quick meal

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

April 4, 2011 by Rebecca 5 Comments

There are a lot of things I’m good at in my kitchen. Making hot breakfasts for seven people (or more if we or the boys have overnight guests) before a whole pot of seriously caffeine fortified tea isn’t one of them. I’m just not enough of a breakfast person to warrant the effort most times. Still, though, I feel like it’s important for my kids to have the option. The slow-cooker does the work most nights while I sleep and dream of Victorian-era nannies and housekeepers showing up on my doorstep saying they thought my children were so wonderful they wanted to work for us for free and could they start right away… Many mornings the unnaturally large-capacity bellies of my skinny children are filled with overnight-ed oatmeal, jook, bread pudding or somesuch. But there are also many corn flake and raisin bran mornings when I forgot to set up the slow-cooker before going to bed; More than I’d care to admit.

While flipping through the archives of a friend’s site, I happened upon her recipe for Breakfast Sandwiches. Brilliant! The concept was smack-your-head-on-the-table simple. Make and assemble all the components for breakfast sandwiches (similar, at first glance, to those available from The Golden Arches, but much better for you and mu-uh-UH-ch better tasting) then let them cool completely.

Wrap and freeze. Then BANG! Just reheat those beautiful, substantial lovelies in the microwave of eeeee-vil.*

*A prize to the first person to identify that quote. What kind of prize? I have no idea. I’ll work on that idea. Any suggestions?

Here’s the point. They play to my strong suit. Namely, cooking in the afternoon. I can whip up a dozen or more of these, have them wrapped, bagged, and frozen while the kids watch an episode of Phineas and Ferb. Stashed in the freezer, they are a serious solution to the breakfast dilemma. Whether you’re just low on time in the morning rushing to get everyone out the door or you want variety available, these Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches are the answer to your problem.

Scale this recipe up or down as you like, just keep in mind the one English muffin + one egg + one quarter-cup of cheese ratio; Keep in mind, though, that since you’re already heating up the oven, skillet and toaster, you might as well make as many as you can reasonably eat in a month. Around here, that’s quite a few…

3.0 from 1 reviews

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

Author: Rebecca Lindamood (Adapted from Katie Lee)

Recipe type: Breakfast, Snack

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 12

These hearty breakfast sandwiches are cooked, assembled and frozen ahead of time. They reheat easily in the microwave, making them the ideal solution for the morning rush or substantial after school snacks.

Ingredients

12 eggs
12 English muffins
12 breakfast sausage patties
3 cups of shredded cheese or 12 slices cheese(Colby Jack, Cheddar, or Pepper Jack)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
a pinch of dried mustard powder
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional for serving: arugula and hot sauce

Instructions

Toast English muffins and set aside.
Cook sausage patties completely, until nicely browned. Transfer cooked patties to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Crack all the eggs into a large bowl, whisk until evenly yellow. Whisk in dried mustard, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin or 12 ramekins generously with nonstick cooking spray or grease well with butter. Divide the beaten eggs evenly between the 12 cups. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the eggs are set up and mostly cooked through.
Remove from the oven and top each muffin or ramekin cup with about ¼ cup (or 1 slice) of cheese. Return to the oven just until the cheese is melted.
When cheese is melted, remove the pans from the oven and let cool before carefully removing each egg and cheese round.
Assemble each sandwich as follows: Base of the English muffin + one sausage patty + one egg and cheese round + top of English muffin.
When they are completely cool, wrap each sandwich individually with plastic wrap and put the wrapped sandwiches into a resealable zip-top bag. Store in the freezer for up to one month.
To reheat: Remove plastic wrap, wrap sandwich in a paper towel and microwave on HIGH for 1½ minutes, checking at 30 second intervals.

Notes

After reheating, I like to carefully separate the sandwich between the egg and sausage and stuff it with a healthy fistful of arugula and a squeeze or two of hot sauce before re-assembling and stuffing into my face.

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Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: Breakfast, budget friendly, family-friendly, kid friendly, quick and easy, quick meal

Hot TexMess

March 23, 2011 by Rebecca 8 Comments

We had ten inches of snow last night. On the twenty second-slash-twenty third of March. I vacillated between bitter and grateful. Bitter because it’s MARCH TWENTY THIRD and I have ten inches of snow when yesterday there was green and chirping and peeping and warm breezes and sunshine. I opted to park myself on grateful because I had another opportunity to pull out all the stops on comfort food. Since I’m a realistic optimist, I took advantage of the cold day to bake up a storm. By the time the baking was all done, I was done*. And while cookies and cakes and clafoutis make really delightful desserts and snacks, they do not a dinner comprise.

*As in stick a fork in me dun done.

While four hungry children milled around me asking what was for dinner (and one sneaky child snitched at cookies on cooling racks) I searched the dusty rooms of my brain for what I could turn out that would be satisfying, quick, crowd-pleasing and delicious enough to prevent me from resenting the food on tonight’s season finale of Top Chef All-Stars.*

*Have you ever tried watching that show (or another like it) after a dinner of tater tots and boiled hot dogs? I don’t recommend it unless you’re a much more even-keeled, much less sensitive person than I am.

This dish was inspired when I stumbled onto one recipe for chilaquiles (tortillas simmered in a spicy tomato sauce) and then onto one for huevos rancheros. Hot dang and pass the plate! Where had these two dishes been all my life? The short answer is that they were, with a few exceptions, in Texas, New Mexico, Southern California. Since I’ve spent my life in Michigan, Kentucky, New York and France, it was no wonder my experience with them was limited. Yes, I’d had the huevos rancheros before, but chilaquiles were new to me. And since I didn’t know any better, I combined the two recipes and performed my own ignorant alchemy on them.

