Dinner--or Dessert--Tonight

[sinenomine]

Today was my first farm share visit of the year, so I added very fresh lettuce and scallions to my tacos, and am looking forward to some of the strawberries I picked for dessert.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I just made the yummiest potato salad.....had some for lunch, I see more looming in my future for dinner....

They had those multi-colored small potatoes as well as the small Yukon Golds, so I got a bag of each (they're small...)

Boiled and eyed them, cut in wedges*, then added:

1/3 cup of mayo
1/3 cup of Ken's Honey-mustard (or honey-dijon) dressing (I like theirs best)
1/3 cup of stone-ground mustard

plus my usual spice go-to's:

rubbed black pepper
rubbed basil
rubbed Herbes de Provence

stirred up while the potatoes were still warm...ummmmmmm.....

The new HdProv. I got were from a different brand, and wow, you can taste the lavender in them.

Made the potatoes even better.


(* True confessions: Some warm potatoes were consumed fresh from the pot once wedged and eyed in making this dish....)

Yum! I started adding half Greek yogurt and half mayo when I make potato salad and it's not bad.

[ab_grp]

We like to make pizza, but it can be a pain at times.  The grandma-style dough is very easy to do, but it is a lot of dough per slice.  I also have a good recipe for a regular pizza dough but am too lazy to roll it out, and we haven't found a really easy way to bake those pizzas.  Since youngest daughter now has work and volunteer work to schedule around, we have been looking for easier weeknight meals.  I saw a mention of tortilla pizzas on a NYT cooking forum, so we gave those a shot last night and did some experimenting. 

The original recipe (https://www.seriouseats.com/extra-crispy-bar-style-tortilla-pizza-supreme) calls for putting a tortilla in a cast iron skillet, topping it as usual (with toppings uncooked), and broiling it, but some commenters mentioned that they couldn't easily slide it out with the toppings intact.  So we tried three ways for the "dough" base: 1) toast one side of a tortilla in a pan, 2) toast both sides in a pan, 3) make a sort of quesadilla (two tortillas with shredded cheese between, toasted lightly on both sides).  The double-tortilla base had been mentioned by a commenter to remediate the thinness of just one, and we used 4-cheese Mexican blend in between.  For each base, we removed it to a plate after toasting, applied sauce (to the untoasted side for the first option), and put on some shredded mozz, cooked and chopped breakfast sausage, and sauteed red onions and bell peppers, then a little more mozz.  We used store-bought sauce this time (Rao's... again, trying to find a quick meal option).  We then transferred them to rimless baking sheets and baked at 425 (oven preheated) for about 10 minutes. 

We agreed that the double tortilla was best, followed by option 1.  The single tortilla toasted on both sides was a little too toasty after baking.  In any case, we now have an easy pizza to make on weeknights and can easily change it up.

[mamselle]

Would parchment underneath help with the sticking?

M.

[ab_grp]

Mamselle, if you are referring to the folks who couldn't get it out of the skillet easily, I think that has more to do with the raised sides and not really being able to get a tool under it to lift it out.  I am guessing that a rimless (sideless?) cast iron cooking pan would work (e.g., a griddle or grill pan).  I'm actually not sure why they would not be able to get the tortilla out easily with toppings intact if the bottom crisps up as advertised, unless they didn't put the cheese on in a way that it would help hold the toppings on.   We didn't have any trouble with sticking (though I should add that I sprayed the baking sheets with a little olive oil spray first).  I have definitely had success with parchment paper when baking from dough, though!

[Puget]

Mamselle, if you are referring to the folks who couldn't get it out of the skillet easily, I think that has more to do with the raised sides and not really being able to get a tool under it to lift it out.  I am guessing that a rimless (sideless?) cast iron cooking pan would work (e.g., a griddle or grill pan).  I'm actually not sure why they would not be able to get the tortilla out easily with toppings intact if the bottom crisps up as advertised, unless they didn't put the cheese on in a way that it would help hold the toppings on.   We didn't have any trouble with sticking (though I should add that I sprayed the baking sheets with a little olive oil spray first).  I have definitely had success with parchment paper when baking from dough, though!

Naan makes an excellent personal-sized pizza crust. I keep a package of whole wheat ones in the freezer for this purpose. I toast it once by itself to thaw, then top and put back in the toaster oven (on the pan) for 10 min. at 450.

[Stockmann]

Spaghetti with a tomato, red pepper, capers, mussels garlic and olive oil sauce.

[ab_grp]

That's a great idea, Puget! And I have also seen pita mentioned as an option.  It's nice to know various ways to substitute ingredients or use other methods.

Stockmann, that sounds very, very delicious.

[Vkw10]

Canned biscuits stretched thin will make individual pan pizzas in a pinch. They don't crisp up enough for thin pizzas.

Dinner tonight is onion pie with a green salad, cherries, and lemonade.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

There are some yummy ideas here.

Tonight we're having leftovers.

Beverage = raspberry lemonade.

Main course = tortillas with leftover burrito mix seared in a skillet, sour cream & a side salad.

Dessert = some kind of fruit (watermelon and strawberries?).

[hmaria1609]

BBQ ribs and sausage.

[mamselle]

I've been fixating on a spinach salad for the past hour as I work on formatting and indexing a songbook...!!

I'll (oh, luscious dreams!)

- Crumble up flaked salmon and heat it up with some soy, honey and stone-ground mustard; then add grated cheeses and bacon
   - drizzle with home-made dressing....

- Toast triangles with melted cheese

- 1/4 brownie for dessert

- Hot tea

OK, up 'n' at 'em!

M.

[AmLitHist]

C'mon over, Mamselle--the spinach in my garden is going crazy! Spinach, spinach everywhere (and it's still sweet, not tough or bitter).

[mamselle]

C'mon over, Mamselle--the spinach in my garden is going crazy! Spinach, spinach everywhere (and it's still sweet, not tough or bitter).

Ohhhhhh....

    <<holds on to a chair, lest she faint from joy....>>

Be still, my beating heart....

I can never get enough spinach.

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I gave a mini tour to a prospective student gardener today. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, beets, radishes, beans, squash and various peppers are growing. Sadly, our spinach bolted and bit the big one, so I pulled it today.

I'm considering adding some corn in the back. We have some unusual varieties. Anyone hear of Bloody Butcher?