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Category Archives: Advice
Can you parbake a pizza crust?
In the process of planning my sister’s bridal shower (the menu included pizza), I asked this question. I found answers in various forms from Google which told me yes, I could parbake a pizza crust. I also asked my mother (who works for a large bread/cafe chain) and she told me that they parbake their bagels.
Of course, I never trust anything until I try it myself. I didn’t try it for the shower (I didn’t want to screw up and have no pizza). But later, I went about making a double batch of Alton Brown’s pizza dough to see if it would work. I made the dough, rolled it out, and baked it for about 8 minutes at 400F. It was cooked, but not yet brown and crusty.
I cooled it in and then packaged it up into freezer bags (the crusts were about 8″) and threw them into the freezer.
Last night, Sean and I completed the test. We heated up some leftover tomato sauce, ladled it on the frozen crust, added cheese, and baked it at 450F until the crust was GBD (golden brown and DEEEELICIOUS.) It worked like a charm.
So yes, you can parbake a pizza crust — and it’s much cheaper and way tastier than the store bought varieties. I recommend doing this next time you have a little time to make a big batch of dough. You can have a homemade pizza in minutes without calling out for (and waiting on) delivery!
Creamy chowder without the calories?
Christine is full of good questions:
“Have you ever cooked with that milk that’s low-fat but supposedly tastes richer? I love chowder, but am trying to lose a few… I’m wondering if that milk would do anything weird when cooked.”
I’ve never actually used the richer-tasting lowfat milk, but I thought I’d try and create a chowder without all the fat. So I created this spicy corn chowder. I used Hood’s Simply Smart 1% Lowfat milk. I used cornstarch to help thicken the chowder at the end in order to knock out some more fat. The chowder came out thick, creamy, and delicious!
Spicy Corn Chowder
Serves 6.
250 cal., 3g fat, 4g fiber
2 lbs., frozen corn
1 tsp. olive oil
4 green onions, white parts minced and green parts sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large jalepeno pepper, seeds and membranes removed and chopped finely
2 roasted poblano peppers, skins and seeds removed and cut into 1/4 x 1/2 strips
4 cups Simply Smart 1% Lowfat milk
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1 tsp. smoked spanish paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. cornstarch whisked with 1/4 cup milk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Spread frozen corn in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until some of the corn begins to turn brown. Stir the corn every 15-20 minutes for even browning.
Roast the poblano peppers. You can do this directly over the gas burner if you are lucky enough to have a gas oven. Use tongs to flip the peppers as they get charred and the skin starts to bubble. Otherwise, you can put the peppers in the oven with the corn until they are charred. You’ll want to turn the peppers in the oven during the cooking process.
Once roasted, put the peppers in a plastic container with a lid and let them cool. Once cool enough to handle, pull off the skin which should come off easily — this doesn’t have to be perfect, you might wind up with a little skin still attached to the pepper. Remove the stems and seeds and cut into 1/4″ x 1/2″ strips.
In a large pot over medium heat, sweat the white part of the green onion, jalepeno pepper, and garlic in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the poblano pepper strips and corn. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, chili powder, and paprika.
Stir in the chicken/veggie stock and milk. Bring to a simmer. Add the cornstarch and simmer and cook until the soup is thick — about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
To get a creamier soup, use an immersion blender to blend some of the corn and liquid. This will give your soup a thicker body. If you don’t have an immersion blender, take about 1 1/2 cups of the soup and use a blender to blend until smooth. Add back to the soup.
Stir in reserved green onion tops.
Posted in Advice, Appetizer, Comfort Food, Corn, Cuisine, Food Products, Main Dish, Recipe, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian
3 Comments
How long do I cook …
So, I’m noticing a few visits to my site from people who are googling “How long do I cook {blank} at {blank} degrees?” What a great question…with no easy answer.
Wouldn’t it be easy if we could stick a piece of chicken in a 350 degree oven and know it would be done in 20 minutes every single time? The problem with that is all chicken isn’t the same size and all ovens don’t heat the same.
The best way to tell if your food is done is by checking the temperature. In school, part of our uniform is one of those digital instant read thermometers — we are constantly opening oven doors and sticking our thermometers into our food to see if it’s done.
And it’s done when the food is up to the minimum safe service temperature as determined by the FDA. Here’s a handy list:
Fish and shellfish, 145 degrees
Eggs, 145 degrees
Pork (smaller pieces and chops), 145 degrees
Beef, 145 degrees
Roasts, 155 degrees
Poultry, 165 degrees
Stuffed meat, 165 degrees
Casseroles and leftover food, 165 degrees
Of course, these are minimum temperatures and people prefer meats like beef and pork cooked to different degrees of doneness. But these minimum temperatures should help you know when you can safely eat the food you’ve cooked.
As for thermometers, I use two different types. Of course, I use the digital thermometer given to me with my uniform. It’s a quick, easy, accurate way to get a temp. I also like the cooking thermometer
I’m still dying to get my hands on one of those cool, sci-fi infared thermometers that Alton always uses on Good Eats…
Posted in Advice, Culinary School, Misc.
