Let your tastebuds dance and sing! (Two pizzas, creamy tomatoes and cupcakes!)
Okay. So. I am a wee bit tipsy and will attempt to not make any typos, b/c, you know, I don't like them. But I have been cooking up a storm all weekend and I have to share w/ you! B/c EVERYTHING WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
Pictures and recipes under the cut! Exceptin' for the Pear & Leek Chicken b/c I forgot to take pics! But I have included the recipe. And the recipe for the Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes b/c I am a lazy ass. But I'll make a deal w/ you, and you don't even have to kiss me at the crossroads. If you want this recipe, send me one of those LJ direct message thingies w/ your email address, and I'll email it to you. B/c Imma gonna PDF it. And I don't know how to add a PDF to my LJ. But I do need to say, the Pear & Leek Chicken was PHENOMENAL, regardless of its lack of pics! I want to marry it. Many thanks to amand_r for sending me the pizza, tomato and chicken recipes. They were perfect!
Tonight adjovi came over and we feasted on tomatoes a la creme, nectarine & prosciutto pizza, eggplant parm pizza, and Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes. Behold the wonder!
Let's start w/ the tomatoes a la creme, b/c I served it as an appetizer. I used these brown tomatoes I saw at the grocery store and wondered to myself, "Self, I wonder how those brown tomatoes will taste?" Well, after this recipe, I can't honestly say. B/c I had them fried w/ cream. And what does not taste divine after it's been fried w/ cream? Anyone? Bueller?
So here's how you make it. You take your tomatoes (I used four; use however many you want) and slice them in half, then poke the rounded humps (heh, I said "rounded humps") w/ your knife. Melt a slab of butter in your frying pan, then add the tomatoes, flat side down and cook for five minutes. I had it around medium heat. Flip the tomatoes over and cook for ten more minutes.
Cooking tomatoes! Cook, tomatoes! COOK!
Flip 'em again, let juices seep out, and flip a final time so the flat side is down and your slightly squashed rounded humps are up. Heh. Sorry. Then add 3 oz. heavy cream (which is what I used) or creme la fraice (sp). I didn't buy the fancy shit b/c it was hella expensive in comparison and I have nothing else to use the remaining for. (Though I'm totally making this recipe again on Tuesday, so there goes that theory.) Anyhow, cook until the cream bubbles, then serve immediately and nom your little heart out. So awesome. Dig it:
Onto the pizza! We had ADVENTURES w/ the pizza. See, it's supposed to be grilled. Not only do I not have a grill, it's March and raining out. So I had to improvise. I started w/ the dough, which included wheat flour, corn meal, and regular flour. B/c adjovi was gonna come over, I needed to vacuum. The yeast, salt and sugar was supposed to dissolve and get foamy in hot-ish water for five minutes, and I thought I'd vacuum during that time. Well, I don't know what I was thinking b/c it takes longer than that to vacuum! So this shit became a living organism. Check it out:
Gah! No big whoops, though, as the crust turned out just fine. It startled me, that's all! So then I added the flour, kneaded it, and let it rise for an hour. In the meantime, I cut up toppings and M shredded cheese. Here are my delish toppings. I'm a self-centered little doobie, apparently, b/c I did not photograph her stunning grating job. Oh, the shame!
Then it was time to roll out the crust. I rolled that sucker! Into a drunkard's circle.
And then I came to a dilemma. Remember what I said about the grill? Well, we thought we could use the broiler. WE THOUGHT WRONG! WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Word to the wise, do not use a broiler w/ this recipe. Just cook the crust for about 4 minutes at 400, put the toppings on, and cook at 400 until the cheese is all melty goodness. This is what happens when you try to use the broiler:
It was on fire when I pulled it out. See, it rose. Due to the yeast. Le sigh. Anyhow, I cut it out and proceeded w/ the eggplant parm recipe. It was super duper delish!
You're probably thinking, "What's all that fresh mozzarella doing on it? The recipe doesn't call for that!" I know it didn't. I improved it, okay? Why use one cheese when you can use two?
Finished product! Looked like the fairies had already gotten to it. Nope, just the oven. Damn, it was a fine pizza. Also, leftovers! Score!
