Sunday, November 30, 2008

More Fall Favorites

Ok, just some notes to make on fall dinners to archive.

Homemade Pizzas
We are having them 2-3 times a week now! Aaron makes a big batch of dough that keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days with no problem. He makes the crust in one of 2 ways:
* Very very thin, pressed into an 8 or 9" cake pan (sprinkle bottom w/ cornmeal so it won't stick).
* Fried first. This method can be found in Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook Jamie at Home. You basically take the dough, press it round, then throw it into a frying pan with heated olive oil till the dough puffs up. Then you add your toppings and place it under the broiler for just a few minutes. Keep the toppings very light and vegetable-y because the fried dough makes the pizza a bit heavier than you might be use to.

Toppings have included the following: cut up, canned artichoke hearts that I have marinated in olive oil and red wine vinegar. Just cut them up and put them in a tupperware in the fridge w/ oil & vinegar. They'll keep for at least 2 weeks that way. Olives, sausage, and roasted red pepper/eggplant spread.

I've also changed pasta sauces for the pizza. This one is more of a light marinara and is more suitable for pizza rather than pasta. Here are the easy instructions:

Throw some olive oil in a pan, and add 1 chopped garlic clove, dried red pepper flakes, & dried oregano. Slowly fry till the garlic starts to turn golden. Add one 24 oz. can of either diced or whole peeled tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then turn all the way down to a tiny tiny simmer for about 45 min-1 hour, stirring occasionally. If you are using whole peeled tomatoes, don't break them up till the very end. After 1 hour, add 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Get out that immersion blender and whizz it all smooth. Check your seasonings and that's it. Freezes beautifully.

Chicken/Goose/Turkey Broth
Aaron likes to roast whatever kind of bird is on sale at the store about once a week. It's a very economical & convenient thing to do, because he can just eat the meat all week during lunch (for those of you who are stay at home parents, you know how hard it is to remember to feed yourself sometimes when you are focusing on the kid) with a small salad, slice of bread, and some cheese or fruit. Anyway, we are now taking the carcus at the end of the week and making a nice broth to freeze. It's a sure-fire way to get rid of an oncoming cold.

Take your carcus and throw in into a pot full of water. Add a couple of carrots, celery, an onion, and a few cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cool, then strain the broth completely--you don't want any chunks of anything in there. Season with salt and pepper and freeze.

To Serve: This comes from an irish recipe called Michaelmas Broth that I found on the internet. Just take your broth, add 2 tablespoons long grain rice, and simmer for about 20 minutes. The rice will kinda thicken the broth a bit. Serve in bowls with some finely cut up pieces of meat and slivers of green onion. I suppose you could throw some other veggies in there as well--baby spinach would be great, and probably mushrooms too.

Extras:
I've also been making quick breads: pumpkin, banana, and applesauce. And breakfast has been either oatmeal, or swiss style museli with heated soymilk and honey. Yum.