Pistachio & Sausage Pizza

I saw this pizza topped with a pistachio spread and sausage from Don Antonio’s of NYC on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and was instantly excited by the pistachios on there. Apparently I wasn’t the only one either.  I only tweaked it a bit and thought it was great for a change of pace.

Pistachio Pizza - The Three Bite Rule
The pistachios up the price of making this pie for sure, but if you compare to a trip to NYC to have the real thing it is a bit more justifiable…also more convenient on a Thursday night.

Ingredients:

1/2 pizza dough ball
~1 cup pistachios, shelled
1 sweet Italian sausage link
1/4 cup olive oil
6 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes
1 large tomato, cut into chunks

Directions:

Preheat the oven and pizza stone, if using one to 400-degrees.
In a dry skillet, toast the pistachios over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Stir regularly.
Pistachio Pizza - The Three Bite Rule
Spread the dough out to a very large, flat circle. Then put onto the hot pizza stone so it stops from shrinking back down in size and poke a few holes into the crust with a fork or knife. Then bake for 5-10 minutes – just until lightly cooking and beginning to brown.
In a large skillet, fry the sausage over medium heat with the casing removed. Break into chunks with the back of a wooden spoon.
In a food processor, add the toasted nuts, salt, pepper, and half the oil. Pulse and stream in the rest of the oil. Taste & adjust as necessary.
Spread the pistachio sauce onto the pizza dough.
Pistachio Pizza - The Three Bite Rule
Then top with sausage, tomato, and mozzarella.
Pistachio Pizza - The Three Bite Rule
Bake for 5 minutes, then broil for another 3 minutes or so. Watch it under the broiler!
Pistachio Pizza - The Three Bite Rule
Let it sit a few minutes before slicing…otherwise you’ll lose the cheese.
Enjoy!

I liked the bubbly cheese with the pistachio crunch and the salty sausage. I probably should have added a fresh herb either into the pistachio sauce or onto the top. That was my goal with the tomatoes, but it could use a bit more of that.
Pistachio Pizza - The Three Bite Rule
I went heavy on the pistachio sauce since I figured if I bought this whole bag of shelled pistachios, I was better off using them instead of saving some and then forgetting about them hiding away in the cabinet. Less of that would have been fine, or some dollops instead of spread all over would be good. The little one was snoozing so I contemplated toasting the nuts and just chopping them up as a topping instead of as a sauce but I stuck with the original plan and the food processor didn’t wake him up.

I’ve been using a half of a ball of pizza dough to make pizza now. It makes for a much thinner crust and cuts down on how much dough we’re eating. It is mostly a measure of preference for reallllly thin crust but the health benefit doesn’t hurt either.

What I Ate: Pulled Pork Panini with Slaw

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

I had one colossal pork shoulder that I cooked in the crockpot months ago. The rest of it got frozen in about 4 batches for another 2-4 meals per batch. So. Huge. I didn’t want all of it to be the same so I was eyeing some of it to become paninis. How Sweet It Is made some pulled pork & beer cheese sandwiches and it made me think: I don’t put cheese with pulled pork nearly enough. I thought about boursin since that elevates a grilled cheese like woah, but I when it came around, I wasn’t feeling that texture. I wanted stretchy cheese!

The Three Bite Rule - Pork Panini with Slaw
I threw the slaw on these as a last minute for a crunch. People in the south are OK with slaw on their pork so I figured it was fine, or “authentic” for my paninis. Though, spell-check is NOT ok with the plural of panini.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pulled pork
1/4 cup bbq sauce
sliced colby jack cheese
3/4 cup coleslaw
4 slices of bread

Directions:

Heat a panini press or grill pan to medium-high heat, brushed with olive oil.
Toss the pork into the bbq sauce. Then lay cheese onto the bread, topping with pork.
The Three Bite Rule - Pork Panini with Slaw
Put the first half onto the panini press or grill pan so the bread can start toasting and the cheese begins melting. Cook for about 3-5 minutes.
Top with slaw and 2nd piece of bread.
The Three Bite Rule - Pork Panini with Slaw
Grill for 2 more minutes just to toast the top slice of bread.
Slice & enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Pork Panini with Slaw
The tang of the bbq sauce with the sharp cheese and the cool slaw is perfect. Just perfect. It has everything I want in a sandwich. I think the panini bread crunch is wayyy better than just any old roll.

Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict

Ohh gosh. I hope you’re wearing yoga pants when you make/eat this. You’ll need the room in your belt (and also, I’m mainly wearing yoga pants on maternity leave and don’t want to be the only one). This eggs benedict with pulled pork, hollandaise, and a fried egg makes for a hugely decadent breakfast and is so full of flavor. There’s nothing light about this and that’s what makes it ahhh-mazing. Have this as brunch…if anything is going to count for two meals, this is the dish to do it with.

The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict
I’m lucky to have lots of eggs on hand from my parents hens. Fresh egg yolks are unparalleled so this was a great way to highlight them. Speaking of my parents, Mom reminded me she makes her hollandaise in a blender…that sounds easier. I wish I remembered that.

Ingredients:

BBQ pulled pork (see my recipe here)
1/2 English muffin per person
1 fried egg per person
3 egg yolks
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 stick butter (not butter substitute)

Directions:

Mix egg yolks & lemon juice together using a hand mixer or blender for about 2 minutes or until doubled in size. (Note I started with 2 yolks but added a 3rd once it was just too little to mix well).
The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict
Over a double boiler of very low simmering water, slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking or beating with a hand mixer for 2 minutes. Be careful not to scramble the eggs by cooking them.
Remove from the heat and add salt, pepper, and a dribble of hot sauce. Then stir the sauce. Keep the simmering water handy in case the sauce gets too thick when assembling (see below).
The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict
Toast the English muffins and warm the pork.
Heat a frying pan to medium heat to fry the eggs.
Layer the muffin with the pork while the egg cooks.
The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict
Lay the egg on top with some salt & pepper on it.
The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict
Pour hollandaise sauce over the top. Add in a little warm water at a time if the sauce gets too thick (mine was pretty thick).
The Three Bite Rule - Pulled Pork Eggs BenedictEnjoy!

Ohh so good. Plus you probably won’t want your next meal for quite a while after eating this. I ended up actually splitting it between 2 English muffin pieces. One egg seemed like plenty since the sauce is so rich, it was a better quantity. You could serve this on biscuits or cornbread. You could poach the eggs (I loooove poached eggs) but they’re considerably harder than a fried egg and all the components seemed like enough to handle.

My pulled pork recipe for the crockpot will serve a ton. First I made this as BBQ pulled pork, then I froze the rest in batches and used it a few ways after we ate it a few times. This eggs benedict was just one way. My future batches will likely be a panini I have on my list and maybe as a baked dish with a cornbread-y topping.

Here are some other ideas for the pork leftovers: 
Pulled pork into tacos (as seen here, or here)
Pulled pork into a quesadilla
Pulled pork on pizza with mustard beer sauce
Pulled pork on nachos
Pulled pork as sliders

This totally made me feel like I was back to blogging for real. I made this while the little one napped which made me feel like a success/champion/rockstar. I struggle a bit feeling productive on days that all I’ve done is keep my little human alive. Plus, it seemed like a good use of time for 2 meals in one!

Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, & Cheese

It is officially time for maternity leave. “I’ll be back”. In the meantime, I have a few goodies to share out here in the blog-o-sphere until I come back. Enjoy!

Thanks to my parents’ hens, we always have a good supply of fresh eggs around. They have 4 hens who are dutifully producing about a total of 3 eggs a day, from the expected 1 egg per hen quantity. They often stop laying eggs in the winter but not these ladies. They are named: Henrietta, Helga, Helene and The Old Hag. There’s not really a way to know which is laying (or which hen is which!).

