Pesto Tomato Pizza (with Avocado)

I had been craving pesto for the last several days. I've also had a slight craving for pizza. I memory serves me well, I may have made these before sans avocado. Or maybe it's because it's one of my favorite pizza from the Whole Foods Hot prepared foods area. It could be the latter. I still had some pizza dough that I made a couple months ago that I keep in the freezer. It does help to keep a batch for future use.

I made the pesto fresh the day before. The tomato I used and avocado I've had for about a week in the fridge, so I was definitely beckoning me to use them. I've had my fair share of salads the past two weeks, so I needed to jazz up the two on this meal. Now the avocado can be totally optional for those who don't like it. I added it to the pizza right before serving so it's still fresh and not turn brown in the cooking process. A delicious lunch with a nice cold glass of iced tea. Perfect for a summer day. No fuss meal.

Pesto Tomato Pizza (with Avocado)

1 frozen pizza dough - defrosted
4 Tbsp pesto (recipe below)
1 medium firm tomato - sliced and seeds removed
1 c shredded parmesan cheese
1 small ripe avocado - diced (optional)

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Rolled out the pizza dough to your desired diameter. Spread the pesto evenly leaving roughly 1-inch from the edge for the crust.

Sprinkle half of the cheese over the pesto, then lay the tomato slices, sprinkle the remaining cheese.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (until the cheese has melted and the dough has cooked through).  Just before serving top with the fresh avocado.

Mushroom Avocado Quesadilla

Let's take another trip down memory lane. Because I like revisiting old recipes especially if they contain cheese and other stuff, too. Well...also quesadillas of any kind are quite frankly delicious to eat year round. It doesn't only have to only be cheese in it. You can mix and combine to many ingredients to fit your taste. It's funny because the more you make a certain recipe, the more it becomes a little specialty you can whip up in seconds.

I remember during my college days, one of my favorite picks was ordering up a chicken or sometimes tuna quesadilla. Along with chimichanga Thursdays. Hence why I gained those Freshmen 15 or whatever, but that's another story. I'd always order the large quesadilla with several packs of tapatio sauce on the side. Thinking about it makes me salivate. Hahaha... Oh, the memories. :)

This makes 2 quesadillas.



Mushroom Avocado Quesadillas

Whole Wheat Tortillas (6" or burrito sized)
Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
2 Large Portobello Mushroom caps (rough chopped)
1 medium sized tomato (diced)
1 ripe avocado (sliced)
1 Tbps Butter or margarine
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to season
Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese (optional)
Chopped cilantro (optional)


On medium heat, heat the oil and melt the butter. Once the oil is heated toss in the portabello slices. Cook them until tender and darker in color. Season with some salt and pepper.

Sandwich the cheese between two tortillas and in another pan (medium to high) heat the tortillas until the cheese is melted.

It'll take roughly 3-5 minutes for the cheese to melt and the tortilla to get slightly crisp. Flip the quesadilla and heat the other side for another 3-5 min.

Remove from the skillet and open the quesadilla. Add in the some of the portabellos, tomato, avocado and some of the optional cilantro.

Serve with a side of sour cream.

Note: Toss the avocado with some lemon juice to keep it from turning brown.

(Bowties Are Cool) Pasta Salad

Pasta is what's for dinner. Pasta salad to be exact. This is perfect for those spring-y summer-y weather. This one is really easy to put together. But first let backtrack a bit. Have you seen those frozen veggie packs where you can steam them in the packages in the microwave? All I can say is Super time-saver!!!! Pop those suckers in the microwave and in minutes you've got steamed veggies. Bird's Eye is one that I know that does this.

Now back to the dish. Cook up some farfalle pasta. The ones that look like bowties or whichever pasta you prefer. It works with any kind. Add the steamed veggies and toss in a light dressing. You can serve this warmed of chilled. It tastes great both ways. The dressing has a nice slight tang to it from the rice wine vinegar. Just enough to give your tongue a tickle. The veggies I used for this are sweet corn and broccoli. Maybe next time I'll add some marinated tofu.

