirty yet another pan. I suppose if I was preparing a meal for discerning guests (and, more importantly, if I had a babysitter on hand to keep the kids out of my hair) I might fry the tortillas.

One step I don't skip -- and it's a somewhat messy process -- is to coat the tortillas with enchilada sauce before filling. It really seems to make a difference in the finished product.

As noted earlier, I sometimes use canned enchilada sauce. It's ok, but certainly not as good as homemade. I would love the opportunity to experiment more with making my own enchilada sauce, but for now I've found a recipe by Emeril that is easy and tastes pretty good. His recipe is on the Food Network website. To add some more depth, I added a little bit of bittersweet chocolate and cinnamon. And to balance the bitterness of the canned tomato paste, I used a trick from my tomato sauce recipe (see post) and added about a teaspoon of sugar. Next time around I might try adding a chili pepper from my garden, too.

Last night I used shredded chicken and black beans, mixed with about 1/2 cup of Emeril's enchilada sauce, plus some shredded mexican-style cheese for the filling. Also tasty is browned ground beef with or without beans. Both versions are also good with some sauteed onions and peppers added to the mix. Top the rolled enchiladas with remaining sauce and more cheese. Bake covered with foil for 20 minutes at 375 deg., remove foil and bake another 5 minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, radishes, or whatever condiments you like.

Neapolitan Style Thin Crust Pizza

I've become a big fan of making my own pizzas. Maybe it has something to do with my mom always whipping out the Cuisinart on Friday afternoons to make up the evening's pizza dough. Or maybe it's because my husband could eat pizza for every meal, and the thought of another delivery pizza just makes me crazy. Or maybe it's because I enjoy the challenge of trying to recreate the absolute best pizza I've ever tasted.

If you are looking for a great thin-crust pizza, check out Alfred's Tomato Pie in Blackwood, NJ. The menu is solely comprised of pizza, so if you need a salad to round out your meal, take the pizza home and make your own sides and dessert. If you want a fun, leisurely meal with friends, though, grab a bottle of wine and head on over to Alfred's. Your pizza is made to order with the freshest of ingredients and you might even be lucky enough to be serenaded by Alfred himself.

So, recently I decided to try my hand at making pizza at home. I did a little research online and found a recipe at cookology for neapolitan pizza. It's based on a recipe found in Cooks Illustrated. As I read about the technique and ingredients I thought "I can do this."

Since my first attempt several months ago, I have tweaked the recipe to my liking and am quite pleased with the results.












Neapolitan Style Pizza
(adapted from recipe on Cookology.com, which is based on recipe in Cook's Illustrated)

Dough

• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water
  
• approx. 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  
• Corn meal, for dusting
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Topping

• 6 or 7 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and crushed by hand
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
  
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
  
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, my preference is sliced deli cheese but shredded works
  
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

For the crust -

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, set pizza stone on oven rack.
2. In liquid measuring cup, whisk yeast into water to dissolve. Add the olive oil. In a food processor fitted with metal blade, process 2 3/4 c. flour, salt, and sugar until combined, about 5 seconds.
3. With machine running, slowly add liquid through feed tube; continue to process until dough forms satiny, sticky ball that clears sides of workbowl, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. (If after 1 minute dough is sticky and clings to blade, add a couple tablespoons flour and continue processing.)
   
4. Divide dough in half and shape into smooth, tight balls. Place on floured baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart; cover loosely with plastic wrap coated with nonstick cooking spray and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

For the topping -

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
   
2. Crush tomatoes by hand and transfer to fine-mesh strainer set over bowl and let drain at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to release liquids. Combine the drained tomatoes, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in bowl.

Shaping and cooking the pizzas -

1. When dough balls have doubled in size, dust dough liberally with flour and transfer balls to work surface that has been dusted with corn meal (adds a little extra crunch to the crust).
   
2. Press one ball into 8-inch disk. Using flattened palms, gently stretch disk into 12-inch circle, working along outer edge and giving disk quarter turns. This can be tricky and I cheat a little by using a combination of holding the dough out in front of me to stretch it and sometimes break out the rolling pin. The flattened pizza should be about 1/16″ thick and is almost never a cirle.
   
3. Lightly dust your pizza peel with corn meal. Lift edges of dough round to brush off any excess flour, then transfer dough to peel. Spread thin layer of tomato topping (about 1/2 cup) over dough with rubber spatula, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge.
   
4. Slide the pizza onto the stone and bake until crust begins to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove pizza from oven with peel, close oven door, and top pizza with half of cheese. I sometimes add a little sliced provolone, too.
5. Return the pizza to the stone and continue cooking until cheese is just melted, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to cutting board. Slice and serve immediately. Repeat step 2 to shape, top, and bake second pizza.

Summer corn salad with cilantro vinaigrette

This afternoon the Woodbury Farmer's Market hosted a corn recipe contest, judged by Dominic Polidoro, local chef-owner of The Spot. As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been eagerly awaiting this contest (especially since I originally thought it was scheduled for last Thursday).

It was a real challenge for me to develop a recipe I felt was good enough to impress the judge. At his restaurant, Chef Dominic uses seasonal ingredients to create a menu that is fresh and inviting. While I love some of the menu standards, I have found that it is hard to go wrong ordering one of the daily specials.

So, here it is. My award-winning (2nd place)...

Summer corn salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette
For the salad, mix together in a medium bowl:
3 ears corn, cooked and kernels removed
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 red onion, diced and soaked in an ice water bath for 5 minutes, then drained
*Note: my original version also included 1/2 cup black beans. Add them if you like, I think it's a nice touch.

