Eat out at home: {Homemade Pizza}

Is there any meal so deliciously complete as pizza? You've got your carbs, your dairy, your meat, and your vegetables all in one deliciously delectable bite. It's been called the perfect food, and I'd say it is deserving of such high accolades.

It's been said (by The Husband, and other crazies) that pizza is like sex...even when it's bad, it's good. But, I have to disagree. Homemade pizza is not often perfect. The crust is often very bready (and maybe even raw in the middle), the cheese is mediocre, and the sauce usually comes from a can. Because of these issues (and many others), I have previously not been much of a fan of homemade pizza. But, after doing some research, and several practice runs, I have finally found a homemade pizza recipe that tastes as good as the take-out variety. Dare I say, it actually tastes even better than some of those take-out versions.

There is such a thing as bad pizza (as for the other...I'll leave that up to you, and your bedroom!), and it is usually due to some bad crust. The crust makes the whole pizza, and a terrible crust can ruin an otherwise perfect venture. I've said it before, and I'll say it again (because it's SO TRUE), the Pioneer Woman has NEVER let me down. Her recipes are always foolproof, and amazing, and her pizza crust is no different. We had tried many different crust recipes before this one, and they all came out too bready, or too crunchy, or too...something we couldn't put our finger on. This one struck the PERFECT balance between NY Style thin crust, and something you could really sink your teeth into, and chew. After one bite, The Husband declared that we need not try any other recipes. Ever. And boy, what a relief that declaration was. Pizza crust, being a bread is a fairly lengthy process, in which one must make the batter, and then leave it, to rise for hours. There are not many things so disappointing as investing 2-4 hours in a recipe, only to have the end result be less than perfect.

The other "must-have," for amazing, at-home pizza, is a delicious sauce recipe. It can't be too sweet, or too acidic, and it must have a perfect balance of herbs, and spices. It's a critical part of the pizza process, and not easy to master. The sauce recipe I use is kind of a conglomeration of several recipes that I've kind of combined into my master recipe, which has received rave reviews from The Husband, and The Family, alike. So, to all of the almost-perfect pizza sauce recipes out there in internet-land, THANK YOU, for helping me to hone my own!

A quick note about this recipe. It is a VERY lengthy process. The first time we made this, it was about 3-4 hours of on-our-feet, in-the-kitchen, WORK. I thought, well, it was just the first time, next time will go much faster. But, it was not meant to be. This time, it was another 4 hours of cook/prep time. But, the end results were more than worth it. I think this is a really great Friday Night Date-Night-In type of meal. Because it gets you, and your loved ones in the kitchen together, working on a common goal, and maybe even having a flour fight or two. It's a lot of work, but a whole lot of fun, and sometimes the biggest messes make the most fun! I also smartened up this time, and made a double batch of dough, and froze the leftovers. I also made a double batch of sauce, and froze the rest of it, as well. So two of the big jobs will already be done the next time we want to have pizza night. Obviously, you can use whatever toppings you prefer, this time, we made a couple of meat lover's pizzas, frying the bacon, and sausage ahead of time, and one caprese pizza with some basil, and tomatoes from our own garden. There are not many things more satisfying than eating food that you have grown with your own two (dirty) hands.

Also, the one thing we HAVEN'T perfected is the method. These pizzas are meant to be grilled, at high heat in order to achieve that delicious wood-burned taste, and texture. We saw this method on an episode of "What would Brian Boitano Make?" on the Food Network. Of course, by "we," I mean, *I* saw this method, since The Husband wouldn't be caught dead watching Brian Boitano do ANYTHING. Basically you line your grill with red, clay bricks that you can find at the hardware store. Then, place a pizza stone on top, and close up the grill, cranking the heat way up, until the inside of your grill reaches 500*. However, each time we've made this recipe using this method, the bottom of the pizza crust cooks MUCH faster than the top, which means we have to be VERY careful not to let the bottoms burn. It also means, that if you aren't careful, your pizza stone (which is a must!) may turn black. You might want to set one aside specifically for pizzas, so you don't have a whole bunch of black stones, since I also use them for baking cookies. If anyone has any suggestions for improvement, we'd love to hear them, until then, I'll keep tinkering with it, and when I come up with the perfect method, I'll update you!

