3 ways with pizza dough

You know those cravings that won't leave you. The ones that creep up at in appropriate times. Cravings that whisper in your ear "that just doesn't taste right" when you eat something that isn't what you crave. Fill your mind to the point where not even your favourite series, your child's laughter or your husband's loving words can penetrate the thoughts of making or eating that which you crave? 

I see you nodding and so you will understand when I tell you about my pizza dough craving. It wasn't about what was on top, that didn't matter. It was the flavour and texture of what makes a pizza a pizza that took residence in my head and would not leave. 


So I paused Lost Girl, got up and made the dough. I had no idea WHAT I was going to put on it but the dough was made. Next I went foraging in the fridge, freezer and cupboards for something to use. No, going to the shop was not an option....because...stop it! No! aaaaanyway. In the freezer I found a beautiful piece of beef fillet which I had trimmed off a larger piece I made a few weeks back, some roasted red pepper and tomato soup and a couple of sausages. In the fridge a tiny bit of cheese and in the cupboards onion and spices.

So I went about creating these 3 tasty snacks for us, never having to leave the house or dress in anything but slippers and PJs (see why the shop was not an option). I turned the sausages into cows in blankets (beef sausage see), the meat I fried up with some onions, caramelising it a little then made balls of meaty goodness. The roasted red pepper and tomato soup was cooked down and thickened and made a beautifully rich base for the pizzas I made with cheese and some onion and the rest of the dough was mixed in some caramelised onions to make little dinner rolls (that never made it to dinner)

Pizza Dough

1/2 cup warm water
1 sachet activated dry yeast
2 + 1 cup 00 flour (or half white bread flour half cake flour)
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt


Put the yeast in the warm water with a pinch of flour and allow it to bloom. Mix it in with the 2 cups of flour and knead adding the 3rd cup as you knead the dough. Kneed in the olive oil and salt. Place ina oiled bowl and cover and allow to rise. 
Once the dough has risen, knead it to knock out or the air bubbles and divide it into the number of portions you need. (If you are freezing the dough this is when you do it)

Baa Baa bolognese

I love when plans come together. When you have a tiny seed of an idea and with the right kind of nurturing it starts to grow into the seedling of something amazing. Some ideas, like some seeds, when planted at the wrong time or in the wrong place never sprout but others, oh they even surprise. That was why I was cooking supper for Jon from i shot images.

I had an idea, I thought he might be the person to help me grow it and what I got in return for sharing this project with him was more than I could have ever imagine. The excitement I was holding back, in case I was totally off the mark, he let show immediately. I started to hope, to dream and to plan. After a great brainstorming lunch out I thought a working dinner in would be the logical next step.

After telling Jon that I was cooking his reply was "Whoot! Such a privilege.. " and I started to panic. The pressure was on and my culinary creativity went into overdrive until my loving husband reminded me that keeping it simple was always a winning idea. So the meal of bolognese, and a new technique I had spotted on Rhodes across Italy that I had wanted to try, came to mind. As if by fate, Frankie Fenner tweeted about the lamb mince they had in stock and a meal was born.

The technique? Well before adding the tomatoes to the Ragu di Bolognese you add milk. Yes, milk. I knew this would make a difference, there was no reason to not believe that but I had to see for myself. So I fried off some lardons, cooked the mince with the usual carrot, onion and celery mix (also known as soffritto) and tasted the mince. Then I added the milk and cooked it till it was all soaked up by the mince and tasted again. The difference was not as subtle as I expected. The meat was softer, almost creamy and I from now on, that step will be added to my usual process (that is, if I don't forget)

Considering everyone went back for seconds and Baby Bug gobbled his portion with no complaints I figured this is a winning recipe. You can use any mince you have available but the lamb mince was a very nice change from the usual.

