Square Pizza - Two ways

I know I've already posted a recipe on some pizza I've made a while back but I figure, 

who doesn't love pizza.

I mean, really..

who doesn't LOVE pizza?

Bread, tomatos and cheese.

Sounds like heaven to me.

So I decided to post a couple more that I made for some friends.

~notice that only half of the BBQ Chicken pizza has chicken on it.
of course I wanted some, too!  so I left half 'vegetarian' so I could indulge as well~ 

As much as we all love the basics on our pizza,
 sometimes, there has got to be more than just tomatoes and cheese on your pizza.

Sometimes,
just sometimes...

there is BBQ sauce.

And chicken (if you fancy that sort of thing).

And sometimes, there is even cilantro and red onions.

In that case, we are talking about a BBQ Chicken Pizza which I'm pretty sure WOW's just about any one that you will be cooking this for.

People go nuts for this pizza.

It happens everytime I make it!

It's probably one of the easier pizza's you will ever make.

You buy your favorite BBQ sauce (or you can make it if you want to one up me on this one),

you roast or saute some of your favorite chicken (then shred it), you buy your favorite mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, cilantro, and red onions.

Then you spread it all on your pizza and you won't believe the flavor explosion!

It's absolutely delicious.

No.

Lie.

All men, women, children and pets will FLIP for this pizza.

Serious.

Then there's my personal favorite.

The Vegetarian.

I actually never like the vegetarian pizzas from pizza joints because they always seem to overflow their pizzas with all kinds of random veggies that I don't enjoy all at once.

And the veggies never seem to be cooked all the way.

And they are all watery and rubbery and ... blech.

Like for example, bell peppers on a pizza, in my opinion, are not ok.

I mean, I guess if they are roasted and caramelized and sweet and put with some goat cheese then it would be good.

But most places just throw the bell peppers on there and they come out all bitter and terrible.

Ewww.

So when I make a vegetarian pizza, I like to put just a few veggies on top as to not overwhelm the flavors of everything else the pizza has going on. 

Cuz believe me, this pizza has got FLAYYY-VAAA!

Here, I put zucchini, mushrooms and asparagus.

Before I bake the pizza, I do a couple of things...

I like to saute the mushrooms before topping them on the pizza and baking it. 

The zucchini I slice up pretty thinly and put on raw.

The asparagus is really thin and I cut it once in half before placing it on top. 

I put sun dried tomatoes on top for an extra little tang and then my favorite pizza is ready for the oven.
I bake it for about 15-20 minutes on 475, or until the dough is cooked through and the cheese is bubbly and golden.

When it comes out, I top it with freshly grated parmigiana reggiano cheese and freshly torn basil.

yum.

yum.

With pizzas, the possibilities are endless.

I used part skim mozzarella cheese and fontina.

I made my dough with this recipe minus the toppings.

I made a quick and easy tomato sauce like this:

I roasted about 5-7 tomatoes cut up, 1 sliced onion, 3 garlic cloves in olive oil with salt and pepper.

Put it all on a baking sheet on 500 degrees until tomatoes and onions are soft and caramelized, about 10-15 minutes.

Take it out and sprinkle some fresh or dried oregano and basil on top and puree the whole thing in a food processor.  Then slather it all over the fresh dough.

When I'm entertaining with pizza, I like to bake them on a baking sheet.

That way I get lots of pizza without having to roll out lots of individual round ones.

It cooks up beautifully, too.

And after all, square pizza is a fun change!

Be a square!

one of my favorite things.

the microplane.

this.

for realzeeezz.

is one of my favorite tools in my kitchen.

i can zest and grate just about anything with this gem.
fresh nutmeg, chocolate, cheese, citrus...
i absolutely love this thing and use it all the time.
if you haven't yet tried zesting any kind of citrus (lemons, limes, oranges) into your recipes that call for the juice of them, then you really aren't experiencing the full potential of flavors of what citrus holds.
trust me, you need to know what you're missing.
get a microplane.
zest a lemon into your next salad dressing or on top of some sauteed broccoli.
your life will change.
your taste buds will never be the same.
your welcome.

One Pot Wonder - Beef Stew

Here is a happy little meal that will take you no time to put together.

It's a 'throw everyone into the pot' kinda meal.

Who doesn't like that concept for an easy dinner!

Meat.

Potatoes.

Veggies.

Winner winner beef stew dinner.

I don't eat meat but I do enjoy cooking a hearty, comfort meal for my boys once in a while.

I feel like there is no greater comfort food for men and boys (and some cool chicks)

than a belly-filling meaty dinner.

And the good thing about this is that you probably have most of the ingredients in your home right now.

I try and always have some sort of hunk of beef in my freezer for when I want to throw my boys a bone (literally) and give them a break from the vegetarian and seafood dishes I mostly cook.

In this case, I had some chuck pieces that were cut up when I bought them for a kabob.

So they were already all cubed up and ready for me.

I didn't have to do a thing.

I threw in some whole baby potatoes and fancily cut up some carrots.

Add in the onions and garlic and that about wraps up all the ingredients it took to make this.

What was that, five in all?

Not bad, right?

I made some brown rice to go with the beef stew for added insurance that these boys wouldn't come after me a half hour after dinner was done and say,

'MOM, I'M HUNGRY! WHAT CAN I EAT?'