2 Comments
Calorie Counts
I just got a comment from my friend Christine (i.e. the Princess):
“Do you ever calculate the calorie content of your recipes? I’d be curious to see how bad that white ziti is!”
That’s a great question. And it’s really something I *should* get in the habit of doing. I might just do that going forward since it’s an easy enough calculation to do using CalorieKing.com.
I did figure it out for the white ziti. This calorie count is based on the recipe as posted below. I used part-skim mozzarella cheese in my calculation since that’s what I always use in things like baked ziti and lasagna. For more health conscious people, you could also replace the ziti with a whole wheat pasta for more fiber and a few less calories.
These serving sizes are guesstimates based on the number of people eating at my house that night. When you consider 2-lbs of pasta is supposed to serve 16 people and add in all those veggies and the sauce, I’d say that you could get 16 decent sized portions — but if you’re hungrier 12 portions would fill you up well!
Total Calories: 6,341
12 servings: 528
16 servings: 396
Salt, etc.
I realize it’s been a long time with no updates. I’ve gotten behind in my cooking and updating this blog sort of revolves around making something other than Lean Cuisines and sandwiches.
But I did get a good question about one of my recipes and salt. And it’s not the first time people have questioned the amount of salt in a recipe (as in, “it’s too high”). The problem is that the actual amount of salt I use is generally non-scientific. Usually, I’m tasting my food as I go along and add salt as needed.
However, for the buffalo meatballs, the chicken is raw, of course, and so, unless you want to risk a bad case of salmonella, you’re not going to be tasting that mixture before it’s cooked. Therefore, I did reduce the amount of salt in this recipe. My reader was right, it was high (1 tbsp.) and with the added sodium in the Frank’s Buffalo sauce, I think for two pounds of chicken, 1/2 tbsp. would be better. So thanks for that heads up!
On a side note, it’s awesome to be getting comments from people who are reading my blog, so thanks! It made my day.
To answer another question (from my dear old dad), “Are there realy good brussel sprouts?
Who would take graden space to grow them when you can grow hot peppers……………Now we’re talking!”
Yes! Brussel sprouts ARE delicious — I think they deserve a little garden room next to the hot peppers.
Ok, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for a new recipe coming tonight or tomorrow for a “white” baked ziti. This one going to be a new favorite in my recipe arsenal for a long time.
Posted in Advice, Misc.
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Advice: Warding off the Christmas turkey blues.
Dear Kerry, With Whom I Cook,
Hey, where’s the advice column part of this site? I want a recommendation for a Christmas meal. We don’t want to do turkey again so soon, but want something nice, different, unique. Thought about prime rib, but that sounds too hard, and pricey. Any suggestions?
Flummoxed in Frisco
——————–
Dear Flummoxed,
Your question is a good one. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I definitely get bored with turkey over the holiday season.
And you’re right, prime rib is pricey, albeit delicious. But, I think you’re on the right track. There’s something about a big, hunk of roasted meat that makes a holiday dinner special. I suggest you try a pork roast.
Pork is, first and foremost, delicious. It’s also inexpensive. And done right, pork can look just as extraordinary on your Christmas table as a prime rib.
Here’s how I’d do it. I might serve this with some mashed sweet potatoes and green beans with almonds. And of course, finish off the meal with a sinful dessert.
Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast
1, 3-4 lb. pork loin roast
salt & pepper
10 slices applewood smoked bacon
1 large onion, peeled & roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled & roughly chopped
1 large celery stalk, roughly chopped
1/2 cup hard apple cider such as Magner’s
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, divided
1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. fresh thyme
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Season the pork roast on all sides with salt and pepper. Wrap the bacon slices around the roast, overlapping the slices if necessary. Make sure that when you wrap the bacon around the pork roast that all of the ends are on the same side of the roast (i.e. you’ll have a seam of bacon on the bottom of the pork roast.)
Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Once the pan gets hot, add the roast, with the bacon seam down (this will cook the bacon together so it won’t fall off the roast during the rest of the searing process.) Sear the roast until the bacon browns on all sides.
In a roasting pan, place the carrot, celery, and onion in one layer and place the seared pork roast on top. Place in the pre-heated oven for 40-50 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork roast is 145 degrees.
Move the cooked pork roast to a cutting board, cover loosely with tin foil, and let rest for 10-15 minutes while you make the gravy.
To make the gravy, tilt the roasting pan enough to spoon out most of the grease in the pan. Put the roasting pan on the stove over medium heat. Pour in the hard cider and deglaze the pan by using the cider to disolve any brown bits on the bottom of the roasting pan. Add 3/4 of the chicken broth and simmer.
Strain the liquid into a small pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir together the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken broth with the cornstarch until combined. Whisk into the cooking liquid and simmer until gravy gets thick and coats the back of a spoon. Season the gravy to taste with salt and pepper. Add fresh thyme.
Carve the pork roast into 1/4-1/2 inch slices and serve with gravy.
Posted in Advice, Meat, Pork
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