White Pizza recipe

For all of you who are like me and like a traditional pizza such as pepperoni, try this recipe.  It is nothing like a traditional pizza but kicks major butt!  It is called white pizza because there is no tomato sauce.  Basil pesto acts as the sauce

For those of you in the States I know the recipe is in metric but for smaller quantities it is more difficult to convert.

You can easily find a metric converter on the internet and I would suggest to anyone who does a fair amount of cooking to buy a digital scale that can read in either metric or the American system of measurement.  Once you get used to metric you will never want to go back to the American way of measurement.

White pizza

Yield 4 ea individual pizzas

For the pizza

Ingredients Amount

Pizza dough 4 ea, 150gr each

Sun dried tomatoes, chopped 160gr

Fresh tomatoes, deseeded, chopped 160gr

Goat’s cheese 160gr

Ricotta cheese 160gr

Buffalo mozzarella cheese, chopped 160gr

Basil pesto To coat bottom of crust

Flour For rolling pizza

Cornmeal For dusting

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Parmesan-optional

Basil pesto

Ingredients Amount

Basil leaves, not black 125gr

Pine nuts, toasted 18gr

Grated parmesan 32gr

Fresh garlic, small chopped 25gr

Olive oil 63ml

Black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Procedure:

-Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for about 10 seconds until thoroughly blended.

Pizza dough

Ingredients Amount

Flour 500 gr

Instant yeast 7.5 gr

Salt 10 gr

Olive oil 175 ml

Eggs 1 ea.

Water- warm 275 ml

Procedure:

Place all ingredients in a mixer using the dough hook attachment.

Mix on medium speed for about 10 minutes.

Remove and place in an oiled bowl for about 15 minutes.

Take out and then portion into 150gr sizes. You will have some leftover.

After portioning let it rise until double the volume.

The dough can be refrigerated until ready for use.

When ready to make pizza, roll as instructed below.

To make the pizza:

-Preheat oven to 260C/500F

-If you have a pizza stone, place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Allow it to get hot in the oven for at least 30 minutes prior to baking the pizzas.

-Dust a clean, flat surface with flour for rolling the dough

-Roll out the pizza dough until it is approximately 1cm thick.

NOTE: when rolling the dough, do not pull it and always roll outwards from the center

-Sprinkle some cornmeal on a pizza peel and place the rolled out dough on top.

-With a spoon, rub the pesto on the dough evenly leaving approximately a one inch border.

-Evenly sprinkle the tomatoes and 3 cheeses on top

-Bake until crust is golden brown

-Once baked cut into 6 slices and place on serving platter

-If you like, you can garnish the pizza with freshly grated parmesan

-Drizzle just a bit of extra virgin olive oil on the pizza

-Enjoy

I always recommend people know their ovens well.  Know where the hot spots are.  With pizza dough, I suggest you make 1 1/2 times the recipe so you have a little to practice with . Working with different doughs is not the same as simply roasting a piece of chicken.

Recipe-Three bean chili

My mignons

I didn't have time to finish the Indian wedding story tonight so I will leave you with a recipe.  When I lived in India I was the chef of an American style grill restaurant.  Yes, yes, I know, I know, it is funny that a hotel company would open a restaurant like that in a country that is 75% vegetarians.  Because of the huge vegetarian population our menu was basically two menus in one.  One side non-vegetarian items and one side vegetarian items.
This dish is one of those vegetarian items and it is one of the few vegetarian dishes I can eat as a meal and not feel cheated because I didn't eat any meat.
Now if you want to add some meat to this dish it would work fine.  I always like some kind of pork with beans.  I would add some chopped up sausage or something.  Yum!!!

Enjoy and tune in later for the conclusion of the Indian wedding story.

