Pizza Fridays ( Korean Shredded Beef Pizza)

So I don't know about all of you-- but in my house growing up, Friday was always pizza night. We usually just ordered from the local pizza place-- and hey who could blame my mom? Cooking all week for a family of six must have been exhausting. So it's no wonder why pizza is one of my favorite foods of all time. Now that I no longer live with my parents and do not partake in their weekly pizza fiesta, James and I have created a Friday pizza night of our own. Really this all started over the summer when we started grilling every variation of pizza you could ever imagine multiple times a week. Now that it is winter time and sub zero temperatures here in lovely New York we have continued our pizza tradition inside where I am not in danger of getting frost bite. We have also limited it to Friday nights because lets face it-- pizza is not the most health conscious food-- especially the way we like it. And if you are wondering how we like it-- cheesy. It is alll about the cheese.  This is one of my favorite pizza combos we have made yet--- and it all started off with left over Korean shredded beef. Now anyone who knows me knows that tacos are a very close second in the favorite food department, and I usually make some variation of them at least once a week. Anything for a margarita right? While blog surfing ( I do a ridiculous amount of this) I came across a recipe for Crock Pot Korean Beef Tacos with Cucumber Slaw --yum. I had been looking for some new recipes to throw in the Crock Pot--because let's face it-- what is better than coming home from work to a meal that you can enjoy with minimal effort? Just about nothing in my opinion. So this recipe was perfect because not only did I get to use the Crock Pot, but I also got my weekly taco fix. Two Birds. One Stone. I love it. The marinade on this is absolutely amazing. I would use it for just about any type of meat. And the cucumber slaw is light and refreshing with a little bite from the crushed red pepper. I loved it. Well besides the part where I grabbed corn tortillas instead of flour. That I would change next time--but for the most part-- huge success. One of the best parts about this recipe is that we had tons of left overs. And this time I knew exactly what the star of our Friday night pizza was going to be.

 The one thing that I was back and forth on, was what type of sauce/ cheese I wanted to use to tie this all together. It's times like these that I like to bounce ideas off of James and see what he thinks. After all he is going to be eating the pizza too-- and it doesn't hurt that he has this way of thinking of something that I would have never thought of. I had originally suggested going with a mild white cheddar, or monterey jack -- but James thought that either of those might be too strong and take away from the flavors of the beef. We ended up going with shredded fresh mozzarella. I had it on hand-- and it worked perfectly. James also suggested to dress it with bbq sauce. I had brown sugar bbq in the pantry and since brown sugar is an ingredient in the beef it worked really well. I ended up using the left over juices from the beef and mixing it with the bbq in a sauce pan over low heat until it thickened up a little. End result- yum! We also went with some red onions and added some scallions after it was out of the oven for added crunch. It was absolutely delish-- and I got to use up left overs with I am a huge fan of.

I think the other thing that made this pizza so yummy is that I finally have mastered the dough. I used to just pick up the pre-made dough from the refrigerated section at the grocery store. And that always worked fine too--and saved a lot of time. Maybe I am a glutton for punishment--or maybe it's that homemade dough is just so stinkin good. Either way I have started making homemade dough every other week for our pizza nights. And I don't plan on stopping any time soon! Notice I said every/other. Pizza dough stays well in the freezer, so I just double my go to recipe and freeze half of it for next week. What could be easier than that?

Find the recipe for the Korean Shredded Beef - here.
Check out my go-to pizza dough recipe- here.

Strawberry Lemon Sorbet

So to finish off our New Years Eve dinner, we had to have something yummy for dessert. As if stuffing our faces with focaccia bread, meatballs and sausage wasn't enough. We decided it would be best to go with something light since dinner consisted of meat, bread and pasta and when I saw this recipe over at The Way the Cookie Crumbles, I was instantly sold. Since it is the middle of the winter and strawberries are not in season I opted to use frozen, this way I could guarantee they would be nice and sweet. Also frozen fruit is usually a staple in our house because it makes it super easy to whip up a smoothie on the go. So it just made the most sense to go with what I had on hand, and I would encourage you to do the same.

I also took the liberty of adding extra lemon zest because when we tasted the puree before freezing it, it seemed a little light on the lemon. The finished product ended up just a little more tart than I wanted so next time I think I would omit the extra zest and stick to the recipe.

This was only our second time using the ice cream maker attachment-- and I noticed that this time more of the puree seemed to leak over the edges. The vanilla ice cream recipe that we made yielded about a quart while this recipe makes about a quart and a half and it seems as though that makes a significant difference when freezing. Also the sorbet froze much more quickly then the ice cream-- and I'm not complaining! We threw it in the freezer to firm up a little more and enjoyed it after we no longer felt like we were going to explode from dinner. And boy was it yummy! We had plenty of vanilla ice cream left, so we topped it with a dollop of that-- which helped cut the extra tartness. Yum. Will definitely be making this again soon!

Find the recipe here.

