BBQ Chicken Pizza

I’ll never tire of pizza toppings. This is actually an oldie-but-goodie. It was the first meal I made for Mr. J. It was kind of a go-to meal since it was easy regardless of grill access. I can’t believe I haven’t blogged it for you before!

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Ingredients:

Pizza dough
4 chicken tenders (or 2 breasts)
1 cup barbecue sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella
½ red onion
2 green onions

Directions:

Pre-bake pizza crust at 400-degrees for 15 minutes or until the edges start getting crisp.
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Brush chicken tenders with ½ the barbecue sauce and grill until cooked through.
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Shred the cooked chicken with 2 forks.
Top the pizza crust with a light layer of barbecue sauce, then cheese, then red onions.
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Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
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Remove from oven and top with chopped green onion and drizzle with bbq sauce.

I forgot how much I love this pizza. The sweet and tangy sauce with melty cheese…ohh so good. It is really good for leftovers too. Don’t let the 2 kinds of onions be intimidating. They are not overpowering. Topping this with a drizzle of sauce really makes it an impressive dinner.

On my trip to Chicago my colleague inspired a NEW pizza. Stay tuned for that one! Thanks Mrs. M!

Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Dip

I’m pretty obsessed with Pretzel Crisps right now. I love them…especially the everything ones. They remind me of everything bagels which then brought me to a cream cheese dip for them!

I made it for mother’s day brunch but am just getting around to posting it. Make this. Take my word for it. It’s a fun brunchy item that nobody else will have. It is super addicting too.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese (softened to room temp)
1 tbs crushed garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp dried onion
½ tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
3 tbs milk/cream
Pretzel thins (everything or sesame or plain)

Directions:

Mix softened cream cheese with garlic, spices, and sesame oil.
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Add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until the mixture is dip-able.
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Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight before serving.
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I think everyone liked it. I chose flavors I thought we’d like with the pretzels but there are tons of alternatives. Crushed garlic, garlic powder, and chives would be good. Or bacon and scallions (my fav at Breuggers).
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What is your go-to brunch item?

Grilled Turkey Rachel

Here’s a quickie for today. I got back from Chicago on Monday and I’m leaving for San Fran tomorrow. Don’t pity me though. As much as I’d like to be home this weekend I love the event I’m working and I love my job. After this I’m home for a few weeks and have lots to cook!

I’ve been more into sandwiches lately than usual. I think any sandwich is better when toasted or panini-fied. I made a simplified Turkey Rachel. You don’t necessarily need a recipe for this one.
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Ingredients:

2 slices wheat bread
4 slices cracked pepper turkey
2 slices swiss cheese (or 1 cup shredded)
1 tbs mayo
1 tbs ketchup
1 tbs relish

Directions:

Mix mayo, ketchup, and relish.
Assemble the sandwich by spreading the thousand island dressing on the bread then topping with the cheese on the bottom, then turkey, then remaining cheese.
Grill, press, or toast until warmed and melted.
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This was really good despite the fact that a) I didn’t plan on making it so I just used what was around, b) stronger bread would have held up better than my light wheat bread, c) I needed a quick dinner.
I didn’t have any slaw so that would be fun next time. Rye bread would have really made a stronger sandwich. Look how squished it got in the press!

Beantown’s Food Truck Fun

Way back when, I saw that Boston’s Rose Kennedy was having a food truck gathering. Unfortunately Occupy Boston meant that the food truck festival has to be postponed. Something like 150 protesters were camping out (I’d have a real stat if Occupy Boston’s own website actually worked).

My beef with this was that they were not only vague with their mission, but they destroyed the park, lived in unsanitary and unsafe conditions, spent taxpayer dollars on police details, and refuse to recognize altering views. I feared when I attempted to obtain a permit for the park at work (by following the regulation, paying the fee, and leaving the park in perfect condition) that Occupy Boston would have ruined it for everyone. Thankfully I got my permit.

Ok, I’m off my soap box. The food truck gathering was rescheduled and I just happened to be working in my office that Saturday. It was perfect timing and Ms. M met me for some lunch.
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It was better than other food truck festivals I’ve been to. It was great to see so many out I hadn’t had before AND there wasn’t an entrance fee. We scoped ‘em all out and then chose randomly.
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I saw Staff Meal and was psyched to try it. I was pretty drawn to the bacon jam and the truck made chorizo. These two items were dictating my choice. I couldn’t pass on the bacon jam.

