Pizza dough, Pizza sauce, Breadsticks, Calzones (don't be overwhelmed)

James loves pizza! His mom made homemade pizza for Birthday dinners as a child, so he has a good reason. I also learned to make pizza when we were dating and made it for him often. Unfortunately pizza was one thing I would not eat or even look at while I was pregnant. Bad luck for James. All is well though, I can eat pizza again.
I have tried a couple of recipes but this is the one I love the most, because it is so easy, I always have the ingredients in the house and it is so versatile. Plus you can always throw what ever you have in your pantry on for the toppings. Sometimes we have pepperoni, sometimes we just have veggies and pineapple. You can turn it into bread sticks, or calzones, or make mini pizzas... and I am sure the list isn't much longer than that. But really it is so great. I will put the variations in the directions underneath so you can have them too.
This recipe comes from the Food Nanny's Cookbook. It is another one of my favorites. If you open my copy of the book it will turn straight to this dough recipe because I use it so much.

Pizza Dough

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 cups all purpose flour

1. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover, and let stand until foamy, 5-10 minutes.
2. Mix the oil, honey, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl (I just throw all of this into the bowl with the yeast mixture, to save on dirty dishes). If using a food processor, add 1 cup of flour at a time, up to 3 cups, mixing well after each addition. You may want to stir the third cup of flour by hand, depending on your machine. Or mix in all 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon.
3. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pan. Using a fork poke the dough several times in different areas.
4. Let the dough rise (it will not rise very much) while you make sauce.

Pizza Sauce

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of brown sugar

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl
2. Makes about 1 cup of sauce (one 16-inch pizza)

Pizza

1. Spread desired ingredients on top of pizza. (I find that it bakes better if you put the ingredients such as your veggies and pepperoni first and the cheese last). Also sprinkle it with a little bit of oregano. It adds a nice flavor.
2. Bake pizza on middle or top rake for 10-14 minutes at 425 degrees or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Breadsticks

Pizza dough
4-5 Tbsp butter (melted)
2 tsp. garlic salt
1 pinch of dried parsley

1. Prepare the dough according to directions above.
2. Take small pieces of dough and roll them into breadsticks (like you did with playdoe as kid).
3. Place them on a greased pan (I like to place them pretty close together so they are softer when they cook).
4. Mix the butter, garlic salt, and parsley together in small bowl. Coat the breadsticks each with this mixture. (only use about 1/3 for the first coat)
5. Let rise until dough has doubled in size.
6. Bake for 5 minutes. Take them out and coat the breadsticks with garlic butter again and replace back in the oven. Bake until golden brown (about 6 to 8 more minutes). Take them out and coat them with remaining garlic butter. (You can use as much or as little as you want, or even use low-fat margarine).

Calzones


Pizza dough
2 Tbsp butter (melted)
1 tsp garlic salt and some parsley
shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Prepare pizza dough
2. Take small amounts of dough, stretch or roll out, and fill with desired toppings. 3. Fold over dough and pinch the edges of the dough together.
4. Top with Garlic butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. 400 to 425 degrees.

*Last night we filled our calzones with ranch (for the sauce), cooked shredded chicken, small bits of bacon, diced fresh tomatoes, and cheese. Oh Man... it was delicious.

Carrot Cookies

I love these cookies because they are orange! I got this recipe from JoEllen. They have such a great flavor and are a really light fluffy cookie. I don't have anything else to say about them but they are delicious, and taste more like orange juice cookies than like carrot cookies.

Carrot Cookies

1 1/4 c. Shortening
1 1/8 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp. grated orange peel
1 1/2 c. mashed cooked carrots (or canned carrots)
3 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Blend together wet ingredients (shortening, sugar, vanilla, eggs, carrots, orange peel).
2. Then add dry ingredients and mix together.
3. Bake on a cookie sheet for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees.

