REAL Pizza Dough!

After a decade of trying recipe after recipe I have finally found a good AMAZING pizza dough!  Hallelujah!  I found this King Arthur blog post that walks you through all the steps, but I broke it down for my printed recipe.  Here's the original post if you want to take a look: https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2015/01/05/best-pizza-youll-ever-make/?go=ETW16F2_B1&trk_msg=4N2J85VUPEUK323ERNBJK1IQKC&trk_contact=8JLPT4O9CS4MJGMJ6KBOKMQPNS&trk_module=wel&trk_sid=58SQ436S52T10O76KEVGDN9EB8&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=http%%202f%2fwww.kingarthurflour.com%2fshop%2flanding.jsp%3fgo%3dETW16F2_B1&utm_campaign=welcome&utm_content=step2-recipes-blogs

This dough doesn't make a dense crust, but an airy, chewy piece of perfection.  Thin in the middle and thick on the edge.  So yummy!  I am so glad I tried this because I had all but given up on homemade pizza... my family all complained when I made it and my kids said they'd prefer Little Caesar's haha!  This dough is definitely a game changer.

Also, I didn't let my dough rest for the full 24 hours, as recommended, but I did let it rest for 5 and that worked well.

Pizza Dough (King Arthur – PERFECT)

500g Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (approximately 4 cups + 2 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
4g granulated sugar (1 teaspoon)
16g salt (2 1/2 teaspoons)
370g lukewarm water (1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons)

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the water. Stir until just combined – the dough will look lumpy and might be too moist at this point.  Remove dough hook and cover with towel.  Let sit for at least 5 hours and up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 475-500 degrees with pizza stone inside.

Transfer dough onto well-floured silicone mat and cut into four even pieces.  Stretch each piece and refold back onto itself (like you’re shaping a roll).  Put dough into bowls and cover loosely with towel.  Let rise in warm place (oven that was preheated to warm and then turned off works well) for 45-60 minutes.

On well-floured silicone mat, lay each piece of dough flat and poke holes all around the middle of the dough (not piercing through all the way) – don’t touch the edge of the dough.  This will allow the crust to remain thick and bubbly.

Lift the dough and, using your knuckles, begin to pass the dough back and forth between your hands to gently stretch the middle.  Stretch it until it is about 12 inches in diameter.  Place dough on sheet of parchment paper and trim parchment around edge of dough.

Add sauce and toppings and transfer to pizza stone (including parchment paper).  Bake for around 8-12 minutes, or until dough is light to medium brown around edges.

Cullohill Apple Pie

We have decided that the Irish win with apple pie! This is the second Irish apple pie we've tried and it is as delicious as the first one we tried! (I put that link because you should all try both of them!)
My favorite thing about this one was the crust because it was easy and flaky and delicious. (You cream the butter! Hooray!) Kelton was happy that the pie didn't have any of that "gooey" stuff (no thickener added to the apples). I just put two whole cloves on top of the apples and then pulled them out when I cut the pie. The recipe is from a cute Irish blog: Nessa's Family Kitchen.

Cullohill Apple Pie / Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients
Pastry
8 ozs (225g/2 sticks) butter
2 ozs (55g/1/3 cup) castor sugar
2 eggs, preferably free range
12 ozs (340g/2½ cups) white flour, preferably unbleached
Filling
1½ lbs (675g) Bramley Seedling cooking apples
5 ozs (140g/2/3 cup) sugar
2-3 cloves
egg wash-made with one beaten egg and a dash of milk
Caster sugar for sprinkling

Tin, 7 inches (18cm) x 12 inches (30.5cm) x 1 inch (2.5cm) deep

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.


2. First make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer (no need to over cream). Add the eggs and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle.


3. To make the tart, roll out the pastry 1/8 inch (3mm) thick approx., and use about 2/3 of it to line a suitable tin. Peel, quarter and dice the apples into the tart, sprinkle with sugar and add the cloves. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. When cooked cut into squares, sprinkle lightly with castor sugar and serve with softly whipped cream and barbados sugar.

   Rhubarb Pie

Make in exactly the same way but use approx. 900g (2lbs) sliced red rhubarb (about 1/2 inch thick) and approx. 370g (13oz) sugar. Also combine the rhubard with 1 tbsp cornflour, to soak up some of the juices. If you have some strawberries add a few as they are delicious in this tart with the rhubarb.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Homemade Hot Chocolate

2/3 C sugar

1/3 C unsweetened cocoa

1/8 tsp salt

1 C water

5 ½ cups milk or half and half

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1 Tbsp vanilla

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and salt; add water.  Cook and stir over medium high heat until mixture boils.  Boil and stir 2 more minutes.  Reduce heat to low or medium low and add milk and evaporated milk.  Slowly warm, but do not boil (do not heat too quickly or milk will curdle).  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Serve hot.

EASY CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

We tried this tonight and loved it!  The sauce is especially delicious.

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/chicken-cordon-bleu-the-easy-way/

EASY CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

FOR THE CORDON BLEU:

·         3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half length-wise (to form two thinner chicken breast cutlets)

·         Salt and pepper

·         12 slices deli ham

·         6-8 slices Swiss cheese (6 to 8 ounces)

·         1 cup bread crumbs (I prefer panko in this recipe)

·         2 tablespoons butter, melted

FOR THE PARMESAN-DIJON CREAM SAUCE:

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         1 cup milk

·         1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (or 1 bouillon cube, crushed)

·         1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

·         1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

·         1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray set aside.

