February 2008 Archives

I read this post this morning and realized I had all these ingredients in my kitchen. I decided to make it for lunch today so I could make some more pizza dough.

I used the trusty dough recipe from smitten kitchen, using half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour.

To caramelize the onions I sliced two whole onions and cooked them over low heat for an hour with 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, and about 1 tsp dried rosemary. They smelled heavenly.



Coming out of the oven, the onions were charred while the crust could have baked a little longer (it was done, just not crispy). I probably should have cooked the onions a little less before baking. A lower oven setting might have been better too. I baked it at 500°F like I usually do with pizzas. My other complaint is that the toppings fell off the pizza when I sliced it. I suppose I should have pressed the onions into the dough before baking it.

It did taste good though, and the dough recipe is perfect. I never should have strayed from it!

Whenever I want to make hard-boiled eggs I have to go searching for directions. I can never seem to remember how long to set the timer for. I seem to recall my mom letting them stand for 23 minutes, but none of the cookbooks or web pages I've consulted agree. Then again, none of them agree with each other either. What it comes down to, I guess, is personal preference. Some people like the yolk just barely set, others like it fully cooked.

I went with Julia Child's method, since I imagine she knew what she was talking about.

The result?



As promised, it peeled very easily, but I would have preferred the yolk cooked a bit more.

I've made lots of pizzas over the last few years, trying out different dough recipes. This one caught my eye because from start to finish it takes less than an hour, perfect for those times when I want pizza but don't feel like dealing with a grumbling stomach while waiting an hour or two for the dough to rise. I suppose this recipe is ok if you really want pizza in a hurry, but if you have the time I'd suggest a different recipe with a longer rise to give it a better flavor. 


» Recipe for Quest for the perfect pizza dough: Part 1

I've been testing out simple cakes and eating them for snacks/desserts/whatever. This one is from the Chocolate & Zucchini Cookbook. Here are the small adjustments I made to it.

• I used my homemade yogurt, of course, which is fat free, instead of whole milk yogurt that Clotilde recommends.
• Substituted zest from a whole lemon for the vanilla extract.
• Left out the rum because I didn't have any.
• Used my 9-inch springform pan instead of the recommended 10-inch pan (turned out fine).

The cake was very good. Some day I might buy some whole milk yogurt just to see what the difference would make. I like the recipe because it's extremely simple - no special equipment needed, just a mixing bowl and a whisk.

I'll have to make Orangette's version again to see which one I like better.


» Recipe for Lemon Yogurt Cake

I made a batch of hummus today and I really like it with Trader Joe's Multigrain Pita Chips with Sesame Seeds. They're a perfect match.

» Hummus recipe» Hummus recipe

For years I made the same granola recipe, one that my Mom got from a friend that I tweaked a little (of course). The past couple times I've made granola, though, I've done some more tweaking, and even tried a completely different recipe. This past run I went back to my original but made a few substitutions: left out the coconut (love it, but can do without all the saturated fat and extra sugar), added some spices, and left out the brown sugar that I had added to the original recipe years ago. I also changed the order of work a bit to try to make everything stick together better.

I would like to try Orangette's version, but that would require some different ingredients that I don't normally have on hand. Maybe someday.


» Recipe for Quest for the perfect granola: Part 1

Assigned to the task of bringing a vegetable dish for a family dinner, I tried to find a seasonal recipe that would please everyone. This was a hit!

The original was just Broccoli Almondine, but since a certain family member won't eat broccoli I decided to add cauliflower. I made a double recipe, which made enough for 10 adults and 2 kids, with a little bit left over. I also halved the amount of butter in the original recipe.


» Recipe for Broccoli & Cauliflower Almondine

This recipe was improvised from start to finish and I was quite pleased with the result. I added the honey at the last minute because it needed something sweet, and while I was growing up we always used to have honey on our cornbread with chili.


» Recipe for Black Bean Chili with Polenta and Honey

Today I made my first batch of scones, ever. I was hungry but didn't have much in the way of breakfast. I felt like eating some kind of baked good, but not something that would be too sweet. I've been curious about scones. I don't recall ever actually eating one. I've always heard they were so dense and dry and hard. But I've also heard that making them yourself can solve all those problems. I did a little searching around for recipes and basically chose the one I could make with what I had on hand, from Joy of Cooking, p.640.

I used the food processor to cut in the butter. I increased the sugar, as recommended for a sweeter scone (still not too sweet though). Instead of the heavy cream I used half & half, because I happened to have some. I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon (could have used a whole tsp) and 1/2 cup raisins and sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top.

The result was flaky without being too dry. The sweetness was perfect.

Next I may try the recipe from The NEW Best Recipe.