Pizza!

Should I start with my groveling apologies or my ode to pizza?

 Well, lets get the apologies out of the way. 

I am so sorry that Real Food Wednesday as been sporadic at best, non-existent at worst. I have a seasonal job. (Yes, I have the best job in the world. And not only because my boss reads my blog.) But now is the busiest time of the year. 

Seriously, I make busy bees look lazy. 

Anyways, there's my lame excuse for not posting as 

consistently as a food blogger should.

 ( How often is that you ask? I do not know.) 

And now...on to 

PIZZA!!

Hands down, a universally favorite food. If it happens to not be your favorite food, run along now. I've been eating a lot of pizza lately, and I couldn't be happier. Since Big D has started his year long journey through night school, I have been making a lot of single portion suppers. ( Little Monkeys like to eat noodles and fish sticks every night, and that goes against the very grain of SparkPeople.)

Pizza as it so happens, works out very well with this arrangement. 

About once a month, I make one recipe of  pizza dough, and divide it into five.

 I freeze each ball of dough in a ziploc bag, and defrost as needed.
Voila- instant pizza!

 Here is my favorite dough recipe. It has amazing elasticity- even after its frozen. It does need to rise for an hour, but I find that by the time I eat supper, when the Little Monkeys are put away for the night, it has risen more than enough. 

Pizza Dough

1 tsp yeast

3 cups flour

2 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp sugar

Pour water and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add yeast and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Knead dough with the dough hook for about 10 minutes. Cover dough with a damp towel and let rise 1 hour. When you are ready to make the pizzas, divide dough into 5. Let rest for five minutes to make it easier to roll out dough. Roll the dough into a 8 inch circle. Spread pizza or marinara sauce on top. Top with pizza cheese and toppings. Bake at 450° for 15-20 minutes. 

Pack your bags....

'cuz we  are going on a trip! Come join me today over at Cook Kosher for a super fun, and delicious guest post. Anyone familiar with Leah Schapira's cooking knows that she has some pretty great recipes, and she has put together a really cool recipe sharing site called Cook Kosher. The site is like a breath of fresh air- it feels like taking a walk through a garden when you browse through it.Think I'm exaggerating? 

See it for yourself. 

So come with me, as we knock 'em dead with.......

Chocolate Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies

For recipe and guest post, click here. 

Heaven on a spoon

Really there is no name that would do this cheesecake justice. Let me tell you, I love cheesecake. I don't announce it to the world ( although now I am) but I am pretty picky on cheesecakes. I have tasted many homemade cheesecakes. And I always gush over how good they are. But a lot of times they are "eh, ok." But this one really raises the bar quite a bit. Rich, decadent and creamy. I am sure there is some sort of science to the ratio of cheese:eggs:sugar, but the magic in this cake is the combination of flavors. Cheesecake....peanut butter....caramel....brownies. It really is heaven on a spoon. So instead of ranting and raving, allow me share some pics with you, but let me warn you, you may need some tissues...

*drool*

You might want to move away from your keyboard now...

*sigh*

In case you missed the caramel...

What? You want the recipe? Are you sure? Its kinda deadly. In a diet killer kind of way. Oh well, if you insist...

Peanut Butter Caramel Cheesecake

1 *gasp* brownie mix

1 egg

1 tablespoon cold water

2-8 ounce packages cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup dark karo syrup

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

Mix brownie mix with egg and water. Pat into a 9 inch springform pan.* Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. ( It will look undercooked.) Let cool. In a small saucepan, combine karo syrup, peanut butter and vanilla sugar. Mix over medium heat until smooth. Pour 3/4 of caramel mixture over brownie crust. Put in the freezer to set for 20 minutes.  Mix cream cheese, sugar ,2 eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Pour on top of caramel. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, center will be jiggly. Turn the oven off and leave inside to cool for about an hour. Remove and let cool completely in the fridge. Drizzle with remaining caramel, and chocolate glaze. (Recipe to follow.) To get a nice drizzle, pour either glaze into a sandwich size ziploc bag, and snip off a small piece of the corner, drizzle over the top.

Chocolate Glaze

1 cup powder sugar

2 heaping tablespoons cocoa

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons corn syrup

2 tablespoons milk or soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix everything together. It should be slightly thick, similar to a brownie batter. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well, until smooth. If it is too thick, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Note: The glaze recipe is really " a little of this and a little of that " kind of recipe. I tried my best to estimate the measurements that I use, but I almost always end up adding some more milk or powder sugar to get it to the right consistency.

* Ok, so I admit it, I have no idea how to use a springform pan. I actually didn't use one for this recipe, although you are supposed to use a springform pan when making a cheesecake. So, if you know how to use one, by all means please do. But if you are ignorant in these matters like me, you can use a 9 inch pan. To get a pretty slice, use a disposable pan, and slice the side of the pan open when you slice the first slice so you can slide it out of the pan backwards.

Something yummy....cheese blintzes

Mmmmmm....mix some farmers cheese with some vanilla and sugar, and the result is heavenly. Delicious. Mouthwatering. Scrumptious. (Can you tell I'm hungry?) Some of you might recognize these as crepes, but growing up they were called blintzes. Sure, you can pick up a pack of Golden's Blintzes from the store, but you just can't compare the freshness and the taste to a fresh, homemade blintze. Some people get scared away by the many steps of making  blintzes, but it's really very simple. The technique for making the blintze skin may take a few tries, but once you get it right, its very easy. And if you have already made egg rolls, the rolling is the same technique. So lets get started, shall we?                                        

Blintze Skin Batter

3 eggs

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup milk ( soy, for non dairy)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

Beat eggs and add rest of batter ingredients slowly. Mix with a wire whisk to eliminate lumps. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Spray a 1 second spray of Pam. Have a clean dinner plate ready next to you so that you can flip the skin into it. Using a ladle, pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into the hot frying pan. Lift the pan off the fire and tilt the pan in all directions so that the batter spreads all over the bottom of the pan. Put back on fire until the top of the skin looks dry to touch, and not sticky.

If the edges start to crisp, the fire is too high. Flip the skin over onto the dinner plate. You may need to loosen the edges with a spoon until it flops out. Spread onto the plate, respray the pan with Pam and pour the batter for the next blintze into the pan. While the next skin is frying, spoon a heaping tablespoon of filling (recipes to follow) in the bottom center of the skin like this:

Fold the bottom strip of skin over the filling:

 Then the left side:

And the right:

Then roll up....

Until you've got this:

A few points:

• Try to roll it as tightly as possible without breaking the skin.
• Each time you pour the batter into the pan, stir the batter a bit as the flour tends to settle to the bottom. 
• If the batter is too thick, and doesn't spread easily in the pan, add some water- 1 tablespoon at a time. If the skin is translucent, it was too much water, and you need to add some flour.

Now for some yummy filling recipes:

Cheese Filling

1 pound farmers cheese

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar, or 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix everything together.

Potato Cheese Filling

8 medium potatoes

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 large onion

1/4 cup oil

Peel and boil potatoes. While they are cooking, saute the onion in oil. Drain and mash the potatoes. Add the sauteed onions and cottage cheese. Salt to taste.

Each filling recipe makes enough for one recipe of batter, about 15 blintzes. Raw blintzes freeze very well so you can make a lot and and take them out as needed. When you are ready to serve them, fry them in about an inch of oil, 3-4 minutes on each side. Or you can bake them at 375 for about 15 minutes, until they are crispy.  Blintzes can be enjoyed anytime- for breakfast or a snack. Pair them with a light salad and soup, and you got yourself a delicious dinner.