McCovey Chronicles Recipe Swap

Your chicken sounds amazing. I so want to try this soon!

Anyway, here’s my dinner tonight, baking in the oven as we type. The recipe is from an episode of America’s Test Kitchen:

Pepperoni Pan Pizza
from the Episode: Pizza Party

Makes two 9-inch pizzas serving 4 to 6
Dough
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup skim milk plus 2 additional tablespoons, warmed to 110 degrees
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for counter
1 package instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon table salt

Topping
1 (3.5-ounce) package sliced pepperoni
1 1/3 cups tomato sauce
3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. To make the dough: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease large bowl with cooking spray. Coat each of two 9-inch cake pans with 3 tablespoons oil.

2. Mix milk, sugar, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in measuring cup. Mix flour, yeast, and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium-low and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, about 5 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter, gently shape into ball, and place in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

3. To shape and top the dough: Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, divide in half, and lightly roll each half into ball. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, roll and shape dough into 9 1/2-inch round and press into oiled pan. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm spot (not in oven) until puffy and slightly risen, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees.

4. While dough rises, put half of pepperoni in single layer on microwave-safe plate lined with 2 paper towels. Cover with 2 more paper towels and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Discard towels and set pepperoni aside; repeat with new paper towels and remaining pepperoni.

5. Remove plastic wrap from dough. Ladle 2/3 cup sauce on each round, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges. Sprinkle each with 1 1/2 cups cheese and top with pepperoni. Bake until cheese is melted and pepperoni is browning around edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; let pizzas rest in pans for 1 minute. Using spatula, transfer pizzas to cutting board and cut each into 8 wedges. Serve.

Pizza Dough without a Mixer

In step 2, mix the flour, yeast, and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the flour, then pour the milk mixture into the well. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough becomes shaggy and difficult to stir. Turn out onto a heavily floured work surface and knead, incorporating any shaggy scraps. Knead until the dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and proceed as directed.

For the sauce I just took a 15 oz can of no sodium added diced tomatoes and drained the juice, stuck the tomato in a food processor and pulsed for about 10-15 seconds. I left it a bit chunky. Then I added a few dashes of herbs: oregano, basil, and thyme. Throw in a clove or two of crushed garlic and simmer over low heat for about 20 mins.

It’s labor-intensive but you cannot be the joy of a hot, oven baked pizza with hand-tossed dough.

Here’s a picture of pizza Marghetrita I made previously:

I made pepperoni and olive tonight, my favorite combination. Turkey pepperoni by the way is a great way to cheat on calories and fat if you’re concerned about that, and it tastes good too!

I don’t have a traditional food recipe, but I do have a newly created boozy concoction to share.

Equal parts of the following over ice:

Mango Juice
Cranberry Juice
Absolute Vanilla Vodka

Consider it a mango’ed version of a Vodka and Cran, basically. The great thing about this one is that if you’re looking for a reason to booze it up before say 10 AM, there’s not a whole lot of guilt with this one. Just tell yourself its a Screwdriver with a twist, and can therefore can be consumed anytime in the morning hours.

Cheers!

1 bowl of favorite cereal
1 glass of milk
1 favorite book

Pour milk in bowl. Eat and read.

Brown a pack of ground beef

Put browned beef in a large bowl and add about two and a half teaspoons of A-1

Add in your favorite BBQ sauce and then stir together

Put on bun(s) and in five minutes you have a meal for one, two or three…just don’t pass out until the relievers throw the game away

1 pie crust (i’m lazy and use store bought)
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 cups thinly sliced peeled baking apples
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup caramel topping
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup butter

Directions for Crumb Topping: 1. Stir together brown sugar,flour, rolled oats.
2. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.
2. Add apple slices and gently toss until coated.
3. Transfer apple mixture to the crust (9-inch deep pie pan is best)
4. Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture.
5. Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil.
6. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 to 30 minutes without foil.
7. Profit!

This is a really great recipe and has won 3 baking contests. yum.

What do you do with the caramel topping?

