Just Eat Food News

There are probably a million (or, at least 10 that I can think of off the top of my head) variations of the Patty Melt, and now, all hail the Patty Melt Pizza.  So simple, so obvious, and yes so good. 

PATTY MELT PIZZA (SERVES 2)

CRUST

I used one half of the recipe of Cheri's Favorite Pizza Dough.  It turned out great, and has become my favorite pizza dough recipe to date.  The other half was used for the incredible Pepperoni Pizza Rolls. 

TOPPINGS

• ½ pound pastured ground beef, or bison
• 2 cloves garlic - chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ white or yellow onion - sliced in rings
• ¼ red onion - sliced in rings
• 1-1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese - grated

Preheat oven to 500°.  While the oven is heating shape your dough into desired shape.  Poke several small holes in the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling.  Brush pizza dough with extra-virgin olive oil.  Transfer pizza dough to whatever, pan, stone, etc you will be using for cooking.  Cook pizza dough without toppings for 5 minutes once the oven is preheated.  Cook beef or bison over medium heat in a skillet, add garlic, and break it into small pieces with a spatula.  When cooked through, drain any grease, set aside.  In the same pan add extra-virgin olive oil, once hot add onion rings and cook for three minutes.  Layer toppings on partially cooked pizza dough: ground beef, or bison, cheese, then onions arranged how you like them.  Cook pizza with toppings for 10 minutes more, or until golden brown and cheese has melted.

Don't have your fill of pizza ideas?  Get all 21 weeks worth here. 

I have been making variations of this recipe for several years.  This is an adaptation of the May Clinic's Cookbook, Three-Grain Raspberry Muffins.  They are sooo wonderful.  It is a fabulous cookbook that I enjoy and turn to often. 

Just tell your family this recipe only made 8 muffins.  I won't tell them otherwise.  If you really want a sinful treat, slather them with honey butter when they are still warm.

A few months back I posted a recipe for Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins if you would like to see another related recipe. 

THREE GRAIN MIXED BERRY MUFFINS (12 MUFFINS)

• ½ cup rolled oats
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk or plain soy milk
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
• ¼ cup wheat bran
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup dark honey
• 3 ½ tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons grated lime zest
• 1 pastured egg, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup raspberries - I used ½ frozen raspberries, ½ frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners (foil removes easier).

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the oats and milk. Microwave on high until the oats are creamy and tender, about 3 minutes.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, bran, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk to blend.  Add the honey, canola oil, lime zest, oats mixture, and egg.  Beat just until moistened but still slightly lumpy.  Gently fold in the raspberries.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full.  Bake until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 16-18 minutes.  Transfer the muffins to a wire rack and let cool completely. 

Out of all of the pizza recipes so far I think this may be in the top two (2).  These were incredible and would be so perfect for entertaining.  Even the kiddos would be pleased with these cheesy, delicious bites.  As you know I love perfectly portioned meals.  Are they still considered portions if you eat 12 in on sitting?  Questionable at best. 

Make the dough ahead of time for a super fast appetizer. 

PEPPERONI PIZZA ROLLS (24-30) 

CRUST

I used one half of the recipe of Cheri's Favorite Pizza Dough.  It turned out remarkably well.  

TOPPINGS

• ½ cup of your favorite marinara
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese - grated
• ½ pound pastured pepperoni - diced
• 2 tablespoons white onion - finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400°.  While the oven is heating shape your dough by rolling into a long snake about 2" in diameter.  Then roll it about ¼" thin with a rolling pin.  Leave edges bare, and spoon a thin layer of marinara over dough, then layer with cheese, pepperoni, and onion.  Using your hands begin to roll dough into a coil.  Cut coil into ¾" pieces using a pizza cutter.  Place pizza rolls into olive oil greased baking dish.  Place rolls so they are lightly touching.  Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes.  Serve with warmed marinara for dipping.  Yum, yum, yum-yum.

There are certain dishes that I love more the second, or third day rather than the first.  This is certainly true when it comes to turkey.  I can't wait to get my hands on it to make enchiladas.  Why must we reserve this glorious bird for one day a year?  Consider ordering two additional halves when you order your Thanksgiving bird for other occasions throughout the year. 

I made my own tortillas for this recipe.  You could certainly buy some to cut down on time, but you will be sacrificing some serious deliciousness. 

TURKEY ENCHILADAS (SERVES 4) 

filling

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 red pepper - cut into strips
• ½ white onion - coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• 2 cups turkey - cooked, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 cups spinach - coarsely chopped
• ½ cup veggie broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon corn starch 

sauce

• 2 small cans green chilies
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• Dash hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon white onion - finely chopped
• cilantro to taste 

Preheat oven to 350°.  Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Once hot, add red pepper, onion, and garlic, stirring occasionally.  Once the onions are transparent add turkey, spinach, broth, cumin, and corn starch.  Stir to combine and continue stirring until spinach is wilted, and sauce has thickened.  