Because what I did resulted in gold. Ugly gold, but certifiable 24-karat food gold. I was struggling for what to call the dish because I think we’ll all agree that “Chilaquiles Plus Huevos Rancheros and a Few Extra Things that Don’t Really Belong” is somewhat unwieldy. I consulted a friend with much more experience in this than me. She said, “Call it whatever you want. It’s really not either dish.” Or something to that effect, but very loving. Also interesting? She told me that both of those dishes are considered hangover food. This brings me to another point…

The plate just looked like a big hot mess to me. Let’s be frank. It’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever turned out of my kitchen, but whooooeee. Just like Nick Tahoe’s Garbage Plates, it was worth forgetting its lack of the pretty. And if you’ve ever stumbled across the Nick Tahoe’s threshold on a late night college tour of Rochester, you know how satisfying an ugly, ugly dish can be.

Because I was feeling silly and full of myself and I have a serious penchant for word play, I decided to call it a big Hot TexMess. It is what it is. And what it is is delicious. This is my hideous and wonderful creation. I think Nick Tahoe probably felt the same way. Look past the ugly duckling exterior and whip up a big old batch of this for yourself tonight. I promise you will be happy you did.

Hot TexMess

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Yield: Serves four very generously or six with bird-like appetites

Ingredients:

4 cups smoky chipotle and tomatillo salsa (I used homemade salsa, use whatever is your favorite type.)
2-3 cups leftover pulled pork or chicken
12 corn tortillas, stacked and cut into 1-1/2 inch squares
Neutral Oil (such as canola, vegetable) or peanut for frying
2 cups refried beans, heated
4 eggs (or six if you’re serving small portions), fried in butter
1 cup crumbled cojita or feta cheese (You can substitute grated Monterey Jack if desired or necessary.)
1 ripe avocado, halved, scooped from the shell and sliced
1/2 of a sweet onion, peeled and finely diced
sour cream or Greek yogurt (How about you make your own?)
candied jalapenos, preferably (If you haven’t made them yet, this is the time!) or jarred jalapenos
chopped fresh cilantro
lime wedges
Optional: hot white rice

Heat 2-inches of oil to 350°F in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat. If you don’t have a deep-frying thermometer, you can tell the oil has reached the proper temperature when it looks streaky in the pan and a piece of tortilla dropped into it forms many bubbles around the edges immediately. Fry the corn tortillas in batches, stirring frequently, until golden brown and crisp. This should take between 3 and 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chips to a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, stir together the pulled pork (or chicken) and the salsa and bring to a simmer. When it reaches a simmer, gently toss in the fried tortillas. Allow to simmer for about 2-3 minutes, or just until the tortillas begin to soften a little. Remove from the heat.

Lay out four (or six) serving plates. If you’re using the rice, mound a scoop of rice into the center and press down in the middle to make a well. Divide the refried beans between the plates and then divide the simmered tortillas and meat between the plates. Top each serving with a fried egg, cheese, onion, chopped cilantro, sour cream, and finally the avocado slices. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over the top. Dig. In.

4.0 from 1 reviews

Hot TexMess

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: Main, Breakfast, Dinner

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4

Huevos Rancheros crossed with Chilaquiles (salsa simmered corn tortillas) topped with avocados, sour cream, candied jalapenos, cheese and more! Gluten free to boot!

Ingredients

4 cups smoky chipotle and tomatillo salsa (I used homemade salsa, use whatever is your favorite type.)
2-3 cups leftover pulled pork or chicken
12 corn tortillas, stacked and cut into 1-1/2 inch squares
Neutral Oil (such as canola, vegetable) or peanut for frying
2 cups refried beans, heated
4 eggs (or six if you’re serving small portions), fried in butter
1 cup crumbled cojita or feta cheese (You can substitute grated Monterey Jack if desired or necessary.)
1 ripe avocado, halved, scooped from the shell and sliced
½ of a sweet onion, peeled and finely diced
sour cream or Greek yogurt (How about you make your own?)
candied jalapenos, preferably (If you haven’t made them yet, this is the time!) or jarred jalapenos
chopped fresh cilantro
lime wedges
Optional: hot white rice

Instructions

Heat 2-inches of oil to 350°F in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat. If you don’t have a deep-frying thermometer, you can tell the oil has reached the proper temperature when it looks streaky in the pan and a piece of tortilla dropped into it forms many bubbles around the edges immediately. Fry the corn tortillas in batches, stirring frequently, until golden brown and crisp. This should take between 3 and 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chips to a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle lightly with salt and set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat, stir together the pulled pork (or chicken) and the salsa and bring to a simmer. When it reaches a simmer, gently toss in the fried tortillas. Allow to simmer for about 2-3 minutes, or just until the tortillas begin to soften a little. Remove from the heat.
Lay out four (or six) serving plates. If you’re using the rice, mound a scoop of rice into the center and press down in the middle to make a well. Divide the refried beans between the plates and then divide the simmered tortillas and meat between the plates. Top each serving with a fried egg, cheese, onion, chopped cilantro, sour cream, and finally the avocado slices. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over the top. Dig. In.

Notes

If you have bird-like appetites, this serves six.

