South Beach Pizza
We eat a lot of pizza in this house; at least once a week I throw the dough together in the KitchenAid and let it rise for 24 hours in the refrigerator before I turn out a couple of personal pizzas for the guys. Of course personal-sized pizza for a teenage boy is about the size of a cookie sheet.
But here’s the thing, Dave and I can’t eat pizza every week…or rather we could but at some point we have to stop. Stop the crepes, the pancakes, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, pound cakes, pies, custards, etc…etc! It’s all because we’ve reached the fatty-bo-batty stage where our favorite jeans are too tight for comfort…and honestly comfort trumps carb-rich meals any day. It’s at that point that we return to phase one of the South Beach Diet. I say this grudgingly but in total acceptance of my fate…I must do it now before fruit season starts because once the berries and apples are in season there is no way I’m giving up their juicy goodness.
For those blessed enough to not have to know what South Beach phase one is I’ll give you the brief overview…you can eat any protein, green vegetables are your friends, dairy is okay. Fruits, potatoes, bread, and any sort of simple carb is off limits. That’s not so bad is it? No sugar, no flour, no potatoes, no fruit for at least two weeks. Oh, no wine…that’s the kicker!
On pizza night I made pizza for Dave and I with a chicken breast crust. We had to eat it with with a fork but the flavor was excellent and it was an almost pizza.
South Beach Pizza for 2
printer-friendly recipe
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup grated low fat mozzarella
1 Italian sausage
8 mushrooms, sliced medium thin
1/2 medium white onion, sliced thin
Pizza sauce
Preheat oven to 425°.
With a sharp knife butterfly the chicken breast at it’s thickest part in order to make it all the same thickness. Place the chicken between saran wrap and flatten it with a mallet or something similar. Repeat this procedure with the other breast.
Remove the casing from the sausage and break it into small, bite-sized chunks.
Heat a heavy skillet on a high flame and add a dab of olive oil. Sal the breast and place it in the hot pan. Let it brown and then flip it. Remove it from the pan once both sides have browned. Repeat with the other breast.
In that same pan, with the heat on medium, brown the Italian sausage. Remove it from the pan and rest it on a paper towel.
Place both of the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Spread pizza sauce on both and then add the cheese. Top next with the sausage, onions, and mushrooms.
Bake in the oven until the cheese and toppings are bubbly and golden brown.
Obviously anytime I do South Beach I turn to Kalyn’s Kitchen for advice, and inspiration.
Rhubarb pie and the farmers’ market
It’s been a brisk week in Wisconsin. I’ve gone through these days trying to decide if a sweater was necessary or if it really was as warm as I hoped. Usually a sweater improved the situation. Because of the briskness I took the opportunity to fix a few of my cold weather favorites that I was craving. Most notable was my black bean soup. There isn’t any photos because, well, we ate it… and nope, we didn’t stop to take pictures. It was good though and it always reminds me of the first time I made it in San Francisco. My version is a riff on Deborah Madison’s recipe from her Green’s cookbook. I’ve made it so many times over the past 20 years and it always satisfies with its spicy beaniness.
I’ve made a few rhubarb pies while it’s still in season. Fortunately I saved some of the frozen strawberries from last year’s bounty so we could have our favorite strawberry rhubarb pie. I think I’ll pick up some more rhubarb at the farmers’ market tomorrow…we never tire of pie and this might be the last weekend for rhubarb.
I’ve been thinking about our farmer friends a lot this week. Gas went up another 10 cents and I’m noticing some price increases at the grocery store…although I must admit that the items I buy at the store are few, they are things like flour, olive oil, butter (if I don’t make my own), chocolate, coffee, and wine. The farmers who faithfully show up to the market each week so we can have eggs, yogurt, milk, cheese, veg, fruit, mushrooms, and meat have to be feeling the pinch. I know from experience that the profit margin for most farmers is pretty thin and I’ve never known a rich farmer…at least if you judge riches by money. I do know a lot of happy farmers.
All of this is just to say that if you’re going out tomorrow, stop by a farmers’ market. If you happen to live in Madison you really should consider going to the best farmers’ market, the Westside Community Market. Nope, they don’t pay me to say that…I just say it because it’s true. I even have a list of 10 reasons why the Westside Side Community Market rocks:
- You can walk in any direction you want. That’s right folks, no counter-clockwise march here…just flit about and enjoy.
- Nick Kirch and the crew from Blue Marble Dairy will be there and their dairy products are awesome. So fresh and delicious. I love their milk and cream.
- Eric Johnson from Jordandal Farm will have chickens this week…apparently many chickens…I’m seriously excited because that means it’s BBQ Bird time…woot.
- Madison Sourdough’s perfect pain au chocolat. Their sourdough loaf is my favorite for sandwiches. The baguettes…arguably the best outside of Paris.
- The mushroom man had such huge morels last week…will he have them again this week?
- Bruce Workman from Edelweiss Cremery will be there with his Emmenthaler cheese. I also have a soft spot for his Muenster cheese.
- Peter Potter and his crackers…add any of his flavorful flatties to that Muenster and you’ve got the perfect afternoon snack.
- Dreamfarm’s eggs. I don’t know about you but I love Diana’s eggs. Lately we’ve been getting lots of double yolks…always a sign of a lucky day.
- Dreamfarm’s goat cheeses. I think that that Diana’s rosebud cheese is my favorite.
- Maple Syrup guy will be there only 2 more weeks…time to stock up.
Oh, don’t forget the rhubarb! Here’s my recipe.
Steak tartar - forbidden food
While we were in Paris we dined on steak tartar and we loved it. It’s a shame that one can’t order this simple pleasure in a restaurant here in the states; but alas our government feels compelled to protect us from food…cigarettes and other carcinogens, not so much… food, but of course! I’ll leave it at that because if I contemplate it any further and attempt to write another word about it I’ll end up on a ranting screed. I’m sure you can guess how I feel about this issue.
Since we cannot enjoy this elsewhere I made it for dinner the other night. The thing about steak tartar is that there are so many recipes and I guess you just have to pick one and go with it. Some listed ketchup or mayonnaise as an ingredient and others listed anchovies. This is the recipe I used and I wasn’t crazy about it. Next time I will do it as per the instructions of Richard Olney in his book The French Menu Cookbook :
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8 oz beef, sirloin or filet
Salt and pepper
Dash of worcestershire sauce
Remove fat, tendon, and sinew from the meat. Chop the meat finely with a sharp knife. I used my cuisinart and it chopped it too fine…it was mushy. Toss all this together in a large bowl. Divide it into 2 servings and mound it on each plate. Put an egg yolk in a well atop each mound. Around the edge of the plate arrange:
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Red onions, diced fine
Cornichons, diced fine
Capers, chopped fine
Parsley, chopped fine
About 1 tablespoon of each should be sufficient. Also make available oil and vinegar, hot sauce, catsup, and dijon mustard. So each plate can be adjusted to the diner’s preferences.