And onto the nectarine and prosciutto pizza, which I have to admit, I was a little leery of. Nectarine on a pizza? Blue cheese and provolone w/ no mozzarella in sight? Meat on my pizza?! One can totally make this veg and leave off the prosciutto. But we did not:
My, check out that circle! I have talent, yes I do. In my defense, that was a couple rum and cokes in (I'm a lightweight, okay!) and my pan was totally not circular.
W/ dinner down, let's move on to dessert, shall we? I made Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes. Vegan, natch. They were yummy! Lot's of funky things in them: flaxseeds, almond meal, corn meal, cayenne pepper. But they're not weird, promise! Here's the coconut milk and ground flaxseed combo:
Mmmmm, thick, creamy coconut milk. W/ ground flaxseeds. It looks just like thick, creamy ... coconut milk w/ ground flaxseeds.
Honestly, this batter was probably the thickest cake batter I've ever seen. The spoons were in no danger of falling. And look at the little ones in their mini liners! Darling!
And the finished product! I topped them w/ chocolate ganache. A few I made big, but most are mini size b/c I have to take them to work and there are lotsa people. Anyhow, I am willing to email the recipe iffin you want it.
(Saturday night I made the pear and leek chicken. I did not photograph it. Woe! It was awesome, though. Four things about it: the ingredients are cheap, it took less than half an hour to cook, it's fairly healthy, and it is quite tasty! The recipe says to serve w/ quinoa and broccoli. Well, I haven't found a quinoa thing I would buy again, so I made mashed potatoes and asparagus. B/c I wanted asparagus. Also, my current jelly was black currant jelly w/ no sugar or preservatives added. It tasted great w/ this dish, but I will warn you that it turned the sauce slightly purple. If you wanted to use a different type of jelly, I would suggest something apple-y or peach-y. At one store, there was no currant jelly w/out added sugar or high fructose corn syrup, but at the other I found this currant jelly w/ no added sugar or syrups, and it was cheaper. So keep your eyes peeled.)
Recipe links here! Again, lazy ass, so they're not pretty. But they work!
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/nectarine_prosciutto_pizza.html
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/eggplant_parmesan_pizza.html
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_thighs_with_pear_leek_sauce.html
Have an awesome evening! Thanks again amand_r for the recipes and adjovi for coming over and helping eat them! Eat healthy and yummy crap, everyone! Tootles.
Pictures and recipes under the cut! Exceptin' for the Pear & Leek Chicken b/c I forgot to take pics! But I have included the recipe. And the recipe for the Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes b/c I am a lazy ass. But I'll make a deal w/ you, and you don't even have to kiss me at the crossroads. If you want this recipe, send me one of those LJ direct message thingies w/ your email address, and I'll email it to you. B/c Imma gonna PDF it. And I don't know how to add a PDF to my LJ. But I do need to say, the Pear & Leek Chicken was PHENOMENAL, regardless of its lack of pics! I want to marry it. Many thanks to amand_r for sending me the pizza, tomato and chicken recipes. They were perfect!
Tonight adjovi came over and we feasted on tomatoes a la creme, nectarine & prosciutto pizza, eggplant parm pizza, and Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes. Behold the wonder!
Let's start w/ the tomatoes a la creme, b/c I served it as an appetizer. I used these brown tomatoes I saw at the grocery store and wondered to myself, "Self, I wonder how those brown tomatoes will taste?" Well, after this recipe, I can't honestly say. B/c I had them fried w/ cream. And what does not taste divine after it's been fried w/ cream? Anyone? Bueller?
So here's how you make it. You take your tomatoes (I used four; use however many you want) and slice them in half, then poke the rounded humps (heh, I said "rounded humps") w/ your knife. Melt a slab of butter in your frying pan, then add the tomatoes, flat side down and cook for five minutes. I had it around medium heat. Flip the tomatoes over and cook for ten more minutes.
Cooking tomatoes! Cook, tomatoes! COOK!
