The Dude's Pizza Crust Recipe

Dude put this in the comments of the last Wednesday fun, but I figured for easier finding later, I'd paste it into a post.

Gino's East style Pizza Crust Recipe

1 cup of warm water
1 package yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal or corn flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 T corn oil
2 ½ to 3 cups of cheap generic flour
Yellow food coloring – the real secret to why its yellow.

Take the water and put it in your mixer. add yeast and a touch of sugar. Let the yeast foam up to be sure that it is active. Then add the rest of the ingredients including 2 1/2 cups flour. I usually end up adding between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoons of yellow food coloring. Using a dough hook, kneed the dough until it is well combined. If the dough is sticky add a little more flour. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Let the mixer kneed the dough for 10 minutes. Put it in the oven to rise. If you desire a late in the day pizza taste (beer like), then let it rise all day.

Assembling the pizza -
Preheat oven to 350. After the dough has risen take your deep dish pizza pan (or a round cake pan with straight sides) and coat the inside of it with a very healthy coating of melted butter. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick and up it in the pan. Then pinch the dough up along the sides of the pan. Now put your cheese, and I mean a lot, into the crust. Then add your spinach and anchovies, and finally your sauce. Bake in the oven until the crust is starting to brown and cheese is starting to bubble up through the sauce.

Marinara Sauce & "Favors From The Home" Review

I got this recipe from a community ed cooking class* I took a few times quite long ago, adapted just a tad, mostly in timing. It's a delicious, versatile sauce for spaghetti, manicotti, lasagna, etc. Mr. Kluges loves it best over Italian sausages and garlic mashed potatoes. You can do it with canned or fresh tomatoes, but I'm not sure of the quantity if you do fresh, so just give it a try. I'll try to update it with an approximate quantity of fresh tomatoes next time I make it.

Note: This one is doubled from the original because it's no more work & you can freeze half of it for later. Or just eat a lot.

MARINARA SAUCE
Two 28 oz. cans Hunt's whole peeled tomatoes (or equivalent fresh tomatoes, peeled & seeded**) [9/5 - I made these starting with a bit more than 4 1/2 lbs. of fresh tomatoes. I wouldn't do less, but you could probably go between 5-6 lbs. pre-peeling/-seeding weight.]
6 Tbl. olive oil
3/4 - 1 c. diced red onion
6 large cloves minced garlic
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil OR 3 Tbl. Chef Jeff's frozen basil*** OR 3 Tbl. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dry oregano
1 tsp. sugar
salt & pepper to taste
dash of crushed red pepper flakes to taste (opt.)

1. Rough chop tomatoes in a blender or food processor and set aside. (If doing with fresh, peel and seed them first. **)

2. Place a large pan or stock pot or Dutch oven over high heat; add olive oil, onion and garlic; reduce heat to medium high and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, or until mixture becomes pale golden in color (not brown).

3. Add tomatoes, oregano, red pepper, sugar, salt and pepper to the onion mixture. (Also basil if using dried.)

4. Bring sauce to boil; reduce to simmer for 30-45 minutes for better flavor.

5. Add (fresh) basil and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached; remove from heat (and eat, or set aside to cool to use in lasagna, or to freeze).



* Oh, look - the internet is a wonderful thing! It was "Flavors From the Home" with Chef Jeff, and looking at his website, I see that it looks like he's still doing classes around the TC area, maybe starting in September. They were FUN classes where you actually get to cook and eat the menu, and take the recipes home. All the ones I took started off relaxed, but the pace picked up as you went and I think every one finished late. But the food made it all worthwhile! Note: Even though you'll get to eat, it wasn't until the end of the class, so don't go hungry or you'll be starving before the end. Also, Chef Jeff is a hoot. Looking at the menus, I took Oriental Favorites I - Menu #1, Southern Italian Family Style I - Menu #2, Gourmet with a French Accent I - Menu #3, Southern Italian Family Style II - Menu #5, Traditional Southern Italian - Menu #7, Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! II - Menu #13, and Traditional French II - Menu #14. They were all wonderful fun and delicious to boot. I highly recommend them, but I think they filled up fast, so if you're interested, check out which ones are nearby and call the appropriate contact on the registration page.

**An easy way to peel and seed fresh tomatoes is to bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Cut an X in the skin at the bottom of the tomato, then drop it in the boiling water for like 20-30 seconds. Take it out, and you should be able to peel it easily, starting at the X. To seed them easily, cut them in half along the equator, NOT from bottom to top. Then you can just take a half in your hand and squeeze out most of the seeds with ease.

*** Chef Jeff recommended taking large quantities of fresh basil, washing & roughly chopping it, mixing it with a good amount of olive oil, then making long tubes/rolls/fat-thumb-thick-snakes of it in plastic wrap and freezing it. You can whack off a hunk of it and get great fresh flavor, even if it looks browner than it would when actually fresh.

Tomato Bruschetta

Yesterday I was SO HUNGRY for tomato-covered bruschetta. The tomatoes, and basil, and garlic....yum! We'd gotten a large bunch of basil from our CSA the week before, so I'd thought to pick up some tomatoes...

I sort of made this recipe, which I'd gotten at a cooking class (with Chef Jeff). Didn't measure a thing, used regular tomatoes instead of Roma and a fresh CSA onion instead of the red onion, didn't toast the bread....

But it didn't matter. Because what I ended up with was absolutely, positively what I was hungry for. I'd made some dough from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day earlier in the afternoon, so I baked up a loaf of that, and for supper, all I had was fresh, homemade bread mounded with tomato-y goodness.

It was summertime heaven.


