Jalapeno Popper Pizza

Who loves jalapeno poppers?!  I think the better question is.... who doesn't like them?  I just love the crunch of the outside, the spiciness of the jalapeno and of course the creamy center.  Mmmm!  But we all know how I'm not a huge fan of frying and I'm also not a big fan of dumping frozen product on a cookie sheet and throwing things in the oven.  So this pizza was born.....  and let me tell you something....  I'm glad I made a small pizza  because I could have housed the entire thing!  This ain't diet food, people!  The crust is smeared with cream cheese and topped with sharp cheddar and a mixture of fresh and pickled jalapenos.  Then comes the kicker -- a sprinkling of panko bread crumbs for crunch.  Don't skip this step -- everyone who sampled this pizza said the panko made the dish!  

Oh and I couldn't stand the fact that there wasn't any meat on this sucker so I topped it off with bacon.  Oh hell yes.  

Jalapeno Popper Pizza

1 ball of fresh pizza dough
EVOO for drizzling
1 stick of cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 small jalapeno, chopped
2 tbsp pickled jalapeno, chopped
4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled
1/4 c. panko 

1.  Preheat oven to 475 with pizza stone in oven.  When pizza stone is hot, remove from oven and drizzle with olive oil.  Stretch dough ball to desired size and shape and lay on pizza stone.  Place pizza stone in oven and bake for 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove from oven.
2.  Spread cream cheese on crust and top with cheddar cheese, jalapenos and bacon.  Place pizza back in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust begins to brown.  Remove pizza from oven.  Set oven to "Broil".
3.  Sprinkle panko over top of pizza and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, or until panko begins to brown.  Remove from oven, cut and serve!

Steak & Egg Flatbread with Creamy Brie and Caramelized Onions

Breakfast for dinner -- one of my favorite things!  As if this pizza-like dinner can't be made any better, we throw a runny egg on top!  Pure perfection.  This flatbread was made one of those nights were I had no idea what to do for dinner and was feeling particularly lazy.  I opened the fridge and saw some odds and ends...leftover steak from dinner last night, half a wheel of brie from a cheese plate a few days ago, and of course my staple go-to dinner every night after work: eggs. So I threw all these things together and enjoyed!  Feel free to mix up the ingredients and use up any leftovers you have.  Any cheese would be stellar on this flatbread but I chose the brie due to it's melty-ness -- this flatbread lacks a true sauce so the brie mixed with the runny egg kind of makes up for that.  My husband announced after his first bite that we needed a sauce so I gave our dinners a drizzle of balsamic syrup and it was delicious!

Steak & Egg Flatbread w/ Creamy Brie and Caramelized Onions (makes 2 flatbreads)

1 package (2 flatbreads) naan

leftover steak, london broil, etc, thinly sliced

1/2 wheel of brie, sliced, with rind

one large onion, caramelized 

salt and pepper 

2 large eggs

handful parsley, chopped

Balsamic syrup, if desired

1.  Preheat oven to 475.  Place a pizza stone in oven on a middle rack while preheating.  When oven is heated, place each flatbread on the pizza stone and bake until just starting to crisp, 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove flatbreads from oven, leaving the pizza stone.

2.  Top each flatbread with steak, brie and caramelized onions.  Try to arrange the toppings in a circular pattern around the outside of the flatbread, leaving space in the center of the flatbread for the egg. Season with salt and pepper

3.  Carefully crack one egg on each flatbread and place flatbreads in the oven back on the pizza stone.  Bake 5 minutes then switch the oven to broil.  This will allow the whites of the egg to set before the whole flatbread is burned.  Broil flatbreads until cheese is bubbly and egg whites are set.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with parsley.  Drizzle with balsamic syrup if desired.

Cashew Chicken Pizza

I love a good pizza adventure....something a little unusual to spice up my day.  I recently came up with this doozie -- I love the combo of the crunchy crust along with the spicy sauce, chicken and nutty cashews.  YUM!  What I love so much about pizza is this:  you really can never mess it up!  No matter what, you always come out with something that is edible, if not amazing.  Use some creativity and really take your pizzas to the next level -- throw everything but the kitchen sink on there and dig in!  