Hallelujahs:Delicious, Amazing, Fresh

Hellfires:Time-Consuming, Messy

Homemade Pizza Crust
a la my Hero, The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients:
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/3 cup Olive Oil


-Note, this amount of dough will make 2-3 fairly large sized pizzas. But, I highly suggest doubling the recipe, and freezing the extras, after rising. This will save you a lot of time in the future.

-Place warm water, and yeast in a bowl, and allow to proof until the mixture becomes frothy/bubbly. This should take about 5-7 minutes.
-I just let this proof in the bowl of my Bosch, and then after it's proofed, I added all of the other ingredients, in any, haphazard order, and turned it on. It worked perfectly. But, PW has a list of more specific instructions, as to the order of ingredients, in case you want to be perfect about it. The link is provided at the end of this recipe.
-Once you've added all your ingredients, turn on your mixer, and let it swirl! The important thing to note is that you do not need to knead this dough. You just mix it until it's well combined (only a couple of minutes), so this is much faster than traditional doughs.

-Once the dough is mixed, place it into a well-oiled bowl, and cover with saran wrap. Place the bowl into a warm, dry place, and allow it to rise until it doubles in size. I think it took about an hour and a half for me.
Before Rising:

After Rising:


Original Recipe: PW Basic Pizza Crust Recipe

Homemade Pizza Sauce:
Ingredients:
A few tablespoons of olive oil
1 small onion, diced VERY finely
4-6 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can of crushed tomatoes (14 ounces)
1 can of tomato puree (14 ounces)
Handful of Sugar
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Fresh Basil, 10-12 leaves
Fresh Rosemary, 1 sprig

-First, drizzle the olive oil into a deep frying pan, and let it get hot.
-Add your finely chopped onion, and saute until it gets a little bit translucent.
-Interesting story here...I happen to HATE biting into large chunks of onions. So, I got the bright idea to place the onions, and garlic into my brand spankin' new food processor in order to have very finely chopped onions. Unfortunately, this did NOT work out. It turned them into an applesauce-like consistency that was watery, and disgusting. I had to scrap it all, and just chop the onion SUPER fine, the old-fashioned way.
The Mess:

The RIGHT way:

-Add garlic (use your handy-dandy garlic press), red pepper flakes, and oregano, and saute for about 3 minutes more. The oregano turns your onions and oil a beautiful bright green color.

-Add your crushed tomatoes, and pureed tomatoes, along with your basil and rosemary. I like to add a LOT of basil, and a much smaller amount of rosemary.

-The easiest way to cut fresh basil is to roll several leaves together, and slice along the short end. I like to then go back over, and dice a little bit finer after.
-Add your salt and pepper, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes.
-Add a handful of sugar to cut some of the acidity of the tomatoes. Stir, and re-cover.
-Continue cooking for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Remove sauce to a bowl, to cool.


-Note: I've provided the recipe for one batch of pizza sauce, but the best method is to make a double batch, and freeze the leftovers, making your next go-round MUCH simpler.
-Also, the original recipes said to allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before spreading it onto the dough, but I'm NEVER patient enough for that, and I've not ever had an adverse outcome because of it.