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Filed Under: Eggs, Getting Creative With Leftovers, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, Frugal Food, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, quick meal

Spicy Sweet and Sour Tofu

March 21, 2011 by Rebecca 4 Comments

From a smarty-pants, web-savvy point of view, I ‘m doing this strangely. I should be posting this later this week so you can think of it for Friday (say for instance, if you’re observing Lent) and I should not mention that I know that… But I was lucky enough to see some pretty spectacular thunderstorms -mighty unusual for this area at this time of year- at about 5 a.m. For those of you to whom I am not married and of whom I did not give birth, that is roughly WAY TOO EARLY for me. Thus, I cannot be held responsible for messing up the order of what I’m posting. Rest assured, I have some seriously meaty, luxurious, not-at-all-Lent friendly dishes that will be posted later this week.

Tofu.

Right.

Tofu and I made a little peace many moons ago when I spent a few teen and young adult years as a vegetarian. A little peace, I say, because while I liked it alright, I never craved it. It was just kind of boring.

In retrospect, I understand this means it wasn’t cooked the way I liked it, which was nobody’s fault but my own since I was the one cooking it. Live and learn, right? In the past couple years, I’ve tried adding tofu to our family’s diet on a very occasional basis. Very occasional because while my eldest three kids, as a rule, do not complain about food, two of them complain vociferously about tofu. One of them loves it. Add the two youngest finicky eaters to the mix and the perpetual balancing act of motherhood falls flat and gives short shrift to my poor, long-suffering, tofu-loving eleven-year-old. He wasn’t the only one mourning the lack of the bean curd, though. The Evil Genius loves tofu.

I still serve it though, because they may be stubborn, but I invented stubborn. You can’t write off a food as hopeless until you have tried it at least twenty times or more. And I keep trying, because tofu is a wonderfully efficient and economical source of protein for meatless meals. It is simple to prepare and it can be adapted to just about any regional cuisine or style. I feel victory on the horizon! Mainly because I made this dish two weeks ago.

The ones who don’t usually like tofu liked this! The two youngest liked it enough to take three bites each. The rest of them? Ate it! In abundance! They ate it! And they loved it! And I loved it! And the Evil Genius loved it! And I need to step away from the exclamation marks! Now!

The point is this. I never craved a tofu dish before having this one. I liked this so much that the day after making it I announced that I wanted to make it again that night. That might’ve been pushing it a bit. My eldest said, “Let’s not get carried away, Mom. How about we wait ’til next Friday?” From him, that was a ringing endorsement.

What makes this tofu dish different? The triangles are lightly fried in oil until golden brown, that gives a little crisp outer crust to the fluffy inner tofu. The Thai inspired sauce is spectacularly simple and bold; lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, a little heat and a little sweet and a little umami courtesy of fish sauce.

If you have dietary restrictions that contraindicate using fish sauce, you can simply replace it with an equal amount of soy sauce. But if you can, make it with the fish sauce. It gives it that little extra level of flavor that tofu often needs since it is, on its own, quite bland.

While you can substitute white sugar for the raw sugar, I encourage you to try it with the raw sugar first. It adds a rounder flavor and more body to the sauce. Do a little taste test with some raw sugar and white sugar. Do you taste the hint of caramel in the raw sugar? Once you start using this, you’ll be hooked!

P.S. As of Wednesday, one of the two youngest boys asked me how long until they got to try the tofu again. SCORE! (One last exclamation mark. I think you’ll agree it was warranted.)

Spicy Sweet and Sour Tofu

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Ingredients:

14 ounces Extra Firm Tofu
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons raw sugar (Turbinado or Demerara preferably, white sugar can be used in a pinch.)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1-inch piece of ginger, minced or grated on a microplane
zest from one lime
1 tablespoon neutral oil (canola or peanut)
Optional for garnish: Chopped fresh cilantro

Lay the tofu block on its widest side on a cutting board over a towel. Lay two dinner plates on top of the tofu as a weight and let it drain for 10 minutes. Lift the plates, flip the tofu block, replace the plate and let drain for another 10 minutes. Repeat the process once more for each side. Your total draining time should be at or over 40 minutes. This draining makes the tofu hold together better and pop less in the hot oil.

Set the tofu block on the long, narrow side and slice into four thin cards.

Stack the cards and cut lengthwise, then crosswise into four rectangles.

Cut the rectangles diagonally into triangles.

Then make a tofu sculpture. Because you can. Tofu. More fun that you ever knew before…

This should give you 8 triangles per card, for a total of 32 triangles.

Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, lime juice and zest, fish sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Pour the oil into a 12-inch non-stick skillet (or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet) over medium heat. Carefully and quickly arrange the tofu triangles in the hot oil.

The combination of oil and tofu has a tendency to spit, so you need to be cautious. Work quickly, but don’t throw the tofu or it will splash you with hot oil and fall apart despite your best efforts. Fry the tofu, without moving it, for 4-5 minutes, or until it is golden brown on the underside. Use tongs or a spatula to flip all the tofu triangles.

Turn the heat under the pan to high. Whisk the sauce one more time and pour over the hot tofu and pan. The sauce should bubble up and boil almost immediately. Gently toss the tofu to coat well. Continue cooking and tossing until the sauce is syrupy. This will take from 2-4 minutes.

Serve tofu triangles immediately in the syrup. I prefer this over sweet brown rice, but it is also good over Calrose or sushi-type rice. I like it accompanied by stir-fried green vegetables of some sort, but use whatever you enjoy most.

