16 Oct
BBQ Chicken Pizza + $100 Gift Card Giveaway!
Posted by Michelle as Giveaways, Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 656 Comments
While I love pizza all year round, it certainly seems to become more of a staple as the weather cools. Not only do we find ourselves ordering in more often, but pizza just seems like the perfect option when you’re sitting down to watch a football or hockey game. Even better is that there is now a yeast available for pizza crusts that doesn’t require a rise time so that you can have homemade pizza in two shakes of a lamb’s tail (more on that in a minute – the yeast, not the lamb). I have no idea how I went my entire life without having a BBQ chicken pizza. It’s fabulous!! This is an especially useful way to use up any leftover chicken you have in the fridge. Feel free to use my recipe below as a guide and add whatever ingredients you like – black beans, chopped tomatoes, and avocado would be great additions.
11 Sep
Polenta Pizza
Posted by Michelle as Appetizers, Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 43 Comments
You may remember that a couple of weeks back my polenta pizza was featured on In Jennie’s Kitchen as a guest post. As I wrote in that post, the first time I made this dish I made it as a thin-crust pizza (the polenta serving as the crust) for dinner and it was absolutely fabulous. So good, in fact, that a few days later I decided to scrap the original appetizer I had planned to serve alongside the Fontina-Stuffed, Bacon-Wrapped Dates and turn the polenta pizza into an appetizer. The only real change I made to the original recipe to turn it into an appetizer was to double the quantities and bake it in the same size dish (11×15) so that the “crust” was thicker and more substantial, which made it easier to pick up and eat. I think I could have served nothing else other than an unlimited supply of the dates and this polenta pizza, and no one may have noticed that a meal hadn’t been served. This was another huge hit, which may actually be an understatement.
28 Aug
Polenta Pizza: Guest Post on In Jennie’s Kitchen
Posted by Michelle as Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 3 Comments
I am honored to be guest posting at Jennifer Perillo’s In Jennie’s Kitchen today, where you will find my Polenta Pizza featured. Jennifer has had an amazing journey in the food industry – from being a personal chef, to the kitchens of some of NYC’s greatest restaurants, and now as an accomplished food writer and recipe developer, with her work featured in numerous national publications. She runs a great site, so head on over and check it out, and take a peek at my Polenta Pizza.
Since making this pizza and writing for Jennifer, I made it again and the second time adapted it into an appetizer. You’ll be seeing that version here on Brown Eyed Baker soon, so stay tuned!
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18 Jun
Italian Supreme Calzones
Posted by Michelle as Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 15 Comments
When I visit my Chief Culinary Consultant we often grab a “take and bake” pizza from Safeway that is absolutely delicious. It’s a supreme pizza that includes Italian sausage, pepperoni, peppers, onions, and black olives. There may be even more on there that I can’t remember, but it’s by far the best pre-made pizza I have ever had (which is surprising because I usually don’t like olives at all, but I enjoy the whole of this pizza). I remembered that I had pizza dough in the freezer from awhile back, but I wasn’t feeling an actual pizza (shocking, I know); I wanted something different. It then occurred to me that I still hadn’t made calzones, so that solved my dilemma, calzones it was!
For the longest time I wondered about the difference between calzones and stromboli, and finally I learned the answer: while calzones are pockets of pizza dough filled with meat, cheese and vegetables, stromboli are made with Italian bread dough and can contain the same types of ingredients but are rolled into an oblong loaf and sliced to serve (much like a pepperoni bread).
05 Oct
Lavash Crackers
Posted by Michelle as Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 14 Comments
First, an apology for being so tardy on this challenge. I have no good reason other than September simply ran away from me. Busy weekends, busy work, and this just got pushed to the back burner. But I am so happy that I stayed the course and still gave this a try because this is a phenomenal recipe that can be adapted to suit any taste. This was also an historical month for the Daring Bakers – this month we went vegan (insert shrill shrieking from this bacon cheeseburger fiend)! Thanks to Natalie of Gluten a Go Go and Shel of Musings from the Fishbowl for co-hosting this monumental event. And if that weren’t exciting enough, September was also my 1-year anniversary as a Daring Baker. What fun I’ve had expanding my baking repertoire and pushing my boundaries. Thank you to Lis and Ivonne for creating and maintaining such a wonderful group! And now onto these crackers!
24 Jun
Basic Pizza Dough
Posted by Michelle as Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 24 Comments
Dressed up as a Mushroom, Sage, Fontina, and Parmesan Pizza.
The search for a great pizza dough recipe is very similar to the one I just discussed regarding the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. There always seem to be new recipes making the Internet circuit before fading out when another one comes along. Last year I tried a recipe that was all the rage; it was from Allrecipes.com, and I had blogged about it, but that post has mysteriously gone missing. No matter, I wasn’t much of a fan – I found it to be much too doughy. I then moved on to Cooking Light’s Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust, which, while not doughy, seemed to err too much in the other direction. Likely because it is a “light” recipe, the crust was paper thin. Tonight, I think I hit the jackpot. Yet another winner from my Baking Illustrated cookbook from Cook’s Illustrated magazine. This crust is the perfect combination of a wonderfully crisp outer crust and chewy interior.
What’s behind the perfect pizza crust and recipes after the break…
13 Feb
Thin n’ Crispy Pizza Crust
Posted by Michelle as Pizza, Flatbreads and Crackers | 23 Comments
Let’s face it. There are two types of people in this world – those that love a thick chewy pizza crust, and those that love a thin and crispy pizza crust. I happen to fall into the latter category and until recently I have been unable to unearth a homemade pizza dough recipe that was the thin crispiness that I yearn for. I finally found it in a holiday edition of Cooking Light and this is definitely my favorite pizza dough recipe to date. The dough comes together easily (no electrics required!) and rolls out better than any pizza dough I have attempted before.
