Alfredo Pizza

As I stated earlier this week, I received a box of goodies from Food Buzz and Newman's Own. In addition to the salad dressing, they also included a jar of pasta sauce and a jar of Alfredo sauce.

I'm not one to buy pasta or Alfredo sauce in a store, so I was a little hesitant to use them. Instead of putting each on pasta, I decided to use the sauces for homemade pizza. The red sauce was used as a substitute for my regular pizza sauce, whereas the Alfredo sauce required a little extra thought.

Alfredo Pizza with Capicola

Pizza Dough
Newman's Own Alfredo Sauce
Capicola, a spicy cured Italian ham OR prosciutto
Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Make the dough.
2. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
3. Roll the dough out into a round. I like thin crust, so I cut my dough into quarters to make smaller, crispier pizzas. The size and thickness is up to you. Place on a baking sheet.
4. Spread some of the Alfredo sauce on the dough.
5. Sprinkle with about a 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
6. Place the Capicola on top.
7. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
8. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
9. Slice and eat.

Enjoy!

Marinated stuffed London broil with shitake sauce

As part of being a member of Food Buzz (see the ad at the top of the page), there are times when I get a box of samples to use for cooking. When Newman's Own paired up with Food Buzz for a giveaway, I decided to take part. Why not? Newman's Own is one of those companies that actually gives back - a lot, actually. Their net profits go to charity.

In my box of goodies, I received three bottles of salad dressing. One of the bottles was a simple dressing of olive oil and vinegar, which makes a great marinade for steak or chicken. That one bottle inspired the following recipe.

Stuffed London Broil with Shitake Mushroom Sauce
Serves 6

Steak:
1 bottle Newman's Own Vinegar and Olive Oil salad dressing
1 London broil or flank steak
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
8-10 ounces baby spinach
Smoked gruyere cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
Butcher twine

Meat mallet

Sauce:
2 cups unsalted (or low sodium) beef stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup Shitake mushrooms, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup red wine
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup unsalted butter (yep, more butter)
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Marinate the steak:

1. Place the steak in a large dish and pour the bottle of dressing over it.
2. Refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Prepare the steak:

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
2. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and garlic. Add the baby spinach. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cook the spinach until it wilts down, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Take the steak out of the marinade.
5. Using a sharp knife, make a pocket in the steak by cutting a slit in the side horizontally. Think of it as you are making a book out of your steak, so don't cut all the way through. You want to be able to open it up.
6. For even cooking, you need to pound out the steak with a meat mallet. It doesn't need to be pounded thin, but needs to be pounded to the same thickness all around.
7. Season the inside with salt and pepper.
8. Combine the cheese and spinach. Spread over the meat.
9. Roll it up into a nice log.
10. Tie it with string, so it will stay together while cooking. Season the outside with salt and pepper.
11. In an oven proof pan, heat a couple tablespoons olive oil.
12. Sear the steak in the hot olive oil and then move it to the oven.
13. Bake for 20-30 minutes. I like my beef served medium rare, which is a temperature of 135ºF.
14. Allow too rest before slicing.

Make the sauce:

1. While the steak is cooking, boil the beef stock until it reduces to 3/4 cup.
2. In a saute pan, heat the olive and tablespoon of butter.
3. Add the shallots and garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms. Saute until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the red wine. Reduce by half.
6. Add the beef stock. Reduce by half.
7. Turn off the heat.
8. Whisk in the 1/4 cup butter.
9. Add the heavy cream.
10. Adjust seasonings if desired.
11. Serve over the stuffed London boil

Merry Christmas!

Classic SNL skit with Alec Baldwin.

Enjoy!

How not to make a trifle

Ah, I miss Friends.

Yule Log

I'm not French, but I do have a French-sounding last name (I'm not exactly sure if the Gastons were French). I guess that means I'm allowed to make a Yule Log or Bûche de Noël this year.

