Category Archives: Product Review

Shrimp Pasta with Kale and Garlic (gluten-free)

Posted on May 5, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Shrimp Pasta with Kale and Garlic (gluten-free) from She Cooks, He Cleans

Outside it was still raining.  Still. Raining.  When I see the sunshine again, I am going to kiss it – it has been away far too long!  In the meantime, dinner is limited to what I can find in the recesses of the freezer.  Shrimp looks good!  What else do we have – lots and lots of kale.  I haven’t paired shrimp with kale before, but it sounded like a winning combination.

I have written before about how much I love the gluten-free pasta from Jovial.  I love everything about this company, from their organic, traditional products to their views on sustainable, small farming as the future of agriculture.  The egg tagliatelle used in this dish is a relatively new product, made from only organic brown rice flour and organic eggs.  Period.  It has all the taste and texture that you expect from egg pasta, and you can really taste the goodness in this simple preparation of shrimp, kale, and garlic.  I have had limited success in finding Jovial products in the local stores, but now you can order them on-line, directly from the Jovial website store.

This recipe is really simple and quick to put together – perfect for a weeknight dinner or for a rainy day when you’re running low on motivation.

Ingredients (2 generous servings):

Remove the tough spines/stem from the kale. (Fold the leaf in half lengthwise, then use a knife to cut the thick part of the spine away from the leaves.)  Stack the leaves together, roll them slightly, and slice the leaves crosswise into strips.  Wash the kale thoroughly in cold water, then spin dry or dry well with towels.

Rinse the shrimp with cold water and dry with towels.

In a saute pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter with a glug of EVOO (~1 tablespoon).  Add the chopped garlic and cook for about 1 minute.  Add the shrimp to the pan in a single layer, and allow to cook for about 1 minute on each side (use tongs to turn the shrimp to ensure they are cooked evenly). When cooked, remove shrimp to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the chopped kale to the saute pan with the garlic.  Shake in a generous amount of crushed red peppers and a sprinkling of kosher salt. Toss over medium-high heat until the kale is wilted and tender.  Add the vermouth, stir, and cook until the vermouth has mostly cooked off.  Add the shrimp back to the pan.  Stir in lemon juice, and another tablespoon of butter won’t hurt anything.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.  Cover and keep warm.

Saute of Shrimp, Kale, and Garlic / She Cooks, He Cleans

Add the pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions.  Drain, and add pasta to the shrimp and kale.  Toss until the pasta is well coated.  Serve hot and enjoy!

willieRain, rain go away! But until it does, I’m staying in and eating shrimp with kale and listening to country music! First up is the latest from Willie Nelson, Let’s Face The Music and Dance. Willie just turned 80 and shows no sign of slowing down at all. Still performs almost every night, and keeps releasing great records. This one features ballads such as “Twilight Time”, rockabilly with “Matchbox”, and great country weepers such as “Shame On You”. Keep ‘em coming Willie!

Steve Young might not have the star power of Willie, but it ain’t from lack of talent. His song “Seven Bridges Road” was a hit for The Eagles, and his version of “Lonesome, Onry and Mean” is on par with Waylon’s. Renegade Picker/No  youngPlace to Fall collects his two great early records, and is a fine introduction to this outlaw country legend.

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Seared Tuna Steaks with Spicy No-Carb “Miracle” Noodles

Posted on January 19, 2013 by | 9 Comments

Miracle noodles and Seared Tuna

Last week a wise reader alerted me to a zero carb, low-calorie noodle called “Shirataki de Konjac” – well, that’s what they are called in France.  (Thanks, Donna!)  I did a little research and found that shirataki are are thin, translucent, gelatinous noodles made from the konjac yam (also known as elephant yam or devil’s tongue yam).  This noodle is made mainly of soluble vegetable fiber, which has the health benefit of slowing digestion, and therefore slowing the adsorption of glucose and allowing more nutrients to be adsorbed.

I’ve never seen them in the grocery stores I frequent, although there are plentiful Asian markets that likely carry these noodles.  However I did find them on Amazon- accompanied with mostly positive reviews, but plenty of reviews attesting to a funky odor and rubbery texture.

