Simple tomato sauce

Here is another great recipe from my favorite blog Sweet Paul. I made this simple tomato sauce the other day and it was really good. Sometimes when I make my own I get a little to complicated with it. Simple is better! This has only a few ingredients (most of which you might have on hand already) and tastes so fresh. I'm going to make this my new standby.

{Super cute photo from here. }

The thing that's so great about this sauce is that you could make a double batch and freeze some for a rainy (or lazy) day. When I made it the other day I added spicy Italian sausage and spooned it over pasta. Tonight I'm using the leftovers as pizza sauce (yup...doing the BBQ pizza thing again). The possibilities are endless.



Serves 4

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 28-ounce can good quality crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups water


Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add onions and garlic, cook until soft.
Add the crushed tomatoes with their liquid.
Add brown sugar.
Add the basil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until sauce has reduced and thickened. This takes 20 min.

BBQ pizza: It's easy!!

I have heard about BBQ pizza but never tried it at home. Last week I saw that one of my favorite bloggers Sweet Paul posted a recipe and video about it so I decided to get off my butt and give it a go.

I like making pizza at home but usually go the easy route by buying dough at Trader Joe's. I don't know why I've been so lazy!!! Making dough at home is sooooo simple plus it tastes much much better then store bought.

Recipe:

Makes 2 pizzas
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 cups plain flour

Mix yeast and water in a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes and add honey, salt, oil and flour. Mix until you have a smooth dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for at least 1 hour. Get your grill going, remember it needs to be really hot!

Here is my dough after it has been left to sit for about 1 hour .

Divide your dough in two and place it on well greased parchment paper.

Press it out using your fingers and coat it with a layer of olive oil (coating with olive oil is an important step. It prevents dough from sticking to your hands, parchment and the grill)


Get your toppings all ready- I used prosciutto, goat cheese, pesto, heirloom tomato and basil. You can use anything you want. Have fun with it!

Once your grill is nice and hot flip the paper upside down on grill and slowly remove the paper. Let the pizza cook for 3 minutes.


Flip dough over, place toppings on and let grill for another 3 min or so. Mine got a little charred but that's OK. It added to the flavor. Once the dough seemed cooked I turned the heat off to allow cheese to melt. Remove from grill, cut and serve. YUM!

I really loved this pizza and had a good time making it.

Thanks to Sweet Paul for the great recipe. If you don't follow his blog, you should!! Hes a food stylist, crafter and cook. He has some really amazing projects, recipes and drool worthy food photography. If he lived in San Francisco I might force him to be my friend. Hes so crafty!!

Blueberry peach cobbler w/ oatmeal cookie topping

I made this a few weeks ago and it was SO good. The blueberries were something not in original recipe but I thought they would pair well with the peaches and I was right!! I loved the combo. Also, the oatmeal cookie is so different...not your average crumbly cobbler topping.



With fresh fruit overflowing at farmers markets this summer I bet you could make this with just about anything and it would be good.

* Note: I halved the recipe and used a 8x8 baking dish. It was enough for 4 people plus some leftovers.

Recipe from Cooking Light

12 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients
Topping:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling:
11 cups sliced peeled peaches (about 5 pounds)
2 pints blueberries ** STK addition
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Cooking spray


Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°

2. To prepare topping, place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Weigh or lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1 cup flour, oats, baking powder, and salt; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

3. To prepare filling, combine sliced peeled peaches, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and fresh lemon juice in a bowl; toss to coat. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Dollop 12 mounds of chilled dough over peach mixture at even intervals. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Summertime smoothies

The other day my friend Mike asked me how I make smoothies. They may seem simple but in my experience getting the ice to fruit ratio just right takes some practice.

I have 2 secret weapons when it comes to the perfect smoothie

1. Only use frozen fruit because then you don't have to add ice at all. You can really use any type you want but I am in LOVE with "Mangolicious" from Trader Joes. Its a blend of frozen mango, raspberries and blueberries. YUM!

2. You need a great blender. I have the Breville Icon which is seriously the most amazing blender EVER. It makes quick work of anything and everything you want to blend and even has a smoothie setting which is awesome. If you don't have a super powered blender its no problem. By using frozen fruit rather then ice you don't need to worry about your blender having to chop the ice which can be problematic.


My tried and true recipe is 3 cups frozen fruit, 3 cups milk and 1 tbs sugar. Its thick but not so much that you cant drink it. Enjoy!! {makes about 3 good size smoothies}

Mini lemon meringue pies

Since the weather has been so nice lately I was inspired to make a summertime treat. I love anything lemon so thought mini lemon meringue pies would be really fun. These little buggers are so adorable and perfectly bite size.

I used the lemon meringue recipe from Americas Test Kitchen "Family Cookbook" and tweaked it a bit to make mini pies.


Here is a step by step (see full recipe below):


1. Using a 1/3 cup measuring scoop cut out rounds for crust (I used Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough)

2. Press rounds into mini muffin pan. Prick a hole in bottom of each crust using a fork. Precook crusts at 375 degrees for 6 minutes (or until light brown). Allow to cool prior to filling.

3. Fill crusts and top with a dollop of meringue. (I used an ice cream scoop and it worked perfectly)

4. Bake in 325 degree oven for 8-10 min or until meringue is starting to brown and filling is set.

5. Allow to cool and try not to eat them all in one sitting!

Makes approx 24 mini pies

Supplies:

Mini muffin pan

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

6 large egg yolks

1 tbs lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 lemons)

2 tbs unsalted butter

Meringue:

1/3 cup water

1 tbs cornstarch

4 large egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees

2. To prepare filling: Combine water, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer while whisking constantly. When mixture begins to turn translucent, slowly whisk in egg yolks. (Its important to "temper" the egg yolks first by adding a few tablespoons of the cooked cornstarch mixture to the yolks and whisking. This will prevent them from scrambling when added to the saucepan.)

Whisk in zest, lemon juice and the butter. Return to a low simmer then remove the pan from heat.

3. To prepare meringue: Bring water and cornstarch to a simmer over med-high heat, whisking frequently. When the mixture turns translucent and begins to bubble, remove from heat.

4. Whip the egg whites and vanilla with an electric or stand mixer on low speed until frothy. Mix the sugar and cream of tartar together, then add it to the egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to medium and whip until soft peaks form. Add the cooked cornstarch mixture to the whipped egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue to whip until they are glossy and form stiff peaks.

5. Now, reheat the lemon filling over low heat for about 1 minute. Pour the hot filling into mini pie shells and then place a dollop of meringue on top (follow step by step photos above). Bake in 325 oven for about 8 minutes or until filling looks set and meringue is browning.

{Review}

These pies turned out great and were really fun to eat! I imagine the shells could be pretty much filled with anything and used as a great appetizer too. Herbed goat cheese maybe? I'll have to experiment with some more ideas.

* Note: Be sure the filling is hot (as mentioned in step 5) when filling the shells. This is important because if it is not your meringue might leak into the filling below causing a mess.

{Time}

About 1 hour total