Flatbread Pizza

Last week I wanted to make something different for dinner. While my wife and I were at Wegman's in Amherst, I wandered into the Asian Foods aisle and instantly knew what I wanted to make: Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan.

Made it all later that week and it was great. Had some leftover Naan I kept to toast and have for snacks later. These were fun to make and gave me an idea. Why not make little pizzas out of these?



I tried this out on Wednesday night and they were very good.

What you will need:
2 1/2 cups of white flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c warm water (110F)
1/2 package of active dry yeast
1/2 tbsp sugar

Small bowl or cup
Mixing bowl
Wood spoon
Electric mixer
Plastic wrap
Towel
Large frying pan
Non-stick spray

Place 1/2 cup warm water in a small bowl or cup. Mix in sugar. Sprinkle in the yeast and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The yeast will turn frothy and puffy.

Pour the foamy yeast mixture into the mixing bowl and add 1/2 cup of the flour, the oil and salt. Use the eletric mixer to combine the ingredients and add as much flour as you can without over-working the mixer. Add as much of remaining flour as you can and mix using a wooden spoon (or your hands). Once thoroughly combined, continue to knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it is firm. It will have a "flaky" texture.

Lightly oil a large bowl and plce the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and towel and keep in a warm place for 60 - 90 minutes. During this time the dough rise and double in apparent size.

Divide the risen dough into 8 portions. Take each, roll into a ball and flatten into a circle using a rolling pin. Note: the dough is elastic and tough, so some pressure may be needed.

Pre-heat your frying pan or skillet on a high temperature. Spray each side of the rolled-out dough lightly with non-stick spray or blush with butter/margarine. Fry for about 30 seconds on each side.

Now you have pitas! You can stop here or continue to transform them into pizza.

When I flipped the pita over the first time, I topped the cooked side with sauce, mozzarella and diced pepperoni. Once the other side was cooked as well, I popped the pizza in the toaster oven on broil until the cheese just started to brown (about 2-3 mins).

My wife and kids had the pizzas, while I kept two of the pitas for myself to have pita wedges and refried beans.

Each pita is about 150 -175 calories (more for the pizza, of course)

Chicken Parmigiana

Super easy recipe for a popular Italian-American favorite. So simple, even I can do this without screwing it up.

First off, chicken breast is good for you. Just over four ounces (that 120 grams for you metric types) of this packs a wealth of minerals and vitamins. Aside from its vital Niacin and B6 vitamins, chicken contains Phosphorous and Selenium (over 20% RDA of each). Selenium is an element used by your immune system and is used in larger amounts in medicines to treat diseases such as bird flu, cancer, HIV and thyroid conditions. Phosphorous is used in bone and live cell production and makes WICKED glow-in the dark pigments... but no it won't make you glow. Granted, there is significant amount of cholesterol in chicken (4 ounces = 23% RDA) and most store-purchased chicken is loaded with sodium for flavor enhancement and preservation. The benefits outweigh it all. Don't go eating a plate full of chicken, but don't deny yourself of this beneficial food if you take it in moderation.

Okay back to the food.

I use the following to make my C.P. (three servings)

• 12-13 oz of skinless, boneless chicken breast
• Two egg whites
• 2/3 cup bread crumbs (homemade, plain)
• Paprika, Oregano, Black pepper, Garlic Powder
• Spaghetti sauce (room temp)
• Grated (or fresh) Parmesan cheese
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese (optional)
• Vegetable oil

Weapons of mass culinary dysfunction needed:

• Frying pan
• Baking pan (9x9"-ish)
• Two bowls
• Meat tenderizer (vicious-looking hammer or cudgel device)

Slice the chicken into 4 - 4 1/2 oz portions.  Focus all the day's stress, anger, confusion, annoyance, sorrow and frustration through your arm, into the hammer, wield it as if were Excalibur and violently thrash each piece of chicken as if it were the single cause of every hardship you have ever endured. Who needs anger management? Just knock around an innocent piece of lifeless chicken. Seriously, though... you want to hammer each chunk into a 1/2" thick flat "patty". Don't worry if it tends to flake apart a little.


Grab a deep frying pan if you have one and add enough oil so that you have a pool no more than 1/4" deep. Heat the pan (and oil) to frying temperature (~300F) but not too hot. Preheat the oven to 400F.

While this is heating up, in a bowl add your egg whites and spices. Mix them up. When the oil is hot, dip a clod of chicken mass into the egg solution then coat with breadcrumbs. Lay the breaded chicken in the pan and fry on each side for 45-seconds. When done, place the fried piece on a paper towel to absorb excess oil then place in baking pan. Do this for each piece of chicken.

Once all pieces are in the baking pan bake for 10 mins in pre-heated oven. Flip. Add a bit of sauce on each top each with cheese and bake for 10 mins more.

Serve with pasta and/or a nice salad, or make sandwiches.

This recipe might be possible to substitute catfish for the chicken. However if you try this, ease up on the level of violence needed.

Never Buy Croutons

Ok... that title is a bit too authoritative. Buy them if you like. However, if you would like to try something different, you can very easily make your own. My wife loves these, which is really saying something since she is one tough customer.


Here is everything you need:

• Bread (any kind, sliced, white, wheat, rye, rolls, buns, breadsticks, home made, store bought, stolen, borrowed, lost, found, and so on)
• Bread knife (I use an electric for this)
• Oven or toaster oven
• Sheet pan
• Bag (paper, plastic... or even a large plastic bowl with a top)

Well, that's it really. Now if you want it to taste like something other than toast, grab any of the following:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Paprika
• Onion powder
• Ground basil
• Ground oregano
• Cayenne pepper

... just about anything


Now, here's what you do

Set your oven to 250F. You can go higher, but you don't want to toast anything, you want to dry the bread out.

Okay, while that's heating up, slice your bread into cubes. Try to make them uniformly sized (1/4" or 1/2"). The larger the cubes the longer they'll need to spend in the oven. Once you have a mound of cubes, put them into the bag or container. Add your selection of spices and SHAKE.

The moisture within the bread and the porous surface will both capture some of the spices. Continue shaking until the cubes are coated.

Dump the cubes onto an ungreased sheet pan and place in your preheated oven. The amount of time needed will depend on the type of bread used, size of cubes and how spaced apart they are. I usually give it about 20-30 mins then check. If I'm not happy, I give them 10 mins more and repeat that process until I have a bunch of crunchy cubes.

When they're done, remove the pan and let the pan and cubes cool. Once they are more or less room temperature, you can store them in a sealed container or resealable storage bag. Let them cool completely or else you will get vapor in the storage container and that could make them soggy and tough.


Take it a step further...

If you ignore the last two sentences of the instructions above and replace with "...dump them into a food processor and smash the hell outta them!" you will end up with breadcrumbs. Since January of this year these are the only breadcrumbs I use. No more wasted left-over bread.






Different seasonings

Here are some ideas for seasoning combinations I've used. There are endless possibilities. If you have a spice grinder, mix the spices together and grind them all at once into a single spice concoction for greater consistency.


Simple

• Paprika
• Touch of ground salt

Asian/oriental style

• Ginger
• Cinnamon
• Corriander
• Cumin
• Cliantro
• Touch of powdered sea salt

Italian-ish

• Ground basil
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Light Olivio spray before baking (add extra baking time, serve fresh)
• Paprika

Sweet croutons (great if you're including fruits in your salad)

• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg (just a hint)
• Sugar
• Hot chocolate mix

Spicy

• Cayenne pepper
• Chili powder
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Cilantro
• Hint of beef flavor (HerbOx, or instead use a powdered meat-tenderizer which is usually salt, pineapple enzyme and garlic)