Not to be easily dissuaded in my quest for a decent, low-carb noodle, I ordered a six-pack of “Miracle Noodle Shirataki Angel Hair Pasta”.  These noodles come in a plastic (BPA-free) pouch, suspended in liquid.  They store at room temperature and unopened, have a 6-month shelf life.  I was repeatedly warned that they “smell”, so when I opened the package I expected a blast of noxiousness.  Truth is, they do have a fishy odor, but it is no worse than a  whiff of fish sauce.  Per the package directions, I thoroughly rinsed the noodles with cold water, then put them in a pan of boiling water for 1 minute.  There was no longer any smell, and when I tasted a noodle, it really had no taste.

Next step, I drained the noodles and dried them off with paper towels.  They are rather bouncy in consistency at this point, quivering like a bowl of jelly when you touch them.  Reviewers on Amazon suggested cutting the noodles up a bit with kitchen shears, so they would be easier to stir fry, so I clipped them up a little.

Miracle noodles in wokTime to cook!  I stir-fried some broccoli for a minute, then added the noodles and spicy sauce to the wok and tossed it for 2-3 minutes until the noodles were well-coated in the sauce.  The noodles really soaked up the sauce and transformed from colorless and translucent to something resembling traditional noodles.

While the texture of the finished product is still a little “bouncy”, I would NOT describe it as rubbery or unpleasant.  I thought they were tender, but still had a little bite to them that was not much different than al dente pasta.  We each ate approximately one 7-ounce bag of Miracle Noodles – there were no leftovers!  Some people report digestive discomfort, possibly due to the fiber, but neither of us has had any complaints.

I’m looking forward to eating more of these noodles to satisfy my pasta cravings.  They are not recommended for tomato-based sauces – as they adsorb the water and not the flavor.  However I think they will be great with any oil-based sauce (pesto!) and for Asian dishes.  I’ll keep you informed!

For more health benefits, check out Miracle Noodle’s website.  They also have recipes and other varieties of pasta.  Here’s my recipe for a quick and healthy, low-carb dinner with seared tuna.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (Serves 2):

  • 2 7-ounce packages of Miracle Noodle Pasta (Angel Hair)
  • 2 6-8-ounce tuna steaks (about 1 inch thick)
  • 1/4 cup gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
  • 2 cups broccoli florets, in bite-sized pieces
  • Oil suitable for high heat cooking (i.e. coconut, grapeseed)
  • 1 batch of Spicy Almond Butter Sauce (can be made up to a week ahead and kept refrigerated)
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish

Prepare the Spicy Almond Butter Sauce (almond butter with tamari, Sriracha, sesame oil, honey, ginger, fish sauce, and lime juice) following the instructions in the link .  Set aside.

Whisk together the tamari, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and honey.  (The honey is optional, but I like a little sugar in the marinade to help make a nice sear on the fish.)  Marinate the tuna steaks in the tamari mixture for 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking.

Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for about 1 minute.  Remove and drain.  Set aside.  (Note:  I used the same water to first blanch the broccoli – removing the broccoli with a slotted spoon to a colander – then for cooking the noodles.  It saves a little time.)

Open the Miracle Noodles and drain into a colander.  Rinse thoroughly with cold water for a couple of minutes.  Bring a pan of water to a boil, then add the noodles to the boiling water for 1 minute.  Drain into a colander.  When the noodles are cool enough to handle, dry them on paper towels, squeezing to remove as much moisture as possible.  Cut the noodles up some with kitchen shears.

Heat a wok over medium-high heat with about 1 tablespoon of oil.  Add the broccoli and stir-fry until crisp tender (not limp), about 1 minute.  Add the noodles and about 1/2 cup of sauce, and toss for 2 or 3 minutes until the noodles and broccoli are well-coated in sauce.  (I also added a little bit of the tuna marinade to the wok to help incorporate the sauce.)  Set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat.  Allow to become very hot, but not to the smoking point.  Place the tuna steaks in the skillet and cook for no more than 2 minutes on each side. (Watch for splattering when you first add the steaks.) Just before the steaks are done, add the remaining marinade to the pan and turn them quickly in the marinade to coat.  Remove the steaks from the pan immediately to prevent overcooking (steaks should be seared on the outside, but nice and red in the center).

