Pizza Night: Individual Pizzas

Who doesn't love pizza??

Pizza is such a popular dish everywhere, so why not make some fresh homemade pizza yourself?

We decided to do individual pizzas, each choosing our own toppings and creating our own perfect pizza, and then sharing them so we can sample and vote on the best.  A pizza tasting party!!

Pizza is easy to make at home. It starts of with a good dough.  You can use store bought or homemade, thick or thin crust.

I bought a whole wheat pizza dough at the grocery store and split it in two.  We both like thin crust pizza so we rolled it out thin, and kept it rustic, not neat and round.

Next, assemble all your toppings.  We chose shredded mozerella, sliced fresh mozerella, sliced turkey pepperoni, whole basil leaves, chopped basil, diced fresh tomatoes, sliced tomatoes, and fresh sliced mushrooms.  You can choose any toppings you like!

To assemble, you will want a sauce to place on the crust of your pizza.  We chose a red sauce that I made from a can of tomato sauce, adding garlic powder, italian seasoning, salt & pepper, which I heated up and simmered for 10 min to blend all the flavors.  You can choose, a white sauce such as alfredo, green sauce such as pesto, or a jarred tomato sauce...even marinara works wonderful.  Just as long as you enjoy the flavor.  Add your tomato sauce to the crust, using a much or as little as you please.

Place your toppings of choice on the pizza.

I chose to make a traditional Margherita Pizza, and MGG made one with diced tomatoes, turkey pepperoni, mushrooms, and a little basil garnish.

Make sure you preheat your oven to 425 - 450 degrees.  I use a pizza stone, which you must put in the oven when it is cold and allow it to heat up with the oven...these stones are awesome for pizza and any kind of bread baking.  Here's the stone in the oven...bad pic...sorry it's dark in there!

Then you slide your pizzas on to the stone, using a peel, or a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal, and one that doesn't have sides...very important!  This helps get the pizza off the tray!

Cook for about 10-13 minutes.  It's done when everything is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

Here's mine....yum!!

Here's his....lookin' good!

Allow to cool for about 5 min....Now the serving....mine

his...

both...hey! his is bigger!!! 

a lot bigger....hmmm.

And for the taste contest...well he liked both..and I think I liked his better...I'm partial to pepperoni and mushrooms! 

Happy pizza tasting!!!

Product Review: Surf and Turf & Crate and Barrel's Ginger Dipping Sauce

It's Summertime! 

Don't you just love it?  Well if you are not having a heat wave that is...!

Here in LA we love summer.  We usually have great weather with the exception of several weeks of sweltering heat late summer.  Right now we're having what we call "June Gloom".  It is cloudy in the morning, even chilly, and then it burns off and heats up in the afternoon.

Just preparing us for the heat to come...

Lovin' summer so much I have to share a pretty summer tablescape with you!  A crisp white quilted runner sets the cool mood.  Dark green chargers bring in a touch of the outdoors.  The pretty white plates with dotted edges add texture and set the canvas for a beautiful, summer colored salad plate of pretty flowers!  Even the flatware reflects nature, depicting leaves on the handles.  Isn't this tablescape fresh looking?

But I digress..so on to the product review.  So for summer solstice we decided to grill some surf and turf.  Steak, fillet mignon, and shrimp to be exact.  So I got out my Lodge cast iron grill skillet (one of my best skillets!) and fired it up.

I wanted to try a new product I found at Crate & Barrel...a favorite store of mine!  The Ginger Dipping Sauce sounded so good and reminded me of that great sauce that you get from Benihana's.  You know the one?  It's just awesome...and I want it!

So I picked this one up having high hopes of that great tasting Ginger sauce.  Here's what Crate & Barrel has to say about their product.

Ginger Dipping Sauce. 9.5 oz.

Savory, all natural Asian sauce flavors delicious meals with a minimum of fuss. Dip egg or spring rolls into ginger dipping sauce, season veggies or noodles, or use as a marinade for virtually any protein.

• Ginger Dipping Sauce contains onion, tomato, celery, Japanese soy sauce, canola oil, corn syrup, vinegar, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, spices and herbs

As you can see the ingredients are all natural, and very well balanced.

So we grilled our fillet mignons... (just using salt & pepper)

and our shrimp....(again just using salt & pepper)

and served it with the Ginger Dipping Sauce.    I wanted the food to be all about the dipping sauce complimenting the steak and shrimp's natural flavors.

I liked the sauce but there was a definite prominent vinegar taste.  The ginger was a prominent flavor as well.  A good sauce, but not exactly like that of Benihana fame...I would definitely buy this again...and the price is reasonable at $5.95 as you will get multiple uses out of it if you use this as a dipping sauce.  I'm still going to recreate the famous Benihana sauce but  I would recommend that you pick up a bottle of this if you have the opportunity, it's a close second.  You can buy this online here, ginger dipping sauce which sells for $5.95 at Crate & Barrel.

This dish goes great with my Zucchini and Thyme side dish.  yum!

What your favorite dipping sauce is?
Happy summer!!!

Zucchini and Thyme

It's summertime!  The heat is on in LA and all the flowers are bloomin'...

I love the summer for the weather but especially for the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables available from our local farms.

One of the healthiest ways and cheapest ways to cooks is to eat seasonally, and with local grown products. 

This time of year our farmer's markets are overflowing with a great selection of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers.   

I frequent the farmer's market and love to make dishes using all the fresh ingredients...they really do taste better than those in the supermarket...riper, crisper..and overall just plain better!

Zucchini is one of my favorite veggies and this dish is a quick side dish that is big on flavor!
So enjoy the beginning of summer and celebrate summer solstice tomorrow by cooking up some wonderful dishes using summer's bounty!

See, even my baby dog, Brandy loves summer!  She's a natural model, and loved to pose for the camera!

This dish is super easy, just dice your onion and cut your zucchini in planks.  Then toss in a medium pan to cook adding some aromatics, such as thyme and beef bouillon.  Enjoy!!!

Zucchini and Thyme

Serves 4

Ingredients: Print Options

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2 Tbsp olive oil

1 T unsalted butter
1/4 c diced onion
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
1 lb fresh zucchini, cut into 3-by-1/2-inch sticks
1 tsp better than bouillon, beef flavored
1 tsp dried thyme
Sea Salt and coarse ground black pepper

Directions:

In a medium pan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add your diced onion and parsley.  Cook until soft, but not browned.

Add the zucchini sticks, beef bouillon, thyme and a pinch of salt & pepper. Stir to coat. Cover and cook until tender, from 12 – 15  minutes.  Serves 4.