The Minimalist's Pizza

I am truly a diehard pizza junkie. I embrace it and so should you!  Through my many pizza explorations I have learned one common denominator about most excellent pizza; less is often more.  Making great pizza at home is a lot easier than you might think. This recipe will bring “ooohs” and “aaaahs” from the table.  Don’t let the simple ingredient list fool you. It’s through simplicity that the pure flavors of this pizza will shine!

List of Ingredients - (Serves four to six)

Pizza dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup of warm water

2 teaspoon of dry active yeast

1 teaspoon of honey

1 teaspoon of salt

*Optional: See paragraph below.

Toppings:

2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

1 cup feta cheese

1 cup of thinly slices onion

1 cup of diced bell pepper

1 cup of store bought basil pesto

*Making your own dough is not as hard as you might think.  It's actually kind of fun, but for those of you who don't have time you can cheat with a store bought pizza dough.

To make your pizza dough, take one cup of hot water from your tap at home and add to it the honey.  Stir in the yeast and let sit for 10 minutes. You should see foam on top of the water. That is how you know your yeast is alive and working. In a large bowl combine your flour, salt and yeast solution.  Combine until all the flour is absorbed (you may need to add a little water).  Turn out the dough onto a floured cutting board.  This process is where you develop the chewy crust by kneading the dough; you don’t want to skip this step.  Keep adding flower to the board as needed to keep it from getting too sticky.  After about 5 minutes of continuous kneading place the ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover it with plastic wrap and leave it at room temp. to rise for about an hour.  It should double in size. After rising, take the dough out and cut it in half. Form each half into a round shape and cover each again for another half hour.  Now they are ready to be rolled out for the toppings.

Don’t get hung up on trying to make your pizza perfectly round, trust me, making it rustic will add character.  Part of the fun is letting the pizza choose whatever shape it’s going to be as you stretch it out.  Use the pesto as the sauce and thinly coat the dough, you don’t need much.  Add your toppings and it’s ready to bake. 

I highly suggest investing in a pizza stone and pizza peel, it really makes a difference.  If you don’t have a stone you can place the pizzas on a baking sheet no problem.  Cook the pizza hot and fast at 450 degrees.  They should take 7-10 minutes. Watch for a perfectly brown crust and you will know they are ready.

Pan Roasted Steak With Chimichurri Sauce

Like many people, my favorite meal always features a beautifully cooked steak.  Instead of serving it with the usual mashed potatoes, try this Chimichurri sauce.  Adapted from a common Argentinian condiment, this is sure to wake up your taste buds.  The fresh herbs and garlic explode with flavor while cutting through the richness of the Rib-eye.

Recipe:

List of Ingredients – (Serves four)

4 Rib-eye steaks

1 ½ cups of loosely packed Italian flat leaf parsley

1 ½ cup of loosely packed Cilantro

4 cloves of peeled whole garlic

¼ cup olive oil

1 lemon

1 teaspoon Cumin

                                                                                                            

The first thing to do is get the steaks out of the fridge and preheat your over to 350 degrees. Cooking the beef at room temperature will not only shorten the cooking time, but it will produce a much more evenly cooked steak.  Season them liberally with salt and pepper.  Ever wonder why those steaks you get in a restaurant taste so much better than the ones you make at home?  It’s probably because you’re not using enough salt. Don’t be afraid to season your food!  

Next you’re going to need to get out the blender.  Toss in your garlic, cumin, parsley, cilantro, olive oil and the juice of one lemon.  Let it run on high for 10 second then turn it off and push down the herbs to help it along, you’re going to have to repeat this process several times until everything is blended smoothly.  

By this time the steaks should have lost most of their chill from the fridge.  Heat an oven safe pan on high with enough vegetable oil to thinly coat the bottom.  When you start to see a slight smoke from the oil.put in the steaks and sear for two minutes on each side. Place the steaks into your preheated oven.  For medium rare roast for 7 minutes, for medium 8 minutes, and 9 for well done.  Time will vary slightly depending on the thickness of the meat.  Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

The steak can be served simply with the Chimichurri or send it over the top with a side of grilled vegetables.  Enjoy!

Thai Inspired Beef Salad

I’m not crazy about the usual boring salad, but throw in some juicy beef, crunchy vegetables, and creamy peanut dressing and things get interesting.  This salad wins over people who think they don’t like salad by bringing serious flavor to the table.  If you like wimpy salads you best look elsewhere.

 

List of Ingredients - (Serves four)

1 NY strip steak

1 head of your favorite salad lettuce

1 cup smooth peanut butter

¼ cup ricewine vinegar

¼ cup of dry roasted peanuts

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon of grated ginger or paste from the jar

1 cup of cilantro

1 lime

1 carrot stick

1 cucumber

1 teaspoon of both salt and pepper

Start by pan roasting your steak; if you need tips on how to cook the steak properly look at my recipe for Steak with Chimichurri sauce.  Let the steak rest for 10 minutes before slicing into strips for the salad. 
  
Combine in a sauce pan on low heat: peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, ginger, soy sauce, lime juice and salt and pepper.  Once the heat has melted the peanut butter and all the ingredients are combined turn off the heat and let the dressing cool slightly.  Dress your salad with the warm peanut sauce and top with slices of steak, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, and peanuts.  

 Welcome to salad nirvana.