Serve the tuna with the spicy noodles, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.

Jim Dickinson was one of American music’s greatest, if criminally unsung deadheroes. A brilliant musician (that’s him on the piano on the Stones “Wild Horses”), legendary producer of such seminal records as Big Star’s Third, the Replacements Pleased to Meet Me and father to Cody and Luther Dickinson. He released several great albums on his own such as I’m Just Dead I’m Not Gone, released after his death in 2009. Recorded with his sons band- the North Mississippi All Stars, it’s a rowdy romp thru the sounds of the south.

Killers From Space from 2007 finds Dickinson with another wide-ranging jldalbum, from the classic “Nature Boy” to Doug Sahm’s “Texas Me”. You owe it to yourself to discover this legend of the southern sound!

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Posted in Entrees, Product Review, Seafood, Side dishes

Ground Pork with Spicy Thai Noodles

Posted on January 11, 2013 by | 16 Comments

Ground pork Thai noodles 2

I love noodles, and I love peanut sauce.  However trying to stick with a quasi-Paleo diet means eating no gluten and avoiding legumes, which knocks out a lot of noodle possibilities and also peanuts (which are legumes, not nuts).  I’m not going to discuss why these common foods could be bad for you – there are ample articles on the subject out there if you are curious.  (Such as this and this.)

Thankfully there are good – and even superior – options.  Almond butter is one.  There are several kinds of almond butter at my local grocery, but some of them are not easy to work with.  You’ve seen the jars with the “butter” on the bottom and a huge layer of separated oil on top.  It is hard work trying to stir that stuff back together!  My favorite brand is Barney Butter, which is not only nicely blended (no-stir) and full of wholesome ingredients, it is certified gluten-free, peanut-free, and non-GMO.  On top of that, it is creamy and delicious!

We really loved this dish with ground pork and a spicy, nutty sauce mixed with rice noodles.  As with most stir-frys, it is important to get all your ingredients lined up and ready to go before you heat up that wok.  (This is called mise en place, for the gourmet-types out there.)

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground pork (from pastured hogs)
  • 1/2 large onion, sliced into strips
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
  • 3-4  garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup almond butter (I love Barney Butter)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons tamari/soy sauce (gluten-free) or coconut aminos
  • 1-2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce (to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 8 ounces gluten-free rice noodles (type used for Pad Thai)
  • 1/3 cup retained pasta water
  • Optional serving suggestions:  Cilantro, green onions, chopped roasted almonds, lime wedges

Soak rice noodles in hot water for 8-10 minutes, or as directed by package for stir-fry preparation.  Reserve 1/3 cup of the water used to cook the noodles. Drain noodles and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine almond butter with tamari, Sriracha, sesame oil, honey, ginger, fish sauce, and lime juice.  Whisk until smooth and set aside.  (Try not to eat it with a spoon.)

In a large wok or saute pan, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and peppers, and stir-fry for a few minutes until crisp-tender.  Place the vegetables in a bowl and set aside.  Add the ground pork and garlic to the wok.  Cook until pork is browned throughout.  Drain excess fat from wok.

Return vegetables to the wok and toss with the ground pork.  Add the drained rice noodles and stir fry for about 2 minutes until noodles are softened (al dente), but not mushy.  Add the almond butter sauce and toss together so that the sauce is well distributed.  If needed, add some (or all) of the reserved pasta water to dilute the sauce and bring the mixture to the desired consistency.

Serve garnished with cilantro, chopped green onions, or chopped nuts.  Pass lime wedges.  It is good warm or at room temperature.  (Also good leftover – these photos were taken the next day.)  Enjoy!

Ground pork Thai noodles

djDavid Johansen has worn many hats since he burst into the music scene with the New York Dolls in the ’70s- punk rocker, lounge singer as Buster Poindexter, and now bluesman. On Harry Smiths, Johansen and his band lower the volume and increase the menace performing old time and string music classics with a bluesy touch. Highly recommended!

nightOnce he split with the Dolls David enjoyed a solo career, and his second release, Here Comes the Night is a tight, high energy romp. On the title track or “Bohemian Love Pad” he shows he hasn’t lost that punky touch.

