Me: 1 Pizza Dough: 0

Over the past year I have faced and conquered many of my cooking fears. I made my own meatballs, made my first homemade cake AND frosting, had my first experience with yeast bread, and roasted a whole chicken. Not too shabby for a girl whose weekly grocery list used to include hamburger helper and frozen skillet meals just a couple years ago. One thing I had not yet tried though was pizza dough. I figured what better night to try it than Super Bowl Sunday. I had seen this recipe a while back on Amber's blog and it looked so simple. And really, it is. If you can turn on a food processor, you can make this pizza dough. Not only is it so quick and easy, it's so good too. I may never buy store bought dough again! I'm really happy to be able to mark this one off as another kitchen fear conquered.


Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(Source: EatingWell.com)

To make 12 ounces dough:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 500°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes. Serve immediately

Chicken Parmesan and Buttery Garlic Croutons

One of our favorite Italian dishes is chicken parmesan. It's such a simple and comforting dish, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand to make it. It always turns out so delicious that I ask myself why I don't make it more often. We had this tonight for dinner with some spaghetti and a salad. Dinner was ready in under 30 minutes. Can't beat that.

Chicken Parmesan

4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 cup italian style bread crumbs (I made my own but you could buy them)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Set up three shallow bowls; one with the parmesan cheese, one with the eggs, and one with the bread crumbs. Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken breasts. Dip one chicken breast in the parmesan and pat to coat it with the cheese. Then dip it in the egg and then the bread crumbs. Be sure to coat it well. Do this for the other remaining chicken breasts and place them in a baking dish. Bake for 20-25 min until chicken is no longer pink. Broil on each side 2 min for a crispier crust.

Serve with your favorite pasta and marinara sauce. Top with additional parmesan if desired.


I also made some homemade croutons tonight to go on my salad. I had some leftover dinner rolls so this was a good way to use those up. So simple and so good!

Buttery Garlic Croutons

4-5 small dinner rolls (this could be made with regular bread as well)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder(you could also use minced garlic but remove it from the melted butter before placing the bread cubes in the pan so it doesn't burn)

Cut the bread into 1"cubes. Heat a pan over medium heat and add butter. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic powder and the bread cubes. Toss the bread around or turn with a spoon every couple of minutes to brown on each side. Once brown and crispy, place the croutons on a plate with a paper towel to drain any excess butter. Allow them to cool and serve on your favorite salad.

Second Time's a Charm

They say the third time's a charm but in my case the second time was. I first tried making these dinner rolls a couple weeks ago and they were a big flop. If I had posted a picture in my blog, you probably would have thought I was posting about biscuits or possibly hockey pucks. It was really bad. That being said, it was my first time ever making a yeast bread so I guess it was a trial run. I originally saw these rolls on Amber's blog, so I asked her for some tips before I attempted to make them again. Thankfully they turned out very good this time with her help. I was so excited when they actually started looking like rolls and not biscuits!!


Sweet Dinner Rolls
(Adapted from: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (It only took about 3 1/4 cups flour for me)
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions
- Place water and milk in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute or until liquids reach (110 degrees F/45 degrees C). Pour liquids into mixer bowl; add sugar and stir to dissolve. Add in yeast and let set for 10-20 minutes to proof (the mixture will be foamy).
- Attach the bowl to the mixer and mix on low speed adding the salt, butter and egg. Once well mixed add in the flour 1/4 cup at a time. Remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook. With the machine; knead the dough for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into desired shape. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour. (You can place a bowl of very hot tap water in the bottom of your stove and place the rolls in on the rack above it). Gently brush the tops of the rolls with half of the softened butter.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Upon removing the rolls from the oven brush them with remaining softened butter once again.

The yeast beginning to proof.

The dough after I kneaded it a few more times by hand.

Starting to look like rolls!

The finished product

Baked Pumpkin Bread

Whenever people come to stay at my house, I always like to bake something to have while they're here. My mom and sister are going to be at my house this weekend so I decided I'd get in the kitchen tonight and whip something up for them. The last time they were here, they really enjoyed the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins I made, so I thought pumpkin bread would be a good idea. As I was looking at recipes online, I found that most of them had 1 cup of oil. I thought that was a little too much oil so I kept looking. Now I know you can sub applesauce for the oil but I didn't have any. Well I finally found a recipe that uses no oil. But let me tell you, it is not lacking anything without the oil. This bread turned out so moist and delicious! And so much healthier without the oil.


Baked Pumpkin Bread

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
  
• 1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree (I used 1 1/2 cups)
  
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any so I used 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1/2 tsp lemon juice)
  
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl. Mix in the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended. Pour into a 9x5 inch loaf pan and smooth the top.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

*I only baked this for about 40-45 min and it was done.


Original Source: All Recipes

Banana Bread

Need a use for overly ripe bananas? Make banana bread of course! I've made many banana bread recipes but this one is one of the best ones I've made so far. It turned out very moist and not overly sweet.



Banana Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup mashe d bananas
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter or margarine. Beat the egg slightly, and mix into the creamed mixture with the bananas. Mix in sifted ingredients until just combined. Stir in milk and nuts. Spread batter into one greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until top is brown and cracks along the top.

* I baked this for about 40 min. I also added 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp ground cinnamon.
Original source: allrecipes.com

Another first!

This is not really blog worthy but I thought I'd add it anyway for anyone who had never made bread crumbs like I hadn't.

It's funny what you'll try when you run out of something. I've always bought pre-made bread crumbs from the grocery store, but tonight I was out. I figured making my own wouldn't be that hard and decided to try it. After all it's just bread crumbs.


Bread crumbs

4 slices whole wheat bread (That's all I had but you could use most any bread)
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning blend
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Toast bread in oven or toaster until dry. Let cool. Place bread in a food processor and process until you have fine crumbs. Combine bread crumbs with other ingredients in a bowl.







Voila! So easy!



The reason behind making my own bread crumbs tonight was that I needed them to make lemon chicken. I was very uninspired when I took my chicken breasts out of the freezer this morning but found a recipe that sounded pretty tasty. It actually turned out surprisingly good. It got the thumbs up from my husband as well!

Baked Lemon Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 4 (4 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

DIRECTIONS

1. In a shallow dish, combine the butter, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Place bread crumbs in another dish. Dip chicken in butter mixture, then coat with crumbs.
2. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Drizzle with remaining butter mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear.

* I used 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2" strips. I also used 2 cloves of garlic. I baked at 375 degrees for about 15 min, turning chicken strips over about half way through cooking. Then I broiled for about 2 min to crisp.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Lemon-Chicken/Detail.aspx