Archive for March, 2009

Homemade Hawaiian Pizza with Easy Bisquick Crust

{ March 23, 2009 @ 8:30 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Homemade pizza is one of my favorite meals to make, especially with friends.  The best crust results that I’ve ever had have been with frozen bread dough from the super market, but that takes forever to thaw out and rise.  I HATE making my own dough from scratch, because for some reason me and baking with yeast do not get along.  The bread/rolls/pizza crust never rises and I’m left with a leaden, unpalatable mess.  My latest discovery is using Bisquick to make pizza crust.  It takes 30 seconds to mix it up and roll it out, and it always rises to the occasion, literally!  Now when I have a last minute craving for pizza, I can whip one up with hardly any muss or fuss.

Here are my recipes for the crust and sauce.  You can top it with anything you want, but my favorite toppings are ham and pineapple.

Pizza Sauce

This sauce is delicious and so simple to make!

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

Ingredients

  • a 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in puree (preferably Italian; about 3 1/2 cups)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

In a large non-reactive saucepan bring tomatoes and oil to a simmer and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes, or until sauce is reduces to about 2 1/2 cups. Season sauce with salt and cool to room temperature. (Sauce keeps, covered and chilled, 5 days.)

Pizza Crust

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Bisquick
  • 1/2 cup water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  If using a pizza stone, place stone in oven to heat up as well.

Add 2 cups of Bisquick into a bowl.  Make a well in the middle of the Bisquick.

Add 1/2 cup of warm water.

Mix the Bisquick and water with a fork.  It should resemble dough. If it is too stiff, add a few sprinkles of water, if it is too wet, add a bit more Bisquick.

Shape with hands into a disk and roll out if necessary.  I always use a preheated pizza stone for more uniformly baked crust with no doughy parts in the middle (sprinkle some corn meal on top of the pizza stone so the crust won’t stick).  If you don’t have a pizza stone use a cookie sheet.  Place rolled out dough on pizza stone or cookie sheet.

Add your sauce and other ingredients onto the pizza. Top with 2 cups of shredded cheese, traditionally mozzarella.

Cook in a 425 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes.  Keep an eye on this, mine is done in more like 18 minutes.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Provencal

{ March 23, 2009 @ 1:17 am } · { cooking, recipes }
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I’ve been wanting to make this particular dish in my CrockPot forever.  I finally planned for it before I left on a grocery run, and made it this past week.  Here is the recipe:

From “The Best Slow and Easy Recipes” by The Editors of Cook’s Illustrated (America’s Test Kitchen, $35). Serve with rice or slices of crusty bread. Polenta is also a good accompaniment.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 medium onions, minced

12 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 4 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Salt

1 1/2 cups dry white wine

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes  (I didn’t have crushed, so I used two 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes, yielding a chunkier sauce, which I prefer.)

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves (I used 1 tsp dried oregano)

2 bay leaves

4 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (split breasts or thighs), skin removed and trimmed

Ground black pepper

1/2 cup pitted nicoise olives, chopped coarse

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons grated zest from 1 lemon

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onions, garlic, tomato paste, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are softened and lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the wine, scraping up any browned bits, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture measures about 2 cups.

Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker and stir in the tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, and bay leaves until evenly combined. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and nestle it in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until the chicken is tender, 4 to 5 hours.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil. Let the cooking liquid settle for 5 minutes, then gently tilt the slow cooker and remove as much fat as possible from the surface using a large spoon. Remove the bay leaves, stir in the olives, parsley, olive oil, and lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon 1 cup of the sauce over the chicken and serve, passing the remaining sauce and lemon wedges separately. Serves 6.

Per serving: 400 calories; 13 g fat (2 g saturated fat; 29 percent calories from fat); 10 g carbohydrates; 139 mg cholesterol; 560 mg sodium; 53 g protein; 2 g fiber.

I served this with basmati rice and roasted asparagus.  What a healthy, comforting, and delicious meal!  I can’t wait to make this dish for my family.

chicken-provencal

Sauteed Frozen Green Beans

{ March 21, 2009 @ 3:22 am } · { cooking, recipes }
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I’m getting ready to move out of my apartment, so I’ve been working on using up the food in my freezer.  I had a bag of frozen French Green Beans (Haricots Verts) from Trader Joe’s.  There were no instructions on how to prepare them!  Fortunately the internet had my back.  At http://www.cookography.com/2007/speed-beans-sauteed-frozen-green-beans I found some great instructions on how to prepare frozen green beans and I was very happy with the results.

Here are the instructions:

Speed Beans: Sauteed Frozen Green Beans

  • 1 lb bag of frozen green beans, chopped or whole
  • 1 tbs oil (I use olive oil, but you can use anything good for sauteing.)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (I used less salt.  You should start with less and add more only if needed.)
  1. Heat the oil in a 12″ non-stick over high heat.
  2. When the oil begins to shimmer (~3 minutes), add the frozen beans.
  3. Cook the beans, stirring every 30 seconds, until all of the ice has melted and most of the water in the pan has evaporated (~ 5 minutes).
  4. Add the salt and continue to saute until about half the beans have started to brown.
  5. Remove the pan from heat and serve