Watts Up Cocktail

Cocktails have been on my mind recently.  There's a long list of recipes I'm hoping to mix up.  And I may have just subscribed to Imbibe magazine (Oops. Though I swear I have valid reasons!).  With spring emerging in Ohio, I'm ready for margaritas galore.  In fact, I have another margarita recipe for you next week.  But for now, let jalapeno, citrus, and tequila wake up your cocktail tastebuds--surely, they're a separate category--and prepare you for a season filled with margaritas, mojitos, and all sorts of summer drinks!

For you own fun, check out these two marvelous lists of cocktails:
50 Cocktails from 50 States from TheKitchn.com (originally from the NY Times)
20 Summer Cocktails with Fresh Herbs from TheKitchn.com


Watts Up Cocktail
from Everyday Food/Martha Stewart media
Makes 1 drink

*A note in advance... While this drink is delicious as is, it would be even more drinkable should you swap the minced jalapeno for either jalapeno-infused tequila or a jalapeno simple syrup.  How to make these are below, in the "notes" section.

Ingredients:
2 oz. silver tequila
1/8 - 1/4 tsp. minced jalapeno (seeds removed)
1 tbsp. lime juice
3 oz. grapefruit juice
1/2 tsp. honey
dash of chipotle salt (combine 3 tbsp. coarse salt with 1/2 tsp. chipotle chile powder)

You'll have plenty of leftover chipotle salt.
Store it in an airtight container.
I use mine - with some additional chile powder!- on roasted sweet potatoes.

Preparation:

Combine the diced jalapeno and lime juice in a glass.  Muddle (a muddler with a flat heat, like the OXO Steel Muddler, or the side of a large spoon work best here) briefly to release some of the jalapeno's flavor and heat.  Skip muddling if you're not a fan of pepper heat.

Add the remaining ingredients, stir, and enjoy!

Notes:

--You'll have extra chipotle salt. Store it in an airtight container and sprinkle on sweet potatoes or meat. It's a good thing.  Or continue to use it as an impromptu "sour mix" for your cocktails.  You can guess which one I went with...

--The chipotle salt takes the place of the ubiquitous and typically disgusting sour mix.  Here, against lime juice and grapefruit juice, the chipotle salt is amazing and balanced.  If you don't like sour mix in your margaritas, give this salt a chance.

--It turns out, I, like most other people, don't enjoy chunks of jalapeno in my cocktail.  Next time, I will skip the chopped jalapeno and swap in some jalapeno simple syrup (about 1/2 tsp. to 1 1/2 tsp. per drink).  Or better yet, made a stock of jalapeno-infused tequila.  There will be plenty of cocktails begging for its use!

To make jalapeno simple syrup:

• Wash and slice a jalapeno into rounds.  Remove the seeds and white interior ribs if you want less heat;  keep them if you're a hot-head like me!
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm equal parts of water and granulated sugar.  Stir occasionally, until the sugar is fully dissolved.
• Add your jalapeno slices to the simple syrup, cover with a lid, turn off the heat, and remove the saucepan from the burner.  Allow to sit for 10-20 minutes.
• Pour through a strainer to remove the jalapeno slices and store in the refrigerator for approximately 2 weeks.

To make jalapeno-infused tequila:

• Wash and slice 1-2 jalapenos into rounds.  Remove the seeds and white interior ribs if you want less heat; keep them if you want lots of heat.  Remember, the heat level varies greatly between individual jalapenos.....so choose wisely!  I'm a spicy food fanatic, and even after I removed most of the seeds and ribs here, I was still surprised by how spicy my tequila was.  The next batch, however, had a lot less potency.
• Place the jalapeno slices in a glass container and add between 1/2 cup - 1 cup tequila blanco (white tequila).  Allow the mixture to sit for 20 minutes (moderately spicy) to 40 minutes (very spicy, may be almost painful).  Pour the tequila through a mesh strainer to remove the jalapeno slices.
• Store your infused tequila in a sealed glass jar to prevent it from picking up any wonky flavors from the container.  

