Pesto Tomato Pizza



You need:
Pizza crust
Pesto sauce
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 cups of your favorite pizza cheese (I like the Mozzarella, Asiago, and Provolone blend.)

Pizza Crust (Thanks, Jamie!)

1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt


Dissolve yeast and sugar in water; allow to rest for 8 minutes. In a seperate bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour yeast mixture over flour mixture and mix well. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. Coat hands with olive oil and pat dough into a ball. Working from the edges to the center, press dough into a 12" circle. Place dough on a lightly greased pizza pan or baking stone and stretch dough to edges, leaving dough a little thicker around the edges.

Bake 8 minutes or until slightly golden and puffy. Meanwhile, make pesto:

1 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic

Place everything into blender or food processor. Cover and blend on medium speed for about 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth.

Spread pesto on crust.

Top with tomato slices and your favorite shredded pizza cheese. Bake for an additional 12 minutes, or until cheese is melted and pizza top is golden and bubbly.

Beach Cake a la Jeanette
(kind of like blonde brownies, with a creamy topping baked right in.)



2 cups pecans, chopped
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter
1 box confectioner's sugar
3 eggs
8 oz cream cheese

Mix together pecans, cake mix, melted butter, & 1 egg. Press into a 9X 13" cake pan. Mix together sugar, 2 eggs, and cream cheese. Pour over 1st mixture. Bake @ 350" for 40-60 minutes or until golden brown.

Portobello Lasagna


5 portobello mushroom caps, sliced thinly
1/2 onion, sliced up
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 cans diced Italian-seasoned tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups shredded Mozarella cheese
6 no-boil lasagna sheets

In a large skillet, saute onions in oil for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic, and saute for about 3 more minutes. Transfer to bowl; keep warm. In same skillet, add tomatoes and wine, and simmer for 2 minutes.

In lasagna pan, layer 1/3 of the tomatoes, noodles, then cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, noodles, cheese, shrooms. Top with tomatoes and parmesan cheese, and wrap tightly in foil. Bake at 450* for 35 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

Sesame-Crusted Tuna With Asian-style Coleslaw


1 16-oz package coleslaw mix
1 cup Asian-style salad dressing
1/2 cup sesame seeds
Four 6-oz tuna steaks, about 1 1/4" thick
1/4 cup veg oil

Toss salad with dressing, divide among 4 plates and set aside.

Place the sesame seeds on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Gently press the tuna in the sesame seeds to coat each side. In a heavy skillet, heat the oil over med-high heat. Add the tuna to the hot pan and sear for 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Slice the tuna and serve over the slaw.

Coconut-Crusted Shrimp With Curried Peanut Sauce
(Everyday With Rachel Ray -- June/July 07)



1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 13.5-oz can unsweetened coconut m ilk
juice of 1 lime
salt
12 jumbo shrimp (3/4 pound) peeled and deveined
pepper
2 cups shredded coconut, preferrably unsweetened
3 yeads bok choy, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
1/2 pint (about 1 cup) cherry tomatoes

1. In a small saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until tender but not browned, about 6 min. Stir in the curry powder. Add the wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Whisk in 2 tablespoons peanut butter until smooth. Add the coconut milk and simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 15 min. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice. Season to taste with salt. Keep the sauce warm over low heat.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter with 3 tablespoons warm water until smooth. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and brush with the thinned peanut butter. * Spread the coconut on a baking sheet, add the shrimp and press gently to coat; refrigerate.

3. In a medium skillet, warm 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add the bok choy and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the bok choy and tomatoes are wilted, 2-3 min. Keep warm

4. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the shrimp and fry until the bottoms are golden, 2-3 minutes. Using tongs, gently turn each shrimp over; drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon of oil around the edge of the skillet. Lower the heat and fry until the other sides are golden, about 1 more minute. Spoon the reserved sauce into the cnter of 4 serving plates. Divide the bok choy mixture among the plates, and top each serving with 3 shrimp.

* Idea -- use 1/4 cup shredded coconut and 2 cups katafi (shredded phyllo dough) to coat the shrimp.

** The only coconut I had was frozen and very damp. It didn't stick well to the shrimp. I think you need fluffier coconut. It was still crazy good.

Skinny Ice Cream Sandwiches

Actually, I kind of hesitated putting "skinny" in the title, because I know how people are. they read "skinny" or "diet" or "fat free" or "low calorie" and automatically don't want to try the dish. That's not the case with this recipe, though -- these ice cream sandwiches are so good, I fooled the kids into thinking they were really ice cream sandwiches. I had to eat two of them because I was so amazed that they tasted *just* like ice cream sandwiches! Shhh... don't tell anyone they're diet.