{And just an FYI -- I haven't mastered the perfect crust so I just use a fresh ball of pizza dough from a pizza parlor or grocery store.  I always heat up my pizza stone in the oven first then stretch the dough out and bake it for a few minutes before adding any toppings - this prevents the dough from not cooking all the way through and allows for a truly crispy crust!}

Cashew Chicken Pizza 

1 (1 lb) ball of fresh pizza dough
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 chicken breast, cooked and sliced
1 small jar hoisin sauce
1 lb mozzarella cheese
3 tbsp light sour cream
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 handful cashews, roughly chopped
sriracha sauce, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450.  Place pizza stone in oven until hot, at least 15 minutes.  Remove pizza stone from oven and drizzle with olive oil.  Stretch pizza dough out onto pizza stone and place back in oven until just beginning to brown, around 7 minutes.  
2. Meanwhile, combine 3 tbsp hoisin sauce with light sour cream.
3. Remove pizza crust from oven and top with remaining hoisin sauce, spreading evenly.  Top with mozzarella cheese, onion, bell pepper, chicken, cilantro and cashews.  Return pizza to oven and bake until crust is browned and cheese is melted, around 10 minutes.
4.  Remove from oven and drizzle with sour cream sauce and sriracha sauce.  Serve immediately.

Cauliflower Crust Garlic "Breadsticks"

Would the person(s) in charge of creating a crust made of cauliflower please come forward?!?!?!?!  I seriously need to know who thought of this madness because it is pure genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don’t know about you guys, but I tried the low-carb diet craze when I was in college.  My diet lasted about 6 hours.  I woke up in the morning and made my way to the cafeteria for a wonderfully delicious ham, bacon, and cheese omelet.  I wasn’t hungry until 6 hours later when I perused the salad bar, piling hard boiled egg, chicken, ham, turkey, bacon bits and cheese on my salad and topping it off with ranch dressing.  Low-carb heaven!  Well that’s when I spotted them.....croutons.  Ohhhh man.  Yeah so that’s the moment my low carb diet ended.  

Even in those short hours of dieting, I craved bread...and let me tell you...this cauliflower crust hits the darn spot!!!!!!!  I tested it on hubs and simply said that I had some garlic breadsticks for him to try and he literally didn’t know the crust was made of cauliflower.  Boom!  Husband test, passed!  So anyway, the crust is crispy and chewy and most importantly, cheesy.  Give it a try -- it’s completely and utterly worth the work!  Trust me!

Cauliflower Crust Garlic Breadsticks (Serves 2 to 4)

from An Edible Mosaic

1/4 of a large head of cauliflower

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, grated or minced

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 oz mozzarella cheese, freshly grated and divided 

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning, divided

1 pinch each salt and pepper

Cooking spray

Marinara sauce, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper so that the excess paper hangs over the sides; lightly spray the parchment paper with cooking spray.

To “rice” the cauliflower, grate it on a cheese grater; you should have about 1 1/2 cups (lightly packed) of riced cauliflower.  Put the riced cauliflower into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave (uncovered) until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally (don’t add water or anything else); cool slightly.  While the cauliflower cooks, heat the oil in a small skillet over low heat; add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring constantly; cool slightly.

To the bowl with the softened cauliflower, add the garlic, egg, 3/4 of the cheese (reserving 1/4 for topping later), 1/4 teaspoon of the dried Italian herb seasoning (reserving 1/4 teaspoon for topping later), and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and then spread in the prepared loaf pan.

Bake until the loaf is set and starting to turn golden, about 30 minutes. {I actually baked mine about 40 minutes to get crispier edges}.  Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper; use the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the loaf pan and carefully flip it over onto the lined baking sheet (so the bottom is on top).  Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.

Preheat the broiler.  Cut the loaf cross-wise into 8 pieces.  Slightly separate the pieces and sprinkle the cheese on top along with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning.  Broil a couple minutes until the cheese is melted and golden in spots.  Serve hot or warm.

An Elegant Halloween Party -- Part 1

Halloween is my absolute most favorite holiday of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I start decorating my house in August {actually I begin by mentally decorating my house somewhere in July...}.  I plan Halloween costumes the year before and lately I’ve been DIY-ing them which is super fun and keeps me in the Halloween spirit.  

The one thing that disappoints me about Halloween is that it’s not a holiday known for it’s food.  When I google “halloween food” I’m let down when I see peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into the shape of a ghost or hot dogs wrapped in dough to look like mummies.  Let’s get a little creative!  For this Elegant Halloween Cocktail Party I decided to disguise “normal” food as creepy food, choosing appetizers that fit the Halloween holiday but were sophisticated enough to work in with the “elegant” part {example: Bacon Wrapped Roaches = Bacon Wrapped Blue Cheese Stuffed Dates}.  Half of the recipes and decor will be in this post and the other half will be up on Monday!  

