No-wait Pizza base

Although Pizza is not something that we eat often as I don't perticular like it, however, my family does so I do have a few recipes kicking around.

Here is a recipe that is real quick, requires no waiting (except for the starter to go foamy and then another 5 minutes rest time) and tastes way better then any pizza base you get in this country - take out or freezer.

Trust me, this recipe is faster start to finish then any take out you can get (over here from the moment I place the call till delivery is 45 minutes and it is usually slightly cold when it gets here).

1 pack yeast (fresh or active dry)
1 tsp sugar
1 cup look warm water (make sure it is not too hot as it will kill the yeast)
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour (plain works fine, I usually use bread flour)
2 tbs good quality olive oil
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to very high (about 230C).
In a bowl disolve the yeast with the sugar in the water. Let in stand until foamy. Depending on the water temperature it can take up to 10 minutes - this step is called "proving the yeast"

Add the flour (start with 2 1/2 cups), oil and salt.

Mix with your hands, adding flour as neccessary, until you get a smooth dough. Let the dough rise for 5 minutes

Put the dough onto a slightly floured surface and roll it into a circle. I often put it on a floured baking sheet, pat and roll it to the desired shape.
Transfer the dough onto a baking tray (or pizza pan if you have one). Spread the toping of your choice.
Bake at 230C for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Basic Picante Sauce

Quick, easy and way better than any store bought stuff. And you can easily adjust the level of spicyness of the sauce

1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper
6 medium tomatoes
6 tablespoons vegetable oil (I usually use canola/rapeseed)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh, finelly chopped cilantro

Remove the stems from and tomatoes and chop into 1/4-inch pieces.

Preheat the oil to medium temperature in a large frying pan. Add the onions and saute for about 10 minutes or until tender but not brown. Add the remaining ingredients. Turn heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the jalapeno pepper after simmering the mixture.

If you want it spicier, cut the jalapeno open, remove the seeds and cook it (then remore) or cut it finely with/without seeds (with seeds is going to be much spicier)

How to Make Deli Style Chicken

 Many people love the convenience of deli style chickens. They are already cooked, ready to eat or to put in your favorite chicken dish. You can use the meat for salads and soups or any other recipe that calls for pre-cooked or left over chicken. Making it at home is really easy and doesn't cost that much - especially if you can find chicken on sales. You also get the added advantage of deciding what goes into your spice rub.

1 whole chicken weighing about 2kg – cleaned inside and out, pat dry (with a paper towel that you throw away right after!!!)

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. each onion powder, garlic powder and pepper

1 onion, quartered

Mix all spices together in a small bowl. Rub the entire chicken, inside and outside, with the spice mixture. Place the quartered onion inside the chicken cavity.

Although there are several methods, I always just do it on a roasting pan. Place the prepared chicken on a rack in the roasting pan and cook in the oven at 120 C. Bake for 5 hours.

If you are using a crock pot, then place the chicken breast side up in the crock pot. If you don't want the chicken to swim in the juices, place some potatoes at the bottom of the crock pot and place the chicken on top of it. Close the slow cooker tightly and cook on low for 8 hours. Let chicken set for a few minutes before carving.

Note: I use kosher chickens which are already salted and never mind how much you wash them, they do taste salty for some reason (I think the meat sort of absorbs some of the salt). I anyway don't like using a lot of salt, so I never put additional salt on my roasted chicken. But feel free to add it to your preferred taste.

Basic Pancake Recipe

Pancakes are very easy to make. You can make them in batches and reheat them for a quick breakfast.

My grandma used to fill them with a sweet cheese filling (quark (white cheese) with rasins and a little bit of suggar according to taste). We used to eat them fresh or the next day when she just banged them into the oven for reheating. The cheese then turned harder. Both ways are totally delicous.

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons each sugar and baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk (milk substitute, water or soda)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus oil for frying

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Mix well. Beat in the in egg, milk and vegetable oil, stirring until wet. Mixture should end up slightly lumpy. Leave the mixtrue for about 10 minutes.
Heat a griddle or large skillet to medium high. Add very little oil to the pan.
Pour some of the batter on the skillet. If you like American style pancakes then you can make several small pancakes a time, depending on how many your skillet or griddle will hold without the pancakes touching and leaving room to be able to flip them. I personally like the European style more, which are large ones and for those I use a medium sized pan.

The pancakes are ready to flip when you see many bubbles popping on the surface. Flip and cook for another minute, the second side doesn’t take as long to cook. Both sides should be a nice golden brown.

Tip: If you want to fill them with a savoury filling leave out the suggar. For those who want to keep it kosher (or follow a diet that doesn't allow mixing different proteins), use a milk substitute or use water or soda (the pancakes will be even fluffier)

Basic Vinaigrette with variations

With spring being here I find myself wanting more and more salads. Now, I really enjoy salads and especially in the warmer month this is some food that does not require any cooking.

Another thing I really look for in my food is variations. I don’t like tasting the same over and over again. One way that I spice up a simple salad is real quick and simple: salad dressings. Below you have the recipe for a very basic vinaigrette, followed by a few variations.

There are different ways of making dressing, which will also influence the texture. One way is by adding everything into a glass container (e.g. an old jam glass), close the lid and shake vigorously for a few seconds. This will be like the bottled version that you get.

On the other hand, if you whisk it, either manually or in a mixer, you will get a really smooth, velvety dressing – more like what you get in restaurants.