Baa Baa Bolognese

1 tablespoon lardons (or olive oil)
1 large carrot
1 cellery stick
1 onion
750g lamb mince
1 cup milk
1 tinned peeled and chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dry oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the lardons until the lard melts and add the carrot, cellery and onion.
Fry till soft then add the mince and brown.
Once the meat is cooked, add the milk and cook on a medium heat until all the milk is soaked up.
Add the tin of tomatoes, water, sugar and oregano and allow to simmer on a low heat for at least 1 hour.
Season about 20 minutes before serving.

I served mine with Rigatoni and toasted ciabatta.

Disclaimer: Sorry for all the mixed metaphors, entertaining the bugling and blogging is new to me.

Trinchado

The start of something beautiful

When you have a relationship with some one for many years, living in the same house, sharing meals, you learn their preferences, their quirks. You discover what makes them turn up their nose and what makes their ears perk. After 7 years with Jack I can happily say that I KNOW the man and I KNOW what he loves.

My misfortune is that my husband is a man that eats because it is something that is needed to survive. He does enjoy things that taste good and has preferences but he does not go googly eyed at a well presented dish or get a far away stare when something so good touches his tongue, random "mmm" sounds do not escape his lips when he tastes something amazing. He will even eat things he isn't crazy about in the right company.

simmer away

He does, however, have his favourites. Something he will order every time we go to a certain restaurant or something he loves for me to make for him if I have a chance. One such thing is Trinchado. A Portuguese beef stew, rich with flavour. My favourite thing about this recipe is how forgiving it is of adjustments, especially the kind of adjustments that make it a healthier option.

The long cooking time means you can use lean cuts of meat and using evaporated milk or regular milk (carefully), while not making the dish AS creamy as using actual cream, still make for a very tasty dish. I personally don't miss the olives in the dish when I need to take them out for TheSister and my favourite adjustment has to be the wine.

A little longer

Trinchado

What you need:
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
(or 2 tbs olive oil if you want to reduce the fat)
1kg beef, cubed (as this is a stew you can decide how lean you want the beef)
2 large red onions, chopped
2-3 red chillies, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
250ml beef stock (I used NoMu fonds, the richness is unbeatable)
1 bottle red wine, minus 1 glass for the cook (I used Pinotage)
1 bay leaf
100g black olives, stones removed (optional)
1 sprig fresh rosemary
125ml cream (or evaporated milk or regular milk)
1 tsp lemon rind
Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do:

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy-based pan and brown the beef.
Remove from the pan and set aside.
Lower the heat and saute the onions, I like to put in some water so that the onions get soft without burning, when the water has evaporated add the chillies and cook for about a minute.
Add the stock and wine. Bring to boil and stir continually.
Add the bay leaf, olives (if using) and the fresh rosemary.
Add the crushed garlic
Return the meat to the pan and simmer slowly for 2 hours (or more).
If you are making this in advance, this is where you stop. The rest of the process happens just before serving. When you are ready to serve, gently heat up the trinchado to a medium heat.
Add the cream (or substitute) and stir through. If you are using milk instead pour slowly and carefully to avoid it splittin.
Add the fresh lemon peel and if you want extra rosemary.
Season to taste

You can serve trinchado as a starter with some bread, or a main course with rice.

Buffet style sweet & sour dumplings

When TheHusband and I started dating I was living in a digs in "Little Mowbray". I wasn't really a student at the time but my friends were and well I was tired of living at home. My relationship with my parents was strained from moving out of home and smoking and (not really) working for my dad.

In walking distance from our house we had some great food options. Some for the begining of the month (Greek and Chai Yo), one for mid month and special (read: reasons to get drunk) occasions (Fat Cactus) and one for just before the end of the month (when you know you really shouldn't but you really don't want to eat at home) and that was a "chinese" buffet place. I forget the name, it changed so often as did the clientèle. They are no longer there, I believe their fatal mistake was adding a sushi bar (which was not all you can eat like their buffet)

Anything for love "huevos" rancheros

If you have a partner you have been where I was this morning. Dreaming from the night before about using my texmex left overs for my very first attempt at Huevos Rancheros. Getting up I asked "TheHusband" if he would like a cheese omelette and got a resounding "yes" so bounced (as much as an 8 months pregnant lady can) off into the kitchen to make our respective breakfasts. I open the carton of eggs only to discover 2 lonely eggs staring back at me.

