Tortilla Pizza

Usually when Dave and I make pizza, we get the fresh dough from the supermarket or local deli and rock the pizza stone.  Of course, the result is always delicious (especially when we add the cornmeal underneath the crust...love that!).  

However, if we are short on time, this recipe is a great stand in!  Made with flour tortillas and cooked in a cast iron skillet, the total preparation AND cook time goes down to about 10 minutes.

Last night - Super Bowl Sunday - we made 2 varieties of this tortilla pizza (and no, we did not watch the game).  Dave made the point that caramelizing onions defeated the whole "quick and easy" idea, but it was tasty nonetheless.  

Ingredients

Large flour tortillas

Pizza stuff (sauce, cheese, toppings, etc)

Directions:

• Preheat the broiler
• On the stove top, heat a small amount of oil in a cast iron pan, over high heat until it starts to shimmer.

• Once hot, drop the heat to low and spread around the oil with a paper towel, absorbing any excess.

• Place a tortilla in the pan, with the small bubbles facing down

In the pic above, the small bubbles are on the left, and the large bubbles are on the right.

The large bubbles should be facing up.

• Add your toppings!  Our first pizza used pizza sauce, with mozzarella and Pecorino Romano cheeses.  We also threw on some hot pepper flakes.

• By this point, the cheese will start to melt and the bottom will crisp up a bit.  Now it's time for the broiler!

• Cook under the broiler for about 1-3 minutes.  Ours were done in 1 min 30 seconds.

The pizza ends up so crispy that you can hold the whole thing without it flopping over!!

Our second variety uses this awesome fig jam we picked up at Wegman's:

I caramelized some onions...

...then deglazed the pan with beer:

 I spread a thin layer of the fig jam onto the tortilla, followed by the onions and cheeses.  This one was a little sweet for me, but Dave loved it!

Pizza Hats

Ingredients

Large flour tortillas

Pizza stuff (sauce, cheese, toppings, etc)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the broiler 
2. On the stove top, heat a small amount of oil in a cast iron pan, over high heat until it starts to shimmer. Once hot, drop the heat to low and spread around the oil with a paper towel, absorbing any excess. 
3. Place a tortilla in the pan, with the small bubbles facing down 
4. Add your sauce and toppings. 
5. Cook under the broiler for about 1-3 minutes. Check it to make sure it doesn't burn!

Beef Skewers

I know that (much like the 6 minute egg), you guys probably don't need a recipe for beef skewers.  But I like how the marinade tasted, and I want to ensure that the next time I make this, it's just as delicious!

Ingredients:
1 tbs Montreal Steak Seasoning (we have reduced sodium)
2 tsp soy sauce
2 1/2 tbs olive oil
cubed beef (I used pre-cut meat, but you can always cut your own or have a butcher cut some)
vegetables (I used grape tomatoes and peppers)

• Start by making the marinade.  Combine steak seasoning, soy sauce, and olive oil in a zip top bag.  Add the meat and mush things around a bit.  Allow meat to marinate for 30 minutes.

•  While the meat is marinating, soak skewers in water.  You don't want them to burn!

• Prepare the vegetables

• Once the meat is finished marinating, assemble your skewers.  Note that I put all of the tomatoes on one skewer- they won't take as long to cook so I wanted to keep them separated. ("gotta keep 'em separated!")

• Cook the skewers using your preferred method. We don't have a grill, so we cooked these on a grill pan in a 475 degree oven for about 10 minutes, flipping the meat half way through.  (the tomatoes were finished in about 5 minutes)

They were cooked to a lovely and delicious medium, and we served them with some sourdough bread (topped with Kerrygold Irish butter, of course!

Ingredients:
1 tbs Montreal Steak Seasoning (we have reduced sodium)
2 tsp soy sauce
2 1/2 tbs olive oil
cubed beef (I used pre-cut meat, but you can always cut your own or have a butcher cut some)
vegetables (I used grape tomatoes and peppers)

Directions:

1. Start by making the marinade. Combine steak seasoning, soy sauce, and olive oil in a zip top bag. Add the meat and mush things around a bit. Allow meat to marinate for 30 minutes. 
2. While the meat is marinating, soak skewers in water. You don't want them to burn!
3. Prepare/chop the vegetables
4. Once the meat is finished marinating, assemble your skewers. Note that I put all of the tomatoes on one skewer- they won't take as long to cook so I wanted to keep them separated.
5. Cook the skewers using your preferred method. We don't have a grill, so we cooked these on a grill pan in a 475 degree oven for about 10 minutes, flipping the meat half way through. (the tomatoes were finished in about 5 minutes)

Enjoy!

Charred Corn Crepes

Dave had purchased some corn on the cob, and we decided to use it for this recipe!  Scroll down a bit, and you'll also find a video :)  Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:

2 ears of corn on the cob

4 tbs melted butter

1 cup flour

2 cups milk (I used almond milk, because that's what we had)

4 eggs

1 tsp salt

butter for the pan

for serving:

queso fresco (or other salty cheese)

sour cream

tomatoes

chili powder (optional)

lime

Directions:

• Husk your corn, and allow it to char over an open flame

• Use tongs to rotate the corn until cooked and blackened.

