Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

2.01.2011

Practically Perfect Pizza

Last night for dinner Ly + Alan had the best pizza ever. White pizza on homemade pizza crust. Seriously so good. You should make this for dinner tonight. It was easy, fast, tasty and healthy. In fact, 1/4 of the pizza (2 lrg slices) has about 220 calories.


So without further ado, here's the recipe*:

2 1/2 cups all purpose or bread flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of powder milk (optional)
**you can also substitute some wheat flour for the all purpose - about 1 cup wheat, 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour**

1. Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and 2 tablespoons of the oil through the feed tube.

2. Process for about 30 seconds. If it is sticky add a bit of all-purpose flour. Add more water a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is sticky to the touch. Never add more than 1/4 cup of water.

3. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball. Put the remaining olive oil in a bowl, turn the dough ball in it, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in the fridge overnight. This allows the flavor to develop.

4. Preheat the oven to 500F. Roll or lightly press the dough into a flat round lightly flouring the work surface and the dough as necessary. Let it sit for a few minutes to rest. Put olive oil on a pizza pan and shape the dough on the pan.

5. Top the pizza with your choice of toppings. Suggested: sprinkle with 1 T olive oil, 2 T chopped garlic, chopped fresh rosemary, fresh basil, fresh reduced fat mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes, and 2 T fresh Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

*adapted a bit from Mark Bittman's awesome cookbook, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

1.31.2011

Meatless Monday: Curry Spiced Noodles

Ly's adventures with Meatless Mondays have so far been successful...in fact she has even inspired some friends in the Richmond area to go veg! Earlier this week they came over and made Chili non Carne (aka vegetarian chili). Everyone seemed to enjoy it and Ly even tried a few bites. She still despises beans, but at least she willingly put some in her mouth. It's a step in the right direction.

curry spiced noodles

And as further evidence of her expanding horizons, for dinner the other day they had curry spiced noodles. The dish included mushrooms, red peppers, green peppers, and lots of other veggies that aren't particularly high on Ly's vegetables she'll eat list. And yup, Ly ate all of it. It wasn't bad. In fact if you want the recipe let us know. So for all of you wondering, yes progress has been made in the Ly eating vegetable department. Although tofu has yet to make an appearance on the menu.

12.06.2010

Lily + Ly's Adventures in Tamale Making


Figuring out how to fill the Tamales


Lily taking her job of spreading the masa quite seriously


all stuffed and ready to put in the pot!


Finished product! They were so good =)

10.05.2010

Meatless Mondays

A few weeks ago, Ly + Alan decided to try an experiment - meatless Mondays. Basically every Monday they go vegetarian. Now most anyone who knows Ly might immediately worry for her health because she hardly likes anything. Take out chicken and fish, where would the girl get her protein? Tofu? Heck no, she hates tofu. So in an effort to expand her horizons - and eat more veggies - the Lee family has adopted Meatless Mondays. The past 2 Mondays have been a success - homemade pea soup, homemade mac n' cheese, spinach pear salad...and no tofu. But there are lots of Mondays left so in all probability tofu will eventually make the menu.

If you have any excellent vegetarian recipes please share! =)

9.09.2009

Crabby

A few weeks ago the Lees spent a weekend at the beach. It was their last day and Ly and Alan were peacefully sitting in the sand, looking at the waves when suddenly Ly said "I want to go crabbing." And before Alan could mention what a bad idea he thought it was, he found himself leaving a Bait & Tackle store armed with chicken necks, rope, a net and a new found knowledge on crabbing.

As they drove to a recommended crabbing location, Alan tried to get the courage up to tell Ly that perhaps she wouldn't enjoy it very much. He did manage to mention how it might be really boring. However the look on her face was pure excitement as she babbled about having fresh crab and salmon for dinner.

Alan ignored the alarms that were going off in his head as he pulled into the parking lot.

The Maryland Blue Crab's Home Sweet Home

Well it turns out Ly is quite the accomplished crabber. Within 20 minutes she caught 5 crabs. She continued the adventure for another hour or so and had a grand total of at least a dozen crabs. Some were too little to take away so she threw them back and packed the rest in a little cooler on some ice.

To ensure people don't take little crabs home

During the drive home, Ly opened the cooler (which was at her feet, naturally) to "check" on her catch at least half a dozen times. Alan may or may not have mentioned that this was not necessary. When they were about 20 minutes away, the inevitable happened:

"Alan...."
"Yes?"
"Do you think we can throw the crabs back in that pond over there?"
"That's a freshwater pond."

"Oh."


Silence filled the car. Thoughts filled Alan's head of how he was going to handle this situation as Ly thought about death via extreme heat.

Once home Ly gently removed the crabs from their ice and placed them in various containers - to make sure they were alive. They were. She looked up at Alan hopefully and suggested letting them live in the bathtub. He sighed and told her that they would die anyway.

Needless to say, the job of actually killing the crabs went to Alan while Ly was in another room of the house. During dinner Ly didn't actually say or eat anything. Except to mention that she was now a vegetarian.

That lasted for a week before she broke down and ate some chicken.

RIP little crab

11.30.2008

Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

For the first time the Lees spent the thanksgiving holidays away from family...luckily they were able to share it with some very good friends. Scott and Nancy came over for our turkey cooking, pie eating, movie watching extravaganza. It was lots of fun. Ly cooked a turkey for the first time in her entire life and was overjoyed when she did not have to order takeout at the last minute.

It was so nice to have Scott and Nancy drive up from Hershey to hang out with us...we wish they were able to stay longer (like forever!) but alas real life called and they had to head back home. Hopefully they will get together more often and soon.

Lots of photos were taken so as soon soon as we manage to put them on our computer we'll post some.

After thanksgiving, Alan and Ly managed to brave the crazy crowds for a once in a lifetime shopping extravaganza on Friday morning. An experience they have decided they will never ever do again...too many people and some things are just not worth getting up at 3 am for. But it was still a fun memory...and we did get some pretty cool xmas stuff.

Sat was spent hanging out with Danielle and Brandon who drove down from Baltimore for the morning. We, along with the rest of the DC metro population, took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the mall. We ended up at the Museum of Natural History - always a favorite with the dinosaur bones, diamonds and giant squid. In the afternoon we had a nice lunch of leftover turkey sandwiches with Rich...always nice to get to see some of your favorite people in the span of one weekend!

Anyway we are so grateful for our family and friends -- especially our friends who live relatively close they certainly have made the move out to the east coast much more enjoyable for the Lees. We love you! =)