Also, the name of the dish is a reference to one of my favorite shows currently on BBC. Here's a hint... He travels thru space and time in a big blue police box. You can find the answer in the tags of this post. :) It's a long weekend here in the States. Memorial Day weekend meaning barbecues be happening all over. Me... I'm thinking short ribs or maybe some fish and chips.

Serves 2-3

(Bowties are cool) Pasta Salad

2 c dry farfalle (bowtie) pasta or your own preference
1 pack frozen sweet corn (in ready steam pack)
1 pack frozen broccoli (in ready steam pack)
          or 1 pack frozen mixed veggies (in ready steam pack)
pepper
salt
extra virgin olive oil

dressing
2/3 c extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves - minced or 1 tsp garlic paste
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 tsp sweet relish
2 tsp dry basil
salt

Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt liberally and drizzle a little extra olive oil before adding the pasta. Cook for roughly 6-7 minutes for al dente. Stir once to avoid the pasta from sticking to each other. When pasta is cooked, drain the water from the pot and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and toss to keep the pasta moist and again from sticking to each other. Set aside.

While the pasta cooks, You make "steam" the veggies and make the dressing.

Follow steaming instructions on the packages of frozen veggies

Mince the garlic cloves into a paste consistency. Fine chop the garlic and place into a mortar and pestle. Sprinkle a little salt and mash the pieces until a paste-like consistency. Scoop the garlic paste into a bowl and slowly add rice wine vinegar and sweet relish. Add the dry basil and slowly drizzle the extra virgin olive oil. Constantly stir to combine.

To the cooled pasta, add the steamed veggies and toss thoroughly. Then drizzle the dressing and again toss to thoroughly combine.

Serve slightly warm, room temp or chilled.

Thanksgiving Dish #3 - Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole

I love green beans. I love casserole, but I didn't want to go the traditional route of the green bean casserole with the canned mushroom soup. There's just something about the canned stuff that I'm not a fan of. So I searched the interweb for a recipe that didn't use the canned stuff. And I found one that was made by Alton Brown (original recipe here). Woohoo... Love Alton Brown. I love Good Eats. It's a fun show and I actually learn quite a bit of stuff about certain ingredients and history about dishes that i wouldn't otherwise have known.

Now I didn't have the crisp onions to put on top and I sort of tried to bake some in the oven, but those turned out burnt to a crisp. Bummer. So I just kinda used it as decoration on top of the casserole, not really much for eating.  So I put some panko crumbs on top instead, which turned out pretty tasty actually. And sauteed the portion of onion that I didn't used into the mushroom brean bean mix. Oh, you can use crushed crackers, too. The original recipe also called for half and half, which I don't have. I'm not much of a coffee drink in my own home. I used evaporated milk instead. The whole thing turned out pretty tasty even with the substitutions. This is a recipe I will be using over and over and over for sure. There's no need to use the canned stuff. Yay!!

Serves 2-3

Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole
Original by Alton Brown
Adapted by Bread + Butter


salt (plus 1 tsp)
1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
1/2 sweet onion - sliced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 c panko crumbs or crushed cracker


Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Bring a pot water seasoned with salt  to a boil. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain to and immediately soak in cold water. Drain again and set aside.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onions, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid and onions are tender. Add the garlic and nutmeg. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine.  Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the evaporated milk. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally for roughly 6-8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the green beans and place into a baking dish. Top with the panko crumbs or crushed cracker. Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, roughly 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Spinach and Mushroom Pizza

Tis a time for pizza once again. The one thing I notice about thin crust is that it tends to bake up a little quicker than the regular thick. Means faster time less time I have to wait to eat. Yum! Anyway...This time around it's just simple ingredients. I didn't do any thing special with them. Just the usual sprinkle and spread evenly of fresh spinach and white mushroom slices. I reserved some of the fresh spinach so that I can place it on top after it's bake, so it'll have a mix of cooked and fresh. Another easy weeknight good eats.

Now I'm thinking about dessert pizzas? Even breakfast pizzas.  Hmm...the ol' hamster wheel in my head is turning and turning and turning.

