Fennel, Onion, and Pepper Pizza

I came up with the idea for this pizza one day when I was trying to decide on a meatless dinner. I like the idea of doing Meatless Mondays, which is a non-profit initiative with a goal of reducing meat consumption by 15%. We do go meatless at least once a week already, I believe, so it definitely would not be difficult to manage. I haven't officially signed up to be a part of the Meatless Mondays movement, but as of right now I'm giving it a trial run on my own! This is my first blog post about my efforts.

I had some very attractive red onions and sweet green peppers on hand, and when I ran by the grocery store, I saw that fennel was only 99 cents a pound. Score! The idea for this pizza was born then. I went home and got to work. I sauteed the veggies together in a skillet until they were all soft and sweet. Meanwhile, I had set up a basic whole-wheat pizza dough to form in the bread machine. When that was ready, I spread it out to fill a round pizza pan. The next step, I admit, is a strange one, but bear with me here!

I was trying to make this a bit lower in fat, so I decided to try spreading some soft cheese all over the crust of the pizza. I had a bunch of Laughing Cow spreadable cheese that I had been wanting to use up. It's only 2 grams of fat per wedge, but I have found that if I just spread it on crackers or something, it tastes a bit synthetic and fake. I thought perhaps I could mask this by throwing a bunch of delicious vegetables on top of it! I used about 2 wedges to spread on the crust, and then I diced another wedge to scatter across the top.

Crazily enough, this actually worked! I thought the cheese was creamy, tasty, and blended well with the other flavors on the pizza. I had used the French Onion variety of the cheese, but I'm sure any of the other flavors would work just fine.

Fennel, Onion, and Pepper Pizza

recipe by Bri

serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 whole-wheat pizza dough

1 small bulb fennel, sliced thinly (discard the green tops, but reserve some of the fronds)

1 red onion, sliced thinly

1-2 sweet green peppers, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Nonstick cooking spray

Cornmeal, for dusting

3-4 wedges Laughing Cow spreadable cheese, any variety

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and add the fennel, onion, and green pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper as desired, as well as the garlic. Cook for an additional 3 or 4 minutes, until the veggies are softened. Turn the heat off and set the skillet aside.

2. Dust a foil-lined pizza pan with cornmeal, then stretch the pizza dough into a circular shape, to fit the pan. Spread 2 or 3 wedges of the cheese across the surface of the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Scatter your veggies evenly around the pizza, and then add an additional wedge or so of the cheese, cut into small pieces, across the pizza.

3. Bake the pizza in the oven for about 15 minutes or so, until the pizza dough is cooked through and the cheese has become slightly browned on top. Cut into wedges and serve.

Mini Madeleines

You know you go to Starbucks way too often when your sons become cookie snobs. In other words, my boys are being brought up on Starbucks' delectable French madeleine cookies, these tender, cakey little beauties. Many times when I drag them in to get my morning coffee (or my afternoon coffee, or even my evening coffee...), they request a package of these cookies. Now, I've long been a fan of the madeleine, having started my Starbucks career back in 2000 and trying them shortly thereafter. I've been hooked ever since. They're fluffy, yet dense. Light, yet buttery. Pretty, yet not too pretty to eat! And now my kids are addicted, too.

When I was pregnant with my first son, I was not the cook in our household. My husband did pretty much all the cooking back then, and he did a bit of baking, as well. For Christmas that year, I had bought him a mini madeleine pan from Williams Sonoma, a nice fancy one. Maybe I was actually buying it for myself, since I knew he'd be baking me some yummy cookies! But either way, we were glad to have our own pan for creating madeleines.

Now that my sons are hooked on them, too, I get requests to make them every now and again. Nothing beats the homemade version of these cookies. However, they are a bit fussy, what with me only having the one little pan. I have to bake a batch, then let the pan cool, then re-grease and flour the pan to bake the next batch, and so on. Furthermore, these cookies need to be eaten the same day they are made. And although they are completely addictive and very easy to continuously pop into your mouth like pieces of popcorn, I don't always need that on my waistline! We've tried refrigerating them and eating them the next day, but it's really not the same.

In the past I've used a Martha Stewart recipe for madeleines, but this time I decided to try a Dorie Greenspan version. Hers had a bit of brown sugar and honey added in, so I was intrigued. Man, these did not disappoint. At all. Sure, I overfilled my little madeleine molds and caused my cookies to have some cute fringe around the edges, but so what? It hardly affected the taste. It gave them personality, I think! And this time I just kept the bowl of batter in the fridge and made my family a small batch at a time over the course of 2 days. It's perfect that you can chill the batter and keep it on hand. Now we don't have to worry about eating 3 dozen cookies in one day. Not that it's stopped us before...

