Alfredo Pizza

Well, the picture/final appearance of this pizza doesn't really do it justice. Maybe one day after I learn how to make food that is tasty and attractive. Oh well, I would rather cook ugly good food than pretty bad food!!
This pizza was rated a reluctant 8.5 by the hubbs. He couldn't decide between that or an 8. He said he loved the alfredo sauce, but finds it weird that I put it on a pizza!!! I actually thought it was awesome. I like crazy pizza, and always get the "weird" kind at a buffet. He sticks to tried and true pepperoni or supreme. Last night, Matt was home and we made this together, which was really fun. We enjoy cooking together now and then. As it was baking, he ran to the store and grabbed some Dos Equis and then we ate over some beers and a movie. We watched "Camille" (my choice of course) which was really, really weird!!!

So here is the recipe. Kristy sent me a recipe, and said that the alfredo was "superb". I had originally planned to just make it to serve over pasta, but the pizza idea was really intriguing to me.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 pint heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons cream cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, mix the water, oil, and yeast. Stir in the flour. Roll into a ball, and transfer to a well-oiled bowl. Allow to rise 1 hour in a warm location, or until doubled in size.
Thoroughly grease a deep dish pizza pan. Punch down dough, and transfer to the pan. Cover dough with a cloth, and allow crust to rise 25 minutes, until puffy.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
In a saucepan over low heat, mix the cream, butter, and cream cheese, stirring constantly, until melted and well-blended. Mix in Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Continue to cook and stir 15 minutes, or until Parmesan is lightly browned. Spread over the pizza crust. Top with mozzarella cheese.
Bake 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is lightly browned.
Changes I made:
Like I said, I only made the sauce from this recipe. I used 2 Jiffy pizza crust mixes (only 50 cents each!), which are quite good. Then, I made the alfredo sauce and added fresh mushrooms and onions after the cheese had melted. I simmered this for a few minutes. Meanwhile, I browned some chicken that I had seasoned with garlic and italian seasoning. I combined the chicken with the sauce mixture, spread it on my pizzas, and baked it for 20 minutes. I was nervous because the sauce was really thin, but it thickened nicely in the oven.
Double yum!!

Perfect Pot Roast

Last night was my night to cook for our friends, who just brought home the most precious little boy. I was the third person ever to hold him, not counting nurses/doctor! I wanted to make something that would be a good comfort food, and wouldn't be too spicy for the new mommy's tummy.

This is actually my own recipe. My mom told me years ago how to cook a roast, and although nothing can beat Mama's home cookin', mine isn't too shabby.

First, I covered the roast in salt. I know you're not really supposed to salt meat before cooking because it can cause it to dry out, but Mom says browning the roast seals in the moisture, and she's right. Then I dusted it with flour and browned it in a couple tbs of vegetable oil on all sides until the outside was nice and crispy. I normally put a little beef broth in the bottom of the baking dish, but didn't have any on hand. I added about 1/2 c water and a little salt to keep it extra juicy, covered it in foil, and baked it for 2 hrs at 325. Then, I added some sliced red potatoes and carrots to the dish, drizzled a little olive oil over them and seasoned it all with rosemary garlic seasoning. I baked it for another hour like this.

In the meantime, I made "Big Soft Ginger Cookies" from allrecipies.com. I took the advice from some of the reviews and used orange juice in place of water, and let the dough sit in the freezer for half an hour so it wouldn't be too sticky. According to the reviews, this was a big problem. They were right.
The dough was very sticky and hard to deal with, but I just handled them very "gingerly" (ha ha). I skipped the sugar rolling step, and used a flour dusted fork to flatten them.

They turned out quite well. In fact, I have given most of them away. It is just plain dangerous for me to have them on hand; I have no self control. I would make them again, but I think you would have to really have a thing for ginger to love these cookies. I do. In fact, I might add a little more next time!

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Mine were kind of unattractive. They were really difficult to flatten, and this was the last batch and I was tired of messing with it!

