Week 25 - Taco Pizza

I feel somewhat unsophisticated with my unfettered desire to combine tacos and pizza. Whenever I am looking at a pizza menu, my eyes immediately scan to see if there is a taco pizza. I rarely ever deviate if one is available for the choosing.

• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/2 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1/2 (16 ounce) can fat-free refried beans
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons salsa
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1/4 pound ground beef
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• lettuce
• 1 tomato
• black olives, sliced

Oh, how nice it is to have a bread machine. I was quite amused watching my pizza dough through the kneading and resting stages. The pizza crust turned out quite well. It is by far the best crust I have ever had on a homemade pizza. On second thought, I don't know if I have ever had a true homemade crust... I think that's one element that people tend to cheat on. I think it might be a good idea to bake the pizza crust for about 5 minutes before putting on the toppings. I was too fearful of burning my toppings, as a result, my crust never turned golden brown.

The pizza sauce turned out quite well. I was actually a bit surprised that it turned out as well as it did given my aversion to tomato paste. The water, paste and spices turned out to be an ideal consistency. If I were to make it again, I probably would cut down on the chili powder and the cayenne pepper. I think the sauce was a bit overloaded with spices and could benefit from a bit more conservative application.

The original recipe did not call for tomatoes, lettuce, or black olives. I put those on after 10 minutes of baking. I should have waited even longer on that. The lettuce was a bit wilted when removing the pizza from the oven. I should have put the lettuce on a minute before removing the pizza, so that the verdant green would remain but still have a bit of warmth to it. Nothing disrupts a warm pizza experience more than a couple cold ingredients.

Overall, I really liked this recipe. The leftovers have been enjoyable as well. I will give this recipe 8.5 stars out of 10. It's definitely something that I'd like to make again. What's even better is that I can take the dough and sauce technique from this recipe and use it for various other homemade pizza attempts in the future.

Week 24 - Easy Szechuan Chicken

This definitely was not as good as a few of my previous Chinese-inspired meals. I added more vegetables that what the original recipe called for. I also had to use red wine vinegar instead of white wine vinegar. White wine vinegar is supposed to be a bit sweeter. I don't know if that would have changed the inherent flavor of my meal by much at all. I tried to add a bit more sugar to make up for that issue.

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green pepper
• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I only had red wine vinegar)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 3 green onions, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

I never got the opportunity to try the leftovers for this meal. I made it but then never had the opportunity to try it again for various reasons.

Overall, it did not give a good first impression. I will probably stick with the stir fry recipes that have been successful in the past. I am going to give this recipe 4 stars out of 10. The red wine vinegar just didn't do it any favors. Also, I have never had much luck when dredging meat in cornstarch. That perhaps could be changed in the future as well.

Week 23 - Pelmeni

This is actually my second attempt at making Pelmeni. (Pelmeni is a Russian dumpling.) However, this is a different recipe and therefore earned it's spot on my blog. Once again, this is a recipe that was inspired by my college days in Madison. There was this wonderful little Pelmeni shop on State Street. They served two things: potato dumplings and beef dumplings. You could then have your choice of two styles: spicy or not spicy. They could either be served with a spicy sriracha-based sauce or with sour cream. That was it; that was the entirety of their business plan. There were only 5-6 tables in the restaurant. One person could easily run it. The demise of the restaurant came not from the quality of the food but instead by some controversial ownership dispute. Alas, such a shame.

• 1/2 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• garlic to taste

Pel Meni Sauce

• butter
• a little rice wine vinegar
• cilantro
• curry powder
• sriracha

These Pelmeni dumplings were very tasty. They fed me for a couple days. Each day, I would make them fresh. The biggest battle that I encountered when making these dumplings was the dough. It was just sticky, almost impossible to work with. No matter how much flour I added, it just didn't seem to help much. By the time I had gotten the dough to a point where I could handle it, it seemed like I had added at least another cup of flour. Subsequently, once the dumplings had boiled for their 7-8 minutes, it seemed like the outside of the dumpling wasn't quite as tender as it should have been. I am on the search for more feasible dough proportions. I suspect that I probably shouldn't be using as much water or will need to cut down on the eggs. Perhaps I need to cut down on the boiling time... As much as I want to complain about the dough, I should note that the process was greatly simplified with the acquisition of a Pelmeni mold.