The corn will pop as it is cooking!  I filmed a video so you could see what I mean:

(watch video below, or in HD on YouTube)

• Use a knife to cut off the kernels from both ears of corn.

• Transfer corn to a food processor, and pour melted butter on top.  I had to do this in 2 stages because we have a small food processor.  Allow it to cool a bit, then blend.

It should look like this- still a bit chunky!

• Add flour, milk, eggs, and salt, and mix well.   I eventually transferred the mixture to a large bowl to make mixing easier.

This picture was a tough one to take.  One hand was holding the measuring cup, one hand was holding the chopstick, and one hand was holding the camera....?  Ahh- the magic of cooking!

Not necessary, but fun to have: a crepe ladle!

• Heat a skillet over medium heat, and coat with butter.  I put some in the middle and then spread it around with a paper towel.

• Pour some batter into the center of the skillet, and tilt it until you have a circle (or, a rustic circle like mine!)  Cook until the edges start to brown slightly, then flip and cook the other side for another 20 or 30 seconds.

• Transfer your cooked crepes to a plate lined with paper towel.

• To serve, alternate crepes, sour cream, and cheese until you have a lovely stack.  Throw on some chopped tomatoes, and squeeze on a bit of lime juice.

We ate this like a pie as you can see in the photo above, but when we ate it the next night (there was leftover crepe batter), we rolled them like burritos.  That was a lot easier! :)

Ingredients: 

2 ears of corn on the cob 

4 tbs melted butter 

1 cup flour 

2 cups milk

4 eggs 

1 tsp salt 

butter for the pan 

for serving: 

queso fresco (or other salty cheese) 

sour cream 

tomatoes 

chili powder (optional) 

lime 

Directions: 

1. Husk your corn, and allow it to char over an open flame Use tongs to rotate the corn until cooked and blackened. 
2. Use a knife to cut off the kernels from both ears of corn. 
3. Transfer corn to a food processor, and pour melted butter on top.  Allow it to cool a bit, then blend. 
4. Add flour, milk, eggs, and salt, and mix well. 
5. Heat a skillet over medium heat, and coat with a thin layer of butter. 
6. Pour some batter into the center of the skillet, and tilt it until you have a circle 
7. Cook until the edges start to brown slightly, then flip and cook the other side for another 20 or 30 seconds. Transfer your cooked crepes to a plate lined with paper towel. 
8. To serve, alternate crepes, sour cream, and cheese until you have a lovely stack. Add chopped tomatoes, and squeeze a bit of lime juice on top.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

 Ahhh...this is another one of those non-recipe recipes.  I kind of made it up as I went along (tasting and adding more of things along the way), so the measurements are not exact.  But you all are pretty smart- you can edit this however you'd like! (plus different sized potatoes will change things too)

I've had mashed sweet potatoes before, but everyone seems to want to make it like a dessert.  This does have sweetness, but potato flavor still rules.  I made this as a side the other night, and Dave fried up some fish.  A great meal!

Ingredients:
3 sweet potatoes
2 tbs butter
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tbs honey
1/2 tbs brown sugar
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Peel sweet potatoes, and slice into thin discs.
2. Steam potatoes until nice and tender.  This took about 15 minutes.
3. Melt butter in a pot and add cooked potatoes, cinnamon, honey, and brown sugar.
4. Mash the potatoes. I used my trusty immersion blender!
5. Season with salt and pepper (and more sweetener/cinnamon if needed)

I garnished with some sliced apple because we had one laying around :)

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

This was a meal I whipped together the other night, and it was so delicious! I know that my recipe for the sauce in no way even comes close to competing with the tomato sauce that mom/grandma/Matt makes. Buuuut it was quick and easy.  I like that!

Since this was thrown together on the fly, I'll do my best to write down the ingredient amounts...

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
28 oz can Whole San Marzano Tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic
1 onion (I used a red onion, because that's what we had)
Basil (fresh would of course be better, but all I had was dried)
a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper

Directions:

1.  Roast the spaghetti squash. I cut mine in half, placed it in a shallow dish with about a half inch of water, and cooked it for about 35-40 minutes in a 450 degree oven.  That did the trick!  Scrape the spaghetti squash with a fork and use tongs to remove and put into a separate bowl.
2. While the squash is roasting, chop the onion and garlic.  I was crying profusely from the onion (usually I make Dave deal with onions, but he wasn't home) so I only had about 4/5 of it chopped.  
3. Heat a pot with some oil (I used our Le Crueset) and saute the garlic and onions until soft. 
4. Add the entire contents of the tomato can to the pot, and use a spoon to break up some of the tomatoes. Throw in some basil, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Reduce heat to medium, put on the lid, and cook for about 20 minutes.
6. Once the sauce has finished cooking, taste to see if it needs anything else, then lightly puree with an immersion blender. Make sure to leave big chunks!  Those are awesome :)
7. Serve the sauce over the cooked spaghetti squash.

This made 3 good sized servings. Since I tagged it as "healthy," I figured I should share the nutrition info per serving:

Calories: 178
Fat: 8g (from the olive oil used to saute)
Sodium: 90mg
Carbs: 23g
Protien: 3g
Sugars: 8g (mostly from the squash)