Pizza Dough

Keep an eye out, I'm still trying to perfect my pizza dough.

But for the basic dough, you want:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup of luke-warm water
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons of sugar

1. dissolve the yeast in the 1 cup of luke-warm water
2. in a large bowl combine everything else
3. add the yeast mixture until you have a stiff dough. I like to add it in slowly, sometimes its too much water, sometimes not enough
4. cover dough and allow to rise until about twice the original size
5. preheat oven to 350
6. now the fun part of forming the dough: liberal on the flour, and use your own technique til you get some shape that resembles a pizza dough
7. make your pizza with any topping you want.
8. cook for about 20 minutes, or until its as cooked as you want it too.

I can tell you that the amount of dough this yields is more than one 12" pan pie unless you like it deep.

Nasir Likes his Stuffed Shells

Sometimes you forget about the simple foods that are so enjoyable until someone brings it up to you. This time it was stuffed shells reminded to me by someone I went to elementary school with.

Italian Stuffed Shells


Ingredients:

• 1 box jumbo shells (27 in a box)
• 1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage
• 2 pkgs. chopped spinach
• 2 eggs
• 1 lb. ricotta cheese
• 1 lb. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp. onion salt
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Boil shells in water until tender, but not completely done.
   
   
2. Fry and crumble sausage in pan. Drain and set aside.
   
   
3. Thaw spinach and press between paper towels to remove excess water.
   
   
4. Place spinach in a colander.
   (incase you don't know what one is)
   
   
5. In a large bowl add cheeses, nutmeg, garlic and onion salt.
   
   
6. Beat the two eggs until frothy and pour into the cheese mixture. Mix well.
   
   
7. Stir in the spinach.
   
   
8. Stuff the cheese and spinach mixture into the shells.

And as in the recipe for Gorgonzola Cream Sauce, the sauce will be the make or break for the shells.

Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. chopped onion
• 1/2 clove garlic
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 (16 oz.) can whole tomatoes
• 1/2 c. tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• Crumbled, cooked sausage

Directions:

1. Let this mixture simmer for 20 minutes.
   
   
2. Stir sauce and pour over the stuffed shells.
   
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

When you bake the shells, try adding more cheese ontop of the shells like a Chicken Parmigiana. Also, try using more cheeses, Asiago, Ricotta, Cottage. Try experimenting with what you're putting in the shells. Once you get the basic recipe down, there is a lot of room for new variations.

Chicken Stew

Recently I've been eating a good amount of stews and this recipe has caught my eye for something that would be rather easy to try.

Chicken Stew with Onions, Tomatoes, and Dijon

Ingredients

• 1 whole head garlic
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• One 3-4 pound whole chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces (2 breasts, wings, thighs, legs)
• 6 medium red onions (about 2 pounds)
• One 28 to 32 ounce can good quality whole peeled tomatoes, drained
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• A pinch of chile powder
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 3 Tbsp old-fashioned whole seed Dijon mustard (or 1/4 cup regular Dijon mustard)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
   
   
2. 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 garlic head on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle olive oil over the garlic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic head with the foil and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until the flesh of the cloves are light brown feel very soft when pressed with the tip of a knife. Set aside to cool. (See how to roast garlic.)
   
   
3. While the garlic is roasting, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot (with lid) or Dutch oven, on medium high heat. Rinse the chicken pieces in cold water then pat dry with paper towels. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
   
   
4. Brown the chicken pieces, starting them skin-side down, cooking them a few minutes on each side, working in batches so that you don't crowd the pan.
   
   
5. While the chicken is browning, peel and quarter the onions. Remove chicken from pan when nicely golden with tongs or a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate. Discard any fat and oil beyond about 1 Tbsp left in the pan. Put the onions in the pot and cook them until softened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
   
   
6. Add the tomatoes to the pot, the thyme, bay leaves, and ground chile powder. Put the chicken pieces on top of the tomatoes. Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 40 minutes, stirring from time to time so that the vegetables don't stick.
   
   
7. After the garlic has cooled enough to handle, squeeze out the roasted garlic from the cloves into a small bowl and crush with a fork. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to serve with the chicken stew.
   
   
8. When the chicken has cooked, add the mustard to the pot and stir to blend. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook uncovered for 10 more minutes, or until the sauce is thick enough to cling to the meat. Remove bay leaves. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve stew over rice or pasta, with the garlic paste on the side.
Serves 4 to 6.

Gnocci and Recipe Sites

I have been looking for more places to get recipes and have come across a few.