Pies and Pints | Brussels Sprout Pizza

The tradition continues in week two of Pies and Pints!  My roommate turned me on to the glory of roasted Brussels sprouts, for which I am quite grateful.  Usually I'll saute some thinly sliced Brussels sprouts up with some bacon, dried cranberries, candied pecans.  Or--a newly discovered and newly beloved preparation from the blog Five and Spice--I'll pan roast sprout halves, adding kimchi in the last minute.  I seriously can't get over Brussels + kimchi.

But back to the pizza.  With our shared love of roasted Brussels sprouts, we thought it'd be a great idea to put them (along with some cheese) on top of a pizza.  As for the crust, we wanted to continue testing different recipes in our search for the Best Crust Recipe(s) Ever.

This week's Pies and Pints selections...

• Toppings:  Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Provelone Slices, Apple and Onion Slices, and shaved Parmesan

• Crust: Spelt Crust, adapted from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck

• Beer:  Sierra Nevada's Ruthless Rye

Spelt Crust
from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck
Makes 2 pizza crusts

Ingredients:
2 cups whole grain spelt flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg
coarse cornmeal for dusting the peel and pan

Preparation (by hand):
Whisk together spelt flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, milk, oil, and egg.  Beat with a fork until smooth.  Pour the ricotta mixture into the well you made in the dry ingredients.  Combine with a fork, stirring from the center and gradually incorporating the flour from the sides until a fairly moist dough comes together.

Transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface.  Lightly flour your hands and briefly knead 5 to 7 turns to get a smooth yet slightly tacky dough.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes to allow the brain in the flour to soften.

To roll out your dough, see Assembly instructions below.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Preparation:

Wash and halve each Brussels sprout, cutting it so that each half remains attached at the "base" part of the sprout. Heat about 1-2 tbsp. (depending on the amount of Brussels sprouts you are roasting) of peanut oil over medium-high heat (so a drop of water sizzles when added).  Place the sprouts in the pan, cut side down, and cook for several minutes until deeply brown.  Stir the sprouts and cook for a few more minutes (4-5), until the sprouts are just beginning to be tender and easily pierced with a knife tip.  Remove from heat to limit any additional cooking.

Assembling the Pizza:

Place your pizza stone or an upturned baking sheet in a cold oven.  Next, preheat to 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meanwhile, unwrap your dough, transfer to a lightly floured work surface, and cut into 2 equal pieces.  Lightly flour your hands and briefly knead one piece until smooth, about 7 to 10 turns.  Roll or pat your dough out until it is between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.

Generously dust an upturned baking sheet or pizza peel with cornmeal, so your dough doesn't stick to it and will transfer easily to the preheated stone/sheet.  Lay your dough on top of the cornmeal.

It's time to assemble the pizza!  On top of your dough, brush extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle minced garlic. Place a layer of provolone slices, then apple slices and onion slices (both made with a mandolin or very thinly sliced with a knife).  Next, add your roasted Brussels sprouts, roasted side up.

Generously dust the hot pizza stone or upturned baking sheet with cornmeal, so you prevent your pizza from cooking onto the stone/sheet.  Carefully transfer your assembled pizza onto the hot stone/sheet.  We've found that using a combination of lifitng the front edge with a spatula + sliding the remainder of the pizza onto the stone/sheet to work best.  And after a few times, you'll scatter a lot less cornmeal around the oven and floor, I promise!

Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is done and cheese is browned.  Carefully slide your pizza from the pizza stone/upturned baking sheet onto a pizza peel (or wood cutting board or another upturned baking sheet), using the spatula + slide technique.  Sprinkle liberally with shaved Parmesan, cut, and dig in!

Our thoughts on this week's selections...

• The Toppings:
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Provelone Slices, Apple and Onion Slices, and shaved Parmesan
• Loved the Brussels sprouts. Roasted, almost charred...but practically flavorless without additional seasonings. Alas, none of the other toppings did much to help in this area, so I can't even say this was my favorite part of the pizza.
• Provelone, apple, and onion....not much flavor here either. Sigh.  Total bust in the flavor department.

