Pizza Muffins

This was adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe and posted on this blog http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2010/07/annoying-habits.html. I modified it by decreasing the pepperoni to half a cup and adding half a cup of diced veggies (bell pepper and tomato). This is a nice quick make ahead dinner or snack for the kids if you don't have time to make something. Just serve with steamed broccoli or a green salad and you have dinner :)

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed pepperoni or chopped pepperoni slices
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. If using standard muffin tins, you'll get about 11 or 12 and the cooking time will be 35-45 min.
3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Beer Pizza Crust

Roland saw this pizza while watching Rick Bayless on PBS. It looked good so we gave it a try the Memorial Day weekend. It was really good - unfortunately I forgot to take a picture so I snagged this one from another person who made it :)

I love the way he writes a recipe :)

Makes one large pizza, serving 4
From Season 8 Mexico - One Plate at a Time

INGREDIENTS
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup room-temperature water
1/3 cup beer—a light lager is good here
A few tablespoons good-quality olive oil
2/3 cup Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
A couple of very thin slices of red onion
4 ounces goat cheese, coarsely crumbled into roughly 1/2-inch pieces
3 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and coarsely crumbled
OR 4 ounces Mexican chorizo sausage, casing removed and cooked thoroughly
2 tablespoons grated Mexican queso anejo, Romano or Parmesan
A handful of cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS 1. Make the dough. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt. Measure in the water and beer. Stir to combine everything into a rough-looking mass. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
2. Form, bake and serve the pizza. Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Generously oil a 13 x 18 rimmed baking sheet (what’s called a “half sheet pan”). Use a rubber spatula to gently deflate the dough and scrape it out onto the baking sheet. Gently coax the dough—nudging and tugging—into an even rectangle about 9 by 13 inches.
Spread on the sauce, leaving a 1-inch border around the outside. Scatter on the bacon, sliced onion and crumbled goat cheese. Bake in the middle of the oven until puffy and brown, about 25 minutes.
Sprinkle with queso anejo and cilantro leaves, cut in squares and carry to your lucky guests.
Here's the salsa recipe: http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=324

Best Gluten-free Banana Bread

I found this recipe here http://www.musingsofahousewife.com/2011/11/best-ever-gluten-free-banana-bread.html. It certaintly lived up to it's name! I added some cinnamon, but otherwise kept it the same.


Ingredients:

4 eggs
4 or 5 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add mashed bananas, sugar, applesauce and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Meanwhile, melt coconut oil gently on stovetop. Add to wet mixture, flours and salt and baking soda. Mix until all ingredients are moist. Fold in melted coconut oil, mixing just until it is blended in. Pour batter evenly into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until bread is no longer wet in the middle. Use a toothpick or the touch test to gauge doneness. Remove from pans after about 10 minutes and cool on wire racks.

Paleasagna

No, I'm not doing the Paleo diet, but I am not a big pasta eater, so I was intrigued by this recipe for lasagna :) I've done an eggplant lasagna, but I don't have time to peel and slice eggplant right now. Roland said it was very good. I did substitute mozzarella for the goat cheese, since that's what I had on hand. Next time I will try to slice the zucchini lengthwise. Check it out! http://www.whatrunslori.com/2011/12/paleasagna/

Zucchini and Black Bean Skillet

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon oil
1-1/2 cups quartered lengthwise, sliced zucchini
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 oz each) Whole Black Beans, drained, rinsed
1 can corn (15 oz)
1 can (14.5 oz each) Rotel Tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup water
1 cup Instant white rice
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini, onion and bell pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans,corn undrained tomatoes and water. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Add rice; stir well. Cover; remove from heat and let stand 7 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with cheese.

*Note you can add some cumin (comino) to your taste to give it more of a mexican food taste. If you use non istant rice, then increase to water to 1 cup. I also used it to stuff bell peppers :)

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

The fact that I don't have a picture of these easy to make and very yummy cookies should be a testament to how good they are :D I found the recipe on a blog call Gluten-free Girl and the Chef. They stay moist and chewy - but they probably won't last long enough for you to test that statement. So, here it is:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl mix all ingredients. Chill in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Or just store peanut butter in the refrigerator so you can skip chilling the dough :)

Make 1" balls of dough and roll in sugar. Use a fork dipped in sugar to make a criss-cross pattern. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray a cookie sheet with no-stick spray. Cook for about 10 minutes. Let cookies rest for about 10 minutes and then remove from tray.

For a variation you can mix in some chocolate chips or use brown sugar in place of granulated sugar.

Flourless Brownies

This is recipe of my own creation. I had a few things I needed to use up, but no flour so on a whim I threw it all together and crossed my fingers that it would turn out well. And it did! These are very chocolatey without being fudgey. If you like a light tasting and sweet brownie these might be too much chocolate for you.

2 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate squares
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup Ghiradelli cocoa powder
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder or 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
3 eggs


Preheat oven to 350F.In a double boiler or saucepan on low heat, melt chocolate squares and butter. In a mixing bowl combine cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder and sugar with a whisk. Whisk in and melted chocolate. Pour into greased 8x8x2 baking dish. Cook for 30 minutes.