Pizza Salad

PIZZA SALAD
Rainbow spiral pasta
Olives, sliced
Marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
Green onions, chopped
Broccoli, chopped
Celery, diced
Tomatoes, diced
Pepperoni slices, cut into 1/4

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Place under cool water to stop the pasta from cooking. Drain and put into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients. Add Italian Dressing (preferable Bernstein's Restaurant Recipe Italian Dressing).

Maleficent

Audrey and I went with Kathy Cutler to see Disney's Maleficent at the Wandermere Theatre. What a great story line! Who knew Maleficent was a good person until she was betrayed and went seeking revenge. A great twist on the classic story. We all enjoyed it immensely. Afterward we headed to Applebee's for some lunch.

Pizza Casserole

PEPPERONI PIZZA CASSEROLE
12 ounces pasta
1/2 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
3 cups (24 oz) pizza sauce or marinara sauce
1/2 cup sliced black olives
4 ounces pepperoni
8 ounces ricotta
2 cups mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon oregano (optional)

Cook the pasta according to package directions, but stop 3 minutes early. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the sausage in a large saucepan over medium heat, about 10 minutes. Add the sauce and 3/4's of the olives and pepperoni and set aside.

Mix the ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan and set aside.

Place half of the pasta in the bottom of a large baking dish, top with half of the sauce, followed by half of the cheese mixture. Repeat with another layer o each. Top with remaining olives, pepperoni and oregano.

Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese ahs melted and started to turn brown, about 10 minutes.

Artisan Bread Class

I signed up for another cooking class at The Kitchen Engine. This one was an Introduction to Yeast Breads. "Learn the basics about bread starters and the standard process of making great yeast breads. Test your new skills while kneading and shaping classic baguettes and dinner rolls." The class size was again limited to only 10 people so we could mix the dough, and then knead and shape our own bread. I was a little heavy-handed with the flour, so my bread ended up a little tough - definitely something I need to work on. Another thing was when I shaped my bread and rolls they seemed more defined than when they had time to rise, especially my poor little roll (pictured below). It was a very interesting class and I certainly learned a lot!

STANDARD BAGUETTE RECIPE
makes one 12oz baguette

Sponge:
6 oz (approximately 1.5 cups) Bread flour
4 oz (1/2 cup) lukewarm water
1 tsp Dry Instant Yeast

Final Dough
4 oz (approximately 1 cup) Bread Flour
2 tsp Kosher salt - don't use table salt, too concentrated

Procedure
Mix together yeast and water to bloom yeast. Add liquid to flour and combine. Let sponge set, covered, in a warm place for 1-12 hours. (The longer it sets, the better flavor you'll end up with). Then start to incorporate remaining flour and salt into the dough. Once all is incorporated, or you have reached desired texture, knead dough until the window-pane stage. (10 minutes or so.. pull of dough - look thru it). Once dough is relaxed and passes the window-pane test, let set in a warm area, in a clean, covered bowl, for an hour or until doubled in size. Remove the dough from bowl and shape into desired loaves. Place loaves on the pan you will be baking them on, lightly spray with pan spray, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to bench rest for an hour or until doubled (or use one of the alternative proofing techniques discussed in class). Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove cover, slash the bread according to classic style, or your own preference, and place in the oven. Spray heavily with water (spray bottle) to create steam and a moist surface on top of the bread. (Creates the crust - more water, thicker crust. Chewy crust, not much water). Let bake for 25-30 minutes.

Some of my notes from the class.

• Sugar = good. Salt = kills yeast. Why you put it at the end of the recipe.
• The Bread Bible - good book
• Check on yeast - when start bubbling - good

Enjoyable Saturday

Audrey and I went to the Valley Mall to see Dragon 2. It was a cute second edition to the series. Hiccup and Toothless chart un-mapped territories and discover a secret ice cave, home to the Dragon Rider. There was a sad part of the movie - why I need to bring tissues even to cartoons!

This weekend was the Stake Youth Conference and they had the youth go into "missions". On Friday they started by finding out about their area and eating food from that region or country. On Saturday they went on actual splits with the missionaries assigned to our area. And then in the evening, a family would feed them dinner. That's where we came in. We drove out to the stake center, brought the two young men to our home, fed them dinner, let them teach us a short lesson, and then we drove them back to the stake center for the remainder of their conference.  We served them spaghetti, veggies, olive cheese bread and blueberry parfaits.