But here are two things I make that I like (shut up, I’m not a good cook):

Cheesy Muffins:

English Muffins
Cheddar Cheese

Put 2, 1/4” slices of cheddar cheese on each sliced muffin (so, if you’re eating two muffins, it would be 8 slices of cheese) and microwave for about 60 seconds until melted. Eat, after waiting a few minutes (I have patience issues when it comes to food and have burned my mouth so many times it’s ridiculous). This is a decent breakfast. The muffins can get a little soggy, and if you don’t like this you can toast them first.

Mac and Cheese and Hotdogs:

Kraft Mac & Cheese
2 hotdogs cooked however you prefer

Cook the Mac & Cheese and hotdogs. Slice the hotdogs up into whatever size you prefer (I prefer to slice each hotdog into eigths). This is just basically Mac & Cheese with sliced up hotdogs in it. It might sound gross, but it’s awesome.

Following my simple instructions, you too can eat at a level just barely above hobo-cuisine. Next week, I’ll detail the virtues of Ramen and we’ll have a guest lecturer, Mr. Chef Boyardee.

I can’t remember if I shared this here before but OMG is it amazing.

Red Wine Sauce w/ Mustard & Thyme
Yields approximately 1/2 cup, enough to sauce

Ingredients:

2 medium shallots, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup homemade stock (chicken, beef, lamb, or venison)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

After sautéing properly, remove meat or chicken from the pan leaving the residual fat that it was cooked in. There should be some brown bits of meat or chicken in the pan leftover from the cooking. This is called fond. Leave it right where it is. Add the shallots to the pan and cook over low heat stirring frequently until the shallots are translucent.

Raise the heat to high, add wine, stock, and bring to a boil. At this time loosen any of the browned bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon and incorporate them into the sauce. Boil until the liquid is reduced in half.

Reduce heat to medium, add the balsamic vinegar and Dijon mustard and cook until the sauce has the consistency you like. It should be thick enough to coat regular spoon. I hesitate to give cooking times for each of these steps because the amount of heat (Btu’s) varies from stove to stove.

Remove from heat and stir in butter. This will help thicken it a little more and give it a nice glossy appearance. Add the fresh thyme, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve over your main course immediately.

Goes very well with roasted taters and a vegetable. I like to sautee some chard with crushed red pepper and garlic to serve with this.

Only recipe I know, except for burning water:

1. Start by having some fairly bad losing seasons, to improve draft odds
2. Next, build starting rotation with at least two dominating starters who strike out a lot of batters
3. Mix in a bullpen with similar slingers who zing it in plus top it off with a dominating closer
4. Add in average to good hitters via the draft
5. Sprinkle in good hitting free agents at a good salary (when available) for offense good enough to win with
6. Allow to rise together

Frank Viola, competitive team in the playoffs, win you long time.

I made this yesterday, definitely not the most healthy meal but it was good. The spices and Guinness give the corned beef a nice, almost sweet flavor. It will placate your Irish taste buds. This appealed to the mick in me.

Corned Beef and Cabbage in Guinness

Ingredients

(1) 4lb flat cut corned beef brisket
(1) 12oz Bottle of Guinness draught stout
(1) Medium Onion peeled and cut into wedges
(3) Garlic Gloves minced
(1) Bay Leaf
(1/4 teaspoon) Ground Cinnamon
(1/4 teaspoon) All Spice
(1/4 teaspoon) Ground Pepper
(1/8 teaspoon or to taste) Ground cloves
(1) Head of cabbage, cut into wedges
(6) Medium white potatoes, peeled and quartered
(1-2lbs) Carrot, peeled and cut into 3-inch sections

Preparation

1. Rinse brisket under cold water and pat dry
2. In a large pot or dutch oven, brown each side of the corned beef over high heat. Make sure it’s nice and brown on each side, it adds to the flavor.
3. After browned on the sides, pour your bottle of Guinness over the corned beef (Also, pour one for yourself). Add enough water to just barely cover the brisket.
4. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, cinnamon, all spice, gloves, and pepper.
5. Bring your pot to a boil
6. Reduce heat to simmer and cover the pot. Let it simmer for 3 hours.
7. Add your carrots, potatoes, and cabbage wedges. In that order.
8. Cover your pot again and cook for about 20-30 minutes, or until your potatoes are tender. Check by sticking a fork in a potato and if it slides off, you’re good to go.
9. Remove meat and veggies to separate dishes and serve.
10. Slice your corned across the grain to serve.

