Homemade Pizza

So to welcome the new boys in our life to our house we.... sorry I mean I made pizza from scratch this weekend.  Well, at least I made the dough.  Which I must say was the first time making any bread product from scratch.  Not exactly the greatest experience.  After the 3rd pizza I got the hang of it.  I used the following recipe for the crust, adapted a bit.

1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (
4 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza Sauce:
tomato sauce
diced tomatoes
olive oil
garlic cloves, crushed and minced
onion
fresh basil, oregano, and parsley
salt and pepper to taste

In saute pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil.  Simmer with tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.  for 30 minutes.  Add fresh herbs and salt and pepper. 


Topping we used:
mushrooms
sausage
pepperoni
green peppers
red onions
mozzerela
Italian blend cheese

Making the Pizza Dough:
1 In the large bowl of a Kitchen Aid, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.
2 Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour. 
3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer). Place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.
At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Preparing the Pizzas 

1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour. 

2.. Remove the plastic cover from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 10 minutes. 

3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza 

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip 

5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.

Breakfast Empanadas

This morning I made brunch with a new recipe I came up with for the Cream Cheese Contest.  I made breakfast Empanadas and they were yummy.  I made 2 different versions.... Not sure which one is the best, so here they are both.

Original Flavor
1/2 lb bulk sausage
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 green or red bell pepper, chopped fine
1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
2 oz cream cheese, softened
5 eggs, separated
1 tbsp butter
2 refridgerated pie crust
salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage in medium sauce pan and drain, reserving drippings in pan.  Saute onions and peppers in reserved sausage dripping until tender, about 5 minutes.  In another pan, melt butter.  Whisk 4 eggs in bowl and add to pan, mixing constantly to scramble.  Combine sausage, cheese, cream cheese, eggs, pepper, onion, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix until cream cheese incorporated.  Roll pie crust out on floured surface.  Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter cut out circles from pie crust.  Place 1 tablespoon egg mixture in the center of each circle.  Fold each circle in half, using a fork to seal the edges.  Whisk one egg in a bowl.  Brush each empanada with egg mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until browned. 


Breakfast Quiche Flavor
1/2 lb bulk sausage maple flavor
1/2 cup Swiss cheese
1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
2 oz cream cheese, softened
5 eggs, separated
1 tbsp butter
2 refrigerated pie crust
salt and pepper to taste


Brown sausage in medium sauce pan and drain, reserving drippings in pan.  Saute onions in reserved sausage dripping until tender, about 5 minutes.  In another pan, melt butter.  Whisk 4 eggs in bowl and add to pan, mixing constantly to scramble.  Combine sausage, cheese, cream cheese, eggs, onion, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix until cream cheese incorporated.  Roll pie crust out on floured surface.  Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter cut out circles from pie crust.  Place 1 tablespoon egg mixture in the center of each circle.  Fold each circle in half, using a fork to seal the edges.  Whisk one egg in a bowl.  Brush each empanada with egg mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until browned.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

We have a new addition to one of our favorite families.  Roger, Jenny, and Wyatt Adams welcomed Owen into the world this Friday.  So, to celebrate I am making the new mama chicken noodle soup, pretty much from scratch.  I don't have a noodle maker so those are not from scratch, but I made my own broth, and since I usually add cream of mushroom soup to my chicken soup to make it creamy, I made my own cream of mushroom soup as well.  Needless to say this was a 2 day process.  I also made homemade croutons for the soup.  I made an insane amount because it will be our dinner as well, and I can always freeze it.  I don't really have a recipe for most of this, just throw stuff together, but I will list what I did... 

Chicken Broth

Bones and skin from 3 roasted chickens (use the meat for the soup)

3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped into large pieces

3-4 stalks of celery, cut into large pieces

1 onion, cut into large pieces

Place all in large stock pot.  Cover with water.  Simmer on medium heat for 5-6 hours, skimming any fat off the top every hour or so.  Strain broth through colander using cheese cloth.

Cream of Mushroom Soup (adapted from Taste of Homes)

6 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

6 tbls flour

2 tbls butter

4 cups milk

12 oz (1 and 1/2 packages) cream cheese

1 cup beef broth

Saute mushrooms and onion in butter in large pan until tender.  Add flour and stir until dissolved.  Slowly add milk and beef broth, stirring until boiling and thickened.  Add cream cheese and stir until melted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Makes about 6 cups.  

Soup

Chicken Stock(see above)
Additional water

Chicken from 3 roasted chickens

carrots

celery

onion

cream of mushroom soup (see above)

Amish egg noodles

I hate to put numbers on this recipe because it is really up to the cook.  If you like more broth, add less veggies and chicken.  If you like it creamier, add more cream of mushroom soup.  It is really up to taste at this point.  I dump it all in a  stock pot and let it cook all day.  Add the mushroom soup a closer to the end, you don't want to curdle the milk.  Yummy!!!