Monthly Archives: February 2010

15 February 2010
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Baking, Basics, Weekends

That Beautiful Bread


Olive Oil Bread With Rosemary

Sometimes, you just need to hole up in your space and get down to the business of making some heart-warming foods.  This weekend was very much like that for me, and I am hoping to get a whole series of posts out about the things I made in the next couple of days.  One thing I have started making in the last few years, for the very first time in my life, is yeast breads.  Granted, with the low-carb frenzy of the last decade, I generally shy away from white flour, but there are some times when you just want good old-fashioned bread.  I figure that, as long as I am making it, and I have a reasonable idea of where the ingredients are from, it is better than eating processed white bread or even bread from the grocery store bakery. Continue reading →

2 February 2010
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Basics, Dinner, Vegetarian, Weekdays, Weekends

Super Bowl Food: Pizza!


'za!

Okay, so I posted on Facebook that I was super-pleased with the response to my Shrimp n’ Grits post and that I was looking for ideas on what to post next. I have quite a few idea/pictures in the queue, but my buddy Alex (see his comedic offerings linked on the right there) suggested that Super Bowl food would be appropriate choice. Then, my friend Keith (see his funny blog on the right there, too!) mentioned pizza, so the decision was made. Granted, I don’t think that I have all that much to contribute to the plethora of pizza recipes out there, but I know what I like, and maybe my tastes will be new to some.

First off, I really like whole wheat crust. For me, white crust is great when someone else makes it, but if I am going to bother making ‘za from scratch, I am gonna switch up everything, top(pings) to bottom. The recipe we use is just a variation on the one in the Joy of Cooking, which the Bun adapted for use with whole wheat flour.*

As for toppings, there are several that we turn to when making homemade pizza, most of which are on the vegetarian side. In fact, the pizza shown above is one that we made when our friends Mark and Erica decided to challenge us to a vegetarian week of dinners; it was a good way to get ourselves to think about how to get a balanced meal without eating meat. You’ll see that we used a red sauce (just crushed tomatoes seasoned with fresh garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper). Over the sauce, we added mushrooms sauteed with thyme, roasted red peppers, spinach (thawed from frozen), Ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, and fresh basil, which elevates the flavor of most red-sauce pizzas. The result was so delicious that we couldn’t even wait to take a picture before we’d both had an enormous slice. If you are looking for a veggie pizza (and provided that you still eat cheese), this combination can’t be beat.

*There are several good brands of whole wheat flour available these days, including a few that say you can use them in place of regular all-purpose flour (I suggest testing a recipe out on yourself before serving guests). Trader Joe’s brand is the one we used in this recipe, and it worked really well. Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

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