It’s an easy dinner to make if you’ve got the time and it smells delicious while it’s simmering in the Guinness.

I’m not sure on the measurements but add more or less for your preference

Take your ground beef and separate into equal number of 1/2 size patties. Sautee chopped onions, jalapenos, bacon, and anaheim peppers, and let cool. Put some of this mixture on top of half of the patties and top each off with another patty. Press and seal the top and bottom patties together, and voila, you have some freaking awesome stuffed burgers. I believe I fried them in a pan on each side first to help keep them hard and together, and then baked them at a low heat. That’s at least what Guy’s Big Bite told me to do, but if you’re careful in moving the patties you could possibly grill them.

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bits. Go for the gold and get Ghiradelli’s 60% cacao. Tis sex in chocolate form.
1/4 c. butter
3 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
Kaluha—a few shakes of the bottle will do

Melt chocolate and butter over hot water in double boiler. You can use a fancy one if you have it, otherwise my ghetto double boiler of a metal bowl in a boiling pot of water works too. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Beat eggs and sugar in small bowl or electric mixer until very light and lemon colored.

Stir in melted chocolate mixture. Blend at slow speed. Fold in flour. Mix well at low speed. Drizzle in the Kahlua, but not too much. If I had to guess the measurement I’d say almost a tablespoon. Mix well at high speed. The original recipe says mix at low speed for all of it, but I crank up my Kitchenaid to 10 and let it fly for about 3-5 minutes. I get a really airy light texture from the brownies that way. Previously when I mixed on low speed the brownies came out denser, like fudge. Nothing wrong with fudge, no way, but these are baked goods here.

Pour into buttered and floured (or lined with parchment paper-it’ll save your life, plus the cleanup is a snap) 9” square pan and bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until no batter sticks to a fork poked into the middle of the pan. Crumblies are okay. Just no goop. Let the brownies cool in the pan out of the oven for a few hours to overnight-they’re much easier to cut after cooling overnight. I can get about 16 squares from one pan.

Roasted red potatoes with garlic and rosemary

I made this on Saturday night to go with turkey pesto sausage.

1 pound small red potoatoes, skins on, washed
Olive oil
10 whole cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon rosemary

Preheat the oven to 400. Wash the potatoes and quarter them. Grease a 9” square pan with olive oil and arrange the potatoes and garlic cloves in a single layer. Toss the potatoes and garlic in the salt, pepper, and rosemary with a little more olive oil until potatoes are coated. Bake in the oven uncovered for 25-35 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to smush with a fork. They should be browning on the outside when they are ready.

not sure where I came across this one, but it is fast and easy.

1 bunch of celery with leaves
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 4 ounce can of minced olives
1 15 ounce can of Stewed Tomatoes
2 Can’s chicken broth
2 Cloves of garlic minced
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Tbs Italian seasoning
1 pinch of Gumbo file’
Dash or two of Tabasco, or half a teaspoon of Red Pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper
1 loaf of French Bread
2 cans of minced clams
1 lb of white fish cubed (Snapper, Cod ….your choice)
1 lb of peeled, deveined Shrimp
1/2 pound of Scallops
1 lb of Fresh Clams, or Mussels
Note: You can add cracked crab or mix and match your choice of shellfish

Preheat a stockpot under low heat. Add Olive Oil.
Add Garlic, and Italian seasoning and lightly cook for 1 minute.
Chop the top third of the bunch of celery (with leaves), mince the onion, slice the carrot, and add to the Olive Oil and Garlic. IAdd in the Tabasco, or Red Pepper flakes if you like food with a bit of “heat”. Increase heat to medium. Cook and stir for three to four minutes.

Add in Chicken Broth, and the can of stewed tomatoes. Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Chop up the white fish. Add the white fish after the base has cooked for 30 minutes.
Bring back to a boil.

Add in the can of chopped olives.

Add in the remaing shellfish and make sure it reaches a boil. After it reaches a boil, turn back to simmer.