Duration 1 ½ hours

Serves 6

Three bean chili

U.O.M:

Liter

PURCHASE LIST

INGREDIENTS

FOR COOKING THE BEANS

35 gr. Kidney beans (dry weight)

35 gr. Black eyed beans (dry weight)

35 gr. White broad beans (dry weight)

1/4 ea. Carrot, large, rough chop

1/2 ea. small White onion, large, rough chop

1/2ea. stalk Celery, large, rough chop

4 ea. Parsley stems

3 sprigs Thyme

TO FINISH

1/2 lt. Canned peeled Italian potatoes

6 gr. Fresh thyme

15 gr. Chopped cilantro

30 gr. Garlic, minced

100 gr. White onion, ½”X1/2” dice

To taste Chili powder

To taste Cumin, ground

15 gr. Cayenne pepper

Couple drops Tabasco

To taste Salt

To taste Fresh cracked black pepper

To sauté Olive oil

Basic Preparation:

For the beans:

Soak the beans in 3 X the amount of water to beans one day prior.

Cook the beans with the ingredients listed until tender. DO NOT PUT SALT IN THE WATER.

How to tell if beans are cooked.

Take a few out of the water and break them in half. When they break does the texture look kind of smooth? If so, they are done. If the texture looks more like a broken rock, they need to cook more.

Also, taste a few beans to be sure if you think they are done.

Remember for this recipe you will be cooking the beans again so if they are slightly under cooked you can finish cooking them when you continue the preparation.

Drain the beans in a colander.

Keep aside until ready for use.

You may cook the beans up until a few days before use if necessary. If you do cook them ahead, place them in a container, wrap it with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

TO COMPLETE THE DISH

Heat a large bottomed pot over medium heat. Add oil to sauté.

Add the garlic, onions and jalapenos and sauté until translucent.

Add the paprika, cumin and chilli powder and sauté (careful not to burn the spices) for about 1 minute over medium heat stirring constantly.

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for @ 1 hour.

Amount of cooked beans should be @ 200gr. Of each bean, however it won't hurt the recipe if there is more of one type of bean.  

Taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Serve with bread and sour cream.

During the cooking process if for some reason the ingredients should start to burn, add a bit of water but not too much.  

Vegetable soup recipe

Crap, Amy asked me for a vegetable soup recipe

Here you go

Duration: @ 1 hour

DESCRIPTION:

Potato and Vegetable soup

Serves 6-8

PURCHASE LIST

INGREDIENTS

40 gr. Green beans, stringed, cut on bias, @ 2” long

175 gr. Carrots, peeled, cut into roundels @ ½” long, cooked.

35 gr. Fennel cut large dice

90 gr. Button mushroom, cleaned, cut into ¼’s

90 gr. Leeks, cleaned, cut into rings @ ½” wide

90 gr. Red onions, large dice

150 gr. Potato, peeled, cut large chunks, cooked.

100 gr. Green Zucchini, cut @ 1” X1”

75 gr. Yellow Zucchini, cut @ 1 “X1”

35 gr. Garlic, minced

150 gr. Tomatoes, rough chopped and seeded

1/2 gr. Thyme, picked

1/2 gr. Rosemary, chopped rough

1/2gr. Parsley, chopped rough

To the same level as the veg Water

To sauté Olive oil

To taste Salt

To taste fresh cracked black pepper

To taste E.V. olive oil

Basic Preparation:

Cook the carrots and potatoes separately in boiling, salted water until cooked.

Heat a large bottomed pot over medium heat.

Add just enough olive oil to sauté.

Add the garlic and onions.

Cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the fennel, mushrooms and green beans and herbs.

Saute for 10 minutes.

Add water, seasoning and remaining vegetables (except the cooked potatoes and carrots) and simmer until the vegetables are starting to get tender. Add the cooked potatoes and carrots and simmer briefly.

Taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Seafood

OK all, my future wife :) asked for some seafood tips so here you go

This is one of my favorite condiments and because I like it, you must like it.  It is very versatile and keeps for a while in the refrigerator.  It is of Moroccan origin and you can even add a bit of tomato sauce to it.  If I remember, the traditional recipe is supposed to have some tomato in it.

