All in dinner

PFB Number Five: Stuffed Flatbread Pizzas

Sarah
Project Food Blog, dinner, flatbread, pizza

It was a quintessential Fall afternoon, sunny and clear with a soft breeze and cool, crisp air. The perfect afternoon to snuggle up with a book. The perfect prelude to a relaxing evening home with Mom. The perfect start to an even better weekend ahead.

On my agenda was to create an entry for Project Food Blog Challenge Number Five. The fact that I am able to say this amazes me, as the competition continues to showcase some truly talented people. I am honored beyond belief to be here, and grateful for the opportunity to celebrate food and community with new friends.

Those of you who have shown your support deserve more than a simple thank you. You deserve a dozen cookies hand-delivered to each of your doorsteps. If I had the means to do this, you can bet I would be there tomorrow at 4 o’clock sharp, just as you’re saying to yourself, You know, I could really use a cookie right about now. Oh, if only I could.

Onward to pizza. I am no longer a fan of the greasy, pepperoni-laden hunks of dough with way too much cheese and lackluster sauce that most every kid has at their lazer-tag birthday party. While that used to be great in a pinch, my diet has evolved and my tastes have since changed. I’ve always loved flatbread, and this was my starting point for Friday night’s pizzas.

I knew I wanted potatoes to appear somewhere, so this was my next building block. Potatoes and rosemary are great together, and once this thought crossed my mind, I knew I had the stuffing for my first pizza. On top, nutty Gruyere cheese spills over the edge and embeds arugula and toasted walnuts.

For pizza number two, I wanted to include a very delicious pesto-artichoke-olive tapenade introduced to me about one year ago by my friend a fellow blogger, The Chopped Onion. I love pesto on pizza. I guess I love pesto on anything (like a spoon, or my finger), but when smeared on light and crispy pizza, something miraculous happens. With the pesto, artichoke and olive tapenade on top, my chosen filling was a feta cheese and sun-dried tomato spread. At first, this may seem to you like a lot of flavors colliding into one another. Trust me though, they work beautifully.

The dough: I used 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour along with the remaining quantity of all-purpose flour, and I would not recommend attempting a larger amount of whole-wheat. Unless, of course, you know what you’re doing more so than I, which in all honesty is very possible. Nonetheless, the resulting dough was dense and doughy where I expected it to be, and developed a light crust on the outside, which I love. I might play around with flours next time, adding semolina or chickpea flour for variations in taste, texture and workability.

Served alongside an arugula salad with fresh pears from the tree, figs, toasted walnuts and avocado, these unique pizza pies were a lovely way to start the weekend and a great centerpiece for an evening of quality time with someone I love.

Potato & Rosemary-Stuffed Flatbread Pizza with Gruyere, Arugula & Toasted Walnuts

Ingredients for dough: 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 1/4 cup water, room temperature Ingredients for pizza: 1 small white potato, scrubbed and peeled 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary, roughly chopped 1 shallot, diced about 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese or 5-6 thin slices 1/4 cup arugula 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped Instructions for dough: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. You may have to add more flour on occasion to combat the stickiness. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Divide in half, loosely wrap each in plastic wrap and let rest on work surface for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare pizza ingredients. Instructions for pizza: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potato and thinly slice half of it into rounds no more than 1/8-inch thick. Toss rounds in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Toast walnuts in a small skillet over medium flame and set aside. When the dough is ready, place one half on a floured work surface and roll into as much  of a square shape as possible, about 8-10 inches in each direction. Layer potato rounds onto half of the square, leaving 1/2 inch at the edge. Top with chopped rosemary and diced shallot. Fold the free half of dough over and pinch the edges to seal. If you want, you can fold the pizza in half again and press down to flatten. In a dry nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the pizza for 4 minutes on one side, until lightly browned in spots. Flip over and cook another 3 minutes, until lightly toasted on the other side. Transfer to a baking sheet and top with gruyere, arugula, then toasted walnuts. Place in the oven for 8 minutes, to warm through and melt the cheese. Let cool slightly and slice to serve.

Feta & Sun-Dried Tomato-Stuffed Pizza with Pesto, Olive & Artichoke Tapenade

Ingredients: 1/2 quantity whole-wheat dough, recipe above 1/2 block feta cheese 6 sun-dried tomato halves 1/2 container or 1/2 recipe basil pesto 1 small jar pitted kalamata olives 1 small can or jar artichoke hearts Instructions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, pulse feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes until well combined. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Clean the food processor, then add pesto, olives and artichoke hearts. Pulse until thoroughly combined but not too smooth. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Roll out the other half of the dough into an 8 to 10-inch square, once again. On half of the square, spread the feta cheese mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edge. Fold the other half of dough over the top, pinching the edges to seal. You can fold the pizza in half again if you wish, then lightly roll to flatten. In a dry nonstick skillet, heat pizza for 4 minutes, until lightly browned. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes, until lightly browned on the other side. Transfer to a baking sheet and spread with pesto tapenade. Bake for 8 minutes to heat through and melt the filling. Remove, let cool slightly, and slice to serve.

The best part about these pizzas is that they are even better the next day. I reheated slices of the potato & Gruyere and I enjoyed the sun-dried tomato & pesto tapenade pizza straight from the fridge. With a crisp apple, I was set for lunch.

If you make these yourself, experiment with flavors. I'd love to try pears instead of potatoes and rosemary, and pesto with sliced tomatoes instead of tapenade. No longer do I play lazer-tag for my birthday, and no longer will I settle for delivery disasters. Growing up never tasted so good.