New Years Eve- Three weeks later. (Foccacia Bread Recipe)

So this New Years James and I wanted to do something fun together without going to a packed restaurant or bar. We are generally the stay at home on the weekends kind of people and that's exactly the way we like it, so New Years Eve was not going to be any different. Instead we took the opportunity to use some more of our new kitchen gadgets to cook up what turned out to be an amazing meal. The idea for the main course came straight from James. He was eager to try out the meat grinder attachment for the stand mixer that he got for Christmas-- I know men and their meat right? But when he said he wanted to make sausage and meat balls and a big pot of sauce from scratch I was not going to complain for a second. I immediately began to rack my brains for something that I could contribute to the meal and decided I wanted to try my hand at focaccia bread with herbed olive oil. I mean what better to snack on while cooking a big Italian meal then crusty bread and of course red wine-- lots of red wine. I was a little nervous because I don't have a ton of experience of baking yeast breads but I was happy with the end result and I know what I would do differently next time.

The first thing that was a bit worrisome, was that my dough didn't seem to double in size like the recipe called for. I think that this was because my kitchen tends to be a little bit colder. Next time I think I would create a warmer place for the dough to sit, and hopefully it will help the problem. I don't think the effected the end result to dramatically but I won't know for sure until I make it again.

The other thing that I was a little hesitant about was the amount of olive oil you are supposed to add to the pan prior to baking. It called for 1/2 cup, but since we were planning on dipping it in the flavored oils that I had made that morning, I only added 1/4 cup. This still looked like a lot to me, but the finished product was a little dry. For us it was great because we were dipping, but in other circumstances I would probably stick to the original 1/2 cup it called for. Now in the midst of all this bread baking James was busy getting everything ready for dinner. While he prepped for the sauce, I got busy getting all of the meat cut down to go through the grinder. When it was all said and done we spent a good 7 hours in the kitchen getting everything ready for dinner, but not only was it worth it, I had blast. James took the lead on this meal and I was happy to assist with the various things that needed to be prepped. And as far as team work goes we hit it out of the park on this one. 

 

Funnily enough, I took tons of pictures of the process of cooking the meatballs and sausage and not so many of the end result. I guess that's what happens when you spend all day cooking and drinking wine-- I swear as soon as the food was in front of me it was gone. It was that good. The next time we do this I promise to document the entire thing better and include recipes, but for now all you need to know was that it was absolutely amazing. So now that I told you all about the amazing food that we made with no recipe to follow-- I will get back to the focaccia.

It came out nice and crusty as I had hoped it would, and with the herbed olive oil it was nearly perfect. Add the red wine and I was a happy camper. I had to restrain myself from filling up on the bread before the dinner was finished cooking-- and I can't stress enough how happy I was that I did.

Foccacia Bread (adapted from this recipe )

Ingredients 

• 1 3/4 cups warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Directions

Combine the warm water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Put the bowl in a warm, not hot or cool, place until the yeast is bubbling and aromatic, at least 15 minutes.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1/2 cup olive oil and the yeast mixture on low speed. Once the dough has come together, continue to knead for 5 to 6 minutes on a medium speed until it becomes smooth and soft. Give it a sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.

Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured surface, then knead it by hand 1 or 2 times. Again, give it another sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.
Coat the inside of the mixer bowl lightly with olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, at least 1 hour.

Coat a baking pan with the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil.


Put the dough onto the jelly roll pan and begin pressing it out to fit the size of the pan. Turn the dough over to coat the other side with the olive oil. Continue to stretch the dough to fit the pan. As you are doing so, spread your fingers out and make finger holes all the way through the dough.

Put the dough in the warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. While the dough is rising a second time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.( My dough didn't seem to rise all that much this time either)

Liberally sprinkle the top of the focaccia with some coarse sea salt and lightly drizzle a little oil on top. Bake the dough until the top of the loaf is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the focaccia from the oven and let it cool before cutting and serving.

So here it goes..

So I promised I would get caught up on all of my backlogged posts and recipes -- and I am one to make good on my promises. So by the end of the day I swear I will have organized, posted and caught up on everything I have intended to--even if my fingers fall off in the process. Which would be a major shame since tonight I plan on making burgers on these yummy pretzel buns that I found while blog surfing over at My Life as a Mrs. ( totally worth checking out -- I mean really-- this girl is hilarious and has tons of amazing recipes) Anywho-- I guess the best way to start is from the beginning right? That leads me to the seared tuna. Yes seared tuna. I don't know about you but I am huge lover of fish. My first choice is generally salmon-- whether it be in a sushi roll or prepared just about any other way. But James does NOT like salmon. No matter how many different ways I have asked him to try it, his mind is made up. I some how can not wrap my head around this since I think it is the most yummy and versatile fish. Still, every time I come up with some recipe that makes my mouth-water to the point that I think it HAS to be the one to change his mind-- he ever so kindly reminds me that he doesn't care if it is wrapped in gold-- he doesn't like salmon. So salmon is reserved for the nights that he is away on business or when we have sushi. Now tuna on the other hand,  we both share a love for. So when we saw this recipe by Chef Anne Burrell, I knew I wanted to try my own variation and James was right on board.

