Focaccia Bread Pizza

Small-Batch Baking has recipe in it for Rosemary Focaccia which the author says makes a delicious pizza crust. We love homemade pizza so I thought I'd give it a go. This recipe makes one 6-inch pizza. I thought it would be too little for the two of us so I made two. Really we could have gotten by with just one because the bread is so filling. This really turned out good & I'll make it again.


1/4 t sugar
1 1/8 t active dry yeast
1 1/4 c bread flour
1 1/2 t kosher salt
3 t minced fresh rosemary
3 T olive oil Plus extra for greasing the pan
2 t cornmeal
2 T grated Parmeasan
1 tomato, thinly sliced
3/4 c grated Italian cheese of your choice

Pour 1/2 cup of very warm water (100 degrees) into a small bowl. Add sugar & yeast & stir until dissolved. Set aside for 5 minutes. It will get foamy.
Place 1 cup of the bread flour, 1 t salt & 1 t rosemary in a medium sized mixing bowl. Pour the yeast mixture and 2 T olive oil into the bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to make a sticky dough. Spread 1/4 cup of the flour in the center of a cutting board & turn the dough out into the center of the flour. Flour your hands and knead the dough until it is elastic & no longer sticky, about 5 minutes. Add more flour by the tablespoon if needed.
Grease a bowl with a teaspoon or two of olive oil, place the dough in the bowl, and turn it to grease it with the oil. Cover the bowl with a dishcloth & let it rise in a warm area until double in bulk about 45 minutes.
Brush some olive oil over a 6-inch round area on a baking sheet & sprinkle the cornmeal on it. Place the dough on the cornmeal and gently press it to form a 6-inch round. Using your fingertip make 1/2 inch indentations into the dough about 1-inch apart.
Brush 1 T of olive oil over the dough & sprinkle it with 2 t rosemary, 1/2 t salt and the Parmesan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

(I forgot to put the rosemary on top)
Preheat the oven to 400. Bake the focaccia for 10 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and sprinkle with Italian cheese. Add a layer of tomato slices & sprinkle with salt. Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted & crust is golden.

This dough really puffed up with baking. I actually pressed it down a bit before adding the toppings. I think next time I will try making it into a 10-inch round which should make it about 1/3 thinner. I also though there was a little too much salt so when using this as a pizza crust I won't add the salt before the dough rests. If you want to just make this as bread leave off the tomato & grated Italian cheese & bake for about 15 minutes.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

This recipe came from a cookbook called The After Work Cookbook which I believe is now out of print. I was looking for recipes to use some of the chicken that was leftover from Sunday's roast. Interestingly enough this is called Spicy yet there was nothing spicy in the ingredients so I added a good pinch of crushed red pepper flakes & Matt added some Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce to his. This was a good tasting quick meal but I felt the sesame oil really over-powered the peanut flavor so next time I will halve the sesame oil & add a little more peanut butter.


1 lb Chinese noodles (this was a little vague, we used chow mein noodles)
1 T peanut oil
1 lb chicken cut into bite sized pieces (we used pre-cooked chicken)
1 T peanut butter (I'd use 2 T)
juice from 1/2 lime
2 T sesame oil (I'd cut this to 1 T)
1/4 c fish sauce
2 T soy sauce
1/2 t brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 scallions, chopped
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1/3 c peanuts

Cook noodles according to directions on package. Drain & set aside. Meanwhile heat peanut oil in a wok over med-high heat. Add chicken & sauté until cooked (if using cooked chicken just sauté until heated). In a small bowl combine peanut butter, lime juice, sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, red pepper flakes & scallions. Add sauce & cooked noodles to the wok. Toss to coat everything & heat through. Serve with peanuts on top.