For sauce combine the following in a small electric mixer: green chilies, garlic, hot sauce, onion, and cilantro.  Pulse until well combined, and then transfer half to a pie pan. 

Prepare the assembly line starting with 8 tortillas, then pie pan with sauce, then filling and finally a baking pan to place the finished tortillas.  Before you begin spoon in some sauce to the bottom of the pan so the enchiladas won't stick.  Now take an enchilada, dip it in the sauce, so there is some on both sides, then fill with 1/8^th of the turkey mixture, roll and place in pan.  Repeat that for all 8 enchiladas.  Spoon a bit more sauce over the enchiladas, reserving some for serving.  Cover dish with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes.  Garnish with cilantro leaves, and additional sauce. 

English muffins are one of my favorite things.  I hunted around tastespotting.com and foodgawker.com to find fellow bloggers that have already tried out some recipes.  I settled on this post from Julie at My Cooking Adventure.  They turned out well, and used things I had on hand.  These were the simplest English muffins I could find to make, and I would make them again.  However, they weren't filled with the nooks and crannies that I soooo love. 

I would make the English muffins up the night before you want to serve them.  Otherwise you are getting up at o'dark hundred to get them around if you want to have breakfast before mid afternoon.  Then you can have a late night snack as a reward for your hard work.  What?  You HAVE to test your stuff before you serve it!   

BREAKFAST PIZZA SLIDERS

There are no specifics because this is as much or as little as you want kind of a recipe.  For each serving you want, use one egg.  So if you want 4 sliders, use 4 eggs.  Then throw in some spinach, about a handful for every 4 servings, and a little onion.  Don't limit yourself.  If you have mushroom, peppers, throw them in!  The more the merrier.

egg muffins

• eggs
• spinach - chopped
• onion - finely chopped
• sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350° degrees.  In mixing bowl add eggs, and a small amount of water (makes eggs moist), whisk for a minute or so.  Then stir in onion and spinach.  Pour mixture into greased muffin tins, until about ¾ full.  Cook in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.  Use a fork to loosen egg muffins.

Toast the English muffins, serve with sharp cheddar and top with egg muffins. 

NOTE: I did have a bit of trouble keeping the muffins from sticking to the sides and bottom of the muffin tin.  I would recommend greasing generously before baking.  You might want to wrap a piece of bacon around the outside of ungreased muffin cups, and fill with egg mixture (kind of like this Egg Cup recipe).  Just a thought.  Yum.... 

Until I get a mini-farm and raise Araucana Chickens (Easter Egg Chickens)I am dependant on dying my own Easter Eggs.  This year I wanted to dye them with found things from my kitchen.  I refused to be dependant on what was offered me from the mega-chains.

Here are my top five reasons to dye them yourself - sans boxed kits

1. INCREDIBLY EASY - You might be surprised just how easy it is.  You simply boil your desired food stuffs in water; in my case I created three color sensations.  Here is how I achieved my colors:

• Brown - Coffee, very strong coffee
• Yellow - 3 tablespoons curry powder, carrot peels
• Blue - red cabbage

2. REPURPOSING SCRAPS - The carrot peels, and cabbage were first used for dye before heading to a worm feast.  Cutting down on waste.

3. EXPERIMENTATION - Your kids are sure to have a blast thinking of combos to dye their eggs with.

4. APPEARANCE - The eggs turned out great!  They were not psychedelic, tie dyed, or glittery, but were practically perfect in every way. 

5. CONVENIENCE - You know you are bound to forget the egg dye kit at the store, and instead of making another trip, you should just give in and make them at home. 

The instructions and pointers I used were from What's Cooking America.  I did not try the rubber band trick, but I'm sure they would have been adorable too.

Please note that the 'grass' the eggs are resting on is colorful magazine adds, shredded.  The 'grass' doesn't cost a thing and after use can be recycled.  

Happy Easter!

I was cruising around the blogosphere the other day and stumbled on to Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry posted by Kevin over at Closet Cooking an incredibly prolific and wonderful food blogger.  Fantastic photography too.  Now if I could just get my smell o' vision to work properly.  It has been suggested that I prepare an Indian style pizza and so I guess Kevin was my muse.  Don't be concerned Kevin, I am totally harmless.  For the most part.  I halved the Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry, the original recipe is here.  It was light, and delicate.  A wonderful compliment to the naan I picked up.

It looks as though I have been having a vegan food obsession.  Perhaps I am.  I am not vegan, maybe part-time vegetarian, but certainly not vegan.  I don't think... is denial the first step to acceptance? 

