Homemade Granola

This is one of my girls absolute favorite snacks and when we make some it doesn't take long for it to disappear. Jerry and I love to put some on top of vanilla yogurt which makes a great breakfast or snack. I know that this school year there will be a lot of granola finding its way into Julia's little lunch box.

Julia loves helping Mommy in the kitchen making granola.

Granola
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 to 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups oatmeal, old fashioned not instant
1 cup pecans, walnuts, or almonds, or mix
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup dried fruit

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silpat sheet. Mix honey, maple syrup, oil, water, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in small saucepan. Warm over medium heat until the male syrup and honey has lost its thickness. This will take just a couple of minutes.
2. Mix oatmeal, nuts, and coconut together in large bowl. Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix well. Pour mixture out onto large baking sheet and spread in even layer.  
3. Bake stirring and respreading mixture into an even layer every 5 minutes, until granola is light golden brown, about 15to 25 minutes.

4. When the granola is finished cooking mix in the dried fruit and let the granola cool. Store in an airtight container. I find that it lasts longer if stored in a glass container rather than a plastic one.

Pizza Night: Pancetta, Leek, and Chocolate! No not all on one pizza

I love pizza! I know that most people do, but I expect pizza to taste really good. That is why in the past year we have only had fast food type pizza once. I just don't like it. I guess I am kind of a pizza snob. That is why if I am craving pizza I start raiding the refrigerator to get inspired for all kinds of pizza. This pancetta and leek pizza was a result of my latest refrigerator raid. That is one of the great things about pizza it is a great way to use up all kinds of leftover veggies or meat. I am going to list here a homemade pizza dough recipe, but if you are short on time almost all grocery stores now sell premade pizza dough that you can just pick up in the deli/bakery area and then bring it home roll it, top it, and bake it. I do make my own pizza sauce because it really doesn't take that long and it taste so much better,and I always have leftovers to go in the freezer for the next time. I am going to list the ingredients I used to make this pizza and it was delicious, but try any combination of veggies, meat, and cheese that you like.

Pancetta and Leek Pizza
1 tablespoon butter
3-4ounces pancetta, diced in 1/4 inch dice
1 leek, only white parts chopped coarsely, and rinsed well
1/3 to 1/2 recipe of homemade pizza sauce
4 ounces Fontiago cheese (this is a mix of Fontina and Asiago if you can't find it substitue for 2 ounces fontina and 2 ounces Asiago or 2 ounces Fontina and 2 ounces provolone)
3 ounces Mozzerella
Homemade pizza dough

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat and add pancetta and cook until crisp about 5 minutes. When ready move pancetta to bowl leaving pancetta drippings in pan then add the leeks. Cook leeks until limp about 3 minutes.
2. Roll pizza dough to desired size and place on cornmeal dusted pizza wheel. Then brush with a little extra virgin olive oil, sauce, cheese, pancetta, and leeks. I made four small pizzas and divided the toppings between each pizza. Then cook pizzas according to chart below.

Homemade Pizza Sauce
I love San Marzano tomatoes they cost a little more, but considering they will last you for two or three meals, depending on how much sauce you use, to me it is worth the little bit of extra money.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 
1 large garlic clove minced
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes 
a splash of red wine, think 1 to 2 tablespoons depending on how much you like
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 to 4 tablespoons chopped basil, depending on how much basil you like or have

1. Place extra virgin olive oil and garlic in saucepan and bring to medium heat. Saute until fragrant, but not browned, about 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer over medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until the flavors have blended. Taste for salt and pepper.


Pizza Dough: (from CooksIllustrated.com)

This dough can be used for any size pizza with thick or thin crust; simply adjust the cooking time to fit the pizza. Make sure you heat the oven to 500 degrees for thirty minutes before you start cooking. Your tiles or stone need at least that long to heat up; if they’re not properly heated, your pizza crust will be thin, blond, and limp. ( I use an upside down half sheet pan because I just don't own a tile or stone.) Once the dough for the crust has been topped, use a quick jerking action to slide it off the peel and onto the hot tiles or stone; make sure that the pizza lands far enough back so that its front edge does not hang off. For a cornmeal-flavored dough, substitute three-quarters cup of cornmeal for three-quarters cup of the bread flour. Editor's Note: This recipe was updated in 1997, when we found that adding more water resulted in a tastier pizza. This recipe contains a total of 1 3/4 cups water, while the original that appeared in the magazine in 1995 contains 1 1/2 cups.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4cups water divided, 1/2 cup warm, remaining at tap temperature
• 2 1/4teaspoons dry active yeast (1 envelope)
• 2tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing dough
• 4cups bread flour
• 1 1/2teaspoons table salt
• Vegetable oil (or cooking spray) for oiling bowl
• Semolina for dusting peel

Instructions

1.  Measure 1/4 cup of warm water into 2-cup measuring cup. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1/4 cup warm water plus remaining 1 1/4 cups tap water and olive oil. Meanwhile, pulse flour and salt in workbowl of large food processor fitted with steel blade to combine. Add liquid ingredients (holding back a tablespoon or so) to flour and pulse together. If dough does not readily form into ball, stop machine, add remaining liquid, and continue to pulse until ball forms. Process until dough is smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds longer.
   
   2. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead by hand with a few strokes to form smooth, round ball. Put dough into medium-large, oiled bowl, and cover with damp cloth. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
   
   3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and use chef’s knife or dough scraper to halve, quarter, or cut dough into eighths, depending on number and size of pizzas desired. Form each piece into ball and cover with damp cloth. Working with one piece of dough at a time roll or stretch to desired size. Transfer to pizza peel that has been lightly coated with semolina, brush dough very lightly with olive oil before topping and cooking.
   
   4. Use the following guide to determine cooking time for pizza crust with topping but without cheese. All pizzas need to be cooked an additional two or three minutes after adding cheese, or until cheese is completely melted
     
   THIN CRUST
   14-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 2) - 7 to 8 minutes
   12-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 4) - 5 minutes
   8-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 8)- 3 minutes.
   
   MEDIUM-THICK CRUST
   12-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 2) - 9 to 10 minutes
   8-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 4) - 5 minutes
   6-inch pizzas (Master Recipe makes 8) - 4 minutes.
    
   

Chocolate Pizza
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis' recipe
1 (9inch) round pizza dough, about 1/4 of the homemade
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 to 1/2 cup Nutella
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons chopped pecans

1. Line baking sheet with tinfoil. Position oven rack at lowest position, place pan in oven, and preheat to 450degrees. Roll dough to a 9 inch circle.
2. Once pan and oven is preheated pull pan out of oven and carefully place pizza dough on baking sheet. Using fingertips make indentions all over the dough. Brush with melted butter, then bake until the crust is crisp and pale golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven immediately spread nutella in a thin layer over the crust, then sprinkle with the chocolate chips, and nuts.
3. Return to the oven and bake until  the chips begin to melt, 1 to 2 minutes. Cool for a few minutes then cut into wedges and serve.

Sometimes pizza night can get a little messy.