Pizza!

The key to good homemade pizza is getting a pizza stone. They're not that expensive and they open up worlds of possibility for delicious (and not-too-naughty) pizzas. The two pizzas featured here are:

Spinach, Tomato, and Chicken Pizza

and

Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Pizza with Balsamic Drizzle

For these or any pizza, start with a good bakery-prepared whole wheat pizza crust. You could make your own, but honestly, who has time for that? Give yourself plenty of lead-time to let the crust warm to room temperature and be patient as you stretch it. Don't be afraid to let the dough rest and come back to it later if it's too sproingy.

Our featured pizza flavors came about because we happened to have on hand,

A) One box of frozen chopped spinach

Leftover rotisserie chicken

Can of diced tomatoes with basil and olive oil

Sliced onions

Minced garlic

Extra-sharp white cheddar (sliced thin from the deli)

B) Jar of pizza sauce

One ball of fresh mozzarella

Fresh basil if you can get it

More onions and garlic

Balsamic vinegar

Preheat your oven (check directions on your pizza stone). Place your stretched-out dough on an unrimmed cookie sheet or wooden pizza peel dusted with cornmeal. Then heap on garlic and veggies and add the bare minimum of cheese to just hold things together. As you add ingredients, you should check periodically to make sure your pizza isn't sticking to your peel. When you're satisfied, toss a little more cornmeal onto the hot pizza stone and slide your creation into the oven. Bake until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

The only thing tricky item in these featured pizzas is the balsamic reduction. Put the vinegar in a small saucepan and let it steam away on low heat until it reduces in volume. Don't boil it and don't over-reduce it or you'll get a molasses-sticky mess. The reduction will continue to thicken as it cools. We drizzled the reduction on the mozzarella and basil pizza after it was cooked.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal with Raspberries and Mascarpone

We all know we're supposed to be eating oatmeal to lower our LDL cholesterol. And yet, nobody wants to eat something remembered from childhood as a bottomless gloppy bowl of flavorless mash made tolerable only with liberal application of butter and brown sugar. Even worse are the instant oatmeal packets, being so small that they should be more accurately labeled breakfast appetizers, and so sweet that they leave you wanting a glass of water and a nap. There has got to be a better way...folks, this is it. Mascarpone cheese is a creamy, slightly sweet Italian soft cheese used in tiramisu and sometimes cannolis. This stuff really is incredible and has just been waiting for a way to become breakfast food. You could use yogurt instead of the mascarpone, but you won't reach breakfast nirvana that way.

Oatmeal with Raspberries and Mascarpone

(serves 2)

Have on hand: one bag of frozen raspberries, thawed in the refrigerator the previous day.

In a medium saucepan, bring 1-3/4 c. water to a boil. Stir in,

1 c. old-fashioned oats

2 Tbsp. oat bran

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Reduce heat to med-low. Peel a banana and slice it into the cooking oatmeal. If your banana is a bit green, add a squeeze of honey. Cook, stirring frequently, about five minutes.

Serve the oatmeal with a dollop of mascarpone cheese and a couple spoonfuls of raspberries with their juice.

Hanione Can Cook

Hello, and welcome to my blog about food. I'm Hanione (that's pronounced han-I-knee) and there are three main reasons I decided to do this blog:

1) I like to cook, but more importantly, I like to eat. My husband is a bottomless pit waiting to be filled with food. Sadly, we're both past the blissful phase of life when your metabolism lets you eat whatever you want with no consequences. So, we're always looking for ways to prepare new, exciting, delicious food that's not too rich and can be consumed in relatively large quantities.

2) My family has a history of heart disease, high cholesterol, strokes, and diabetes. That means that whenever I can, I'm going to try to find appealing ways to eat whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. I'm not so diet-righteous that I could give up dessert, beer, and cheese forever, but I am trying to be smart about most of my day-to-day food choices.

3) Over the past few years, I've had a lot of fun experimenting with food. I draw inspiration from cookbooks and food I eat in restaurants, but most of my best stuff happens by accident. I'm a big fan of throwing away measuring cups and adding flavor until it's right. Sometimes you get something edible, and sometimes you get something transcendent. I find cooking this way to be a fun and creative process and that is the philosophy I'll try to stick with in this blog. Here are a few general rules:

* Everying can and should be modified. Food should be pleasureable; make every recipe your own.

* All measurements are approximate. I'll give guidlines in standard increments (e.g. Tablespoons), but these will just be guesses based on whether I used a big or small spoon from my silverware drawer when I was scooping.

* Don't be afraid of things you think you hate. If at first you hate mushrooms, cut them in small dice for your soups. If you try something and still hate it, find a substitute and keep experimenting.

And with that, let's get on to the good stuff...the food!

Dallas Cake

The idea for this cake came to me in a dream. No joke. James came to wake me up on a Saturday morning and my dream land became interwoven with reality thanks to a generous dose of noun replacement. Here's how the conversation went:

James: Good morning 'Nione, time to wake up!

'Nione: Mrrmungh.

James: What, honey? It's Saturday morning...time to make breakfast!

'Nione: If we hurry, we can put butter on it.

James: Put butter on what?

'Nione: Mrrmungh...Dallas...cake.

James: You mean buttercream frosting.

'Nione: No, butter. It's all melting. On the Dallas cake.

In my dream, I had been making an apple skillet cake which had come out of the oven and was waiting to be topped with dabs of butter. I was distressed because the cake was cooling off and if I didn't hurry, the butter wouldn't melt. As I was being awakened, the only noun I could think of to represent the idea of apples in a skillet was "Dallas". I have never been to Dallas, and I have no idea if Texans would even like this cake. But, when a cake apperars to you in a dream, and turns out to be delicious, you have to keep calling it by whatever crazy name it had in the dream. And so, I give you Dallas Cake.

Note: this recipe has been significantly modified from the dream for health reasons. For example, you'll notice that we're not topping the thing with dabs of butter. But, we think it's delicious nonetheless.

Dallas Cake

(Serves 3 for dinner or more for dessert)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut five small small apples into half-inch chunks (leave the skins on...less work, more vitamins). Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 1/2 T. of butter in the skillet or spray with Pam. Toss the apples in the skillet along with:

Generous dusting of cinnamon (1/2 tsp.)

Squeeze of lemon juice (2 tsp.)

Large spoonful of granulated sugar (1 Tbsp.)

Cook the apples until they are starting to soften and give up some juice, then remove the skillet from the heat. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients.

2 c. whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

In an electric mixer, beat together:

3 Tbsp. semi-melted butter (nuke it until you have some liquid, some solid)

1 Tbsp. sour cream (make it a generous tablespoon)

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Sweetener (choose one of the following or vary according to your tastes/waistline):

* 1/2 c. granulated sugar plus 1/2 c. brown sugar

* 1/2 c. brown sugar plus 1/2 c. applesauce

* 1/2 c. splenda for baking plus 1/2 c. applesauce

Add 1/2 cup milk, then mix in dry ingredients until just moistened. The batter should be moist, but not runny. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the batter into the skillet. Smash the mixture around to incorporate the cooked apples. Smooth the top.

Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Eat immediately, preferrably for dinner (plan ahead and have a salad for lunch). If you have leftovers, the cake is delicious cold from the fridge.