I got the chicken paprikash taco with bacon jam and French’s onions. It was the most interesting taco I’ve ever had. I loved the tender chicken with the paprika. The salty bacon jam was to-die-for. It had a lime to squeeze on top for freshness and crunchy onions.
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Ms. M got the truck made chorizo taco with lime crema, radish, and lettuce. It looked really good too. I just didn’t want to spend $10 on just 2 tacos. They were pretty special and significant but still a touch pricey.
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Then we were onto the sides. I saw the menu at Mei Mei Street Kitchen. They had some fun looking items and I hadn’t heard of their truck before.
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I got the fiddleheads. They were really lightly battered and fried. I looooved that they weren’t greasy and the freshness really came through. I wasn’t into the wasabi mayo though.
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The Greenway is expanding their mobile eats in a big way…and I’ll be there!

Elvis Would Love: Peanut Butter Banana Bread

When I saw the discount bananas I couldn’t pass them by. Seriously, $0.38 for 4 bananas! How crazy is that? I love the discount produce. The discount alone was my motivation to make banana bread.

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When I thought about Banana Bread, I figured I should consult a baker since I am not one. I stopped by Jess’ blog and she even has a whole banana section! Chippy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins (adapted from Noble Pig by way of Flying on Jess Fuel)

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3-4 ripe bananas
1 cup milk
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup cinnamon chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flours, sugars, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.
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In another mixing bowl, mash the bananas. Then add the milk, egg, vanilla, oil and peanut butter and mix well.
Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and mix until just combined.
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Fold in the chips.
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Pour the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners or sprayed with nonstick spray. Depending on how big you like them, the batter will make 12-18 muffins.
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Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Mine made one loaf and 6 small muffins. They were pretty gooey since I upped the banana and peanut butter ratios. I really liked the peanut butter in there…it made it richer. Peanut butter and banana are so great together.
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Cheeseburger Pizza

Sometimes when I have a good thing going I don’t know why I change it up. I have pizza dough I love (Portland Pie Co) that I get at the grocery store. It comes in regular, beer, and basil but I especially love the garlic.

I’m not sure why I haaaad to try making biscuit dough crust. It was terrible. It tasted OK but looked quite sad. It was crumbly and never molded together. I made Cheeseburger Pizza which was phenomenal despite the crust being not so great.
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Ingredients:

Pizza dough
1/3 pound ground meat (I used ground pork)
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (or cheddar and mozzarella mixed)
1 tomato, chopped
1 onion, chopped
pickles, chopped
lettuce
ketchup and mayo to drizzle

Directions:

Prepare pizza dough and prebake until crisp at 400 degrees.
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Cook the ground pork until cooked through and drain. Return to the pan and add onions for a few minutes until softened.
Assemble the pizza by topping the dough with sauce, meat, onions, and cheese.
burger_pizza_assembled_590_390 Bake 20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese melts.
burger_pizza_baked_590_390 Top with pickles, lettuce, tomato, and drizzle with ketchup and mayo.
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This was a really good pizza. I liked the flavors and it was a great use of some basic ingredients. I had the pork leftover and frozen from another dinner so it was also a great use of frozen meat. Frozen ground meat isn’t great as a burger but as taco meat, or pizza toppings the lack of freshness isn’t apparent.

I’ll make it again I’m sure. Pizza is such a regular weeknight dinner because the leftovers are so good too. I ate leftovers even though the “biscuit” crust wasn’t great. Here’s the biscuit recipe if you want to give it a go but I recommend sticking to regular dough.

I have another pizza to post soon and I have an idea I haven’t tried yet so stay tuned!

Roxy’s Grilled Cheese Food Truck Fun

In honor of my Momma’s birthday I thought I should be sure to post something she’d think was fun and festive. Happy birthday Momma R!

Good thing we’re up on our social media at work because otherwise we wouldn’t have known Roxy’s Grilled Cheese food truck was in the neighborhood at work! It was a few weeks ago during that almost-spring not-really-still-winter and a walk down the street for a freshly made grilled cheese was JUST what was in order.

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I’ve watched the Great American Food Truck Race and loved the boys of Roxy’s Grilled Cheese from Boston. I really wanted them to win! I get faux-star struck and thought it was fun to see them in action.