Serves 2-3 depending on pizza size

Spinach and Mushroom Pizza

1 homemade or pre-made pizza dough (recipe)
1/2 c marinara, pasta or your choice of pizza sauce.
3/4 c sliced white mushrooms
1 small bundle of fresh spinach (stems shortened)
1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450˚F

On a lightly floured flat surface. Roll out the pizza dough to your designed size. Place the dough on a baking sheet.

Perforate the dough with a fork all around. Spread the marinara sauce evenly on top, then sprinkle 1 cup of the shredded cheese, follow by 2/3 of the fresh spinach and mushroom and the rest of the mozzarella. Drizzle a a little olive oil over and bake in the oven for roughly 10-15 minutes or until the crust has turned a light brown.

When the pizza is done take the rest of the fresh spinach and spread them on top.

Fire-Roasted Bell Pepper and Broiled Eggplant Pizza

I took an initiative and made a large batch of pizza dough. I'm going to be having myself some homemade pizzas for the next few weeks. W00T!! It was nice getting my hands dirty once again mixing up dough. Kneading it to the right consistency. Is it weird to say that I was way too excited to see the dough double in size. Goes to show how much I miss being in the kitchen.

For the first pizza, I fire-roasted a yellow bell pepper on my stove top to remove the skin and broiled the eggplants in the broiler at the same time. Did a little scoopage to separate the skin from the eggplant after.

I rolled out one of the dough into a super thin crust. Once baked it will be nice and crisp. I tend to prefer thin crust now-a-days, but I still like those bready ones, too. The sauce isn't anything special. It's just the canned version. I used Hunt's 4-cheese pasta sauce, which is pretty tasty. The cheese is shredded mozzarella. What you have here is a veggie-licious dish. Have it with a beer or a can of pop. Perfect for those movie and pizza nights. :)

Serves 2-3 depending on pizza size.

Pizza Dough
4 C All Purpose Flour plus (extra for dusting or you may use cornmeal)
2 c warm water (110 to 120˚F)
1 packet or 2 tsp dry active yeast
2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (plus extra for the bowl and basting)
1 tsp sugar

Combine the water, yeast and sugar together. Let is sit for roughly 5 min..

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and oil. Blend well. Add in the yeast mixture and mix all together until it forms into a dough ball.

On a well-floured surface. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes until almost elastic in feel. Place the dough into another bowl lubed with olive oil. Cover with platic wrap and a towel and keep away from light until the dough rises and doubles in size. Roughly 1-2 hours.

When the dough doubles, lightly punch down the dough to release the gases inside.

Layout the dough on a well-floured surface and divide into 4-6 balls. Wrap unused dough in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer until ready to use.



Fire-Roasted Bell Pepper and Broiled Eggplant Pizza


1 pizza dough (homemade or store dough)
1 yellow bell pepper
2 japanese eggplants
2 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c marinara, pasta sauce or your choice of pizza sauce
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your broiler. Slice the eggplant in half and baste is with some olive oil. Place on a baking pan and broil for 15-20 minutes. Flip half-way through. Once slightly charred on both sides remove from broiler and let cool before handling. Scoop out the meat and discard the skins. Give it a rough chop and set aside.

Turn on one flame of your stove to medium-high. Place the bell pepper directly on the flame. You want to char the skin until they have blackened. Use a pair of tongs to turn the bell pepper. Once most or all the skin has been charred, let it cool for a couple minutes before handling. Using the back of a knife or a straight edge, scrap off the skin. Then remove the seeds and give the bell pepper and rough chop.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450˚F.

In a lightly dusted surface, roll out the dough until 1/8-inch thick. Place the dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Take a clean fork and perforate the dough all around, then evenly spread the marinara sauce. Take 1 cup of the cheese and sprinkle it over the sauce. Followed by the eggplant, then the bell pepper, then the rest of the cheese.

Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the entire pizza and bake for 10-15 minutes. Or until the crust looks lightly brown and crisp.

Serve warm.