1 box chocolate graham crackers
1 tub Cool Whip Free (or light, but free works.)

Line a baking sheet with wax paper, then "tile" the surface with chocolate graham cracker sheets (don't break them apart.) Slather the Cool Whip on each cracker thickly, about an inch thick. Top with another cracker, then freeze for at least an hour. Enjoy, knowing that you're not breaking your diet.

Major plus -- if you use the cinnamon graham crackers, instead, it almost tastes like the fried ice cream you get at Mexican restaurants.

A Word About Garlic:


Okay, right now, I want you to get up, walk to your refrigerator, open the door, take that jar of minced garlic out and throw it away. Now get in your car, drive to the farmer's market, and buy some fresh garlic to cook with -- preferrably locally-grown hardnecks with a slightly purple, striped papery skin, because that's the best garlic you're ever going to find.

If you can't find that, buy whatever the farmer's market carries. Elephant garlic is bigger and has a more mellow flavor, and is heavenly when roasted.

If you don't live near a farmer's market, you can buy fresh garlic at your local supermarket. Beware, though, a lot of the garlic you'll find at your big megachain stores is grown overseas and shipped here, and the varieties that are produced for shipping are more durable and less flavorful. Still, it's better than the stuff in the jar.

Now that you have garlic to cook with, how do you use it? I mean, it's all papery and stuff, and it looks difficult to peel, right? Well, it's easier to use than it looks. You simply peel off as many layers as will come off easily, then break the big piece of garlic apart. Inside, you'll see smaller segments. These are the cloves of the garlic, so when a recipe calls for a "clove of garlic," it means one of those, not the whole thing. Pull a clove from the garlic, smack it with the side of a heavy knife, and squeeze -- the clove will pop right out. Or you can smack it with the knife then put the cloves (skins and all) into a bowl of water. Swish, to get the skins off the cloves, then pick them out of the water and put them into your recipe. (This keeps your hands from getting sticky, too.)

A lot of people are intimidated by garlic because it's so flavorful. It's like painting the wall red when you're decorating. It's bold, and it's daring, and it's something you can overdo. But it's so much better to learn how to cook with garlic than it is to avoid using it because you're afraid of its pungent flavor. To cook without garlic is like taking a trip to Paris and then staying in the hotel and watching TV. What's the point? Use the garlic. Use fresh garlic. Use a lot of it. Don't even bother with the stuff in the jar. After you've used fresh garlic, you won't want the stuff in the jar, anyway.

How To Fry A Fish




Four 6-8 oz fish fillets (red snapper, tilapia, pollock... it's all good.)
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
juice and grated peel of 1 lemon

In skillet, heat a little olive oil until hot, over medium-high heat.

Mix cornmeal, flour, cheese, and lemon peel on a plate. Season fish with salt and pepper, then dredge in cornmeal mixture, pressing to coat fish evenly. Fry in the skillet, turning once, until golden-brown (about 7 minutes total.)

Top with drizzle of lemon juice and serve hot.

Pizza Carbonara a la Rachel Ray

cornmeal (handfull)
1 pound pizza dough, at room temperature
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling
1/4 lb pancetta, chopped (you can use bacon)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
2 large egg yolks, beaten
1 clove garlic, grated
pepper
1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded provolone cheese
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 450*. Sprinkle cornmeal on pizza pan or baking sheet. Place pizza dough on the pan and stretch into a large round or rectangle. Drizzle dough with oil and partially bake until puffed and slightly golden -- about 8 min.

In small skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook stirring often, until crisp (about 5 min.) Transfer to a bowl and let cool. Add ricotta, pecorino romano, egg yolks, and garlic to the pancetta; season with pepper and stir to combine.

Spread mixture over teh partially baked pizza dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border all around. Bake until the crust and topping are golden and cooked through, about 12 minutes. Scatter the parsley on top and cut into wedges.

Whole Wheat Pancakes, Bex Style

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (you can omit this, it just makes the pancakes a little fluffier)

1 egg (beaten)

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon applesauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix dry ingredients well. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Pour onto hot, nonstick griddle (medium) and flip when edges are not shiny and top is covered with bubbles.

You can add fruit to the pancakes as well. I like to top mine with bananna slices and serve as-is, without syrup. The banannas make a sort of topping for the pancake so it's like syrup. For the kids, I sometimes sprinkle bananna or blueberry pancakes with a little powdered sugar.

The kids don't even know it's healthy. These pancakes are a huge hit when we have sleepovers!