Blake Makes

Last year we took a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit our friend Norisha and we had a delicious meal at Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown. I loved the egg they added to the pizza midway through cooking because it added a creamy richness to the pie. Tonight, Blake has a late dinner meeting, so I decided to stay home, watch a girly movie and make a pizza that reminded me of our trip to D.C.

We had an unopened package of turkey bacon and leftover smoked mozzarella, so I decided to make a bacon, egg and cheese pizza. This took me almost no time to make and it turned out so well. Blake ended up eating half before his night out and declared it incredibly delicious!

My only regret was that I only used one egg; next time I’d use two so each half would be covered in delicious, sunny yolkiness (as seen below!). Now, I’m off to watch Nancy Drew!

Ingredients:

• Ready-made pizza crust (I like Boboli because it’s cheap, keeps awhile in the pantry and tastes good.)
• Marinara sauce
• Mozzarella (I used a combo of leftover bagged cheese and deli smoked mozzarella- the smoked cheese added tons of flavor, so I would definitely mix this in again.)
• 3 strips bacon
• Handful chopped Fresh flat-leaf parsely
• Salt and pepper
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Cook bacon, crumble and put to the side.
• Spread thin layer of marinara over crust, and add a few handfuls of mozzarella. Bake pizza on the rack for about 4 minutes.
• Pull out oven rack, and make sure it’s level. Crack egg in center of pizza and add a little salt to yolk. Push over rack back in, turn on broiler and bake for an additional 5-6 minutes, until yolk has thickened but is not hard (sunny-side up).
• Add bacon, parsely, grated Parmesan and black pepper to taste.

During the busy work week, I want meals that are delicious but incredibly easy to make. There’s nothing worse than having a long, stressful day and knowing you have to come home and start cooking (and then the dreaded clean-up afterward).

This salad is so simple and is a good way to use up any barbecued or grilled chicken you might have leftover from the weekend. I usually just buy a barbeque rotisserie chicken to make this meal even easier. You can also vary the salad ingredients to use up any veggie leftovers you might have on hand because what makes this salad great is the poblano dressing– it’s creamy and smooth with just enough spice.

Recipe courtesy of Susan Spicer’s Crescent City Cooking.

Ingredients (Salad):

• 1 1/2 to 2 cups diced bbq chicken meat, from leftovers or a store-bought roasted chicken
• 1 ripe avocado, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels,, thawed, or 2 ears corn, grilled in the husk then shucked and cut from the cob
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced celery or celery hearts
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 head Bibb lettuce, broken into leaves, washed and dried
• Creamy Poblano Dressing

Directions (Salad):

Toss all ingredients except dressing in a salad bowl, then toss in the dressing or serve it on the side.

Ingredients (Dressing):

• 1 poblano, roasted and peeled
• 2 T fresh lime juice
• 2 T chopped scallion greens
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 cup Mayonnaise (I used light mayo)
• 2 T sour cream or buttermilk (I used light sour cream)

Directions (Dressing):

Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Adjust seasonings as necessary.

New Orleans’ Central Grocery created the muffuletta in 1906, and today lines still stretch out the door for one of these sandwiches. When I was a kid, my mom created her own version of the legendary sandwich, and I still prefer her olive salad mix to the original. Her salad mix is lighter and not as greasy as the mixes usually found on traditional N’awlins muffulettas. Sometimes, I just get a craving for muffuletta, and it’s so easy to make, that it’s hard to resist.

Ingredients (Sandwich):

• 1/4 lb Genoa salami
• 1/4 lb ham
• 1/4 lb mortadella (optional for me)
• 1/2 lb sliced provolone cheese
• olive salad
• Rolls (Kaiser, or other seeded; I also like onion rolls)

Directions (Sandwich):

• Slice rolls in half (Mine is a family of culinary sinners and we like mayo or mustard on our muffs, so if you want to sin too, feel free to add condiments here.)
• Place salami and cheese on bottom half of roll; spread small amount of olive salad onto roll using a slotted spood to drain excess liquid.
• Place ham and mortadella on top of olive salad; put top half of roll on
• Warm through until cheese is melted.

Ingredients (Olive Salad):

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 6oz can black olives, drained and chopped
• 7oz can green olives, drained and chopped
• 3 dill pickles, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 16 oz bottle Italian dressing

Directions (Salad):

• Mix together and let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Spaghetti Something isn’t a set recipe; it’s a dish you can just throw together with whatever you have in the house. This is a take on a recipe By Giada that we call in our house, “Spaghetti Giada.”

I pour a couple tblsp. of olive oil in a cold pan and start to heat over medium high heat. I chop and onion and add it to the pan. Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes.

When the onions go transparent, I add a good tblsp. of tomato paste and 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Wilt in some spinach (we used Chard tonight).

Finally, toss in the noodles and dollop fresh goat cheese on the top. S&P to taste.

This one’s quick, so hold on tight. Brown sugar glazed carrots.

Steam some baby carrots (the small bag you get) until they’re just under-done.

In a small sauce pan, melt 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tblsp. honey. Stir in a few sprinkles of cinnamon and a cap full of good vanilla.

Add the carrots and toss them in the sticky brown simplicity.

This is a great side dish that goes with everything. Plus, it only takes about 10 minutes to make.

Hello, Blake Makers! Sorry I’ve been away. Blake Makes isn’t my day job (yet), so I apologize for being so busy at work. I’m getting back to my cooking/posting routine. Tonight’s plate: Spicy Shrimp Diavolo.

After college, I worked for an Italian restaurant here in New Orleans. The most popular dish on the menu (and my personal favorite) was the Shrimp Diavolo. This recipe isn’t exactly as they prepared, which is ok since I like mine better.

Plus, mine’s super easy to make.

Heat 2 parts alfredo sauce to 1 part tomato sauce (you can use homemade or jarred, either works). Add red pepper flakes until the dish reaches your desired level of pyro.

Cook some Penne until al dente (we use whole wheat) and then spoon it right into the sauce. You’ll want some of the pasta water to make the sauce velvety and rich.

I toss in about 10 cooked shrimp and finish with Parm. I’ve done variations of this meal with mushrooms and roasted red peppers. It’s a hot little number.

Bridget and I love to cook, and we always prefer meals that we can make in under 30 minutes. These Veggie Patch Pizzas definitely fall into this category.

Start with a tortilla (we love the flavored ones), and top it with creamed spinach. I’ve always wanted to make my own, fresh creamed spinach, but Stouffer’s freezes an excellent creamy spinach. That’s the hard part.

Next, top it with whatever you’d like. Keep in mind, however, that the tortilla is very thin, and very susceptible to moisture (sogginess). We usually top ours with fresh tomatoes (seeded), sliced onions, peppers, cooked shrimp, and mozzarella.

Pop it in the oven at 375 until everything’s all bubbly and the edges are nicely browned. Finish with grated Parm and crushed red pepper flakes.

Simply Recipes made a post last week about ultra thin, tortilla crusted pizza. We’ll have to try it, too!