I haven't made it yet, so I don't have any photos to offer. The photo above is taken from the internet to serve as an example. I highly doubt mine (or yours should you choose to use this recipe) will look like the one in the photo. That one was made by professional bakers who have a great deal of skill.

To decorate the Yule Log, you can make mushrooms and leaves using marzipan. I know it's short notice and all, but you can purchase marzipan from King Arthur. Marzipan is a pretty cool product to work with. Treat it like play-doh by making whatever shapes you want. I've make "carrots" to decorate the top of carrot cakes.

This recipe is a mix of 2 different recipes from Emeril (BAM!) and Nick Malgieri (an awesome cake guy).

Bûche de Noël or Yule Log

Sponge Cake:

1/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)

2 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon for the pan

8 eggs

2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and 2 tablespoons of butter together until scolded (not boiled).
3. Using a mixer fitted with a wire whip, combine the eggs and 2 cups of sugar. Beat on medium-high speed for 8 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. It will triple in volume.
4. With the machine running, add the heated milk slowly.
5. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
6. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Mix thoroughly being careful not to deflate the batter, until the mixture has no lumps and is smooth. Fold in vanilla.
7. Grease a 1/2 sheet pan (13 x 18 - inches) with the 1 tablespoon of butter. Line with parchment paper and lightly grease that.
8. Sprinkle the parchment paper with the 1 tablespoon of sugar.
9. Pour cake batter evenly into the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden and cake springs back when touched.
10. Cool for 2 minutes.
11. Using a thin knife, loosen the edges and flip the cake onto a piece of parchment paper. Replace the parchment in the pan with a new piece and flip the cake back into the pan. When cool, remove the paper.

Coffee Buttercream:

4 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

2 tablespoons rum or brandy

1. Whisk the egg whites and sugar together with a mixer.
2. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar is melted and the egg whites are hot (not cooked or they will scramble).
3. Put the bowl in the mixer and using the wire whip, whisk the egg whites and sugar on medium speed until cooled.
4. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the softened butter. Continue beating until smooth. Dissolve instant coffee in the liquor and beat into the butter cream.
5. Assemble the cake by placing the sheet cake onto a fresh piece of parchment paper.
6. Spoon the buttercream onto the cake and spread it out evenly. You make have some butter cream leftover.
7. Roll the cake up into a log. Transfer to a platter or a sheet pan. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to set up.

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 pound semi-sweet chocolate, cut into pieces

1. In a heavy saucepan, combine the cream and chocolate. Over medium heat, stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.
2. Remove from heat and stir to cool.
3. The mixture should be glossy and thick. Set aside.
4. After the ganache is cool and thick, place the log on a wire rack seam-side down.
5. Pour the ganache evenly over the log. Make sure you cover the entire cake. Using a fork, run the tines back and forth across the cake (make it look like the bark of the log). Refrigerate 2 hours or until the ganache is set.
6. Remove the cake from the rack and place on a platter.
7. Decorate with marzipan mushrooms and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Helloooo out there!

This Christmas is very different for me. First off, I'm not baking nearly as many tasty treats as I normally do. Off the list are traditional cookies that my family knows quite well -- Bridges (or Krokaner). Second, this will be the first year I won't be seeing any of my family for the holidays. I know some of them are reading my blog (or they should be), so here's a message to my family in Ohio:

Hello. It's Marcy. We were quite cold here in Montana but now it's actually warm, if you can call temps in the 30s warm. Caitlynn is bummed about not going bowling this year with Uncle Tom, Uncle Mike, and Ethan. Ok. Um. Happy Holidays. Don't have too much fun without us.

Third, I didn't get around to sending any Christmas cards (the message above serves as a card). I still have a couple packages to mail but those won't get sent until Monday.

I feel like such a slacker! What have I been doing? Where did the time go? Study, kids, cleaning up after kids, study, watching The Daily Show...

This is our first holiday in Montana, so I am doing a few special things for dinner. I will be making a Yule Log. The recipe will be posted next week and we'll be having a great dinner that I have yet to plan out. I know it will be awesome! I just have to figure out what to make.