I got the Mac & Chorizo. Grilled cheese with mac & cheese and chorizo…how can you go wrong? I was tempted by the truffle fries but abstained. I was glad I did once I saw the size and heft to my sandwich.
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It was really good, very gooey, and buttery. I think I would have liked more varied textures. The bread really held up to the fillings but it was too soft and gooey.
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I should have gotten the Rookie Melt with cheddar and tomato. I just couldn’t go to the truck and not get the mac & cheese one. Now, I’ve tried it and can move on.

Happy Birthday to my Mum!

 

Thanksgiving Sandwich

I have a quick post for today. I have a super long weekend and I’m psyched to get ready for our visiting family!

If we can see Christmas in July, why can’t we have Thanksgiving more often? I randomly thought of Thanksgiving sandwiches one night for dinner when it was rainy and gross out. It was a fun one and super fast. I know nobody needs a recipe but I did want to throw the idea out there. I’ll have to make some more deli-like sandwiches soon.

One of my favorite Friends episodes features a Thanksgiving Sandwich with a Moist Maker. Sooo funny. I’ll have to try soaking bread in gravy for the middle sometime too.

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Ingredients:

seedless rye bread
thick cut turkey
stuffing
cranberry sauce
turkey gravy

Directions:

Assemble and enjoy

I made some maple brussels sprouts and sweet potato puffs alongside the sandwiches. It was a really fun and different dinner. Mr. J loved it.
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We had the rest for lunch the next day. I really like the different textures and temperatures of thanksgiving sandwiches. The warm stuffing and cool cranberry makes this very special.

I wanted whole berry cranberry sauce but that’s hard to find in May.  The carving board turkey worked perfectly and was closer to real turkey than deli meat I’ve had before.

Spinach and Artichoke Calzone

I’ll put almost anything in a calzone. I like to do a few meatless meals sprinkled throughout the regular scheduled items. It is such a cost saving and it is never a bad thing to add more veggies into our lives. This wasn’t my greatest calzone. I think I didn’t like that there wasn’t enough texture for my taste. The inside was flavorful but cheese + spinach + artichoke + more cheese, made for a gooey center.

Ingredients:

1 pizza dough ball
12 oz shredded mozzarella
8 oz ricotta
2 cups baby spinach
8 oz artichoke hearts
1 tbs garlic, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix ricotta, spinach, artichokes, and garlic together.
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Gently stretch dough into a big circle and lay it onto a baking sheet with one half centered aka, the bottom of the calzone (with the other hanging off, aka the top).
Layer some of the filling spreading it out, almost to the edge.
Top it with mozzarella, layer on more filling, then more mozzarella until both cheese and filling runs out.
Carefully fold the top over to meet the other edge. Gently press the edges to seal.
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Brush with eggwash, if desired.
Cut about 4 slits on the top to let steam out.
Bake 30-40 minutes and let stand at least 5 minutes before cutting.
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This is an oozer! I waited and cut but it still oozed a bit. I mean, the inside is very malleable so it started escaping a bit. I can’t even imagine if I cut it immediately! Be sure to fill, fill, and fill the calzone some more. The worst homemade calzones are super doughy without much in the middle. Get that filling all the way to the edges too. The eggwash is optional. It’ll make the top shiny and restaurant-quality looking. I also never recommend trying to transport the uncooked calzone. Load it up right on the pan you’re cooking it on. You’ll hate your life trying to move it since you won’t have enough hands/spatulas/coordination to move it from your counter to the pan gracefully.

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The flavors were good, and the crust was the crunch needed but I thought the inside was too much of the same texture. I think because I had a texture issue with this, I’d stick to spinach and artichoke as dip or maybe I’d do it as pizza. Check out my other calzones I’d recommend in a heartbeat.

List: Post Event

I have lots of sleep to get caught up, a mound of laundry, a husband, family, friends and pup who may have felt neglected by me, and probably multiple emails to catch up on but I’ve been formulating a list of what I want to accomplish after my event is over this season. I work all year for an event this past weekend. It is crazy but as we say in the biz, we chose this life. The thousands of people who participated last weekend raised millions of dollars and changed the lives of medically uninsured or underinsured, in addition to their own.

Once I get my life back together and once I know which end is up, I’m wanting to tackle some of these things:
Pull apart bread, like this or this or maybe I’ll try a do-over on this
Pot du crème like this
Some sort of crazy salsa (and by crazy, I mean with grilled pineapple or tomatillos or something unusual)
Ricotta
Dip
My own pizza dough

My head is spinning. Stay tuned, and tell me, what should I make?