Clam Pizza

Ok i know this sounds weird but it's really good.


Clam Pizza

Now you can buy pizza dough or make it yourself, either way it is good.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached flour
2 table spoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water, 100 to 110 degrees
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package of active dry yeast.

Directions

In a stand mixer fitted with s dough hook add the water, sugar and yeast and stir. Let stand for about 5 to 10 minutes so the yeast comes alive.

Next add the olive oil and salt and turn on the mixer to slow and slowly add the flour. Once all the flours has been added raise the speed to medium and let the mixer go fro about 5 minutes so that the dough forms into a ball. You will need to stop the mixer from time to time to scrape the bowl and the hook. If the dough is still crumbly add a few teaspoons of water until its smooth. Drop dough until floured surface and kneed into a ball. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel and let it rise and double in size, about an hour.

Now onto the toppings

Clam Pizza

Ingredients

3 cans of chopped clams, drained but save the liquid.
1 red onion diced
1 red pepper diced
4 cloves garlic diced
3 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 container of ricotta cheese, about 15 oz
1/4 lb bacon diced
1/2 cup grated Perorino cheese
Fresh, Oregano, Basil and Italian Parsley course chopped
Olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper
corn meal


Directions

Preheat oven to 450 to 475 degrees- if you have a pizza stone place in the oven to get hot.

Place clams. lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to coat and set aside.

In a skillet over medium high heat place olive oil, about 2 table spoons and add the onions and peppers and saute until they start to sweat, reduce heat, then add the garlic, a few pinches of fresh oregano and the tomatoes and cook until soft about 8 to 10 minutes, remove from heat add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

In another pan render off the bacon until just about crispy, place on a paper towel to drain.

Roll out dough sprinkling with corn meal to kept it from sticking, roll into a circle now either place it on a pizza pan or a paddle.

Spread the ricotta cheese on dough, sprinkle with clams, followed by the tomatoes mixer then the bacon. Shower with a few table spoons of the basil and parsley and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Place the pizza in oven and cook until crust is golden brown and ricotta is bubbling, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from oven sprinkle on Pecorine cheese and more basil and parsley, cut and serve.

Enjoy cooking

Panzanella

I am going through my recipe file tonight: i am getting ready to meet with a new cook book agent since my last one decided to rep political writers, ugh as if we need more of that.

I came across this in my notes for quick summer salads, well actually it is is an anytime salad.

Panzanella

Ingredients

I loaf French Boule, slightly stale
1 cup red cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 cup of yellow cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Cup of roasted red pepper, cut into ribbons
1 cucumber, ribbon pealed and diced
1/2 red onion diced
1/4 cup celery leaves, chopped
1 cup of basil, leaves cut into ribbons
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 oz can of anchovies in olive oil, drained
2 table spoons red wine vinegar
1 table spoon cabers, drained
Olive Oil
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Tear up bread into bite size chunks, place in a bowl, coat with olive oil, toss and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.

On a cutting board place anchovies and garlic, with the side of a knife smash anchovies and garlic into the cutting board to form a paste, scrape into a bowl with the lemon, vinegar a few table spoons of olive oil and whisk together, add the remaining ingredients and toss, lastly add the toasted bread, toss, taste to see if it needs addition lemon or salt and pepper than serve.

Enjoy Cooking

Cucumber Carpaccio

Cucumber Carpaccio

Summer is coming, actually we had no real spring here in NYC, and this is a great salad to have when it starts getting hot.

Cucumber Carpaccio

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs of thinly sliced cucumbers, skins left on
3 table spoons chopped Chervil
3 table spoons chopped Dill
3 Table spoons chopped Chives
3 table spoons of Lemon Thyme Blossoms (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon and Lime
Olive oil
Salt
Goat cheese, crumbled


Directions

This is pretty simple, arrange cucumber in a single overlapping arrangement on a platter. Sprinkle herbs over cucumbers - Next drizzle the olive oil over platter, followed by the lemon/lime juice. Sprinkle with salt, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour. Remove from fridge sprinkle the goat cheese, garnish with Chervil leaves and serve.

Enjoy Cooking

Fiddle Ferns

Fiddle ferns

Ingredients

2 cups of fiddle ferns
2 lbs mushrooms of choice
4 table spoons butter
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons grounded yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Place fiddle ferns in a cold bath of water for at least five minutes. Rub ferns between fingers to remove fur.

In a large sauce pan bring salted water to a boil. Have an ice bath standing by, blanch ferns for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes and place in ice bath afterwards.

In a large saute pan place butter over medium high heat to melt and then add mushrooms and saute until soft. Next add garlic and stir: after 1 minute add the remaining ingredients, reduce heat to medium. After simmering for about 2 minutes add ferns and saute for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.


Enjoy cooking

Hazelnut Macaroons with Orange Buttercream

I have not been doing much cooking with work and the reno going on at our house. But the Renovation is coming to and end and i will soon have a new kitchen.

The other day at a pot luck at work i had macaroons and I thought it's been a while since i made macaroons and figure why not, they are quick and easy to make.

Enjoy

Hazelnut Macaroons with Orange Butter Cream

Ingredients

Macaroons

2 cups skinned hazelnuts
1 16oz box powdered sugar
8 egg whites
1/3 cup raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Butter cream

2 stick of unsalted butter, room temp
3 egg yolks
1/2 raw sugar plus two table spoons
3 table spoons water
2 table spoon Grand Marnier
Zest of one orange


Directions

Macaroons

Place the nuts into the food processor an long with half of the powdered sugar and process until fine. Remove mixture from food processor and mix with the remain powdered sugar in another bowl until combined.

Now start on the merinque, place egg whites in the stand mixer and whip until foamy. With the mixer on high add the cream of tartar, once the egg whites start to hold their shape, slowly add the raw sugar and salt. The merinque is done when you have stiff peaks.

Now fold the dry ingredients until the merinque, the batter with become very stiff. Note do not over work the batter will start to become runny.

Next add batter into a pastry bag and pipe out mounds that are about a little over an inch in size on to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Pipe out mounds about an inch apart. When done set sheet aside so that the merinque can dry out, this takes about 2 hours.

While merinques are drying out start the butter cream.

Butter cream

Ok you will need to do two things at once here:

Place a small sauce pan over medium high heat and place the orange zest, 1/2 cup of raw sugar and the water and heat until it forms a syrup.

At the same time in the stand mixer place egg yolks and 2 table spoons of raw sugar and whip until smooth.

Now add the syrup to the egg yolks slow while the mixer is on low. You want to do this slowly so that you do not scramble the eggs. Once the mixture has about tripled in volume add the butter and Grand Marnier and mix until fluffy and the mixture forms stiff peaks.

Now its time to bake merinques, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake meringues about 8 minutes, rotate and bake for an additional 8 minutes. You want them a light golden color. Remove and cool on a rack.

Next place butter cream into a pastry bag and pipe one side of a baked merinque, about a nickle size amount of cream, place the another merinque creating a sandwich, pressing together; repeat.

Note you will need to bake an even amount of merinques to create the sandwich cookies.

Enjoy Cooking