Pizza with Truffle Oil

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make pizza from scratch, rather than using the trader joe's pre-packed dough. Instead I used Tyler Florence's recipe and it wasn't bad. It made about two thick-crusted pizzas, and I decided to make Garlic Balls with the leftover dough...mmmm. On one of the pizza's I did half pepperoni (for my picky boyfriend Brett) and half potato truffle pizza. The second pizza was covered with sauteed onions, truffle oil, and arugula.

Surprisingly, the potato pizza was more of a hit with my guests than the other. I tried potato pizza for my first time while I was living in Florence. There was a little store by my school that sold it by the slice. It's amazingly delicious. Next time I'll have to make an entire potato pizza, rather than just half, and maybe I'll force Brett to eat it :)

Potato Pizza Ingredients:

prepared pizza dough

1 yukon gold potato

shredded mozzarella cheese

shredded fontina cheese (optional)

olive oil

truffle oil

Turn the oven to 450 degrees and place an empty pizza pan in it to heat up. Meanwhile,

roll out the pizza dough, and then finely slice the potato VERY thin. When the pan has been in the oven to heat, remove from oven, place dough on top and quickly brush dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic granules. Quickly add a layer of the cheese, then a layer of potato slices (kind of fanned out). Drizzle with olive oil and throw it in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Once the pizza is ready, remove it from the oven and lightly drizzle with truffle oil if you have it.

Onion and Truffle Oil Pizza Ingredients:

Prepared pizza dough

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

shredded mozzarella cheese

shredded parmesean cheese

olive oil

truffle oil

arugula

In a saute pan on medium low heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil, onions, and mushrooms and allow them to carmelize. Stir the onions frequently until they are translucent, then take onions and mushrooms off the heat. Turn oven to 450 degrees and place an empty pizza pan in it to heat it up. Roll out the pizza dough and when the pan is heated, quickly place it on the pan and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and garlic granules. Add a layer of sauteed onions and mushrooms, then top with a generous layer of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with the parmesean cheese, then throw in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes. Once the pizza is ready, remove from the oven and add a layer of arugula on top. Drizzle with truffle oil and voila!

Garlic Balls:

prepared pizza dough

freshly chopped garlic

olive oil

salt

Roll out the dough into 1 1/2 inch thick balls. Place on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Add the chopped garlic and mix, so that each ball is covered in olive oil. Bake in a 450 degree oven until golden brown. Once removed from oven, toss in the remaining olive oil from the sheet pan and serve.

Five Cheese Penne

Italian food is my absolute favorite food in the world. That's probably why I gained so much weight when I lived in Italy-I just can't get enough. So I'm constantly on the lookout for new pasta recipes, because there are SO many and SO many different options. I came across this Barefoot Contessa recipe a while back, but I decided to change it and make it my own. I made it for my 24th birthday and my family loved it, so I decided to make it again. It's definitely not figure-friendly, but it's worth it.

Five Cheese Penne Pasta

Serves 6

Sea Salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

3 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

2 tablespoons ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese

1 pound penne pasta (you can use gluten free pasta too)

2 tablespoons olive oil,

2 cloves finely chopped garlic

Turn on oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Meanwhile, combine all the cheeses (except the ricotta) in a bowl and set aside. In a saute pan add the olive oil, tomatoes, and spinach and cook on medium low heat until just wilted. Add the garlic once the spinach has wilted and let cook for a minute or two, but be sure not to let it burn, then add the cream and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and turn off heat.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain, and put back into the large pot. Add the tomato and spinach cream mixture and 3/4 of the pre-shredded cheese that was set aside (reserve 1/4 of the cheese to go on top of the pasta). Mix the cheese in the pasta until incorporated, then add to a baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly. Top the pasta with freshly chopped basil and voila!

Banana Almond Butter Smoothie

I've recently dove into obsession with almond butter, so naturally I decide to try it in a smoothie for breakfast. I like to top it off with granola for texture and flavor. So good!

Banana Almond Butter Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 banana, chopped up and frozen

3/4 cup soy milk (or regular)

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt

1 cup ice

1 tsp of agave (if you're a sugar head like me and need smoothies extra sweet)

Blend until creamy and top with gluten free granola or fresh fruit!