As far as decor tips go, the first thing I do when decorating is walk through my house with an open mind and try to use things I already have in a different way.  I have some fantastic candle holders in silver and black that I put white pumpkins on instead of candles.

To keep the price down, I hit up the dollar store and scored some pretty hideous plastic skeletons.  Nothing a little spray paint won’t fix right up!  By using a high gloss spray paint, I was able to make dingy skeletons look amazing and trendy.  

While sifting through the dollar store, I picked up some cheap wooden picture frames and went ahead and used that same high gloss black spray paint...  it completely transformed them into something fabulous!

In keeping with my “silver, black and white” color scheme, I decided to spray paint some mini pumpkins black, cut out the stems and add a tea light for a unique little candle action.

Now on to the food!

Toe Jam and Scab Pizza

{Pimento Cheese Pizza with Crispy Bacon}

1 ball pizza dough or store bought crust

1 recipe Pimento Cheese

5 slices good quality bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 450.  If using raw dough, place pizza stone in oven to heat up for 10 minutes.  Stretch dough out to fit pizza stone and bake dough for 7 to 10 minutes.  Do not let the crust start to brown.  Remove from oven.  If using a store bought pre-baked crust, place crust on pizza stone and proceed to step 2.
2. Smear the crust with a thick layer of pimento cheese and top with crumbled bacon.
3. Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust begins to brown.

Shrunken Head Sliders

{Tapas-Style Meatball Sliders with Sriracha Mayo and Sprouts}

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 c. ketchup

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 c. soft bread crumbs

1/4 c. minced fresh parsley

3 tsp paprika

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

1 lb. lean ground beef (90% lean)

2 1/2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1 container sprouts

slider buns

Glaze:

1 jar orange marmalade

1/4 c. orange juice

3 green onions, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

Sriracha Mayo:

1/2 c. light mayo

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 tbsp sriracha sauce, or to taste

1. Combine first 10 ingredients, and mix well.  Divide into 8 portions, rolling into tight meatballs.
2. Place meatballs on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan.  Bake, uncovered at 400 for 20 to 25 minutes or until no longer pink.  In a small saucepan, heat the marmalade, orange juice, green onions and jalapeno.
3. Pour glaze over top of meatballs and stir to coat.
4. Combine all ingredients for sriracha mayo and spread one side of each slider bun with the mixture.  Place one meatball on each slider bun and top with sprouts then top of bun.  Serve.

Blood and Puss Puffs

{Brie and Raspberry Puffs}

3 tbsp raspberry jam

2 tbsp dried cranberries, finely chopped

1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp water

3 tbsp whole grain mustard

1 (6oz) wedge brie, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.  In a small bowl, combine jam, cranberries and mustard.
2. On a floured surface and with a floured rolling pin, roll pastry dough into 16 x 16 inches.  Cut into four 8 inch squares.  Lightly brush squared with egg wash.  Cut each square into 2 rectangles.  Place 1 cube of cheese on one side of rectangle and top with 1/2 tsp of cranberry mixture.  Wrap dough on top and seal edges by pressing with a fork.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.

Halloween Snack Mix

{It is what it is}

8oz white chocolate baking bars, chopped

4 c. corn or rice chex cereal

2 c. bite sized pretzels

1/2 c. raisins

1/2 c. salted peanuts

1 c. candy corn

1/4 c. halloween candy decorations

1. Microwave chocolate until melted and smooth.
2. Gently stir in cereal, pretzels and raisins until coated.  Stir in candy corn and halloween decorations
3. Spread on waxed paper to harden.  

Chicken Parm Pizza & Caramelized Onion and Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage Pizza w/ Brie

I have been extremely lazy this past weekend.  I have hardly cooked, I have hardly cleaned, I have hardly dragged myself off the couch.  I’m officially hooked on laying around in sweats drinking pumpkin spice coffee and watching football.  Ahhh....it’s been lovely.  

So, in my laziness, you will find that I have some less than stellar photos of my food today.  Un-baked pizza doesn’t photograph very well but I just couldn’t stomach doing any more than that.  They might not look like much but these pizzas were damn good! 

