Pita Bread Pizza

Time for my last Secret Recipe Club post.  They've changed and it's time for me to move on.  Next month, I hope you'll come find me at  The Bloggers C.L.U.E. Society.  It's a new group that I've started with my friends Christiane from The Mom Chef and Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake.  We'll kick off our group on Wednesday, November 12th with Thanksgiving recipes galore.  I picked mine out a couple of days ago and am totally looking forward to making it.  Ought to be a lot of fun. 

So, let's talk about Nicole from Picnic.http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz/  She's working on her PhD and has discovered she loves cooking.  Among a lot of great looking baked goods, I found a couple of pizza recipes on her blog.  One used pita bread instead of pizza crust.  What a great idea for lunches.  We've got a toaster oven and a microwave so things that I can bake or heat up at the office are perfect. 

I decided both pizza recipes would be a great idea since I was buying a bag of pita bread anyway...  And, making homemade pizza sauce anyway...  My tastebuds were totally set for the lamb pizza for Monday.  Sunday evening during my normal cooking spree, I'd browned the lamb, made the pizza sauce and caramelized the onions.  We had a big bag of non-perishable stuff on the kitchen table.  Another bag of perishables had gone to the basement fridge.  Both were scheduled to head to the office on Monday.  I'd asked Connie to put the onions "in the bag to go to the office."  He put them in the non-perishable bag...  What we had there was a failure to communicate.  Ok, so we'd start with the chicken pizzas instead! 

What did we think?  These were VERY good.  I'm not a fan of plain tomato paste so I made homemade sauce from tomato paste.  Most of the recipes I found called for either starting with crushed tomatoes or crushing tomatoes.  Growing up, though, Daddy used to make a VERY tasty barbecue sauce starting with tomato paste.  So, I was pretty certain I could come up with an equally tasty pizza sauce.  When I put the pita pizzas together, I added some greens to add a bit of flavor and nutrition.  We use the mongo containers of baby chard, kale and spinach from Sam's Club whenever we use greens - which is pretty much most days of the week...  Here's where you can take a look at Nicole's version:  chicken pizza.

What did we think?  The pizza sauce was good.  I think next time though I'll make it with the crushed tomatoes.  The chicken pizza was very good.  The lamb pizza was almost as good but we marked it just a tad bit lower.  In any event, pita bread pizzas will become  a regular at the office!  Yes, I confess, it was busy and I didn't even think about lamb pizza recipes until I'd eaten half of mine...

For the sauce:
 4 oz can tomato paste
4 oz water
1 T olive oil
1 shallot, finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 t- 1 T Italian seasoning

Saute the shallot and garlic in the olive oil until softened.  Add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes.  Stir in the water and Italian seasoning.  Simmer for at least 15 minutes.

Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

1 wholegrain pita bread
2 T pizza sauce
1 cooked chicken breast, sliced thinly
handful of fresh spinach or mixed greens or baby kale...
pickled jalapenos
handful grated cheese - I used gruyere
sweet chili garlic sauce

Directions:

Toast the pita bread for about two minutes.  Spread one side with pizza sauce. 

Top with the greens.  Lay on the chicken slices.  Sprinkle on the pickled jalapenos. Top with the cheese.  Broil about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling.  Before serving, drizzle with sweet chili garlic sauce. 


Lamb Pizza

Ingredients:

1 wholegrain pizza bread
2 T pizza sauce
1/2 lb ground lamb
1 small onion, sliced
1 beer (I used Heinken)
seasoning (I used Penzey's Bangkok but you can use pretty much whatever to get the flavor profile you want)
1/4 - 1/3 c crumbled feta

Directions:

Season the lamb with whatever seasoning you've chosen.  Then, brown the lamb and remove it from the skillet with a slotted spoon.  Drain.  Add the onion to the lamb drippings.  Saute until softened.  Pour in the beer and sauté until the beer has evaporated.  Drain the onions.  Toast the pita bread for about two minutes.  Spread one side with pizza sauce. 

Top with the ground lamb, then the onions, then the feta.  Broil for about 10 minutes. 

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Rice Pudding

Life has been interesting, if not exciting.  Let's see...  Some guy cut in front of Connie, causing Connie to slam on his brakes and the airbag sensor to go cattywampus.  That was two days in the shop.  Then, on our trip to the airport, we took a side trip through Crown Hill cemetery to visit Dad's grave and show my sister-in-law the highest point in the city. 

Just as we were leaving, it started to rain. 

I was riding in the backseat and had the window down to take photos.  The window wouldn't go up.  My chivalrous husband put the car in park and ran around and pulled the window up as far as it'd go.  (Two more days in the shop...)  We then went home and traded cars for the trip to take Barb to the airport.  She was here visiting for five days.  We got in loads of fun things like a trip to the State Fair with the whole crew.  And, dinner with Mom at The Friendly.  I had some fabulous fried catfish there... 