Spicy Sweet and Sour Tofu

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: Main, Vegetarian

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

The Thai and Vietnamese inspired sauce for these crispy, golden brown triangles of tofu is spectacularly simple and bold; lime juice, ginger, garlic, soy sauce. Sweet, heat, umami goodness.

Ingredients

14 ounces Extra Firm Tofu
2½ tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons raw sugar (Turbinado or Demerara preferably, white sugar can be used in a pinch.)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1½ teaspoons fish sauce
½ teaspoons crushed red pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1-inch piece of ginger, minced or grated on a microplane
zest from one lime
1 tablespoon neutral oil (canola or peanut)
Optional: chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Lay the tofu block on its widest side on a cutting board over a towel. Lay two dinner plates on top of the tofu as a weight and let it drain for 10 minutes. Lift the plates, flip the tofu block, replace the plate and let drain for another 10 minutes. Repeat the process once more for each side. Your total draining time should be at or over 40 minutes. This draining makes the tofu hold together better and pop less in the hot oil.
Set the tofu block on the long, narrow side and slice into four narrow cards. Stack the cards and cut lengthwise, then crosswise into four rectangles. Cut the rectangles diagonally into triangles. This should give you 8 triangles per card, for a total of 32 triangles.
Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, lime juice and zest, fish sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
Pour the oil into a 12-inch non-stick skillet (or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet) over medium heat. Carefully and quickly arrange the tofu triangles in the hot oil. The combination of oil and tofu has a tendency to spit, so you need to be cautious. Work quickly, but don’t throw the tofu or it will fall apart despite your best efforts. Fry the tofu, without moving it, for 4-5 minutes, or until it is golden brown on the underside. Use tongs or a spatula to flip all the tofu triangles.
Turn the heat under the pan to high. Whisk the sauce one more time and pour over the hot tofu and pan. The sauce should bubble up and boil almost immediately. Gently toss the tofu to coat well. Continue cooking and tossing until the sauce is syrupy. This will take from 2-4 minutes.
Serve tofu triangles immediately in the syrup. I prefer this over sweet brown rice, but it is also good over Calrose or sushi-type rice. I like it accompanied by stir-fried green vegetables of some sort, but use whatever you enjoy most.

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Filed Under: Getting Creative With Leftovers, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Main Dish, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: budget friendly, Frugal Food, kid friendly, quick and easy, quick meal, Vegetarian

Superbowl Party Food Part III | The Snacks

February 4, 2011 by Rebecca 1 Comment

This post is Part III, The Snacks | The Halftime Show, of my three part Superbowl Party Food roundup. Be sure to check out Part I, The Savoury Team, For great hearty party food options and Part I, The Sweet Team for desserts that range from simple to show-stopping.

You have the meal planned, you have the desserts planned and you’re just looking for a few simple, delicious snacky things to fill in your game-day buffet table? I have you covered. Below are fifteen of my favorite snack recipes to appear here on Foodie With Family.

Candied Jalapenos

You need these in your refrigerator or pantry. The simplest way to serve them is with cream cheese on crackers or tortilla chips, but one of my little sisters ate two-thirds of a jar straight up on tortilla chips while the another little sister used them as a pizza topping. They’re crazy good and crazy addictive. While Candied Jalapenos are at their best after aging, they’re more than just a little delicious when fresh, too. Whip up a batch of these Saturday for your gameday (or lameday) nachos.

15 Ways to Eat Your Popcorn

Garlic Parmesan Popcorn, Basic Kettle Corn, Sweet and Spicy Chipotle Kettle Corn, Bacon Chipotle Kettle Corn, Sweet and Salty Popcorn Trailmix, and Toffee Chocolate Popcorn are just a few of the fifteen ways listed to dress up your popcorn.

Spicy Cocktail Nuts

Spicy, sweet and salty, these cocktail nuts are habit-forming. You can serve (and keep) them warm in a small slow-cooker or serve at room temperature. Either way, be prepared. They’ll disappear quickly. It’s a good thing they’re so easy to make!

Chai Lattes and Hot Caramel Apple Cider

Every party needs beverages, and this post includes two of our family favorites.

Sundried Tomatoes with Cheese and Crackers

I included this in the round-up as much for the serving suggestion in the picture as for the instructions on how to make the Sundried Tomatoes yourself. Grab your nearest sundried tomatoes -be they homemade or purchased- and serve on a platter with thinly sliced cheese and crackers. I love it when great tasting, gorgeous foods are great for you, too.

Homemade Hummus

In my family, if you don’t have hummus, it isn’t officially a party. This great basic hummus recipe can be almost endlessly customized.

Baked Potato Skins

My Dad has told me that his biggest regret in parenting was telling me how much he loved the heels of bread and potato skins. Why does he regret this? Because he had to fight for every bread heel and potato skin he ate after that point. Thank you, Dad. This one’s for you. Well, actually it’s for me. I’m sorry. Was that wrong?

Savoury Rice Pancakes

You can’t go wrong with the crispy exterior and creamy, ever-so-slightly-cheesy interior on these Savoury Rice Pancakes. Serve with hot sauce or salsa. Bonus time! They’re delicious, simple and cheap! Win, win, win! It’s another culinary hat-trick. And again, I’m using the wrong sports metaphor. Oh well. Just make these already.

Pimiento Cheese

Like hummus is to my clan, Pimiento Cheese is to my husband’s good southern family. Smooth and flavorful, Pimiento Cheese is equally distinctive as a dip, sandwich spread or cracker topper. Once you have a jar of this in the refrigerator, the possibilities are endless.