Asian Noodles

Once again, I love Asian food. So I came up with an easy version of asian noodles. I don't know if they're considered Yakisoba or Chow Mein, but either way they're good. I have played around with a few types of noodles, pad thai, spaghetti, pre-packaged soft yakisoba noodles, but last nights udon noodles were by far the best. Pair them with miso soup or tempura (which we did last night), and you've got yourself a delicious meal, without having to go to a restaurant!

Asian Noodles

Ingredients:

1 Package of udon noodles or spaghetti noodles

3 cups of chopped cabbage

1/2 cup shredded carrots

half an onion, julienne cut

2 cups steamed broccoli

1 cup chopped mushrooms

3 tablespoons stir fry sauce

2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

1-2 cups sauteed chicken

sriracha

Serves 5-6

Saute cabbage, carrots, onion, and mushrooms in a large pan with 2 tablespoons oil on medium low heat. Meanwhile, start a pot with boiling water and cook the noodles, and saute chicken in a pan with 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce and sriracha (if you like), and dice chicken once it's cooked. Strain noodles and set aside. Once the vegetables have sauteed, and the cabbage has wilted, add cooked chicken, and strained noodles. Add in steamed broccoli and the rest of the teriyaki sauce and stir fry sauce (sriracha too if you like), mix well. You may need to add more stir fry or teriyaki sauce for flavor. Garnish with scallions.

Croissants, how I love thee.

Have you ever squished a giant glob of cold butter through your hands? I can now say that I have. My new baking book has inspired me to make new and exciting things; things I never even thought of making before. Well, maybe I thought of making them, but the task seemed to great for me to comprehend. All that changed yesterday when I decided to make croissants. Delicious, flakey, buttery croissants. They were a lot easier than I thought, however very time consuming. About 24 hours to be exact, possibly more. I prepped the dough yesterday and kept it in the fridge for 12 hours (because I read the dough is better when it rests, though you can let it rest for 3 hours and still have great results). This morning, while enjoying my coffee, eggs with cheese, and toast with almond butter, I waited for the dough to proof (rise).

Then I popped them in the oven, and magically my apartment filled with the sweet aroma of baked goods. My apartment smelled like a bakery. In fact, my roommate said she could smell the croissants baking from outside of our apartment and down the hallway. If only this could be my lifestyle everyday. Baking all day long sounds like the perfect job...

if only I knew that before I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on a degree!

Croissant Recipe

makes 12 croissants

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup barely warm water

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon sugar (my own addition)

1 3/4 cups cold butter

Combine 1 cup of flour with the water and yeast just long enough to break up the lumps of flour, and let rise for 1 hour.

Stir in the remaining flour, the cream, salt, sugar, and knead for 1 minute. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Knead the mixture by hand for about 10 minutes or with a stand mixture with a dough hook for 20 minutes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Work the butter with the heel of your hand or the paddle attachment until there are no lumps. Shape and roll the butter into a 8 x 8 inch square, using plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a 9 x 17 inch rectangle and place the square of butter on one end. (see picture)

Fold over the dough so the butter is encased in a square. Press together the edges of the square to seal in the butter. Press gently on the square with one hand while firming up the other sides to even out the square. Gently hammer the square of dough with a rolling pin to stretch the dough and the butter in it.

Now roll the dough into a 9 by 18 inch rectangle. Fold the rectangle into thirds as though it were a letter. Starting with a narrow end, fold the bottom thrid up and fold the opposite end down. If the dough is difficult to roll, refrigerate for 30 minutes.

When the dough is ready to work, turn it so that the large single fold, like the spine of a book, is on your left, roll it out into another rectangle again, and fold it in the same way. Your dough has now had two "turns", and it needs four in total.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for AT LEAST 1 hour. Continue in this way until you have given the dough 4 turns total.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour again (I did 12 hours). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into two 6 1/2 by 20 inch rectangles from 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick. Trim any uneven edges and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

For each rectangle, cut the dough in triangles, like pictured below (I forgot to take pictures of my own!). Then make a small 1 1/2 inch long slit in the middle of the triangles.

As you begin to roll up the croissants, curl the two sides of the triangle on each side of the cut, away from each other. Continue rolling with both hands, each one on half of the triangle. Point your hands away from each other as you roll.

