Forget Pizza Delivery

I've been on a basil kick lately. That's what makes this bake-yourself at home pizza so delish... and super easy on a busy night! Not only that, with a nice salad you've covered all the health basics. Variations include adding cooked chicken pieces. Yum!

Ingredients:
1 roll refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
1 grocery package of fresh organic  basil leaves
1 jar Alfredo with cheese sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 3/4 cups shredded parmesan cheese
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced thin
Fresh ground pepper

Steps:
1. Bake dough in preheated oven at 400 on jelly roll pan til golden brown, about 9 minutes
2. Slightly cool dough and reduce oven heat to 390
3. Cover dough in this order: Alfredo sauce, mozzarella, basil leaves, tomato slices and then the parmesan and ground pepper
4. Finish baking until cheese has melted to your liking, approx 10 more minutes. Don't let crust burn.

Spot loves this meal cuz there's no onions to frighten her. 

World's Best Onion Rings

Why pay big bucks in a restaurant when you can make these at home for fresh!? I've played around with recipes and here's one that is a great side dish every time.

INGREDIENTS:
1 large white onion, (sliced and seperated into rings) per eater
2 cups flour
2 TBSP Wondra
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 - 1 1/2 good pale ale at room temp
Mediterranean salt to taste
Vegetable oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS:
Slice onions, set aside. Using large bowl, mix all ingredients except beer. Add one beer slowly and stir til lump-free. Add more Wondra if needed to thicken, or more beer to thin out. You want the batter to cling to the rings, not run off.

Using a fondue pot or deep fat fryer, heat vegetable oil to 350. Drop rings into batter to coat. Shake off excess and cook in hot oil til golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Turn only once. Drain on layers of paper towels and lightly salt.

You can make this batter several hours ahead and it will keep overnight if you want to do a re-run the next day since you already made your house "smell". That's what we do!

Spot gives this FLEEING PAWS because her number one fear in life is the sound of onions cooking. Forgetting Spot, these are delish!!

Yummy Chicken Tenders

Ingredients

Boneless skinless chicken tenders
Sea salt and ground pepper
Whisked egg
Italian bread crumbs

Instructions

Sprinkle small plate generously with salt and pepper, place egg in pie plate, bread crumbs in large zip-lock bag. Take each tender and coat with s & p, dredge in egg, shake and cover with crumbs. Press crumbs into tender. Return to s& p plate one more time. Place on a separate dinner plate and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This is the key to the recipe.

In medium high skillet, fry each tender til golden on each side. This will take just a couple of minutes.

For fun, you could add flat leaf parsley or even Parmesan. We like to serve with spinach angel hair pasta nests. Except our teenage son eats the tenders as they come off the skillet so I make 10 tenders for just 3 of us.

Spot heard the sizzling and ran for the hills. Once all was quiet, she slithered back in and waited at our feet. That is about a 3-paw rating.

Orzo Chicken Lemon Soup

This is one of my favorites and sooo easy to make! We serve it with toasted crusty bread. You add a nice leafy green salad to make it a complete meal.

Ingredients

2 cooked chicken breasts, cut in small pieces
8 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup orzo
3 eggs
2/3 + cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 TBSP lemon zest
Mediterranean salt, ground pepper to taste
4 TBSP chopped fresh rosemary

In large saucepan, brink stock to boil over medium heat. Reduce to medium low, add orzo and cook uncovered until tender, about 15-20 minutes. About 5 minutes before pasta is done, add the chicken pieces.

Place eggs in a mixing bowl, whisk will adding in lemon juice. Stir in zest. Keep whisking and slowly add a ladleful of the hot stock to the egg mixture. Slowly add the egg mixture to the stock in saucepan and stir. Stock should thicken slightly.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley.

Spot didn't give a paw rating because she thought we were cooking onions. Once she realized we weren't, she sat at our feet with high hopes.

Rosemary Walleye Pike and Au Gratin Potos

Even though I haven't posted lately, I've been cooking! We relocated six months ago and in the process, posting has fallen off the radar. Not any more, I miss this too much, so buckle your seatbelts...

Tonight's menu was morphed from my dear friend and second mom Dorothy who served me Walleye Pike last week while I was in Mpls. It was so yummy I determined to make it in my new town for my hubby and son, but alas this fish is not available in Iowa. So hubby drove it down special.

