Garden Goodness Pizza

So this is one of our own creations. We made it because we did not have the regular pizza ingredients and so we threw what we had on the pizza and it turned out fantastically.

If you cannot tell by the picture, it is whole wheat crust with an Alfredo sauce and lots and lots of garden goodness on top.

Pizza Crust

1 3/4 Cup water

4 cups flour

1 T yeast

1 T sugar

1 T salt

mix water, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl and then mix in the flour until you cant mix it anymore then knead it until the dough is not sticky anymore. Spread out the dough and let it rise a little bit and bake it at 350 for 15 minutes.

Alfredo sauce

1 cup cream

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

just heat up the cream and cheese until it melts then spread it over the pizza. If you are like me then you usually don't have cream on hand so here is an alternate recipe

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup sour cream

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

As toppings we suggest

• Fresh cut tomatoes
• Chicken
• Spinach
• avocado
• cheese (sparingly)
• anything else you want

Buen Provecho!!!!!

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

10 slices of minced bacon

2 medium onions

6-8 stalks of celery 

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of white cooking wine

20 oz minced clams

7-8 potatoes chopped

5 cups cream

1 1\2 cups milk

2 tbs thyme (fresh if possible)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 tbs white pepper 

Salt

Cook the bacon in the pot, then add the onions and celery and cook until they are tender.  Add the garlic, pepper, chicken broth, clams with juice and white wine.  Allow to simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes.  Add the potatoes and cover for 10-15 minutes until tender.  Add the cream and milk and allow to cook on low for 10 minutes.  Add salt to taste (about 2 tbs).

This was a first attempt, so feel free to try adding different vegetables or other ingredients to see if you can improve it.

Basil Spinach and Cheese Ravioli

So on Sunday we decided to make ravioli. None of us had ever made ravioli before but we were up for the challenge (and besides, we were trying to impress the ladies that were over at our house at the time). We did not use any recipes as a reference but it turned out marvelously.

This is the final product with a little bit of filling on the side for artistic purposes.

So funny story that happened when I (Craig) was making the cheese filling. I added all of the cheese to the blender along with the spinach and the basil. The problem was that the cheese mixture was too thick for the blender to vortex, so everything just stayed on its own layer. In an effort to rectify this problem I (foolishly) started stirring the cheese as the blender was still going. It worked for a little bit but inevitably the tip of the spoon nicked the whirling blades. The effect of the interaction was that the blender took a small piece out of our spoon, and that the spoon rocketed upward, spraying cheesy goodness on the ceiling and cabinets. Oh well. You live and you learn right?

Oh just so you know, the noodles were made with half white, half freshly ground whole wheat and that process was spearheaded by Michael and the simple but delicious marinara sauce was the creation of Ryan.

So the way that we made ravioli was simple, but a little labor intensive. We had a ravioli press which sped the process along nicely but anyone really can make ravioli by cutting out squares and then crimping the sides with a fork. Although tedious, this process produces infinitely better ravioli than store-bought varieties.

The filling was incredibly easy to make. 

30 oz ricotta cheese

4 oz Parmesan cheese

4 oz cheddar-mozzarella mix

5 large basil leaves (you should be able to taste it, but not have it overpowering)

2-3 large handfuls of spinach

Just add a bit of the following:

fennel

oregano

tarragon

just blend everything together in the blender. If you have a food processor, I would recommend using that so that you avoid a similar spoon incident

This is the cheese filling when it is all blended up.

Michael working the ravioli press. What a stud.

Just so everyone knows we take requests on the food that we make. If you want us to make something specific we would be more than glad to.

Buen Provecho!!!!

.

Starting the Year Off Right With Crepes

So on January first, when we did not have any work we decided to start the year off right. So we woke up late (8:30 in the morning- oh blessed day!!!!) and we made crepes and as you can see, we succeeded with style. Along with the crepes you will note that there are grapes, pomegranate, bananas and strawberries in sugar and cream (we were trying to use up cream because we found cream on sale for 39 cents per pint and we went a little overboard in our excitement, buying four pints in total). In addition to the fruity goodness, Michael Tobler made a simple and delicious custard.

you make the custard with the following
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp corn starch
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
just a little bit of salt
dash of cinnamon if you want
heat the milk, sugar, salt, and corn starch and scald the milk while whisking. When scalded,  remove from heat and add a little of the milk mixture to the eggs and stir it in. When it is homogeneous (well as close as you can get it) add this to the pot of the rest of the milk mixture and continue heating. Cook for several minutes until it has thickened. Add vanilla and (if you want to be fancy, top with the cinnamon) enjoy!