Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

How many different combinations can be put on top of your pizza? What about different sauces? Before you even think about that, there needs to be the crust. Homemade from scratch pizza dough is fun and easier than you think. Here's how you do it:

To the Right is a Hummus-Turkey Pizza made after Thanksgiving:
Here's what you need:

1 packet (2 1/4 t) Active Dry Yeast
1 1/3 c Warm Water (around 110 deg)

3 1/2 to 3 3/4 c of flour (I used 2 c White Whole Wheat Flour and the rest All Purpose Flour)
2 T Olive Oil
1 T Salt
1 T Sugar (optional)

(***Note: This makes 2 - Twelve inch pizza crusts***)


1. In a large mixing bowl combine Yeast and Water and let stand
about 5 min to dissolve the yeast. Whisk if needed.

2. Add Flour, Oil, Salt, and Sugar and mix on low for about 1 min.
3. Knead about 10 minutes (dough hook on low) or until the dough is elastic and smooth.
4. Lightly drizzle some Oil along the side of the bowl and rotate the ball of dough until
coated with the Oil.

5. Transfer to another bowl, Cover with Plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until it is twice the size (around 2 hours)

6. Punch down the dough, divide in half, and roll each into a ball.


7. Let the dough rest another 15 min.




8. Place oven rack 4-5" from top & Preheat the oven to 500 deg with the baking stone if you are using one.

9. Flour your work area, wet your hands with water, and work the dough into a 12 inch diameter pie & transfer to a Pizza Peel dusted with cornmeal/semolina flour.


10. Gently prick the dough multiple times with a fork & fold up the edge to form a crust and let rest for 10 min.

11. Add your sauce and toppings of choice. Err on the conservative side, less is better.
12. Transfer from the peel to the baking stone.


13. Bake until the crust is nicely browned (around 10-12 min)

Ok, monkeys, be creative and top your pizza!

Tomato Lentil Soup

Winter is such great soup weather. If I ever master growing tomatoes, then I'll be making this in the summer as well. I've always been a tomato soup fan, especially with a toasted or grilled cheese sandwich you can dunk! As a kid, I would crush as many Tollhouse Crackers as my mom would let me into the Campbell's Tomato Soup. Well, this is a homemade-from-scratch tomato soup. I decided to add the Lentils since they are an excellent source of fiber and protein! Seriously, anymonkeycan cook this delicious soup!

1 Yellow Onion, chopped
4-6 Garlic Cloves, minced
1-2 T of Olive Oil or Coconut Oil etc

6 c Tomatoes, diced (2-28 oz cans of diced tomatoes or about 12 regular sized fresh tomatoes
2 c Chicken Broth (use Vegetable to make this Vegetarian)
1 c Red Lentils, rinsed and pick over if needed

1-2 T Kosher Salt (to taste)
1-2 T Fresh Basil, chopped (can try other herbs)
Black Pepper (to taste)
1/2 c Half and Half (optional to make this a creamy soup)

1. Heat the Oil on Medium High heat & saute the Onion & Garlic until tender (about 8-10 min)
2. Add Tomatoes, Broth, & Lentils and cook over Medium heat for about 30 min.
3. Add Half & Half, as well as Salt, Pepper, & Basil (to taste)
4. Remove from heat and Puree until smooth with an Immersion Blender. You can transfer in batches to a blender as well.
5. Serve with crackers or bread or a grilled cheese sandwich.
And there you go! Anymonkeycan make homemade tomato soup from scratch!

Eggnog Pancakes

So, I have drank my fair share of Eggnog this Christmas. I even made a batch of made-from-scratch the "Real Deal" Holyfield eggnog that I hope to post soon. But here's what you can do with some of your extra eggnog. This will show you that "Anymonkeycan" make gourmet eggnog pancakes!














2 c White Whole Wheat Flour or regular All Purpose Flour
2 T Sugar
2 t Baking Powder
1 t Salt
1/2 t Baking Soda
1 t Cinnamon (to taste)
2 t freshly Grated Nutmeg if available
2 c Eggnog
4 T of melted, unsalted Butter
3 large Eggs


















1. Heat Griddle to Medium
2. Whisk first 7 (DRY) ingredients in Mixer Bowl
3. Whisk the last 3 (WET) ingredients in another medium bowl
4. Pour the WET ingredients into the DRY ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Ladle 1/4 c batter onto the heated griddle and sprinkle with some of the grated Nutmeg
6. Cook until bubbles form on the tops
7. Flip and cook until the underneath side is lightly browned.

Enjoy your Pancakes!! You can't go wrong with a bit of Nutella smeared on them!

Once again proving that "Anymonkeycan" cook pancakes!!