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Posted in Entrees, Pork, Product Review, Sauces, Marinades, and Rubs

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Sunny Summer Squash Casserole

Posted on August 23, 2012 by | 3 Comments

Summer is finally starting to wind down, and thank goodness for that!  I have to apologize for neglecting the blog for so long.  For the most part, cooking this summer has been mostly repeats of favorites, coupled with a lack of enthusiasm for standing in a hot kitchen.  Even grilling has gone by the wayside, since stepping outside into the oppressive heat and humidity while fending off swarms of blood-sucking mosquitoes is not enjoyable.  However the last few days have started off, at least, as blessedly cool and less humid…just the touch of the coming autumn weather that I needed to get some energy back!

Gluten and Soy Free!

I’ve had this recipe for squash casserole since the early 80′s, when it was passed around from co-workers at UNC-Hospitals.  It’s another dish that falls in the “comfort food” zone, and typical of many casseroles, it contains a can of condensed cream of chicken soup.  I haven’t used this recipe in ages, because Campbell’s soups are not on our list of foods that are good for you.  There is the gluten issue, as well as preservatives, and artificial colors and flavorings.  I could, of course, make my own cream of chicken soup from scratch, but that just seems like too much work for one ingredient in a casserole. Then I spotted something different in the soup aisle – Pacific Natural Foods Organic Cream Of Chicken Condensed Soup.  It doesn’t mention it on the front of the box, but this soup is also gluten-free and soy-free, as well as being USDA Organic.  I picked up a couple to see how they would adapt in casseroles.

Upon opening the box (which does not even require scissors due to a handy tab), the first sight of the soup is not that good.  Its consistency is kind of jelly-like, but to be fair, Campbell’s condensed soups aren’t much to look at either.  Getting beyond that, when it is mixed in with the other ingredients and baked, the results were perfect!  I didn’t try it on its own as a soup, but I can certainly recommend it for anyone that wants a healthier option for condensed soup.  Here are the ingredients listed on the box:

organic chicken broth
organic creme fraiche
organic rice starch
organic cooked chicken
organic rice flour
sea salts
organic chicken fat
organic garlic powder
organic onion powder

Back to the squash – I adapted the original recipe to reduce the amount of bread crumbs (it originally used packaged “stuffing”), to take out the gluten, and to add some seasonings for taste.  I especially like the raw shredded carrots in this recipe, since they add so much color and texture to the finished casserole.  I usually made this with yellow, crookneck squash, but used zucchini this time. This dish is great with roasted meats, and also would be good on a holiday table.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups squash, cut into large dice
  • 1 sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons butter (preferably grass-fed)
  • 2 cups shredded carrots (~2 large or 3 medium-sized carrots)
  • 1 12-ounce box condensed soup (cream of chicken, celery, or mushroom)
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (make your own gluten- and grain-free bread or muffins, if possible)
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon Ratatouille Seasoning (or seasoning blend of choice)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
  • freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • a few dashes of fish sauce (optional)
  • 1 cup gluten-free/grain-free bread crumbs (for topping – see above)
  • 2 tablespoons butter (for topping)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly butter a 2.5 quart casserole dish.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the squash in boiling water for 5-10 minutes (long enough for it to be tender, but not falling apart).  Drain squash into a colander; set aside.

Using the same (dry) pan, saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of butter until soft.

In a large bowl, mix together the well-drained squash, onion, carrots, condensed soup, sour cream , Parmesan cheese, egg, thyme, Ratatouille seasoning, fish sauce, salt, and pepper.  Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed.  Pour into the buttered casserole dish.

Using the same pan, again, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and mix with the remaining cup of bread crumbs.  Scatter evenly over the squash mixture in the casserole.

Bake, uncovered, for about 1 hour, until bubbly and hot throughout, and browned on top.  Serve hot.

So good to be back! Got a great selection today, a compilation of some of the nastiest, gritty funky stuff you’ll ever hear. It’s a new release from Light In The Attic called Country Funk 1969-75, and boy, it doesn’t lie in the title! From Link Wray doing “Fire And Brimstone” to the great Bobby Charles and “Street People”, this is a great look at folks that don’t get a lot of attention. Tony Joe White, Dale Hawkins, even Mac Davis with “Lucas Was a Redneck”, it don’t get much better than this. Get funky!