Cook for a few minutes. Waiting for the Shrimp to turn orange, and the clams and/or mussels to open.

Add a pinch of Gumbo file’, and salt and pepper to taste.

Slice French Bread, and serve with a simple green salad, and Red Wine.

Will feed 4, and is fast to prepare. Start to finish you are done in less than 40 minutes.
Note, this is easy to do tailgating in a parking lot on a camp stove. I’ve done this many times at 49er games.

My “secret” to preparing chicken is to add rum to the marinade. A jar of pineapple salsa (Safeway brand is just dandy) and a couple shots of coconut rum is awesome. Pour the marinade over the chicken in a foil-lined pan, bake at 350 for half an hour or so, and you’re gold.

Also, I make spinach balls every holiday. It’s stolen/slightly modified from Molly O’Neill’s excellent New York Cookbook (yes, that’s Paul O’Neill’s sister and former NY Times writer).

Giant mixing bowl
Baking sheet
2 packages of frozen chopped spinach
1 package of dry stuffing, preferably flavored with herbs ‘n such
3 eggs
1 stick of butter
1 big handful of grated cheese. I like using the Italian 3-cheese mixes. Asiago also works well.
(Optional: A dollop of garlic dip)

Thaw the spinach and squeeze out the liquid. Melt the butter. Beat the eggs. Mix everything in the large mixing bowl. Use your hands to get everything evenly and thoroughly mixed.

Preheat the oven to 350, and while doing that, form about 24 golf-ball sized lumps of the mixture and place them on the baking sheet.

Bake for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the outsides are golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. With garlic dip or plain.

I don’t usually write recipes down. I’m a big fan of getting a few techniques down and then improvising.

This one I’ve done enough times to know that’s a winner.

Artery-Cloggin Scramble (serves 2)

5 eggs
one apple, (I prefer fuji) cored and sliced
half of one onion or three medium sized shallots, medium chop
3 strips of bacon, cut into to 3 inch lengths
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons of half and half (or Milk)
Mixture of equal parts brown sugar, cinnamon and chipotle powder

First break and beat your eggs, mixing in the milk or half and half. Then dust the bacon strips with the seasoning mixture (I’ve used other things besides chipotle: cardamom, paprika, powdered mustard and cayenne all worked okay). Then begin frying the bacon. After flipping over the bacon, add the apples to the bacon. When the bacon is almost crispy, add the onions, then garlic, stirring frequently. When the onions are soft the garlic fragrant, add the eggs. Stir until the eggs are completely cooked.

Some people like a like shredded gouda on top of their scramble.

Thought I’d share my input. I have been making pizza with this dough recipie for years, it is one of my favorites. Very easy to do as well. This recipie makes 1 large pizza dough.

Rhys’ Killah Pizza Dough

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1 cup Semolina (Whole Foods)
1 Packet Fleischman’s Yeast (or 2 teaspoons)
(mix all these together)

Liquid Ingedients:
1 Cup Warm water (very important – between 120 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit, about 1:15 in my microwave)
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
(Mix all of these together and THEN heat them to sepcified temp.)

Pour liquid ingredients into dry ones in mixing bowl. Combine with hands until a ball if formed.

Sprinkle flour on countertop, knead dough for 5-8 minutes on counter.

Transfer dough to “olive oiled” mixing bowl and cover with saran wrap.

Let rise for 1 1/2 hours, give or take.

After it has risen, you can make your pizza. I usually make a simple tomato sauce with diced tomatoes and crushed garlic. You stretch out the dough onto a “Pam-ed” baking sheet with a rolling pin. You put the sauce on first. Then, you can put on whatever cheese you want. Then I usualy do purple onions, pepperoni, pesto, whatever on top of that. You want to cook it for 15-25 minutes in a 450 degree oven, until the crust is golden brown. There you have it.
This can take a while to do for the first time, but is really very simple once you know what you’re doing.

I’m apparently late to this party, but wanted to share a recipe myself. Here’s an old recipe I’d heard once that’s great for making instant water:

1. Take a tray of ice, and dump it into a bowl.
2. Put the bowl in the microwave.
3. Microwave on high until ice is thoroughly melted.