Sweet Potato Poblano Pepper Casserole

I wanted to try something a bit different this Thanksgiving using Sweet Potatoes. This dish turned out most excellent and was easy to make. Definitely something that anymonkeycan do!

2 T of Olive Oil
3-4 medium Sweet Potatoes (peeled and 1/4" dice)
1 medium Poblano Pepper (cut into thin slices)
1 medium Red Onion (cut into thin slices)
1 t ground Cumin (to taste)
1 t Cinnamon (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

1. Heat Oil in large skillet over Medium-High heat.
2. Add the Onions and Peppers to the heated oil and sautee for about 5 min.
3. Reduce heat to Medium heat and add Sweet Potatoes and Salt (Cover).
4. Stir occasionally for about 40 min or until the Potatoes are tender and lightly browned.
5. Sprinkle Cumin, Cinnamon, and Salt to taste
6. Remove from heat and you can garnish with Cheese, fresh herbs etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmuJCIFFz5c
**In the video I decided to roast the pepper and the onions.  After the pepper is roasted it will be charred black and blistered.  Place it in a bowl and cover with saran wrap for 20 min.  Then gentle scrape off the charred skin.  Cut the pepper & onion in thin slices and add to the sweet potatoes for the last 5-10 min.**

The cinnamon gives this dish an Indian flavor. Enjoy and as always..."Anymonkeycan" cook!

Stovetop Popcorn!

Homemade Popcorn? Why even bother when there is microwave popcorn or a hot-air popcorn? I remember as kid, the popcorn maker. Then off to college it was microwave popcorn. Well I have been popping popcorn like Grandma used to and let me tell you, it is EASY and pretty cool to watch. This is pretty basic monkey business here. Let's get started.


3 T of Canola, Peanut, or Grapeseed Oil **Olive Oil is a NO NO, the smoke point is too low!!**

1/3 C Popcorn Kernels (about 2 servings)

Salt to Taste (I use Kosher) -Optional-

Melted Butter to Taste -Optional-

At least a 3 Q Covered Sauce Pan

Toppings that make you Happy- Cheese, yeast flakes, cumin etc.


1. Pour Oil, sprinkle some of the Salt, and place 2-3 test Popcorn Kernels in the pan & heat over Medium High heat. Be sure to put on the lid.

2. Once the test Kernels pop, remove from the heat and quickly pour in the remaining Popcorn Kernels. Replace the lid.

3. Gently shake the Kernels in the oil for 20-30 seconds to "warm up" the kernels, THEN return to the burner with the LID SLIGHTLY ASKEW. This allows steam to escape & therefore drier popcorn!

4. The popping will begin quite soon. Gentle shake the pan as it fills to allow more kernels to pop. Once there are longer pauses between pops (10-15 seconds), remove the pan from the heat and pour YOUR popcorn in a bowl.

5. Melt the Butter in the still hot pan if you desire. Add your favorite toppings! We used to do Junior Mints back in school!

There you go! I told you a monkey could do it!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes


Well, Halloween has just passed and Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Not only do Pumpkin Pancakes sound cool, they taste great! Here's how to do it:

(Pictured to the right are Walnut-Pumpkin Pancakes with a smear of Pumpkin Seed-Walnut Spread)



Pumpkin Pancakes:


(Pictured to right are the Basic Pumpkin Pancakes)


In a large bowl, whisk together the following:


1 c Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 c All Purpose Flour or cake flour
1 t Baking Soda
2 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Salt
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Nutmeg (fresh is best)
1/2 t Ground Ginger

Pre-Heat Griddle to Medium to Medium High (about 350 degrees)


(Pictured to the Right is a Cranberry-Pumpkin Pancake or the "Thanksgiving Pancake")


Whisk together in another bowl:


1 c Greek Yogurt or Kefir or Milk
1 c Pumpkin Puree (can be canned)
2 Eggs
4 T Butter (melted)
1 t Vanilla (optional)
2 T Brown Sugar


Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. If batter is a bit too thick, then add milk 1 T at a time; if too dry then add 1 T flour at a time until the batter is a desirable consistency.


Ladle the batter onto the griddle about 1/4 c to 1/2 c depending on desired size of cakes. When multiple small bubbles are forming on the surface (about 3-5 min) use a spatula to flip and cook until the bottoms are golden brown.

(Pictured to the Right are the Walnut-Pumpkin Pancakes)

I like these with a bit of the Multi Nut Spread or the seasonal Pumpkin Seed-Walnut Spread.

See, anymonkeycan become a "Mr. Fancy Pancake Pants!!"

Blueberry Almond Pancakes

Ahh...Pancakes! What a great way to start a weekend morning! Making creative, unique pancakes really is something a monkey can do. At the easiest, just start with the most basic pancake recipe and add your favorite fixin's kind of like DQ adds fixin's to their Blizzards. Heck, buy yourself some Bisquick and a giraffe could probably make some pancakes. Here's an easy recipe that will allow you to upgrade yourself into a chef of fancy pancakes. Mr. Fancy Pancakes if you will.