We started off by marinating the tuna. The longer you let the fish marinade, the more flavorful it is going to be. I think we ended up marinating the fish for about two and a half hours and it was delicious. I didn't use the sambal oelek-- because quite honestly, I have never used it before and couldn't find it in my local supermarket. So instead I substituted one rounded tablespoon of brown sugar, and about a tablespoon of sriracha chili sauce for some added kick. It had some bite, but wasn't overly spicy, you can leave it out if you don't want the added heat. We also seared the tuna in sesame oil rather than the peanut oil the recipe called for, just because I enjoy the flavor more.

 

The end result was super yummy. I decided to put mine over salad of romaine lettuce, cucumber, red onion, portabello  mushrooms and alfalfa sprouts with a ginger vinaigrette, while James had his salad on the side with white rice. Either way we were both very happy at the end of dinner. And so were the dogs and cats. Since I got enough tuna to feed four rather than two, they had a Sunday night feast as well.

I know-- who has it better than them right? Anyways, we were all pretty pleased about how this one turned out. A few minor things to keep in mind for next time-- not buying twice as much tuna as we need, and also letting the pan to heat up a little more so we get that nice sear we were looking for. But I have to say this one is definitely one that we would try again.

Marinated Seared Tuna (adapted from the recipe by Chef Anne Burrell)

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 to 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 rounded tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce ( or less if you don't like the spice)
4 scallions white and green part diced (save some dark green parts for garnish)
2 cloves garlic finely minced or pressed
1 1/2 inches of fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons sesame or peanut oil
4 - 6 ounce portions of sushi grade Ahi- tuna ( this was enough to feed four)

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the soy, rice vinegar, brown sugar, chili sauce, white and light green scallions, garlic and ginger. Put tuna in a large gallon sized ziplock bag and cover with marinade. Let sit in the fridge for up to 2 hours, turning the tuna periodically.

2. Remove the tuna from the fridge and let sit in the marinade outside of the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.

3. When the tuna has come to room temperature, remove it from the marinade. With a paper towel, gently remove some of the excess marinade.

4. Coat a large saute pan with sesame oil and bring it to a VERY high heat. When the pan is VERY hot but not quite smoking, pull the pan off the heat and add the tuna to the pan. Return the pan to the heat and sear the tuna for 1 minute on each side.

5. Remove the tuna from the pan, let rest for 4 to 5 minutes and slice into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices. Sprinkle with the dark green sliced scallion tops.

6. Serve immediately with a little extra soy on the side if desired.

Vanilla bean Ice Cream with Cinnamon/Sugar bowls

Well, I'm a little late-- Happy 2013. It was totally my intention to begin our blogging adventure at the start of the new year but here it is January 17 and I am just now posting my first entry. New years resolutions were never really my thing. There are so many recipes that I need to catch up on and I am going to try and do them in order so try and bear with me! One of my absolute favorite kitchen gadgets that we recently bought is our Ice Cream attachment for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  Naturally, I could not wait to try it out, and after sifting through recipes of literally every type of ice cream you could every imagine-- James suggested that we start slow and master a basic vanilla before we move on something more complex. He is always the voice of reason. And although I was a little bummed at first that I wouldn't be snacking on peanut butter banana or chocolate espresso, the vanilla bean was so creamy and delicious that it was difficult to stay bummed for long. And to top it all off it was super easy-- and I like easy. 

I think what I enjoyed most about making this, is that it was the start of a long weekend of cooking with James. We very ambitiously planned to use the meat grinder attachment to make sausage and meatballs for our new years eve dinner, ice cream plus sorbet for dessert, and I set out master my bread making skills by attempting my first  loaf of focaccia bread-- but that's a whole other story. Back to the ice cream-- I have to admit James did most of the work on this one, I just wandered around the kitchen drinking wine and micromanaging ( he loves when I do that). You basically are making a custard base which you then strain into heavy cream-- the result will be the creamy yummy goodness you see above. Then comes the hard part-- you wait until it is cold enough for the ice cream maker. 

Honestly--I did not expect for it to come out so great our first time around, but I am telling you it was creamy and smooth and totally rich.  And what's even more astonishing, is that after only 20 minutes in the ice cream maker it gets to be like the consistency of gelato.Yum! Who doesn't love gelato right? The recipe I used said to freeze it for at least two hours before eating, but come on really? Is that even possible? So we had some less than a hour later and it was great. After devouring a bowl-- we both decided that next time the only thing we would change would be to use half in half in place of some of the heavy cream. This would cut out some of the richness and be a little lighter (but not much). As if homemade ice cream was not enough, we just had to try out our new tortilla bowls to make a delicious cinnamon/sugar vessel to eat it with. All in all I think that it was a successful en devour and I really look forward to trying out some more complex flavors and recipes.
Vanilla Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

1 cup milk
a pinch of salt
¾ cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
2 cup heavy cream
a few drops of vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a paring knife. Add the bean pod to the milk.

2. Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Rinse the vanilla bean and put it back into the custard and cream to continue steeping. Chill thoroughly, then remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.