• The Crust:
• Not something I'd ever like to revisit. I like my pizza crusts to have both a crispy, crunch crust and a chewy interior.  This spelt crust had absolutely no crunchy crust or chewy interior. Just a lot of soft and crumbly bread, almost like a very dried out quickbread (blurgh!).  
• However, the fact this dough didn't use yeast meant it came together incredibly quick, thanks to no rise time

• The Beer:
• This is one of my first opportunities to try a rye beer, and I must admit to enjoying it! 
• There's a slight tang from the rye that makes this brew different and interesting.  Paired with its medium body (not too light or heavy) and generally balanced flavors, Ruthless Rye would go well with a variety of savory foods. One I'd be happy to drink again.

Guess we failed in the toppings and crust department...but there's always next week!

The Shrimp Scampi That Changed My Mind

I've had a mental block against eating seafood since I was five years old.  It stems from eating Long John Silvers and my thought that I could actually see the fish's gills.  Apparently my young self was very, very good at setting up barriers to certain foods...because I didn't even try shrimp until recently.

Once I tried it, I realized shrimp weren't too bad.  I wasn't eager to eat a ton of it, but I might have a few pieces every once in awhile.  But, oh, I would never, ever cook seafood in my home because of the odor. I just hate that smell.  And I'm a super sniffer, sensitive to even the tiniest hint of seafood in the air.

But then...I broke down.  I bought a bag of frozen shrimp from Trader Joe's.  They're awfully good at getting me to try new things.  Plus I think I'd already lost all my willpower during that shopping trip, which seems to happen frequently at Trader Joe's.  In a good way, of course.

That bag of frozen shrimp languished in the depths of my apartment freezer for months, slowly creeping towards the back of the freezer where it would live out the rest of its days undisturbed.

Until I came across this recipe for shrimp scampi in a cookbook I'd become quite enamored with.  I'd tried several other recipes from this book, many of which brought new ingredients or new flavors into my life.  Most were resounding successes -- Soba Noodle Salad with Roasted Mushroom and Tofu Croutons, Roasted Parsnip and Leek Soup with Pumpernickel Croutons, Cumin Roasted Cauliflower with Yogurt and Lime, Baked Potatoes with Corned Beef and Dill...  It pulled me out of my winter doldrums and inspired a desire to Try New Things like never before.  Meaning I was going to make shrimp scampi with my lonely bag of frozen shrimp.

Oh, my...  So delicious.  So little time and effort.  So much sauce to savor!

Now that lonely bag of shrimp has a purpose.  And I have cooked seafood (admittedly not intensely fishy seafood) in my home. Two points to me!

Shrimp Scampi

from Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make by Melissa Clark

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup Pernod, absinthe, or an herbal (not floral!) gin (like Tanqueray original)*

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 - 3/4 tsp. salt (to your taste level)

Hearty pinch of red pepper flakes

1/2 lb. shelled and deveined shrimp (if using frozen, thaw to room temperature)**

2 tbsp. fresh fennel fronds (the delicate leafy green portion), minced

Juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed

*Pernod, absinthe, and herbal gins have an anise flavor similar to that of fennel.  Since the fennel fronds have a very minor anise taste, using these liquors will bring just a hint of that anise-fennel flavor to the party without overwhelming our tastes or textures. I'll personally vouch for that, since I'm not the biggest fan of in-your-face anise, like black licorice candy.

If you don't have these liquors or really dislike even the tiniest hint of anise, don't fear! Just swap in white wine, so you add 1/2 cup white wine in total.

**I keep a bag of frozen uncooked (but already shelled and deveined) wild shrimp in my freezer.  I just pull out a handful, seal them in a plastic bag, and let them hang out in a bowl of warm tap water, which I change frequently, until the shrimp are defrosted.  Trader Joe's has some delicious and very economical frozen shrimp, or, if you're not a seafood person (which I am very close to being), you could swap in some partially or fully cooked meat, like chicken.

Preparation:

Since shrimp cooks ever so quickly and overcooked shrimp is, well, not all that edible, prep all your ingredients before starting to cook.  Once you start cooking, this goes so fast!  Now is also a good time to get whatever else you might be serving with the shrimp scampi cooking (toast, rice, pasta, etc.).