Here's the menu:

Rosemary Au Gratin Potos (begin 1 hour and 20 minutes prior to desired eating time):

- Thinly slice 3 lbs red potatoes, cover and bring to boil with 5 diced garlic cloves. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer til tender but not mushy. About 8 more minutes.

- In oblong baking dish and using slotted spoon, layer half the poto slices. Cover with fresh pepper and sea salt to taste. Pour 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream over all.
Sprinkle 3/4 cup each of shredded Gruyere and Fontina cheese over this layer. Repeat. On top layer, add an additonal 1/4 cup of a shredded hard cheese (Parmesan, Manchego) and sprinkle a few pieces of Rosemary over all.

- Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Keep warm til Walleye is ready.


Dorothy's Walleye Pike Prep while potos are baking, takes 10 minutes to fry:

- Dip Walleye fillets in 1 beaten egg, then crushed saltine crackers (we used 1 gallon zip-lock bag for 1 sleeve of saltines to cook 4 fillets)

- Fry fish with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in medium high skillet til medium brown on both sides. Sprinkle with more Rosemary.

Serve with a half lemon on the side of your plate for personal flavor. A side salad and some crusty bread would make this complete. We were distracted by watching the new series on the History Channel called THE BIBLE, so the latter items weren't included.

Spot gives this no paws cuz she runs when things sizzle. My "boys" love it!!

7 Layer Salad

The only reason I haven't posted a new recipe for several weeks is because we got hooked on the Beer Cheese Soup and have made it 3 times in as many weeks.

This salad is a recipe I got from a dear friend when my girl was little. I thought it was just magical then and we all love it. Perfect to serve on a hot summer day as a side dish with your BBQ. You need to plan ahead by one day, as it needs 24 hours to chill before serving. It will keep 3 days - if it lasts that long. This is also a good dish to share at a potluck.

Layer in order from bottom to top:
1 head of iceberg lettuce, ripped in bite-size pieces
1 frozen bag of sweet peas, cooked and drained
1 bunch green onions, diced
1 1/c cups carrots, diced
1 cup celery, diced
Several hard-boiled eggs, sliced in disks

Finish by frosting the entire salad with Hellman's Real Mayo (about 2 cups). If you are a bacon-eater, sprinkle some bacon over the top. Complete with extra sharp shredded cheddar cheese.

Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours). Can't wait til tomorrow night when we eat it!

Spot gave this 3 paws because she got to feast on some of the leftover hardboiled egg whites.

Beer Cheese Soup

Yesterday, I had my very first Beer Cheese Soup at a local eatery (I'm a late bloomer... just started watching Seinfeld, too). It was sooooo good I asked for more "to go" so that I could share this yum with "my boys" at home. It was so good I stubbornly decided to try and make it today in honor of our 90 degree weather. After spending time online looking for a recipe to base my experiment on, I found the perfect beginning. My audience tonight: 4 boys (3 teens plus hubby). Results: Victory!! (Why do I keep learning to make things so good at home we do not have a reason to go out?) :)

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cup white onion
3/4 cup celery
1 cup carrots
3 bottles pale ale beer (minus 1 sip)
7 cups hearty chicken stock (I used 1 Knorr Chicken Stock gel cube + 2 cups water and 1 carton chicken stock)
3 TBSP Dry Mustard
2+ TBSP Kosher salt (or more to taste)
8+ cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup butter
2 cups flour
2 pounds sharp cheddar cheese + 1 cup
1+ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1-2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

Using a food processor, puree onion, celery, garlic and carrots in separate batches. Place all of these guys in a large stock pot and saute over medium-low heat with extra virgin olive oil. Slowly whisk in flour, then butter and fully cook. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock(s) and beers. Bring to a boil. Over medium heat add the cheeses and mix until smooth. Then add the cream, mustard and salt, combine well and heat through on a lower temperature. If not zippy enough, just add a dash more kosher salt.

In all the excitement, we forgot to top off with croutons. This would be great with a green leafy salad and bruschetta, but c'mon, it's our first try...

This makes a ton of soup! All the boys had seconds or thirds. I am glad for all the leftovers we will enjoy this week. If I was having a large group over, this would serve everyone a cup along with a brat and salad.

Start-to-finish time when I could sit down and crochet, about an hour. So, for an easy prep I've made something yummy good for several days. Not bad for a first try. :)

Spot was too busy enjoying another bone from last night's feast to care about this delight. Sometimes, Spot is just plain wrong.