OLIVE CHEESE BREAD
1 loaf French bread
6 ounces Pimiento-stuffed green olives
6 ounces black olives
2 stalks green onions
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 pounds Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

Roughly chop both black olives and pimiento-stuffed green olives. Slice green onions into thin pieces. Combine butter, mayonnaise, cheese, olives and green onions in a mixing bowl. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture onto French bread that has been sliced lengthwise. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning. Mixture can also be refrigerated (up to two days) and used as a dip with crackers.

Note: This was tasty. Made a lot! I would half the recipe. Plus, the French bread was really hard to cut once it was cooked (crunchy), plus cutting around the hot cheese. So perhaps putting this on sliced French bread rolls on a cookie sheet would be an easier way to bake and serve.

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE JARS
serves 6
For the graham cracker crust layer:
1 heaping cup of graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
Combine all ingredients and "tamp" about 3 tablespoons into each jar or cup.
For the cheesecake layer:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest
Place all of the cheesecake ingredients in the bowl and with a hand mixer, whip until smooth and fluffy. Divide evenly among the 6 containers, placing on top of the graham cracker crust layer.
For the blueberry layer:
1 (20oz) can blueberry pie filling
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
Mix fruit filling with extract and divide evenly among the 6 containers.

Nap with Winnie the Pooh

Disneyland Loaded Baked Potato Soup

DISNEYLAND LOADED BAKED POTATO SOUP
1 pound bacon, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup diced celery
4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 medium red potatoes, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups heavy whipping cream
Garnishes: chopped chives, bacon bits, sour cream, shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.

In a 6-8 quart stockpot over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels (reserve half for garnish). In the bacon fat, cook onions, carrots, and celery until the onions are translucent. Add potatoes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk in flour and stir constantly over low heat until the flour is cooked and the mixture has thickened slightly, about 5-7 minutes. Add stock and half of the bacon. Season with salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Mash some of the potatoes for thicker, creamier texture. Add whipping cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust thickness by adding additional stock. Soup should be creamy. Serve with toppings.

Later today Audrey and I went to the Millwood Farmer's Market and picked up some jam and scones, from the Scone Ranger. Mine is pictured above - an Almond Joy chocolate scone. The scones are "soft" rather than dry like many scones are.

Cooking Class: Macaron

The French macaron is a sweet meringue-based confection filled with ganache, buttercream or jam and is between two cookies. I've wanted to try making these for awhile, so when I saw that they were having a French Macaron class at the Kitchen Engine - I signed up. Really enjoyed the hands-on class taught by Amy Juran. The class tops out at 10 people so that we could actually make macarons from start to finish (mixing the batter, shaping the cookies). Because there is a period where the macarons set before baking, Amy did have some made up so we could continue to the step of putting the fillings in. She had Italian buttercream, chocolate ganache, assorted jams and a jalapeno/cream cheese filling paired with apricot jelly. Though I enjoyed the various sweet fillings, it was a fun change to have the savory (Jalapeno/cream cheese) with the apricot jelly and the sweet cookie.

MACARONS
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup superfine sugar

Step 1: Pulse confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times.

Step 2: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. **Add coloring here if only doing one batch** Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. **Put into another bowl - add color then flour mixture if doing more than 1 color/batch**. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny. **I read that you can run granulated sugar through your food processor a few times to make superfine sugar.** A note about coloring - use gel type coloring like you get in the decorating section of the craft store. Also, if you are wanting a super bright result, use "Electric" colors. One of the demo colors was lilac, but it turned out looking like a milk chocolate on the outside (until you took a bite). It was decided that using more true colors (like purple instead of lilac) would get sharper results.

Step 3: Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip (Wilton #12) and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour (until skin forms on the surface of cookies). Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.

Step 4: Let macarons cool completely before removing from sheets.