Putting it All Together
Ingredients:
A couple of tablespoons of olive oil
Toppings of choice (I used sausage, pepperoni, and bacon for one, and fresh tomatoes, and basil for the other)
FRESH mozzarella cheese
Cornmeal for sprinkling


-Roll Out your pizza dough, as thin as you like it. I prefer it to be really thin.
-Place the rolled out dough on top of a cookie sheet covered in cornmeal (to allow it to slide off onto the grill. If you have a pizza paddle, this would be even better, but I don't own one, so I use large cookie sheets. Use a LOT of cornmeal, so your pizzas don't stick to the cookie sheet (or pizza paddle).
-Place a tablespoon or so of olive oil on the dough, and then sprinkle on some garlic powder before adding your sauce.
-Add a ladle-full of sauce and spread it around the pizza.
-Slice your fresh mozzarella, and spread it around the pizza. It is REALLY important to use fresh mozzarella here. I bought mine from Wal-Mart, and it was only $3.22 for a pack, and it took 2 packs for 4 pizzas, so it's not as crazy expensive as you might be thinking.
-Add your toppings to the pizzas.

-Take them to the grill, and slide them onto the hot pizza stone (cover the pizza stone with cornmeal too, to make removal of the pizza easier). Close up the grill, and bake for about 5 minutes. They cook VERY fast because of the high heat. Just check them at 4 minutes, and if they don't seem done, close that baby up, and give it another 2-3 minutes. Just watch that the bottoms of your crusts don't burn.

-If it seems like the bottom of your pizzas are finished before the mozzarella is melted, you can always remove it from the grill, and put it in the oven, on broil to finish the top!
-ENJOY!




-In order to save your leftover dough for next time, you need to shape it into individual sized balls, and then wrap them up EXTREMELY well in saran wrap. You want ALL areas of that dough to be covered. Then place the wrapped balls in a freezer bag, double bag it, and place it in your deep freeze. I usually spray the saran wrap with Pam, or the generic version of it, first, in order to make sure that it doesn't stick.



-For the sauce, I like to place mine into a mason jar (but leave room at the top for expansion), and then put the mason jar into a freezer bag. Place this deliciousness inside the freezer, and you're already ahead for the next time.



Now, THIS is why it's so important to us fresh mozzarella cheese. It makes feet, and feet, of delicious, melty goodness for cute kiddos, like my nephew, Nathan, to get all tangled up in!

Eat-Out-At-Home: DiRusso's Italian Sausage Sandwiches

This is another recipe born out of my deep longing for home food.  You know, it's kind of funny, I've lived in Utah for 6 years now, and I still call Ohio home.  And one thing my home state does well, is food.  Especially fair food.  Utah has no clue what fair food is, and let me tell you Utahns something very important.  Pay close attention here.  Krusteaz scone batter does NOT a funnel cake make, nor do Costco corn dogs make true fair food.  Now, my Mom's absolute favorite fair food is this delicious conglomeration of sausage, and red sauce, and mozzarella cheese, and delicious bread....all wrapped up in a square of tin-foil so you can take it with you all over the fair.  Otherwise known as the DiRusso's Italian Sausage Sandwich.

My Mom tells me that DiRusso's now sells their amazing sausages in the frozen food sections of the local grocery stores, so she can replicate them at home.  Unfortunately, my local grocery stores have not responded to my repeated requests to stock my favorite home foods, in particular the Ohio trifecta (Pierre's Cookie Dough Ice Cream, Dan Dee Cheesies, and DiRusso's Italian Sausage).  Lucky for me, my sweet Mamma always has her house stocked with the trifecta each time I come home for a visit. However, when I'm craving it here, in Utah, I've got to find some other way to satisfy my desires than hopping a plane to Ohio, because that would get old, and very expensive!

These sandwiches are delicious, and VERY easy to make.  While we may not have the DiRusso's brand sausage here (which does make a difference, by the way), we do have a couple of really good brands.  My favorite?  Colossimo's original sausage.  They used to sell it at Costco, but lately I've only seen the Red Wine version, which I don't like nearly as much.  I find it at Smith's now.  It's more expensive, but worth it in the end.  You can use whatever type of sausage you like, mild, hot, sweet, etc, but I prefer a mild sausage for this, the sweet just doesn't have the same "pop!" I like in the mild.

