Home-made parmesan pizza crust

As I sat there having pancakes topped with sliced bananas and maple syrup this morning, a little voice whispered in my head: "Make pizza!" and that was it, I was weak and I followed the command.

It's a total mystery to me how my mind works sometimes... 

Of course, having lack of the right ingredients is part of this schizophrenic food-driven problem of mine. Fortunately, because of all the cakes and things that I make, flour is definitely always just an arm's length away. The only things I used for these pizza that I'm somewhat ashamed to admit are the hot dogs. Yes, you heard me, hot dogs (Sometimes, wrapping hot dogs in cheese and tortilla bread and baking them for a few minutes in the oven could save your sanity on a Friday night with two hyper hungry little girls. Thus, I had three leftover jumbo hot dogs)

*sigh* you're judging me... I know it! But you know what, that's okay, because these pizza were delicious!!!

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

Make them.

Even if you only have hot dogs. In fact, make them margherita pizza for that matter! Obviously, I was lucky to have frozen a small tub of tomato sauce just days ago, so that helped the situation.

But really! MAKE THEM! It's so fast if you have these essentials on hand. So, if you have a yummy tomato sauce and some shredded cheese sitting in the fridge, here is the recipe for the pizza crust

Perfect Parmesan Pizza Dough, courtesy of Kraft
(makes four 12" crust)

• 5 cups flour, divided
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. quick-rise instant yeast (1 1/4 tsp and 1 tsp of sugar if you only have active dry yeast)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups cold water
• 1/4 cup olive oil 

***If you only have active dry yeast, take 1/4 cup of the water and heat it in a small bowl in the microwave for about 15 seconds, or until 100*F, then mix in the yeast and the sugar. Use that in place of the yeast listed in the instruction.

Mix 4 cups flour, parmesan, yeast and salt in large bowl. Add water and oil; stir until soft dough forms. Knead dough about 5 min. or until smooth and elastic then slowly add remaining flour .

Cut dough into 4 pieces. Spray each piece with cooking spray if you have, I just left them as is. Cover the dough pieces loosely with plastic wrap let stand 15 min. or so.

Once everything is ready, heat the oven to 450*F. Stretch each piece of dough out to fit a 12" pizza pan (or just free style it like I did LOL!) Top with your favorite tomato sauce and toppings and bake for about 18 minutes.

Then, devour. Like we did.

I topped all of them, but only baked two and I froze the rest, well wrapped. For rainy days, they will come in handy... That is, if we can resist them until then ;)

Beef & potato curry

I realize that for a couple of times a year, I disappear from this blog for a while. This is usually due to a trip which is always closely followed  by a travel withdrawal. It takes a little bit of time before I can break that bubble and come back to "real" life.

When real life is -20 to -30 degrees celsius, it's very hard to want to get back to.... *sigh*

Anyhow, cold weather calls for comfort food, and I've been cooking curry a lot lately because it's easy, fast and I can make a big batch for the whole week.

Beef curry

(serves 8-10)

• few dashes of olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 3 Tbsp grated ginger
• 3 Tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 Tbsp curry paste
• about 1 kilo or more of stewing beef cubes.
• 3 big potatoes, cubed
• about 2-3 Cups of beef broth
• a couple pinches of salt

Heat the oil in a 5L pot over medium low and throw in the onions & garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then throw in the cumin and coriander until fragrant.

Mix in the ginger, curry powder, turmeric powder, paprika and curry paste, stir all to blend well .

Turn heat to medium high and toss in the meat and potatoes. Stir everything around to coat, followed by the broth. Cook until bubble, then turn heat down to low, put on the lid and let simmer for about an hour or until beef is tender.

Serve with rice or naan bread if available.

Pumpkin pie pots and one week before the giveaway

We had our first snow storm today *sigh*
...
Don't get me wrong, fluffy white snow floating in the air is cute, but when they are flying at 300 km/hour and hitting your face at full speed? NOT so fluffy, and especially NOT so cute...

With the cold weather comes the face stuffing. This is the time most of us try to stay healthy and some of us fail miserably towards the end of the path. I mean, can you really blame us? "Jolly" and "holiday season" go side by side! Nonetheless, if you ARE trying to find healthier alternative, here is one option for a yummy no crust pumpkin pie. It was made just like my usual pumpkin pie, just slightly one and a half more time of pumpkin puree. The sole reason was because I wanted to eat more and have even more of a pumpkin taste to the dessert.

Pumpkin pie pots (serves about 8-10)

• 2 eggs
• 15 - 25 oz pureed pumpkin
• 1 can 12-oz evaporated milk (I used fat-free)
• 1 tsp. brandy (I used rum, and a couple tsp more...)
• 1 C packed brown sugar (I thought it was perfect but you might prefer it to be sweeter)
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

 Heat oven to 350F. Prepare a bain-marie by placing ramekins in a baking pan.

Combine eggs, pumpkin, evaporated milk and rum in a pot over medium low heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 5-7 minutes.

Put brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and add the pumpkin mixture. Pour everything into ramekins, pour hot water into the baking pan, just about to midway of the ramekins. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until set.

Cooled for about 1 hour. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

As the holidays come creeping up on us, it would be a great time for you to give your loved ones, who love to cook and bake, a copy of Foodista Best Of Food Blogs Cookbook (in which, yours truly is featured on page 158)

picture courtesy of my awesome boyfriend

So as a reminder, for those on the Canadian side of the blogosphere who are interested in getting your hands on one of these, come leave me a comment and the draw will be on Sunday December 12th :) Have fun and good luck!!!

I have just used random.org and the winner is Jessica!!!!!! Congratulations Jessica and thank you for participating. I hope you enjoy the book :)

My first giveaway!!!

