Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza

Sorry for the absence. I can't find my camera cord for my Point&Shoot. It's some where in my apartment but it's hiding. I went to Austin, TX with my mama last weekend and wanted to upload some yummy pics but I guess those will just have to wait :(

Yesterday, I went to Costco. Surprise Surprise. It was actually pretty sad because I only left with 1 item....a $5 rotisserie chicken. YUM. I still have tons of left over chicken so I decided it was time to make a homemade pizza.

I love Trader Joe's pizza dough so I picked some up after work. I also got some sweet peppers and tomatoes. Epic Fail. Moldy peppers and grainy tomatoes. I was really really sad. But it didn't stop me from making a delicious pizza!

Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

- store bought pizza dough

- flour, for rolling dough

- corn meal

- olive oil

- 5 cloves of garlic, minced.

- hot sauce (I used Tapatio because I am obsessed with it)

- left over chicken, shredded

- shredded lowfat mozzarella

- 1 carton of white mushrooms, sliced 

- 1/2 tablespoon of butter

1. Let the dough rest on floured surface for 20 minutes (or follow dough specific directions if using non-Trader Joe's dough).

2. Saute mushrooms in butter until brown, set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 450.

4. Roll out pizza dough to desired shape/size. Dust bottom of dough with corn meal.

5. Brush dough with olive oil. Cover with minced garlic.

6. Add mushrooms, hot sauce, and chicken. Cover with cheesey goodness.

7. Fold edges of dough over and brush with olive oil.

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Disclaimer: while amazing and super tasty, I did miss the tomatoes and peppers that I had planned on using....so go ahead and add those for an even better pizza

Mushroom Bourguignon

I love meat. No really, I do. But sometimes....I just want a good vegetarian meal. I feel almost bad for vegetarians due to the lack of inspired meatless dishes. Fear no more, Smitten Kitchen to the rescue!

Deb's Mushroom Bourguignon replicates the classic Julia Child masterpiece but without the guilt and all of the flavor. Instead of beef, bacon, and butter butter butter, this bourguignon is chock full of portobellos. It also takes WAY less time. Mmmm mmm this one is a keeper.

Smitten Kitchen's Mushroom Bourguignon

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 tablespoons butter, softened

- 2 pounds portobello mushrooms, in 1/4-inch slices with stems removed

- 1/2 carrot, chopped 

- 1 small yellow onion, diced

- 2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

- 1 cup full-bodied red wine

- 2 cups beef or vegetable broth (I used beef)

- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)

- 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

- 1 cup pearl onions, peeled

- egg noodles

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in dutch oven or stock pot. Sear the mushrooms on high heat until they begin to darken but not yet release any liquid (about 3 to 4 minutes). Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Reduce to medium heat and add second tablespoon of olive oil. Add carrots, onions, thyme, and salt+pepper into the pan. Cook for 10 minutes until the onions are lightly browned (about 10 minutes).

3. Add garlic and cook for just one more minute.

4. Add wine to the pot and scrape any stuck bits off the bottom. Turn the heat up all the way and reduce by half. 

5. Stir in tomato paste and the broth. Add back the mushrooms with any juices that have collected and once the liquid has boiled, reduce the temperature so it simmers for 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are very tender.

6. Add the pearl onions and simmer for 5 minutes more.

7. Combine remaining butter and flour with a fork. Stir into stew and lower the heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. If the sauce is too thin, boil it down to reduce to the right consistency. Season to taste.

Serve over egg noodles (with optional sour cream, chives or parsley). Makes enough for 4 people.

Lasts

Hello Beautiful People! Lately, I have not felt like blogging. I attribute my lack of motivation to my real life self-induced stress due to my indecisiveness. Say what? I got into graduate school and am trying to figure everything out.

While I am super SUPER excited for this new adventure, it is finally hitting me that I will be leaving San Francisco, my home for the past 5 years. I have the urge to fit in everything that I love doing in this beautiful city. Food, sight-seeing, festivals, etc. I have even found myself wanting to buy those touristy items that say "San Francisco" and have a picture of a cable car. Yep, I'm going to miss this city a whole lot. But I have a feeling I'll be back, sooner or later.

One of my favorite things to do here is go get Dim Sum in Chinatown. SF's Chinatown is one of a kind. I've been to Chinatown in New York, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. My favorite? San Francisco (although I do really love all of the knock-off's on Canal Street in NYC).

Graham has always been skeptical about Dim Sum. However, I'll excuse him because I've taken him to some not so great places. I found my new favorite place the last time one of my best friends from Cal came to visit. I felt ok taking him here since I had already inspected the quality and cleanliness of the food/restaurant. Another hint that it was a great place to take him? It was full of Chinese people. That is always one tip off that it's not a tourist trap.

We left Russian Hill and arrived at Gold Mountain kind of early this morning. It wasn't crowded yet so we luckily got seated very quickly. I explained to Graham that the rule is "if you see something you want, get it. if you see something you want to try, get it." Now, this might seem very simple but oh wow, you have no idea. I used to go to Dim Sum with an old Chinese friend and she would never let me order what I wanted. I would watch the carts pass by full of food I wanted but nope, she would alway turn it away. Well, not today!

