Tomatoes and Pizza March 12, 2008

Last night I decided to make pizza for dinner. I had some leftover little grape tomatoes that were looking a little puckery, so halved them, sprinkled kosher salt, pepper, and olive oil over them, then stuck them in a 350 F oven for about 40 minutes – until they looked browned around the edges.  In the meantime I got my bread machine out, put the ingredients in for my pizza dough, then I set the machine for the “dough” cycle. 

When the dough was ready, I made it into three small roundish, flat, but not too thin pizzas.  I like the look of an odd-shaped pizza, it appears very humble and homemade.  You can make yours perfect, if you like.  I spread on the dough a mixture of half mayonnaise, half ranch dressing (about 1 TB of each), then I covered that with shredded jack and parmesan cheese, as that’s the only cheese I had in my fridge.  I sprinkled the then cooled tomatoes over one pizza – my girls didn’t want any, silly girls - along with some thinly sliced Basil leaves, a handful of sliced green olives, and some red onion circles.  I put the pizzas in a 400 F oven and baked them for 12 minutes.  I served the pizzas with carrot sticks leftover from Saturday’s Farmer’s Market run, and tada!  super-easy, but very tasty dinner.  My teenage daughter proclaimed these, “Your best crust, yet!” 

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

1 package dry active yeast (2-1/2 teaspoons)

3 teaspoons honey

1 cup warm water

2-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups of flour

Layer the ingredients according to how your bread machine maker suggests.  Mine goes water, honey, oil, salt, flour, then I make a little indent in the side of the flour and I pour the yeast in there.  Set your machine for the “dough” cycle, which mixes the dough, but does not bake it.  My machine runs this cycle for 90 minutes.  At that time, I pull the dough out, make it into a ball – or balls, I usually do individual pizzas because my kids like that – then I roll it out as close to a circle as I can get.   I let it set and rise for about 5 minutes, then I cover with whatever toppings I have available.  I bake it on a pizza stone or a cookie sheet in a 400 F oven for 12 minutes. 

If my toppings have not browned enough at that point, I stick it back in for a couple of minutes, keeping a close on the progress. Sometimes a lot of vegetables take longer, because of their water content. 

In Praise of the Avocado March 10, 2008

 The avocado sits firmly at the top of my favorite foods list. A slice spread onto whole wheat toast, sprinkled with a little salt and pepper – nothing tastes better to me.

 

It is believed that the earliest avocados appeared in Central Mexico between 7000 and 5000 BC. Archaeologists found avocado seeds buried alongside Incan Mummies from 750 BC, but it wasn’t until 1871 that the fruit was successfully introduced to the United States. Currently a full 90% of commercially grown avocados are grown in California on farms located from the Mexican border up to San Luis Obispo. The most popular variety, the Haas, was developed by Rudolph Haas in 1935, in the backyard of a La Habra Heights, California home.

 

Avocados contain 20 different vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients and are a good source of vitamin E, vitamin C, folate, fiber, iron, potassium. An ounce serving of avocado contains only 50 calories, 3.5 grams of unsaturated fat, and 2 grams saturated fat. Avocados are cancer fighters with 19 micrograms of beta-carotene and 81 micrograms of lutein.

 

A ripe avocado has a smooth buttery texture. The easiest way to select a ripe fruit is to hold it in your hand and squeeze with gentle pressure. A good one will have some give, but no overly soft or mushy spots. If you are unable to find a ripe fruit, then take it home and put it into a paper bag with a banana. Leave the bag on your counter for a couple of days and the gases from the banana will help your avocado ripen faster.

 

Avocados are green in more ways than one; the roots of the trees help to prevent soil erosion, California orchards remove between 25-88 lbs of pollutants from the environment per year, while the leaves of the avocado trees help to cool the surrounding air, and a single tree produces 260 pounds of oxygen.

 

Some fun avocado facts from The California Avocado Commision:

*Avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable, belonging to the genus Persea in the Lauraceae family.

*Avocados are sodium- and cholesterol-free and have only five grams of fat per serving, most of it the monounsaturated kind.

*Brazilians add avocados to ice cream  and Filipinos puree avocados with sugar and milk for a dessert drink.

*A single California avocado tree can produce about 500 avocados (or 200 pounds of fruit) a year although usually average about 60 pounds from 150 fruit.

*There are seven varieties of avocados grown commercially in California, but the Hass is the most popular, accounting for approximately 95% of the total crop volume.

*California avocados grow year-round.

 

Garden Variety Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

2 Tbs finely minced purple onion

2 cloves garlic minced extra fine

1/2 cup diced ripe tomato

1/4 cup sliced cilantro

1/2 lime

Cut the avocados and half, remove the seeds, then scoop out with a spoon. Mash with a fork until smooth. Sprinkle with lime juice, then stir in onions, garlic, tomato, and cilantro, stir gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If you are not serving immediately, cover with plastic and refrigerate.

Mezzaluna March 9, 2008

Looking for a handy tool to chop herbs or onions? Try a Mezzaluna. Mezzaluna is Italian for “half” (mezza) “moon” (luna). Used on top of a wooden cutting board or bowl, the mezzaluna usually has two handles and is manipulated with a rocking motion. They are available in both a single and a double blade construction.

 

Use a Mezzaluna to produce a more authentic version of your regular Pesto sauce. Chopping the ingredients by hand, rather than throwing them into the food processor gives you a coarse beautiful sauce.

 

Handmade Pesto

1 & 1/2 cups fresh basil, washed and dried

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1/3 cup pine nuts

2/3 cup parmesan cheese, preferably freshly grated

1/3 olive oil

Chop basil in batches, about a half cup at a time. Add garlic, then nuts to basil, chopping to a fine mince. Transfer to a bowl, add cheese and olive oil. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate.