Sausage, Mushroom, & Pepper Pizza

     I like making pizza at home because you can do anything you want and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg for tons of topping. I have used raw pizza dough in the past but when loading up a pizza with a lot of toppings it is hard to cook the dough all the way through without burning the toppings. We decided to use a Baboli pizza crust which he hadn’t tried before but the fact that it was somewhat cooked already peaked out interest. We bought fresh meat and produce to make one of out favorite pizzas; peppers, onions, and sausage. Here is the recipe we came up with:

1 Baboli pizza crust

½ jar pizza sauce

1 8oz bag Mozzarella cheese

¾ pound sweet sausage, crumbled

1 green pepper, sliced thin

1 8oz package mushrooms, chopped

½ teaspoon garlic

Olive oil for sautéing

     Start off by browning the sausage in a pan until it is fully cooked through and crumbled. Put the sausage in a small bowl, leaving some of the fat in the pan. Add a little bit of olive oil and the garlic into the pan and let it cook for about a minute or so. At this point, turn the oven on to 450 degrees. I don’t like raw vegetables on my pizza so this next step works if you like them soft. Put both the peppers and the mushrooms into the pan and mix them until everything is coated with the oil. Once everything has softened up, pour everything into a strainer and let it drain for a minute or two just to get most of the oil and fat off. The last steps are to put the sauce, cheese, and toppings on before throwing it all in the oven. There is no set way of putting them on so just spread everything out evenly. This should cook for about 12 – 15 minutes but watch for the cheese to be fully melted and you’ll know it is done.

     There is no way the weight from the toppings would let raw dough cook all the way through so it was good that we used a precooked crust. I would have liked a more bready crust but the amount of toppings made up for that. Because the toppings layer was so thick, I used a knife and fork to eat most of mine. The sausage was from Spera’s and had a ton of flavor from the spices that they add when they grind it. Sautéing the peppers and mushrooms added another dimension that I don’t normally get from pizza shop pizza. The garlic and olive oil gave them a sweet taste that went well with they semi-spicy sausage. My favorite part of it all I think was the sauce which is just Wegmans brand pizza sauce. I’m not sure what it is about the sauce but I could eat it with a spoon, it is that good. Overall not a bad attempt at pizza but the crust needs some work.

Rating: Yummy – Who doesn’t like homemade pizza?

Delaware

Normally this blog is for food I make but I decided to share what others made for us while we were on vacation. The sandwiches are reviewed on the Syracuse Sandwich blog. So here are some pictures of the food we enjoyed in Delaware:

Grilled Ham Cheese and Tomato at Robin Hood's

Seafood Scampi at Irish Eyes

Shepherd's Pie at Irish Eyes

Doughnuts at The Fractured Prune

Onion Rings at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats

Asparagus Peppers and Chicken Pizza at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats

Vegetable Omelet at Sunrise Restaurant

Eastern Omelet at Sunrise Restaurant

Pretzel Sticks at The Greene Turtle

Chick N Ranch at The Greene Turtle

The Chesapeake Chicken at The Greene Turtle

Taco Salad at Dos Locos

Spicy Pork Burrito at Dos Locos

French Toast at The Penguin Diner

Breakfast Burrito at The Penguin Diner

Portobello Mushrooms & Garlic Rolls

     Friday is a toss up when it comes to what I’m going to cook or if I’m even going to cook. Since we went out a few times last week I thought it would be best to stay in and cook. I made up two recipes, Marinated Portobello mushroom caps and buttery-garlic rolls, and served some French fries on the side. Portobello mushroom caps are very meaty and are often a substitute when making burgers. Normally I would make the mushrooms caps into sandwiches but they tend to make the bread mushy with all of their juices so I took a different approach while still including a roll. Before I get too far, here are the recipes for both:

Buttery-garlic Rolls

2 rolls, split

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ teaspoon garlic salt

Marinated Portobello Mushroom Caps

2 Portobello Mushroom Caps

½ Bottle Italian Dressing

¼ cup mozzarella cheese

     I marinated the mushrooms for about 10 hours in the Italian dressing. Using Italian dressing for a marinade is convenient because we always have it in the house for salads. Using a fork, I pierced the mushroom in the center because the outsides are too soft from the marinade and will rip if you try. Using my indoor grill, I cooked the mushrooms on high until they shrank about a half in size. While the mushrooms cooked, the fries were near completion so I could get the rolls ready. Once I split the rolls, insides facing up, I brushed the mixture of butter, olive oil, and garlic salt liberally on each one. I put these on a pan along with the mushroom caps. As soon as the fries were done, I turned the oven off and turned the broiler onto high. Just before putting the pan under the broiler, I split the ¼ cup of mozzarella between each mushroom cap. When using a broiler, you should turn the oven light on and keep an eye on whatever you have in there so it doesn’t burn. The second the cheese started to bubble and brown, I pulled the pan out. The rolls got a little dark because of this but they didn’t burn.

     I won’t comment on the fries because they came frozen and I didn’t do anything to them. The mushroom caps were very juicy and tender. The tanginess of the dressing and the creaminess of the melted cheese contrasted nicely against one another. The mushrooms shrank during the cooking process and I wished I had bought two more of them but we ended up making more rolls so maybe next time. Christine and I really liked the rolls so I went back into the kitchen when we had finished eating what we had on our plates to make two more. They kind of tasted like garlic bread but had a more buttery taste. I think next time I will use more garlic salt and perhaps parsley for some color.

Rating: Yummy – Not bad for two easy recipes I just made up.

Chicken and Vegetable Kabobs

     When we do get a nice day in Syracuse, a rarity I know, I like to bust out my charcoal grill. I believe that everything tastes better grilled, but it has to be charcoal not propane. Propane is good but doesn’t give you the same flavor that charcoal does. Kabobs are a quick thing to make using a grill. While the coals heat up, you can get all the prep work done. I marinated two chicken breasts all day in state fair speedie sauce. I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces which made about four skewers worth. For vegetables I cut up three peppers, one yellow, one red, and one orange. In addition to the peppers we added baby bella mushrooms that came pre cut and I chopped a sweet Vidalia onion as well. We were able to make five skewers of vegetables with two of them having no mushrooms on them because Matt was coming over.

     Once the coals were glowing red, Matt dumped them into the grill. Before putting the vegetable skewers on the grill, I brushed them with the speedie sauce that I left in the bottle. To prevent sticking, I sprayed the grate with some non-stick butter spray. Be very careful if you do this after you put the grate over the coals because the spray is flammable and flares will shoot up when you spray. Using a small circular grill is tough when making kabobs because the heat usually gets centralized so you may have to move the kabobs around as you cook them in ensure the chicken cooks through and the vegetables get softened. I ran into this problem but using my trusty Ov-Glove, I was able to move the kabobs all around without burning my fingers. While the chicken and vegetables cooked, I brushed them with speedie sauce occasionally to keep them from burning. Cooking times are going to be different depending on the amount of coals you use, the meat you are cooking, and how much space you have on the grill.

     We all enjoyed the flavoring that the speedie sauce gave the vegetables and chicken. The chicken was moist yet had a bit of a crunch on the outside which was a nice change in texture. The mushrooms practically fell apart upon removing them from the skewers and were my favorite ingredient. The peppers softened some but still had a crunch to them. Charring on the onions gave them a smoky flavor that went well with the sweetness that they give off. Sweet ingredients like the peppers and the onion benefit greatly from being grilled because the charred flavor gives them extra flavor and texture. As a side we had white rice, which Christine suggested as a lighter component to a very seasoned dish. This was a great choice, Christine and Matt had butter on theirs while I had soy sauce. Overall, a good meal that I will definitely make again as long as the weather allows it.

Rating: Yummy - This was one of the quickest meals I've made thus far.

Mushroom Rice

Click Here For The Recipe

     Rice is such a versatile ingredient because it tastes great with just some butter or it can be flavored with whatever you are cooking it with. Mushrooms are another one of my favorite ingredients to use because there a so many kinds of them which allows them to be used in a variety of different dishes. So naturally the two of them work well together. This recipe would be a great side dish but I decided to make this a one pan meal and added some beef strips that had been seasoned with salt and pepper.

     Instead of using butter I used olive oil to saute the green onion, garlic and mushrooms. I took some of the other user suggestions and added more mushrooms. Wegmans has 8oz packages of pre-sliced mushrooms so I just used the whole package. I sauteed these until they were soft and added the beef strips until they were browned on the outside. Next I added the broth and a cup of uncooked rice. Instead of chicken broth I used beef broth because it compliments the meaty flavor of the mushrooms. As for the rice, I have stopped using regular white rice because it isn't as flavorful as some of the specialty rices out there. I have been using jasmine rice as of late and we really enjoy it. I let this simmer for about 20 minutes and garnished with parsley and parmesan cheese.

     Christine thought that the mushroom flavor was too overpowering and I could see where she was coming from but I thought the rice didn't have enough flavor overall. The rice even though it was cooked in beef broth with the mushrooms and other ingredients was kind of bland in my opinion.

Rating: Fair - I'd like to make this again but it will need some improvements