Perfect Pizza

Collaboration Recipe

Makes 2 Pizza's

Crust Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup warm water

2 Tbs. canola oil or olive oil

2 Tbs. Corn meal

Sauce Ingredients:

1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano Tomatoes (the best you can find)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon dried basil

Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Toppings:

Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

Your choice of meats and veggies

Crust Directions:

In a large bowl, mix 1 1/4 cups flour with yeast and salt; add warm water and oil.  Beat with a whisk for 3 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in another 1 1/4 cups flour, or enough so mixture holds together.  Place dough on a lightly floured surface.  Kneed in 1/4 to 1/2 cup more flour - stop once it's lump-free.  Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Sauce: San Marzano Tomatoes are already blanched and skinned, so they've already been par-cooked and they will roast in the oven.  There is no need to heat or warm them beforehand. Empty the can, drain the tomatoes and crush them with your hands or pulse them in a food processor a few times. Add the remaining ingredients and combine.

Heat oven to 425 F.  On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 2 portions and stretch dough with hands and get it as thin as you can.  Sprinkle each pizza pan or baking stone with 1 Tbs of corn meal.  Transfer dough to pan's, build up the edges slightly; prick bottom of crusts.  Bake about 8 minutes, remove from the oven.  Add the sauce and toppings and bake until cheese is melted and crust is browned and crisp.

Bella Burgers

Recipe Courtesy of Jo Davison

Serves 4

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lbs ground beef chuck

1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

4 Portobello Mushrooms

8 slices of Swiss cheese

4 Hamburger Buns

Lettuce and Tomato for garnish

Mayo (optional)

In a bowl combine beef, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper.  Divide mixture 4 into equal patties. Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill on high, when your ready to add the burgers and mushrooms, drop heat to medium. Clean mushrooms with a damp towel, remove stems, rub with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.  Add the burgers and mushrooms to the grill and cook thoroughly, approx. 4 minutes of each side.  (Make sure that the burgers are cooked through)  After burgers and mushrooms are cooked, turn off the grill, add a slice of cheese to each patty and mushroom cap.  Assemble burgers with the mushroom cap on top of the patty, add the lettuce, tomato and Mayo.

Ziti with Mushrooms, Pancetta & Peas

Recipe Courtesy of ?

Serves 4 - 6

4 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped pancetta 

1/2 cup finely minced onion

4 cups thinly sliced cremini mushrooms (about 16 oz.)

2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried)

1 cup thawed frozen peas

1/2 cup Madeira or Marsala

2/3 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1 cup to 1 1/3 cup heavy cream

16 oz. dried ziti, cooked in well-salted water until just al dente, and drained

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; more for serving

Heat 2 Tbs. of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the pancetta and onion and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and the pancetta has rendered its fat, about 5 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, transfer the onion and pancetta to a plate, leaving as much fat in the pan as possible.  Add the additional olive oil to the pan and let it get hot.  Add the mushrooms and thyme, and sauté the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until their liquid has released and evaporated and they are nicely browned, 8 t0 10 minutes.

Add the peas and return the onions and pancetta to the pan.  Add the Madeira or Marsala and the broth to the pan to deglaze it.  Cook, stirring and scraping up the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced by about half.

Add just enough of the cream to round out the flavors and create a clingy sauce. Continue cooking for a minute or so to reduce the cream and to thicken the sauce slightly.  Lower the heat to medium and add the cooked and drained pasta and the cheese to the pan.  Toss the pasta gently with the sauce to heat the noodles and to meld all the flavors; be careful not to overcook at this stage or the sauce might separate. Serve immediately, with additional grated cheese if you like.

February 15th - 20th "Raid the pantry and stock the freezer" week!

So do you have those days where you just don’t have the energy to go to the grocery store and the kids are getting tired of eating cereal for dinner?  As funny as that statement is I have to admit I’ve had this happen to me on more than one occasion, and this is when I decide I better get creative and figure out what I can make from the items left in my pantry.  If you’ve followed this blog since the beginning you know that I like it when I create a meal and there are enough leftovers to create a whole other meal; they are the meals I call “Freezer Value Meals”.  This week is all about having a backup plan for those moments.   My Quick Meals will be recipes that can be made from those extra items we have in the pantry and freezer.  Three meals will double to create easy grab-n-go meals for the freezer so you can give the family another option besides cereal; because you know that you will have another one of those days.   :)

This week you will also notice to the right the title Additional Information.  This area is all about sharing; I will be listing tips and shortcuts that I’ve either discovered with my own hits and misses or what others have shared.   If you have a great tip for our readers let me know and I’ll post it.  In the shopping list area, you will find a snapshot of the spreadsheet I have available.  Although I did try to make it it’s own web page for easy access, the text and not the grid was all that would process, so until I can figure out the magic formula I will be more than happy to email anyone one who would like a copy, it is quite handy.  

Don’t forget that this is a new layout and you can now just click the title of the recipe to access it.  Throughout the week I’m sure I will continue to tweak the site, so please feel free to email me at mydinnerplaybook@aol.com with any suggestions, recipe ideas, or how I can take over the world with my blog, ha ha just checking that your still paying attention.  I’d love to hear from you and don’t forget about my goal of having 100 followers, sign up today and send this blog off to family, friends and strangers!  As always, have a fabulous week!