Sorry everything is in weights but finding a small scale should be no problem if you go to your local shopping mall and they are not expensive.  If you have problems call me and I will fly over and give personalized service

Chermoula
Ingredients			Amount
Olive oil			265 gr
Garlic, peeled, chopped			47 gr
Red onion, peeled, chopped			50 gr
Lemon juice			20 gr
Coriander leaves			22 gr
Italian parsley			25 gr
Green onion, chopped			22 gr
Cumin ground			3 gr
Paprika			17 gr
Smoked paprika			15 gr
Chili flakes			pinch
Salt			to taste
Ground black pepper			to taste
PROCEDURE:
Roughly chop any vegetables and herbs
Place all ingredients in food processor and puree until thick paste
Use on shrimp, chicken, beef, lamb, red snapper, vegtables etc.
Use as a marinade for grilling, side sauce, as a salad dressing. I recommend you marinade whatever you are going to cook first with this.  Just put enough to coat the food item.  Then cook. One note:  If you are going to saute your food item I DO NOT recommend marinating the item first because the spices can burn.  Simply saute your food item and add the sauce after. This is also great for vegetarian items.  Make a vegetable brochette, marinated them with this sauce and grill them.  Serve with a yogurt dip. Happy cooking

BBQ sauce recipe

All

I had a request for BBQ sauce so here you go.   Now here is the problem with BBQ sauce.  Since there are many ingredients in small quantities a dash for me may be different than a dash for you.  The good thing is that you can play with the quantities and ingredients to suit your taste.  Anytime you are experimenting with something new it is prudent to put a smaller quantity, taste and then add more if required.  Remember this when it comes to seasoning: "you can always put more but you can't take out"

ITEM #

DESCRIPTION:

BBQ sauce

U.O.M:

Liter

PURCHASE LIST

INGREDIENTS

1 cup . Ketchup

Dash Smoked Tabasco (regular Tabasco will do as well)

Dash. Worchestershire

3/4 cup White vinegar

1/4 cup Red vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons Brown sugar

¼ cup Tomato juice

Dash Cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon Honey- use a heated metal spoon

Dash. Garlic powder

To taste Salt

To taste Fresh cracked black pepper

Basic Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a S/S pot.

Bring to a boil.

Simmer for @ 1hr.

Taste.

Cajun buttermilk fried chicken

Ok I had a request for buttermilk fried chicken so here you go Pooja.

Ingredients
8 cut chicken.  I usually figure 2 pieces per person depending on what the menu is
Buttermilk.  Enough to cover the chicken
Cajun spice
Egg wash-whipped raw eggs and a bit of milk
Flour
Salt and pepper
Peanut or canola oil for frying
Some extra chicken for a test is a good idea


Procedure.
NOTE:  With all recipes read the ENTIRE recipe before proceeding

-Get 8-cut chicken and place the pieces in a bowl more than large enough to accommodate them.
-Cover the chicken completely with buttermilk and let sit for a few hours or overnight.
-Put a large pot on with the oil over medium heat.
-Get a large bowl of flour seasoned with salt and pepper
-Get another bowl with the egg wash
-Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and shake excess milk off
-Season the chicken pieces evenly with the Cajun spice.  Use the same amount as if it were salt and pepper
-Toss the chicken in the seasoned flour
-Shake off the excess flour and dip the chicken in the egg wash
-Remove the chicken from the egg wash, shake off excess egg and dip in the flour again to coat
-Shake off excess flour
-Fry the chicken.  It is ready when you take the meatiest piece, cut into it and the juices are clear.  You will need to test.  See points below


A few notes to help you.
- When breading anything always keep one hand clean.  For example, use one hand to dip the chicken in the flour, egg and flour and the clean one to remove the pieces that are completely breaded

-Never stack anything breaded (raw or cooked) unless you put a layer of baking paper between it or the breaded item will get soggy

-Whenever breading anything I set everything up like an assembly line.

-Use larger bowls than needed and toss the item(s) with the breading using the bowl shaking back and forth

-Since most people don't have a deep fryer in their house you need to use a pot.  Make sure you are very, very careful with this.  I like to use a pot MUCH bigger than needed so if oil splashes up the sides of the pot you should be protected.  If not, it's your face not mine :)

-If available, use a high temperature thermometer and keep the oil at 180C or 350F.

-If you don't have a thermometer then you need to test.  Start by putting the oil over medium heat.

-Put a piece of chicken in the oil.  The oil should not be smoking and it should make that loud sound that happens when you put the food in hot oil

-I suggest frying no more than two pieces of chicken at a time or the chicken will not get a nice color or get crispy.

