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Spice it up!
If you're not cryin', it ain't hot enough
That's been my guiding principle in spices. I have another rule, which is, add more garlic! Anyhow, if you've hung out with me for long enough, you've probably had some of my cooking. If not, hang out more!
In the interest of information-sharing, here are my favorite recipes. Some have been gleaned from online cookbooks over the years, some from guestimation, and some from Mom (the pizza is Mom's specialty, I can only take so much credit for it).
-
Main Dishes
- Pizza
- Chili
- Tortillas (flour)
- Salsa
- Coconut Soup
- Mango Selassie I
- Pie Crust
Breads
Sauces & Soups
Drinks
Desserts
Main Dishes
Pizza
Makes 2 12" round pizzas.
This was the first recipe I learned from my Mom, because, damnm it's good pizza!
Dough -- make about 2 1/2 hours before serving
| 1 package | active dry yeast |
| about 4 1/2 c. | All purpose flour (have 6 c available for kneading/rolling) |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 1 1/2 c. | water |
- In large bowl, combine yeast, 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. In small saucepan, heat water until very warm (120 to 130F.).
- With mixer at low speed, gradually beat water into dry ingredients
until just blended.
- Increase speed to medium; beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.
- Beat in 1/2 cup flour to make a thick batter; continue beating 2 minutes, scraping bowl often.
- With spoon, stir in enough additional flour (about 1 1/2 cups) to make a soft dough.
- Turn dough onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic,
about 10 minutes, adding more flour while kneading, when sticky.
- Shape dough into ball; place in greased large bowl, turning over so that top is greased.
- Cover; let rise in warm place (80 to 85F) until doubled, about 1 hour.
- While dough rises, prepare SAUCE and toppings.
SAUCE and toppings
| 1 Tbsp | olive oil |
| 1-2 | med. onions, diced |
| 4-5 | cloves garlic, minced |
| Cook in 2qt saucepan until onions are tender, ADD: | |
| 1 16 oz. (450g) | canned tomatoes with liquid |
| 1 6 oz. (200g) | canned tomato paste |
| salt and pepper, to taste (~1tsp of salt, 2 tbsp pepper) | |
| herb seasoning (to taste) (Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, crushed red pepper ~2-3tbsp ea (fresh is much better), 1tbsp of red pepper) | |
| 1 8 oz. (250g) | package of pepperoni |
| 1 or 2 | bell peppers, sliced |
| 1 lb. (.5kg) | mushrooms, sliced |
| 1 8 oz can | sliced ripe olives |
| (Other toppings as desired--ham, sausage, raw onions, etc.) | |
| 2 tbsp | red wine |
In 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, in 1 T. hot oil, cook onion and garlic until tender. Add tomatoes with their liquid, tomato paste, herb seasoning, red pepper and salt (I usually add sliced pepperoni at this point); heat to boiling, stirring to break up tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, cover partially and simmer 20 minutes. Cool.
Grease two pizza pans and spread a light layer of corn meal out to prevent sticking
Punch down dough; cut in half; turn onto lightly flour surface. Cover; let rest for 15 minutes and then roll out.
Spread a light layer of cheese over the crust, then sauce, and top with additional toppings and a thicker layer of cheese. You'll use about 32oz of cheese for a well-cheesy set of pizzas.
Bake at 450F (medium-high, 230C) for ~20 minutes each, or until crusts are golden brown. Let rest for a few minutes before slicing.
Veggie Chili
| 3 cups | TVP beef Chunk or mince |
| 1 bag (4 c) | Brown Lentils |
| 1 cup | red peas, soaked overnight, or 1 can (optional) |
| 1/4 cup | chili powder |
| 1/4 cup cumin | |
| 1 tbsp | sage (if fresh, finely chopped) |
| 1 | scotch bonnet or habanero pepper |
| 4 | jalapenos |
| 2 | limes worth of juice |
| 2 c | cheddar cheese |
| black pepper | |
| 2 | smallish medium onions, diced |
| 6 | cloves garlic, minced |
| 32oz | crushed or diced tomatoes |
| 1/2 cup | cilantro, chopped |
| 1/2 Bottle | Beer (Shiner Bock, Red Stripe both work well) |
Place lentils and TVP in separate pots each with enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Boil the lentils in water until tender. Boil the TVP with some of the spices (with vegetable stock if available) Meanwhile, chop the onions, garlic, cilantro, and peppers. Place these in a skillet and sauté them, adding half the spices as they cook.