Find this weeks Grocery List here*

* Ingredients for the Pasta E Fagioli recipe are NOT included

Quick Meal 1

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Your either going to go respond with; Yuk, I’ll pass or I remember this meal, my Mom would make this for me when she didn’t want to go to the store.  Exactly why this recipe is here this week, we always seem to have tuna in the pantry right?   Although I have to admit, secretly I really do like this meal just don’t tell anyone. 

Quick Meal 2

D’s Tacos

If I’m going to make tacos I go for my stripped beef recipe, but if it’s my son’s birthday (this is what he requests every year) or if I’m sick and can’t make dinner, my son takes over dinner duties and makes his tacos.  I’m sure most pantries contain taco shells since you’ve probably picked them up at a 10 for $10 buck sale (I’ve done this, what a deal right, sure... what am I going to do with 10 boxes of taco shells!) and without a doubt hamburger is the one staple that is in the freezer; thus tacos.  They are easy to make and a 13 year old can make them unsupervised.  So kick back and let your kids make you dinner!

Got Some Time Meal 1

Chicken with Tarragon Cream and Green Bean Rice Pilaf

While you may have chicken in the freezer and extra sour cream, this meal really doesn’t fit this weeks criteria, but we needed a chicken recipe and this one looked yummy.  Hmm not a whole lot to say on this one so let’s move on....   

Got Some Time Meal 2

Pot Roast and Potatoes = Burritos-to-Go

So this is one of my freezer value meals.  When I buy a roast I make sure and get the biggest one I can afford and that will fit into my slow cooker.  While I enjoy a good Pot Roast and potato dinner that just needs some veggies and bread, I love what I can do with the leftovers!  This time we are going to make Burritos-to-Go, since these are individual servings they come in handy when you need a fast lunch or if you find yourself dining alone, or in my case; when I’m needing a chili fix!  This reminds me of this joke that was sent to me regarding New Mexico chili.... I’ll post it in the tips section so you can understand the obsession New Mexicans have with chili. :)  

Got Some Time Meal 3

Ham and Scalloped Potatoes = Breakfast Cups

Some of you may have a ham in the freezer that you picked up on sale during the holidays, which by the way is the best time to buy them and freeze them.  Nowadays since most ham’s you buy are precooked they can be moved into the Got Some Time category.  Our household is a fan of ham and scalloped potatoes are automatically the side dish.  While I’ve experimented making scalloped potatoes with different cheeses and add-in’s this combo is our favorite.  Your probably thinking that scalloped potatoes take forever to make but one day while trying a Rachael Ray recipe I found a tip that cuts the baking time by half and have stuck with it.  If you have a convection oven use it and shave off even more time!  Now the Breakfast Cups, have you seen the price for those prepackaged breakfast sandwiches?  Not only are they expensive but they are loaded with what I call glow-in-the-dark ingredients.  Making breakfast cups is your solution and our leftovers create one great breakfast to go.

Pass the Wine; I got all the time - Meal 1

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli

Are you a soup or salad person at Olive Garden?  I’m a soup gal, not that I don’t love their salad also, but if by chance we eat at Olive Garden I order this soup.  So how did this soup become a back up in my freezer?  One day I was craving this soup and decided to get online and find the recipe, tada there it was.  I got busy making this soup and noticed that this recipe is making enough soup to feed an army!  Now when you access this recipe they have a little handy dandy drop down box that allows you to change the serving size, last year they didn’t!  So with my bucket of soup (not kidding) I started loading the leftovers into plastic containers, I not only filled the freezer I had enough to give to family and friends!   Today I still make the bucket size because it’s a great way to have an individual serving of soup that is homemade and not from a can.  

*** Note - Ingredients for the recipe are NOT included in the above grocery list, decide the serving amount you want to make first and then add to your list. ***

*If you are going to make enough for an extra meal and individual servings, make sure you do the following:  When all your ingredients are added DO NOT add the pasta.  (I used the small round pasta that Olive Garden did) Cook a small amount separately in a small saucepan and add to your individual servings.  When you pack up the leftovers for the freezer add DRY pasta to the container, yes DRY.  Since the pasta is so small it cooks quickly and if you add it during the first go around it will be mushy when you are ready to reheat.  The pasta will be cooked through when you reheat it and still have a the great pasta bite it should have. 

Grocery List 2/15 thru 2/20

Produce Yellow Onion, 3 Garlic Lettuce Tomatoes White Button Mushrooms Shallot Tarragon Carrots, 2 Celery, 2 stalks Potatoes, Baking 1 lg bag Potatoes, Sm. Red, 1 sm bag Scallions, 3 Pantry Wide Egg Noodles, 1 pkg Tuna, 2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup, 1 Canned Pinto Beans, 1 can Taco Shells, 1 pkg Salsa Thin Spaghetti, 1 pkg White Rice Spices/Staples Panko Bread Crumbs Olive Oil Salt and Pepper Paprika Chicken Stock, 1 box Beef Stock, 1 box Flour Dijon Mustard Tortillas Dairy Sharp Cheddar Cheese Parmesan Cheese, finely shredded, 1 tub Gruyere Cheese Sour Cream Heavy Cream Eggs Meats/Deli Ground Beef, 1 lb Chicken, boneless, skinless, 4 pieces Beef Roast, 1 lg Ham, 1 Frozen Peas, 1 pkg French-cut Green Beans, 1 pkg