Blueberry Almond Pancakes

Whisk the following into a large bowl:

1 c Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 c All Purpose Flour

1/4 c Sugar

1 1/4 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t vanilla (optional)

Preheat your griddle to Medium to Medium High heat (350 deg)

In another bowl whisk the following:

1 1/4 c Greek Yogurt or Kefir or Milk

4 T unsalted butter, melted

2 Large Eggs

1 T grated lemon zest (optional)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients mixing until they are combined well.

Fold in:

1 c Fresh Blueberries (Frozen -thaw and drain first- can also be used)

1/2 c Sliced Almonds

If your batter is too thick, add milk 1 T at a time until batter is desirable. If too thin, add flour 1 T at a time.

Ladle Pancakes on to the heated griddle at about 1/4 to 1/2 c depending on size of your desired cakes. Cook until the tops are showing small bubbles (about 3-5 min), then flip with a spatula and cook until the bottom is lightly brown.

Now it is time to enjoy some pancakes! Feel free to replace the blueberries with bananas or raisins or cranberries or strawberries... And replace the almonds with walnuts or cashews or pecans...

I love these pancakes just as is. I don't think they need syrup, but that is really up to you. You cannot go wrong smearing a bit of the previous post's Multi Nut Spread either. http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2010/10/homemade-multi-nut-butter.html

Enjoy your pancakes you crazy cooking monkey you!

Homemade Multi Nut Butter

Are you tired of the same ol' Peanut Butter, but don't really like the upgrade in cost to Almond or Cashew Butter? Well, AnyMonkeyCan make their own! This really is pretty simple if you have a Food Processor.

1/4 c Walnuts
1/4 c Cashews
1/4 c Natural Almonds
1/4 c Roasted & Salted Almonds
(Optional) Salt to taste
(Optional) Cinnamon or Honey or Maple Syrup etc. to taste

1. Turn on the Food Processor and slowly add ALL the Almonds down the Chute
2. As the FP continues to run, add the remaining nuts
3. The FP may need to run 10 min, but eventually you will get a consistency of Peanut Butter
4. Occasionally you may need to stop the FP & use a spatula to scrape the nuts from the edges
5. When the nuts begin to thicken add in the Optional ingredients

Tips:
I think Whole Almonds work better than Sliced Almonds. Maybe the Slicing dries them out a bit.

Also, Be creative in what you use. I think I'll try roasted Pumpkin Seeds next.

Don't overload your FP. Err on the low side at first.

Enjoy Your Homemade Butter!

Chef Point Cafe

I have wanted to eat at "Chef Point Cafe" for some time now. The problem? It is up in Watauga. That's not too far, but traffic can be brutal near that part of 820. Well, today was going to be the day! It's a Saturday, It's about 130 PM, It's been raining. Off we go up I35 in light traffic. There is a long back up on I35 SB. Mental Note: Back roads coming home. Everything was rolling well until we started east on North loop 820. Bam! A wall of traffic. No problem, we were only slightly hungry and knew the goal was near. We'll just exit early and hit the surface streets. We can do it! Until we saw the flashing red stop light WAAAYYYY up ahead on the service road. We had to be about 30-40 cars deep and it was barely moving. Our spirits were crushed and the mission was aborted and we headed to our Favorite Thai Restaurant. A good consolation prize, but we felt so close to a "Chef Point Cafe" experience!

Hummus "Foxymorons style"

Hummus is becoming quite the rage. Fresh, homemade hummus is a breeze to make. Today, this monkey will tell how to do it! I'll start with a basic recipe from the "Joy of Cooking" cook book, but you could really trick up your hummus however you want. If you have the time, use dried chickpeas and soak'em and boil'em. You probably will end up with excess that can be used in salads, pasta dishes, etc. Otherwise...



16 oz can of chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
3 T tahini
2 cloves of peeled garlic
Salt to taste
Food Processor
Paprika (optional)
Olive Oil
Parsley - finely chopped (optional)

1. Place peeled garlic into food processor and mince
2. Add chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, and salt into food processor and puree until smooth adding 2-3T water (or cooking liquid if you boiled your own chick peas) at a time as needed to create a smooth, creamy dip.
3. Drizzle top of dip with Olive Oil
4. Sprinkle top of dip with the Parsley and a dusting of the Paprika
5. Eat with pita bread or crackers or vegetables or on a sandwich

As always, I encourage the use of fresh ingredients (garlic, lemon juice, chickpeas, parsley, etc.)

