Eastern Garden Vegetable Soup

A hearty blend of garden vegetables simmered in stock seasoned with garlic and a unique spice blend. (Medium Spicy - Spicy)
This soup has a surprising flavor when you think of a traditional vegetable soup. It's delicious!   


Ingredients: 

onion

garlic
celery
carrots
potatoes, 

asparagus, 
parsnips, 
yellow squash
red bell pepper
pealed stewed tomato 
brussels sprouts (whole)
cabbage (shredded)
baby spinach

butter
olive oil
tomato paste

stock 

flour

red wine vinegar
sea salt
pepper
garlic powder
ginger powder
curry powder
turmeric powder

another pizza obsession

Is this getting creepy?  Is it just me? 
I know I have a bit of an obsession for pizza but really just one in particular. . . 
The simple Margarita Pizza.... When you get down to the real thing watch out!! 
What do I mean? I can't tell you how many Sunday night's we've enjoyed that melted, cheesy & saucy mix on perfect dough this spring already. The warmer months provide a nice variety of fresh herbs and tomatoes that send my salivary glads into a bliss you either know or don't and should try very very hard to get to.
Now, PLEASE don't even think about your typical American delivery pizza okay... that would be an insult. I'm talking just a few ingredients, and a nice glass of wine. 


Dough: 

• water
• yeast
• flour
• salt
• olive oil

Sauce: 


1 - 8 oz. can pure tomato sauce (no additives, no flavor) *
salt
pepper
olive oil


Use fresh WHOLE milk mozzarella. I use a proper amount because I'm a bit crazy in love.  Drizzle with olive oil, and top with fresh basil. Don't be afraid to add the olive oil. It's fun. 
I also sometimes add oregano but that's optional.
The simpler the better. God food comes from simple whole ingredients.
Normally, I don't have my camera around for this. It's rare because by the time I've gone through the entire process I'm ready to eat and not take photos. This was taken one afternoon recently when on a whim I wanted pizza for lunch. That's why they are so small - they are individual pizza. (click on photo to see in full size)  So that's it. Thanks for stopping by.

*Why tomato in a can? Because ours from the garden aren't ready yet!
Note: chefs prefer San Marzano tomatoes.

So... This is how I like to get into the mood. This guy has some fancy moves. 

It's all in the wrist my dear. Enjoy, and till next time. 

Rotolini agli Spinaci e Ricotta - Spinach and Ricotta Rolls

Cabernet is optional ;) 

What you'll need.... 

• Bread dough
• 1 cooked spinach 
• 8 -12 oz. ricotta
• 1/4 cup parmesan 
• 2 Tbs olive oil 
• 3 cloves of garlic
• salt & pepper

Preheat oven 400º

Once your dough has risen and ready to go roll it out into a rectangle 1/2in. thick. 

While the oven is warming up I like to saute my fresh spinach in the olive oil and garlic which I crushed and minced. Add a dash of sea salt and ground pepper for taste. 

In a large bowl mix cooked spinach with ricotta and parmesan cheese. 

Taste.... mmmmm 

Pour mixture on the rolled out dough and roll. Cut into 6 even pieces and bake for 25min. 

Don't worry if the cheese is sticking out the sides. That's part of the fun. 

Enjoy! 

Laugenbrötchen with Household Baking Soda

Laugenbrötchen (Pretzel Bread Rolls) 

Let me first send a big thank you to a friend Lindsey B. for inspiring me to recreate one of my fond German memories. She also gave me this recipe which is super easy and delicious. 

Laugenbrötchen with Household Baking Soda

Ingredients

375 gr All purpose flour – 3 cups bread flour

1 pkg Yeast – 1 tbs

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs salt

250 ml warm water – 1cup

(Optional: after dough is formed work in 2 tbsp of room temperature butter)

For the Soda Solution (Lauge)

1 liter Water – 4cups

30 gr Baking soda – 2tbs

For Topping:

Coarse salt, caraway seed, grated Gouda Cheese

Prepare yeast dough. Cover and let rest in warm place until almost

doubled in size. (approx. 20-40 minutes) On lightly floured work area,

knead several times and divide into 10 equal pieces. Shape into

brezels, sticks, rings, or Brötchen.

To prepare the soda (Lauge) solution, bring water to boil in a deep

pot, remove from heat and slowly pour baking soda into water (careful,

it will bubble/sizzle quite a bit)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place one Brötchen on wire ladle and dip into solution for 10 seconds,

swing/turn ladle so Brötchen will swim, remove and while holding on

ladle let excess liquid drain. Place on a baking paper-lined cookie

sheet and sprinkle with salt, seed, or cheese. With a very sharp knife

cut cross into Brötchen.

Bake at 400 F for 15 – 20 minutes, preheated. 

oppps... better to cut when directions say and not jump the gun like I did. 

sprinkle with sea salt

why did I put flour on the bread stone? Don't do this. 

Lunch, turkey sandwich ;) 

Perfect NYC Pizza

I used this recipe, no mixer, and tweak it a bit from use to use depending on how much time I have. It always comes out delicious.

Yields: 1 large or 2 small pizzas

Prep Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) instant dry active yeast
• 1 cup warm water (not hot!)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups bread flour, or as needed
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

1. Add the water, yeast, sugar, and a 1/2 cup of the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir well and let sit for 20 minutes. It will get bubbly.
2. Add olive oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour, and mix with a wooden spoon until it's together enough to turn out on to a lightly floured work surface to knead.
3. Knead for about 10 minutes, while adding more flour a little at a time, to produce a soft, elastic and slightly sticky dough. Do not add too much flour, just enough to keep it from sticking to the work surface as you knead.
4. Form the dough into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. Drizzle a few drops of oil and coat the top of dough to prevent the surface from becoming dry.
5. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
6. Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls and place in large zip lock plastic bags and refrigerate overnight.
7. When ready to use, remove from fridge, and let the dough come up to room temperature before using. 

It's the Juice baby!!!

This week is Juice Week (yea) 

I have been juicing for a number of years and it's something my mom started when we were young which I carried over. Well This week I felt the need to step it up a bit and see how far I get by Friday. Oh, I should mention that last week I started substituting a meal a day for my juicing but everything else in regards to what I ate stayed the same. i.e, we still enjoyed homemade pizza on Sunday :)

day one:
Early - 8oz water

Breakfast - coffee, granola

Lunch - cilantro, kale, celery, carrot, spinach juice

Dinner - Chicken salad with water

Snack - Amish Swiss cheese slices, grapes

day two: 
Early - 16oz water

Breakfast - carrot, kale, beet, orange, celery, grape juice

Lunch - cilantro, kale, spinach, carrot, ginger, apple, orange, tomato juice.

23.5 oz