During Barb's visit, Annie the dog conned her into loads of treats.  Wee Mac the cat got in the grove too, showing Auntie Barbara he knows how to high five!

And, Barbs overfed her by more than a bit.  So, starting the day Barbs left and lasting for four days, Annie had diarrhea.  Lots of diarrhea.  My living room carpet looks like someone had a mudball fight in there.  Fortunately, once she picked a room, she pretty much stuck with it.  Then, she figured out at least one human would actually wake up and take her out in the middle of the night.  A human who forgot to turn off the alarm system and woke up the immediate neighborhood with the wailing of the sirens.  Ok, then.  A trip to see Doc was in order.  A VERY undignified examination of the doggie woggie ensued.  Meds were prescribed.  Excessive passing of gas followed.  That's fine except she was laying between my office and Connie's.  Both of us were ready for gas masks!  Now, Annie is starting to feel a bit better.  And, I'm thinking a good carpet cleaning will be happening - soon!

Midst all the fun and excitement, I barely cooked.  A barbecue for the kids.  Pork chops with peach glaze for Barb.  Pork fried rice with the leftover pork chops.  Not much exciting.  Totally forgot that Secret Recipe Club was sneaking up on me.  I'd perused my assigned blog and printed a few recipes.  I'd even put harissa on the grocery list thinking I'd make a soup that sounded good.  But, I kept going back to the rice pudding with dates and pistachios.  One, I've never made rice pudding.  Two, we both adore dates and pistachios.  Now, I had no business making a dessert after all the goodies we had while Barb was here.  But, rice pudding it was.  My assigned blog, SimplySensationalFood.com is by Nayna who lives in the UK and is a recipe author for City Connect Cambridge.  Her blog is vegetarian and measurements are given in grams etc.  I've copied her measurements here since I used the by guess and by gosh method of measuring...  And, I left out the saffron that Nayna called for.  That is one spice I really can't stand.  Guess if I had to choose one, choosing the most expensive one was the best idea!!  I was really pleased with this dessert.  The dates and nuts added just the right amount of crunchy/chewy/interesting topping.  And, the cardamom in the recipe was perfect.  I'd have included a link to the recipe but nowhere on the blog could I find an index...



Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

60 g short grain rice
250 ml water
400 ml cream
60 g sugar
1 t cardamom powder
4 almonds
6 pistachios
6 medjool dates
60 ml boiling water

Directions:

In a small saucepan, start simmering the cream and cardamom.  You don't want it to boil but you do want it to reduce.  In another saucepan, start water for your rice.  Cook the rice according to the package directions but add 5-10 minutes so it is VERY soft.  Drain the rice.  Add the sugar to the cream and stir until it's dissolved.  Add the drained rice.  Refrigerate so you're serving it cool.  An hour or so before serving the pudding, chop the dates and add them to the boiling water.  Remove them from the heat and allow them to sit for half an hour.  Mash them into the water.  Serve the pudding garnished with the date compote and the nuts.  As you can see, I chose to use sliced almonds that I'd toasted instead of plain almonds...

Thank you Nayna from Simply Sensational Food!

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Crack Cake

6:30 am Saturday morning.  Connie's snoring.  I'm wide awake.  Might as well get up and be productive.  Sign on to the office and the internet is slow as molasses in January.  Well, that's not going to work.  How about writing a blog post?  OMG!  Monday is Secret Recipe Club reveal day.  I'd better get my tookus in gear and write my post.  My dish got made right after receiving my assigned blog, Making Memories with Your Kids.  Then the cord that connects my camera to the computer to download photos quit working and I wasn't able to download photos from that camera...  SRC didn't even dawn on me. 

Finally, I said something to my photography buff, business partner Jay and he said all you need is a card reader.  Cool!  He promptly took the card out of my camera, carried it to his office and downloaded my photos to our server.  Only problem is that blogger doesn't like my office computer and I've not been able to upload photos from there.  I'd still have to buy a card reader for home.  Still, to say thank you, we stopped at our favorite bakery, Taylors, and got Jay a box of cookies.  And, crispies for ourselves.  Annie was most entranced by the crispies!  As you can see...

I had a lot of fun reading Erin's blog.  She's a middle school counselor and single mom to two kids.  And, she has a lot of kid-friendly recipes.  I was actually looking for a dessert this time since we were going to a pitch-in at our friend Chef Joseph and his husband Juan's.  We rarely ever make or eat dessert so this was going to be a real treat.  It needed to be something super easy and super flavorful.  I read Erin's comment that the cake reminded her of a Snickerdoodle.  Sold.  My grandmother used to fill the big, green cookie jar with Snickerdoodles.   

