Homemade Pizza

Every once in a while we love to make homemade pizza. The problem is that it can sometimes taste like cardboard. We used to bring home a whole wheat dough and add our toppings of choice, but it would come out tasting like cardboard. That took all the fun out of making and eating the pizza. Having that awful experience made me wonder if we were cut out to make pizza at home. So this has me asking what makes a good pizza crust? Is it the flour? Perhaps it is the timing of the rise? Maybe it is how it's kneaded?

A bunch of my friends were talking about homemade pizza one day, and I shared with them how I had such a hard time with the whole wheat crust we were using. One of my wonderful friends gave us her recipe for pizza crust. Armed with her recipe, Keith set out to make one of our best pizza nights yet.

This crust was delicious, it had just the right consistency, it baked nicely, and most of all it didn't taste like cardboard. Thank-you Deirdre for your recipe.

Homemade Pizza Dough.

Yield- 3 12 inch pizzas

What you'll need:

4 1/4 cups bread flour, plus extra for flouring the surface

1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant or rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 teaspoonds salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 3/4 cups water, warm

What to do:

1) Pulse 4 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt in a food processor fitted with a dough blade until combined. With the processor running, pour the oil, then the water through the feed tube and process until a rough ball forms, about 30 - 40 seconds. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes, then proccess for 30 seconds longer.

2) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 5 minutes, adding the remaining 1/4 cup flours as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size approx 1 - 1/2 hours.

3) When ready to make the pizza, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter, cut it into three even pieces, and cover with plactic wrap. Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape into a smooth, round ball, cover again with the plastic wrap, and let rest for 20 - 30 minutes.

4) Make pizza using desired toppings, bake each one separately on a pizza stone in an oven preheated to 500 degrees for about 8 - 13 minutes.

Happy pizza making!

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Canadians have Thanksgiving? Yes they do. This former resident of Canada would like to wish all my fellow Canadians a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday eh!

Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October, and just like in the US families all over the country are stuffing themselves with typical Thanksgiving meals.

I love this holiday, food, friends, family are what Thanksgiving is all about. When I was a child my mother filled the house with friends who would bring their favourite dishes to share. Add their dishes to our dishes and there was way too much for everyone to eat. But the feeling was good, everyone felt welcomed and no one left empty handed.

Today, I won't be having Thanksgiving dinner, I have to wait until the end of November for that. Yesterday at our weekly dinner at my mom's, in honour of my birth country, she decided to serve turkey burgers. Not exactly a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving, but it worked none the less. She got the recipe from Rachel Ray's Comfort Foods cookbook. I found the recipe online here.

Each bite was tender and moist, you have to try this recipe. It is that good.

Ladies Night a Restaurant Review

Once a month several ladies from my church get together and have dinner at a local restaurant. It is an event that we look forward to each month. But choosing a restaurant that will please both pocket book and pallet is not always easy. I for one do not like to eat at fast food type places but on this particular night I made an exception. Our restaurant of choice was Zivaz Mexican Bistro. It was cute, inexpensive and the food was decent. Zivaz is what you get when fast food and casual dining have a baby.

Upon entering you will notice a modern Mexican decor. We were greeted by floor to ceiling menus. Usually you place your order before being seated, however in our case, we couldn't make up our minds so we chose to take a table and then order. Check out their menu here. We ordered the Tour de Zivaz which was a sampler plate that the chef puts together for you. When you order it, you don't know what you're getting. On this night the tour de zivaz was mole, enchiladas, fajitas, and rice which was more than enough food for two, maybe three people, depending on your appetite.

After we cleaned our plates we ordered dessert which was presented on large plates with lots of decorating. It wasn't fancy, but pretty and you can tell they wanted their dessert to come out with some sort of fan fare. For me this was the best part of the evening. One draw back was that Zivaz does not serve coffee, so dessert was to be had with an iced tea. --Not exactly how I like to end my evening out. -- All in all we had a wonderful evening, and I am looking forward to the next Ladies Night.