CLOSET VEGAN 'PIZZA' (SERVES 2+)

Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry

• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ onion - chopped
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic - chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger - chopped
• 1 small can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon chili sauce - optional
• ½ head cauliflower - cut into florets
• 1 small can chickpeas - rinsed and drained
• ½ cup water
• ½ pound green beans - trimmed and sliced into 1" slices
• salt to taste
• cilantro - chopped - whatever you do don't skip this.  Delicious!!!

Heat oil in large pan.  Add the onion and curry powder and cook until the onion is tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about a minute. 

Add the tomatoes, chili sauce, cauliflower, chickpeas and water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the cauliflower is tender, about 10-15 minutes. 

Add the green beans and cook until they are just tender and still crisp, about 3-5 minutes.  Serve over naan and garnish with cilantro. 

Creamy potato salads are delicious but after trying the dressing on my Vegan Nicoise Pizza I knew I had to throw the same dressing on some red skins.  Try serving this over a bed of spinach, there will be enough dressing to go around. 

A far less vegan option but still delicious, would be to add some blue cheese crumbles, or dare I suggest bacon?  Just a thought ok!

RED SKIN POTATO SALAD (SERVES 2)

• 2 small red skin potatoes - cubed
• 1 green onion - sliced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Boil enough water to cover the potatoes.  Once boiling add the potatoes and a pinch of salt.  Boil until potatoes are fork tender 18-20 minutes. 

While the potatoes are cooking make the dressing by combining green onion, lemon juice, evoo, vinegar, and s&p to a small mixing bowl.  Combine thoroughly, cover, and place in refrigerator until time to use. 

When the potatoes are cooked allow them to cool and then toss with dressing.  Refrigerate at least one hour prior to serving if you can keep your fork out of it long enough. 

This is my interpretation of the nicoise salad and it just happens to be vegan.  The vinaigrette was so light and flavorful making this an incredibly tasty lunch or satisfying dinner.  The inspiration came from some gorgeous nicoise olives that recently found their way into my refrigerator.  Lucky me!!  If you have capers in the house I highly recommend garnishing with a few, or a bunch if you are so inclined.  Bon Appétit!

VEGAN NICOISE PIZZA (SERVES 2)

CRUST

Use one third of pizza dough (enough for one medium pizza)

SALAD DRESSING

• 1 green onion - sliced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

TOPPINGS

• 2 red potatoes - cleaned, halved
• ¼ pound green beans - ends trimmed
• spinach
• 1 tomato - diced
• nicoise olives

First, make the dressing by combining green onion, lemon juice, evoo, vinegar, and s&p to a small mixing bowl.  Combine thoroughly, cover, and place in refrigerator until time to use. 

In a medium size sauce pan, over high heat bring some water to a boil - enough to cover potatoes.  Once boiling add potatoes and cook until fork tender.  Remove potatoes from water, but do not drain.  Add green beans to boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Drain beans and rinse with cold water immediately to stop the browning, and continued cooking of the beans.  Cube potatoes and spoon a bit of salad dressing over the top.  Dress the beans as well, and set aside. 

Preheat oven temperature to 500°.  While the oven is heating divide the dough into two portions, shape your dough into the desired shape, adding as little flour as possible.  Poke several small holes in the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling.  Transfer pizza dough to whatever, pan, stone, etc you will be using for cooking.  Brush crust with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, and cook for about 7 minutes.  While dough is cooking chop spinach and tomatoes and dress with the balance of the dressing.  Once the dough is cooked, layer spinach, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and olives in desired arrangement. 

PEAR AND BLUE CHEESE PIZZA (SERVES 4 AS APPETIZER)

Peas and carrots, peanut butter and jelly, salsa and chips, and of course pear and blue cheese round out my top pick combos.  I may have forgotten a few so please add to the combo convo.  The blue cheese used here was 'Cashel Blue'.  If you are a blue fan you must check this one out, it has been a favorite and summer picnics for years.  If you don't plan to use Cashel Blue, be sure to use a high quality blue cheese. 

CRUST

Use one third of pizza dough (enough for one medium pizza)

TOPPINGS

• 4 tablespoons pastured butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 bartlett pears - ripe but still firm
• blue cheese crumbles

Preheat oven to 500°.  While the oven is heating shape your dough into 4 small rounds.  Poke several small holes in the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling.  Transfer pizza dough to whatever, pan, stone, etc you will be using for cooking.  While the oven continues to warm up melt butter in a large sauce pan.  Brush crusts with melted butter, and cook without toppings for about 5 minutes.  Add brown sugar to the butter and stir until dissolved.  Add the pear slices to the butter and fry about 2-3 minutes on each side.  Transfer pears to dough in desired pattern.  Cook for 10 or so minutes more, or until golden brown.  Sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and drizzle with left over butter.