Tomato Bruschetta
(makes 3-4 appetizer servings)

6 Roma tomatoes
1/4 c. diced red onion
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. fresh chopped basil (oh, just use LOTS)
3 Tbl. olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
3-4 1/2"-1" slices of fresh Boule bread (French bread may be substituted)

1. Remove the stem ends of the tomatoes; cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
2. Dice the tomatoes and place them in a 3-quart mixing bowl. (I'd only use pottery or other non-reactive material because I think the acidic tomato tastes funny otherwise.)
3. Add onions, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper; mix well.
4. Serve at room temperature.
5. Brush both sides of the bread lightly with olive oil and place on a 1/2 size sheet tray (or cookie sheet.)
6. Broil for 2-3 minutes or until slightly golden in color. Repeat procedure so that both sides are lightly toasted.
7. Remove from broiler, top with tomato mixture and serve.

Roasted Bell Pepper Antipasto

This one is from The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook. I made it without the green peppers and used yellow and orange bell peppers along with the red ones. It's listed in the appetizer section, but it made a great side dish. They suggest it could be served with some Italian salamis and cold meats.

3 red bell peppers
2 yellow or orange bell peppers
2 green bell peppers
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
5 Tbsp olive oil
few drops of hot pepper sauce
4 canned artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
1 garlic clove, sliced
salt and ground black pepper
basil leaves, to garnish

Serves 6

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a foil-lined baking sheet and place the whole peppers on the foil. Bake for about 45 minutes, until beginning to char. Remove from the oven, cover with a dish towel and let cool for 5 minutes.

2. Slice the sun-dried tomatoes. Remove the core and seeds from the peppers and peel away the skins. Slice each pepper into thick strips.

3. Beat together the vinegar, oil, and hot pepper sauce, then season with a little salt and pepper.

4. Toss the peppers with the sliced artichokes, tomatoes, and garlic. Pour the dressing over and sprinkle the basil leaves on top.

Pasta Sauce

This one's easy!

Take 2 large (15 oz.) cans of tomato sauce and heat in a large saucepan. Add whatever excites you - spinach, herbs from your garden (or your spice rack), garlic, onion, vegetables, meat.

Some herbs that are nice with this:
Thyme
Rosemary (my fave!)
Basil
Oregano
Sage

Or you can experiment with smaller batches and try:
Cayenne
Ginger
Mustard Seed

Allow the sauce to simmer at least half an hour - the longer the better. I then pack it in my Ball Freezer containers (available at the grocery store by the canning stuff) and freeze them. Thaw one or two prior to dinner. One is perfect for two people, two is just right for 4.

And no more wasted sauce because you didn't eat the whole jar.

Review - Bertolli frozen meals

We picked up a couple different kinds of Bertolli frozen meals for easy suppers when we were moving and I was pleasantly surprised enough to want to let you all know that these are actually pretty tasty. We've had the Italian Sausage & Rigatoni (which is the one I've liked best so far), the Roasted Chicken & Linguini, and Chicken Parmigiana & Penne.

These are only 10 -15 minutes in the pan and they're done. No water to boil, no oven to preheat - just open the bag, throw it in a pan on the stove and stir a bit half-way through. Easy-peasy, and tasty besides!

Portion size is not overly generous; the bag says it serves two, but Mr. Kluges could polish it off himself if he was feeling hungry. Also, not especially healthy, especially with the fat and salt content!

But, if you want something tasty and easy and you're not going to rely on it very often, it's a handy thing to have in the freezer!


Here's an old article/review about them that I found on-line, too.

Pouched Pears with Honey Sauce

From Into the Sauce! the Buca di Beppo cookbook. So rich and wonderful! It takes, like 2 hours to do because of all the zesting and peeling and poaching that's involved, but you can do all of it ahead of time (and should, because the pears should be cold when served) and just warm up the honey sauce, spoon it over the pears and serve it.

6 Bosc pears
3 cups cold water
1/2 vanilla bean
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1 large lemon
2 cups Honey Sauce (see below)

Peel and core the pears (a melon baller works well), leaving the stems intact. Place the cored pears in cold water and set aside. Mix 3 cups of water, the vanilla bean and the sugar in a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears. Heat the syrup over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the lemon juice. Drain the pears and add to the syrup. Cook over medium heat in covered pan, turning occasionally, until the pears are tender, about 30 minutes. Cool the pears in the syrup to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold. Remove the pears with slotted spoon and place each pear on an individual dessert plate. Spoon the Honey Sauce over the pears.


Honey Sauce

2 cups honey
Zest of 4 lemons
Zest of 4 oranges
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

In a saucepan, heat the honey to a simmer over low heat. Add the lemon and orange zest, ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Serve warm or refrigerate to use later. Prior to using the sauce, slowly reheat it to server warm. Makes 2 cups.

Baked Ziti

This is a recipe that has made the rounds on a message board I am a member of. It's gotten rave reviews over the years, but tonight was the first time that I'd ever tried it. I am happy to report that the rumors are true, it's super yummy. Three kinds of cheese, plus sour cream, what's not to love?! Definitely comfort food, but it's perfect for making ahead and freezing. My notes in brackets.

Ingredients:
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped [I added 2 cloves of garlic]
1 pound lean ground beef
2 26 ounce jars spaghetti sauce [I only used one jar of sauce since I didn't read carefully, it came out fine]
6 ounce provolone cheese sliced
1 ½ cup sour cream [reduced fat works just as well]
6 ounce mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated

Procedure:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain. 2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes. 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: Half of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, half of the sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted. Serves 6-8 regular people, 4-6 hungry people.