-You should be able to cook the chicken and get it golden in color from frying in the oil alone.  If not, use the oven to finish

-When you do fry your chicken, place it on a pan or plate lined with a lint free cloth to absorb excess grease and don't stack the chicken pieces on top of each other


For those of you who are cooking a number of things for a dinner or lunch this will help you.
For those of you who are not, forget it.

-Preheat your oven to 180C-190C or 350F-375F

-Once all the chicken is drained of its excess grease, place the pieces on the baking sheet making sure there is some space between the pieces and nothing is stacked.  Set aside.  You can do this up to an hour or so ahead of time.

-About 20 minutes before the chicken is to be served place the tray in the oven to reheat it for about 5-10 minutes.  Take care not to burn the chicken.  If your chicken is not fully cooked prior to placing it in the oven I assume you know it may take more time.

-While the chicken is reheating in the oven you can use that time to get other things ready

-Place on a serving plate and serve

Culinary regards
C

Today's recipe-Corn chowder

It occurred to me that I have a culinary blog but haven't posted a recipe for y'all yet.

Corn chowder is a popular soup here in the USA and when I lived in India I had to take many non-vegetarian dishes and convert them into vegetarian dishes.  Sometimes it worked well and other times it didn't.  I can say that this corn chowder converts to vegetarian quite nicely.  Funny thing was the restaurant where I served this was in Bombay, India.  The restaurant was modeled after an American style steakhouse in a country that is 75% vegetarian. If that doesn't constitute funny I don't know what does.

When you live in other countries there is naturally going to be a learning curve.  Well, there was one with this recipe. I learned that ingredients can be different in different countries.  I opened a new hotel when I was in Bombay.  I arrived in August of '03 and we didn't open until March of '04.  Once the hotel was finished and we were allowed to start using the kitchens this was the first recipe I cooked and tested.  I cut the kernels off the ears of corn and proceeded to boil them.  Some of my cooks stopped me, "chef, the corn won't cook."  "Yeah, right, do you think I just started cooking yesterday?" I replied in disbelief that they would try to pull one over on their new boss.  After 30 minutes I checked the corn and it was still hard.  After another 30 minutes I checked and it still wasn't cooked.  "What the F&$@K?" I thought.  My cooks saw me and said "See we told you."  Point taken, lesson learned.  What I learned I had to do was cook the hell out of that crappy corn then puree and strain it which, thankfully, worked.  

Corn here in the U.S. is more tender.  It actually cooks........wow, that is novel idea; food that cooks!  Hmmm, what is next?  A tire that rolls?

Anyways, enjoy the recipe.  For you non-vegematerians I suggest adding some jumbo lump crab at the end but don't cook it in the soup or it won't be jumbo lump anymore.  

Duration: 2 hours

Yield: 4- 6 ppl

Corn chowder

U.O.M:

Liter

PURCHASE LIST

INGREDIENTS

For the soup

250 gr. Corn kernels that have been boiled and strained

25 gr. White onion, medium dice

15 gr.. Garlic, minced

75 ml. Double cream

150 gr. Potato, peeled, diced-2”X2”, boiled separately in salted water and drained

pinch Thyme, picked

300ml. Corn puree-recipe below

85ml. White wine

To sauté Butter

To taste Salt

To taste Fresh cracked black pepper

For the corn purée

300 gr. Corn, frozen

To cover Water

To taste Salt

Basic Preparation:

For the corn purée:

Cook the corn in lightly boiling, salted water until tender

Drain the kernels and purée in a blender, not food processor. While puréeing, add just enough water to make it the consistency of baby food. Remember you can always add more water but you can’t take out. Strain through a fine strainer if you want a finer purée or don't strain if you want a chunkier type purée.

To finish:

Sauté the garlic, onion, thyme and cooked corn kernels over medium heat in a little butter for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper. As the vegetables absorb the butter during the cooking process, add a little olive or salad oil as needed.

Stir frequently and make sure the vegetables DO NOT TAKE COLOR. If they do, reduce the heat and add a small amount of water if necessary.

Add the wine and cook until it is reduced but not dry

Add the corn puree, drained potatoes and cream and simmer for @ 10 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning where necessary.

Serve.