Also, you will notice that I add the vegetables in two phases.  There is a good reason for this.  You add the first batch in right at the very start, because you want your sausage to pick up the flavors from them.  It will really infuse into them, and change the flavor, for the better.  But, you don't want to add them all at once, because you will be adding water to them, and you don't want to be stuck with soggy veggies.  These sandwiches are incredibly simple to make, you'll be shocked at what great flavor you can get from such simple ingredients.

On a housekeeping note, if you scroll to the very bottom of this post, you can find a plain-text version of this recipe. I'm still working out the kinks of a print function.

Hallelujahs: Simple, Fresh Ingredients, Easy, Delicious
Hellfires: I can't think of any, other than the fact that Utah doesn't stock DiRusso's Italian Sausage.
Variations: Next time, I think Jon and I are going to sear them on the grill first, so we can get that smokey flavor in here, too.

Italian Sausage Sandwiches

5-6 Italian Sausages
1 Large Onion
2 Bell Peppers (whatever colors you have on hand)
Salt/Pepper to Taste
1 Jar of your Favorite Spaghetti Sauce (or homemade if you're feeling really daring)
Mozzerella Cheese
Sub Rolls


-Slice your vegetables.
-Place sausages, and half the vegetables in a frying pan on medium heat.

-Add Salt and Pepper to taste
-Sear the sausages on each side. You want to get some brown bits on the bottom of the pan (from the sausage, AND the veggies), without burning them.

-Add 1-1 1/2 cups of water to deglaze pan. Cover the sausages and turn heat down to 3-4. Simmer for about 20 minutes or so.
-Meanwhile, Toast your rolls

-Once sausages have simmered in water for approximately 20 minutes, remove lid, and increase heat so that the water evaporates.
-Add in the rest of your vegetables, and heat until hot, but still crisp.
-Heat your spaghetti sauce in a saucepan on the stove (or in the microwave)

-Once the sausages, and sauce are finished, make your sandwich! Place the sausage on the roll, add some cheese, then some sauce, then more cheese, and your veggies. If, like me, you're picky, and like the flavor of the veggies, but not biting into one, leave them out. You'll still have all the flavor of them cooked into the meat!
-If your cheese isn't melting, you can place these under the broiler, for a couple of minutes, too.


Plain Text Recipe:

Italian Sausage Sandwiches
5-6 Italian Sausages
1 Large Onion
2 Bell Peppers (whatever colors you have on hand)
1 Jar of your Favorite Spaghetti Sauce (or homemade if you're feeling really daring)
Mozzerella Cheese
Sub Rolls

-Slice your vegetables.
-Place sausages, and half the vegetables in a frying pan on medium heat.
-Add salt and pepper to taste.
-Sear the sausages on each side. You want to get some brown bits on the bottom of the pan (from the sausage, AND the veggies), without burning them.
-Add 1-1 1/2 cups of water to deglaze pan. Cover the sausages and turn heat down to 3-4. Simmer for about 20 minutes or so.
-Meanwhile, Toast your rolls
-Once sausages have simmered in water for approximately 20 minutes, remove lid, and increase heat so that the water evaporates.
-Add in the rest of your vegetables, and heat until hot, but still crisp.
-Heat your spaghetti sauce in a saucepan on the stove (or in the microwave)
-Once the sausages, and sauce are finished, make your sandwich! Place the sausage on the roll, add some cheese, then some sauce, then more cheese, and your veggies. If, like me, you're picky, and like the flavor of the veggies, but not biting into one, leave them out. You'll still have all the flavor of them cooked into the meat!
-If your cheese isn't melting, you can place these under the broiler, for a couple of minutes, too.

Eat out at home: Chicken Alfredo, and Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

I know, the title of this thread is a bit of an oxymoron. How can one eat out, at home? I'm here to tell you that you can enjoy food that is delicious, and just as good as your favorite chain restaurant right in your own kitchen, and without a significant amount of fuss, either.