Ummmm, I'm pretty sure we JUST ATE DINNER, BOYSSSS!!!!

~insert long sigh here~

Exhausting I tell ya.

So I think that this meal would be delightful for you to make for your hubby, your wife, your kids.
or your boyfriend,
or your girlfriend,
or your boyfriend and your girlfriend.
You get my point.
Whoever is lucky enough to be at your house that day when you decide to bust out that hunk of meat that's in your freezer and turn it into this delightful little slice of meat lovers heaven will be a happy person.
Unless that person is me.
Then I would be excited for the fact that you decided to make this meal, but I will not partake in the eating of it.
Oh well, more for you.

Even though I don't eat meat, my nose still loves to be a judge.
My nose loves to indulge in the aromas of whatever is cooking in the kitchen.

And my nose don't lie, people!

That beef stew was gangsta.

That's what my nose said.

And my husband.

And kids.

Well, they didn't say gangsta, but I wish they had.

That would have been hilarious.

And pretty gangsta of them.

BEEF STEW

2-3 pounds chuck roast, cut up into cubes
3 large carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 pound whole baby potatoes
1 large onion, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 springs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 cup water
1 cup tomato juice, (I use low sodium V8)
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper

Season the cubed meat with salt and pepper and dredge it in the flour.
Add it to a really hot dutch oven or large pot with enough oil to cover the bottom.
Sear the meat on all sides.
Add in the onions, carrots, potatoes, rosemary sprigs, bay leaves and garlic.
Season everything with salt and pepper.
Stir it all around for about 2 minutes.
Add in the tomato juice and the water and bring to a boil.
Cover the pot and transfer it to a 350 degree oven for 2-3 hours, until the meat is fork tender.
Like buttah!
You can take out what's left of the rosemary stems and bay leaves after it's all done cooking.

I hope you likey.
Go Meat!

Turning this into that - Potato Salmon Cakes

I had my cousins over for dinner the other night and I made Roasted Sockeye Salmon with garlic and citrus (lemon, orange and lime) and topped it with sliced jalapenos.

I made buttermilk mashed potatoes on the side with  a corn and zucchini saute.

It was good.

Like, REALLY good.

But that's not why we're here.

I had plenty of leftover mashed potatoes, but not a huge amount of salmon.  

Which isn't necessarily a problem, right?

I mean let's face it,

 I could eat mashed potatoes all day long, but ... 

Hips, thighs and ass will agree that is NOT the best way to keep your girlish figure.

Anyway,... me being me I knew throwing away the extra mashed potatoes wasn't an option, and aside from serving it to my kids for the next week straight, 

I had to come up with something to transform them.

That's when I decided to combine the two ingredients, salmon and mashed potatoes, and add a few extra ingredients and turn them into something glorious.

Like saaaayyyyyyyy....

Potato Salmon Cakes.

Glorious, right?

Can you hear the harps and violins playing in the background when you look at the golden, delicious crust of these babies?

No?  You can't?

Get your ears checked then, because the heavens are playing a wonderful little ditty at the mere sight of this dish.

The kind of ditty where your hair should be blowing in the wind like you're in a rap video.

It's that good.

There's nothing like turning one dish into a completely different one.

I mean, for a weirdo like me, anyway.

I love the accomplished feeling of using up all the leftover ingredients from the night before and turning it into something that looks nothing like it did the day prior.

I also made a zucchini, mushroom and tomato orzo to go alongside it.

I simply sauteed about a pound of diced mushrooms,  2 medium zucchini, 1 large onion and about 4 minced garlic cloves in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil.

I mixed that around until the mushrooms gave off their juices.

Don't forget to season it with salt and pepper.

Then I added about 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste and stirred that in.

I added about 1/2 cup of the pasta water (from the orzo that I had cooked and drained on the side) to thin out the tomato paste then added 1 lb. cooked orzo to the mix.

I chopped up a couple of fresh tomatoes that I had that were kind of soft and thew them in as well.  

I (heavily) grated some fresh parmigiano reggiano and stirred that in at the end. 

Then, 

VOILA!

Topped it with some freshly grated parm and freshly chopped parsley and it was a sight to make your eyes pop out yo head.

It made a ton and the kids loved it.

It's a one stop shop for the kids, too.

Carbs and veggies in one bowl.

So try this combo the next time you have some leftover fish and potato.

You will be considered a rock star in the kitchen when whoever you're cooking this for gets a taste of this.

Now, for the Potato Salmon Cake recipe...

POTATO SALMON CAKES

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 cup leftover salmon, flaked

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 scallions, chopped

zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten

a few dashes hot sauce

**no quoting on precise measurements!  I cook with love, not with recipes or measurements.

I'm totally a 'little bit of this, little bit of that' type of cook.  So please take these as almost perfect, but not quite measurements.  Cuz really, nobody but the Big Guy upstairs is perfect after all, right?! ;)

Mix all the ingredients together and form into patties.  

Coat the patties into a bowl of panko breadcrumbs and place in a heated skillet with enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Brown the patties for about 3 minutes on medium high heat and flip with a spatula.

Sear the other side and take them out and place into a warm oven until you've finish frying up all the 'cakes'.

Squeeze some fresh lemon on top and enjoy.

Believe me, the fresh lemon is KEY to the deliciousness of this salmon cake!

Enjoy.