What do I do? Tell make TheHusband porridge and hope he forgets he was offered eggs, or give up on my breakfast fantasies? As you may have guessed from the title of this post I chose to forfeit the eggs. I however do not regret it as my breakfast was delicious (and ultimately way too much for me anyway)

Spinach and Mushroom parcels - Meat Free Monday

The last 2 weeks have been rather tedious. I was helping my dad out answering phones while his receptionist was away on annual leave. I spent many an hour playing facebook games and wishing I had uploaded some images for blogging. I was not on my own computer so had no pictures with me and so you didn't get any new recipes to try. Sorry :(

However you did get a new look and feel, like a new space to visit. They say a change is as good as a holiday :)

So it is Monday again and with it comes the dulcet sounds of my family moaning at me that they don't understand how 1 day a week can make a difference. With it also comes me ignoring them. Some weeks I just quietly make my own little meal to eat, others I make a dish with several components so those who choose to can eat Meat-free and other days I make something so delicious, they don't care if there is meat or not.

Such was the case with these little phyllo parcels. With the meatiness of the wild mushrooms and the creaminess of the spinach, these edible presents ticked every box in the house.

What you need:

3 bags baby spinach

1 box mixed wild mushrooms

1 tub fat free smooth cottage cheese

1 onion

1 medium potato

½ fairview single salad serving feta (or 1 wheel)

garlic

smoked paprika

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Phyllo pastry

What to do:

Wash the spinach very well (rule of thumb is at least 7 times, no one likes sandy spinach)

Chop half the onion finely, do the same with the potato (the pieces should all be roughly the same size and very small). Heat up some olive oil in a wok or large pan. Saute the onions and potatoes then add the spinach and mix till wilted (depending on the size of your wok/pan you made need to add the spinach in stages). When all the spinach has wilted add the garlic ad stir well. Then add the cottage cheese and crumble in the feta. Turn off the heat and stir well. Slice the other half of the onion into slivers. In another pan toss the onion and the smoked paprika in some heated olive oil, then add the mushrooms and fry until browned. Add the mushrooms to the spinach mixture, mix well then season to taste.

Cut your phyllo into long strips (I use scissors). Brush one piece with olive oil and stick another piece on top of it. Spoon some filling into it and fold as you wish, using a little more olive oil to seal it. Heat up the oven nice and hot and turn on the grill  and grill until golden brown and crispy (you filling is cooked and should be warm, if the filling has cooled then place the parcels into the oven at 180°c for a few minutes and then pop them under the grill)

You can serve them steaming hot, or even instead of sandwiches for school or work the next day

Sushi for beginners

I am one of those people who wishes the "sushi fad" will pass, I have been wishing this since it started being a fad. Since people started eating sushi with a knife and fork, with salt and pepper. Since people started putting biltong and cream cheese in sushi. What do greek restaurants have to do with sushi exactly? I may be unpopular for my thoughts but so be it. I started eating sushi 15 years ago when it cost a lot less because it was less in demand and I would really like it to stop being a luxury already.

It's not all bad though, while in most places sushi is still stupidly expensive, without it being a fad we wouldn't have great all you can eat specials. Sushi supplies are also a lot more readily available in shops all over the place. So not all bad because it means I get to make sushi.

There are 2 secrets to great sushi. The rice and the fish. The rice needs to be slightly sticky but not mushy and the fish needs to be as fresh as possible. If you have those 2 things right, the rest is all just practice, practice, practice.