These ideas were born of The Husband and I's affinity for eating out, and our bank statement's aversion to it. Adding it all up one month, we were simply shocked to find out how much money we were spending on eating out. Now don't get me wrong, a nice dinner date, with your loved one is an absolute must in my book, but we were eating out (with the kids in tow) at least 3-4 times per week, adding up to a staggering $500-$600 per month. Ouch, right? So, I decided to find a way to enjoy some of our favorite restaurant meals, at home, and the amount of money we're saving is insane!

The first recipe that we've pretty much perfected was a weekly staple in our house prior to the big switch; macaroni grill chicken alfredo, along with their absolutely to die for rosemary bread.

The sauce recipe is actually the first recipe that I got from one of my in-laws, back when my husband and I were still engaged. We went up to Idaho to visit The Husband's brother, Dayne, and his wife, Sarah made us some alfredo sauce that rivaled any restaurant. This is no easy task, as I've tried just about every brand of jarred alfredo sauce on the store shelves, and found them to be downright disgusting. I won't even use them in a pinch. So, a big thank you to Sarah, for jump-starting this recipe!  Sarah is also famous, in The Family, for her salsa, and italian bread recipes!



Now, I do have to apologize in advance that I don't have any "finished product" photos of the delicious rosemary bread. I decided to set the bowl outside to rise, since it was nice and warm, and forgot all about it for several hours. The wind blew off the towel, and I was left with a crusty, nasty mess. So, I couldn't actually bake it. What can I say, we all make mistakes! But, take my word for it, this bread is delicious, and it goes so perfectly with the chicken alfredo that I just didn't want to skip it until I had time to make it again. Now, I used to be VERY intimidating by bread making. All those artisan loaves just struck fear into me, and visions of sore arms after hours of kneading. But this bread could not be more simple. Easy to make in either your Kitchen-Aid, Bosch, or other electric mixer, meaning NO HAND KNEADING. Easy=beautiful for me!

And, for a bit of housekeeping, I realized that it would be very difficult for the readers of this blog to print out the recipes, due to the large amount of photos on each post. As it stands right now, I have no clue how to increase the print functionality of this website. But, I promise to learn, and have a better solution for the future. Until then, please bear with me! I may just include a text-only version of each recipe below the photo-laden part until I come up with a more permanent solution.




Chicken Alfredo

Hallelujahs: Delicious, and much cheaper than eating out, easy to make
Hellfires: Honestly, not many. It does take about 45 minutes-1 hour, which is sort of time consuming, but well worth the wait!

1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts/tenderloins
1/4-1/2 cup Kraft Tuscan House Italian Salad Dressing
Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, and Onion Powder to taste
1 pint of heavy cream, or half & half
1 stick of butter
2 tablespoons of cream cheese (1 oz) 2-4 tsp garlic powder
A Pinch or Two of Parsley flakes (dried or fresh)
Salt, Pepper to Taste
1/2-3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (NOT the stuff in the green canister)


-Boil a large pot of water/salt for your pasta. I usually prefer bowtie (farfalle for you high fallutin' types) noodles for this recipe, but I didn't have any, and I had a bunch of egg noodles, which worked just fine.
-Cook pasta according to package directions.
-Meanwhile, cut your chicken tenderloins/breasts into small pieces. I just use the frozen bag of chicken tenderloins from Costco, because they are cheap, and work just fine for this. Plus, I always have plenty of them on hand.
-Add them to your deep frying pan, along with the salad dressing, and seasonings. Stir it around, to get everything well incorporated, and turn burner on med-high. Cover, and begin sauce.

-In a medium sized saucepan, combine butter, and cream cheese, and melt over low-medium heat, whisking occasionally.

-Once they melt together, whisk in the heavy cream, or half and half.
-Note, I am usually skeptical about using anything but heavy cream in recipes. I mean, lower calories are great, and all, but if it also equals lower taste, then it's just not worth it to me. But, in this case, I happened to have a bunch of half & half left over from a cake recipe, and it tasted every bit as good as with the heavy cream. So feel free to use whatever you have on hand. Except for milk, that would be too thin for my liking.