In the meantime, there are a few cookie recipes from last year that deserve a second mention:

Spritz
Peppermint Pinwheels
Krokaner

Oh and this cookbook is full of some of the best recipes for Christmas baking: Rose's Christmas Cookies. It will make a great gift for the person on your list who loves to bake.

Have a good weekend getting the rest of your shopping done!

Peanut Brittle

Martha, Martha, Martha!

Ah, Martha Stewart ... Love her or hate her, she happens to have a few good recipes, like the one for Peanut Brittle.

Tips for candy making:

• Make candy on a dry day as opposed to one that is rainy and humid.
• Use cane sugar -- not the el cheapo store brand. Store brands are made with beet sugar. Do to the chemical structure, beet sugar is less stable for candy making. The sugar package will say "pure cane" sugar.
• Once the mixture comes to a boil, do not stir it for the first 4 minutes or so. After that, you can stir it to make sure the sugar doesn't burn. Over stirring will disturb the sugar crystals and cause it seize and crystallize. Not good.

Peanut Brittle

2 1/2 cups (12 ounces) dry-roasted, salted peanuts
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Lightly grease a non-stick jelly roll pan. Set aside.
2. Combine peanuts, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan.
3. Set over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and stir constantly.
4. Insert the candy thermometer. Continue boiling, without stirring (stirring disturbs the sugar crystals), until the temperature reaches 295ºF (146ºC), about 6 minutes.
5. When sugar begins to brown, stir nuts gently to ensure even cooking.
6. Remove pan from heat and stir in butter and baking soda.
7. The mixture will begin to foam up, so mix quickly.
8. Pour onto the prepared jelly roll pan.
9. As soon as the candy is cool enough to handle, use your fingers to stretch the brittle as thinly as possible over the pan.
10. Allow the brittle to cool completely and then break into bite-size pieces.
11. Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Caramel Corn

Every year since 2004, Stephanie Cutter, a Realtor in Chicago (and one that I work for) has been making caramel corn to hand out to clients, other agents, and staff who work in the office where she's based. That's a whole lot of caramel corn.

I normally don't make it, but I have tried it. It's delicious. In order to get some great caramel corn, I recommend either becoming a great friend of Stephanie's, working for her, becoming a realtor in the suburbs of Chicago, or simply trying your hand at the recipe.

Caramel Corn

4-6 quarts popcorn, popped
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup margarine (2 sticks)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
peanuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 250ºF (121ºC).
2. Pop the popcorn using vegetable oil. Remove all the unpopped kernels.
3. In a large pot (big enough to hold 12-16 cups), mix brown sugar, corn syrup, and margarine.
4. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Take mixture off the heat and stir in salt, baking soda, and vanilla (mixture will foam). Pour mixture over popped corn and stir gently until evenly coated. Add peanuts if desired.
5. Put caramel corn on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and bake for 45 minutes.
6. Stir every 15 minutes to prevent burning.
7. Spread it out on your counter-top. It should be crunchy and delicious!

Announcements!

Hi all!
Today's post is over at Eazy Cheezy. Many thanks to Brian for allowing me to be a guest blogger -- again! Go on, take a look at what I wrote. I know you are dying to find out...

Oh and one more thing before you visit Brian's blog...

I entered a contest to have some of my best recipes published in a cookbook. Lots of foodie blogs are entering the same contest and there are some stellar food blogs out there.

The first entry I submitted was for Key Lime Cookies. I plan on submitting a few more recipes and will let y'all know when I do (I have a lot of posts to sift through). You can follow the link below to vote for me.

Buckeye recipe has an error

I corrected this in the post but want to make sure y'all see it...

If you intend to make the recipe, make sure you use 3/4 cup of butter (12 tablespoons or 1 1/2 sticks). Sorry for the confusion! Thanks, Stormy for pointing it out.

Ok, now back to your regularly scheduled programming.