PFB Number Three: Rustic Luxury

Sarah
Project Food Blog, dinner, fish

I must start by directly addressing the readers of this blog. Over the past few days, I have received more comments than ever before on one post, more kind words and encouragement that I expected, and a ticket to advance to Challenge Three of Project Food Blog. I’m at a loss for words, which is rare- But I really cannot properly convey my gratitude. Your support is empowering! With that said... Let’s party! Context: About a year ago, my mom moved her belongings a few streets over to a charming new abode. Nestled in the rolling hills, it came equipped with a large deck, fruit trees, a rustic barn and rectangular paddock. Naturally, like the horsey family we are, our two equine companions came along to reside in the backyard. This sprawling scene of crisp leaves, alfalfa, white fences, an overflowing fig tree and the biting breeze of Fall is the inspiration and perfect excuse for a dinner party. The theme of which I’ve chosen to call Rustic Luxury.

Rustic Luxury is a paradox, kind of like country living in the middle of Silicon Valley. But this is where we are blessed to live, and we love it. As my mom perfectly phrased it last night, our rustic country living is a luxury. Who doesn't want space to run and play?

Guests: A total of seven guests relaxed, conversed, reminisced, and of course, heartily dined. Although not all are blood related, I consider each and every one of them part of my family. It dawned on me today how lucky I am to be able to do that. Before we get too far with this, though, I have a confession to make: Cooking for guests makes me really, really nervous. I get stressed. Uptight. Rushed. Frantic. I can cook for myself all day long; Maybe it’s the fact that all of these people are counting on me for a meal. They come at my request, they’re hungry, I promised food, and now I must deliver. What if I screw everything up? What if it tastes horrible? What if everyone stands around watching me because they’ve gone from hungry to starving? They’ve finished off the appetizer, and they’re bored? However, the counterpoint is this: I love having friends over. I love the practice of gathering together for a meal. The enlightening conversations and ab-tightening laughs offset the effort, planning and execution in every possible way. I believe that food shared is food that nourishes both the body and the soul. And besides, the mad dash makes everything much more exciting. If we could count on a thing like entertaining to be predictable time and again, would we really keep on doing it, time and time again? Would it really interest us? Menu: I served a medley of dishes that turned out to compliment one another perfectly: 3 kinds of hummus (Classic; Sun-dried Tomato; White Bean with Cashews and Mint) with Herb-rubbed Pita Chips, Spicy Swordfish Kebabs with Zucchini Medallions, Forbidden Rice Salad with Dried Cranberries and Orange Zest, Grilled Asparagus, and a Fig & Almond Tart with Mascarpone Cheese for dessert. I started early and took my time all day prepping, cooking, table-setting, and organizing. I had fun experimenting with flavors, designing a table scape and documenting everything with ample photographs. When it was finally time for the guests to arrive, I was able to relax. All that was left to do was to grill the kebabs and asparagus. Easy! I’ve learned a lot from this meal. I’ve learned that I am capable of collecting myself and calmly hosting a dinner party. I’ve learned how to think ahead, plan ahead and do ahead in the context of being a hostess with the mostest. But I’ve also learned how to just give up a little and let things happen. I can't possibly control every minute detail. This is quite a revelation for me.

Without further ado, here is the night in photographs:

(Tabletop Tip from a rookie: Choose one object and design around it. For me, it was the candle holder. The more rustic elements like the picnic table combined with the silver and crystal accents really brought the theme together.)

Sneaking a peek at the Stanford game:

Homemade bread from Susan:

This evening was greater than I could have hoped. It was comforting and intimate, and to my delight, every dish was devoured. I couldn't get enough of the hummus myself. Stay tuned for recipes in the next post!

A special thank you to my amazing Mom, without whom this event could not have run so smoothly. Thanks for teaching me how to be an expert entertainer, just like you.

3 Bean Chili with 2 secret ingredients and 1 large wound

Sarah
beans, chili, dinner

To relieve my dad of household duties one night last week, I set out to make a hearty vegetarian chili with cornbread for dinner (to which he was very grateful). I was intrigued by this particular recipe because it uses both fresh orange juice and cocoa powder! This may seem unusual, as it did to me at first, but let me assure you that the results are pretty fantastic. My evening of rainbows and unicorns was abruptly jarred while doing the dishes, however. A small plate slipped out of my hands into the sink, shattered, and all of a sudden blood was everywhere. It happened so fast that I was left staring in shock for a few seconds at my throbbing hand, thinking to myself how I'd never bled that fast or that much before. I thought it would be appropriate at this point to reach for a cloth and mop myself up. And then go in search of gauze and tape. I still don't know how, excactly, the plate sliced me on its way down. Perhaps I never will. I guess the moral of the story is: This chili is great. So great, in fact, that I'd do the night all over again, bloody hand and all. It was worth it just to see my dad relaxed for a whole evening! Spicy 3 Bean Chili with Orange, Cocoa, and Cinnamon 3 Tbsp olive oil 2 cups chopped onions 3 cloves garlic, minced 4 tsp. chili powder 4 tsp. cumin 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp. thyme 1/4 tsp. paprika 1 can each: black beans, kidney beans, white navy beans 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice juice from 1/2 orange 15 ounces vegetable broth chopped fresh cilantro 1. Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute 5 minutes. Mix in garlic and spices, cooking until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add beans, tomatoes, and orange juice, stirring to combine. Add veggie broth and stir. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes to let flavors combine. Stir in chopped cilantro and serve!