-Reduce heat to low, and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes or so. It's really important here to cook this on low. If you heat it too high, the emulsification will "break," and your butter will separate from the half & half.
-Add the garlic powder (we LOVE garlic, so I add a LOT), salt, and pepper, and allow to cook for another 5 minutes on low heat.
-I usually add a couple of pinches of parsley here, too, but I forgot to throw it in there in these photos. If you don't have it, don't sweat it.
-Add your parmesan cheese. Please, use shredded parmesan cheese, either fresh or from the bag, but whatever you do, do not use the grated stuff in the green canister. It lends a very grainy texture to the sauce, which is not pleasing. Start with 1/2 cup, and taste the sauce, before adding all 3/4 cup. Just keep adding until you get the texture/taste you prefer. You'll need to whisk vigorously to get it all to combine.





-Meanwhile, when your chicken is cooked through, remove the lid, and begin to brown it, getting some nice color on all sides. I actually prefer NOT to use a non-stick pan for this part, so that you get all kinds of nice, brown bits on the bottom of the pan for the sauce to pick up. The non-stick pan I used here did not lend itself to those little lovelies, and I missed them!



-Pour the sauce into your pan with the chicken, and stir, over low/medium heat, scraping up all the brown bits on the bottom of your pan. This should change the color of your sauce, to a deeper blond-like color.



-After draining your pasta, add it to the sauce/chicken mixture, and stir until all noodles are combined.






Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

Hallelujahs: Delicious, and about as close to the real thing as you can get, REALLY simple, and hard to mess up!
Hellfires: Time consuming (you have to wait for it to rise), and it doesn't really store well. I tried to double the recipe, and save the extra loaves in Ziploc bags once, and they just got soggy, so you really need to eat them the day you make them.

1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons rosemary
2 tablespoons butter

-Place your water, sugar, and yeast in your mixer bowl, and allow to proof (just let it sit there!) for 5-10 minutes until it's all foamy, and bubbly like so:

-And for a random, FYI, the science, and chemistry of how yeast ferments/respires is actually pretty fascinating. It's actually a living organism you're putting into your bread, and then killing when you bake it! The "holes" in your bread are actually the spaces where the yeast used to reside, fermenting the sugars, and creating Carbon Dioxide (bubbles). If you ever have time, look it up, it's pretty cool!



-After the yeast has gotten nice, and foamy, add your butter, flour, and rosemary. I used fresh rosemary this time, because I had a TON of it in my garden. It smelled DIVINE! But, dried rosemary works well here, too.

Rosemary (kind of looks, and smells, like a fresh Christmas tree, don't you think?)





-Turn on your kitchen appliance, and allow it to come together until it is smooth, and elastic. In my Bosch, at high speed, this takes about 4-5 minutes. It is going to be a very sticky bread. If it's too sticky, add some flour, but the less flour you use, the better the bread will be.

The Bosch in action:

-Once the dough has been sufficiently kneaded, place into oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap (this works better for me than a towel), and set in warm, dry place to rise.
-Allow it to rise until it has doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.
-Preheat oven to 375*
-Once it has risen, punch it down, which means exactly what it says. Ball up your fist, pull it back, and take out all your frustrations on that poor little loaf of bread.
-Separate into two halves, and shape into balls.
-Add some additional rosemary on the top of each loaf, and press it lightly into the dough.
-Place on greased baking sheet, and allow to rise for an additional 45 minutes.
-Bake for 15-20 minutes until nice, and golden brown on top.
-As soon as you take it out of the oven, smear it with butter, and sprinkle with coarse Kosher salt.
-Eat immediately, dipping into alfredo sauce, Yum!

Original bread recipe can be found at: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Romanos-Macaroni-Grill-Rosemary-Bread-64446