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Vietnamese Clay Pot Pork (Thit Kho To)

Posted on July 28, 2012 by | 19 Comments

I fell in love with a Vietnamese restaurant, and with Clay Pot Pork.  Chateau Saigon is a gem of a restaurant in the mecca of multi-ethnic eateries that line Buford Highway.  Restaurants in this area of Atlanta are mostly in shopping centers and strip malls, alongside pawn shops, thrift stores, and car dealerships.  In other words…not the trendy area of town.  However there is a lot of good food tucked away there, and often the most dive-y looking spots are the most authentic.  I don’t know much about Vietnamese cuisine to know if Chateau Saigon is “authentic” or not, but the restaurant is clean and filled with light, the service is elegant, and the food is beautifully presented and delicious.  If you’re looking for a new and different dining experience in Atlanta, give it a try!

The Clay Pot Pork is an intensely flavored dish – served at Chateau Saigon in a heavy, piping hot pot.  The meat is tender and is bound with a deeply rich sauce that has cooked down to the sticky essence of all its ingredients.  Wanting to make this at home, I browsed through several cookbooks and the internet to find recipes.  This recipe is modified primarily from Weave a Thousand Flavors – a blog that drew me in with mouth-watering photography and beautifully detailed instructions.

Using a good quality fish sauce is probably essential to this dish, since there is quite a bit of it in the recipe.  I like Red Boat Fish Sauce because it is 100% pure, first pressed, high-protein fish sauce – made in Vietnam with only 2 ingredients: black anchovy and sea salt.  Looking for “umami”…here it is!  It is available in some stores (see their website), but you can also order it from Amazon.

You don’t have to have a clay pot – a good Dutch oven or braising pot (with a lid) would work.  I used our Tagine- also a clay pot.

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds fatty pork shoulder (Boston butt), cut into cubes
  • 5 to 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 cup (heaping) shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (or more if needed)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot chili sauce
  • 1/3 cup Vietnamese Fish Sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 to 4 scallions
  • fresh ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon or to taste

Preheat oven to 325F.  Melt the coconut oil in the clay pot (or Dutch oven) over medium heat for a few minutes.  Turn the heat up to medium-high, then add the pork in small batches and brown on all sides.  (This will take several batches.  Be careful not to overcrowd the pan or the meat will steam instead of brown.)  When each batch is done, transfer the browned meat to a bowl.  Add more oil if necessary.

Turn off the heat and add the sugar to the pan.  Stir well to combine, then turn the heat back on to medium.  Stir the sugar constantly until it melts and starts to separate from the oil (it will glob up, bubble and look pasty…don’t worry).

Add the shallots, garlic, and ginger to the sugar.  Saute for a few minutes, until fragrant.  Stir in the fish sauce and Sriracha sauce.  Add the meat and all the accumulated juices to the pot.  Add water and ground pepper.  Stir well, tossing the meat until it is well-coated with the gravy.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven.  Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the pork is caramel in color and tender, and the sauce is thick.  Add more water if needed during cooking to keep the sauce from drying out.

Note:  None of the recipes mention it, but I found that a lot of fat accumulated as the pork cooked.  I spooned off excess fat near the end of the cooking time, reserving some to saute the green onions (next step).

While the pork is cooking, trim off the root and any wilted green parts from the scallions.  Wash and dry with paper towels.  Slice the white part of the scallion in thin pieces, and cut the green parts into ~1-inch segments.  When the pork is almost ready, briefly saute the scallions in 1 tablespoon reserved oil from the pork (or coconut oil), until they are glossy and fragrant.

Serve the pork with Jasmine rice, topped with scallions.

Now that was tasty! The same can be said for our musical guests…Little Feat! One of America’s greatest bands, led by Lowell George, they served up some of the greatest tunes you’ll ever come across. Such as on Sailin Shoes with the classics such as “Easy To Slip” and the truckers anthem, “Willin’”

Waiting for Columbus captures Little Feat at their live zenith, and when they were cookin’, ain’t nobody better. Except of course for She Cooks! Enjoy!

