Friday, January 20, 2012

Grilled Vegetable Pizza



Yes, it's another pizza.  Geoff said he liked this one best so far - this is something for him because he rarely likes the strange pizzas I make because they usually include lots of veggies and very little cheese.  He thinks something about that is wrong.  (He polled some coworkers during lunch and asked them if food matching this pizzas description can actually be called pizza.  They all said no.  But, as proof that they all have bad taste in exciting, delicious foods, they also thought something was wrong with this salad.)

What makes this pizza any better than the other pizzas for Geoff?  Feta cheese and a grilled crust - he really likes feta.

Pizza dough (enough for a 12 inch pizza)
2 tomatoes
2 scallions, thinly sliced (I used shallots since it's what I had in the fridge, browned in a little olive oil)
5 oz soft goat cheese, crumbled (I used feta, again because I had it in the fridge.  Plus, it's a variation on goat cheese, right, so it counts)
Salt and Pepper
Baby spinach
Avocado, diced
1 1/2 Tbsp red-wine vinegar (I used rice vinegar)

Split the dough in half and spread out to make two 8-in pizzas.  Lightly oil the grill.  Heat grill to medium heat.  Put pizza doughs on grill.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until the dough shows light grill marks.  Remove from grill.

With the grill marks facing up, top pizzas with tomatoes and feta cheese (I also put the onions on now since I was using shallots instead of scallions).  Return pizzas to grill for another 2-3 minutes.  Resulting pizza should have grill marks on both sides.

Combine spinach, avocado, vinegar, scallions, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.  Top pizzas with spinach salad.  Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Flourless Chocolate Cake



Happy Birthday Jeff-Jeff (a few days ago).  In honor of your birthday we had this delicious flourless chocolate cake.  It was absolutely fantastic and we'll have to make it next time we're in the same state.

7 oz really good semisweet chocolate
3/4 C butter
1 C sugar, divided
4 eggs, separated

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.

Stir together 1/2 C sugar and four egg yolks.  Add to the chocolate.

Using an electric mixer, beat the four egg whites.  Slowly add the remaining 1/2 C sugar until stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the chocolate.  Pour into a greased 9-inch pan (I used a 9-inch springform).

Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs on it.  Cool 30 minutes before removing from pan.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Original recipe in the parade magazine Feb 2011.

And the little boy as a treat for grandparents:
Asleep on daddy

Chewing Po's finger . . . mmm . . . delicious.