Pizza: Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I started the sauce by heating some crushed garlic in olive oil. To that I added some crushed red pepper flakes, rosemary, crushed black pepper, and a bit of anchovy paste.

I put some jarred roasted red pepper in the cup that came with my immersion blender and added the warmed oil mixture; pureed it until smooth.

For the crust, I made a simple dough: flour, yeast, pinch of sugar (used to proof the yeast), salt, olive oil. After it was doubled in bulk, I formed some crusts and pre-baked them.

I topped the crust with the roasted red pepper puree, finely grated asiago cheese, browned Italian sausage, and more cheese, a blend of mozzarella, provolone, asiago, parmesan, romano. I sprinkled cracked black peppercorns on top. The pizza was placed directly on the rack to back in a hot oven, 400F convection.

Tomato Pie

I had a craving for tomato pie, but never having had one, I wasn't sure how to go about it. I looked at some recipes online, found some that had eggs, some that included breadcrumbs, and quite a few with a mayo/cheese topping. This is what I did:

I sliced tomatoes, and wilted the spinach.

The tomatoes and spinach contain a lot of water, so I drained them on paper towels, also washed and dried oregano from my garden.

I made a simple crust in the food processor, and added cracked black pepper.

I pressed the dough into the pan, and pre-baked it for about 10 minutes.

After the crust came out of the oven, I let it cool for a bit, then started to layer the ingredients: cheese, tomatoes, spinach, chopped oregano.

The cheese mixture was a combination of drained yogurt (a large container of plain yogurt, drained overnight in the fridge), a dollop of salad dressing (or mayo), grated cheese (American, cheddar, asiago), chives from the garden, and a squirt of mustard.

I frosted the top of the pie with the cheese, and baked it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I topped it with whole grain Club crackers, melted butter, and yes, I went there: bacon fat.

It baked for another 30 minutes, then let it rest for about 15 minutes before I cut into it.

Today's Breakfast

Quiche with bacon, onion, and some melty shredded orange cheese.
Oh yeah, I made the crust, Followed the recipe on the inside back cover of the red and white checked cookbook in a binder. You know the one. Did it in a food processor, using butter. easy peasy.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

My husband is going on his annual backpacking trip, and was in the process of browning and drying the hamburger. He gave me a pound from the large package he had gotten and said, "Here."
So, I made meatballs. To the hamburger I added: fresh breadcrumbs, asiago and parmesan cheese, grated onion, ground rosemary, thyme, grated garlic, pepper, salt, fennel, red chili flakes. I put a couple of slices of bread into the food processor, and then added the seasonings to that to mix well. One egg went into the mixture, used my hands to mix well.
I put the meatballs into a glass baking dish and baked in the oven until nicely browned.
At this point, one could add one's favorite sauce, a large can of crushed tomatoes, whatever. I added a cheap can of 4-cheese spaghetti sauce.
Yes, really.
Put it back in the oven and bake until the sauce begins to caramelize.
Towards the end of baking, I sprinkled finely grated asiago and parmesan over the top.

Squash, Onions, and Cheese

I got tennis ball-sized, pale green squash, never had it before, so thought I'd cook it simply. Sliced it, and alternated it with sliced sweet onion. I drizzled it with olive oil, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, thinly sliced garlic, asiago, and parmesan. Baked it until golden.

Rosemary Breadsticks and Rolls

In a large stoneware bowl, I combined some warm water, yeast, flour, and a pinch of sugar. Then, I let it sit until bubbly. In a saucepan, I warmed some English pub beer.

I combined the warm beer with the yeast mixture, added more flour, olive oil, crushed dried rosemary, cracked black pepper, and salt.

I kneaded the dough, let it rise until doubled, then formed it into breadsticks and rolls.

I dipped the breadsticks and roll tops into beaten egg, and then a mixture of cornmeal, parmesan, cracked black pepper, and kosher salt.

After letting sit for a bit on the counter, the bread was put into a hot oven, 400F convection, and baked. The breadsticks took about 15-20 minutes, the rolls took longer.

Leftovers: Coconut Rice Stir Fry

Sauteed some onion, carrot, red pepper, celery, ginger, lemongrass, and red curry paste in coconut oil. I also added a few drops of sesame oil. I had made some coconut rice earlier in the week, added that and heated it through. I topped it with some pistachios.
For the coconut rice: in a rice cooker, put some brown basmati, lemongrass, tumeric, and a can of coconut milk. Add water to the appropriate line in the cooker. Very easy.

Pickles

I picked up some pickling cucumbers from a local vendor, he got them from Palisades, CA. I sliced them thinly, along with some sweet white onion. I soaked them for awhile in water and a handful of kosher salt. After several hours, I rinsed them and put them in the brine.
For the brine, I combined white vinegar and apple cider vinegar in a saucepan. As it was heating, I added sugar (quite a bit, really), mustard seeds, cloves, tumeric, coriander, red pepper flakes, and alum. It came to a boil, and then I let it sit until I was ready to put the pickles into jars.
I brought it to a boil, added the sliced cucumbers and onions. I put the mixture into clean jars, put on the lids, and put them in a water bath for 20 minutes.

Cobbler in a Jar

No, not a tiny shoemaker....

Start by placing 1/2 pint canning jars on a foil lined baking sheet. Put a dab of butter into each jar. I laced them in the oven to melt the butter.

Make your favorite pie filling. I made peach and cherry.

To the peaches, I added vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. The cherries were flavored with almond, nutmeg, and cardamom. Both fillings had sugar and cornstarch.

Both fillings received a shot of orange liqueur.

I put the filling into the jars, and precooked them for about 15 minutes. While the filling cooked, I threw together a batter for the topping.

I put a stick of butter in the food processor, added about 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, about 1/2 cup cornmeal, about 3 tsp. baking powder, and about a tsp of salt. No, I didn't measure.

To the dry mixture, I added about a cup of milk and a beaten egg.

The hot filling was topped with a spoonful of batter, and put back into the oven (turned up to about 400F convection) for another 15 minutes, or until the topping was golden.
These can be served immediately, or one can put the lids on for storage (if the batter hasn't risen too far above the rim), once they are cooled.

Turkey on the Grill, and Leftovers

I had some turkey in the freezer from last fall, so took one out, thawed it, cut it into pieces. I seasoned it with rosemary, cracked black pepper, sage, thyme, cumin, and salt.

It was simply grilled by indirect heat on the Weber.

For lunch the ohter day, I took out a leg and thigh, removed the skin, put it in a cast iron pan and roasted (heated through).

I then slathered on some favorite b-b-q sauce (Baby James, sweet/spicy) and returned it to the oven.

I turned the pieces and added sauce, enough to glaze and caramelize a bit.

The dark turkey meat is quite like pulled pork.

Yum.