Recession Caviar | Black Eyed Pea Salsa

Stick your thumb in the eye of the economy with a big bowl of this bursting-with-flavor, budget-loving, healthy, satisfying black-eyed pea salsa. Serve with abundant tortilla chips or roll into soft tortillas with pulled pork or chicken. You’ll find yourself going back for more and more and more.

Crusty Garlic Butter Bubble Bread

This is another of the most popular recipes ever posted here at Foodie With Family. Whip up a batch of the dough and keep it for last minute bread cravings. The rolls bake in fragrant garlic butter and end up crispy on the tops and bottoms, but tender all around and inside. Topped with grated Pecorino Romano or not, you want these. You want them badly.

Spanakopita Dip

Serve this Spanakopita inspired Greek yogurt dip in little phyllo shells or with an overflowing tray of vegetable sticks. Full of spinach, garlic, feta and dill, it’s sure to please the Greek food lovers at your party.

Asiago Herb and Garlic Bread

Bread! Cheese! Garlic! It doesn’t get better than that. Oh, wait. Yes, yes it does. It get better because this bread is done in one hour from start to finish. Okay, an hour and a half if you count the time it takes for you to say, “I want bread! I should make some, but it takes so long, ” then sit for twenty five minutes before thinking, “I could try that one hour Asiago Herb and Garlic Bread” and walk into the kitchen. But really? It just takes an hour.

Homemade Tortilla Chips Two Ways

If you want the best tortilla chips you’ve ever had you have to make them at home. Unless you go to a restaurant where they’re putting baskets of freshly fried chips on your table as you scoot your chair in closer, you’ll never beat homemade chips. I like them best with salt and cajun seasoning or Old Bay. The Evil Genius and the Minions prefer them with cinnamon sugar. I’d call them crazy, but I can’t… because the cinnamon sugar ones are so good. Drat them and their crafty ways.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: party food, quick meal

Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate (Hot Chocolate Pudding)

January 28, 2011 by Rebecca 23 Comments

My Mom -known around these parts as Nana- does a lot of things very well. She remembers the name of just about everyone she’s ever met, plays a mean piano and a killer game of chess, makes stupendous lumpia, and always delivers a hug right when you need one (even if you don’t know you need one…)

And Nana isn’t your average, ordinary Nana… To hear her grandkids tell it, she’s a bit magical. She talks to her garden, creek stomps, climbs trees, fixes boo-boos, spins fantastic tales, rides her bike down dirt roads at warp speed wearing a long skirt, engineers popcorn explosions, walks barefooted in the snow, drinks full-caffeine espresso as a nightcap, wrestles like a pro and cuddles better than a dog*.

*That last one comes from my fourth born. Believe you me, from my boy that is a monstrously huge compliment.

Nana also makes the world’s best hot chocolate. Oh, her hot chocolate. Oh, yeah. After a hard day of hopping through snowy fields like rabbits and swinging from icy branches there is nothing quite like Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate to warm you down to your toes. Nana’s hot chocolate is like warm velvet; It’s thick, rich, smooth, and sticks to your lips like pudding. It’s not too sweet. It’s the bees-knees*.

*Incidentally, even the bees are happy at Nana’s house. When they wander in, she gets a clean mason jar and gently returns them to their native habitat.

Nana makes hers thick, but drinkable, very much like the hot chocolate served with churros in Spain or in Italy or France. Sometimes, though, when the muse strikes, I thicken it up to the point where it’s strictly spoon-fare. When I go that far, I almost always gild the lily, as I am wont to do, and top with chocolate shavings or ground cinnamon.

Hot chocolate pudding. Can you imagine something more decadent? (Well, if you accidentally splashed a thimbleful of dark rum or brandy over the top, that might be more indulgent.) Once you have this under your belt, you never have to worry about what you’ll make for dessert. I regularly bust this out after dinner with friends, sledding parties, and necessary moments*.

*I have my necessary moments; Everyone does. I mean the moments when only chocolate stands between you and googly eyes and head-spinning and pea soup spewing.

When Nana wrote down the recipe for her hot chocolate for her grandboys, she included this instruction, “Think of Nana and warm hugs (and the icy creek!)” … And look out, ’cause Nana’s coming at you with a big, warm hug and she just might ask you to climb a tree.

Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate (Hot Chocolate Pudding)

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk
2-4 tablespoons sugar, or more, depending on sweet you like it (I prefer raw sugar for the caramel-like flavor it imparts here.)
4 tablespoons good quality Dutch process cocoa powder
2-4 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch (use less for a more drinkable product and more for a thick, pudding-like finish.)

Optional, for garnish:

Whipped Cream
Shaved Chocolate
Cinnamon Sugar
Graham Crackers, Waffles, or Pretzels for dipping

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and arrowroot powder or cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan. Take care to smash any lumps. Whisk the milk into the powder. The powder will not dissolve in the milk, so don’t worry. The goal is to simply to mix it at this point. Place the pan over a medium flame or heat and whisk constantly. Watch for the following changes. First, the powder will dissolve and it will begin to look like chocolate milk. Next, the mixture will darken and begin to thicken slightly; Take care to scrape the whisk across the bottom and sides at this point to prevent scorching. Finally, the mixture will become very bubbly and thick. When it reaches this point, remove the pot from the burner immediately.