Glaze to Top Carrot Cookies with

Powdered Sugar
Milk
Orange Juice
Orange Peel

1. Mix ingredients together.
2. Pour on top of cookies after they are cool.

Pancakes

Okay, you may be thinking, "Pancakes... really...?" Stop. These are the most delicious pancakes I have ever had. Actually I have only made them once, because James is the one that always cooks on pancake night. And pancake night happens a lot around this Stewart home. We love them for breakfast too, but I would say we eat them for dinner a lot more often.
This recipe comes from the Stewart family cookbook. I think the story goes (and you Stewarts can correct me if I am wrong) that Cora (James' mother) found this recipe on the back of a mix or box of one of the ingredients and it has been a Stewart family favorite ever since then. Just last night, we had Anna over for pancakes and we were talking about how serious Josh (James' brother) in particular is about these pancakes. I distinctly remember a night we had Leila and him over for pancakes and I remember that Josh was looking over James' shoulder the entire time as he was cooking. In the end Josh did put his stamp of approval, to my relief and I am sure to his.
The other ingredient that is very important is homemade syrup. In the beginning, I was sceptical, thinking they could not add enough sugar to make this as delicious as the store bought stuff. I have since changed my ways. Not only is it cheaper, but I like it way better. It is a little bit more runny but it soaks into the pancakes better and it is not as sugary. You can also adjust the amount of sugar you put in, making it as sweet or as not sweet as you like. I am a fan.

Stewart Pancake Recipe

1 egg
1 cup buttermilk*
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

*To make buttermilk, add and mix 1 tbsp. of vinegar to every cup of milk. Let it sit a few minutes before using.

1. Mix liquid ingredients (egg, milk, vegetable oil) in one bowl (I usually use the same bowl that I make the buttermilk in).
2. Mix dry ingredients (all other ingredients) in another bowl.
3. Then add the liquid ingredient mix to the dry ingredient mix.
4. Beat until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy).
5. Grease griddle if necessary.
6. When turning pancakes, wait until bubbles begin to form before turning
7. Makes about 4-5 pancakes.

Stewart Syrup Recipe

1 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. Mapleine

1. In a saucepan, boil the water
2. Add sugar to the boiling water and stir until dissolved
3. Take saucepan off stove and add Mapleine

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

For the last recipe I really wanted to find a blueberry cheesecake recipe. I looked in all of my cookbooks and couldn't find one. I rarely ever resort to searching on-line for recipes unless referred to a recipe on-line from a reliable source. (I've just had way too many on-line recipe disasters.) So I found a recipe in Our Best Bites cookbook for Strawberry Cheesecake Bars and decided, "Why wouldn't this work for blueberries?" PS. It did! And it was fabulous! Just exactly what I was looking for.

I have enjoyed this blueberry experiment. I may do it again sometime with some other ingredient. It reminds me of Iron Chef. I love the idea of taking one ingredient and turning it into so many different things. I just will never try to do it all in one hour. That would be stressful.

I apologize for the terrible pictures. While I am a good cook, I am not a great photographer, and I lack the equipment to make these dishes look as beautiful as they really turn out to be.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
(or I guess you are welcome to re-substitute strawberries and it would turn out as the author planned, that's up to you)

1 (16 oz) package of Pecan Sandies Cookies, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
11 oz cream cheese, softened (not low-fat) (I used low-fat, tasted fine. Delicious even)
2 eggs
2/3 c. sugar
pinch salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 c. sour cream (I also used low-fat sour cream)
1 1/4 c. blueberry sauce (blueberry syrup recipe works, jams, pie filling... whatever you have that is blueberry-ish or I guess strawberry-ish)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Spray 9x13x2 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a food processor, process 3/4 of the pecan sandies (reserve 6 cookies). Mix with melted butter and lightly press onto the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese, eggs sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract, and sour cream. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes. Spread half of the cheesecake batter onto the bottom of prepared pan.
4. Pour 3/4 c. blueberry sauce over the batter, spreading gently to cover the surface (it doesn't have to be perfect). Spread remaining cheesecake batter over the blueberry layer and then spoon remaining 1/2 cup of blueberry sauce over the batter. Being careful not to cut into the surface of the cookie crust, swirl the strawberry mixture with a butter knife.
5. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until center is jiggly but not liquid. While baking, process remaining 6 cookies. During the last 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle the cookies on top of the cheesecake. Chill for at least 8 hours and cut into squares. If desired, drizzle remaining blueberry sauce over the individual squares.