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, but not yet browned, about 1 minute.  Add the liquor, wine, salt, and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

Add the shrimp and stir frequently, until the shrimp are cooked through and pale pink, about 2-4 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp.  This really does move quickly, so keep focused on your shrimp!

Stir in the minced fennel fronds and lemon juice. Cook for 30 seconds - 1 minute and immediately transfer your shrimp out of the pan to prevent additional cooking.  If you're using pasta or rice, now is the perfect time to toss the shrimp scampi with it.

Or you can do what I did and eat it straight out of a bowl, using toast to mop up every last ounce of the glorious garlic and butter sauce.  No shame, I promise!

Notes:

This recipe is so quick and easy to prepare, it's an easy weeknight meal.  Especially if you aren't thawing the shrimp, though that doesn't take too long either (less than 20 minutes).

It is so easy to overcook shrimp, making them tough and chewy and entirely unappetizing.  Removing the shrimp from the pan immediately after adding the fennel fronds and lemon juice will remove the direct heat source (the stove and the hot pan) and limit any additional cooking to the heat contained within the shrimp (the carry over heat/cooking).  

This recipe provides a generous amount of scampi sauce, which would be divine tossed with spaghetti or angel hair pasta.  But it's also incredible when sopped up with toast.  You decide...or try both!

Since this recipe only uses the fennel fronds, it is perfect for those times when you use the fennel bulb and have no idea what to do with the fronds.  My favorite ways to enjoy fennel?  Thinly shaved with citrus segments or slowly roasted and braised until it slumps into a barely anise flavored submission. 

I am absolutely in love with this cookbook.  It's full of flavor combinations I've never tried, many rather healthy (but still delicious) recipes, and a full spectrum of savory and sweet.  Plus each recipe has a notes section where Melissa Clark offers ideas for substitutions or alternative cooking methods or what to serve it with.  And I just love her writing style.  

Good Things - Early Winter

Good things from the past few weeks...


The return of fondue dinners with my roommate.
We bust out an electric fondue pot for the Trader Joe's fondue mix and assemble an assortment of dipping vehicles.  This time, we've got toasted bread cubes (pumpernickel and sourdough), raw broccoli, and roasted brussels sprouts.  Unsurprisingly, melted cheese made my initial taste of raw broccoli delicious. Cheese works its magic yet again.

Don't worry, the bunny isn't for dipping. He's supervising our fondue feast, spread across the coffee table that functions as our storage device/dining room table. Yup, we're heathens. But happy ones, at least!

Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout.
"A stout brewed with chocolate" is on its label. It's amazing. I must get another bottle (or four) very soon. Rich without being heavy, flavorful without being an in-your-face brew, I couldn't get enough of it.  It's also easy and delicious to use in baked goods, like bread puddings or brownies or cupcakes.

More Apple Cheddar Scones.

I told you, they're thoroughly addictive.  I can't have them enough, fresh out of the oven or for breakfast the following morning. 

Cardamom Ice Cream.

As much as I am a loyal fan of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams (who makes a fantastic lime cardamom frozen yogurt, by the way), I've been loving this intensely cardamom ice cream from Three Twins.  Equally cozy with chocolate or caramel sauce as it is with roasted fruit (especially roasted plums).

Pumpkin, Maple, Bacon, Pecan Oatmeal.

Yeah, I did it. I put bacon in my morning oats. And it was delicious. A salty-smoky-sweet flavor bomb.  Just cook your favorite package of instant oatmeal with a mixture of pumpkin puree and milk, then top with cooked bacon, pecans, and a generous drizzle of real maple syrup. Wintry luxury that's good for you!

Spaghetti Squash, Black Bean, and Cotija Cheese Tacos.

From The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

Holy cow, I've never been more in love with a vegetable filled taco than I am for this. It's incredibly easy to make - just one night's prep offered 4 dinners' worth of food.  And it's a welcome change from my usual spaghetti squash meal, where I top the squash with tomato sauce and pretend it's spaghetti.  

