Topping the Pizza

Last nights pizza dinner was a ramshackle affair. It always is as I scramble through the fridge for bits and pieces I can use as topping.

I tend to cheat a lot when I cook so pizza is great because there are no rules.

The main thing is the tomato base. I never use tomato paste/puree. It is strong and over powering.

The key to a good base is either fresh or canned tomato pureed. If using canned tomatoes drain them a little 1st.

Last nights pizza consisted of:

Red and Green Capsicum
Onion
Mushroom
Danish Salami
Ham (not that diced stuff you often see at the deli counter get a piece or buy fresh sliced or shaved)
Mozzarella Cheese (well at least for mine, my husband doesn't eat cheese)
A sprinkle of dried Basil

Don't over top your pizza, there is nothing worse. Just a little bit of everything so the flavors melt in your mouth.

I have permanently in my oven Pizza stones. In an oven heated to at least 220 degrees c I slide the pizzas with their baking paper still underneath them onto the stone.

Cook for about 7 minutes just checking to make sure they are not burning.

How to make a pizza base

A good pizza starts with a good pizza base.

For those of you who are keen it is worth the extra 15 minutes or so to make your own pizza base (less work if you have a bread maker). Otherwise buy the best plain pizza base you can afford (don't buy those ones that have a smear of something red on them - yuk).

This recipe will make 2 large pizzas or 6 small ones. I usually make the small ones.

Ingredients:

1 tsp dry yeast
475g bread flour (don't use plain flour the results will not be the same)
1 Tbsp milk powder
1 3/4 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
20ml virgin olive oil
350ml water

Method:

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Make a well in the middle and mix the ingredients with your hands.
3. The dough will be soft and sticky
4. Tip the mix onto a floured bench and with floured hands knead until smooth
5. Place back into lightly oiled mixing bowl and cover with cling wrap.
6. Leave in a warm place for 30-40 minutes until doubled in size
7. Punch the air out of the dough and tip onto a floured bench and roll into a sausage about 25-30cm long
8. Cut either 6 or 2 equal pieces
9. Using bake paper place each piece on the bake paper and roll into a circle. Don't get to fussed, my circles are usually funny shapes. Adds to the fun.
10. Now you are ready to add your topping

If you have a bread machine: Just follow the instructions for your bread maker. I have a dough pizza feature on mine but you can use a dough program if you don't have a pizza one.

If you have a mixer with a dough hook: Only recommended if you have a Kitchenaid or Kenwood type mixer as they can handle the work. Use the mixer for steps 1 - 4.

If you are making the small bases and have extra/left overs just wrap the dough in balls in cling wrap, place in freezer bag, suck the air out and freeze. Instant pizza bases for another meal.

Trouble waking up...

It is a public holiday here today and I have slept in. Now I feel a little lethargic. I am hoping writing this will kick start me to another day of doing lots.

I don't really know why I am writing this blog other than I need to do something different. Working from home and spending many hours by myself I get a bit weird in my head so maybe writing this may touch somebody else. Well assuming somebody else is reading this.

Like most days I start with thinking about what to cook for dinner. The reason being is my day is so busy that if I don't start thinking now by the end of the day dinner will be a real chore. Of course thinking is one thing, deciding is another.

Anyway I have put a loaf of bread on to cook. 2 years ago I started making my own bread. Mainly because I wanted the challenge but the other because I suspected that the bread from a well known bread chain still had numbers in it that my husband was allergic to. (They claim no preservative bread but I checked they still use improvers).

This new bread making challenge was just that. I was working 6 days a week in my retail business at the time so I had to fit it in with my hours at home which was quite scant. Still for 12 months I made my own bread by hand.

I had always vowed that a bread maker was not a good idea. Well vows are made to be broken sometimes so when my sister offered me a second hand bread maker from her friend I thought I would give it a try. Well of course I was hooked. Big time. In fact I used the machine so much the bearings started to go very quickly. Well, it was a less robust model.

With a bee in my bonnet, so to speak I researched bread machines. I found that bread machines are not that trendy any more and the best brand was no longer available here in Australia. So, I advertised for a second hand one. Within 2 days I was contacted and I had an exciting new kitchen toy.

Of course my trusty bread machine gets a work out at least 3 days a week. Mostly for making doughs for bread rolls (they are the most cost effective) but like today for a small loaf of bread for our lunch. Yum.

Right that sorted now I am awake. Now I will have to ponder tonight's dinner.

Sundayitis - I want to eat but what

I really don't feel like cooking much today. So, I have decided we will have pizza. Home made of course. Some think I am crazy 'cause I make my own bases but it is so easy to do.

Tomorrow I will post details of tonight's dinner. I reckon there will be the afternoon tea treat too. Sunday is a bit of a ritual now, we almost always have afternoon tea. It is a sad state of affairs my husband watches the afternoon footy and like the good wife I am I serve him a flat white and the treat of the day. Who knows what I will have decided to make later in the day. You will have to wait until tomorrow to find out now.

