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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Pantry Wheat Free Pizza Bake 10/10!!!

Polenta Pizza with Cherry Bocconcini, Basil & Olives
(from the Times-Colonist Food section April 13/2011)

Makes 4 serves (2 wedges each)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup medium-grind cornmeal
1/2 cup tomato/pizza sauce
8 cherry bocconcini cheese (I used the whole tub!)
fresh whole basil leaves
pitted olives (I used green because that's what I had but it calls for black or green)

Brush 12 inch pizza pan with olive oil and set aside.  Pour the water into a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot and set over medium-high heat.

Bring to a boil, add the salt, and then reduce heat to medium. While whisking steadily, slowly pour in the cornmeal.

Lower heat to medium-low and cook the cornmeal for 5 minutes whisking it frequently.

Cook for 15 minutes more, but, now that it has started to thicken, use a wooden spoon  or heatproof spatula to stir it frequently.  At this point, the polenta should be quite thick, but still spreadable.

Spoon the polenta on to the pizza pan and quickly spread into a circle that's about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.  Allow the polenta to cool to room temperature and set.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Spread the tomato sauce (I used pizza sauce that I had in the fridge and needed to be used up!)  on the polenta.

Arrange the cheese, olives and basil on top of the tomato sauce.  Sprinkle the pizza with black pepper. We also sprinkled on some Romano cheese that we had in the fridge.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the polenta is hot and a little crispy on the bottom.  Cool a few minutes and then cut into 8 wedges and serve.  This is not an 'eat with your fingers' pizza.  We treated it more like a casserole and put it into a pasta bowl.  Delicious!!

What I had on hand:
Cornmeal, water, pizza sauce, seasonings, romano cheese, olives

What I had to buy:
Bocconcini cheese, fresh basil

Here's a picture of the polenta cooking (in Italian pronounced "Poienta!" according to my friend Kathleen).


and the pizza bake ready to go in the oven

and now out of the oven and ready to enjoy!!






See how the cheese has smooshed and softened.?  It was chewy and excellent.  The hit of fresh basil on the tongue mixed with the tang of the green olives was remarkable!

I will definitely be making this again...even when the pantry is empty and I have to buy ingredients!! SO worth repeating!!


Buono Appetito!!

Until next time,
Mavis

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Num! and Nummer!!

My love of food and cooking is spreading to my children.  My 19 year old son loves food.  I know ~ duh!! ~ don't all 19 year olds love food?? But this kid can cook!!  He made some blueberry belgian waffles from scratch today.  I taught him once how to make the blueberry sauce and now he's a master!

Voila ~ his latest creation. 



Sorry there's a few bites missing in the photo; I grabbed this shot before the whole thing disappeared....He let me have a bite and it was nummy!   Hence the title...num and nummer.  Get it?  Sorry ~ couldn't resist that one.

The recipe:
Waffles:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir together milk, oil, and eggs.  Gradually add milk mixture to the dry ingredients.  Stir until just blended.  Pour batter onto waffle baker.  Makes 4 1/2 cups batter.

Sauce:
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup water (you decide how saucy)
1 tbsp cornstarch

Bring to boil and then reduce and cook until thickened.  Pour over waffles.

Until next time!

Mavis

Chocolate Ganache Torte

I'm culling my cookbooks.  We're making a huge effort at our house to reduce to recycle and stop the unnecessary spending.  I'm culling a lot of things, including my cookbooks. 

As I've been reviewing what to keep, I stumbled upon this recipe again (it's a keeper!).  I have had many, many requests for it and thought that I would share it with my readers in the blogosphere today:

CHOCOLATE GANACHE TORTE (it's like the one in Milestones if you've ever had that!)
Ingredients:
2 cups (500 ml) pecans
1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar
3 1/2 tbsp (50 ml) unsalted butter, melted
8 oz. (250 g) chopped bittersweet or semismeet chocolate
1 egg yolk
1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream, heated to a simmer
Whole pecan halves for garnish


Method:
Measure the 2 cups of pecans and the sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground, then, wth the motor running, add the melted butter, continuing to process until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Press mixture onto the bottom an up the sides of a 10 inch tart pan or springform pan, making the bottom about 1/8" thick and sides about 1/4" thick. Bake at 325*F for 20-25 minutes until the crust is lightly coloured. Let cool.

In the top of a double boiler, gently melt the chocolate, then stir in the egg yolk and the hot whipping cream, whisking over the heat until the mixture is just combined. Remove from heat and pur the mixture into the pecan crust. Chill for at least 3 hours, then top with pecan halves. Makes about 12 servings.

Serve with caramel sauce drizzed over.

This is a VERY rich dessert that we use on special occasions.  The smaller the serving the better.  Too much of a good thing can make you sick!

Enjoy!

Mavis

Vegan Breakfast Cookies

 I keep being asked for this recipe, so here it is: 5 bananas 4-5 cups of oats 1 1/2 cups chopped dates softened  in boiling water 1 1/2 cup...