The dumpling filling was quite tasty. It's somewhat simplistic, however there isn't anything that I would change about it. The sauce also came very close to what I remembered having in Madison. Overall, this was a pleasantly nostalgic meal. I sat in quiet reverence for about 5 mintues after finishing my meal. I was in awe that I was able to replicate something that I so truly missed from my days in Madison.

I give this 8 stars out of 10. The only thing that needs improvement is the dough. Everything else was perfect.

Week 22 - Spaghetti Squash

Who knew there could be such a healthy alternative to pasta. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love pasta, but spaghetti squash when treated like pasta, is actually quite good. This also serves as a tasty side dish.

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 jar of pasta sauce
• 1 TBSP of fresh basil
• parmesan cheese, grated

Overall, there isn't much to say about this concoction. I somewhat feel like I have cheated my blog once again with this one given the simplicity. This is the first time in at least 2 years that I have used a jar spaghetti sauce from the store. (Aside from when I use it in my lasagna...)

I will give this recipe 6.5 stars out of 10. I will definitely make it again when I'm craving spaghetti squash. I would like to explore other ways to spice it up a bit as well. I am already getting a few ideas...

Week 21 - Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

Orzo... Somedays I just pick new recipes based on ingredients that I have never tried before. Orzo was a peculiar concept in my mind. It's like quasi-rice / quasi-pasta. Also, another impetus is that I am severely under-equipped with side dishes in my repertoire of recipes. This orzo dish certainly was not meant to be made as an entree, however, that was how I served it the evening that I threw this one together.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Overall, it served it's purpose quite nicely. It really is a basic dish but the combination of basil and parmesan cheese gave it a slightly richer flavor. It definitely would be interesting to add in a meat of some type, either sausage, chicken or shrimp. I really don't know what would work the best, but I would be open to playing around with it.

This recipe reminded me of what I perceive risotto to be...if I were to ever make it. :) The creamy tenderness of the orzo was quite pleasant, though I probably could have cooked the orzo for a bit longer. one other change that I would make would be to find a way to reduce the salt. Granted, I made this about a month ago, but I seem to remember a salty aftertaste. That must be dealt with. There are at least 4 ingredients that could be the culprit in that.

I will give this recipe 6.5 out of 10. It definitely warrants another attempt and works quite well as a side dish. I am almost craving the simplicity of the flavors right now.

Week 20 - Berbere Paste

Berbere paste is an essential ingredient to Doro Wat. This paste is used throughout Ethiopian cooking. It took me a couple months to track down the spices. I had never seen Piquin peppers, cardamon, cumin seeds or fenugreek seeds in any spice stores around here before. There was a cute little store by Baypark here in Green Bay called Spice and Tea Exchange that sold the cardamon, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Unfortunately, I don't think the store will be around that long. It looked like they were struggling to get business. It really was quite sad. I found the Piquin chiles at good old Woodman's.

•14 dried Piquin chiles, stems removed
•2 Tablespoons ground cayenne
•2 Tablespoons ground paprika
•4 whole cardamom pods
•2 teaspoons cumin seeds
•1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
•1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
•1 small onion, coarsely chopped
•4 cloves garlic
•1 cup water
•1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
•1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
•1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
•3 Tablespoons oil

The most confounding element of the Berbere paste was the cardamom pods. Do you use the entire pod or do you shell it? I had read recipes where it indicated that it should be shelled and others that indicated that one should use the pod. Also, do you use black cardamom or green cardamom? Black is more for Indian cooking whereas the green is used more in Swedish and other European dishes. There really was no clarity on the matter. The black cardamom are somewhat like walnuts, though the shell isn't nearly as thick. One needs to pry out the little seeds, if you choose to do so. I ultimately decided that I would go sans pod on this one. It looked quite fibrous and very difficult to use with my newly acquired mortar and pestle. There was absolutely no way I would ever get that pod into a fine powder.

Overall, this paste was quite pungent. It was comprised of aromatics in the onion and various other spices. There really wasn't anything to balance out the Berbere paste in the Doro Wat. However, I think the Berbere paste served it's purpose. It's really can't be judged as a recipe on it's own. I will try it again sometime. The recipe deserves a 6 out of 10 at least.

