Homemade Pizza

My mother taught me to make pizza. When I was growing up, it was a tradition to have it on New Year's Eve. That was it... only once a year. (Do you hear that Robbie, Ryan and Kellen?)

Crust

1 T yeast
2-3 C warm water (depends how much pizza you want to make)
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 C melted butter
1 egg
flour (I could give an amount here... but I have no idea... let's just say 5-6 C at least.)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, sugar, butter and egg. Mix. Start adding flour - stirring to mix it in thoroughly. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until dough forms. (Keep adding flour if it's sticky.)Let dough rise until it doubles in size. (Thankfully, I have a bread proofing setting on my oven. That shortens the time considerably.)

note: I plan on editing this blog the next time I make pizza. I'll add a video of the dough making process.

Divide the dough and roll into the shape of the pan/s you have. I typically make 4 cookie sheets of pizza. Place the stretched dough onto a greased cookie sheet and press into the corners.

Pizza Sauce - you've got a couple of options here. You can either make your own or buy sauce. I do both - I either use Pizza Quick or make my own using tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, oregano, and other various Italian seasonings.

Toppings - this is where the fun starts! You can throw on anything you like - pepperoni, sausage, green or black olives, mushrooms, green pepper, chopped bacon, ham, broccoli... you get the idea! Put mozzarella on top and bake in a preheated 350F oven. It will take 20-30 minutes. A good time to check is when you start to smell it. Use a spatula to lift up the crust and check for doneness. You want to make sure it's crispy.

Cut and serve! Happy New Year!

Sugar Cookies

I have my sister-in-law, Julie to thank for this recipe. Her Christmas cookies were the first I'd ever seen with such meticulous decorating. It takes a little practice, but with the right frosting consistency, you can whip these out with experience. It took me about an hour to decorate about 5 dozen cookies. I made these for Wiley's Halloween party at school.

Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe:

3/4 C shortening (at least part butter)
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix well shortening, sugar, eggs and flavoring. Blend dry ingredients; Stir together. Roll 1/8" thick on floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes.

Frosting

1/4 C softened butter
1/2 t salt
2 t vanilla
3 C powdered sugar
1/4 C milk

Combine butter, salt, vanilla and 1 C sugar. Add remaining sugar and milk alternately. Mix until smooth and creamy. Drop in food coloring.

note: I often double both recipes and they turn out fine.

Chicken Pot Pie

I need to thank Rhonda Marlowe (she has a different last name now, but I'm afraid I don't know it,) for this recipe. She taught me to make chicken pot pie when their family lived with us briefly when they moved to CT... way back in '86.

I'm going to be a little vague for the precise amounts here because I've never really measured anything and most of you don't have to cook for an army like I do, so you'd need to cut the amounts down anyway. Here goes...

potatoes - peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
carrots - peeled and sliced into 1/4" slices
1 can of peas
1 can of cream of chicken soup
cooked chicken (rotisserie chickens are great for this recipe)
chicken broth
salt and pepper
onion

note: pre-cook potatoes and carrots in a pot of boiling water for 7-8 minutes. Drain and then add everything together in one big bowl. Pour into casserole dish.

Make sure the mixture has plenty of liquid so it doesn't get too dry.




Crust:

1 stick of melted butter
1 C flour
add milk until you get the consistency of pancakes



Bake at 350F for about an hour. Crust will turn golden brown when it's done.

Mississippi Chicken

I developed this recipe after eating a fabulous meal at Michael's Restaurant in Agawam, MA. Basically, it's an alfredo sauce with a few additions. Although it has diced jalapenos in it, you can decide for yourself if you want them. I usually separate some of the sauce (for the little boys) before adding them.

1 stick butter
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/4 tsp white pepper
3 C heavy cream
1 C whole milk
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 C Mozzarella cheese
1 package sliced mushrooms
fresh spinach
diced grilled chicken (easy to cook ahead...or you could use rotisserie chicken)
Chopped jalapenos (I use around 1 T)
1 pound angel hair pasta (or whatever kind you prefer)

Saute mushrooms in 1 T butter and put aside. Melt remaining butter in skillet. Add the garlic. cream, milk, white pepper. Bring to a simmer and stir often. Add the Parmesan cheese and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and is smooth. Add the Mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth. Stir frequently. Add the fresh spinach. After it wilts, add the mushrooms, diced chicken and jalapenos. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta.

Sorry For the Absence...

Sorry it's been so long since I blogged - but a.) When the "cat's" away, the "mouse" doesn't cook. (The cat was in NJ) and b.) a few of my recipes weren't "blog worthy."

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This is a good coffee cake recipe that can be made ahead.

2 sticks softened butter
2 C sugar
2 eggs
1 C sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Topping: Mix together 1/2 chopped pecans, 1 T cinnamon, 2 T brown sugar


Blend butter and sugar. Add eggs. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating gradually. Add sour cream and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Sprinkle half of topping mixture in the bottom of a greased and floured tube pan. Pour 1/2 cake mixture on topping. Sprinkle topping on batter.



Add remaining cake mixture. Smooth mixture with spoon; sprinkle any remaining topping on top of batter. Bake at 350F for approximately 60 minutes. Test with toothpick.