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BBQ Chicken, Bacon, and Pineapple Pizza (gluten free)

Posted on January 15, 2012 by | 5 Comments

Santa brought me several bags of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free, Dairy Free Pizza Crust mix this past Christmas.  Evidently Santa not only knows when you’ve been bad or good, but he also is aware when you have been suffering a serious craving for pizza!  Since I haven’t experimented with making my own gluten-free crust from scratch, I cannot compare this mix to the many recipes out there.  However I can tell you that I appreciated the convenience of having a pizza mix (instead of buying 5 or 6 kinds of flour), and we really, REALLY enjoyed having a slice of pizza that you could pick up and eat properly with your hands!  Thanks, Santa!

For our first pizza, we decided on one of our old favorites – barbeque chicken with bacon, pineapple, and mozzarella!  Since the last post on the blog was Oven Barbequed Chicken, I think you can follow the trail of leftovers leading to this choice.  In truth, there were not enough chicken leftovers, so I ended up making more barbequed chicken using boneless, skinless thighs baked in Bone Suckin’ Sauce.  The method was the same, except I didn’t brown the chicken since there was no need to crisp the skin, and I baked it for an hour until the chicken was tender enough to shred with a fork.

So, how did this pizza stack up to “real” pizza?  If you’re expecting chewy dough with some “pull” to it, you’re not going to find it here.  I’m not sure there is a gluten-free crust out there that has the same texture and consistency of a gluten-containing crust.  Gluten, unfortunately, is what gives bread that stretchy quality.  The crust of this pizza is crispy, and is more reminiscent of biscuit dough.  Is that bad?  Not in our opinion; we gobbled this down as if we had not eaten in years, stopping only to exclaim “mmm” or to grunt “pizza good, pizza good”.

When the weather warms up, I can’t wait to try this on the Big Green Egg!  There’s nothing like the taste of a wood-fired pizza!

Let’s get started building this pizza!

Note:  The pizza mix makes 2 12-inch pizzas.  The dough can be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Ingredients (for one pizza):

  • 1 package Bob’s Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Mix
  • Yeast packet (included with pizza mix)
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil + more to coat pan and to handle the dough
  • Sea salt
  • Barbequed chicken thighs, shredded (~2 thighs/pizza)
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, coarsely chopped
  • 3-4 slices pineapple, chopped into small pieces
  • Barbeque sauce
  • Fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into bits

Other handy items:  Electric mixer, 2 bowls, clean kitchen towel, silicone spatula, 12-inch pizza pan, pizza stone

Pizza dough rising...

Arrange one rack in the center of the oven, and another rack at the bottom.  Place a pizza stone (if you have one) on the bottom rack.  Preheat oven to 425F.

In a large bowl, combine the warm water and yeast, and allow to stand a few minutes to activate the yeast.  Whisk in eggs and olive oil.  Add the pizza crust mix; blend with electric mixer at medium speed for around 1 minute, or until well combined and dough is coming together.

Gather the dough together in a ball using a silicone spatula, and split it in half.  Place the second half in a separate bowl.  It helps to handle the dough with wet hands – it is sticky.  Cover both bowls with a clean kitchen towel, and place in a warm place to rise for at least 20-30 minutes.  (Near a warm oven is good enough, or you could put the bowls in lukewarm water if the room is cold.  Also, I left the dough out for several hours before using it, and it was okay.  If you are planning on making only one pizza, after the dough has risen, wrap it in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.  When ready to bake, allow to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.)

Ready for the oven!

Grease a 12-inch pizza pan with olive oil.  Rub your hands with olive oil, and place dough in the pizza pan.  Spread the dough out to cover the pizza pan, with more dough at the edges to contain the sauce.  You will notice here that the dough does not stretch – you just have to smush it in place.  Sprinkle the dough with sea salt and place on the center rack of the oven.  Bake the crust without toppings for 7-9 minutes.

Toppings added - it's starting to look like pizza!

