Pizza - of the chicken, cilantro, and bbq sauce variety

Yea....all that. For those of you who've been to CPK, you may have tried the various yummy combinations that are on their menu; yes, I was definitely inspired by them. So I got adventurous and motivated to use my veggies while they were still good. I had cooked chicken. I had a plethora of peppers and cilantro. I had a half of a jalapeno. I had an undeniable urge to play with dough. And thus, my pizza was born.


::gathering my raw materials::

Ingredients

Basic pizza dough (for this recipe, I used half of the dough for one pizza).

1/2 to 1 cup bbq sauce of your choice

1/2 jalapeno, diced

1/4 cup onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 to 1 cup cooked chicken

1 to 2 cups chopped peppers (red, green, orange)

3/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 to 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar/mozzarella mix (or whatever cheese you like)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Allow your dough to rise 45 min to 1 hr. Should double in size.



While you're waiting for your dough to rise, sautee your diced onions, jalapeno, and minced garlic in a small pan. Once nice and brown, add your bbq sauce and let it all simmer together. The veggies give the bbq sauce a nice little zing.



Remove from heat and prepare your other ingredients, which translates to a lot of cutting and shredding = )


When your dough is ready, punch it down, knead, and cut it in half. Save one piece for another time, and round the rest on a floured work surface. Roll it out as thin or as thick as you'd like.



Very carefully, fold your dough in half, then in quarters, and transfer over to a greased cookie sheet or large pan (large enough to hold your pizza). I rolled in the ends to make a "crust" (also serves as a kind of 'reservoir' to hold your sauces and toppings).


Begin by spreading your bbq sauce onto the dough. Layer some cheese, chicken, vegggies, and the last of your cheese.



End by topping your pizza with your chopped cilantro. I was very generous, as I really enjoy cilantro (and had a ton to spare).


Pop your pizza into the oven for about 25 minutes at 350F or until the cheese melts and starts to brown nicely.


When cooled, cut and enjoy!

the classic belgian waffle

Well, sorta. Sorta? Why sorta? 'cause the real Belgian waffle uses yeast in the recipe, and i went the baking powder route (recipe courtesy emeril lagasse.) i wanted to save my last little bag of yeast for a bigger project.

my brother in law bought me a belgian waffle maker for christmas. i once made a rad scratch recipe which yielded prettier waffles (don't ask; i didn't write it down), but for the sake of getting something down with measurements, i tried out emeril's. not bad, but i ended up quartering the recipe, as i really don't have the stomach or fridge capacity for 6-8 waffles.

well anyway, here we go. modify your toppings and flavorings as you'd like. I like to add maple flavoring and crushed pecans to the batter--gives a nice texture, and goes very well with butter and syrup.

::gathering my raw materials::


Ingredients: (note: this is the 'quartered' recipe.)
1/2 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
1 egg, separated
1/2 tablespoon sugar
dash of teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
non-stick cooking spray

powdered sugar,fruit(fresh or frozen), whipped cream, or whatever else you want to eat waffles with.

Directions:

Preheat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. In 1 medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.


I finally got to use one of my personal favorite kitchen gadgets--my egg separator! I'm sure you can see why I love it.



In a second bowl use the wooden spoon to beat together the egg yolks and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and eggs have turned a pale yellow.


Add the vanilla extract, melted butter, and milk to the eggs and whisk to combine. Combine the egg-milk mixture with the flour mixture and whisk just until blended. Do not over mix.


In third bowl (or you can wash and reuse the bowl with the yolks, since it got mixed in with the flour), beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, about 1 minute.


Using a rubber spatula (or in my case, a wooden spoon), gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter. Do not overmix!


Coat the waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and pour enough batter in iron to just cover waffle grid.



Close and cook as per manufacturer's instructions until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.



But wait! Who wants a naked waffle?!?! This is the fun part. Thaw some frozen fruit, grab some whipped cream, drizzle some syrup, or slather some butter! For the visual bits, I decided on frozen fruit and powdered sugar. Place a little powdered sugar in a small sieve, and lightly dust over your waffles by tapping the side of your sieve.


Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint for color/decoration. And there ya have it. Classic Belgian waffles. Enjoy!

cinnamon buns (of the frosted and naked variety)

note: this recipe, is in no way, low fat. Just sayin...

oh ms. paula deen...my friends and i like to laugh at your 'sticka buttuh wrapped in baykun' methods, but i gotta hand it to you--your cinnamon roll recipe was rad, and pretty easy to make. i would have liked the method to have included more of a "wet" cinnamon filling, but nonetheless, very flavorful. Plus, it gave me an excuse to slather on more cream cheese frosting in the end = )

After tinkering around with yeast doughs in previous baking projects, I finally grew a pair, and decided to go for cinnamon rolls--a baked treat that I kept shying away from...forever. Now that I know the basics, I'll definitely go back and modify this one to suit my cravings.

So without further ado, Paula Deen's cinnamon bun recipe (slightly altered), and cream cheese frosting (which again, has been "ish"'d to perfection)


::gathering my raw materials::

Dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 brown and white sugar
3-5 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, (optional)


Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg.




Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes.




Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I heated my oven to 300 degrees, turned it off, and when it was nice and warm, put in my covered bowl. Easiest way to get dough to rise and stay warm. I made my "filling" which consisted of the cinnamon, ground walnuts, and brown sugar.




(At this point, I left the house, got some coffee, and saw a huge truck with a snorkel. But I digress...)

So fast forward an hour and a half-ish. When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle.


Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired.



Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 8-10 slices...thinner, or thicker if you'd like.



So if you're a newbie like me, you know it takes time to accumulate pans and various other kitchen gadgets. I don't have huge baking pans like my mama, so I went the ghetto route and used my pie tin for half of my cinnamon buns. It worked out fine, though! Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan.


Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.


While you're waiting for the cinnamon buns to bake...

Frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered)
1-2 tbsp milk

Beat with a mixer 'til smooth.



Generously slather cream cheese frosting over warm cinnamon rolls.


Store remainder frosting in the fridge. When ready to use, warm up a bun, and spread it on cold. The heat of your cinnamon bun will soften the frosting.

And that's pretty much it. Although a long process (waiting for the dough to rise), it's definitely worth the wait. Enjoy!

super easy rice bowl

i'm still sulking and pouting at the fact that electric ovens aren't very wok friendly...but whatever, a thin frying pan will just have to suffice. ::sniff::

anyway, so i was looking for a way to use all my veggies that I accumulated over the last couple of days. It didn't take me long to decide to fry them up and throw them over some rice. Simple dish, doesn't take more than 20 minutes to prep.

::gathering my raw materials::

1 cup chopped broccoli

1/2 cup chopped random veggies (red, yellow, and green peppers)

1/4 cup minced onion

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken

1-2 tbsp oyster sauce (oh don't hate; i love this stuff, even on chicken)

1/2 cup jasmine rice

1 cup water


Directions: Chop up all your veggies and put in a bowl.



Heat your olive oil on a thin, medium sized pan. Once its hot, throw your veggies on there and fry them up. Towards the end, add your oyster sauce, a little bit of water (this is mostly to thin out the oyster sauce, which is thick like ketchup), cooked chicken, and seasonings.


Remove from heat when everything has come together nicely.


For the rice:

Alright...it's VERY hard to screw up Jasmine rice, which is why I love to cook it (besides it being very tasty). Anyway, I'm not a big fan of rice cookers--mainly because I'm extremely lazy in cleaning big, bulky things. At a young age, my dad taught me how to make rice in a saucepan, and it's a method that works fine for me everytime.

For rice (depending on how much you're making), you want to keep it @ a 2:1 ratio--so 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Essentially, just double the amount of water for the amount of rice you want to make. Today, I used a cup of water to a half cup of rice. Put your water to boil, and add flavorings if desired. I threw in a little chicken bouillon, so it takes care of the salt factor and gives it a little flavor.


When the water starts to boil, add your rice, and drop the temperature WAY down to a low simmer.


AT THIS POINT, IT IS IMPORTANT TO COVER AND LEAVE YOUR RICE ALONE! Don't touch it, don't stir, etc. Let 15 minutes pass and then check on it. Your rice is done when nearly all the water has absorbed. Now you can see if it is tender enough. If so, remove from heat. If still hard, add a little more water, cover, and cook for another couple of minutes.




Put your rice in a bowl and top it off with your veggies. And that's pretty much it. It's simple, tasty, and not terribly fattening.