Spoon or ladle immediately into serving dishes. Garnish as desired.

4.0 from 1 reviews

Nana’s Spanish Style Hot Chocolate (Hot Chocolate Pudding)

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: dessert, breakfast, snack

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 6 mins

Total time: 11 mins

Serves: 2

Thick, creamy, spoonable hot chocolate like that served with churros in Spain. It’s very like a hot chocolate pudding. Whatever you call it it is delicious.

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
2-4 tablespoons sugar, or more, depending on sweet you like it (I prefer raw sugar for the caramel-like flavor it imparts here.)
4 tablespoons good quality Dutch process cocoa powder
2-4 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch (use less for a more drinkable product and more for a thick, pudding-like finish.)
Optional, for garnish:
Whipped Cream
Shaved Chocolate
Cinnamon Sugar
Graham Crackers or Pretzels for dipping

Instructions

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and arrowroot powder or cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan. Take care to smash any lumps. Whisk the milk into the powder. The powder will not dissolve in the milk, so don’t worry. The goal is to simply to mix it at this point. Place the pan over a medium flame or heat and whisk constantly. Watch for the following changes. First, the powder will dissolve and it will begin to look like chocolate milk. Next, the mixture will darken and begin to thicken slightly; Take care to scrape the whisk across the bottom and sides at this point to prevent scorching. Finally, the mixture will become very bubbly and thick. When it reaches this point, remove the pot from the burner immediately.
Spoon or ladle immediately into serving dishes. Garnish as desired.

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Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Chocolate, Desserts, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: Breakfast, dark chocolate, dessert, kid friendly, kids, quick and easy, quick meal

Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

January 25, 2011 by Rebecca 19 Comments

I got a bit of an unpleasant surprise while reading cereal box ingredient lists at the store the other day.

Let me back-track for just a moment or two, though. For years upon years upon years, drawing close to a decade and a half, I’ve been making a particular bran muffin. More of a Bran-ish muffin really… Why Bran-ish? Because it doesn’t fit in the normal bran muffin box. It’s lighter both in color and gut-bombability than the average bran muffin, gently sweet and über-easy. In fact, it’s simpler and more convenient than just about any other muffin in existence (aside from the ones you buy.) No cutting in of fats, no measuring ingredients with bleary eyes and un-caffeinated hands in the morning, no hungry children curled around your feet moaning while you try to rustle up breakfast*. Mix your wet ingredients, mix your dry ingredients, mix them together and stash in the refrigerator for up to six weeks. No joke.

*This recipe does not come with a guarantee that your children will wait patiently for the muffins. Mine don’t. I guess I should’ve just left that out. I got carried away. Please forgive me.

You may have encountered a version of this recipe before on the cereal box of a major breakfast cold-cereal manufacturer. It’s been around for what seems like eons. But this is where my unpleasant surprise popped into play.

I grabbed a box of my normal All-Bran and perused the ingredient list. HFCS. Ack. It’s presence had escaped my notice previously but once I know it’s there, I don’t buy*. I checked the store brand version. HFCS. I checked plain old bran flakes from all possible manufacturers. HFCS. Double Ack. I decided to play around with other cereals… Fiber One didn’t have HFCS nor did the store brand version of Fiber One. I opted for the store brand. Before you balk, Wegman’s (cue heavenly chorus singing the attributes of Wegman’s) store brands are almost always as good as or better than major manufacturer’s products.

*I am aware that educated people disagree on the matter of whether High Fructose Corn Syrup is a health hazard. Good people can disagree. I have read a great many research studies on the subject and decided that there is enough uncertainty to make me feel better eliminating as much of it from my family’s diet as possible.

I came home, mixed up my muffin batter and commenced griping my story to The Evil Genius. He grabbed the box and said, “HFCS! Ha, just kidding. But really? There’s aspartame in here.”

Aspartame in cereal? Seriously, Wegman’s? EW. Leaving aside any health concerns that are presented by aspartame, let’s just talk taste. It tastes chemically sweet. And not in a good way.

The muffin batter had already been mixed up, though, and I don’t waste, so we started baking anyway and hoped for the best. In a result that shocked no one, they were grossly and strangely sweet. The thing I found curious was how the high-fiber cereal didn’t break down at all after sitting in the refrigerator overnight or after baking. When the muffins were pulled open, they looked like I had made the batter with dried cat food pieces. They were unappetizing, to say the least. I know when I’m licked.

I decided that there were two options; find another all bran (small caps, not ™, thankyouverymuch) cereal or give up on these muffins. My little local grocery store did not have anything I wanted to use but unsurprisingly, Amazon had an option; an HFCS/Aspartame-Free real bran cereal. I took a leap of faith and ordered a package of six boxes. And happy days, the cereal worked perfectly in the muffins. No more cat-food, sickly-sweet aspartame muffins for us!

Why go to all the trouble for this muffin? Well, if the convenience of having it ready to bake off in mere moments doesn’t convince you, maybe the flexibility will. You can bake them plain, as is, with the batter straight from the refrigerator, or you can gussy them up a bit. Stir in frozen blueberries, raspberries, other berries or fruits, sprinkle with raw sugar or leave unadorned. Any way you choose, they’re the simple, perfect solution to a hot breakfast or afternoon snack.

Are you having trouble finding an HFCS or artificial sweetener free cereal? Try our new favorite from Amazon. If you click on the link below and buy it from Amazon.com, we’ll get a very small commission. It doesn’t change your price at all, but disclosure feels good. Come on, gimme a hug.

