Moving over

I am moving my cooking posts over to my other blog. It will be easier for me to monitor just one and I think it will make it more fun for us all! It will still feature food and also my family and traveling adventures. Please come on over.
http://tryingforbabys.wordpress.com/

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Pita bread is so easy to make, I am ashamed at myself for not making it more often. With all the staples most likely in your pantry, why spend money at the store when you can make it yourself? I used this recipe from Epicurious. While baking, I put the first four directly on the oven rack as suggested in the recipe but I put the second four on a baking sheet that I preheated in the oven for about 10 minutes. I didn't want rack marks on the bread. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out great. Be sure to eat one while they are warm!

Ingredients

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1 teaspoon honey

1 1/4 cups warm water 

2 cups bread flour or high-gluten flour, plus additional for kneading

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Cornmeal for sprinkling baking sheets

DIrections

Stir together yeast, honey, and 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

While yeast mixture stands, stir together flours in another bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup flour mixture into yeast mixture until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Stir in oil, salt, remaining 3/4 cup warm water, and remaining 2 1/2 cups flour mixture until a dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, working in just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough and cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Flatten 1 ball, then roll out into a 6 1/2- to 7-inch round on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Transfer round to 1 of 2 baking sheets lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Make 7 more rounds in same manner, arranging them on baking sheets. Loosely cover pitas with 2 clean kitchen towels (not terry cloth) and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Set oven rack in lower third of oven and remove other racks. Preheat oven to 500°F.

Transfer 4 pitas, 1 at a time, directly onto oven rack. Bake until just puffed and pale golden, about 2 minutes. Turn over with tongs and bake 1 minute more. Cool pitas on a cooling rack 2 minutes, then stack and wrap loosely in a kitchen towel to keep pitas warm. Bake remaining 4 pitas in same manner. Serve warm.

Roasted Chickpeas

I have been meaning to make these for a long time and I am sorry to say I now that I have, I was very disappointed. I had it in my head that these would resemble corn nuts, crispy, crunchy and delicious. Crispy and crunchy they are, delicious they are not, they were gritty and dry. I used this  recipe and this recipe and if you notice they differ on the cooking temps. So I decided to start with the higher temperature but then I turned it down to 400 degrees. Maybe they would be better cooked at a lower temp for a longer time or at a higher temp for a shorter time. I don't know but I don't think I will make these again so if anyone finds another way to cook them and like them, then please share.

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

I love Sriracha, who doesn't? I also love deviled eggs so when I came across a recipe I was thrilled to try it out and it doesn't disappoint.

Ingredients

7 hard boiled eggs
2 T mayo or light mayo
1 T  fat-free Greek Yogurt 
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1-2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
Sprinkle of Cayenne pepper ( Paprika if you don't like the extra spice)


Directions


Cut the eggs in half and  carefully remove the yolk from half.  Put yolks in a small bowl and arrange the 12 best white egg halves on a tray.  Mash yolks thoroughly with a fork, then mix in the mayo, Greek yogurt,  mustard, Sriracha, vinegar and salt.  Taste to see if you want more Sriracha.

You can use a piping bag or a couple of spoons (whatever suits you) to fill the egg white halves. Sprinkle with cayenne! ( or paprika )

Thai Chicken Pizza

This pizza is always a favorite of mine when I go to California Pizza Kitchen. Turns out, it's  just as good at home. This last time I made this I used whole wheat pizza dough and I found that it is much better with the regular dough.  Make sure you don't overdue it on the sauce as it tends to overpower the pizza and can make the dough a bit soggy ( which will be even worse if you use ww dough.) Use a pizza stone if you have one, that is next on my shopping list! Enjoy.


Ingredients for Sauce


1/2 cup peanut butter 
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha (or hot chili sauce)
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 cup boiling water


Ingredients for Pizza


1 1/2 cup cooked chicken cut into pieces
1/4 cup red pepper diced
1/4 cup carrots shredded
1/4 cup mung beans
1/4 cup green onions chopped
cilantro
limes
8 oz. Monterey Jack or Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
pre made pizza dough

Directions


Preheat oven to 500 F.


Whisk all the sauce ingredients except for the water together in a bowl. Once combined, put the sauce in a saucepan and heat through. Add a little water until the sauce is a consistency you want. 
Divide the sauce in half and add chicken to one of the sauces. 
Roll out pizza dough. Spread some sauce over dough then add chicken, cheese and veggies. Leave off cilantro and limes until pizza is cooked.
Bake 10 -15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown, adding peanuts the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
Squeeze lime over pizza and garnish with cilantro. 

Granola Bars with Olive Oil

It has been a while since I have cooked, I mean really cooked. The first thing that I needed to do before I started up again was give my pantry a much needed overhaul. Throughout the process I realized I had a lot of odds and ends that needed to be used up pronto. I had rolled oats, some unsweetened coconut, a few raisins and some sliced almonds. This is when I decided on making granola bars. I've never attempted granola bars before but I remembered how much I liked the olive oil granola I made a while back. With that I scoured the Internet for a good base line recipe. I ended up using this  Barefoot Contessa recipe and made my own changes. I substituted olive oil for butter, used a bit more honey and a little less sugar and added some cinnamon. The only dried fruit I had on hand were raisins and I toyed with the idea of throwing some dark chocolate chips in for good measure but decided against it at the last minute. The final result was a very good, crunchy granola bar. It would be very easy to adapt this recipe to fit your own wants and needs, I say give it a try!

Ingredients

• 2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup rasins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a  8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a cookie sheet nd bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the olive oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the raisins and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

* Recipe adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa

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Labor Pains

I have been MIA but I promise it was for good reason. After a long time trying to conceive a little Snyder we were successful with our first IVF attempt. It wasn't the easiest pregnancy or delivery, see here if you want the juicy details. But I am back with a beautiful baby girl and she is getting ready to start solids. I am so excited to start trying out baby food recipes that will exercise my baby girl's palate. She is in training to be a foodie like her momma. I will throw in some "adult' recipes as well, a girl can't live on chicken and salads forever. I am getting the  hang of being a stay at home mom and trying to get back into some of my old routines but with a mini-me well I should say mini-husband by my side! I guess it's time to start cooking.