Flip 'em again, let juices seep out, and flip a final time so the flat side is down and your slightly squashed rounded humps are up. Heh. Sorry. Then add 3 oz. heavy cream (which is what I used) or creme la fraice (sp). I didn't buy the fancy shit b/c it was hella expensive in comparison and I have nothing else to use the remaining for. (Though I'm totally making this recipe again on Tuesday, so there goes that theory.) Anyhow, cook until the cream bubbles, then serve immediately and nom your little heart out. So awesome. Dig it:
Onto the pizza! We had ADVENTURES w/ the pizza. See, it's supposed to be grilled. Not only do I not have a grill, it's March and raining out. So I had to improvise. I started w/ the dough, which included wheat flour, corn meal, and regular flour. B/c adjovi was gonna come over, I needed to vacuum. The yeast, salt and sugar was supposed to dissolve and get foamy in hot-ish water for five minutes, and I thought I'd vacuum during that time. Well, I don't know what I was thinking b/c it takes longer than that to vacuum! So this shit became a living organism. Check it out:
Gah! No big whoops, though, as the crust turned out just fine. It startled me, that's all! So then I added the flour, kneaded it, and let it rise for an hour. In the meantime, I cut up toppings and M shredded cheese. Here are my delish toppings. I'm a self-centered little doobie, apparently, b/c I did not photograph her stunning grating job. Oh, the shame!
Then it was time to roll out the crust. I rolled that sucker! Into a drunkard's circle.
And then I came to a dilemma. Remember what I said about the grill? Well, we thought we could use the broiler. WE THOUGHT WRONG! WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Word to the wise, do not use a broiler w/ this recipe. Just cook the crust for about 4 minutes at 400, put the toppings on, and cook at 400 until the cheese is all melty goodness. This is what happens when you try to use the broiler:
It was on fire when I pulled it out. See, it rose. Due to the yeast. Le sigh. Anyhow, I cut it out and proceeded w/ the eggplant parm recipe. It was super duper delish!
You're probably thinking, "What's all that fresh mozzarella doing on it? The recipe doesn't call for that!" I know it didn't. I improved it, okay? Why use one cheese when you can use two?
Finished product! Looked like the fairies had already gotten to it. Nope, just the oven. Damn, it was a fine pizza. Also, leftovers! Score!
And onto the nectarine and prosciutto pizza, which I have to admit, I was a little leery of. Nectarine on a pizza? Blue cheese and provolone w/ no mozzarella in sight? Meat on my pizza?! One can totally make this veg and leave off the prosciutto. But we did not:
My, check out that circle! I have talent, yes I do. In my defense, that was a couple rum and cokes in (I'm a lightweight, okay!) and my pan was totally not circular.
W/ dinner down, let's move on to dessert, shall we? I made Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes. Vegan, natch. They were yummy! Lot's of funky things in them: flaxseeds, almond meal, corn meal, cayenne pepper. But they're not weird, promise! Here's the coconut milk and ground flaxseed combo:
Mmmmm, thick, creamy coconut milk. W/ ground flaxseeds. It looks just like thick, creamy ... coconut milk w/ ground flaxseeds.
Honestly, this batter was probably the thickest cake batter I've ever seen. The spoons were in no danger of falling. And look at the little ones in their mini liners! Darling!
And the finished product! I topped them w/ chocolate ganache. A few I made big, but most are mini size b/c I have to take them to work and there are lotsa people. Anyhow, I am willing to email the recipe iffin you want it.
(Saturday night I made the pear and leek chicken. I did not photograph it. Woe! It was awesome, though. Four things about it: the ingredients are cheap, it took less than half an hour to cook, it's fairly healthy, and it is quite tasty! The recipe says to serve w/ quinoa and broccoli. Well, I haven't found a quinoa thing I would buy again, so I made mashed potatoes and asparagus. B/c I wanted asparagus. Also, my current jelly was black currant jelly w/ no sugar or preservatives added. It tasted great w/ this dish, but I will warn you that it turned the sauce slightly purple. If you wanted to use a different type of jelly, I would suggest something apple-y or peach-y. At one store, there was no currant jelly w/out added sugar or high fructose corn syrup, but at the other I found this currant jelly w/ no added sugar or syrups, and it was cheaper. So keep your eyes peeled.)
Recipe links here! Again, lazy ass, so they're not pretty. But they work!
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/nectarine_prosciutto_pizza.html
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/eggplant_parmesan_pizza.html
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_thighs_with_pear_leek_sauce.html
Have an awesome evening! Thanks again amand_r for the recipes and adjovi for coming over and helping eat them! Eat healthy and yummy crap, everyone! Tootles.