Be a chef week - grilled pizzas

This is a family favorite in our house.  And by family I mean, my husband and I really love these pizzas.  Who would ever think that making your own pizza dough would be so easy?  And honestly the tastiest pizza dough ever.

It's as easy as mix, knead, rise and grill.  

The pizza dough recipe is from my dear friend Ina.  You might have heard of her.  You can see how she does it HERE.  I do everything the same as she does until it comes time for the cooking.

In her recipe, she only uses the garlic oil on her pizzas.  I like to cover mine in pizza sauce.  I am not a fan of sauce-less pizza, so I sauce it up.

Follow her recipe, but here are a few tried and true tips:

- Make the garlic oil that she mentions.  It is one of the things that makes this pizza special.  Here's how:

Bring 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil and 6 large garlic cloves to a boil, once it's boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Carefully remove the garlic and slice it into a bowl.  Pour the oil over the garlic.  Rather than sprinkling it over the top like Ina mentions, I brush this on the pizza just before I put on the sauce.  And my best secret is to sprinkle the garlic slices over the sauce as your first topping.  Mmmm.

- DON'T skip the step of letting the dough rest an additional 10 minutes after you have separated it into shaped balls.  I know it's tempting to just start flattening it out and get going, but don't do it.  If you let it rest that additional 10 minutes, it will be pillowy and soft and so delicious.

- We have a gas grill, so I just keep the grill as low as it will go for the entire time I'm cooking them.

- I freeze the dough balls that we don't use.  They don't turn out as amazing when you take them out of the freezer, but they are still really yummy!  Just make sure they come to room temp. before you start trying to shape them.

- Have fun with your toppings!  This particular night, I was a little lazy with the toppings because usually we pile them high with anything and everything you can imagine.  Get crazy, it's your very own grilled pizza so top it with whatever the heck you like.  But I do HIGHLY recommend using fresh mozzarella.

ENJOY!  It is a perfect Friday night dinner!

And here's a behind the scenes picture for your viewing enjoyment...

What do you do when your grilling at night and your porch light is out?  Well, you obviously put on your husband's head lamp.  Duh.  Nice head lamp lady.

Be a chef week - enchiladas

Enchiladas don't photograph very well.  All of that cheesy, saucy goodness doesn't make for a pretty photo.  But your belly doesn't care about what photographs well, does it?  

I have always wanted to have a "dish," one that people associate with me.  These enchiladas are my husband's favorite thing that I make, which I secretly take great pride in.  But this year, when we were headed home to my parents house in South Carolina for Christmas, my Mom called to tell me that my Dad said, "I want Jessi to make her enchiladas while she's here," which totally made my day.  

"My" enchiladas.  I guess I do have a dish...so Enjoy!  

Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas 

1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed 

1 (16 oz.) jar medium salsa, divided 

2 (10 oz.) cans enchilada sauce - green 

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese 

2 1/2 cups shredded chicken 

1 small can diced green chilies 

10 - flour tortillas 

1 (8oz.) package shredded Mexican four cheese blend 

avocado for garnish

-Drain spinach well, set aside.  

-Stir together 1/4 c. salsa and enchilada sauce, set aside.  

-Microwave cream cheese for 1 minute until soft.  

-Add spinach, chicken, chilies, remaining salsa and stir.  (sometimes I throw in some extra ingredients here if I'm feeling sassy; drained black beans and diced mushrooms are my most common add-in, but definitely not necessary)  

- Spoon a heaping 1/3 cupful of chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Roll tortilla.  Place seam-side down in a lightly greased baking dish.  

- Pour enchilada sauce mixture evenly over top of tortillas.  Sprinkle with cheese.  

- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.  

- Top with sliced avocado to serve.  

**This dish freezes well, so I usually take a few extra and place them in a separate pan to freeze for a quick and easy mid-week dinner**

Be a chef week - red velvet cake

I am not a good baker.  Which is funny because I'm a very precise person, but for some reason I cannot bake very well.  I envy those that can create amazing sweet treats, I think it's a real talent...one that I lack.

However, I do make a mean red velvet cake.  Now, if you are a real baker then you probably have a legit red velvet cake that you make, so you can just stop reading this now.  But if you are like me and you are baking challenged, then this cake recipe is for you!

Pair this with a traditional cream cheese frosting for ultimate yumminess.

Recipe:
1 box Betty Crocker German Chocolate Cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 c. oil
3 eggs
1 bottle (1 oz) red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
**Simply mix all ingredients and bake according to package.  Cool cake on wire racks for 10 minutes, then invert pan and continue to cool cakes.  Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate to cool completely to make for easier icing.  I like to slice each 9" round cake in half with a serrated knife so that I can make a four layer cake, but you can also use the two layers as they are.**


For the frosting:
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
3 3/4 c. boxed confectioners sugar (1 box)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
**Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed until smooth.  Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy.  Stir in vanilla.


I saved some crumbles to decorate the top, but you can also use either white chocolate chips or shavings of white chocolate to decorate the cake.

Be a chef week - miso soup

The hardest part of making miso soup is getting in your car and going to the Asian market.  I'm serious, this is criminally easy.

What you'll need:

1) Dashi 

2) Wakame seaweed (dried) 

3) Shiro Miso 

4) Water 

5) Tofu 

When you go to the market, ask for Dashi which is a Japanese soup stock.  It will be easier to just ask rather than trying to find it.  There are different kinds, but you want instant dashi.  I like the fish dashi which is the most traditional, but you can also get a mushroom dashi or a kelp dashi.  You can make miso soup without dashi, but this will make it taste very authentic.  This is what it looks like: 

You'll also want some seaweed for your miso soup.  There is typically an entire section of the market devoted to these types of soup add-ins.  I have no idea what's in the different packages, so I go based off of the picture.  This is technical stuff, I know.  You do want to make sure that it has wakame seaweed in it, which most of them do.  

Shiro Miso.  You will love having this in your fridge.  You can make marinades, sauces and all sorts of yummy dishes with miso.  Miso marinated cod, anyone?  Yes.  

Tofu.  Get whatever kind and firmness you like, this is your miso soup!  

Recipe: 

4 cups water

4 Tbs. miso 

1/2 Tbs. dashi

tofu (I use about a third of a brick) 

1 to 1 1/2 Tbs. dried seaweed mixture (or more if you like a lot to seaweed in your soup) 

Literally all you do is bring the water to a boil.  While it's coming up to a boil, add the miso.  After the water has started boiling, reduce heat to medium and stir to break up the miso.  Add the dashi, stir a few times to dissolve.  Then add the tofu and seaweed, let it simmer for just a few minutes and you're ready to eat!  

And remember that in Japanese culture, the louder you slurp your soup and noodles, the more you are enjoying it.  It is a sign to the chef that you think it's delicious or "O-ee-she".  So slurp away!