Step 5: Sandwich 2 same-size macarons with 1 teaspoon filling. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Filling ideas:

• Classic icing
• Italian butter cream icing - meringue, sugar, infuse with flavored emulsion (not extract) such as lemon or raspberry
• Chocolate ganache - equal parts dark chocolate morsels and heavy cream
• Fruit jams
• Nutella
• Peanut Butter
• Lemon curd
• Cream cheese with flavors added (like raspberries)
• Jalapeno Cream cheese (from dairy section) with a teaspoon of apricot jelly
• Artichoke spinach dip
• Salmon spread

Father's Day Celebrations

For Father's Day we celebrated all weekend! Saturday we went downtown to the AMC theaters to see Edge of Tomorrow. It starred Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise. Cruise played a military officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is dropped into an alien war. Killed within minutes, he finds himself in a time loop, forcing him to live out the same combat over and over. With each battle he increases his skill and begins to work alongside the Emily Blunt, a Special Forces warrior. The movie had lots of action, suspense and even some funny moments.

Afterward we headed back to where we parked, but stopped to check out the recently renovated Huntington Park. The park features viewpoints where you can see the lower Spokane Falls below the new City Hall Plaza. Signs tell you about the hydroelectric history of the region.

Next up was lunch (or breakfast) at Old European restaurant. Audrey got the crepes filled with sweet cream, I got potato pancakes served with applesauce and John ordered a club sandwich.

Because John had meetings on Sunday, we decided to do the present opening on Saturday. Sidney Kitty even decided to help. John got 2 new dress shirts and a couple of blu-rays, including the Oceans Trilogy. The bag labeled "Dad's secret stache" was full of candy bars that Audrey had bought for John.

Sunday: John asked me to make Chicken Enchiladas for dinner. This is an oldie-but-goodie recipe that I had not made in awhile. Then the Cleaver's had us over for homemade ice cream that evening. Alyx made a cinnamon crunch ice cream (with rice krispies) and a raspberry sorbet. *I'll update the post if I get the recipes from her :)

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
Grated cheddar cheese
2 cans (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 onion, chopped
1 can (7 oz) diced green chilies
1 pkg flour tortillas
1 can olives, sliced

Brown chicken, onions and chilies in a pan. Add soup, sour cream and cheese to mixture. In a greased 9x13 pan fill flour tortillas with sop/chicken mixture. Roll and fill entire pan, with seam down. Pour remaining soup/chicken mixture over top. Cover with cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until well heated.

Scout Event Here

John oversees the scouts ages 14-15 in our ward. There is a mandatory cooking badge now required to get your Eagle Scout, so one of the scouts made dinner for the troop as part of this merit badge. They came over to our house. Hudson Simmons made Tin Foil Packets. Potatoes O'Brien, frozen carrots, frozen corn, diced white onions, butter and a little Montreal Steak seasoning.

We made some rhubarb punch. Does not look good, but it is delicious. In fact, the boys were clamoring for more and there was no more to even mix up... there is a little prep work involved. Our favorite activity when we serve this punch is to make those drinking guess what the ingredients are. No one ever guesses rhubarb, so even those rhubarb haters should like this punch.

RHUBARB PUNCH
3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup apple juice
1 can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 liters lemon-lime soda

In a saucepan, combine rhubarb, water and sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until rhubarb is tender. Cool for about 30 minutes. In a food processor or blender, puree mixture, half at a time. Stir in apple juice and lemonade. Pour into a freezer container, cover and freeze until firm. Let stand at room temperature for 45 minutes before serving. For individual servings, scoop 1/3 cup into a glass and fill with soda. To serve a group, place all of mixture in a large pitcher or punch bowl; add soda and stir well. Serve immediately. Yield: about 10 servings.

Chicken Penne Alfredo

CHICKEN PENNE ALFREDO
1 and 1/2 cup dry penne pasta
2 cups baby carrots
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups chopped, fully-cooked chicken
8 ounce chive or garden vegetable flavored cream cheese spread
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a large pot, cook pasta and carrots in salted water according to pasta package directions. When 6 minutes of pasta cooking time remain, add broccoli florets to the pot. Drain pasta and vegetables; return to the pot.

While the pasta and vegetables cook, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked through.

Stir cream cheese, milk, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and cooked chicken into the pasta mixture. Stir over low heat until the cream cheese is melted. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese if desired.