Kalos Orisate! (Welcome)

Yassas! (Hello)

Last night we had the pleasure of going to Tucson's annual Greek Festival with friends. We had a wonderful time. Being a Canadian born Greek, I was no stranger to what greeted me behind the ticket gate. The smell of baked dishes, coffee, and roasted lamb, the sounds of live Greek music and the rambling of the crowd all welcomed us as we entered. The menu was simple and consisted of Athena Chicken, Spanakopita, Gyro, Pastichio, Souvlaki, Greek Salad, and Baklava. I chose Pastichio, DH had a Gyro, for dessert we had Loukoumades and Greek Coffee.

Pastichio

Pastichio is one of my favourite Greek dishes. It is made in 4 steps, you cooked the beef, the noodles and the cream sauce separately and then assemble them in a pan to bake.

Greek Salad and Gyro

A Gyro is made with spiced meat, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki sauce all on a piece of pita bread. This Greek salad was made with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, feta cheese and Kalamata olives.

Greek Coffee

Greek coffee is not brewed in a machine, it is made with a brass pot, coffee grounds and water. The process is simple and usually the flavour is good, however it was not good here, I found it too weak and sweet. I prefer a stronger flavour in my coffee.

Loukoumades

These are basically donut holes dipped in honey and dusted with cinnamon. What makes them so good is the combination of hot, sweet and spice.

From The Pot

Ever since I was a teenager I have been in love with coffee. Back when I was young and impressionable my mother allowed me to have coffee with cream and sugar. Later when coffee was becoming a regular part of my life, I kicked out the cream and sugar and discovered what I really liked and didn't like about this black gold.

Not all coffees are created equal, just do a Google search on coffee and the blogger's who love it. You will find that there is a certain quality that has become standard among coffee connoisseurs. Coffee has become a science, it boils down to when the beans are picked, when they're roasted, how they're roasted, how they're stored, when they're ground, and how they're brewed. The whole thing is quite overwhelming for me but my taste buds appreciate those who are willing to go to great lengths to brew that perfect cup of coffee.

"Coffee is good, so good, that I want to drink it from the pot." KMF- 8 years old.

Aspiring Chefs?

I love the fact that my kids love to cook. One son is fantastic with general cooking. He can make almost anything now. My other son is a pro on the grill. My daughter is learning how to put flavours together. All thanks to my husband's great cooking skills.

This morning my daughter and husband decided to make pancake roll ups. Basically it is a thinner than usual pancake rolled up with cream cheese and jam/ or in my case ricotta cheese and jam. They were sort of like a crepe. The cream cheese/ricotta cheese and jam in a pancake worked and the banana's on top were my daughters creative touch.

Experimenting with the blending of flavours are just what make a good cook. I heard a great line from the TV show Rules of Engagement, I am going to have to paraphrase because I can't remember exactly how it went, but it went something like.... This amazing thing happened, this woman took food from her fridge and made a complete meal from it. And that is what my family did this morning. We didn't have all the ingredients to make large batches of pancakes so the roll ups were invented. My daughter loved it, and she loved adding different elements to the pancakes.

I am so grateful to DH for teaching the next generation to look cooking and to love creating. I hope their future spouses will be grateful too.

Buffet Style or Family Style?

As a mother of three kids with three different activites to go to each week. Evening meals can always be a bit harried. We seem to be running out the door to someone's activity, sometimes leaving the kitchen looking like a tornado ran through it. In order to lessen the impact of a dirty kitchen, we have decided to present all meals buffet style and that means leaving the food in the pots and pans they were created in. And for our family that is fine because we are casual people eating good food in a casual setting, however, this can be a problem when company comes for dinner.

Last week, we invited a couple over for dinner, and we served it buffet style. About a half hour before our wonderful guests arrived, my Dh suggested we set the table, but I thought otherwise and said lets just do it buffet style.

I sit here today thinking what was wrong with setting the table? Have I really become so used to the ease of plating from the stove that the thought of actually setting a table is just to overwheming for me? Maybe I'll set the table next time we have dinner guests. Where are those placemats? Yikes, I'll let you know how that goes.