In a mini food processor, blend together for the dressing:
1/2 c. cilantro
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice (approx. 1/2 lime)
1/4 c. sour cream
1 chili pepper (or less, depending on type of pepper and how much heat you like), ribs and seeds removed
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Add 1/4 cup of dressing to salad and toss. To serve, you will need 6 cleaned and dried butter lettuce leaves and 6 sprigs of chives. Wrap about 1/2 cup of salad in each leaf and tie with a chive sprig. Drizzle a little more dressing over the salad-filled lettuce wrap.

Two fun summer treats

I started this post thinking I would just write about my Auntie Janette's Zucchini Bread recipe, but on the same page of my recipe book is another fun summer treat, Pineapple Angel Food Cake. So, as I haven't posted for a few days, today we'll offer a two for one deal.

I suppose most of us have a family recipe for zucchini bread. Once this abundant veggie starts to ripen, you'd better have some plans in place for using it all. I like to add it to green salads and pasta sauce, but my favorite use is my Auntie Janette's Zucchini Bread. Toast up a nice thick slice and add a schmeer of cream cheese and you are talking about one tasty treat. And, it's a health food, isn't it?

So, if you have some zucchini sitting in your fridge and you're just not feeling inspired, try whipping up a loaf, or two, or three...

Auntie Janette's Zucchini Bread
Cream together:
3 eggs
1 c. oil
1 1/2 c. sugar (or less, depending how sweet you like your bread)
2 c. grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla

Add to above and mix well:
2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon

stir into above:
2 c. raisins
1 c. nuts

pour into loaf pans a bake at 350 deg. about one hour, or until done.

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The second recipe comes from my Weight Watcher days, but it's good and it's easy and I still enjoy it, though I'm no longer counting points.

Pineapple Angel Food Cake
1 pkg. of 1-step angel food cake mix
20 oz. can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice (do not drain)

Mix above and pour into non-greased 9x13 pan (glass pan works best). Bake at 350 deg. for 30-35 minutes. Cut into 12 servings. (for those of you counting, it is 3 points per serving).

Another variation is to make these as muffins, using cupcake papers. Mix together, as above, dividing between 36 muffins (1 point each) or 24 muffins (1.5 points each). bake at 350 deg. for 12-15 minutes.

The waiting game

It's that time of year. Jersey tomatoes are at the market, tempting me with their ruby color and sweet scent. Alas, those in my garden are still green. It feels like an eternity since I first saw those little beauties start to pop up on the vines. And still, no red fruit.

I'm already planning for a bountiful harvest (and really hoping they don't all ripen just in time for me to leave on vacation next weekend). Of course, freezing tomato sauce is an obvious choice. But I'm also thinking about experimenting with chili and gazpacho. I hope I still have some cucumbers left on the vine for making the later. That would be such a thrill for this first-time gardener to make gazpacho with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers all from my own plot of land.

Really Yummy (and easy) Chocolate Cake

About a year ago, Mark brought home from work this recipe for chocolate cake. He said that one of the women he worked with made this cake on a regular basis and that it was guaranteed to result in a wonderful, moist, chocolate-y cake.

Now, I admit, I almost never make cake from scratch. Icing? Yes! Homemade icing is far superior to the stuff in a can. But, cake? Why bother? The box kind is consistently quite good.

So, a few months later, when it became clear to Mark that I was in no hurry to try his friend's cake recipe, he pulled out the ingredients and got to work. (Mark knows that if he wants dessert, he'd better make a specific request or make it himself, as I am not one to crave sweets.)

The result? Yummy! I now have several boxes of cake mix in the pantry that I look past in order to get out the ingredients for this delicious and easy cake.

Chocolate Cake
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa (or 3 squares melted)

Mix together all ingredients. Add 1 cup boiling water. Mix and pour into greased and floured pan(s). Bake at 350 deg. until done (35 - 50 minutes, depending on type of pan you use). Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pans and cooling on rack. When completely cooled, add a dusting of powdered sugar or your favorite icing.

Noodle Night

At our pool club, Tuesday is Noodle Night. We find that it's a fun excuse to spend the evening at the pool. Earlier this season, Colleen announced that Noodle Night at the pool is a good reason to have noodle night at the dinner table. So, tonight we enjoyed spaghetti with sausage and peppers in homemade tomato sauce.

The sauce recipe (if you can call it that, as I have a habit of improvising based on what's in the pantry) is built upon the one used by my sister-in-law. Erin is a very good cook (and baker) in her own right, but this particular recipe is one she learned from watching her mother-in-law. I don't know where Janet came up with it, but I like to think she learned from watching yet another family member in the kitchen. It's comforting to know that we are connected through the generations by a simple bowl of spaghetti and sauce.

Basic Tomato Sauce
1 or 2 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 large can diced tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped*
1/4 cup red wine (use a wine you would enjoy drinking with your dinner)
5 baby carrots
1 Tbs. sugar
A few sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Saute onions for a few minutes until softened and starting to brown. Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add remaining ingredients. Let come to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for several hours. Remove thyme sprigs and carrots before using with your favorite recipe.

Blue Ribbon Blues

I'm on a quest. The goal? My second blue ribbon for a corn recipe at the local farmer's market. Last year, the kids were quite impressed with my success (it doesn't really take much). Now I have 3 days to develop another prize-worthy recipe. I'm leaning towards a corn and bean salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette. I'll post back with my results.