Drain the lentils and place in a large pot. Add the sautéed onion mix and the canned tomatoes with all their juices. Add more water if the mix is too thick; remove lid if it.s too watery. Add the rest of the spices to taste, remembering that pepper can sometimes take a while to get out into the food.
Let simmer at least 1 hour. Add the beer about 30 minutes into the simmering, and mix in well. Let simmer another 10 minutes and taste the chili to determine if you need to add more spices. Serve with cheddar shredded on top, and if you can find it, sour cream and hot sauce
Breads
Tortillas
| 2 1/2 cups | all-purpose flour |
| 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons | vegetable shortening or butter |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 1 cup | warm water |
In a bowl, combine the flour, shortening and salt. Using your fingers, cut with strong fork until the mixture looks crumbly. Mix in the warm water until the ingredients come together in a ball. Knead the dough in the bowl until smooth, about 3 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place the balls on a plate and cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or as long as overnight.
On a lightly floured board, roll out each ball into a thin 6-inch round, frequently turning the rounds over to prevent sticking. Lay the rounds in a single layer on the lightly floured board, cover with kitchen towels and let rest for 30 minutes. Or stack between pieces of parchment paper or waxed paper, wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
To cook, heat a dry griddle or heavy nonstick frying pan over medium heat. One at a time, cook the tortillas, turning once, until puffy and slightly golden, 30-45 seconds on each side. Transfer to a platter lined with a kitchen towel and let cool briefly, then stack and wrap in a damp towel to keep warm. Serve immediately
Sauces & Soups
Salsa
My salsa turns out slightly different each time I make it, mainly because I don't use a recipe, so this is a good guess at the process. I had to teach myself how to make it while in Peace Corps, as Mexican food was nowhere to be found.
| 1 16 oz. (450g) | canned tomatoes with liquid |
| 8 | jalapenos |
| 4 | hot peppers (habaneros, serranos) |
| 4-5 | cloves garlic |
| 1 | Med. onion |
| 1 c | fresh cilantro, chopped |
| juice of 3 | limes |
| 2 tbsp | Chili poweder |
| 2 tbsp | black pepper |
| 2 tbsp | Cumin |
| 1 tbsp | salt |
Blend in blender or food processor until smooth, test, add in more peppers or more tomato to balance spice. Lasts in fridge for 1-2 weeks, longer if spicy!
Coconut Soup
Coconut Soup (serves 2)| 2 cups | Garlic+Onion or vegetable broth |
| 100g | Gpowdered coconut milk |
| ~4 cloves | Ggarlic, minced and sauteed in butter |
| 4 leaves | chopped fresh basil |
| 2 tbsp | Gsalt |
| 4 tbsp | Glemon juice |
| 1/4 c | grated cheese |
| 2 tbsp | butter |
Sautee Garlic until almost carmelized.
Warm broth, add powdered coconut and stir Add other ingredients (excepting half the garlic and basil) and bring to simmer. Blend on high to make creamy, add rest of garlic and the basil on top when served.
Drinks
Mango Selassie I
Take equal parts yogurt and fresh diced mango, and puree. Add honey to taste and a few cubes of ice (~2 per cup of yogurt), and blend until ice is mixed up and the mixture is a bit fluffy.
Pour 4/5 of the mixture into a separate container, add green food coloring to the remaining 1/5, blend until green.
Pour the green-color mango lassi into the bottoms of the cups. Pour half of the plain (yellow) mango lassi over the back of a spoon into the cups. Some will add to the height of the green, so it should end up roughly equal.
Clean the blender, and return the remaining lassi to the blender, adding red food coloring, and blend. Pour this over the top to create a three-band of traditional rastafarian colors (red, gold, green), and enjoy.
Desserts
Pie Crust
Another recipe from Mom, the ever-useful pie crust, that can
be filled with fruit, sugar and cinnamon/allspice to make all kinds of
pies/cobblers, or wihch omelette fixin's for a quiche, or spread flat
and add some OJ in place of water and make a dessert "pizza crust" to
top with mascarpone and berries/sliced fruit...
| 1.25 c | flour |
| .5 tsp | salt |
| .6 c | Crisco shortening (or cold butter/margarine) |
Cut in shortening with fork until forms coarse, mealy mixture. Add .25 c flour mixed wit 3.5 tbsp water, mix in, add water as necessary to form ball. turn onto floured suface and flatten with floured rolling pin.