I learned by watching sushi chefs when ever possible, for me the videos and "sushi making kit" booklets were just confusing but watching masters at work put it all in perspective. I roll the pieces with my hands then shape with the mat, I find that the easiest. You, however, must do what feels right. Make sure your nori is fresh, if it's not 100% fresh, toast it a little. Fill it with what ever your hear desires and remember to clingwrap your mat.

Sushi rice

What you need:

4 cups sushi rice

4 cups water

1 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tsp salt

What to do:

Soak the rice for an hour. Drain then put in a pot with a tight fitting lid and add the 4 cups of water. Bring to the boil, cover and drop to the lowest heat possible. KEEP COVERED, do not lift the lid. Cook for 15 minutes then take off the heat. DO NOT LIFT THE LID! Steam for another 15. 

In the meantime heat up the vinegar with the salt and sugar till everything dissolves. 

When the rice has steamed, you can now take the lid off (no more shouting I promise), pour the rice into a plastic or wooden bowl. Pour the vinegar solution over the rice, dispersing it evenly. Mix the rice using a cutting motion to avoid squishing (yes, squishing is a perfectly acceptable word) the grains.

Allow to cool. 

As for the actual rolling part, that is something you need to see but make sure to make the rice layer thin and don't press the rice down or squish it too much

Braai (BBQ) time!

Heritage day in South Africa is one of the more lighthearted of our public holidays. It's a day when we celebrate our diversities and how they come together to create a truly unique flavour in South Africa. This past weekend I decided, after a difficult fast that I was braaing (b-rye-ing) and I didn't care that it was raining, I went ahead and prep'd my food and by the time I was ready, the sun came out for just long enough to light up my world as I turned the food on the fire.

Cooksister is hosting an event over on her blog for braai recipes and since the recipe on her anouncement post was sosaties (skewered meat) I have not been able to get the idea out of my head. I decided to do them anyway and just add my own flair. I love lamb, especially when you add the middle eastern spices, I am hooked. I also love rubbery hot cheese and exploring new flavours and so I was left with no other options but to indulge a whole bunch of my loves and pop them all on one plate...but 2 skewers.

Add to that some Israeli favourites, some new ideas and a hungry family, I had a winning combination.

Lamb and Moroccan sausage skewers

What you need:

cubed lamb

red,green,yellow peppers

spicy Moroccan sausages (we made ours but any spicy sausage will do)

paprika

cumin

tumeric

crushed dried garlic

What to do:

Marinate the lamb in the spices. Pop everything onto the skewers how ever you wish. Pop on a hot fire and turn every now and again

Braai cheese and veg skewers

What you need:

red,green,yellow peppers

mushrooms

baby marrow

Lancewood braai cheese

NoMU vegetable Fonds (or any other vegetable stock)

What to do:

Cut the mushrooms in half, cut the baby marrow into pieces about 4cm long. Soak in hot vegetable stock (this makes the veg soft enough that they don't split when skewered). Skewer the veg and cheese as you wish. Braai and serve

These are just the ones I did but the beauty of these is that you can do them according to your taste :) We served ours with some pitas, nafis, freshly baked corn bread (the husband calls it cake bread) and mashawsha

Journey to India Part II - Palak Paneer

Our journey continues with Palak Paneer.

Paneer is an Indian curd cheese. Paneer was accidental invention by Mongols riding their horses carrying milk in Mushki (Bags made of raw-hyde). The heat of desserts and the rennet in the leather turned the milk into Paneer. Making paneer these days takes a little less riding and can be done in your kitchen, not just in the dessert.