Grilled Tofu Sandwich with Korean Bean Sprouts

Tofu strikes again. I had half of the tofu from the stir-fry left, so I decided to marinate them in a bbq sauce mix the night before. The next day, I brought it out from the fridge and prepared good ol' Georgie -- That's my George Foreman grill for those how are wondering. I also had another bag of fresh bean sprout and made the Korean side dish, sukjunamul. It relatively easy to make, which is really great. The nice thing about tofu is that is can absorb flavors you basically put it with.

Oh yeah...my mom was at the grocery one day and found these wheat sandwich thins from Orowheat. They look like round flatbread and come presliced. I found them to be pretty neat. They're great to use as burger buns, too, which you'll see in a few days.

Grilled Tofu Sandwich with Korean Bean Sprouts

3 firm tofu
1 small pita bread ot thin sandwich bread
 sukjunamul - korean bean sprout (recipe below)

marinade
1/2 c soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 1/2 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp lemon juice

Slice the tofu in the 1-inch thick slices.

Mix the ingredients of the marinade together. Drizzle over the slices of tofu coating them liberally. Let the tofu sit for at least 1-hour. Best if over night.

Prepare a skillet or your grill. When it is hot enough, cook both sides roughly 5 minutes until it get s nice crisp crust to it.

Toast some bread and lay a tofu steak on one slice. Top with a nice generous helping of the bean sprouts and top with another slice of bread.


Sukjunamul

12 oz fresh bean sprouts
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 small garlic clove - minced
1 green onion - fine shopped
1 tsp sesame seeds

Bring a small pot or sauce pan of water to a boil seasoned with some salt. Add the bean sprouts and boil them for roughly 2-4 minutes. Drain them from the water and cool. Sprinkle the salt, and mix well.  Let it sit for 2 minutes then squeeze out the excess water. Add the sesame oil, garlic, green onion ans sesame. Toss together. Set aide for 30 minutes before serving. You may add a little more salt or some soy sauce for more flavor.

Bean Sprout Stir Fry

 Since returning from my trip, I've been slowly trying to get in the cooking mood. I can only eat salads for so long before I start craving for other things. Aside from being busy with a new project and other things I need to get done, I'm yearn for those moments when I can get into the kitchen and whip up something, even if it's just a simple grilled cheese sandwich.

I did have some bean sprout and the fridge, but not much else inside. So I decided to take a little field trip to Whole Foods to grab a couple more ingredients. When I got home, I whipped out the chopping board and knife then cooked away. It was a nice feeling. Relaxing too. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I do find cooking to be therapeutic in many ways.

Bean Sprout Stir Fry

1 lb fresh bean sprouts
1 orange bell pepper - seeded and sliced
2 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
7 oz firm tofu cubed - drained
1 large garlic clove - rough chopped
pepper
peanut or canola oil

Drain the water from the tofu. Pat the cubed pieces with a paper towel to soak up any excess.

In a skillet, heat a nice drizzle of oil and saute the garlic for roughly 30 seconds. Add the tofu and saute for 3-5 minutes . Cook and saute the bell pepper as well until tender.

After 3-5 minutes, add the soy sauce and oyster sauce. Season with a little pepper to taste.

Serve with a side of rice.

Egg and Tomato with Ravioli

As I write up my Philippine foodventure posts, thought I'd try to get back into the swing of things with this little dish. My posts at the moment may seem a little sporadic rather than the daily variety, but once things have settled down everything will be a-ok. That's the thing for going on vacations, right?

I had this the day before I left for my trip. I had a couple eggs left at the time. I didn't want to leave it in the fridge and let it expire while I was away. That would have been a waste of some good eggs. So I somewhat turned it into a sauce of sorts. I cooked up some canned diced tomatoes first. Letting the juices come out and simmer, before adding the beaten egg. I actually had this Idea to try and make some egg drop tomato soup but ended up with scrambled eggs with tomato. Hahaha... I guess the juices of the tomato dried up a little. Maybe I'll add some stock next time. I guess this was a sort of failed attempt at that.