I have narrowed my favourites down to three: Epicurious.com, Foodtube.net and Rouxbe.com

Foodtube.net is a good source for a video instructions of recipes. But its lack of typed recipes makes printing out your favourites and going to the kitchen not that easy.

Rouxbe.com offers a pretty site with both video and text. The videos are not always preparation information - sometimes just what the consistancies should look like or other info.

And my personal favourite, Epicurious.com
this site is the site of food magazines such as Gourmet Magazine. It's a clear, concise site with printing options for even a rolodex. You can search by skill level, main ingredient or meal.

That having been said. Onto the Gnocci:

Pork Loin done Right

the simplest way to prepare pork loin is to make a simple glaze and pop it in the oven on a low heat.

First the glaze:

• Apricot, orange or peach jam (or a combination of all three)
• Mustard
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt
• pepper
• brown sugar.

If you're lazy you can use one of the premade dry rubs for pork, and mix with mustard, worcestershire sauce and the jam.

Directions:

1. Cover your pork loin with about half the glaze.
   
   
2. Throw it in the over on a low heat, around 350 and roast.
   
   
3. Add more glaze as you cook it. Keep spooning the drippings over the loin, about every 20 minutes or so.
   
   
4. Just cook until its done - white all the way through and simply falls apart. It'll be easy to cut, and the glaze drippings you can add to the pork slices.

Feel free to replace the dry ingredients with a decent jamaican jerk rub or if you have a wet rub, replace the worcestershire sauce and mustard with the wet jerk sauce.

Enjoy!

A New Coq Au Vin

The "Cook for a Cure" went over as a huge success. One of the meals I made was my own twist on the classic Coq au Vin. A simple french peasant dish of chicken, vegetables in wine. Coq au vin simply meaning "Rooster in Wine" is usually made with older chickens because the connective tissue gives for a richer broth.

Now the recipe I'm going to give will be a simple basic one, from there you can experiment and create a lot more by adding more different vegetables in the main stew.
I was cooking 80lbs worth of chicken, so this recipe is a faster cook and easier then the slow stewed Coq au vin's of traditional france.

Take about 6 chicken thighs - dry them, salt and season them. I just used pepper and kosher salt.
In a pan with a light coat of olive oil, put the thighs skin side down and cook until cooked on that side (about 4 minutes or so).
Remove the chicken and place on the side, drain most of the fat.
Place in about a clove of halved garlic, a hearty amount of celery - cut in one inch pieces.
Cook the celery and garlic until the celery is soft.
Place the chicken in the pan with the garlic and celery, uncooked side down.
Cook until just under done - maybe about four more minutes.
Add enough wine that the celery and garlic are just covered. I used a chardonnay, but either that or a white zinfandel will work just fine.

The wine will also clean the fat that may be burnt onto the bottom of the pan of because of its acidity.

Take some chopped parsley and sprinkle over the coq au vin. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 5 -10 minutes on a low heat. Slice into one of the thighs and make sure its cooked thoroughly. If not, you can always throw it in the oven at around 375 until its done.


Now a few options you can throw in mushrooms, onions, carrots, pancetta or unsmoked bacon in the piece. All of that you want to throw in after you've drained most of the fat. you can also add a few tablespoons of cognac - moreso with a red wine like merlot if you use that instead of a white.

As per usual, be creative, have fun. This recipe knocks out 90% of the cooking time for Coq au Vin and makes for what i think is a great base to an awesome meal.

Cedar-Planked Salmon

Silent letters in other languages are just as weird

Peach Gnocchi

Just know what you are getting into here before you start. Have plenty of time, and plenty of counter space at your disposal if at all possible. This recipe makes enough for a crowd, but I'd recommend a test run before inviting a crowd over for a gnocchi feast. It can take a bit of time to get the swing of things the first time you try this. If you have a ricer on hand by all means use it to get your potatoes mashed, but using a fork works well too. For those of you wanting to do some of the preparation in advance, you can mash the potatoes a day ahead of time, put them in a covered bowl overnight, and incorporated the peaches, egg and flour the next day if you like.

