April 2011

Crispy Shrimp Pizza.

April 29, 2011 · 87 comments

I made shrimp pizza. Shrimp on pizza. Crispiness. Deliciousness.

Sometimes I eat pretzels for breakfast. Jelly beans for dinner. Zero vegetables for lunch. Now I eat shrimp pizza.

Last night, someone (me) ate an entire can of chickpeas (roasted) accidentally (on purpose). Not pizza.

Today you should put shrimp on your pizza. I’m going to nap. I’ve been watching that fancy wedding all morning wishing I was royalty and emotionally eating m&m’s. Not shrimp pizza, but I’d like to emotionally eat that too.

Crispy Shrimp Pizza

makes 3-4 small thin crust pizzas

dough:

2 cups flour (I used all purpose + whole wheat)

3/4 cup warm water

1 packet dry active yeast

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

toppings:

1 1/2 pounds raw, deveined shrimp

1/4 cup flour

salt + pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil + 1 tablespoon

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups arugula

1-2 lemons

Combine water, yeast, olive oil and honey and mix with a spoon. Let sit for about 15 minutes until yeast becomes foamy. Add in flour and salt and mix until a ball forms. Using your hands, need dough for 1-2 minutes until it is somewhat smooth. Place in an oiled bowl (in a warm spot) and let rise for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and pepper and dredge through flour. Make sure the skillet is very hot and add shrimp, cooking on each side for only 1-2 minutes until crispy. Remove and drain on a paper towel.

Roll out pizza dough to the desired size (mine were about 4-5 inches wide and very thin). Top each with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a minced clove of garlic. Sprinkle on both cheeses and add shrimp on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on thickness of crust) or until crust is golden and cheese is melted. Serve with arugula and a few lemon slices for spritzing, as well as additional parmesan cheese.

Note: I was concerned that the shrimp would become rubbery after essentially being cooked twice, but it didn’t at all with the smaller thin crusts. If you want to make one large pizza you may need to experiment first and see if the shrimp stays crisp after being cooked so long.

Did anyone else notice the uncanny resemblance between Queen Elizabeth and Mother Lovett? I know what I’m doing today. Two words: hat shopping.

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Glee.

April 28, 2011 · 50 comments

That’s what I’m feeling at this moment.

 

 

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Salty Caramel Drenched Double Chocolate Loaf Cake.

April 28, 2011 · 139 comments

Do you know what it’s like to stand barefoot in your kitchen and eat freshly bubbling caramel sauce off of a spoon?

Neither do I. Because I wore socks.

But I do have taste buds so burnt that even a whole jalapeno couldn’t bring me to shed a tear.

Back in the day of purple silk shirts and paisley vests, after I’d spend 3 hours hopping over my Skip It in my glittery pink jelly shoes, my mom and I used to make this cake that we called turtle cake.  Now that I’m an immature 28 year old, it has dawned on me that this cake is probably what some refer to as better-than-sex cake.  Back then, the only thing that I assumed was better than sex was the new Lisa Frank folder I bought at Ames.

It was evident that I spent a little too much time eating this turtle cake – with the fluffy chocolate cloud that we poked holes in with the end of a wooden spoon, covering it in jarred caramel sauce that sunk into the cake crevices and topping it with a fluffy whipped cream and a sprinkling of crushed Heath bars – as my favorite rolled jean shorts began to fray and I’d start to resemble a cased sausage. The cake was best chilled, and long after I’d changed into my New Kids on the Block nightgown I’d find myself creeping towards the fridge, opening the door and plunging my fork into the cool, gooey treat.

Clearly times haven’t changed much.

Except I finally made my own caramel. It was easy. And creamy. And holy heavens was it hot. I used it to drench a chocolate cake that I’ve made before and devoured in a matter of hours. Not helpful to that whole cased sausage look.

Double Chocolate Loaf Cake

from Nigella’s chocolate loaf cake

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon good-quality vanilla extract

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, putting in a baking sheet as you do so.

Add the flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into the processor and blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides and process again while streaming in boiling water.. Remove lid and fold in chocolate chips.

Scrape and pour the batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan and put into the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes. When ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle. Let cake cool, then poke holes throughout the top with a fork or knife. Press all the way down into the cake so the caramel sauce can sink in.

 

Salty Caramel Sauce

caramel from Ina Garten

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon sea salt, crushed until fine

Mix water and sugar in a saucepan and heat over low heat without stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium-high, allowing the mixture to come to a boil. This will take about 5-7 minutes, and you can occasionally swirl the pan to stir. Once a golden amber color, remove heat and add cream, vanilla and salt – it will bubble up. Turn heat back down to low and stir continuously until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature for 2-4 hours where it will thicken.

Once cool, drizzle over chocolate cake, making sure to hit all of the poked holes so the caramel sinks down in. Serve with additional caramel.

It.is.good. Almost better than a Lisa Frank folder, if you know what I mean.

 

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Lyrics.

I’m not sure you truly know how deep my James Taylor obsession runs. Deep. Like, really deep. Like laying on my kitchen floor balancing a cake plate on my stomach and shoveling in big forkfuls of the fluffy stuff, while an almost empty bottle of wine lies nearby and I belt the words to “Like Everyone She Knows” kind of deep. Instead of being raised by wolves, I was raised by James Taylor lyrics. Oh… and my mom and dad. But anywho, some of my favorite lines come from him, such as   The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time Any fool can do it There ain’t nothing to it Nobody knows how we got to The top of the hill But since we’re on our way down We might as well enjoy the ride   Words to live by. True story. If you could choose any lyrics to be the theme of your life, what would they be??

