Roasted Garlic Bianca Pizza on a Crisp Parmesan Crust

Roasted Garlic Bianca Pizza on a Crisp Parmesan Crust

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Roasted Garlic

2 heads of garlic

olive oil

salt

Cut top off of garlic heads, so bulbs are exposed. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast covered in a 375 F degree oven, 30-40 mins, until cloves are soft and easy to remove from the head of garlic. Remove cloves and finely chop.

White Sauce

1 cup whole milk or half and half

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs flour

salt

cayenne pepper

roasted garlic (see directions above)

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In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour and 1 to 2 mins. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Continue whisking and add salt and cayenne pepper. Increase heat to med. , whisking continuously, until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and add 2 Tbs roasted garlic. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

Parmesan Crust

1 cup warm water

2 tsp. yeast

1 tsp. honey or sugar

2 Tbs olive oil

2 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

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In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, honey and 1 Tbs of olive oil, stirring to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 -10 mins. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and Parmesan cheese. Mix until the batter is smooth. Continue adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is smooth, but slightly sticky. Turn the dough out and knead for 3-5 mins.

Place remaining olive oil in a large bowl. Place dough in the bowl, turning to coat with the olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place, until doubled in size - about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough. Separate dough into 4-6 lumps. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out dough very thinly.

Potato layer

Thinly slice 2 large baking potatoes.

In a large pot boil potatoes until they are soft enough to pierce, but still hold their shape.

Drain potatoes.

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Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. If you have a baking stone cook pizzas on that, otherwise place a flat cookie sheet in the oven to cook the pizzas on.

On each pizza crust spread 1 Tbs white sauce. Don't use too much or your crust won't crisp. Add a layer potatoes and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Cook for 10-12 mins.

Remove and slice.

With basil.

Baking in the oven on the baking stone.
Use a baking stone for best results.

With rosemary.

Daring Cook's November Challenge

The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

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I want to thank Audax and Rose for the challenge.

It truly was a challenge!

The recipe is really, really long.

I didn't post it, because I wanted more room for my pics, but go to Audax or Rose's blog to see the step by step directions.

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Before this, I had never tasted sushi (or wanted to taste it).
And now that I've tasted it-

I hate it.

Let's just get that out of the way.

The nori tastes and smells like a stagnant lake.

The rice is sticky and sweet. And not in a good way.

Although, you might remember I said here in my Pumpkin/Bulghur post
that I wasn't crazy about white rice.

It also seems like a lot of work and mess for pretty, but inedible food.

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First, the spiral sushi roll with baby corn, coconut black beans*, fried red and yellow pepper.

Ta da!



I like wasabi and peppers so I ate that.


See below for the fate of the sushi.
Bwahaha! (evil laughter)



The dragon roll.


So cute!


And so yucky!





I used fake crab sticks and fried peppers inside.


Avocado on top and red pepper for the flames.



Black beans for the eyes.




And the nigiri sushi.
I thought I might like these, because they don't have any nori.


But it's a huge chunk of rice with toppings.


I ate the tops.


Yum! Smoked cheddar cheese, rum/ginger/cinnamon syrup raisins and kiwi slices.










I ate some of the rice with coconut black beans and topped it with avocado.

It was tasty.


What did I do with all of that sushi?




My girls had a sushi party!

They didn't like the nori.

Or the rice.

Too sticky for chicken beaks.

They picked out the fillings.

Silly chickens!

They usually gobble up rice.

*Coconut Black Beans

1 cup dry black beans, rinsed

1 can coconut milk

1 small dried chile

1/2 tsp dried onion
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger powder

salt to taste

Rinse beans. Add beans and 6 cups water to med. saucepot. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 mins. Remove from burner, cover and let soak for 1 hour.

Drain beans and rinse (again).

Add rinsed beans, coconut milk and spices to the saucepot.

Simmer at med./low heat until the coconut milk volume has been reduced in half.

About 1 hour.

Beans should be tender by now, but still holding their shape.

Add salt to taste and serve.

White Tomato Jelly

I made white tomato jelly today.

This was truly an experiment!

White tomatoes from my garden.

The variety is called White Tomesol.

I removed the cores and used the food processor

to blend them into a smooth liquid.

Then I simmered them overnight.

The next morning....this is what it looked like.

I put the liquidy cooked down tomatoes into

a few layers of cheese cloth.

White tomato juice.

Yes! It's really tomato juice!

White tomato guts after the juice was squeezed out.

Then I made an infusion with chile, a garlic clove, oregano and basil.

I poured boiling water over the spice mixture.

After 20 mins. I strained the spices through a cheese cloth.

Then I made the mistake of tasting it.

Whoa! Hot!

After I found my taste buds cowering underneath the fridge, the adventure continued.
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I added 4 cups tomato juice to 1/2 cup vinegar in a large stockpot.

Then I added 1 tsp salt.

Next 1 pkg No-sugar-needed pectin.

And one 1/2 cup spice infusion.

Bring to a boil.

Add 2 cups sugar and return to a boil, stirring continuously.

Pour jelly into jars and process for 10 mins in a boiling water bath.

Yum - white tomato jelly with feta, savory and red tomato wedges.



From vine to jar.

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This jelly is so tasty!
It is pure tomato flavor with a sweet and spicy tang.