I was loving the Caramelized Onion & Apple Chicken Sausage Pizza because I am in love with brie.  It’s so creamy and melty and oh-so-good.  The Chicken Parmesan Pizza was super simple and super man and kid friendly!  Try either of these for your next pizza night and you’ll have some happy friends and family!

Chicken Parmesan Pizza

1 lb. pizza dough

olive oil, for drizzling

1 (16oz) can pizza sauce

4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 c. shredded parmesan cheese

6 breaded chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

1. Preheat oven to 450 with pizza stone in oven.  When oven is preheated, pull out pizza stone and drizzle with olive oil.  Stretch pizza dough out over pizza stone and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake dough for 10 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove from oven
2. Spread half sauce over pizza crust.  Top with 2 c. of cheese and 1/2 c. parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle chicken tender pieces on top of cheese.  Add remaining cheese to top of pizza and drizzle with remaining sauce and basil.
3. Bake 5 to 7 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Caramelized Onion and Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage Pizza with Brie

1 lb. pizza dough

olive oil, for drizzling

1 (12 oz) package apple chicken sausage, sliced thinly on diagonal

2 lbs yellow onion, sliced thin

1 tbsp fresh thyme

1/4 c. white wine

1 large apple, sliced thin

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

10 thin slices brie cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450 with pizza stone in oven.  When oven is preheated, pull out pizza stone and drizzle with olive oil.  Stretch pizza dough out over pizza stone and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake dough for 10 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove from oven
2. In large skillet coated with extra virgin olive oil, cover and sweat onions over medium high heat.  Stir periodically.  After 20 minutes, remove cover and add thyme and wine.  Cook another 10 minutes.  
3. Top pizza crust with onions then apples, sausage and brie.
4. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.  Allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Pizza Crudo

During the hot and humid Southern summer, I’m constantly looking for light meals that taste fresh, are simple to make, and don’t take much time to complete.  I saw this recipe in Rachel Ray Magazine and just had to try it out -- I made a few changes but stuck with the main concept and it turned out fantastic.  

Ciabatta bread is one of my favorites -- I love how it gets crispy on the outside but still soft in the middle when it’s grilled or toasted.  It’s the perfect crust for this lazy pizza.

Also, don’t skip the last step of this recipe, which is to drizzle each pizza with a good extra virgin olive oil -- I always underestimated what this does to a recipe but it adds a creaminess to the pizza that is beyond incredible!

Pizza Crudo (makes 8 pieces, or 4 servings)

adapted from Rachel Ray Magazine

4 ciabatta bread rolls or 1 large ciabatta bread loaf, split and toasted or grilled

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling

salt and pepper, to taste

12 oz fresh mozzarella

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces

1 bunch of basil, ripped into small pieces

1. After toasting each piece of ciabatta bread, take garlic clove and rub it onto each piece of bread.
2. Place mozzarella cheese, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper in food processor and pulse until cheese resembles crumbles, this makes it easier to spread on the bread slices
3. Divide cheese mixture on each bread slice
4. Top with tomatoes, bell pepper and basil and drizzle with olive oil before serving.

BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza w/ Crispy Onion Straws

As you may have read, I’m constantly on the search for the perfect pizza crust -- I’ve had some successes with various recipes but MAN, have I had a lot of failure.  I feel the need to tell you all about my worst pizza crust experience...  I had slaved all day making the perfect dough, kneading in lots of love and whispering sweet nothings into my ball of dough.  I had read about how to make your crust extra crispy by placing a preheated large cast iron skillet in the oven along with your pizza stone and throwing a couple ice cubes in to create steam that would eventually create that crispy crust with a chewy inside.  I carefully stretched my dough over my piping hot pizza stone and layered it with  homemade sauce, fresh mozzarella and spices.  I smiled to myself when I put that baby in the oven, thinking, “I’ve done it!  I’ve really done it!”  When the pizza was done I cut it up, relishing the sound my pizza cutter made when it cut through the crisp edges.  I served up a slice to my husband, standing next to him with a ridiculous smile on my face; he takes a bite and chews...                     then lets the bite fall out of his mouth, grotesque look on his face and hands me his plate.  “Terrible!”, he said, “It tastes like cardboard.”  It’s an understatement to say that I was devastated.

After that scene, I retired myself from making pizza dough for a while and started using balls of fresh dough from family owned pizza shops.  This way I can get great results at home without making my own dough, which I clearly have no talent for.  So today’s pizza uses pizza shop dough!  Keep in mind that most grocery stores will sell fresh refrigerated dough, most of the time in the deli section.  

