Margherita Pizza - Joe finds his inner Italian

The basil in the garden was ready for picking which was handy because Joe suggested Margherita pizza for the menu this week. So, I dug up a pizza dough recipe that I have been wanting to try and we made it an event of it.

Again, I used Gwenth's recipe for the pizza sauce. It was super easy and turned out creamy and delish. See the pizza dough in the background, already rising.

After about an hour the dough is ready and Joe sets out to roll out the dough, channeling his inner Italian.

With the dough rolled out, he starts on the first pizza.
She's a beauty!

I try the tossing method. It was easier than I thought!

Please disregard my evil red eyes. Dang flash!

Matthew lends a helping hand. He loves to make a mess/pizza.

Joe's finished masterpiece! We both agreed that we went too light with the basil, could have used more~ but it was really tasty all the same. I'll definitely try it topped with arugula next time.

Carson isn't much of an eater, but finished managed to his plate for the first time in a long time.

Matthew approved!
Is there anything more perfect than pizza from scratch! And boys that actually enjoy their dinner. It was so delicious, and I have leftover dough and sauce for calzones and another Greco dinner adventure. Stay tuned!

Kubideh (Beef)

Joe made dinner tonight. Beef kubidah patties with naan. I made the tzatzkiki sauce. The kubidah smelled delicious on the grill pan, and tasted as good as it smelled. I've always loved "street food". Even super picky Dylan ate it up, with ketchup, but still.

Kubideh is an Iranian minced meat kabab or patty.

1 lb ground sirloin

1 egg

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 tsp salt

1/2 tblspn turmeric

1/2 tblspn cinnamon

1/2 tspn black pepper

1/4 tblspn baking powder

naan bread or pita pockets

Basil leaves

Mint leaves

Sliced onion

1/ Warm naan in preheated oven.

2/ Combine meat, egg, parsley, onion, salt, turmeric, cinnamon, pepper and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix well.

3/ With wet hands, roll mixture into balls or if making patties roll into a ball the size of your palm. Flatten to the length of your hand. using your fingers, press dimples into the surface of one side. Repeat with remaining mixure.

4/ Cook over medium-high heat on a grill pan, 4 minutes on each side.

5/ Place warm meat on naan. Add basil and mint leaves, and sliced onion. Fold naan over toppings. Eat!

*I liked mine with tzatziki sauce and some sriracha sauce for a little heat.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Here is Dylan trying out his new chopsticks, one of his stocking stuffers from Christmas.

You can find these kid friendly chopsticks at Hog Wild. They have many fun designs!

"Pineapple" Soup

Delicious for when you're craving a sweet & sour soup.

Start with a Tamarind soup base from Knorr's. Add fish sauce, pineapple, sugar to taste, cilantro, fresh tomatoes and fish of your choice, I used shrimp (cod is good too). Serve over rice and garnish with bean sprouts, cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Easy peasy!

A childhood favorite of mine!

Dinner at Le Colonial (otherwise known as my most favorite restaurant of all time!)

What a gorgeous couple!

Grilling Season is upon us!!

Check back for my review of the new McCormick Grill Mates seasonings and marinades. The Tuscan Sun Dried Tomato marinade will be perfect for all our grilled veggies! Can't wait to grill. Now if it would stop raining on the weekends!

Sushi 101

I tried making sushi again. Refreshing my memory with tips and recipes from the Education Center at the Food Service Warehouse site.

Instead of making sushi rice from scratch (always a daunting task for me!) I cheated a little and used some leftover brown rice I had. Just added sushi vinegar to it and it was acceptable. Not easy to work with but I thought it tasted great.

I also tried shrimp and vegetable tempura. Super yum. Joe really enjoyed it.

My mis en pas. All the ingredients ready to go.

Prepping the brown rice. Using a wooden rice spoon and wooden bowl helps absorb excess moisture from the rice.

California roll ready to be rolled on the sushi mat.

I used crab with a "k". My apologies. But fresh crab isn't in our budget!

California roll.

Tempura batter and panko crumbs ready. I read once that the chef at Nobu suggests making the batter as cold as you can so that your tempura is light and crispy. Martha Stewart actually adds ice cubes into her batter. 

The batter recipe was basically:

- 1 cup all purpose flour

-1 egg

- 1.5 cups ice cold water

- 1 tsp Baking soda

After dipping the shrimp/veggies in the batter, I then rolled it in panko.

The panko adds an extra crunch that I love.

Shrimp cleaned and deveined and veggies ready to go. I try to use vegetables that will hold up to frying.

Temperature of the oil is important. You don't want it too hot and burn everything before it has a chance to cook through and you don't want it too cool so that the tempura becomes greasy. 340F- 360F is a good temp. Remember that the oil temp will drop once the food is added to the oil, so keep the thermometer handy so that you can gauge the oil temp.

I love my "spider" spoon. Great for skimming and fishing out food from hot oil. Fry the veggies first then the shrimp. That way your oil isn't fishy, making the veggies fishy.

Shrimp tempura rolls. My favorite maki roll!

Tempura ready to eat. SO good. 

I used a store bought tempura dipping sauce and it was very tasty. So much easier than making from scratch.