Archive | November, 2011

Sausage, Red Pepper, & Spinach Pizza

30 Nov

Hey Loves! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving because I sure did. We had a busy Thanksgiving week in Jersey with my family between cooking, running around, and two parties. Even with all the work, I really enjoyed myself. Yesterday my love and I went to pick up my 2ND (the 1st was my iPad)  early Christmas present 🙂 yup I know. I think I am kinda spoiled. Oh well. lol. I have a brand new Kitchen Aid 5Qt  stand mixer that I am sooooooo excited about. 🙂 The first thing I whipped up was some pizza dough. It was so simple and quick. I know I am going to have so much fun with this mixer. There are endless things I can use this for. The Only thing it doesn’t do is cook for you so I had to put this pizza in the oven myself. lol. I made a whole wheat crust. Of course Bryan would rather have regular white crust, but he thought it was pretty good. If you don’t care for wheat crust, just change the wheat flour to all purpose flour. I topped my pizza with marinara, turkey sausage, spinach, red pepper and shredded Italian cheese. Go crazy and use your favorite toppings. Enjoy.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

By: Blade

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 packet dry active yeast
  • 3/4 cup hot water between 110 and 115 degrees

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1) Mix yeast in with water and set aside.

2) In stand mixer, combine flours, salt, sugar, olive oil, and honey.

3) Make a well in the flour mixer and add the yeast and water mixture.

4) Attach Dough hook and mix on speed 2 for about 5 minutes until it is all combined and smooth.

5) Roll out dough on a floured surface, until it stretches to the size of the pan. Place into a lightly greased pan.

6) Top with your favorite ingredients and bake until golden brown. Approximately 22 mins.

 

 

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Shrimp and Bacon Penne & Photography

3 Nov

What do you want to be when you grow up? Do you remember being asked that question over and over again as a kid? I’m sure you do. What was your response? A doctor? A Lawyer? Fireman? “Sonia what do you want to be when you grow up?” My response… “A Photographer!’ I wanted to take pictures of celebrities for magazines.Yup that was my dream. The photography thing was before the “I want to be a Chef” came about. That was before I decided to cook a pot of oodles and noodles at the age of 5 or 6 and spilled boiling water all over my little legs trying to drain them. I don’t know who let me cook at that age… hmm I was probably sneaking 🙂 lol. Oh yeah chef wasn’t even a thought then, well not at that age.I am still no photographer but now that I am blogging I think it is a great way to combine both. Even if it is just a hobby. Hey did I mention I wanted to be a writer too? Ha ha! I am NO writer lol.

I am now a owner of a Canon Rebel T3i dslr camera and YES I am VERY excited about it. I’ve had it for only a week and I am still learning which I am sure it will be a learning process each and every day. Luckily I was able to get a GREAT intro lesson from my dear friend Sophorn over lunch @ Chipotle and coffee @ Starbucks! Sophorn has agreed to be on stand by for any questions I may have (which I have several). So yes, she will be harrassed. 🙂 I can already see the difference in my photos which is great!But I will be doing lots of practicing.

My first meal I made and took pictures of with my new Canon was this Shrimp and Bacon Penne. I was watching Giada DeLaurentiis and she made a Seafood Penne on her “Surf and Turf” Episode of Everyday Italian. I was thinking… Hey, I love pasta and Bryan loves Seafood. So why not!  Giada’s recipe did call for lobster tails which I had to omit because lets just admit it, Giada’s balling and I’m on a budget.

Note: *I added more shrimp to the recipe to make up for the lobster tails I omitted. You can add any type of Seafood to this recipe. Next time I think I will use shrimp and scallops.

Whole wheat Penne with Shrimp & Bacon

Giada DeLaurentiis

Ingredients

  • Kosher salt
  • 1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
  • 1 pound thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips (about 2 1/2 cups)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • One 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup clam juice
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup chopped fresh basil
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

 In a large nonstick skillet, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels.

 In the same skillet, add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes (and juices), clam juice, cream, 1/2 cup basil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

 Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add the lobster and bacon. Simmer until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.

 Pour the tomato mixture over the cooked pasta and toss until coated. Garnish with the remaining 1/2 cup basil and season with salt and pepper.