Peaches & Cream Cupcakes...sort of

I wanted to make a cupcake that tasted very peachy with a cream cheese frosting. I looked online & most of the recipes I found called for just putting slices of peaches in the cupcake but I wanted the batter to be peach flavored so I made a puree of peaches & added that to the batter (using less milk than I normally would). The cupcakes had nice flecks of peach throughout them but the peach flavor was VERY subtle. These cupcakes were yummy & moist but just not peachy enough. Next time I think I'll either add a little Peach Schnapps or make more peach puree & cook it down a little to intensify the flavor. Anyone have any other ideas? (*see below for an update)


Peach Cupcakes (a recipe in process)

1/4 cup of frozen peach slices (about 3), thawed & pureed
2 T buttermilk
1/8 t baking soda
Yolk of 1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C plus 2 t sugar
1/8 t salt
2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350. Put cupcake liners in 4 muffin cups. Combine the buttermilk, peach puree & baking soda in a small bowl. Stir to mix. Whisk in egg yolk & vanilla.
In a medium bowl blend the flour, sugar & salt together. Add butter & the peach/buttermilk mixture. Beat with hand mixer at low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium & beat until well blended, about a minute. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 2 minutes.

Makes 4 cupcakes
Adapted from Plain Good Cupcakes in Small-Batch Baking

This frosting is so delicious I was eating it right from the decorating bag. One tip, don't use light cream cheese like I did as the frosting comes out a little runny.


Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz cold cream cheese
4 t unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 C confectioner sugar
1/8 t vanilla

With a hand mixer beat the cream cheese until it is fluffy & smooth. Add the butter & beat until combined. Mix in vanilla. Add the sugar half at a time mixing until well blended.

(* So I tried my hand at a second batch of these. This time I used 1/2 cup of peaches & about 2 T peach schnapps & reduced that on the stove until it was 1/4 cup. Then I replaced the vanilla in the recipe with Peach Schnapps. Still there was no peach flavor to the cupcakes at all! Think I'll set this idea aside for awhile.)

Chicken, Black Bean & Corn Soup

Another Rachael Ray recipe, though I refuse to call this a stoup like she does...this is a soup. It was very good with lots of flavors we like, it basically tastes like chili, so in someways I sort of feel like we might as well just make chili. The chipotle didn't add enough heat to this for Matt so he added Tabasco at the end, it was perfect for me.

(I thought the color of this soup was a little off-putting but maybe that's just me)

2 T vegetable oil
2 lbs chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
salt & pepper
1 T ground cumin
1 1/2 T ground coriander
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 ears of fresh corn, kernels cut from the cob (we used 4 cups frozen corn)
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded & chopped
3 T all-purpose flour
1 quart chicken stock or broth
1 15oz can black beans, drained
juice of 1 lime
1/2 c fresh cilantro
hot sauce (optional)
sour cream or yogurt

Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat with the vegetable oil. Add the chicken & season with salt & pepper, cumin, coriander and chipotle. Cook until the chicken is lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onion, corn & bell pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes. Dust the chicken & veggies with the flour, stir & continue to cook for 2 minutes. Turn the heat up to high & add the chicken stock. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the lime juice & cilantro, and stir to combine. Taste & check for seasoning, adjust with salt & pepper & add hot sauce if you'd like. Serve garnished with sour cream or yogurt.

Serves 4 (or in real people servings 6)

From Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats--A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook)

Weekly Menu - 3/2 - 3/7/08

Its Menu Planning Monday

Roast Chicken & Vegetables - possibly my favorite meal, especially the way Matt roasts a chicken.


Potato Soup with Kale & Chorizo - Repeating this yummy soup from the March issue of Bon Appetit

Spicy Peanut Noodles - From The After Work Cookbook by Kirsten Tilgals & Nicole Grant (I believe this book is out of print) - RESULT - A quick dinner that goes together in about 15 minutes. It was good but will even better with our changes next time.

Focaccia Bread Pizza - From Small-Batch Baking by Debbie Nakos - RESULT - Really good. I love the focaccia bread crust.

Patel Chicken Curry - A recipe given to me by my cousin to try out. - RESULT - A good basic chicken curry that is mild enough for me & goes together really quickly.

Grilled Steak with Potato Gratin

This weeks cupcake will be Peaches & Cream.

I'll also be talking a bit about cooking for two & reviewing Small-Batch Baking