I did manage to salvage it with some ravioli. Thank goodness for pasta right. I bought another package of the bertolli ravioli. But you can use any variety of ravioli you'd like. I really like it quite a lot. A little filling, but really good. I also add some dry herbs into the mix. It was a little reminiscent of that pasta scramble I had a while back. Not bad, eh?

serves 2

Egg and Tomato with Ravioli

1 pk Ravioli
1 12oz can diced tomato - minus juices
3 eggs - beaten
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry thyme
2 large cloves of garlic  - fine chopped
olive oil

Heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a skillet, coating the bottom of the pan. Combine the dry herbs with the beaten egg. One the oil is hot enough, saute the garlic for 30 seconds and add the egg. Stir occasionally to keep the egg from sticking to the pan. When the egg is nearly cooked, add the diced tomato and stir to combine. Cook for another few minutes.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Season some salt and a tiny drizzle of olive oil. When the water is boiling, cook the ravioli till al dente. Roughly 4-6 minutes.

Place some the ravioli on a plate or bowl and scoop some of the egg mixture on top. Serve warm.

Stewed Tomato and Orzo

I've been having a mild case of the sniffles and sneezes lately. I don't want to get sick. I. WILL. NOT. GET. SICK!!! I'm take every precaution in making sure that I'm well enough before my trip. That's the worst thing that could happen. *crossing fingers* So I've got juice and tea and fruits and veggies and...and...soups and...stews in mind for the next couple weeks. I'm not leaving anything to chance. Allergies beware I ain't giving in without a fight! :)

Anyway...I actually wanted tomato soup, but ended up making this. A tomato stew, of sorts...with diced tomatoes, chopped carrots, orzo, ans some veggie stock. Simple and easy and tomato-y goodness. Have I mentioned that I love tomatoes?

Serves 2

Stewed Tomato and Orzo

1 12oz can vegetable stock
1 12 oz can diced tomato
1 large garlic clove
1 large carrot - peeled and rough chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c uncooked orzo
pepper to taste.

In a pot, sauce the garlic in the olive oil for 30 seconds. Then add the tomato sauce and stock. Bring the whole thing to a slight boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer. Stir occasionally. Add the carrots and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the carrots had become tender. 10 minutes before serving add the orzo. Again stirring occasionally so that the orzo will not stick to the pot. Season with pepper to taste.  The orzo will absorb some of the sauce.

Stir Fry Quesdilla

Still cleaning out the pantry/fridge in some way. A little over two week until my trip to the Philippines. I'm really excited.

Istill had some that lavash bread and havarti cheese. The only thing that came to mind was a nice big quesadilla. *insert big smile here* Mmmm... I rummaged through the pantry and among the cans of tomato sauce was a can of sardines. Boneless and packed in olive oil. A small light bulb moment.

Sardine quesadilla?

There's got to be something else I can throw in there. I savenge the fridge and find some leftover frozen mixed veggies that I totally almost forgot about. Sometimes I think my freezer becomes no man's land. Or should I say land of lost foods. You end up forgetting what's in there sometimes. So I cook that up. Did a quick defrost in the microwave and stir-fry them up with some onion, oyster sauce and soy sauce. Adding the sardine in chunks. Mix it all up and place onto the lavash bread with nice slices of the havarti cheese. I used ol' Georgie once again to press it all together and melt the delicious cheesy goodness. You can omit the sardines all together, if you'd prefer a veggie quesadilla. Either way it's all good eats.

Makes 1 large or 2 small quesadilla

Stir Fry Quesadilla

1 large lavash bread or large tortilla
a few slices of havarti cheese.

1 c mixed vegetables
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 small sweet onion - chopped
pepper to taste
1 small can sardines in Olive oil (optional)

Heat  a little olive oil in a skillet and saute the vegetables and onion until tender. Stir in the oyster sauce and soy sauce, then season with a little pepper -- to taste. Once sauteed, add the optional sardine. Stir it in chunks. (Note you may also use the oil in the sardine to saute the vegetables a onions. Set aside.

Lay the lavash bread on a flat surface. Spread the stir-fry evenly on half and top with slices of cheese. Fold the other half of the lavash bread and press firmly.

If you have a press, heat for 3-5 minutes until the cheese has melted. You may also heat the quesadilla  in a dry clean skillet. Heat both sides for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Serve warm.