*Just as a note, don't try and serve this hot or fresh. It really needs the chilling process to be very good.

Blueberry Syrup

This recipe is used in the next one, but I kind of just made it up from another strawberry sauce recipe i found. It is so yummy, and so delicious over pancakes or french toast.... yummmmm!

Blueberry Syrup

2 c. blueberries
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly and breaking up the blueberries while stirring.
2. Let cool and blend in a blender until reaches a smooth consistancy.

Blueberry Kuchen

I really like this one. It comes from Taste of Home, Best Church Supper Recipes. Anna, my sister-in-law brought this recipe to my attention when I told her about my experiment. It is like a blueberry breakfast cake. I brought this to a dinner we had with my Uncle Gawain's family. My Aunt Gayle told me this is a German recipe and is pronounced Koo-Ken. I liked that.

Blueberry Kuchen

1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
(I added a couple of heaping Tbsp of yogurt,... just for good measure)

Topping:
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. butter, melted

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Add milk, butter, egg and vanilla. Beat for two minutes or until well blended.
2. Pour into a greased 13 x9x2 baking pan. Sprinkle with blueberries. In a bowl combine sugar and flour; add butter. Toss with a fork until crumbly; sprinkle over blueberries.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until lightly browned.

The Blueberry Experiment

I can’t remember ever buying blueberries in my life before this, but I made a goal a little while back to increase the variety of fruits and vegetables that I use in my cooking. Blueberries were on sale so I bought two pounds and thought I would experiment with several recipes and present it on my blog. So here are four great recipes that you can try if you have blueberries in your pantry.

The first recipe is Blueberry Muffins. Other than the recipes I have already shared on this blog, I rarely make muffins from scratch. I use the mixes. I think I am growing tired of mixes because I am always looking for better recipes that I could make with out the crutch of a mix. (I have yet to find a moist white cake recipe that is better than a mix.... if you have one let me know.) I feel silly saying this but I found this recipe on facebook. One of Traci's friends Julie Reber (who is my friend on facebook... you know how that goes) posted this recipe on her wall. It is from simplyrecipes.com. The author of the recipe has this to say about these muffins:

"There are three things I have a hard time resisting- my dad's tapioca pudding, Belgian dark chocolate, and freshly baked blueberry muffins. Muffins are not as hard to get right as on might think. Too dry, too dense, too sugary- these are all predicaments that one can encounter when trying to bake the perfect muffin. This blueberry muffin recipe however, from The Best Recipe cookbook, makes them just right- light, fluffy, and full of blueberries."

This is why I like it when cook books have explanations of why they like the recipes or where they got them. Most of the time these are more convincing to me than the actual ingredients of the recipe that it will turn out good if I follow the directions. I must say that whoever the other is got it dead on. These muffins are light fluffy and super yummy.

Blueberry Muffins

3 c. flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. plain yogurt (I used vanilla, it tasted great)
1 tsp grated lemon peel (I put in more and I really liked the lemony flavor along with the blueberry)
1 1/2 c. blueberries
1 Tbsp flour (if using defrosted frozen berries)

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the grated lemon peel.
4. (This step seemed a bit nit-picky but I followed it anyway) Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat. Fold in the berries. If you are using frozen berries, defrost them first, drain the excess liquid, and then coat them in a light dusting of flour.
5. Use standard 12-muffin tins. Coat each muffin cup with cooking spray. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. test with a long toothpick to make sure the centers of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and serve sightly warm. (makes 12 to 16 muffins)