Mini Madeleines
from Dorie Greenspan
makes 36 cookies

Ingredients
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1/8 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. honey
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions
1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars until smooth. Gently whisk in the melted butter and, finally, the honey. You'll have a thick, smooth, shiny batter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 days.

3. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Generously butter mini madeleine pan(s), dust the insides with flour, and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan, just spray the interior with vegetable cooking spray. Silicone pans can be used just as they are. Put the pan(s) on a baking sheet.

4. Fill each little madeleine mold with about a teaspoon of batter; the molds should be about three-quarters full. Don't worry about leveling the batter - it will do it by itself in the oven.

5. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden brown around the edges. Remove the sheet from the oven and give the madeleine pan(s) a hearty rap against the counter. Gently pry out any cakes that don't want to leave their nests with your fingers or a butter knife. You can serve the madeleines immediately or put them on a rack to cool.

6. Repeat the process with any remaining batter, making certain to cool and rebutter and flour or respray the pan(s). Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioners' sugar if desired.

CEIMB: Baked Falafel Sandwiches

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was an incredibly welcome surprise. I say that because I tried something totally new, and I really loved it! These Baked Falafel Sandwiches, chosen by Elina of Healthy and Sane, really epitomized what being in this blogging group means to me. It's all about stepping away from making my tried and true favorite foods, and attempting to prepare things I've never made before. The bonus here is that I found something I've truly been missing out on all my life.

Seriously, how have I never tried falafel before? This stuff is yummy! Not only that, it's way easier to prepare than I expected it to be. A can of chickpeas is drained and rinsed, then added to a food processor. Next, in goes some cumin, some coriander, onion, garlic, salt, cilantro, parsley, and some olive oil. Whir it all up briefly, and there you have it! A nice, easily malleable mixture that you can shape into little falafel balls. They bake up in about 35-40 minutes, and then they're ready to be pita-fied!

So you stuff four of these little balls into one pita bread, and then you can add your other sandwich ingredients. There's the lettuce and the cucumber, and then there's tomato, which I did not have on hand. Personally, I felt like this was fine without them. Finally, you make a simple sauce of tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, and a bit of water to thin it out to the right consistency. I was a bit stingy with the sauce on my falafel (I don't know, I just didn't want mine too saucy), but my husband loooved the tahini sauce! He couldn't stop dunking his sandwich into the sauce, which he had both inside the pita and in a dish on the side.

I was so excited to find something new that we loved so much. I think in the past I shied away from falafel because it is made from chickpeas, and I was always wary of chickpeas. Now I know that I have nothing to fear! This was an extremely tasty and satisfying meal, and it went great with a simple side of orzo tossed with pine nuts, coriander, and a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Very delicious.

Thank you so very much, Elina, for this week's pick. This recipe cannot be found in Ellie's cookbooks, so I don't know if I ever would have found, let alone made, this if you hadn't chosen it. The full recipe can be found on Food Network's website, here.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Cinnamon is a popular flavor here at my house. In fact, I now keep a sealed container of cinnamon sugar right on top of my toaster oven, so often does my oldest son ask for cinnamon toast at breakfast. Considering the cinnamon love around these parts, you would think I make snickerdoodle cookies pretty frequently, but I only make them around the holidays. However, now that I've made these decadent Snickerdoodle Blondies, I'll be looking at different incarnations of the mighty snickerdoodle to make in the future. Turns out cinnamon sugar's pretty much good on everything!

The greatest thing about making blondies is the ease of preparation. They're kind of like a brownie's lighter-hued cousin, or something. In the case of these particular blondies, you most likely already have the ingredients on hand. The usual suspects are here: flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla. You basically throw together a cookie dough for these, then press the dough down into a 9x13-inch pan instead of shaping cookies. A very healthy sprinkling of cinnamon sugar goes down over the top. Then the pan visits the oven for about 25-30 minutes.

These are utterly addictive. They are dense, sweet, and wonderfully cinnamon-y. In fact, I'd venture to say that they'd be even more dynamite if they had cinnamon in the dough itself, rather than just on top. Hmm, maybe next time. But as far as this batch is concerned, I thought they were pretty stellar. The kids and the hubby agreed. I made these on a Friday afternoon, and they were polished off by the end of the weekend. That normally doesn't happen around here! I'd make these again in a heartbeat, and I can only imagine what kinds of add-ins I could play around with next time to make these even tastier. They are the perfect thing to make when you need to take a quick, easy dessert to a potluck or something. Or, you could just make them for your family to plow through over a lazy weekend!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

from Dozen Flours

makes 20-24 bars, depending on the size of your bars

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. white sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan (I lined my pan with foil). Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

2. Stir in the flour mixture until well-blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookie batter-ish). Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

3. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Zucchini Whoopie Pies: My Own Creation!

