Recipes

By Request — Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Posted by Michelle on Aug 25, 2010 in food, Recipes | 0 comments

This is especially for Donna who says she got inspired by my Wordless Wednesday post. Yay! I’m glad you liked the photo. Incidentally, that pizza was one of my “clean out the pantry” lunches. It was made from scratch from things I already had on hand. w00t!

Basic Pizza Dough

• 1 c. warm water (110F)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp yeast
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 1/3 c. all purpose flour*
• 2/3 c. whole wheat flour*
• 2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten*
• 1 Tbsp salt
• Up to 2 Tbsp of dried herbs / other flavorings (optional)

• Proof the yeastDissolve sugar in the cup of warm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit in a warm spot for 5 to 10 minutes or until foamy and yeasty smelling.
• Mix the DoughIn the mixer’s bowl, combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, gluten and salt. Add the proofed yeast mixture to the flour and mix together with a dough hook until it comes together. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball.By hand, combine the water + yeast mixture with 1 cup of the flour to form a batter. Add the rest of the flour in 1/3 cup measurements until it gets too difficult to stir. Turn out onto a flour board and continue to mix in the flour by hand until everything has been incorporated and you have a slightly tacky dough. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball.
• Proof the DoughDrizzle a bit of oil into a bowl. Place the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat. Cover with a wet kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let proof for at least an hour or until doubled in volume. Punch down and cut off a piece of dough big enough for the pizza you would like to make. This recipe can make 4 thin crusted “personal” sized pizzas (big enough for a Mommy + toddler for lunch!)
• Bake Preheat an oven to 400F. I don’t have a pizza pan or anything fancy so I just line a baking sheet with foil, spray it with non-stick spray and place the formed dough onto the baking sheet. Top with your favorite toppings (mine are Ranch dressing + cheese + meat) and bake for 10 ~ 15 minutes.

Vital wheat gluten + all purpose flour is a quick alternative to “bread flour” and quite a bit cheaper! I like keeping vital wheat gluten on hand than keeping several different flours on hand. (Psst… “cake” flour is just sifted AP + 1 Tbsp of corn starch per cup! Don’t be fooled by marketing.) Vital wheat gluten is also marketed as “bread improver” — I get it in the bulk bins at my local discount supermarket so it is never too expensive since I can buy only what I need. Otherwise, it comes in 8 oz bags which can be a bit pricey.

You can also use plain AP flour if you can’t get a hold of wheat gluten. It is not that critical.

丼 Donburi (Japanese rice bowls)

Posted by Michelle on Feb 28, 2009 in food, Recipes | 0 comments

Donburi or Japanese rice bowls are one of my favorite quick comfort foods. It is a big bowl of rice topped with meat cooked in a salty-sweet savory broth. There are also donburi that include raw fish such as tekkadon (fresh tuna) and my personal favorite, negi-tori don (fresh fatty tuna with scallions). (Though I love to cook, I’d never make either of these two donburi at home. There are certain things that I will leave to the experts and raw fish/meat dishes are among those. )

Popular cooked donburi combinations include:

• 親子丼 – oyako don (literally parent/child rice bowl) – chicken & egg
• かつ丼 – katsudon – fried cutlet (usually pork)
• 牛丼 – gyuudon – beef bowl

Donburi is a quick meal for those days/nights that you want something filling and comforting with minimal effort. It is just a matter of stirfrying your ingredients, adding the sauce, simmering and then pouring over rice. I try to keep a supply of tare (the broth that the topping is cooked in) on hand in the freezer.

Donburi Sauce (Tare)

3 1/2 c. dashi (Japanese stock)
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
2 tbsp sugar

Mix to combine.

HINTS

• If making ahead, pour into ice cube trays, let freeze and then pop out cubes and put into plastic bags for later use.
• Use instant dashi (dashi no moto) to simplify the prep. It can be found in the Japanese food section of your local Asian market. Low sodium chicken broth can substitute.

Here’s a concotion that I call 何でもいい丼 or the “Whatever You’ve Got is Fine Bowl” because, literally, whatever you want to add into your donburi is your choice.

1. Prep your ingredients. I cut the veggies (bok choy and carrots) into little pieces. My beef was already in thin slices.
2. Heat a small pot over high heat and stir fry your veggies and protein.
3. Add broth (I use about 1/3 c. for one serving) and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Pour over rice. DONE!

Leftover Makeover – Peanut veggie chicken stir fry

Posted by Michelle on Feb 6, 2009 in food, Leftover Makeover, Recipes | 2 comments

A new Smart & Final Extra opened up this week and one of their grand opening sale specials was whole chicken for  69 cents a pound. What cheapass budget minded mama could say no to that? So I picked up two and roasted them off for dinner on Thursday night.

I had planned on making some chicken soup but realized that I’d neglected to pick up celery. Oops. I didn’t want to make a chicken soup without the flavor of a classic mirepoix so I sat around for a bit, trying to figure out what to do. I didn’t want just chicken and rice. After awhile, I decided to make a quick peanut sauce for dipping. Then I realized that I had some frozen French green beans as well as some baby carrots on hand. So instead, I decided to make a peanut veggie chicken stir fry with stuff I had on hand.

Peanut Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry

Peanut sauce

1/2 c. natural peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp chili pepper garlic sauce (or more to taste)
1/2 c. chicken broth, warmed

Toss everything into the food processor, except for the chicken broth. Pulse to combine. Add chicken broth until it gets to a smooth paste.

Makes 1 1/2 cups peanut sauce

Peanut veggie chicken stir fry

1 c. frozen green beans
1/2 c. carrots, julienned
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 c. cooked chicken, sliced
Olive Oil
1/2 c. peanut sauce
1/4 c. chicken broth (optional)

Sautee the garlic in olive oil. Add green beans and carrots and sautee until tender-crisp. Add the chicken and sautee until warmed through. Add the peanut sauce, stir until well incorporated. If the peanut sauce is too thick, add chicken broth to loosen. Serve with white rice.

Serves one.

This made a great, flavorful lunch. I’m a sucker for peanut sauce and often times wish I could just eat peanut sauce and rice when I go out to eat Thai food. This peanut sauce is loads better than the bottled stuff — it is sweet, salty and sour with just the right amount of heat. Great with chicken! Plus, the stir fry was quick and easy, especially since I just grabbed my green beans from the freezer.