This was a creation this past week. Its pizza that almost tastes like a cheese burger. Both go great together. Don't get scared off by the pickles, you would be surprised at how good it all goes together.
To start off I used half of my pizza dough recipe.
Brown a pound of ground beef, with half a sliced onion. After that mix in about a 1/2 cup ketchup.
After you have spread the dough out onto a large rectangle pizza pan, spread 1/3 cup of onion chip dip. This could be replaced with onion cream cheese spread. Sprinkle the meat mixture over the dough and dip. Then a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar goes on top. Bake in oven at 425 degrees, for about 15 min. Slice up some dill pickles and sprinkle on the top.
I was excited to see a species of duck I've never seen before. Probably just never had the chance to see them before, but I found out they like small bodies of water and rivers. So these Hooded Merganser's were right at home in the Ottawa River. They eat small fish and other small living creatures in the water. And they were doing just that when I spotted them this past weekend. I was a passenger while my hubby was driving when I spotted the beautiful male and his female. I was interested in finding out what kind of duck they were and also found out that they nest in tree cavities near the water, and their bills are serrated for catching the food they eat, as well as having an extra membrane to cover their eyes for when they dive under water (like a frog).
This makes me think about this quote I read not too long ago..."Familiarity with nature never breeds contempt. The more one learns, the more he expects surprises, and the more he becomes aware of the inscrutable." -Archibald Rutledge
To start off its always best to have seasoned salt on hand. It makes everything tastier!
This is the recipe given to me by my mom:
1/4 cup e. salt and paprika
3 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. basil
2 tsp. e. garlic pwd. and thyme
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. e. curry pwd. , dried marjoram, cayenne pepper, and celery salt
Mix up and store in a small container.
For the pizza you need:
1 batch of pizza dough (yesterdays recipe here) stretched out on oiled pizza pan.
2 heaping tablespoons of basil pesto (so far I have been using store bought), this is spread over the dough.
1 to 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese sprinkled over the pesto
1 chicken breast which you fry in an oiled cast iron frying pan with as much seasoned salt as you see fit. Cook, until all pink is gone, and then I slice up into bite size pieces. Toss this over the cheese.
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced and pan fried in the hot pan you just used for the chicken. When that has nicely caramelised, toss that evenly on the pizza.
1/2 cup of salsa, which is from the batch I made up this past fall, recipe here. Dollop this over the pie.
Preheat oven to 425, and Bake for 15-20 min.
Its so good, I don't even crave take-out pizza!
Awwwwe... The great and multi-purposeful pizza dough! There are many directions one can take with a simple batch of pizza dough. But my all time fav. (lately) is a chicken pizza. The following recipe makes one thick crust, or two small thin crusts.
Yesterday, oh yesterday...It was productive...we did some good baking...but for the emotional part...it was one of those days. Thank goodness it is a yesterday now. Its just one of those kids trying to fight for my attention and get under each others skin type of things, but it just seemed a little more overwhelming than usual to me.
Earlier in the afternoon we started on some homemade English muffins to make TUES. Menu item: Mini Pizzas. Which was my sons pick.
Homemade English Muffins
2 cups buttermilk
3 3/4 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp instant yeast
2 tb sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tb honey
1 tb butter at room temp.
Cornmeal for dusting
> Warm milk in the microwave or on stove top in pot. In a large bowl mix the next 4 ingredients. Then add the buttermilk, then honey and butter. Stir until dough is fully combined, add a little flour if its too gooey. Shape into a ball. It will be sticky.
> Cover and let rise in the fridge for at least 2 hrs. up to 24 hrs.
> Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal. Sprinkle some more on your work surface and place dough on top to roll out to 3/4 inch thickness. Use something to cut into 12, 3 inch rounds. I of course use a can opened at both ends. And place on parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 min.
> Heat oven to 350, and then heat a large skillet over med. heat until very hot (a drop of water sizzles dry right away). Brown each side 3-5 min. Then return to baking sheet, and repeat until all the muffins are browned.
> Bake 15-20 min. These are the best English muffins we ever had. Aparently the cat thought so too. While they were on the rack cooling, we went outside for a while. Upon my return to the kitchen I realized a muffin was missing. Through further investigation, we could tell the cat had plucked one off the rack nibbled away at it and left her evidence on the chair. Obviously MacMurray (our dog) would have devoured it on the floor. Bad Kitty, you gave yourself away.
The ground work was done for these easy little pizzas, that the kids whipped together when it was dinner time!
Another awesome job guys.
In all honesty it was a stressful day, with the hecticness of life overwhelming me. But I did take some time in the evening to take a quick relaxing bath, I burned some lavender oil, while sipping a tea and reading a book. I thank the Lord for that relaxing moment, it was truly needed and it worked.