Sometimes when the world seems dark and nasty, filled with daily horrendous news, we need a big dose of goodness to remind us of how it also has its great side. And when that goodness comes your way, make sure you appreciate every moment that it remains.

Mine was Cupcake Camp Montreal this passed Thursday. I cannot express how deeply touched I was/am to see so many people came together for a great cause. I can honestly say that I am SO proud to have been a part of such an awesome event.

20000 cupcakes were donated by bakers and sponsors like myself.
2500 awesome Montrealers braved the cold and waited in line for hours at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, not counting those who never actually made it inside...
$34000 was raised for Kids Help Phone and La Tablee des Chefs.

Booya!

  

 I donated 200 of these COOCOO BANANA SPLIT cupcakes: banana cup(cake)bread, Italian meringue vanilla buttercream, chocolate drizzles with a cherry on top.

   

This was my entry for Montreal Theme cupcake.

Now, as you all know (or not... but the fact that you are reading this means you now do...) that I am one of the 100 food bloggers featured in the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook that was released on October 19th. Thanks to Barnaby Dorfman and Sheri L.Wetherell, I was even able to meet a few fellow published bloggers at the party a couple of weeks ago in NYC.

To top all this off, the nice people over at Simon and Schuster sent me over a copy of the book so I can hold a giveaway, just for you! Isn't life great?!

So, if you are in Canada and would like to win this awesome cookbook, simply leave me a comment (please, no anonymous!!! LOL!) about anything really, and the winner will be announced on Sunday evening,  December 12th. I will most likely be using random.org for the choosing process.

I must keep this post short and sweet (literally!) and go back to baking goodies for the bake sale tomorrow. We are raising money for Movember like we did last year, and all profits will go to help fund research to keep our men healthy :) Good night and good luck!!!

Home-made baked corn dogs

Yes, you read right, BAKED CORN DOGS. Ok, so the baked version of something fried always has its compromise BUT a picky 6 year old eater proclaimed her love for these yummies, so.... need I say more?

These corn dogs are more on the corn-muffin-covered side, but they are quite good nonetheless, and they are really quick to make too. I actually made them in the toaster oven because they were small enough to fit in the small baking pan.

After consulting a few recipes online, I decided to try this one and added a couple of things I saw from the others. If you don't have lollipop sticks, use popsicle sticks or skewers.

Home-made baked corn dogs
(serves 2 adults and 2 kids)

• 1 cup fine cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. mustard powder
• 1 ¼ cup buttermilk (or just milk)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 5 chicken wieners, cut in half
• flour for dusting
• water for wetting hands

Heat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda salt and mustard powder, and make a well in the center. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, the egg and the oil until well combined. Add to the well in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Insert a stick into each of the hot dog half. Dip each hot dog into the flour, then shake of excess with one hand. Wet the other hand, grab some batter and spread it out in your hand into a somewhat square or rectangle, and place the hotdog right in the middle, turning to cover.

Place on the prepared bake sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.

Serve with mustard and ketchup. If your kids end up not liking these, well, at least you'll know in your heart, that you once tried to make them healthy corn dogs.

Also, you can make this into a vegan version, by replacing the egg with egg substitute, wieners with soydogs, and milk with almond milk.  Enjoy!!!! :)

A giveaway and a yummy Apple Pie Bar recipe

Happy Halloween to all you zombies, monsters and ghosts out there gathering around your witch's brew. I hope your Saturday night parties were great fun and that you are spending more time treating than tricking.

I, did just that for the passed few days. Lots and lots of treats... Oof!!!! If it wasn't for the love of making treats, I think sugar and I would have to go on a break for a while...

Gluten-free chocolate cake pops, with added kicks of Nutella, Frangelico and Amaretto liqueur

 

 This guy here, is my favorite!!!!!

On another fun note, a week and a half ago, I was interviewed online along with the East Coast Canadians featured in the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook. A few days later I received my copy and my excitement went through the roof. It really only hit me then, how proud I am to be featured amongst all the amazing food bloggers from all over the world and their delicious recipes. I mean, I have been estatic ever since I found out, but until I was actually flipping through the pages, it all just felt unreal. Thanks so much to the people at Andrews McMeel Publishing and Foodista for the chance to be in this first ever social media cookbook.

As that wasn't cool enough, there is a sale promotion for the book on November 3rd, between 10 and 11 am PDT / 1-2 pm Eastern Time, and Foodista is holding a giveaway with really cool prizes. Go ahead and enter to win!!! I can't wait to see how this turns out :)

Now, onto yummy things.... Apple Pie Bar!!!! This is of course, from THE book, and the author is The Runaway Spoon in Memphis.

• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used 3/4 cup)
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar (I used 1/2 cup, and 1.5 cup apple syrup that I saved from this apple pie)
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 large baking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped ( I didn't have any! So no apples in mine...)
• 6 ounces butterscotch chips (I used a handful)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray (I used an 8x8 because I figured without the apples, it wouldn't take up a 9x13)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly combine the oil, eggs and sugar.  Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, soda and spices together in a bowl, then add to the oil mixture in the mixer, beating until thoroughly mixed.  The batter will be thick.
Use a sturdy spoon to stir in the apple pieces.  Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly.  Sprinkle the butterscotch chips over the top, pressing them into the batter lightly.
Bake for 45 minutes to one hour, until the golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan slightly.
Cool thoroughly and cut into squares.

As I am blogging this, pieces have already started to disappear from the baking pan. Yes, it's REALLY yummy! Enjoy and I hope you enter to win! (P.S: I don't have any financial gain from sales of the book. This stems purely from passion and support)