Veal Schnitzel Surprise

Saturday night, I really don't care for cooking up a storm for dinner on the weekends but I really want to eat yummy food. A dilemma. With veal on the menu tonight I had to put on my thinking cap on how to turn boring old schnitzel into a yummy fast dinner.

Crumbing your own at home gives you much more scope for flavor and to experiment. It may be hard for some of you to believe but it is actually fun and it does not take as long as you think it would (crumbing yourself).

Speed of cooking will be the key to ensuring your lovely thin pieces of veal remain tender and ensuring you have a light egg mix will help.

I also make my own bread crumbs from my home made bread. Those tired dried powdery bread crumbs from the supermarket are just a no no to good cooking (in my opinion) and they don't quite give you the same finish as fresh bread crumbs. But, if you really have to they are a compromise - still better than eating out.

There was a little dilemma with this dinner. I planned to do duchess potatoes with it but, I had just one potato left. That is what I call lack of preparation. With the local shop just closed (that is in walking distance) and being conscious of the cost of driving to the local shopping center I had to look for an alternative. Only because my husband did a bike ride and was needing carbs otherwise I would not have bothered. So, I opened a pack of gnocchi. If you use bought gnocchi ensure it is vacuum packed and is no less than 80% potato - otherwise you will be getting just fillers and preservatives. It is out there. I get mine from a local fruit market.

So here is my version of tonight's veal schnitzel:

Ingredients:

2 thin but large slices of veal
2 thin slices of prosciutto (sliced fresh from the deli as it is not dry and rubbery)
2 cups of fresh bread crumbs with 1 tsp of dried mixed herbs or
    2 tsp mix of fresh herbs from the garden finely chopped mixed through it
1 cup of plain flour seasoned with pepper
2 eggs with a dash of cream or milk (cream is my favorite)
Peanut Oil
Lemon juice

Method:

1. In 3 separate bowls add the bread crumbs, flour and egg mixture
2. Cut the veal into 2 or 3 pieces
3. Cut the prosciutto into pieces of about the same size as your veal pieces
4. Press a piece of the prosciutto onto each of the veal pieces
5. Dip each piece of veal into the flour then egg (don't throw away the left over egg mixture when you are finished)
6. Press the bread crumbs well onto the egged veal pieces
7. Lay the veal on a plate in a single layer and when all pieces are crumbed place in the fridge for 30 minutes
8. Use this time to prepare your vegetables
9. In a large fry pay pour enough oil to shallow fry, usually about 1/2cm of oil
10. Heat the oil until it is just smoking and pull of the heat
11. Turn the heat down to medium
12. Put the pan back on the heat and place your veal in the pan. Don't move the veal but swirl the pan slightly. When the veal moves in the pan it is time to turn it over. Don't over cook, your crumb should be light brown and not oily.
13. Place the cooked schnitzels in a warm oven and turn the heat under the pan to low
14. Take your left over egg mixture and pour it into the pan. It will be like a large bubbly omelette. Chop up a bit and turn over. Don't get too fussy.
15. Serve your veal schnitzels with your steamed vegetables. Place the egg on top of the veal and squeeze with a little lemon juice if desired.

I need red meat

I have a big need for red meat tonight. Not being big red meat eaters this is unusual. But, now I am in my mid 40's and my hormones are a little ratty I find I am a little iron deficient. So, tonight I have scheduled some crumbed veal with heaps of steamed vegetables...

Stay tuned for my recipe.

I want to stop the boredom

I have decided to change this blog slightly. I have got bored with just posting recipes and for many who are reading this you probably find it as dry as I do.

The fact is we are all busy and we are all have stuff happening. We are all people doing people things.

So I plan to write every day to this blog and share with you my cooking creations for dinner even when I deem it to be unexciting. This will mean that I will probably start shuffling around the recipes in the blog as I write so sorry for those who visit here regularly if I confuse you.

Please as I post recipes print them up and try them for yourself. I want you to have as much joy as I do cooking and eating.

My hope is to inspire you to cook at home, cook without spending huge sums of money and also to stop (if you are) spending money on take out food and frozen food.

So here goes....




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Jaffa Shortbread - (Choc - Orange Shortbread)

If you love shortbread you will love this alternative. It is really nice with a glass of milk. Please use vanilla extract not essence. Essence is watered down and not as good.

Ingredients:

200g Plain Flour
6 tbsp cocoa powder
100 caster sugar
175g butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp granulated sugar

Method:

1. Heat oven to 150 degrees c
2. Beat butter, vanilla and sugar until combined
3. Add flour and cocoa and mix until combined
4. Press into a 18 x 28cm lamington pan
5. Bake for 50 minutes
6. When cooked cut into fingers and sprinkle with the granulated sugar
7. Allow to cool in the tin before storing