Roast your spaghetti squash with chile powder and cayenne powder.  Assemble your tacos (or, if you're me, on a giant sized chile tortilla from Trader Joe's. So good.) with roasted spaghetti squash, black beans from a can, cotija cheese, extra hot sauce (because you can never have too much), and lime juice.  Make a hot mess over your plate and call it a night. Bonus points for a cold beer to wash it down.

Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

Continuing with the theme of foods I've only discovered in the past few years are sweet potatoes.  Growing up, I can't recall them ever entering our house.  Not even in the ubiquitous form of sweet potato casserole with marshmallows.

Through a combination of food magazines, food blogs, and roommates, I met sweet potatoes and fell utterly in love.  Especially when roasted in the oven with spicy chipotle chile powder.  It's so easy, so nutritious, and so flavorful, it's become a staple in my apartment, especially when served with curry ketchup or balsamic glaze.

Chipotle Sweet Potatoes
A spicy and versatile dish perfect year-round.

Ingredients:
2-3 medium sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Chipotle chile powder, to taste (I use about 1 tbsp. for 3 potatoes)
Pinch of cayenne chile powder
Kosher salt, to taste (I use just under 1 tsp. for 3 potatoes)

Preparation:
Heat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Peel sweet potatoes and chop into roughly 1-inch cubes.  Toss in enough olive oil to lightly coat (about 1 tbsp. for 2-3 potatoes).  Sprinkle with chipotle chile powder, cayenne chile powder, and kosher salt.  Toss to evenly coat the potatoes.

Bake until the potatoes are easily pierced by a knife, about 25-40 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so.

My favorite ways to eat chipotle sweet potatoes:

--As a side dish, served with a hefty dose of curry ketchup (Mix 1/2 tsp. red curry paste with a 1/2 tsp. water until it forms a slurry.  Stir into 3-4 tbsp. ketchup.)

--Or drizzled with balsamic glaze

--Inside a soft corn tortilla with black beans, grated cheddar or monteray jack, pickled jalapeno slices, and plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

--Mixed with cooked quinoa and dried cranberries, with a splash of apple cider vinegar and olive oil

--I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect these would pair wonderfully with a raw kale salad, apple cider vinaigrette, and crunchy apple chunks.

Jalapeno Parsley Sour Martini | from WANM

Here's something totally different.  It's not a traditional holiday flavor.  It's not even a typical winter flavor.  I just needed to change things up and temporarily break away from all the warmth and coziness of winter.  We Are Not Martha's Jalapeno Parsley Sour Martini did just that, setting me free from spice, earthiness, and that inexplicable heaviness we feel each winter.  Or maybe that's all the layers of clothing I bundle in to keep warm. Either way, this cocktail is easy, delicious, and an excellent change from the norm.

Bonus: The leftover jalapeno syrup is great drizzled over cornbread, crostini with goat cheese or ricotta, or brushed onto chicken wings.

Jalapeno Parsley Sour Martini
from We Are Not Martha (get the original recipe here)
Makes 2 drinks

Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
2 jalapenos, sliced (deseeded if less heat is desired)
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley
4 oz. lemon juice
2 oz. lime juice
6 oz. unflavored vodka

Preparation:
Make the jalapeno simple syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the jalapeno slices, drop heat to low, and simmer for 5-7 minutes.  Strain the syrup into a container.  You can store leftover syrup in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

Note: If you're not a fan of spicy heat, you'll want to deseed the jalapeno peppers first.  Do this by cutting  the jalapeno in half lengthwise, then trimming away the seeds and the white rib the seeds stick to.  All you want is green jalapeno.  Cut the deseeded, de-ribbed jalapeno into 1/2 inch chunks and use in the simple syrup recipe.

Make the cocktail. Put the parsley, lemon juice, and lime juice in a glass or cocktail shaker.  Muddle the ingredients together gently, so that the parsley is only lightly bruised.

I was a bit creative since I didn't use a cocktail shaker and wanted to enjoy my drink from a martini glass.  I muddled the parsley and juices in a small glass ramekin with a wooden muddler, then transferred the liquid to a martini glass. 

Add the vodka and about 4 oz. of the jalapeno simple syrup.  Stir or shake to combine, then pour into your martini glass.  Cheers!