When leftovers tasted so good....(Kabocha Noodles)

I know you've had those moments. You know...when you go to a party or gathering or over to someone's house. At the end of the night, you're most likely going to end up bring a little doggy bag home or in my case a little tupperware of food.

I was given a serving of this kabocha noodles to take home. I forget what it was called in taglog. Of course, when it's freshly cooked there's more soup to it. Over the course of a few hours the liquid tends to dry out. It's still really taste. I reminds me of pancit. I think it probably is. I could be wrong.  Except that this had kabocha. Remember late last year when I was in kabocha kick? So I was happy when this had the delicious pumpkin added to it.  I asked my mom how it was made and below you'll find a rough recipe. Not too many ingredient. Dry noodles found in Asian markets, onions, cubed pork, broth, garlic and pepper. Simple right? I'll just have to try making this for myself once things calm down. Maybe add a few more veggies here and there.

I would have taken a picture of it in the tupperware, But it looked like a blobby mess. I thought these pics would look better.

Kabocha Noodles 
(rough recipe)

Dried noodles (found in asian markets)
cube pork
garlic
onion
pepper
vegetable or chicken stock


Saute the cubed pork. When browned, add garlic onions and pepper. Add Kabocha and saute all together. Add vegetable or chicken stock. Let it boil until kabocha is tender and add the noodles and cook until al dente.

Tomato Avocado Sandwich

This is one of those sandwiches that I ate quite frequently during my post-college days. I ate it quite a bit as a budget conscious strategy. Well, I'm still budget conscious. But at the time it was really a budget crunch especially with just having graduated.I think most of you readers know that I love avocado, so it should no surprise that I'd plop in between to slices of bread. It's actually better than my other sandwich option. A mayo sandwich. Can you guys what ingredients go into that? Anyway...it's always nice to revisit eats that I used to constantly eat on a nearly daily basis.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Tomato Avocado Sandwich

4 slices of bread
1 small avocado - sliced
1 small tomato - sliced
1/4 c pineapple tidbit - sliced
mayo
mustard

Note: You may pretoast your bread before assembling.

To make one sandwich:
Take two slices of bread. Spread a thin layer of mayo on one and a thin layer of mustard on the other.
Place half of the avocado slices over the mayo slice, followed by half of the tomato slices, and half of the pineapple tidbits. Top with the mustard slice of bread.

heat  the sandwich in a panini press or skillet until the bread is toasted. If using a skillet (on medium heat), apply pressure with a place and a 12 oz can over it for 3-5 minutes. Flip and do the same for the other side.

Creamy Mushroom and Orzo pasta

It's kind of like a risotto. Kind of, but not really. I saw a few recipes out there using orzo as a kind of risotto. I thought that was a great idea. I had the orzo. To the ingredient list were also some baby bella mushrooms that I chopped up. As well as an onion. So I saute the those then added the orzo and vegetable stock. It's still lent, so chicken stock was out of the question. Cook that up until the orzo cooks up and absorbs the stock. then season with the usual S&P with the addition of some dry thyme, oregano and my favorite spice paprika.  To give it that creamy texture i used evaporated milk instead of cream and some white wine. Risotto usually has parmesan in it, which I didn't have. So I used shredded mozzarella. It worked just fine. I was a little intimidated by how it would turn out, yet I ate it all up. Not because I was hungry as heck, but it was really good. A nice hint of the white wine with the mushroom. Delicious.

Serve 2

Creamy Mushroom and Orzo pasta

1 c uncooked orzo pasta
1 12oz can vegetable stock
1 small onion - chopped
8 oz baby portobella mushrooms - sliced
1/4 c evaporated milk
1/4 c white wine
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp dry thyme
1 Tbsp dry oregano
1 Tbsp paprika


Melted the butter in a pot and saute the onions and mushrooms until both are tender. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the orzo and vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer. When orzo has cooked and absorbed the stock, add the milk and wine. Stir occasionally and combine and then add the dry thyme, oregano, and paprika. Simmer for a couple minutes before serving.