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Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Gently adapted from the Kellogg’s All-Bran Muffins recipe
Yield: About 54 Plain Bran Muffins, or more than 60 Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

5 1/3 cups all-natural bran cereal (I recommend Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ
2 1/4 cups raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt
4 cups buttermilk (You’re culturing your own right? No? Try this dead-simple method.)
1 cup neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil)
4 large eggs, beaten

Optional additional ingredients for baking:

frozen berries, small pieces of frozen stone fruits such as peaches or plums, or small diced apples or pears
chocolate chips
raw sugar for the muffin tops (You can use granulated white sugar if necessary.)

To prepare muffin mix:

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until evenly moist. Scrape the muffin mix into a large container (of about 1 gallon capacity or larger) with a tight fitting lid.

Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using. Label the container with the date the batter was mixed.

You can store and use the batter for up to 6 weeks.

To bake Plain Bran Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Fill the prepared muffin wells 2/3 full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.

To bake Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.

Scoop the desired amount of muffin batter into a bowl and gently fold in your chosen fruit or chocolate chips.

Fill the prepared muffin wells 2/3 full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. There may be some fruit juice on the skewer, but there shouldn’t be any sticky batter.

Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack or towel.

Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: breakfast, bread, quick bread, snack

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 32

Muffin batter that throws together in minutes and is usable for six weeks?!? You bet! Have fresh muffins whenever the urge strikes when you have this on hand!

Ingredients

5⅓ cups all-natural bran cereal (I recommend Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ
2¼ cups raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt
4 cups buttermilk (You’re culturing your own right? No? Try this dead-simple method.)
1 cup neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil)
4 large eggs, beaten
Optional additional ingredients for baking:
frozen berries, small pieces of frozen stone fruits such as peaches or plums, or small diced apples or pears
chocolate chips
raw sugar for the muffin tops (You can use granulated white sugar if necessary.)

Instructions

To prepare muffin mix:
In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until evenly moist. Scrape the muffin mix into a large container (of about 1 gallon capacity or larger) with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using. Label the container with the date the batter was mixed. You can store and use the batter for up to 6 weeks.
To bake Plain Bran Muffins:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Fill the prepared muffin wells ⅔ full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.
To bake Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.
Scoop the desired amount of muffin batter into a bowl and gently fold in your chosen fruit or chocolate chips.
Fill the prepared muffin wells ⅔ full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. There may be some fruit juice on the skewer, but there shouldn’t be any sticky batter.
Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.

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Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: blueberries, Breakfast, budget friendly, dessert, Frugal Food, kid friendly, kids, quick and easy, quick meal

Finnish Oven Pancakes (Pannukakku)

December 2, 2010 by Rebecca 32 Comments

There is a certain type of weather that requires you to fire up your oven; To combine flour, butter, eggs, milk and various other good things and apply heat. There is something in the low temperatures or rain or snow that obliges you to create baked goods and then eat them. Since I am a slave to duty…

Finnish Oven Pancakes are a perennial forgotten favorite around our house. Perennial in that we make them semi-often. Semi-often in that I forget how simple a solution they are for last minute hot breakfasts, lunches or dinners until the children remind me. I make them often enough that I remember there are 4 ingredients and I think I remember the quantities, but infrequently enough that I have to consult my human encyclopaedia de cuisine: my stepmother. The conversations run like this.

(Phone rings and stepmother picks up the line.)

Val: Hello.

Me: Hi, Val. It’s me. I am calling because I’m making Finnish Oven Pancakes again.

Val: (chuckle)

Me: I forgot again. And I didn’t write it down again.

Val: (with the patience of Job) Four eggs, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, sugar, salt.

Me: Thank you and I love you.

Val: You’re welcome and I love you, too.

We have repeated this conversation about three times a year for about 16 years. It’s not that I make this three times a year. It’s that I make it in streaks, forget about it until the kids beg for it, smack myself in the head for having forgotten this recipe and hoist the phone to my ear once again. Thankfully, I have a very patient stepmother.

Thankfully, I say, because this is a recipe that should be added to your regular rotation and you deserve to know Val’s recipe. And thankfully, too, because finally, I am writing it out. Writing it out so that I can share it all with you, yes. But even more, writing it out means that I can stop annoying my beloved Val. Well, at least about this particular recipe. I’ll still call her for my knitting patterns, the-name-of-that-one-website-we-were-talking-about, the recipe for her oatmeal bread, that book title, which Mr. Bean episode had the hymn that they played while the Titanic was sinking, and the name of Hyacinth Bucket’s son. Like I said, Val is a very patient woman.

But about these Finnish Oven Pancakes. These fixtures of Finnish cuisine are prominent in many communities in the U.S. where there is a high population of Finn immigrants. The Upper Peninsula (Go, Yoop, eh?) has a huge Finnish community. They have graced us with all manner of cured fish and baked goods, but these? These are one of their best. Finnish Oven Pancakes the love child of pancakes and custard. They puff up like a Yorkshire pudding. They have structure -not wet, by any means- and texture, but they’re still soft. Ranging from not-at-all-sweet to good-and-sweet and everywhere in between, Finnish Oven Pancakes can accompany everything from a simple sprinkle of sugar and squeeze of lemon to jam to sweetened whipped cream and Nutella to sausage gravy to stewed venison to seared mushrooms. Not all together, of course, but all this is to say it’s a very flexible meal base.