What's your favorite out of the ordinary drink?

Chinatown Salad from A Periodic Table

This is long overdue, seeing as this recipe was developed as a way to utilize your leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  By now, you've either polished that bird off, pawned all remnants on unsuspecting and/or gullible others (Guilty. I added my bag of turkey to Eric's bag of turkey. One day he'll realize and toss them. Until then, I am turkey free.), or decided the leftover scraps were old enough to move out of your refrigerator and in to your trash bin.

But!  But I tell you that while this salad is delicious with turkey or chicken, it is equally delicious without any meat.  Actually, I preferred it without meat, since I would scoot the turkey over to the side so I could load my fork with salad, fresh green beans, sweet red bell pepper and crunchy, savory peanuts.  That's where it is in this salad, friends.  It's the actual salad you want to eat, and that's a rare thing.

Without further ado, I give you A Periodic Table's recipe for Chinatown Turkey (or Chicken) Salad. It's a breeze to make, it's filling without weighing you down, it's not your typical daily salad, and it's absolutely delicious.  Make it already!!!

A few notes on my version of the salad...

--As I said, this salad is perfectly satisfying and delicious even without meat.  So if you don't have turkey or chicken breast lying around, try it without. 

--I prefer my salads to be as fresh as possible.  Since I was the only person eating this (until I urged my mother to try it), I reduced the total portions listed in the recipe and filled a large bowl with the ingredients.  Yes, it was a bit haphazard and perhaps my ratio of ingredients was off, but, yes, it was wonderful.  

--I'm a saucy lady. Meaning, I douse just about everything I eat in extra sauce, from chicken wings to french fries to salad.  Thankfully, the dressing recipe makes plenty.  I made and stored my dressing in a jar in the refrigerator, so all I had to do was assemble the salad and add dressing. 

--There aren't any bean sprouts in my salad here because a whole two days after purchasing them, my sprouts had sprouted and gone slimey. Not a good thing. But the salad was stupendous even without.

Between us, I'll make this salad quite often.  It's addictive and refreshing, as perfect for mid-winter as it is for mid-summer.

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Pizza

Sometimes my curiosity leads me to click link after link after link.  It happens on Wikipedia pages all the time.  I'm reading an article I originally searched for, but get distracted by a link to another page...which inevitably spirals out of control and I've lost an hour and my original train of thought before I know it.  This is especially common when I'm on Deb Perelman's fantastic food blog, Smitten Kitchen.  Between the end of her writing and before the recipe, she has links to her recipes from years past.  It never fails that I click on at least one of those links...and you know where that goes.

Thankfully, Deb's recipes have never yielded a flop or a less-than-edible creation.  I've come to trust her implicitly and discovered quite a few flavors and dishes from her.  I would never have taken such a simple approach to pizza toppings - goat cheese, lemon, summer squash.  Straying from tomato sauce on a pizza is nearly anathema to me, as is the lack of a gooey melted cheese and toppings that pack a wallop of their own flavor.  But these three ingredients, plus salt and pepper, come together for a pizza unlike any I'd met before. Creamy and tangy and harmonious. Oh, and incredibly simple, especially if you're using store-bought dough or dough you'd made before and stored in the freezer.

Deb's cookbook debuts this week. While waiting for my pre-ordered copy (because I am quite a bit of a foodie nerd), I'll be baking her apple and cheddar scones, which won me over to the apple + cheese camp I'd assiduously avoided for my lifetime.  They're the perfect fall treat, especially for the first day after baking. If you aren't a fan of Smitten Kitchen yet, check her out!

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Pizza
Dough from Pizza: Award-Winning Pies for the Home Kitchen by Pete Evans
Toppings from Smitten Kitchen (get the original recipe here) 

For the Dough :
(makes 26 oz., roughly enough for four 12-inch pizzas)
Ingredients for the Dough:
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 1/4 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cups plus 1 tbsp. flour (bread flour or all-purpose flour)
1 1/4 tsp. salt
Additional all-purpose flour for dusting

Preparation for the Dough:
In a small bowl, mix the warm water, yeast, and sugar together until combined, then leave in a warm place for 5 minutes, or until frothy. Stir in the olive oil.

Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Pour the yeast mixture over the flour mixture and use your hands to bring them together to form a dough.  Turn the dough out onto a work surface and use the heels of your hands to work the dough for 5 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic.  Place the dough inside a lightly oiled bowl, then drape it with a dish towel and leave in a warm place to proof for 45-60 minutes, until the dough is doubled in size.

Dust a clean work surface with flour and put your risen dough on it.  Use your fists to give one good punch the dough.  Stress relieving, right?  If portioning the dough into smaller pieces, do so now.  Working with one portion at a time, use the palms of your hands to cup the dough at its base.  Roll it on the work surface in a circular motion to form a perfect ball.  Repeat with any remaining portions of dough.  Set on a lightly greased baking tray and leave in a warm place to proof for 15 minutes.

At this point, you can either freeze some dough (stored safely inside a freezer plastic bag) or continue on towards immediate pizza satisfaction.

But before we continue on with the dough, we should talk about the oven. If you're using a pizza stone, put it into the oven before turning it on to 450 - 500 degrees Farenheit. If you're not using a pizza stone, place a metal sheet pan in the oven before turning it on to 450 degrees Farenheit. 

This is also the perfect time to prepare the toppings...

Ingredients for Toppings:

1 lemon

4 oz. goat cheese, room temperature

A few leaves of fresh basil

1/2 medium zucchini, sliced as thinly as you can get

1/2 medium yellow squash, sliced as thinly as you can get

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

Preparation for Toppings:

In a small dough, stir together the goat cheese with the juice of half your lemon.  Add salt, pepper, and, if you're feeling it, some lemon zest.  Set aside.

Have your squash slices ready for topping.

Back to the dough. Roll or toss it out into roughly a 12-inch circle. If you're adventuring into tossing pizza dough for the first time, here are my two most important pieces of advice: toss over a counter (or else your dough will meet the floor) and catch the dough on your knuckles (that means curl your fingers into your palms, so your knuckles are the top surface of your hand).  Dust the surface of your pizza peel (or another sheet pan, flipped over to a flat surface) liberally with cornmeal; this will allow your dough to slide off the peel/sheet pan onto your pizza stone.

Once your dough is on the peel/pan, add your toppings.  Spread the goat cheese mixture on top of the dough, leaving a tiny bit of crust at the edge.  Place your thin slices of squash atop the goat cheese mixture, overlapping slightly.  Bonus points for artful patterns! Squeeze the remaining half of lemon over the top, add a drizzle of olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Slide your pizza from the peel/sheet pan onto your pre-heated pizza stone or sheet pan. I find this easiest to do if I pull the oven rack out a bit so I can deposit the pizza squarely in the middle.  It won't move easily once you set it on top, so do your best to position it well. Also, if your pizza gets stuck on the peel/sheet pan, you can use a spatula to help coax the pizza off of it. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the edges are golden-brown and the squash curl up slightly around their edges.  Remove from the oven (I pluck the entire pizza stone out of the oven, but you can also slide it onto your pizza peel/sheet tray) and sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese.

Probably the best pizza I've yet made, with a crust balanced between crispy and chewy.  The toppings also shine through - creamy, slightly melted goat cheese, lightly roasted squash, the salty tang of Parmesan, and most of all, the bright flavor of lemon keeping you interested in each bite.  And Deb was right - this goes awfully well with a glass (or two) of crisp white wine.

A note - if your lemon is on the larger side, you may want to use less than half a lemon in each application.  Just taste the goat cheese mixture and add to taste.

Coming soon!  My roommate and I are gearing up for a (mostly) weekly event called Pies and Pints, where we'll be cooking different pizzas each week and trying a new beer with it.  

Garden Giants

Summer surprised us with a watermelon baby. Pear-shaped and heavy, this was the baby watermelon I'd started as a seedling in my apartment last spring.

Since I'd never eat it fast enough, I chopped and froze cubes of seeded watermelon for future use in smoothies and margaritas.

Summer also granted us the biggest zucchini I've ever seen, from the garden of my roommate's parents.  That's a regular 15 oz. can beside it for comparison. It's a monster.

