I couldn't have asked for a better day if I tried. I was seriously concerned that it was not going to go well after having woken up with no alarm clock and still having made it out the door on time. I got to drop off the cupcakes from yesterday to my god daughters house and it just made my morning. Food will do that. It's that unifying undeniable bond. Plus, I got to show off her adorable picture to everyone at work.
OK-food. So, I was craving Alfredo sauce but not the pasta, also I had a can of mushrooms, broccoli and cheese to use....TADA! I present Jilly's pizza. Take note that I'm not publishing my favorite crust recipe because I ran out of yeast and I was not happy with how this crust turned out. I will post my notes for spicing up a pizza crust though. It's going to look like a lot of work but trust me it's not. I just wanted all of the steps clearly lined up.
Jill's Hodge Podge White Pizza (the sauce recipes comes from Emril on the Food Network-the rest I semi threw together)
1.) Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees and place a baking stone in the oven.
2.) The original recipe calls for roasting the garlic for an hour but I didn't have the time. So while the stone was heating up I placed 6-10 cloves of peeled garlic right on the stone. I just watched them for about 8-10 minutes until they became golden.
3.) In a steamer basket placed 1 large head of broccoli (finely chopped) a few baby spinach leaves and 2 cloves of garlic. Boil an inch of water. Place the basket in the pot of water and cover. Let it steam until the broccoli is bright green in color, about 5 minutes or so. Remove.
4.) In a small skillet heat a TBS of olive oil and 2 cloves of crushed garlic (told you this pizza was garlicky- don't plan on kissing your amore after this). Either place a small can of drained mushrooms or 5-6 mushrooms diced in the oil. Sautee until just slightly golden. Remove from heat.
5.) To make the sauce begin by warming up 1 cup of whole milk (I used skim and it worked out OK-just a bit thinner). It takes about 2-3 minutes to get it to a gentle boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand.
6.) In a separate pan melt 2 TBS of unsalted butter.
7.) To the butter add 2-2.5 TBS of flour ( I added more as I didn't have whole milk). Stir constantly for about a minute until well incorporated.
8.) Add a little over a 1/4 tsp of salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
9.) Whisk continuously for about 2 minutes over medium heat at a gentle boil.
10.) Remove from the heat and add your golden garlic cloves.
11.) Pour this mixture into a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. Let cool.
12.) Prepare your favorite crust or use a store bought version.***
13.) To assemble the pizza sprinkle the stone with corn meal. Roll out the dough onto the stone. Spread the sauce over the dough. Top with spinach, broccoli, mushrooms. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and a dash of Parmesan and garlic powder.
14.) Bake for about 8-10 minutes at 500 degrees.
15.) As always-happy eating!
**Pizza Dough Notes-when making my own dough or dressing up one that is store bought I always add a little bit of whole wheat flour. I also use good extra virgin olive oil, crushed garlic, some oregano, and Italian Seasonings. Don't be afraid to experiment with different spices to dress up your dough. **
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Despite having just bought a bag of good all purpose flour I already ran out so I used Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. It had a yummy looking cookie recipe, again I used it as a base and made some tweaks. (Found out later that my girlfriend unknowingly made me oatmeal chocolate chip cookies too! We'll have to have a taste off tomorrow!)
1.) Cream together 1/2 c. of unsalted butter with 1/3 c. of oil, 2/3 cup milk, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
2.) In a separate bowl mix together 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (it's lighter than whole wheat flour), 1 1/4 c. old fashioned oatmeal, a dash of cinnamon, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of soda.
3.) Mix the wet and the dry and fold in a whopping 3/4 c. of your favorite chocolate chips.
4.) Bake for about 8 minutes on un-greased cookies sheets at 350 degrees. Makes about 2 dozen.
I love cookies! I'll have to try this recipe.
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