Ingredients:

• Scant 2 pounds of starchy potatoes (2 large russets, or 3-4 smaller ones)
• 1/4 cup egg, lightly beaten
• 4 peaches, extra ripe, cut in half, pitted and peeled and pureed with the juice of half a lemon (you should end up with about 1 cup of puree)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour OR unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup shallots, minced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 cups Champagne
• cream
• salt
• a bit of fresh thyme

Directions:

Bake the potatoes in a preheated 350F degree oven for about an hour or until well-cooked through. When fully cooked you can pick them up using an oven mitt and give a gentle squeeze - they will give generously in your hand. If in doubt, cut into one to be sure the middle of the potato is cooked through. Try to peel each potato as soon as possible after removing from the oven (without burning yourself) - I've found a paring knife comes in handy here. Peel all the potatoes first, and then move on to the "mashing". You want to work relatively quickly so you can mash the potatoes when they are hot, it's critical that they don't sit around steaming in their jackets. To mash the potatoes you can either push the potatoes through a ricer, or do what I do, deconstruct them one at a time on the cutting board using the tines of a fork - mash isn't quite the right term here. I run the fork down the sides of the peeled potato creating a nice, fluffy potato base to work with (see photo). Don't over-mash - you are simply after an even consistency with no noticeable lumps. Let the potatoes cool spread out across the cutting board - ten or fifteen minutes, long enough that the egg won't cook when it is incorporated into the potatoes.

When you are ready, pull the potatoes into a soft mound - drizzle with the egg, 1/3 cup of the peach puree (reserve the rest for your sauce), salt and about 3/4 cup of the flour. I've found that a metal spatula or large pastry scraper are both great utensils to use to incorporate the flour and eggs and peaches into the potatoes. Scrape underneath and fold, scrape and fold until the mixture is a light crumble. Very gently, with a feathery touch knead the dough. This is also the point you can add more flour (a sprinkle at a time) if the dough is too tacky. I usually end up using most of the remaining 1/4 cup flour (and in this case a touch more), but it all depends on the potatoes, the flour, the time of year, the weather, and whether the gnocchi gods are smiling on you. The dough should be moist but not sticky. It should feel almost billowy. Cut the dough into eight pieces. Now gently roll each 1/8th of dough into a snake-shaped log, roughly the thickness of your thumb. Use a knife to cut pieces every 3/4-inch (see photo). Dust with a bit more flour.

You can skip this step if you are having trouble. To shape the gnocchi hold a fork in one hand and place a gnocchi pillow against the tines of the fork - the cut ends should be facing out. With confidence and an assertive (but very light) touch, use your thumb and press in and down the length of the fork. The gnocchi should curl into a slight "C" shape, their backs will capture the impression of the tines as tiny ridges (good for catching sauce later). Set each gnocchi aside, dust with a bit more flour if needed, until you are ready to boil them. This step takes some practice, don't get discouraged, once you get the hang of it it's easy. And like I said, if you are having too much trouble - skip it.

Before you cook the gnocchi, get your sauce ready. Saute the shallots along with the butter and a pinch of salt in a big skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the shallots are deeply golden and nicely caramelized. Stand back a bit and (carefully) deglaze the pan by adding about 1/2 the champagne to the skillet. After the initial hissing subsides pour in the rest. Stir and get all the bits off the bottom of the pan and let the mixture reduce way down until just about 1/3 is left. Remove from heat and stir in the peach puree, a generous splash of cream, a big pinch of fresh thyme leaves, and you'll likely need a bit more salt as well. Set aside.

Now that you are on the final stretch, bring a big pot of (salted) water to a boil. Cook the gnocchi in batches by dropping them into the boiling water roughly twenty at a time. You will know when they are cooked because they will pop back up to the top. Fish them out of the water a few at a time with a slotted spoon ten seconds or so after they've surfaced. Have a large platter (or individual plates) ready with a layer of the champagne sauce. Place the gnocchi on plates/platter. Continue cooking and plating in batches until all the gnocchi are done. Serve immediately with a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

Serves six to eight.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 pound of boneless and skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1" chunks
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 10-ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve juice)
• 1/4 cup juice from the canned pineapple
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, salt and cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
   
   
2. In the meantime, whisk together the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, salt, and brown sugar.
   
   
3. Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates.
   
   
4. Pour in the 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It's important that the pan is very hot.
   
   
5. Add the chicken and spread the chicken out in one layer. Let the chicken fry, untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned.
   
   
6. Flip and fry the other side the same for 1 minute. The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle.
   
   
7. Dish out the chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.
   
   
8. Turn the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Let the oil heat up and then add the bell pepper chunks and ginger. Fry for 1 minute.
   
   
9. Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce.
   
   
10. Turn the heat to high and when the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in.
    
    
11. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Timing depends on how thick you've cut your chicken. The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut into it. If it's pink, add another minute to the cooking.

Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar if you’d like.

Serves 4.