Pizza Night!

Our friends, the F's are from New Mexico.  The first night they had us over for pizza night, they put New Mexico green chile's on the pizza.  Oh the delight!  My mouth caught fire and my nose ran but there was only one thing I could say "more!"  We later learned that the green chile's were a test - if we could handle them, they would keep us.  Thank you F fam for introducing us to the New Mexico green chile! 

We recently had a repeat of the original pizza night, oh the delight!  I know I already said that but it was delightful, repeat was therefore, necessary.

To start, there was some good stuff on hand....strawberries for the salad, home-made pesto and (of course!) beer!  We are all Racer 5 fans, super good IPA and great addition to pizza!

Mr. F started us with a tasty appetizer which I believe he made up on the fly....

Figs Wrapped in Prosciutto with Goat Cheese (YUM!)......

While Mr. F worked out the app's, Dr. F threw together this fabulous salad....

What could make this salad better?

Avocado of course!

While I strolled around the kitchen taking photos, I couldn't pass up a shot of these pretty heirloom tomatoes on a fancy plate.....

....or this watermelon!

....and, I'll take another appetizer please, thank you...

(this is actually The Cyclist's hand, not mine!)

OK, to Pizza!

Moving on with a theme, one pizza will have prosciutto, figs and goat cheese...

Mr. F started preparing the dough....

Meanwhile, Dr. F started caramelizing onions....

....and more work with the dough....

.....now we start Pizza #1 - pesto, squash & mushroom....

....into the oven she goes.....

....note the fancy wooden pizza pan made by Mr. F! 

Beautiful woodwork as usual.

And check out the finished product.....

Oh, my yummyness!  I love when the cheese gets a little brown like that!

Now on to Pizza #2 - sausage, mushroom, New Mexico Green Chile and caramelized onions!

The Cyclist started cooking the sausage....

Someone chopped some mushrooms.......

....and Mr. F started getting those New Mexico green chile's ready....

Note: from here my "picture story" is not as detailed because while Mr. F continued to prepare pizza's, the rest of us went to eat!

The finished product of Pizza #2...

....and finished product of Pizza #3 - figs, prosciutto & goat cheese....

Yum!  Cheese!  Yum!

I don't know which one was my favorite, they were all so different and all so good.  The spiciness of those New Mexico Chile's might beat all though. 

I should mention that while all of this was going on we were also having a dough contest.  I can't remember which dough was on which pizza, but, one dough was purchased from our local Italian grocer, Corti Brothers and the other was purchased from a really good local pizza spot One Speed.  Both were good, but the Corti Brother's dough won.  It had a nice chewiness to it.  I don't know the exact brand, so I'll have to find out and report back later.

Of course, with all of that pizza and beer we absolutely had room for dessert!

Enter Snickerdoodles!

As prepared by me and The Cyclist, recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook....

(dough balls)

And....Viola!

I used to always have a problem with these guys coming out flat, but it appears the new Kitchen Aid mixer has solved this problem.  These were (for the first time) nice and fluffy!

Thank you F's for another great Pizza Night!



Recipe Find - Pan Seared Cod Over Vegetable Ragout

The Cyclist and I are trying to add more fish to our diet.  I am not an experienced fish chef, but I do OK with cod.  (At some point I will share my fish taco recipe.) So, I went in search of a cod recipe that looked healthy and easy.  Key word being "easy".  I know better than to try and get crazy in the kitchen when the ultimate goal is to make dinner after work.  This behavior only results in late night meals that aren't that great.  "Easy" as defined by me = not a ton of ingredients, nothing I can't buy in a regular grocery and no cooking words that I do not understand.

Anyway, in looking for my healthy and easy cod recipe I went straight to Cooking Light.  This is one of my favorite places to find recipes, I have yet to be steered wrong.  My search found:

Pan-Seared Cod Over Vegetable Ragout

Ta-Da!

This recipe was really, really good, like seriously good.  The Cyclist did most of the prep work, which was super helpful.  I don't know what the deal is with prep-time on recipes (this one did not list any), but it always takes me way longer than it says.  Part of the issue are my crappy knife skills and continued attempts at not cutting my finger off, but...I swear, some of those recipe prep-times are just silly!

OK, moving on. 

So, with the Cyclist's help, we put this dish together (together!).  Here is our version:

and an up-close:

It was very, very good and not totally difficult to make.  More importantly, our 7 year old nephew (DD), who can be a bit of a Mr. Picky McPickerson devoured his entire plate and declared that I should make this for him every time he comes over.  The Munchkin slapped his plate up too, as did the Cyclist and I.  There was nothing left, anywhere.

I give this recipe 5 stars for being super good, easy (as defined by me) and healthy!  It also gets an honorable mention for being a fish and veggie dish that kids love. 

Coming soon: Pizza Night! And Ginger People Eats (I'm really excited about this one!)