Supper for Super Bowl

This started out as a way to kill time before and during the Super Bowl. I could hang out in the kitchen, and slice and dice and shred cheese while my husband and his friends watched the big game. Then an unexpected thing happened. Our sons got older, and started to play football, so I was motivated to learn more about the game. Watching our Orcas Vikings, I actually became a football fan.

It wasn’t a chore, after that, to start watching the Seahawks, and other pro teams, along with the guys. When Super Bowl came, I wanted to watch the game. By that time, however, I had established a ritual. The dinner had become one of the highlights of the day. The logical answer was to make the pizza a couple of hours before game time, then pop it in the oven at half-time and eat during the third quarter.

A good crust is the foundation of any pizza. A home oven was never designed to bake pizza. It just can’t get hot enough. There are plenty of good refrigerated pizza crusts, and even boxed mixes, that work very well. I even used biscuit mix once, when I was out of yeast. But a good, basic yeast dough is still the best way to go. If you have a bread machine with a pizza setting, use it. Just follow their directions.

Super Bowl Pizza    A once-a-year treat
Makes one 14” medium crust pizza

1 packet active dry yeast, quick rising
1 cup warm water (105° to 115° F)
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. olive oil
2½ to 3½ cups all purpose flour

OR 
1 - 12” to 14” ready made pizza crust

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, olive oil and 2½ cups flour. Mix well. Turn onto floured board. Knead, adding remaining flour until dough feels elastic. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down. Let rest about 10 minutes. Brush pizza pan with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings. Toppings:1 - 14 oz. can pizza sauce
1½ cup shredded mozzarella
¼ lb. pepperoni
¼ lb. salami
¼ lb. Canadian bacon
½ lb. Italian sausage, hot or mild
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced bell pepper
½ lb. sliced mushrooms
1 - 3oz. can sliced olives

Brown sausage and drain well. Sauté onion and pepper in a little olive oil until soft. Spread sauce across crust. Layer all topping ingredients, finishing with cheese on top. This can be done a couple of hours ahead. (Your crust may continue to rise if it’s made ahead and not refrigerated.)

Bake at 450° for 15 to 20 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
 

Creamy Salad Dressings

            About the time my youngest got into high school, I gave up buying bottled salad dressing, for two reasons. First, as a family, we ate so much salad that we were always running out. Secondly, and most important, we were finding it harder and harder to find dressings that we found palatable. Most were either too vinegary, or too gelatinous. And, they're expensive!
            We all prefer creamy dressings to vinaigrettes, so I started experimenting with different combinations, using mayonnaise or sour cream as a base. The idea was to use ingredients that were always on hand, hence, never run out of salad dressing again! It proved to be so easy, that I’m embarrassed it took me so long to figure out. I usually make dressing “by eye”, and just enough for a meal. For simplicity, though, I put measurements in here. 

Basic Ranch 
Yields about 1½ cups

1 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup milk

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. black pepper

Dash garlic powder
Parsley, marjoram, sweet basil, savory, etc.

 Whisk together mayo and sour cream. Add pepper, onion and garlic powders, whisking until well blended. Taste as you go. Stir in herbs, to taste. (Parsley, marjoram and basil are friendly. You can use them quite liberally and they won’t overpower your food. Be sparing with thyme or oregano, however. A little goes a long way.) Thin with small amounts of milk until desired consistency is reached. Chill for at least 15 minutes.

Creamy Blue Cheese       A kid friendly blue 

Make Ranch dressing, above, using parsley only.

Fold in 3 oz. crumbled blue cheese.

Run in blender or food processor for a minute, if you want a smoother texture

Refrigerate for at least an hour to develop flavor.

Thousand Island                 Great French fry dip, sandwich spread…

Stir to combine:

1 cup ranch dressing

½ cup sweet relish, well drained

1 tbsp. ketchup

¼ tsp. black pepper

Blue Island                     My husband’s favorite

Make Thousand Island dressing, above.

Fold in ½ cup coarsely-crumbled Buttermilk Blue cheese

Regular blue cheese can be used, but the buttermilk blue is wonderfully mild, yet intense. The longer it chills, the better the flavor.

Simple Cheesecake

          It's supposed to get cold again this week, following a couple of unseasonably warm days. I really don't mind very much. I kind of enjoy the cold, as long as it's dry. Either way, winter weather always puts me in the mood to bake. Last weekend my sweet tooth started missing the holiday goodies. Being rather late in the evening, I took stock of the pantry and proceeded accordingly. I had all the fixin's to make one of my husbands favorites: cheesecake.
          This is a very simple and relatively fast recipe. I had no ready-made pie crust, but I did have a pack of graham crackers. I did something I hadn’t done in years: I made one from scratch. I needed to look up the recipe in good old Betty Crocker, it had been so long. I was really glad for my Cuisinart when it came to turning the crackers into crumbs. I only had half a bag of chocolate chips, and soft cream cheese, not a brick. Even so, the cake turned out just fine. The only difference I noticed was that the chips sunk through the softer batter and created a chocolate layer at the bottom. 

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheesecake
Heat oven to 350°

2 - 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened (light is ok)

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

2 eggs, slightly beaten

½ cup chocolate chips

1 graham cracker or chocolate cookie pie crust

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on medium speed of electric mixer. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into crust.  Bake at  350° for 40 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.

You can substitute peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips, if you prefer. For a double chocolate cake, add a tablespoon of chocolate syrup in with the sugar and omit the vanilla.

Graham Cracker Crust

1½ cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tbsp. sugar

5 tbsp. melted butter

Combine crumbs and sugar in the bottom of a pie pan. Stir in melted butter until completely moistened. Press crumbs against bottom and sides of pan to make a crust.