I have been threatening to make paneer for years, after I was given a recipe by one of my fellow food bloggers on Food24 blogs. It hasnt happened yet. This paneer I bought from Kebab Mahal in sea point. If you are going to be lazy like me and buy it call around, most places need a day or 2 advance warning. If you cant get your hands on the stuff, buy some haloumi and leave it in fresh water to extract the saltiness 


Spinach really is a very delicious green if done well.  Remember to always wash it well (fill a bowl, in which you will be able to see sand clearly, with water and dump the leave sin. Rinse them in the bowl then put them in a colander and repeat until there is no sand at the bottom of the bowl)


What you need:
250 grams paneer (ask your local indian restaurant if they will see you some) or Haloumi
2 bunches of spinach
3 medium sized onions (finely chopped)
2 medium size tomatoes (finely chopped) OR tomato puree as per convenience
2 green chillies (slit into half)
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ ginger paste
½ garlic paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp chana masala
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Cream or yogurt for garnish

What to do:

Cook the spinach for about 5 minutes in boiling water and grind it to fine paste after it is cold.
Cut the paneer into small cubes and fry till light golden brown (the original recipe said deep fry but I didnt)
Heat the oil in non-stick pan and add the cumin seeds. Wait till it crackles and ensure that it does not burn. Add the chopped onions and green chillies and sauté till the onions are golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for another minute. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and the chana masala powder and sauté for another 1-2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes/tomato puree and stir till the oil separates.
Add the spinach paste to this mixture along with 1 cup water.(Tip: You can use the water used for cooking the spinach)
Add the paneer, garam masala, sugar and salt and cook till you start to see the gravy bubbling. If the gravy seems a bit dry, you can add some more water.
Garnish with some cream or yogurt in the end

The Shopping List


Journey to India part I

Mexico meets Italy - A recipe

This blog post is brought to you by:

Do you know what this is:

Shall I tell you?

Its what I termed "Nachos Lasagne"

see:

What you need:

For the mince layer

1kg mince

1 onion

1 carrot

1 large celery stick

Cayenne pepper

Paprika

3 cloves of garlic

White pepper and salt to taste

For the cheese layer

2 tubs chunky cottage cheese

1 tin mexican style tomatoes

½ small tub plain yoghurt

1½ circles of feta

1-2 tbs milk

For the rest of the layers

Jalapeños

1 bag Nachos Grande

½ bag grated cheddar

½ bag grated mozzarella

What to do:

Put the carrot, onion and celery in a food processor so its chopped very small. Fry it off in a little bit of sunflower oil. Add the mince and continue frying till almost cooked. Add garlic, spices and seasoning and cook for a bit longer until mince is fully cooked. Take off the heat.

Mix together all the cheese layer ingredients adding the milk until you get a nice consistency

Layer:

Start with a layer of cheesyness, followed by nachos and then mince. Top the mince with Jalapeños and repeat. I managed 2 layers in my baking dish. The last 2 layers must be nachos followed by cheese. Put in a hot oven for about 5 minutes then under the grill till brown and bubbly.

Enjoy! 

The Shopping List

Cocacola Chicken (Slimmer style)

When I was a teenager we used to go to a friend of my parents for supper quite often, and most times she made "cocacola chicken". I hadnt had it for years and suddenly I am craving it! So I searched for a recipe, then I searched for how to make it friendlier to the waistline. Unfortunately those who are staying away from Aspartame will have to use regular coke, or cola tonic with soda water.

What you will need -
1 pack chicken pieces
1 can coke zero (I use zero as it is only half aspartame)
4 onions (sliced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs light all gold ketchup (or if you dont have light ketchup mix tomato puree with a bit of water and a little bit of sugar or xylotol)


What to do:
Layer the onion and chicken in an oven dish or tray. 
Mix together all the other ingredients and pour over the chicken
Bake for about 1 to 1½ hours on 180°C


Serve with some boiled baby new potatoes or wild rice.