I really love my new whoopie pie pan! I mean, don't get me wrong. I love a good, misshapen, free-form whoopie pie as much as the next gal. But come on, how cute are they when they're made in these perfect little circles, complete with puffy middles and nice, symmetrical sides? Thank you, Williams-Sonoma, for my new toy!

So once I had gotten my whoopie pie pan broken in by making some muffin tops in it, I decided that I should probably make actual whoopie pies in them next. I mean, that is the pan's intended purpose, right? And I still had so much zucchini on my windowsill, staring at me every day. The answer was obvious: make zucchini whoopie pies!

A quick Google search yielded plenty of options for me. Who knew there were so many variations on the zucchini whoopie pie, let alone two or three? I found endless possibilities, and based on what I found, I decided to just make up my own recipe! I couldn't find any variations that contained chocolate, and I really wanted to do a batch of regular and a batch of chocolate. I played around with ingredients and came up with what I think is a great whoopie pie. Two, actually.

For the first one, the regular zucchini whoopie, I found that I could make the cake/cookie part more delicate and cakelike by using cake flour as well as some all-purpose flour. In the past, I have found that whoopie pies can become rubbery after a day, and I'd much rather they retain that light, nearly crumbly texture I've come to expect in a whoopie. I used a nice combination of warm spices to flavor the cookies, and cut down on the amount of buttermilk I used. I figured that the excess moisture from the grated zucchini would make up for it.

The chocolate whoopie, in my opinion, turned out even more delicious than the regular variety. I used some Dutch process cocoa powder, some espresso powder, and then all the ingredients I had used in the regulars, albeit in different proportions. These turned out incredibly moist, super chocolatey, and almost too decadent to call them zucchini whoopie pies. After all, the word "zucchini" implies healthy. Nutritious, even. But these little babies definitely taste like dessert. A yummy, naughty dessert.

To fill all the pies, I made an orange-flavored cream cheese frosting. Oh, was this good! It doesn't require that much orange juice to make the citrusy flavor really come through. It offset the spicy outer shells so well; total yum. I'm still shocked that I was able to come up with something so delicious, all on my own! There's hope for me yet with this baking stuff, I think!

Zucchini Whoopie Pies

created by Bri

makes 12-15 whoopie pies

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 egg

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups finely grated zucchini, squeezed to release excess moisture

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together both flours, the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and shortening until well-combined. Add the brown sugar and mix on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in vanilla and egg; mix until fully incorporated.

3. Turn the mixer down to low. In two separate additions, add in the dry ingredients, adding in the buttermilk in between the two additions. With a rubber spatula, fold in the zucchini and the walnuts, if using.

4. Using a whoopie pie pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drop tablespoon-sized dollops of the batter 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the pan and switching it from the bottom to the upper rack halfway through baking.

5. Allow to cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. To fill, pipe desired amount of Orange Cream Cheese Frosting onto one whoopie pie shell (recipe for frosting follows). Sandwich a second whoopie pie shell on top to complete your whoopie.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 oz. (one package) cream cheese, cold, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (or maybe more) confectioners' sugar, measured and then sifted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. fresh orange juice

Directions

1. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until fully incorporated. About 1/3 at a time, add in the confectioners' sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Make sure each 1/3 is completely mixed in before adding the next. Once combined, mix in the vanilla extract and orange juice, just until it is all mixed in. Do not overbeat.

Chocolate Zucchini Whoopie Pies:

Ingredients

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa

3/4 cup cake flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. espresso powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups finely grated zucchini, squeeze to remove excess moisture

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Make whoopie pies according to the above directions for the regular whoopie pies. The only difference: add in the cocoa and the espresso powder with the other dry ingredients. Then proceed as directed above. Sandwich with the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and enjoy!

CEIMB: Fettuccine with Crab and Asparagus

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was chosen by Jessica of Johnstone's Vin Blanc. We made Fettuccine with Crab and Asparagus, from Ellie's book So Easy. As you may know by now, I am not really the biggest fan of seafood. I eat shrimp, and I love it. Other than that, it's all pretty much outside of my comfort zone. However, I decided to go for it this time and try the crab in this dish.

I did have to cheat a little bit, and buy the package of imitation crab instead of the pure, real thing. Actually, the kind I bought said it was made from crab and other types of fish. I hope I still got the full effect, though, because I did end up liking it. It didn't taste very fishy, which is something that typically bothers me about seafood. It was very nice with the lemony flavors in the dish.

The dish as a whole, however, I felt was a bit lacking. I am not quite sure what it was, exactly. Maybe I wanted it to be saucier; I don't know. As it was, I just found it to be a bit dry. I liked the way it tasted. I adore asparagus, the lemon and the white wine added some good zing, and I thought the tarragon was really interesting in this. I did not buy fresh herbs for this recipe, so I just used my dried tarragon and dried parsley.