Remove from oven.  Spread a thin layer of barbeque sauce over the surface of the pizza (just a few tablespoons).  Distribute the desired amount of shredded chicken, chopped bacon, pineapple, and mozzarella cheese over the crust.  Slide the pizza from the pizza pan onto the hot pizza stone, and bake for 15-20 minutes until crust and cheese are browned and topping is bubbling hot.  If you aren’t using a pizza stone, you could bake the pizza in the pan, or for a crisper crust, bake directly on the oven rack.

Cut the pizza into slices and serve.  Don’t be like me and burn the roof of your mouth – let it cool some before shoveling it in!

Bellissimo!

Pizza is back! My goodness I’ve missed it! Thank you Santa…! The soundtrack today features a pair of rock’s most “out there” performers. First, the wild-eyed Texan Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators with Easter Everywhere, the bands masterpiece. Loaded on acid and freaking out in Texas in the 1960s, the Elevators somehow created a cult record while Erickson lost his mind. But when it worked- as on “She Lives (In a Time of her Own)” or their version of Dylan’s “Baby Blue”, this is a seminal record, and a look back at a time when hippies walked the earth.

Long before they did The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd was as psychedelic as they came, in large part due to their founder, Syd Barrett. Their 1967 debut, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn is Syd’s finest moment, containing “Astronomy Domine” and “Lucifer Sam” among others, and is a trippy headrush of an album. The band went on of course to become megastars, but their “Crazy Diamond” leader wasn’t along for the ride, releasing a handful of singles and this grand album. It’s groovy, man.

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Oven Barbequed Chicken

Posted on January 13, 2012 by | 5 Comments

…and a product review for Bone Suckin’ Sauce!

I love bbq chicken on the grill – especially the bits of crispy skin with sauce, blackened with caramelized sugar from the flames.  However some days grilling outdoors just isn’t going to happen, for instance when the cold winter wind is blowing rain.  Brrr!  Thankfully,  pretty-fine barbeque chicken can be produced inside.

As the jar says, "We're Talkin' Serious"!

This isn’t so much a recipe as it is a product review, since I didn’t make my own barbeque sauce.  I have one recipe for barbeque sauce here, but if you don’t want to take the time, it is possible to find a great sauce with no high fructose corn syrup, no MSG, no gluten, no preservatives, and no fat (if you care about fats in your sauce; I do not).  My new favorite sauce out there is Bone Suckin’ Sauce, produced for Ford’s Foods in Raleigh, NC.  The best thing about this sauce, aside from the taste and the name, is it is made using REAL ingredients.  It is sweetened with honey and molasses, spiced up with horseradish, garlic and peppers, and has a really nice balance of tomato vs. vinegar.  This might sound insignificant, but I also love the color of this sauce – a nice rich, vibrant red, not the dull, tired looking colors of other sauces on the grocery shelf.

Oh, beautiful sauce...

If you can’t find Bone Suckin’ Sauce at your grocer’s, you can pick from a lot of styles (thicker, hotter) and flavors (original, mustard), here.

Back to the chicken… the goal was to bake the chicken in the sauce until it was fork tender.  I used chicken thighs, skin-on.  No one likes pale, flabby skin, so before these thighs went into the sauce, I browned them well on both sides in a skillet.  Not only did this avoid the flabby skin problem, but browning the chicken also adds another dimension to the taste, as well as renders out some of the chicken fat that would otherwise end up as a greasy layer on top of the barbeque sauce after baking.

Look, the sauce has a recipe right on the side of the jar!

Ingredients:

  • 6-8 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
  • Kosher salt and pepper (or bbq seasoning)
  • extra-virgin olive oil, or fat of choice for browning chicken
  • Bone Suckin’ Sauce, or bbq sauce of choice

Preheat oven to 350F.  Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, working in batches, brown the chicken thighs well on both sides (about 4 minutes/side). Do not crowd the skillet.  Transfer the browned chicken to a baking dish that will hold the chicken in a single layer.

Cover the chicken with barbeque sauce.  Cover the baking dish with foil, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  Pour off any excess grease.  Increase the oven temperature to 400F and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, uncovered, to thicken up the sauce and “recrisp” the chicken.  Serve it hot!

Boy howdy that’s good bbq! And so is the soundtrack. First, the official house music for SCHC’s Santa Fe headquarters is John Prine- something about his wry worldview and a fire is how we spend most evenings. His new one, The Singing Mailman Delivers will be a favorite, I’m sure. Drawn from recordings made before his first album, this is classic Prine. Illegal smile, indeed!