The cake was made and taken to Joseph's.  Where there was a WHOLE table full of desserts.  We had to leave relatively early so I just left the platter et all.  I tend to buy really cheap platters just for that.  Either at Goodwill or The Christmas Tree Store.  You can get them for $1 or so and it makes it REALLY easy not to worry about a dish.  Our friends Pete and Roby taught us that trick.  Pete's known for her fabulous rum cake... 

Fast forward to our pitch-in...  Juan and I were standing in my kitchen as I gathered up dishes folks had left.  Most of the leftovers were in disposable foil containers or plastic containers.  But, one slice of Pete's rum cake was sitting on the platter they'd left.  So, I told Juan I'd done the same thing at their house.  He said, "That was your cake?  That was SO good!!!  I really loved eating all the leftovers!!"  LOL!  Erin's Crack Cake has yet another fan :-)  Here's a link to her recipe:  Crack Cake.

Yes, we loved this.  It's so incredibly easy to put together.  And, the cinnamon did remind me of my grandmother's Snickerdoodle cookies.  Wonder how long Connie's going to sleep and if I've got time to go bake some Snickerdoodles?  Nah, probably not.

Crack Cake

Ingredients:

for the cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 box instant vanilla pudding
2 t cinnamon
4 eggs
3/4 c water
3/4 c vegetable oil
1/2 c white wine (I used chardonnay)

for the glaze:
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1/4 c white wine

Directions::

This bakes at 350, so preheat your oven as you start the cake.  Combine the cake ingredients and mix well.  Erin called for a stand mixer.  I used a handheld mixer.  Either works.  Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until it tests done with a cake tester or toothpick.  Right before you remove the cake from the oven, melt the butter for the glaze.  Add in the sugar and stir until it's fully dissolved.  Then, pour in the white wine. 

Use a cake tester to punch loads of holes in the cake.  That way all the goodness of the glaze and soak in thoroughly.  Remove the cake from the oven and pour the glaze over the top. 

Allow the cake to cool before inverting it onto a plate. 

Thanks to Erin from Making Memories with Your Kids for a yummy and easy recipe!


 

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Orange, Should've Been Chicken, Shrimp

I must've been a VERY good girl.  Why?  I got THE blog I wanted for Secret Recipe Club.  You read that right THE blog I wanted.  Last month, The Kitchen Witch got me.  She said we shared the same tastebuds.  She was SO right.  Life was insane (ok, it's been totally insane for years!) and I didn't get a comment to her.  Then, I got my Secret Recipe Club assignment.  Whoop, Whoop!  I now had an excuse to blow two hours reading a blog I wanted to read.  REALLY wanted to read.  Giggles is so right.  We do share the same taste buds.  We both love citrus.  We're both adventurous eaters.  So incredibly much fun to read her blog.  I felt like I was curled up in the cabin of my dreams just relaxing and reading.  Oh, and drooling :-)

So, what to make?  Guiness Irish lamb stew?  Marjitos?  Candied orange olive oil cake?  Lemon ginger elixir?  Orange chicken?  Did you notice how many have citrus?  Yeah, me too.  And, there are plenty more.  Oodles to be specific - lol.  Orange chicken it was.  If I was going to get this made in time, one of us needed to run to the store the evening before our cooking adventure.  I was going to be working in my Columbus, IN office so knew I'd be home late.  Connie got the grocery list that I'd left on the counter.  He got home from the grocery and got busy getting ready for our grandkids to visit.  About 2am he flew out of bed.  I heard the alarm being shut off then the back door opened then a racket in the kitchen.  It was one of those you are better off waiting it out than getting in the middle of it deals.  I waited.  Upstairs he trudged.  So, what happened?  He says, "I never took the groceries out of the trunk."  Ok, so we had rotten chicken.  Fine, we'd stop on the way home from the office the next evening.  Except when we  left the office the rain was pouring. A bar of soap in the back yard and I'd have been able to take a shower!   We got drenched just going to the car.   At that point I made an executive decision.  Giggle's orange chicken would be just fine with shrimp.  And, you know what?  It was.  We loved it.  I wouldn't have changed a thing.  Now, I'll know I can make it with either shrimp or chicken and it'll be great. 

Before I show you the recipe, here are a few of the photos of the epic water balloon fight Grampie had with Bradley and Rosie.  Daddy David sat in a safe zone making the water balloons.  He was also in charge of dousing anyone who didn't follow the rules.  Mostly Grampie who kept forgetting to go back to his safe zone after throwing a balloon.  Mommy Kara and I sat in another safe zone with our cameras.  We were dubbed the historians.  And, yes, that's our herb garden behind Kara.

Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

for the chicken:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, cubed (I substituted shrimp)
2 eggs
1 T water
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 c cornstarch
1/4 c flour
peanut oil for deep frying

for the sauce:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1" piece ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 t crushed red pepper
4 green onions sliced, white and green parts separated
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 1/3 c orange juice
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 T soy sauce
2/3 c orange marmalade

Directions:

This recipe comes together very quickly so you really want to have everything set up and ready to go.  Your mis en place.  You'll need two bowls for the sauce ingredients.  Put the garlic, ginger, red pepper and whites of the green onions in one. 

The balance of the sauce ingredients go in the other.  Start with the cornstarch and rice wine vinegar.  Stir them into a slurry then add the other ingredients. 

Then set up two wide, shallow bowls (think pasta bowls) for the chicken or shrimp dipping.  In one, put the egg and water.  In the other, mix the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper. 

This is where you can add other seasonings if you'd like.  I thought about adding some Asian seasonings but decided to try that next time.  Put a smallish skillet on the stove with about a tablespoon of oil in it.  Last, but not least, pour peanut oil (I used vegetable oil because that's what we had on hand) about 1" deep in a wide skillet.  Now, Giggles recipe called for a wok or a deep fryer.  I like the skillet because it gives me more control over turning the protein to make sure both sides get browned.  If you've got a deep fryer and want to use it, that way you can get both sides brown at once...  Turn the heat on under the small skillet.  You want to use medium heat.  Heat the oil to about 350.  Now, you're ready to get going.   

Dunk a handful of the protein in the egg wash. 

Then, toss it in the cornstarch/flour mixture.  Put it in the hot oil in the big skillet.

 
 Put the garlic/ginger mixture in the small skillet.  Once it's sizzling, slowly stir in the orange juice mixture. 

Stir this occasionally.  Turn the protein if you need to get both sides brown.  The crust will be nice and shatter thanks to the cornstarch.  Drain on paper towels.  Once all the protein is done and drained, toss it with the sauce and serve over rice. 

Top with a scattering of the green onion tops. 

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Waffled Breakfast Sandwiches

EliotsEats!  The blog name was cause for dancing.  I'd considered dropping out of Secret Recipe Club because I'd gotten so many blogs that either were not at all to my taste and I had a terrible time finding something to make or were vegan or gluten free.  To top it off, several times in the last year whoever has had my blog has either posted late or skipped posting.  I was beyond frustrated.  One more shot, I said.  If my February blog isn't good, then I quit.  Well, now, let me tell you.  I got one of my favorite blogs.  Actually one of my three favorite blogs.  I already had a list of things to make that was about a mile long.  And, I'd not had an opportunity to check out any of my friend Debra's new postings for at least a month. 

On to Eliots Eats for some of those recipes I'd wanted to try.  Stop.  Wait.  There's a brilliant idea right there.  Waffled French toast.  As a breakfast sandwich.  I do believe Debra has come up with the next GREAT idea!  I showed it to Connie.  We had to try it.  And, to make things even better, the kids gave me Carnivore by Michael Symon for Christmas.  There was a recipe for homemade sausage I'd been itching to try. 

What did we think?  Oh, but this was fun to make and fun to eat and it tasted fabulous!  We actually made these for dinner.

I do hope you'll drop by Debra's blog and get to know her.  She's such a fun cook and has a lovely collection of recipes.  I can always find something fun and interesting to try. 

Waffled Breakfast Sandwiches

makes four sandwiches

Ingredients:

for the French Toast Batter

2 eggs
1 c whole milk
1 t.vanilla
3 T flour
1/8 t. salt
1 T honey

for the Sausage

1 lb ground pork
1 T kosher salt
1 t sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 small shallot, minced
2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 t chopped fresh oregano
2 t fennel seeds, toasted
1/3 t freshly ground black pepper
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 t fresh lemon juice

for the sandwiches:

eight slices of whole wheat bread (you could use challah or sourdough easily)
four fried eggs (over easy is best)
granola (I left this out)
maple syrup (I used shagbark hickory syrup)

Directions:

To make the batter, whisk the eggs then whisk in the other ingredients.  Just a side note - we get our honey from our friends John and Jackie.  It's fabulous! 

 

 

For the sausage, mix all the ingredients. 

Form into quarter pound patties and brown.  To make the sandwiches, put the batter into a wide bowl.  Dip both sides of the bread in. 

Cook on a waffle iron.  Top a piece of French toast with a sausage patty then another piece of French toast. 

Top that with a fried egg.  Serve with maple syrup.

Waffled French Toast Breakfast Sandwiches adapted from Eliots Eats.  Sweet Italian Sausage adapted from Carnivore. 

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