The above picture is a Hatch chile pepper (mild) Hummus. I added about 1/4 c of chopped peppers in step number 1. A Sweet potato or Roasted Red Pepper hummus version is always good. Try the basic recipe above and then be creative.

There you go, this really is a monkey friendly recipe that will easily impress!

Pesto Sauce

Recently I posted a recipe for my "Pesto Pasta Arugula Salad." I have done my time with the pesto "sauce" from the packet, but now have evolved to made-from-scratch pesto sauce. It's pretty darn easy and a bit of fun.

This is the basic recipe from my "Joy of Cooking" cook book and I have added my tweaks.

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 c of loosely packed basil leaves (be sure to remove the stems and branches)
1/3 c of pine nuts (I use walnuts, tastes just as good and cheaper than pinenuts)
2 medium cloves of peeled garlic (It'd be best to skip the stuff from a jar...)
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese (Romano cheese will suffice)
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

WHAT YOU DO:

1. In a food processor (the small one that is used with a hand blender works well) add the basil leaves and chop them up
2. Add the cloves of garlic and run the FP
3. Add pinenuts/walnuts and run the FP
4. Add the cheese and run the FP
5. Add the EVOO and that's right, run the FP
6. Salt and Pepper to taste

I also tend to stir in 1-2 T of water since I like my pesto sauce to be a little thinner especially after it has sat in the refrigerator 1-2 days. I love making this in the summer because my basil grows well in the garden here in TX so I can just go out and pick the basil fresh. So that's the mystery of homemade pesto sauce. I told you, anymonkeycan make great pesto sauce!!

Lemon Chess Pie

Recently I met an 80 plus year old guy who used to be the head baker and dessert maker at Colonial's Cafeteria here in FW. I asked him if he had a favorite dessert and without hesitation it was the "Lemon Chess Pie." Being from the Midwest, I was not familiar with this classic southern dessert. I asked if he was willing to share the recipe, he was. He had it memorized and just rattled it off. So this crazy monkey decided to make his first "Chess Pie."

Lemon Chess Pie

1/4 lb butter (1 stick)

8 oz frozen lemonade concentrate (I used about 8 oz of squeezed lemon juice)

4 eggs

1 c sugar
Salt to taste

Frozen Pie Shell

1. Pre Heat Oven to 350 deg
2. Bring butter and lemonade to soft boil - then remove
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together eggs, sugar, & salt
4. Pour the hot butter/lemonade mixture into the mixture from #3.
5. Mix well
6. Pour into Pie Shell
7. Bake at 350 deg until top is brown and then decrease heat to 300 deg and continue baking until middle is firm. About 40-50 min total

Allow to cool before serving. I could never quite get the middle all the way firm. So after about 60 min I allowed it to cool and it firmed up. There has been no complaints...
So, anymonkeycan make a "Lemon Chess Pie" even a yankee one from the Midwest! Enjoy!!

Arugula Pesto Pasta Salad

After a lengthy delay, this monkey has something to say...

One of my favorite Dallas restaurants finally opened an outpost here in lovely FW. Patrizio's opened earlier this summer in the Cultural District. For those of you who don't know, Patrizio's offers excellent Italian food and great prices in a cool location and atmosphere. I probably have 4 things I love at this place. Normally I'm lucky to find 2 entrees that make me happy.

Last month was their "Bellini-fest" and we wore the place out. "Baby Bellinis" for a buck, what a deal! During this fest we got into the habit of eating at their bar (cool bar area BTW). Here I spied a dish that I had never tried. It was Patrizio's "Insalata Alla Genovese". That's what I ordered and it tasted as good as it looked. It is a cold pasta salad which is perfect for July/August in TX.

Here is my Patrizio's inspired dish:

Arugula Pesto Pasta Salad

• Arugula (or Spinach)
• Basil Pesto - homemade from fresh basil is best
• Chopped peppers - your choice (and/or sun dried tomatoes)
• Bow Tie Pasta - boiled and cooled
• Crushed Walnuts
• Shaved Parmesan Cheese

1. Take about 1 c of cooled pasta and toss with about 1/4 c pesto sauce.
2. Place about 1 c of arugula in the serving bowl and pour the pesto covered pasta on top.
3. Add the chopped peppers (to taste) on top of the pasta
4. Sprinkle about 1 T of crushed walnuts or to taste
5. Add Parmesan cheese to the top of that

You can be a bit loosey goosey with the ingredients. I choose arugula over spinach because I can get arugula to grow in my garden, but the spinach won't participate. I used the peppers because they are in my garden also. I was also able to make Pesto from scratch because Basil loves to grow in the Texas summer. I prefer walnuts in the Pesto instead of pine nuts since walnuts are about half the price of the pine nuts.

In closing, anymonkeycan make a great summer pasta salad