2.      Lay the cut chicken breasts in a single layer in the 9X13-inch dish. Lightly sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

3.      Layer each chicken breast with two slices of ham and top with 2 slices of swiss cheese, shingling across the chicken breast to make sure the entire piece of chicken is covered with ham and cheese. Toss the bread crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle the mixture over the top of the chicken.

4.      Bake the chicken for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through completely, the cheese is bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden.

5.       For the sauce, while the chicken bakes, in a medium saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in the flour, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking quickly to avoid lumps.

6.      Stir in the chicken bouillon granules. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken, about 3-5 minutes.

7.       Once the sauce has bubbled and thickened, remove from heat and stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Keep the sauce warm until the chicken is finished baking. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed.

8.      Serve each chicken cordon bleu portion with warm sauce.

NOTES:

Make Ahead Instructions: Assemble the chicken, ham and cheese according to the recipe. Store the prepared bread crumb/butter mixture in a resealable plastic bag or other container. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and store it and the bread crumb mixture in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours. When ready to bake, sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and bake according to the recipe, adding anywhere from 5-15 extra minutes since it was refrigerated prior to baking. Make the sauce while the casserole bakes or make it ahead of time, let it cool, and store it covered in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, reheating over low heat and whisking to recombine before serving.

Perfect Steel-Cut Oats

I have been wanting to try steel-cut oats for YEARS and I finally put it on my menu this week.  They were delish!  I just served them with brown sugar, apples and walnuts - our usual oatmeal toppings.

Perfect Steel-Cut Oats

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup milk of choice: almond milk, cow’s milk, coconut milk, etc.
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or unsalted butter
• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Optional mix-ins: ground spices like cinnamon, dried fruit like cranberries or chopped dates, toasted chopped nuts like walnuts, diced apples, etc.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large saucepan, combine the water and milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. In the meantime, melt the coconut oil (or butter) in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the oats and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, around 2 minutes. This toasting step greatly enhances the flavor of the oats.
2. Stir the oats into the simmering water/milk mixture. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is very thick.
3. Stir in the salt. Continue to simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally and reducing heat as necessary to prevent scorching on the bottom, until almost all of the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. (If you have doubled the recipe, your oatmeal might need an extra 5 minutes cooking time here.) The oatmeal will be very creamy when it’s done.
4. Remove from heat and stir in any mix-ins that you’d like. Let the oatmeal rest for 5 minutes before serving so it has more time to thicken up and cool down a palatable temperature.
5. Portion oatmeal into bowls and add any toppings you’d like to portions that you intend to serve immediately. Let any extra oatmeal cool completely before covering and refrigerating for future breakfasts.

https://cookieandkate.com/2016/perfect-steel-cut-oats-recipe/

Keow Neow Ma Muang

Becky asked me to post the sticky rice with mango recipe and I had a little panic attack when I couldn't find it in my cookbook... how did I not save the recipe?  Honestly.  Then I remembered that it's really quite easy to make.

Instead of an actual "recipe", I'll just give you instructions:

Soak sticky rice (glutinous, long grain rice) in water several hours (I usually do this overnight).  Steam the rice until tender and sticky (if you take it off the steam too soon it won't be sticky, even if it's tender enough to eat).
Now you have two options - you can just pour coconut milk and sugar over individual bowls of sticky rice (this shouldn't be soupy, but it also shouldn't be dry... and just add the sugar to taste), or you can make the following:

3/4 C coconut milk
1/3 C sugar (or more, to taste)
pinch of salt

Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves and pour over rice (again, since I didn't give you a specific measurement of sticky rice to use, just separate into individual serving bowls and pour on enough that it's wet, but not soupy).  Let this sit for about 30 minutes to soak up the flavor.
Top with additional coconut milk and sugar and sliced fresh mango.

I actually haven't tried the cooking method, but I think I will next time because I think it will give it a better texture and a stronger flavor.

Creamy Mac & Cheese

I love Noodles & Co's mac 'n cheese.  I haven't been able to find an exact recipe, but this is the closest that I've come.  It's definitely a lot creamier than most other homemade mac & cheese recipes.  It's also really quick and easy.

SKILLET CREAMY MACARONI AND CHEESE

PREP TIME: 10 MINS

 

COOK TIME: 9-12 MINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 1/2 cups water, plus extra if needed
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 12 ounces (about 3 cups) elbow macaroni
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
• 6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small chunks
• Ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring 3 1/2 cups water, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, the macaroni, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring often, until the macaroni is tender and the liquid has thickened, 9 to 12 minutes.
2. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk, the cornstarch, mustard and hot sauce together in a small bowl, then stir into the skillet. Continue to simmer slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
3. Off the heat, stir in the cheddar and Monterey Jack, one handful at a time, adding water as needed to adjust the consistency of the sauce (I didn’t need any additional water when I made it). Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

NOTES:

Ham and Pea Variation: Follow the recipe, adding 4 ounces deli-style baked ham, diced medium, and 1/2 cup frozen peas to the skillet with the cornstarch mixture in step 2.

All images and text ©Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Recipe Permalink: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/skillet-creamy-macaroni-and-cheese/