World's Best Lasagna..

We shall see. It looks delicious, and I did have a taste of the filling and it was really good. I definitely enjoyed being back in my main dish comfort zone. The recipe was slightly time consuming, but easy. It will be done in 6 minutes. Can't wait to try it. Here is the recipe from all recipes.com.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Maybe tomorrow I will make soft ginger cookies. Yum!

Results:

The hubbs rated it 9.5. I really liked it, and am even more excited to try it again today after the flavors had all night to mingle together! Best in the world, I don't know. But definietly the best i have ever had or made. A friend of Matt's was over and he said it was the best he'd ever had. I can't trust these guys though. You never know when they are just trying to be nice!

Note: The top right corner of the lasagna looks bad because the cheese stuck to the foil as i removed it. Also, I made three layers instead of two. Next time I will probably double the ricotta cheese mixture to have enough for all the layers.

My first "real" cake

Well, now that I don't work and have more time to spare, I have decided to start baking. I consider myself to be a good cook when it comes to main dishes and sides/appetizers, but I have baked very little. (Not counting boxed mixes!) In fact, I'm not sure I have ever made a cake from scratch, until TODAY! Kristy has been into baking for a while now, and I always see pictures of her beautiful cake creations, and can only imagine how delicious they must be. She has inspired me to try to do something on my own. Actually, she is very inspirational. A few years ago, I admired her dedication to running and exercising throughout college. I mainly partied and ate everything I could find. Then one day, the reality hit me: skinny little Ariel was getting fat. It was a sad, sad day. I really do remember the exact day. I'm sure Kristy and I talked about exercise many times, but more than her verbal encouragement, I remember being encouraged by the example that she set for me. I lost my weight, and have been a runner for the


past 4 years. In fact, this November, she and I will run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon together in San Antonio. Now, I have watched her from afar, via cyberspace teach herself how to bake all kinds of crazy things. That last statement really sounds stalkerish, but we live far apart! Thank goodness for facebook! I don't ever expect to be that good, but I enjoy doing it, and my husband loves to eat it. so do I. Let's hope I don't get fat again!! :)



So, today I made a lemon cream cake. It took me 4 hours, and about 7 calls to Kristy. Here's how it went.


3 total shopping trips. I didn't know that "cake flour" existed. I had to purchase a sifter.


Reasons it almost didn't work out:


*I failed to notice that the large measuring cup I was using for a mixing bowl was wet in the bottom, and flour stuck to it.


*I was supposed to dump the butter in the sugar/lemon zest mixture, but I accidently dropped it in the flour mixture. I just dusted it off and kept going.


* I dropped some flour as I was sifting b/c I didn't know how to use the sifter.


*No crisco to grease cake pans. I used butter, but apparently not enough.


*All of the steps took me too long, and I know I wasn't supposed to stop mixing a few times, but I had to.


*My mixer was bought at a WalMart black Friday for 5 bucks, probably five years ago.


*I ran out of simple syrup.


* My cakes started falling apart when I cut them in half.


But, it did turn out. It wasn't that attractive, considering that I had to put it on a pizza pan. I waited until Matt got home to try it, dreaming of 10 stars. He has never given me a 10. He's a tough critic! He is always complimentary, and I know that a 10 is reserved for something out of this world! Someday, though. Anyway, he cut a piece, and we both tried it. He says it's good, and rates it an 8. I admit I'm disappointed. Not because of how he rated it; he's right. I didn't really like it that much either. Maybe because I've licked too many sugary fingers and beaters today. It was okay, but nothing to brag about. I'm embarrassed that I spent 4 hours on it. I know it was my fault, because Kristy said it was one of the best cakes she has ever made.


I am not going to give up though. It was probably silly to start with something that difficult, considering my lack of experience.


Until next time.


The mess. Here's the finished product. (on a pizza pan)













Update: The cake was MUCH better today after being refrigerated all night. It was really good. I gave most of it away though!!