Arrange the croissants on the sheet pans and cover them with plastic wrap to proof (again, I know!) for 3 hours in a cool place, or 1 hour in a warm place. They should double in size.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, brush the proofed croissants with egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of salt), and bake for about 35 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.

I took the liberty of making some chocolate croissants and a cinnamon sugar "croissant" with the leftover dough. Hopefully they will be good! I'm making my boyfriend taste them tonight.

Valentine's Day!

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day this past Sunday! We went to church, then to to Kobe swap meet here in San Diego, out to lunch at Phil's BBQ, and went shopping and then saw a movie. After the movie we went back to my house and had Gouda cheese, bread, and salami as an appetizer. My boyfriend made me a delicious dinner of filet mignon, arugula, and grilled asparagus, and I finished off the evening making chocolate souffles with vanilla ice cream on top! Needless to say, I felt very fat, but very happy at the end of the day.

My boyfriend gave me an amazing baking cook book for Valentine's Day, filled with 350 recipes, so I felt it only necessary to use the chocolate souffle recipe from the book. It was easy and done in no time. However, I did cut the recipe in half, because it normally serves 6. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 ramekins, buttered and sprinkled with sugar, then freeze them

4oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs at room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

Preheat over to 450 degrees.

Combine butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a whisk or silicone spatula until smooth and melted, then remove from heat.

Combine eggs, and sugar and beat on high speed with a mixer for about 5 minutes, or until the ribbon stage (when the beater is lifted the mixture falls in a wide band onto the surface, forming a figure eight that stays for 5 seconds before dissolving).

Pour the eggs mixture over the chocolate mixture and fold with a rubber spatula while sifting the flour over the mixture. Alternate between adding flour-about 1/3 of the flour at a time-and folding until the flour is no longer visible.

Transfer mixture into prepared ramekins and smooth the tops. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours (but I didn't freeze them, I added them straight to the oven).

Bake cakes for 14-16 minutes, until risen almost by half. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream on top, or plain and sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Fondant!

Friday was my friend Aj's birthday and for his special day I decided to take on the task of making home made fondant for his birthday cake. I have always wanted to make and work with fondant, especially after watching Ace of Cakes, because they make it look so easy. It wasn't quite easy, however. After going through almost two bags of powdered sugar, I got the fondant to the consistency I wanted (i.e. not sticking to our kitchen table every time I tried to roll it). I decided to go with a Pokemon themed cake, because well, Aj's obsessed with Pokemon. After about 5 hours the cake was done, and I felt quite accomplished, though I think it could have been a bit better; I think I'll try a different cake shape next time.

For the cake, I used this All-American Chocolate Buttercream cake recipe, but I used 3 cake pans for 3 layers. I also made chocolate buttercream frosting in between the layers and around the cake before applying the fondant.

I also made the characters on top of the cake out of fondant, however I wouldn't recommend it because it was too soft. I would recommend using gum paste if you're wanting to decorate it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AJ!!!!!!

Ingredients required to make the fondant recipe:

• 1 Tbsp of unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup of cold water
• 1 tsp of almond extract (I used clear vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup of light corn syrup (If a corn syrup is not available, you can substitute it with a sugar syrup made with 1-1/4 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water, boiled together until syrupy)
• 1 Tbsp of glycerin (some recipes say it’s optional, believe me, it’s a must)
• 2 lbs 10X confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp of white vegetable shortening

Directions how to make the fondant recipe:

• Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let it rest for 2 minutes to soften
• Place the bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds on High, until the gelatin dissolves
• Add the Almond extract
• Add the corn syrup and the glycerin and stir until the mixture is smooth and clear (if the mixture is not turning smooth and clear, microwave it for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on high and stir again)
• Sift 1 1/2 pounds of the sugar into a large bowl
• Make a hole in the sugar and pour the liquid mixture to it
• Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky
• Sift some of the remaining 1/2 pound of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take
• Knead the fondant, adding a little more sugar if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass
• Rub the vegetable shortening on your thumbs and knead it into the fondant
• Roll the fondant flat, until it's about 1/4 of an inch thick, and drape on cake

To color the fondant you need to buy dye gels, not the liquid food dye, add it to the fondant with a toothpick, and slowly knead the fondant, adding more color if necessary.