We got sesame balls, thick rice noodles with shrimp, shrimp dumplings, baked bbq pork buns, and steamed bbq pork buns. I wanted pork dumplings but never saw them on the carts that went by. I don't like shrimp so I skipped the dumplings but Graham said they were amazing. I did eat the rice noodles (without shrimp) and was very pleased. Bbq pork buns are my absolute favorite so that explains the two different kinds :) All in all it was a great morning feast. I left satisfied and full, but not too full which was amazing. There is something about watching all of the food go around on carts and getting to share family style that I love. Gold Mountain, I will miss you.

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After breakfast, we walked up Columbus Avenue through North Beach. I am kind of bitter about North Beach (Little Italy), only because I've been a victim one too many times of touristy restaurants with the pushy men standing on the sidewalk ready to serve you a big plate of bland food. However, I still love walking around dreaming about pasta. Sad, I know. We stopped at Mara's (one of my favorite bakery's in North Beach) to get some coffee and continued on our way.

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From North Beach, we walked to Fisherman's Wharf. We walked along the water, passed In & Out while exercising a lot of self control, and found ourselves at the finish line for the Emerald Across the Bay 12k. We were tempted to continue walking through Fort Mason and on to the Marina but we decided it would be better if we went home to go clean our apartments. Geez, that sounds boring. But really, really necessary.

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Now I am a very happy girl. I was able to get Dim Sum, walk through North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf, and spend time with my adventure buddy and it's only 12:30! Now on to laundry, cleaning, and watching the Cal/Duke basketball game....Go Bears!!!


*Note: I didn't bring my camera so these pictures are all from Google Images

South African Malay Curry

The time has come. I have finally stopped procrastinating and posted the recipe. Gasp! I prepared this meal last weekend and it was everything I remembered it to be. I love how you can cook it all in one pot. It makes this tiny kitchen apartment renter VERY happy.

South African Malay Curry

From The Congo Cookbook

Curry Ingredients:

- a few tablespoons of olive oil

- 2 white onions, sliced

- 1 tablespoons finally chopped fresh ginger root

- 1 teaspoon turmeric

- 1 teaspoon coriander

- 1 teaspoon cumin

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon curry powder

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

- 2 pounds of lamb, cut into bite-sized cubes

- 1 eggplant, cut into cubes

- 1 green bell pepper, chopped

- 2 serrano chiles, chopped

- 1 cup dried apricots, soaked in warm water and drained

- 1 small can of tomato paste

- 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

- 2 cups beef broth or stock

- 1/2 cup apricot jam

- 1 cup plain yogurt 

Condiments:

- Raita

- Peanuts

- Cantaloupe, small chunks

- Banana, sliced

- Unsweetened coconut

- Tomatoes, chopped

- Romaine lettuce, thinly sliced

- Chutney

- Pappadams

1. Heat oil in large pot. Over high head, fry onions and garlic, stirring continuously. Add all of the spices and continue stirring for one minute.

2. Remove onions and set aside.

3. Reduce heat slightly. Add the lamb and brown on all sides. 

4. Add all remaining ingredients, including the onions and excluding the apricot jam and yogurt. Cover. Simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, until everything is tender, about 1 hour. 

5. A few minutes before serving, stir in jam and yogurt.

Serve with basmati rice and a small glass of Amarula. Allow each person to add their condiments to their own curry.

{Please excuse the cat + cat toy in the background. Oh and my lack of real dining room table}

Berry and Flax Seed Smoothie

One of my favorite things in the entire world is a smoothie. I'm not talking about those slushie gross frozen drinks from 7 Eleven (although I do like Icee's). I am talking about the perfect blend of yogurt, fruit, and juice.

Today I was craving one post workout so I threw one together. I love that smoothies are like salads in that you can really use any ingredients that you want. They are also so easy to make, well except if you have my blender. RIP $20 blender from Target. You were such a waste of money.

Berry and Flax Seed Smoothie

Ingredients: 

- 1/2 cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt  --> I love this in my smoothies. It must be because I'm part Greek :)

- 1/2 cup orange juice (more or less, depending on if you use fresh or frozen fruit and the thickness you want)

- 3/4 cup of fruit (I used 1/4 frozen raspberries, 1/4 frozen strawberries, and 1/4 frozen blueberries)

- 2 teaspoons flax seeds

- honey to taste

*Note: if you don't use frozen fruit, use ice to thicken it up

One easy step: Blend it all together!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Tonight I was in the mood for soup. I blame it on the weather but really, I think I was just craving a good bowl of homemade slurpy goodness. I've never ever made soup, gasp! I'm pretty sure that my mom spoiled me with her epic homemade soups because I hate canned soup. Much to my surprise, making soup is so easy! I definitely have to do this more often.....

Chicken Noodle Soup

*Adapted From Cooking Light's Chicken-Orzo Soup

Ingredients:

- 1/4 package of 1 pound box of dried fettuccine pasta, broken into 3rds

- 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped

- 3 celery sticks, chopped

- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (remove thyme from sprigs)

- 1 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

- 1/2 lemon, reamed and juice set aside

- 3 cups of fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth

- 1 pound of chicken tenders, cut up into small pieces

- 2 cups of water

- salt and pepper, to taste

- olive oil

1. Coat inside of soup pot with olive oil. 

2. On medium heat, add chicken to pot. When chicken is almost fully cooked, add vegetables. Cook for 3 minutes. 

4. Add chicken broth, water, parsley, and thyme. Bring to boil.

5. Add dried pasta. Cook on medium high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and cover/simmer for 10 minutes to finish cooking pasta and vegetables.

6. Add lemon juice and simmer for 1 minute. Add salt and pepper to taste.