I wanted some variety in my freezer food supply so I figured there should be something breakfast-y. My ham was leftover from a spiral ham at Christmas that I chopped up and froze after we were tired of it. This is recipe is along the lines of a savory baked french toast and has infinite possibilities.

The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, and Cheese
Ham, Eggs, & Cheese Breakfast Bake (serves 6)
Ingredients:
8 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 loaf of Italian bread, or ~4 sub rolls
3 slices of spiral cut ham, chopped
1 cup cheddar, shredded
1/4 cup chives chopped

Directions:
Whisk together eggs, milk, salt & pepper.
Chop bread/rolls into 1″ chunks and mix into to the egg mixture.
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, and Cheese
Add in cheese, ham, chives (note: my ham pictured was frozen)
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, and Cheese
Mix just to combine. The bread will be soft and have absorbed the egg/milk mixture so don’t overmix or the bread will lose shape.
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, and Cheese
Spray a baking dish (or individual ramekins or into sprayed muffin tins) with non-stick spray. Preheat the oven if serving immediately, or prep labels to freeze.
Spoon into the dish(s) and bake at 375-degrees for 30-45 minutes until set, or cover & label to freeze.
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, and Cheese
I froze mine and baked from frozen for 60 minutes. The edges will lightly brown, it will puff up, and the center will set when fully cooked.
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, and Cheese
Serve and enjoy!

I loved this. It is puffy and light but filling. I thought the ham was fantastic but you could easily substitute whatever you like. I went lighter on the cheese since I didn’t want it too heavy and figured we could be spared a few calories while still getting the cheesy flavor and texture.

It was a nice alternative to some of my other freezer foods (butternut squash lasagna, burritos, stuffed shells, pulled pork, etc). I made one that served 4 and a smaller/more shallow one that would serve 2. I froze them for a few weeks but think this would hold up in the freezer for quite awhile…a few months?
The Three Bite Rule - Breakfast Bake with Ham, Eggs, and Cheese
Suggested adaptations: 
Bfast bake – ham + sausage or bacon = Still Meaty Bfast Bake
Bfast bake – cheddar + pecorino/fontina/parmesan/gruyere/swiss = Still Cheesy Bfast Bake
Bfast bake – meat + spinach/peppers/onions/mushrooms = Vegetarian Bfast Bake
Bfast bake – chives + other fresh herbs/scallions = Herbaceous Bfast Bake
Bfast bake – white bread + sourdough/rye/wheat bread – 2 of the eggs + 2 egg whites = Healthier Bfast Bake

Maple Glazed Pork Chops

I should call this dinner “all the fall things”. I went to town on fall flavors. Maple! Brussels Sprouts! Sweet Potato! Apple! I have been cooking often but this meal was a lot. I get full so quickly now so this was just so much.

The Three Bite Rule - Maple Glazed Pork Chops

Ingredients:

2-4 boneless pork chops
3 tbs maple syrup
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 apple, sliced

Directions:

Preheat a skillet to medium high heat and preheat the oven to 375-degrees.
Sear the pork with salt & pepper on each side in the hot pan for 4 minutes on each side, then put them into a baking dish.
The Three Bite Rule - Maple Glazed Pork Chops
While the pork is cooking, shake together the glaze ingredients: maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
The Three Bite Rule - Maple Glazed Pork Chops
Spread the glaze over the pork and bake for 20 minutes. Using a meat thermometer, check the temperature to ensuring the pork cooks through without over cooking it. (USDA guidelines recommend 145-degrees and then rested a few minutes before serving)
For the last few minutes of cooking, add sliced apple.
The Three Bite Rule - Maple Glazed Pork Chops
I served these with some roasted brussels sprouts with a touch of Parmesan and whipped sweet potato. The Parmesan came about since the pork and the sweet potato were both sweet flavored items and I didn’t want it all to seem the same. The apple was barely cooked which added a subtle crunch.

The Three Bite Rule - Maple Glazed Pork Chops