Shopping List

Chicken Mashroom La la lasagna

I invited a friend over for supper and asked her what she felt like. She said something with cheese so I offered lasagna. Then she asked for it to be with chicken. Perfect. So off I went to shop for what I needed and decided that mushrooms were a must for this project. The result is this:

What you will need -

The chicken mushroom layer:

4 Chicken breasts

2 Large brown mushrooms (diced)

½ an onion (diced)

1 cup milk (I used low fat, you can use any milk or even cream or ideal milk)

basil infused olive oil (or died basil and olive oil)

Jenny Morris Italian herb mix

1 tablespoon flour (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

For the white sauce:

¼ cup lite butter

¼ cup flour

4 cups milk (more or less depending on your dish size and amount of layers)

2 cloves garlic (crushed)

1 tsp mustard powder

Salt and pepper to taste 

The rest:

1 box spinach lasagna

1 cup grated cheddar and mozzarella

What to do -

For the chicken and mushroom layer:

1. Use a nons tick pan with a bit of oil or olive oil spray and cook. Fry the chicken breasts until cooked. Set aside

2. Use a tablespoon of the basil infused olive oil or a tablespoon of olive oil with a teaspoon of dried basil. Throw in the onion and pour about ½ a cup of water in.

3. When the water boils off (the onion should be clear) throw in the mushrooms. Cook for about 1 minute.

4. Add in your milk and let it simmer

3. Cut up the chicken into bite size chunks (At this point you make take chef's tax) and add it to the mushroom sauce, season with italian mix, salt and pepper.

4. When everything else is ready, if the sauce has not thickened add the tablespoon of flour and stir well.

For the white sauce:

1. Melt the butter in a small pot (preferably one with a long handle) then add the flour and stir fast and well.

2. Mix the mustard powder and the garlic in with the milk and add to the pot. Stir as you pour to avoid lumps.

3. Stir well and remove from heat when sauce thickens.

To assemble:

In your dish put down a layer of white sauce, followed by a layer of lasagna and then a layer of chicken and mushroom. Repeat. The top layers should be lasagna, white sauce and then the cheese on top of that. Leave to rest for 30 minutes (If, like me, you leave this to the last minute and dont have time to let the lasagna rest you can do the following. While you are busy with the other parts of the dish soak the lasagna sheets in hot water) While its resting heat the oven up to 190°C. Bake the lasagna until golden brown on top.


 The shopping list

General Something

Some of my readers might know that I am getting married in March 2010 and so I have started trying to lose weight. I started with Sports Science and did well and now I am on Weight Watchers. Before all this I would eat anything and so one of my favourite foods was General Tsao Chicken. I was so happy when I found this recipe from WW for my favourite dish and so I immediately tried it out.

I will say this, it was tasty. It wasn't however the dish I was expecting (maybe the place where I used to eat it used a different dish entirely and this is what General Tsao chicken is supposed to taste like)

Here is the recipe from WW and my alteration in brackets

POINTS® value | 6
Servings |  4
Preparation Time |  20 min
Cooking Time |  10 min
Level of Difficulty |  Moderate

You will need:
¾ cup(s) canned chicken broth, reduced-sodium  (I used 1 Tbsp Thelma chicken soup powder and diluted it in ¾ cup of boiling water)
1½ Tbsp cornstarch 
2 Tbsp sugar 
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce  (I used normal soya sauce, I want to remain healthy and lose weight and low-sodium soya sauce has a lot of added preservatives to make up for less sodium)
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar  (I used rice wine vinegar)
1/2 tsp ground ginger  (I used 1 Tbsp of freshly grated ginger instead)
2 tsp peanut oil 
2 medium scallion(s), chopped  (Those are spring onions for those who dont know)
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced 
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or 1 dried chili pepper, minced  (I used fresh green chillies)
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces  (I floured the chicken as it gives it a nice coating)
2 cup(s) cooked white rice, kept hot  (I used Jasmine rice)
 

What to do:

In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger; set aside.
(I kept the corn starch out until just before adding the mixture to the chicken, it works better)
Heat oil in a wok or large pan over medium-high heat. Add scallions, garlic and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes.
Add reserved sauce and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Serve chicken and sauce over rice.