Guy Clark is a legend among songwriters- “LA Freeway”, “The Randall Knife” and more are well-loved. His new live album, Songs & Stories is a glimpse behind the songwriting process with Clark and a great band.

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Zucchini Noodles

Posted on July 8, 2011 by | 20 Comments

Zucchini Noodles

I have a new kitchen gadget and I’m not afraid to use it!  It looks pretty dangerous too.  Indeed, right there on the package it says “the blade is very sharp, peel away from your hands.”  So noted!

It the Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler, which makes perfect tiny strips of vegetables with just a swipe of your hand.  This photo is two zucchini that I transformed in less than 5 minutes to a big bowl of noodles.  Well, I didn’t actually time the transformation, but it didn’t take long.  It probably took longer than necessary because every few swipes I had to exclaim about how wonderful it was to James.  After a while, he probably was just thinking about guitar strings or cello music and nodding…but he pretended to be excited and that’s what makes a good marriage.

Speaking of a good marriage, these zucchini noodles were great with Lemon Garlic Chicken with Goat Cheese!  I skimmed off the excess fat from the cooked chicken and used it to quickly saute the zucchini.  The fat from the chicken was already infused with garlic, lemon, and herbs, so no additional seasoning was necessary except a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  The texture of the noodles was just like spaghetti – you could even twirl it on your fork.

Be sure to click the link to Lemon Garlic Chicken for the details!

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New Print This! button

Posted on July 2, 2011 by | 2 Comments

Added a “Print This” button, which sends the page to printfriendly.com and allows you to print only what you want from the post- text only, etc. Think this is a big improvement over the original one.

Print away!

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Product Review: Bilinski’s All Natural Chicken Sausages

Posted on June 24, 2011 by | 1 Comment

If you’re looking for a quick and easy dinner idea, these sausages could be just what you need!  I found these at Whole Food and picked them up to have on hand for one of those days you just don’t feel like cooking from scratch.  Whether it is a long day at work, you forget to thaw the roast, or your neighbor’s Rottweiler runs off with your pork chops, it is good to have a back-up plan!

Bilinski’s has been making all-natural chicken sausages since 1989 and traditional sausages since 1929, according to their website.  They have both “all natural” and “certified organic” chicken sausages available in a variety of flavors.  All of the chickens for the sausage were raised humanely in Lancaster County, PA, and were not given antibiotics or growth hormones.  The sausages are preservative-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, and made only from skinless leg and thigh meat from the chickens.  Now that we have all that data out of the way, I bet you’re wondering “how did they taste?”

First, since the sausages are fully cooked, you only need to reheat them.  I put them in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, just enough to brown the outsides a bit while rolling them around in the pan.  You don’t want to overcook them, so just get ‘em hot.  To accompany the sausages, I sliced up some red and yellow bell peppers and onions, and cooked them over medium to medium high head until they were soft and lightly browned. 

The sausages we tried were “Apple Chardonnay” and “Roasted Red Pepper and Asiago”.  They were very mild sausages with subtle flavors.  I can’t say that I could pick out the chardonnay or asiago, but the apple and roasted pepper flavors were notable.  The apple sausages were a little sweeter, the pepper sausages were a little more savory – but both were delicious.  Leftover sausages were also great with eggs for breakfast!  I look forward to trying out more of the chicken sausage products by Bilinski’s! 

It’s friday, been a long week…so as ZZ Top sang, it’s time to “mellow down easy…”. I’ve got just the stuff. First up, one of my favorite Muddy Waters albums, his mid-’60s release Folk Singer. Muddy going unplugged long before such a term existed. Featuring Waters with Buddy Guy on guitar and the great Willie Dixon on bass, this is a bewitching take by Muddy on some of his greatest songs. Mellow might not be the right word- this record smokes, but softly.

Next up, Blues & Ballads from Lonnie Johnson and Elmer Snowden. Most folks aren’t familiar with them, but one listen and I think this could be a favorite. Two great guitarists, singing the blues, slow and easy. Don’t get much better than this!

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