Calzone

Lately my mind's been everywhere. I'm working on a couple different projects right now, so most of my time is spent getting things together for those. So that uses up a lot of my mental energy. By the time it comes to eat I'm a t a loss as to what my belly is craving. In this case pizza was on my mind again.

Well it's doesn't look like much of the familiar calzone shape. But i like to consider it as one. I used one of those Pillsbury pizza crusts. When you take it out it look square shaped. I halved the dough to make two. Spread some shredded mozzarella, layered on some fresh sliced roma tomatoes and baby portabella mushrooms and some avocado. Why not? If you've been following this blog over the past year, you'd know that I love avocados. Besides it's one of those ingredients you wouldn't necessarily find in a calzone. Let alone as a topping on pizza. To I place accordingly on the dough and seal it up. poked a tiny hold on top to let the steam out. Easy last minute meal for the busy mind.

Just look at that tiny string of cheese hanging in between the two pieces. Tempting ain't it?

Makes two plump calzones

Calzone

1 can Pillsbury pizza dough - halved width-wise
1 c sliced baby portobella mushrooms.
2 roma tomatoes - sliced
1 c shredded mozzarella - plus extra
1 small ripe avocado


Preheat your oven to 425˚F

To make one:
Place the dough flat on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle some of the mozzarella on one side of the dough.  Leave the other half untouched. Be sure there is a 1-inch space from the edge of the dough. Top a slices of the roma tomato, mushroom the avocado.

Bring the other halve of the dough over and seal the edges. Cut a small slit at the top to let the steam out while baking.

Bake for 15-17 minutes until the crust is browned.

Sukjunamul - Korean Bean Sprout Side Dish

This is probably one of my favs among the banchan dishes served in many Korean meals. Plus, I guess I just like bean sprouts. There used to be this one little restaurant that I loved to frequent and I'd always asked them to replenish the little dish of bean sprout. I'd still eat up all the other banchan dishes, but this would always be one I'd ask for more than once.  I don't remember where I had gotten the recipe below. I found it in my little card box where my chicken scratch looked almost semi-legible. I had gotten it many years ago from somewhere. It was one thing I've been wanting to learn how to make and I never figured that it would be simple and easy to do. Why I hadn't made it before boggles my mind. I'm so glad I now know how to make this at home.

Serves 2

Sukjunamul (Korean Bean Sprouts)

12 oz fresh bean sprouts
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 small garlic clove - minced
1 green onion - fine shopped
1 tsp sesame seeds

Bring a small pot or sauce pan of water to a boil seasoned with some salt. Add the bean sprouts and boil them for roughly 2-4 minutes. Drain them from the water and cool. Sprinkle the salt, and mix well.  Let it sit for 2 minutes then squeeze out the excess water. Add the sesame oil, garlic, green onion ans sesame. Toss together. Set aide for 30 minutes before serving. You may add a little more salt or some soy sauce for more flavor.

Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Bell Pepper and Onion

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Another variation of the grilled cheese. Comfort food with a twist? I knew I wanted grilled cheese and tomato, but something said to me I need to add something else into the mix. How about some sauteed yellow bell pepper and onion? Sure. And that's what I did. The slight sweetness from bell pepper was a nice added flavor.

I feel like having grilled cheese again.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Bell Pepper and Onion

4 slices of bread - your choice
1 c shredded cheese - your choice
1 small tomato - 1/4-inch thick slices
1/2 medium onion - sliced
1 small to medium bell pepper - thin sliced and deseeded.
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive
1 Tbsp butter

Heat a pan with a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and butter. Saute the onion and bell pepper together until both are tender. Season with a little salt and pepper. Set aside.

To make a sandwich:
Spread a thin layer of butter on one side of each slice of bread.

Evenly place some of the cheese on the other side. Top with a couple slices of tomato followed but the bell pepper and tomato mixture. Top with more cheese and the other slice of butter bread. The sandwich should have buttered-side out.

Heat an ungreased skillet and cook both sides until the bread has browned and toasted. 3-5 minutes each side on medium heat.

Serve warm.

Note: If you've got a grill or press, cook for 4-5 minutes until bread is browned and toasted.