Both versions work fine. I usually make up quite a bit at a time and then use it during the week.

A very simple way of making variations is using herbs. Dried herbs have a more intense flavor but need extra time to rehydrate and release their flavorings and should be prepared about 2 hours in advance.  If you don’t have fresh herbs, which are always preferred, you need to substitute it with about ¼ of the original quantity with dried herbs – that means if a recipe calls for 4 tsp fresh chopped herbs, you need only 1 tsp dried herbs.

You can add just about anything. You can also play around slightly with the vinegar-oil ratio, however, the basic ratio is 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil.

Basic vinaigrette

1/2 cup wine vinegar (red, white, balsamic)

1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 to 2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Mustard Honey vinaigrette:

Add 1 tsp French Dijon and 1 tbs honey.

Herbed vinaigrette:

Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1 tbsp. fresh minced basil, and 1 tsp. marjoram, chives to the Mustard Honey vinaigrette.

Herbed Italian vinaigrette:

Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 5 cloves minced garlic, 2 tbsp. fresh minced basil, 1 tsp. fresh minced oregano (optional), 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes.

Piquant Dressing:

Add 1 chopped hard cooked egg, 1 tsp. mustard, 1 tbsp. finely chopped onion (green works great), 1 tsp. paprika.

Avocado Dressing:

Add 1 cup pureed avocado and blend until smooth. Add a little bit of lemon juice (stops it from going brown/grey).

Sour Cream or Buttermilk Dressing:

Add 1 cup sour cream or buttermilk to basic dressing and blend until smooth. Add herbs as desired.

Extremly easy tomato sauce

Very often recipes call for tomato sauce. Now, if there is a money waster it must be ready made tomato sauce (or pasta sauce). I NEVER purchase tomato sauce. It is just not justified.

Usually, I buy small tubs of tomato paste and reconstruct it to tomato sauce by doing the following:

Mix together:  1 part tomato paste : 2 parts water. 

Add salt and pepper if you really have to, but usually I don't as I season the whole dish in one go.


Want to make pasta sauce? Just add fresh or dried Basel or Oregano.
Want to make Mexican style tomato sauce? No problem, just add some cumin, coriander, chili and/or cayenne pepper and salt. Or just a Mexican/taco spice mix.

This week, I asked my husband to buy a large tub (in this country they come in small or large plastic containers, or in a large tin). He told me that they were out of the small ones and the large tub cost about 3 times the amount as the one in the tin - and the tin holds more!!!!

What I did was I just used what I needed for one meal and transferred the rest to a plastic container which I put into the fridge. I did this, instead of freezing the rest in two small Tupperware type containers, as the weekly menu plan anyway called for tomato paste this week.

What are the things you wouldn't dream of buying? Please drop a note, I always like to learn from others.

How to Cook Rice

If you are like I was cooking rice is a bit of a challenge. Either it is mushy and yucky, or it is burned…. Of course, you could invest in a rice cooker, but honestly, it is just another item that sits in your kitchen (never mind how often you use it) and it is an expense that is really not justified once you know how to cook rice properly.

Well, my friends it is time to reveal a little secret that makes cooking rice really easy!!! This is a 100% fool proof way to cook your rice to perfection EVERY time. This method works on all normal white rice, except for the round version (like sushi, risotto, Australian round rice (this is what it’s called here in Israel etc.) .

What you should know in advance is that one cup of raw rice yields about two and a half to three cups of cooked rice.

OK, now let’s get cooking:

1.       1.First of all, washing or pre-soak your rice is totally unnecessary, never mind what people tell you. The only exception may be Basmati, as it helps to get rid of excess starch. However, I usually forget to do it when I make Basmati rice and the rice is perfect. Pre-soaking is really a total waste of time and water. And I am speaking from experience.

2.       Put 1 cup of rice and 1½ cups of boiling water in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.

3.       Bring the water again to a boil over high heat. Once the water boils reduce the heat and cook on low heat for 16 minutes (set the timer!!!)

4.       When the timer rings, turn off the burner and remove the pan from the stove (unless you have a gas oven like I have, then you can leave it on the stove).DO NOT OPEN THE LID!!!  Let the rice sit, covered (!), for another 5 minutes.

5.       Remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork to separate the grains.

Voila, perfect cooked rice

If you want to cook brown rice, you could either follow the cooking instructions on the package, or:

1.       Use 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of boiling water.

2.       Season with a mild curry, this will really boost the flavor of the rice and makes it totally yummy.

3.       Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer for 45 minutes.

4.       Let stand, covered, for another 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

A note for those of you who don’t like brown rice. First of all, try the round brown rice version (here the cooking instructions are the same as for normal brown rice). Round brown rice is not as strong in flavor, so it is easier to adjust to it. Also, season it with a mild curry flavor. It really turns the overpowering flavor into something outstanding.

We just switched a few month ago to using just about only brown rice and my kids totally love it.

IMPORTANT

·         For food safety reasons, rice should never be left out at room temperature longer than two hours.

·         Also, rice should not be cooked for more then two days in advanced. If you made too much, just freeze it.

·         Sushi rice is ok to use up to 24 hours. If you want to use this kind of rice later on, make a rice pudding out of it. The rice is not ok to be used for sushi after 24 hours (I usually make the rice about 1 to 2 hours ahead of time).