A Potato Salad to Meet A Stomach's Demands

I had a hankering for some potato salad.  But not the kind you'd purchase packaged in a plastic tub from the refrigerated section of your local supermarket.  I am utterly terrified of those...tubs.  The potatoes are too smushy, there are unidentifiable items scattered throughout, and the sauce - oh, the sauce! It's downright terrifying. Maybe it's mayonnaise based? Maybe it's rife with chemical stabilizers and absolutely no flavor?  I take the easy route and avoid mass-produced plastic tubs of potato salad all together.

So how am I going to address my stomach's imperious demand for delicious potato salad?  I'll make my own, thank you.  I know my way around a kitchen.  Well, my kitchen at least. And I know I love a hefty wallop of garlic, homemade mayonnaise, and baby Yukon gold potatoes.  Oh, and some lightly blanched green beans for good measure and a bit of crunch.  And what the heck, some pesto I was making for another meal anyway.  I clearly live on the edge.

Here's what I did:

1) Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain and allow to cool, then cut into thick slices.
2) Toss the green beans into boiling water for a few minutes.  Immediately put them into an ice bath (cold water + ice) to preserve crispness and a brilliant emerald hue.
3)  Make pesto in the food processor. Super easy. Since I'm only using a few tablespoons of pesto, any extra can get comfortable in the freezer.
4)  Make allioli with extra garlic.  Waver between loving the overwhelmingly potent garlic flavor and hating how it makes me feel like a garlic-breathing dragon for the next day. Decide I love it.
5) Put the veggies in a large bowl.  Mix together enough allioli and pesto to thoroughly coat the veggies.  Stir and take a few judicious tastes.
6) Eat for dinner and lunch the next few days.  Love every minute of breathing garlic and knowing my potato salad is exactly what I wanted.

Allioli (left) and pesto (right), longing to meet
each other

Pesto
my very informal approach to pesto

Ingredients:
A few garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
Several handfuls of fresh basil, washed and dried
A handful or two of walnuts or almonds (or your nut of choice)
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Quality extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:
Combine the garlic, basil, nuts, salt, and pepper in a food processor and pulse until it is a thick, consistently blended paste.  While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle in some olive oil. Pause often to check the consistency of the pesto. I like mine on the thicker side, but add as much olive oil as you need to get your favorite consistency.  Store in an airtight container in the freezer for a few months.

Notes:
--I realize I'm missing pine nuts and parmesan cheese in this recipe.  It's deliberate.  Pine nuts are expensive, so I often use a mix of pine nuts and walnuts or entirely walnuts in most of my pestos.  And though I adore parmesan, I simply didn't have any in the refrigerator when I made this particular batch.  If I had to guess, I would say I probably adored all the parmesan out of the refrigerator and into my tummy earlier that week.

Allioli and pesto mixed together before
adding to the cooked vegetables

Allioli
adapted from In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite by Melissa Clark

Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
Pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:
If you want to use a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and salt to make a paste.
If you want to use a cutting board and knife, use the flat side of the knife to mash the garlic and salt on the cutting board until it becomes a paste.  Transfer to a mixing bowl (preferably a glass or metal one).

Whatever you're doing, whisk in the lemon juice, then the egg yolk.  Make sure they're thoroughly combined.  While whisking or pounding constantly, slowly drizzle in the olive oil in a thin, steady stream.  Continue whisking/pounding until the oil is fully emulsified.  If it seems too thick, drizzle in a few drops of hot water and mix well.  

Notes:
--Making this aillioli by hand is possible. I promise it is. Your arm may get a bit tired while whisking...but it's not very bad and the allioli is seriously worth it. Plus it means you don't have to clean the food processor or blender, which is not one of my favorite tasks.

--You can increase the amount of garlic you use to 2, even 3 cloves.  But be warned, you'll have intense garlic breath, feeling like you're breathing garlic fire.  If your roommate or significant other doesn't mind, go for it.

--This contains raw egg, so please don't consume this if you are pregnant or have a weakened immune system. Try it with a red wine vinagrette instead!

The finished salad, already packed
for lunch the next day