Follow my experiments in baking, vegetarian/vegan cuisine, and trying to feed a large, spectacled bear.
So, okay, dig it: Let me start by saying that I’m not writing this to start some ugly debate complete with childish jokes and defensive jabs. I’m writing this because I am genuinely confused and upset by something and I really need to talk about it and work through it.
This past weekend I was at…
Last night I mixed up a batch of brioche dough and put it in the fridge to chill so that this morning I could make FRESH CINNAMON ROLLS! Ohhhh yes.
Dan took down about half a pan. I think he liked them a little bit. ;)
Last night I used the olive oil dough that I made pizza with and I made a kalamata olive loaf. Just rolled out the dough, sprinkled some halved olives on it, then rolled it back up jellyroll-style. Easy!
This bread is lovely and soft and WOW delicious. I made a Tuscan white bean dip to go along with it. I just opened a can of cannelini beans and whirred them up in the Cuisinart with some red pepper, olive oil, black pepper, salt, roasted garlic, and fresh basil. Unh!
My wee HDaher asked for my recipe for marinara and I will do my best to oblige. The problem is that I rarely make it the same each time! Here’s what I did *last* night:
Okay so I started out by pouring the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and adding the garlic. Be careful with heating olive oil and garlic for too long because a) olive oil pops and smokes and b) you don’t want the garlic to burn. STINKY.
Cook your garlic for just a quick bit and then add your tomatoes. Turn the heat to med-low and just stir them for a bit. Tomatoes have a lot of water in them and you’re going to cook a lot of that out.
Add your basil and keep on stirring.
I did a quick dash of Italian herbs and then added my red pepper. Dan and I like a spicy sauce so I’d say I added…hm…a teaspoon of red pepper flakes? All I know is that you can always add but you can’t remove so be very gentle with your seasonings unless you want to be unhappy later.
Stir stir stir
Add fresh ground pepper (seriously, this kind of pepper makes me crazy) and salt to taste.
Stir stir stir
At this point I’d gauge how saucy your sauce is (insert joke here) and decide how thick or thin you want it to be. I like a thicker sauce so I cook a lot of the water out. It’s all for you to eyeball, honestly. I can’t give you exact times.
After that you’re good to go! Now, I didn’t do it last night, but I often start out my marinara with minced fresh onion. I cook it up with the garlic until the onion is soft and looks clear. Then I add the tomatoes. Onions can be delicious when added, but it’s a personal choice.
I’ve also mixed up my sauce by using oregano and/or sage in place of the basil. The important thing about this kind of sauce is that there is always room for improvisation. Play with it and find what works for you!
I had a whole long post written out about my pizza but it read like a drunk and boring five-year-old wrote it. I decided to keep this simple:
Dough: ABin5’s olive oil bread dough
Sauce: Homemade marinara using fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
Toppings: Fresh mozzarella and more fresh basil that I chiffonaded to sprinkle on top.
I made the dough a little thicker than I think it needed to be, but for a first try I think the pizza was outtaSITE! It got rave reviews from The Boy and Ems thoroughly enjoyed scarfing down crust bits. All in all I’m very impressed with the dough and the process and I can’t WAIT to cook another pizza again soon!
Tonight was a big baking night. On top of my very first attempt at homemade (from SCRATCH!) pizza, I also cooked up the rest of my first batch of whole wheat dough.
The whole wheat dough was from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes and is their 100% Whole Wheat loaf. I made it yesterday in a loaf pan so that Daniel could use it for sandwiches, and then today I made a free-form loaf. You like the grid pattern I cut? Pretty dramatic!
I’ll be using this blog to chronicle my adventures in cooking. Hopefully I’ll be able to share some great recipes and my experiences with them. I’m also a vegetarian marrying a carnivore, so I’ll probably be writing about that as well.
That’s it for now, I’m not one for the writing. Me take pictures. Me no write so good. ;)