I really loved this pizza because it was a great way to use up some extra pork BBQ that I made over the weekend.  I mean, how many days in a row can you eat leftovers without tweaking them a bit?  The only challenge to this pizza were the onion straws due to the fact that I rarely bread and fry food...but these onion straws really made this pizza...don’t go without them!

BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza with Crispy Onion Straws

1 ball fresh pizza dough, at room temperature

about 1 cup of leftover BBQ pulled pork, shredded

1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 c. shredded monterey jack cheese

1 small onion, very thinly slices and separated 

1/3 c. milk

1/2 c. flour

salt and pepper to taste

vegetable, canola, or peanut oil for frying

chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place pizza stone in oven.  Pour milk in a small bowl and place flour, salt and pepper on a small plate and set aside.
2. When pizza stone is preheated, remove stone and spray with cooking spray.  Stretch the dough over the pizza stone and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake pizza dough at 500 degrees for about 5-7 minutes, until center of dough is slightly cooked and edged just start to brown.
3. Remove pizza from oven and top with pulled pork and both cheeses, return to oven and bake 5-7 more minutes, or until crust is browned and cheeses are melted.
4. While the pizza bakes, heat 1 inch of oil in a saucepan over medium high heat.  Dunk onion straws in milk then flour mixture.  Knock off any extra flour then place onions in the hot oil. {{I had to do mine in a couple of batches}} Fry until browned and crispy, drain on paper towels, season with salt.
5. Remove pizza from oven and top with crispy onion straws and chopped cilantro if desired.

Steakhouse Salad Pizza

TGIF, am I right?  Don’t we all agree that Friday is pretty much the best day of the week to shove your face with pizza?  I can probably say that any day of the week is the best day for pizza to face shoving.  In my house, I’m on a constant quest for the perfect pizza crust.  My ultimate goal is to create a pizza crust that duplicates the crust of Mellow Mushroom -- pretty much the best pizza crust I’ve ever tasted (outside of Pizza Sola in Pittsburgh, PA).  I should probably be banned from Mellow Mushroom for accosting the servers for their secret recipe.  {They will not crack!!!}

Anyway, on to today’s recipe!  Out of pure laziness, I used a store bought pizza crust for this one.  I’m not talking about the “pizza crust in a tube” that is sitting next to the cinnamon buns in the refrigerated section of the store.  I’m talking about the ball of fresh dough sitting in bags, usually in the deli section of your grocery store.  This is the stuff that is closest to homemade.  

This pizza is a lovely combination of all things I love in food: meat, cheese, salad, a mean vinaigrette, and of course, crispy pizza dough.  The “sauce” on this pizza is a homemade chunky, creamy blue cheese dressing.  The salad is tangy and crisp and the steak is juicy and succulent.  Pour yourself a big glass of red wine and take this pizza down!  

Steakhouse Salad Pizza

2/3 c. red wine or balsamic vinegar 

3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Fresh ground black pepper

One (1 1/2-2 lb) bottom sirloin

1 ball prepared pizza dough

1 c. blue cheese dressing

1 package mixed salad greens

1 small red onion, diced

1 small can sliced black olives

Blue Cheese Dressing: 1c. sour cream, juice from 1/2 lemon, 1/4 c. blue cheese crumbles, salt and pepper to taste {this dressing will be quite thick, but it’s perfect to smear on that pizza crust!}

1. Preheat oven to 450 and warm up pizza stone.  Combine vinegar, oregano, basil, garlic and fresh ground black pepper.  Whisk mixture while streaming in olive oil.  Place half of the dressing in a resealable plastic bag and set other half aside.  Add sirloin to plastic bag and turn to coat.  Seal bag and marinate in fridge for 8 hours, turning occasionally.  
2. Preheat grill to 300-350.  Pat sirloin dry and grill 5 minutes on each side over direct heat.  Move to side and cook indirectly for 20 to 30 minutes.  Remove from grill and let stand 10 minutes to rest.  Slice.
3. Spread pizza crust out on pizza stone and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden and crispy.  Remove from oven and spread with blue cheese dressing.  Toss salad greens  with remaining vinaigrette and pile greens on crust.  Top with steak, onions, olives and blue cheese crumbles, if desired.

Hope everyone enjoys and also has a great weekend!  And please, if anyone knows the Mellow Mushroom pizza dough recipe, please pass it along!!!