I haven't decided if I would make this again. It was good, it just wasn't amazing or memorable. Maybe if the sauce were more of a scampi-type sauce, this would have been better. I guess it wouldn't have been as healthy that way, though, so it would have defeated the purpose of cooking an Ellie meal!

Thanks, Jessica, for this week's pick! She's got the recipe posted on her blog. Check out the other CEIMBers in our blogroll.

Sloppy Bombay Joes

Being the Food Network-aholic that I am, I was following this past season of The Next Food Network Star. It's your garden variety reality competition series, in which foodie finalists compete to win the grand prize of their very own cooking show. Said show is then aired on weekend mornings on the channel, and if their first, six-episode season turns out to be a success, then the winner continues their cooking show. It's a pretty cool concept, and I've enjoyed watching for 3 or 4 seasons now. I can't say, though, that I have ever been as excited to make the winner's food as I was to make Aarti's food.



Food blogger Aarti Sequeira took home the title this year, and her cooking show, Aarti Party, began two Sundays ago. In her show, she tries to take the mystery and challenge of cooking Indian food, and turn it into something accessible for the home viewer. She likes to put an Indian spin on ordinary American dishes, thus showing the home cook how to utilize Indian techniques and spices to turn the familiar into the exotic. It sounded like a great way to branch out and try new things. Plus, I thought Aarti was great when I watched her all season long. She has a very calm, soothing presence on camera, and she definitely seems knowledgeable and creative in her cooking.



The first main dish she made on her new show was this: Sloppy Bombay Joes. She turns the average, everyday sloppy joe into international cuisine by transforming the messy, tomato-ey sauce we're used to in this dish into an Indian-style sauce. I was intrigued, and the food looked delicious on the show.

As it turns out, I loved these sloppy joes! The flavors were at once familiar and unknown, as the Indian spices mingled with the traditional tomato sauce and the meat and veggies. Her addition of raisins and pistachios was, I thought, inspired. The idea of extra textures in my sloppy joe was a welcome one; it made the meat mixture more interesting and much more flavorful. I didn't know how I'd feel about all these components working together, but it was fantastic.

If I had any gripes about this dish, they'd be very trivial. I felt like the slop was almost too sloppy, if that's possible. I mean, just by looking at this recipe's title, you'd think I'd be prepared for a mess. But I think I made my sauce a tad too runny. I'm sure I could have simmered everything longer and thickened it up a bit more, but I guess I was just eager to eat! I just served the meat mixture up with a slotted spoon to drain some of the excess liquid, and it was fine. My buns began to fall apart while being eaten, but I can imagine that the joes could be served up in pita bread or even tortillas, and still taste great.

Now that I've tasted her food, I can't wait to see what else Aarti's got in store for us. I'm sure this was just the first of many of her creations that I'll be trying out!

Sloppy Bombay Joes

adapted from Aarti Sequeira's recipe, found on Food Network.com
makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
For the sauce:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 serrano chile, seeded and finely minced (save the other half for the turkey)
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water

For the turkey:
3 to 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup shelled pistachios (about a small handful)
1/4 cup raisins (about a small handful)
1 tsp. cumin seeds (I had to use ground cumin; I had no seeds)
1/2 white onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 serrano chile, seeds intact (not chopped)
Kosher salt
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 tsp. honey
1/4 cup half-and-half (I used 1% milk)
Small handful cilantro, chopped (soft stems included)
4 to 6 hamburger buns

Directions
1. Begin by making the sauce: Warm the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, until it shimmers. Add the ginger, garlic, and serrano pepper. Saute until the ginger and garlic brown a little. Add the garam masala and paprika and saute for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until thickened, about 15 minutes.

2. Begin the turkey: In a large skillet, warm 2 Tbsp. of oil. When shimmering, add the pistachios and raisins. Cook until the raisins swell up and the pistachios toast slightly. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. Return the pan to medium heat, add 1 to 2 more Tbsp. of oil, and warm until shimmering. Add the cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle for about 10 seconds, or until some of the sizzling subsides. Stir in the onions and bell pepper; saute until softened (since I had ground cumin, I just threw the cumin in with the onions and peppers). Add the serrano pepper. Saute for another couple of minutes, seasoning with the salt. Stir in the turkey, breaking up the big lumps. Cook until opaque, about 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, your sauce should be ready. Pour the sauce into the skillet with the turkey. Stir and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the mixture has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.

5. Once the turkey has cooked and the sauce has thickened a little, remove the serrano pepper. Add the honey, half-and-half, pistachios, and raisins. Stir through and taste for seasoning. Before serving, garnish with fresh cilantro (I stirred my cilantro in at the end).

6. Toast the buns, fill with the turkey mixture, and serve. Eat (with your hands!) and enjoy!