Wednesday, October 16, 2013

What I Cooked This Week (10/7-10/13)

It was a carb-a-licious week in my kitchen. Here's what I made last week. 

Chicken, Broccoli & Cheddar Calzone:



I knew I wanted to make calzones for lunch on Sunday, but I wanted to do a test run of sorts since sealing up dough isn't something I'm always great at. I cheated a bit on these by buying store bought pizza dough, but it was Friday afternoon and I was lazy and hungry so I have no regrets. 

I thought cheddar, chicken & broccoli would be a nice break from traditional pizza toppings (pepperoni, mozzarella, etc) and I was right. Cheddar is melty and delicious and I roasted this broccoli up with some salt, pepper and red pepper flakes before loading it up in the pizza dough. 


 I sent the picture above to my dad and he asked if I was eating Hot Pockets. Um. No. I was eating something WAY more delicious. Though, the nutritional value was probably about the same :)

Cinnamon Roll Cookies:
I felt guilty. I had to schedule a band rehearsal on Saturday morning. And when I feel guilt, I usually alleviate it by baking the offended party a batch of cookies. I thought cinnamon roll cookies would be something that was totally acceptable to eat at 10am. 

Have you ever made cookie dough with yeast in it? This dough has both yeast and cream cheese so it really straddles the line between a bread dough and a cookie dough. The yeasty flavor definitely makes it taste like a real cinnamon roll. And honestly, I found this dough incredibly difficult to roll, so next time, I probably would just make regular old cinnamon rolls. Still, they were delicious when they're all frosted up. 

The recipe can be found here, if you want to give them a shot. 

Rosemary Parmesan Focaccia Bread:
This was kind of a bread repeat for me since I made focaccia bread earlier this year on my bread quest. Still, I felt I could do better. And I did!
I baked half this dough in a 9" pie tin because I wanted a round loaf like we had back in my old Panera Bread days. I also baked a square loaf in a 8x8 pan, you know, for science. They both tasted the same, in case you were wondering. 

The last time I made focaccia I made it in a 9 x 13 pan and it was very thin. Great for dipping & snacking, but I had paninis on my mind so I wanted my bread a little thicker this time around. 

I saw a caprese panini somewhere on the internet [edit: I found it!] and knew I had to make one. 
The picture below does NOT do it justice. There is a basil/garlic/oil spread on both sides of the bread and then thin slices of roma tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. All grilled up to melty perfection. 

The focaccia recipe I used can be found here.

Pepperoni & Pepperocini Calzones:
Since my test run calzone turned out so well, I felt confident in making traditional, pizza style calzones for my pizza loving brother. I made my dough this time and let it proof in the fridge over night so everything was ready on Sunday.
I didn't seal this quite successfully as my first attempt (see the leak there?), but ultimately it didn't matter. These were delicious. Plus, I had a reason to eat some of my homemade pickled jalapenos I made a few weeks ago.  

When Chris and I were kids, our mom hand made pizza rolls for us a few times a year. It was one of the few kitchen projects I was not allowed to help with because forming them was too hard for me. Still, each kid was assigned a specific number of rolls and you guarded them jealously. If someone ate one of your designated pizza rolls, it was grounds for serious punishment. Seriously. We didn't mess. 
Chris and I agreed that these calzones tasted like childhood. So so so very good. 

And now I'm guzzling tea and trying to plan meals for next week that don't involve quite so much cheese...but I'm not particularly committed to the cause :)



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