Fast & Easy Pizza Crust

FAST & EASY PIZZA CRUST

Lightly grease pizza pan and dust with cornmeal or flour.  Set aside.
Mix together:

• 1 package (2 1/4 tsp.) of yeast
• 1 tsp. of sugar
• 1 cup of warm water

and set aside until Yeast foams (about 10 minutes).  

Then add:

• 2 1/2 cups of unbleached white flour
• 2 TBSP. of olive oil or canola oil
• 1 tsp. of salt

 Mix & knead just until smooth.

Let rest for 5 minutes.

Roll it out to desired size or thickness.

Transfer onto the greased and dusted pizza pan (or cast iron skillet for deep dish).

Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Trisha's Sweet Chili Sauce

TRISHA'S SWEET CHILI SAUCE

Trisha and I were toying around with the idea of Vietnamese spring rolls. So one evening we got together and did it.  I took charge of the rolls and she the sauce.  And I have to admit that her sauce pulled it all together.  Luckily she wrote it down and let me blog it.

In a saucepan bring to a boil:

• 1 2/3 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of vinegar (white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or rice vinegar are fine)

Stir in:

• 1 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 tsp. of ginger powder
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 tsp. of garlic powder
• 1/2 - 2 tsp. of red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 2 TBS. of ketchup
• 2 TBS. of soy sauce
• 3 TBS. of lemon juice

Mix:

• 1/4 cup of cornstarch
• 1/2 cup of cold water

And whisk in with rest of the ingredients stirring frequently until thick.

Serve hot or cold.

D'Anthony's Banana Granola

This Granola is better than anything you'll find in the supermarket.  When he told me that he made it up himself I became intrigued.  Normally I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to granolas but I know that D.A. knows his way around the kitchen (no offence D.A.) but I wasn't expecting anything THAT good. Here's the recipe he gave me...

D'Anthony's Banana Granola

The color is off.
It should be more brown.

Dry ingredients...
14 cups of quick oats.
3 cups of wheat germ.
3 cups of coconut.
1 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds.
1 1/2 cup of sesame seeds.

Wet ingredients...
4 cups of brown sugar.
1 Tbsp. of salt.
1 Tbsp. of vanilla.
1 1/2 cup of water.
1 1/2 cup of oil.
4 ripe bananas.

1. Preheat oven 250 degrees in a convection oven / 300 in a gas oven.
2. Blend together the sugar,salt,vanilla,water & oil.
3. Mix dry and wet ingredients together by hand.
4. Mash & mix in the bananas.
5. Bake 40-60 minutes.  (Don't forget to turn the granola every fifteen minutes or so for even browning.)

D'Anthony -  chef extraordinaire.

Millie's Granola

Millie's Granola

 Mix together:

• 1/2 cup of raw honey
• 1 Tbsp. of vanilla (optional if you replace honey with agave or if honey isn't solidified)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. of warm (liquid) extra virgin coconut oil

Then mix in:

• 6 cups of Whole rolled oats
• 4 pinches of salt
• 1 tsp. of cinnamon 

(If you rather have raw fruits & nuts  with your granola, the following can be added after baking the oats. If not add them now.)

• 2 cups of chopped dates
• 2 cups of raisins
• 1 cup of chopped almonds
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup of sunflower seeds

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Now I'm no expert when it comes to food spoilage however, at room temperature it "should" keep in a sealed glass jar for a good three weeks... but refrigerating is always safer.

The Difference Between Fruit Butters, Jams, Conserves, Jellies, Marmalades, & Preserves

In our modern age I've come to find out that there are people who've never heard of fruit preserves & conserves.  I've even been asked from time to time what the difference is between jam & jelly.  So here are the definitions... 

Fruit Butters

Fruit Butter is made by cooking fruit pulp and sugar to a thick consistency that will spread easily.  Butters are cooked slowly until thick enough to round up on a spoon.

Jelly

Juice strained from fruit is used to make jelly. It is usually crystal clear and shimmering. Jelly is gelatinized enough to hold its shape when removed from the jar, yet soft enough to spread easily.  Flowers that can be made into juice (Sorrel) or tea (Rose-Hip pods & Hibiscus) can be made into jelly by themselves or combined with fruit juice.

Jams

Jams are jellies with crushed or chopped fruit.

Conserves

Conserves are jam-like products made with a combination of two or more fruits, nuts and raisins.  If nuts are used, they can be added during the last five minutes of cooking.

Marmalade

Marmalade is made from the peel & juice of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water.  It contains pieces of fruit and peel in the transparent jelly.  It can be made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots and other citrus fruits, or any combination thereof.  Marmalades are similar in structure to jam. 

(On a personal note I recommend that you google a marmalade recipe & make your own marmalade before buying it because I've heard that the marmalade in stores are flavorless & just bad.  People who've only had store bought marmalade claimed to hate it but loved mine.)

Preserves

Fruit is preserved with sugar so it retains its shape, is transparent, shiny, tender and plump. The syrup varies from the thickness of honey to that of soft jelly. A true preserve does not hold its shape when spooned from the jar.

Dandelion Greens

Yeah, you heard right. Dandelion greens.  Now when  you work on your lawn you can kill two birds with one stone because those ubiquitous weeds that plague your lawns are actually very healthy for you.

The whole plant, root, leaves & bloom provide so much nutrition for severe illnesses that are so common in the United States.  On top of that  there's actually a coffee substitute that can be made by roasting the roots. Different people have easier methods of  roasting the roots, I'd recommend looking at several pages.  The pretty yellow blooms have actually been used for fritters.  But for now let's just stick to the leaves.

Here they are in my default greens recipe with onions, garlic & some soy sauce.

Cooked male dandelion greens.

Now I'm not one for bitter flavors but even though dandelions greens are bitter, they're not offensive.  I found them enjoyable enough that I will eat them again.

I've read that they're not bitter if you pick them in the spring before the flower appears & the leaves mature.  I had just learned about them in the late summer so the ones pictured above were picked after the flowers bloomed.

I recommend them.  If bitter flavors don't suit your pallet, I'd try mixing them with other greens first as there really is nothing like eating well for free.

And just a word of caution, if you're going to pick dandelions from somewhere other than your own property, first make sure that they're not sprayed with chemicals (check with the owner).

Now I don't know how true the following is BUT I was told to only eat the male leaves (the ones that look like lion's teeth).  I wasn't told why, so I did some homework on it & this is what I found...

1. None of the pages I investigated made any reference to leaf genders.
2. All the pages I investigated only showed male leaves for consuming.
3. The only pages that showed female leaves were for illustration about dandelions only.  There were no references regarding consuming dandelions.

There's LOTS of information online on the nutritional value & all the medical benefits contained in these weeds.  For something that's so readily available I'd wager that it would be worth your time to google it.

W O O H O O ! ! !

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