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Mango Colada Muffins.

I really don’t know what I did before I made these muffins. I think I woke up. I think I ninja-kicked Mr. How Sweet out of bed so he would stop snoring.  Waddled my way down the stairs and promptly threw myself on the worn carpet where I cried out, “I seriously can’t wake up. I will die if I wake up now!” After relishing in my now 36-hour sugar hangover, I’m pretty sure it was this moment that I remembered brushing my fingers across a squishy mango in the crisper drawer the day before. Right after I declared that I was “never baking again!”   Mangos must be squishy to taste good. Fact. Other things that have seen better days in my crisper drawer? A molded grapefruit that is jammed beneath five pounds of apples, two pounds of lemons, three more mangos, and two bunches of cilantro, and therefore is far too much work to dig out. A half-used bag of pre-cut celery, opened two weeks ago for chicken noodle soup, but is now being saved for something that I might think of in the next six minutes.  A semi-eaten orange that seemed like a good idea at the [...]

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I’m Not Cooking Dinner Tonight.

I’ve spent the last four hours cleaning every bathroom in our house and I’ve learned one thing. If I ever have a son, I might die because I don’t think I can handle the mess of two males using a bathroom. And Mr. How Sweet is a neat freak. Remember when he got MRSA back in January? Yeah, well I’m such a warm, loving and kind wife that I banished him to another bathroom to shower so we didn’t have to share. He’s been there ever since. It’s been kind of nice… but deep cleaning two showers is not nice. I cleaned all day and all I have to show for it? A kitchen that is still a mess. At least the dishwasher is full.   [What is your best tip for keeping your house (especially bathrooms!) clean? Have a routine? Please share. And yes, I've already been to flylady.]

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Did I Shave My Asparagus For This?

I did. Yes I did.   And while my pathetic attempted title plagiarism of a 1996 country album may be surprising, the fact that this asparagus took a long, hot bath in bacon drippings is not. You know me. You probably know me enough to assume that I was not listening to country music in 1996, and there was no way that Mr. How Sweet influenced me back then… which is good considering that association would have been highly illegal in 1996. I did, in fact, know the title of that album, if only for the reason that at the same time, that same summer, as I was belting “Strawberry Wine” while engulfed in an issue of Seventeen and simultaneously over-tweezing my eyebrows, I was begging my mom to let me shave my legs. My only thought? Um, who wouldn’t shave their legs for this? I totally would. If I was allowed. If you suppose I am giving up my vegetable hating roots for a new greener, fresher, crispier perspective, be not afraid.  Even I can survive a few forkfuls of greenery drenched in salty bacon fat. And after 24 hours of straight sugar consumption, complete with mashed potato and glazed ham [...]

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A Monday List.

1. The Easter bunny left me an Easter basket packed to the brim with Trader Joe’s treats. Because nothing says “I love you” like your favorite fruit leather fiber supplements.   2. Many of you have been asking what I thought of Water for Elephants after seeing it on Saturday. I loved it… as a movie. As usual, the book was 8 billion times better. But I still really enjoyed the movie and will probably buy it and watch it 54 times in a row while Mr. How Sweet whines. I was disappointed that they left so much out of the film – I understand they couldn’t include everything, but I thought some major plot lines and characters were left out. That, and I’ve decided I want a pet elephant.   3. Yesterday for dessert we had orange cake, brownie pops, coconut cream pie, an assortment of other pies, funfetti cookies, ricotta pie, and cheesecake. We also had spring m&m’s, jelly beans, Sarris chocolate peanut butter and coconut eggs, chocolate covered Oreos and tons of Reese’s eggs. I’m okay with not seeing sweets again until next week. Orrrrr…. until tomorrow when I make you cupcakes.   4. Best book you’ve [...]

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The Best of Mother Lovett.

I’ve got Mother Lovett on the brain. I made her orange cake for Easter, though according to her I did everything wrong, down to serving it as a layer cake and not in a 9 x 13 pan. I added cream cheese to the frosting. I forgot to put the coconut in the batter. I zested the oranges myself instead of berating my husband like a child until he caved under my abuse and scraped every last bit of rind from the sweet citrus.   It’s hard to believe that today marks two whole years since we said our goodbyes to her. At times it feels like just yesterday I was standing in her kitchen, gulping over-sweetened iced tea to cure my unquenchable thirst and sneaking way too many Snickers bars from the cupboard below the bar. I reset her kitchen timer to make sure she didn’t burn the (millionth) batch of chocolate chip cookies and I threw away the aluminum foil that had blanketed her baking tins since 2002. Someone had to do it.   I’ve already told you about how she was stubborn and proud and strong and courageous and stubborn. I’ve already told you how we served [...]

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Easter Treats.

Mr. How Sweet came home with some Easter flowers today. I love this time of year.   I killed about a dozen oranges this afternoon making Mother Lovett’s famous orange cake. Then I had to frost and store it on a pizza sheet because I have no other way to transport it tomorrow. Must buy cake carrier. Must also stop raining so my pictures don’t appear to be taken in a dungeon.   I also attempted the brownie pops I told you about the other day. Just what I need. More sprinkles. Let’s just say they were sort of a… DISASTER. I don’t know why they were so difficult to dip, considering I dip cake balls and oreo balls all the time. Oh wait, yes I do. I’m the most impatient person in the WORLD. But besides that, I’m pretty sure it’s the low-quality chocolate I used – the melting disks by Wilton. Pretty, but a mess. Eventually I got a handle on it. Now we are off to see Water for Elephants since I won’t shut up about it. And maybe some egg dying too!

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