Week 19 - Doro Wat

So this has been on my to-make list for about 2 years. I was inspired to give it a shot by my visits to a local Ethiopian restaurant in Madison. They always served the meal with injira which is a fermented bread; it's a bit rubbery in texture. I assure you, it's quite a bit better than what it sounds. Alas, I did not have any injira handy when I concocted this one. As a result, I served it with rice.

•2 lb Chicken legs and thighs, skinless
•1 Lemon, juice only
•2 tsp Salt
•2 Onions, chopped
•3 Garlic cloves, crushed
•1 TBSP Gingerroot, peeled and chopped
•1/4 cup Oil, butter or niter kibbeh
•2 TBSP Paprika
•1/4-1/2 cup Berberé paste
•3/4 cup Water or stock
•1/4 cup Red wine
•1 tsp Cayenne pepper
•Salt and pepper, to taste

So do I get to put Berbere paste as a separate recipe on my blog? I think I am a bit desperate to catch up. I think I will do that. The paste itself took about an hour to make. It required grinding my spices by hand; my back was sore after that endeavor.

Quite honestly, this recipe was a bit of a let-down given that it took me a few months to gather the ingredients for the paste and the utensils needed to make it. Overall, it was a tad bit bitter. The sauce almost looks like a tomato-based sauce but as you can see above, there isn't a single tomato to be found. I wonder if it would suit my palate if I added a can of diced tomatoes or perhaps a small can of tomato sauce. I am also beginning to wonder if I am not using the gingerroot properly... In every recipe that has called for ginerroot, it has left behind a bitter aftertaste. Am I not peeling away enough of the skin? Should I be cooking it longer? I am to the point where I find myself somewhat relieved if a recipe calls for ginger powder instead of the fresh version.

All in all, I would like to try this again. It just wasn't as grandiose as I was hoping it would be. I might try tweaking it with the the tomato sauce... So for now, I am going to give this recipe 6 stars out of 10.

Week 18 - Jalapeno Popper Burgers

Oh my goodness! These were the best burgers that I have ever had. I still can't get over how they beat all of their burgery competition into submission. There was just enough spice to give it a bit of a kick yet it wasn't dominating. The guacamole offered a cool refreshing accent to the finished burger. The original recipe called for bacon but I left that out. I have come to the conclusion that bacon as an accent really doesn't do anything for me; the benefits that it might provide in taste do not outweigh the various costs. I also added onion and left off the lettuce. Those are just personal preferences...

• 3 Jalapeno Peppers
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 pkg (3oz) cream cheese
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 4 slices of pepper jack cheese
• 4 hamburger buns split
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 3/4 cup guacamole

It's a massive burger once you are done stuffing it with the cream cheese filing. One thing to keep in mind is that to melt the pepper jack cheese, you will need to put the cheese on a side that was recently overturned. In the second attempt to grill these burgers, I burnt them because of waiting for the cheese to melt. Had the burger top been sizzling, I would not have had that problem.

Aside from that, this was a heavenly burger. I can still remember the utter surprise at how well the flavors melded together. I am practically drooling just thinking about it. I would say that this was probably the best recipe of 2011 thus far. I most definitely will have to make them again before the summer is over. As a result, I will give this recipe a 9.5 stars out of 10. This makes me wonder; will I ever dole out a perfect 10?

Week 17 - Tangy Beef Sandwiches

I cheated on this recipe. I stole it from my mother. However, given that it was new to me, I decided that I could use it in my 52 Recipes blog. I am way behind as it is. We ran across this recipe when I loudly asserted that I did not want Lloyd's BBQ for a family function. I instead suggested that we try a homemade version. This is the result of her search. I made it for the first time for myself back in late May.

• 3 cups chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 cup low sodium ketchup
• 1 cup low sodium barbecue sauce (Baby Ray's)
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 4-lb lean boneless chuck roast

Overall, I wouldn't really change a thing with this recipe. It doesn't have a strong BBQ flavor which can be quite refreshing. In comparison, when eating Lloyd's BBQ, it's very unlikely that one will desire more than 1.5 sandwiches. The flavor of Lloyd's is just so overpowering.

I give this 8 stars out of 10. There is always room for improvement; however, this is a very strong base recipe. The leftovers are equally as tasty. I believe that I had used bakery rolls when I had made it. It's always important to choose a chewier roll given that the sauce is a bit juicier. Anyway, I will definitely make this again.