Chris Tyler's Blog - Recipies

Pizza Dough

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Fri, 25 May 2007 16:03:59 -0400

Here is a recipe for pizza dough that can be mixed by hand or in a 1½ lb breadmaker. This has been cobbled together from various recipies and some experimentation...

1 c. very warm water (hot tapwater)
3 c. white flour
1½ T yeast (yes, that's 3x what you'd use for bread)
4 T olive or canola oil
2 T liquid honey or sugar
1 t. salt

Mix as you would do bread (water+honey/sugar+yeast, let bloom well; add oil; add flour and salt; turn out on a floured board; knead) or use the breadmaker on a 25-minute dough cycle. You'll have time to get the toppings ready while the dough proofs. This recipe will make one thick or two thin 16" round crusts.

Top and cook at 400-450F (200-230C) for ~13 minutes on pan + ~3-4 minutes directly on the rack, or freeze and then later cook from frozen for ~15 minutes on pan + ~5-10 minutes on the rack (times will vary).

Ideas for toppings:

Cook a couple of slices of bacon for flavor, remove the bacon, drain most of the fat, cook some chicken breasts in the same pan with some thin-sliced onion and onion chunks. Slice up the chicken breasts. Spread a nice spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce with oregano on the crust, then top with the bacon, chicken, onion, and some thin-sliced sweet peppers. Top with grated mozzarella and a sprinkle of sharp cheddar or some parmesan. Pineapple is optional -- I like the way its flavor interacts with the sweet peppers.
Same as above, but substitute a thick alfredo sauce for the tomato sauce and use a sparse quantity of blended grated white cheeses (jack, emmenethal, gouda, white cheddar, whatever you have on hand -- experiment!). For thick alfredo sauce, either make a traditional alfredo sauce and then thicken it, or use an alfredo sauce mix with 1/2 to 2/3 the normal amount of liquid.
Mix 1/2 C BBQ sauce with a little bit of liquid honey and use that as the pizza sauce. Top with BBQ chicken, raw sliced red onions, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, sliced mushrooms, and cheese of your choice.

Microwave Caramel Corn

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:37:14 -0400

Here's a simple way to make decadent caramel corn:

1. Prepare two bags of microwave popcorn and empty them into a large bowl. (Remove any unpopped kernels).

2. In a 4-cup glass measuring cup (or a microwave-safe bowl), stir together:

      1/2 cup butter or margarine
      1 cup brown sugar
      1/4 cup corn syrup
      1 teaspoon vanilla

3. Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

4. Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and stir with a fork until well-blended (it will appear foamy).

5. Microwave another 90 seconds.

6. Pour over the popcorn. Toss well with a pair of wooden spoons or salad tongs to blend. (You can spread it out on wax paper to cool - this helps keep it from becoming a big bowl-shaped blob).

Optional: add a couple handfuls of peanuts or cashews.

A Great Way to Eat Turmeric

nospam@example.com (Chris Tyler) — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:08:26 -0500

Since turmeric is in the news as a possible preventative/curative for Alzheimer's, I thought I'd share a fun, super-simple recipie that uses a healthy dose of this bright orange-yellow spice.

My family calls it the Malaysian Meal but I'm pretty sure that's a misnomer:

Prepare a generous quantity of rice (perhaps 500 mL uncooked for 4 people).
In another pan, brown a family-sized portion of ground beef (0.5 kg or so)
Add a can of mushroom soup and 2-4 heaping tablespoons of turmeric to the ground beef. It will turn a wild yellow-green colour. Stir well and simmer until the rice is done.
Serve the meat mixture over the rice, and top liberally with any combination of peanuts, sunflower seeds, bananna slices, pineapple tidbits, rasins, sweetened coconut, and fine-grated cheddar cheese.

The first time I served this to my family they thought I was crazy. "Green meat? Ewwww! Dad!!". But they love it, and it's become a regular item on the menu -- about once a week these days. And so we go through a couple of big bags of turmeric a year.