My boys prefer it with a little shake of confectioner’s sugar or brown sugar and a lemon wedge squeezed o’er top. My husband likes it covered with sausage gravy like -as he is wont to say- “SOS, but much, much classier.”

It takes four ingredients; all of which will probably be in your pantry and/or refrigerator barring natural disasters or winter storms*. Eggs, flour, milk, and salt. Sugar is one-hundred percent optional.

*You will note that I don’t classify a winter storm as a natural disaster. That is because I’m from Michigan. We’re tough. No whining about snow here, people. Bring. it. on.

Finnish Oven Pancakes (Pannkakku)

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons (1/2 of one stick) butter, cut into three or four pieces
4 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk, preferably whole milk
1 pinch of salt
up to 4 Tablespoons sugar, optional
splash of vanilla extract, optional

Preheat oven to 400°F. When the oven temperature reaches about 300°F, place an 8- or 9-inch cake pan or 10-inch pie plate in the oven with the butter in it. The butter should melt, but not brown, while the oven finishes heating.

Place the eggs, f lour, milk, salt, sugar and vanilla (if using) in the carafe of a blender. Fix the cover in place and blend on high, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary, until the mixture is smooth and even. When the oven is fully heated, and the butter is fully melted, pull the oven rack out far enough to work safely and pour the batter into the hot pan. Push the rack carefully back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the oven pancake has puffed quite high and is a deep golden brown. You can test the doneness by quickly inserting a butter knife in the center of the oven pancake. If the knife comes out clean, the pancake is done.

Remove the pan from the oven, cut immediately (it will deflate some, so don’t worry!) and serve topped as desired.

Here are some topping ideas:

If you add the sugar to the batter…

Powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice
A handful or two of fresh or frozen berries
A sprinkle of brown sugar and drizzle of maple syrup
A dollop of fruit jam
Apples sautéed in butter and caramel sauce (oh help.)
A dollop or five of sweetened whipped cream

If you omit the sugar…

Sausage gravy and chopped green onions
Beef or venison stew
Gravy

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Finnish Oven Pancakes (Pannukakku)

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: Breakfast, Main

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 4

This high-rising traditional Finnish dish is a crispy exteriored cross between a pancake and a custard. Perfect for topping with both sweet and savoury goodies

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons (1/2 of one stick) butter, cut into three or four pieces
4 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk, preferably whole milk
1 pinch of salt
up to 4 Tablespoons sugar, optional
splash of vanilla extract, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. When the oven temperature reaches about 300°F, place an 8- or 9-inch cake pan or 10-inch pie plate in the oven with the butter in it. The butter should melt, but not brown, while the oven finishes heating.
Place the eggs, f lour, milk, salt, sugar and vanilla (if using) in the carafe of a blender. Fix the cover in place and blend on high, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary, until the mixture is smooth and even. When the oven is fully heated, and the butter is fully melted, pull the oven rack out far enough to work safely and pour the batter into the hot pan. Push the rack carefully back into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the oven pancake has puffed quite high and is a deep golden brown. You can test the doneness by quickly inserting a butter knife in the center of the oven pancake. If the knife comes out clean, the pancake is done.
Remove the pan from the oven, cut immediately (it will deflate some, so don’t worry!) and serve topped as desired.

Notes

Here are some topping ideas: If you add the sugar to the batter… * Powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice * A handful of fresh or frozen berries * A sprinkle of brown sugar and drizzle of maple syrup * A dollop of fruit jam * Apples sautéed in butter and caramel sauce (oh help.) * A dollop or five of sweetened whipped cream If you omit the sugar… * Sausage gravy and chopped green onions * Beef or venison stew * Gravy

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Bread, Breakfast Foods, Component Foods, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, kid food, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: dessert, Frugal Food, kid friendly, kids, quick and easy, quick meal, Vegetarian

Ham and Swiss with Caramelized Onion on Rye Pizza

October 17, 2010 by Rebecca 30 Comments

Here we are in Challenge #5 in Project Food Blog from foodbuzz.com! Thank you all many times over for the support you’ve given me in the comments here, via email, and on the Foodie With Family Facebook fan page. (That’s an awful lot of effs.) The competition has been more fun than I ever expected it to be.

This prompt for this challenge stated, “One recipe, 100 variations! We’re challenging each of you to put your own spin on the same recipe. How you do it is up to you. …You’ll be asked to put your own spin on Pizza. For the purpose of this contest and challenge, we are defining pizza as having a solid base, a sauce and at least one topping.” Oh my. We are in my wheelhouse on this one, folks. My middle name is “Put My Own Spin On Pizza”.

Pizza. Can we pause for just a second?

(Contented sigh and wistful expression stealing over my face.)

I say -without a touch of hyperbole- that I could happily eat pizza every day of my life. From pepperoni-and-cheese to Hawaiian pizza to Chicago deep dish to more outlandish combos, I love it all, but, and this is a biggie*, I am choosy about my pizzas.

*I mean a big ‘but’ not to be confused with a big ‘butt’ which would be the inevitable result of me eating pizza daily.

I don’t order pizzas because I am, ahem, a little high-maintenance when it comes to pizza. If I’m going to pay twenty dollars for one meal, it had better be the best representation of that meal that ever was. And -God love them- the pizza joints around here just don’t measure up. Good pizza can take some serious planning and time, but my last minute cravings still have to be obeyed. So how does such a picky-pants get a quick pizza on the nights when you really need one?

Enter the freezer from stage left. You probably already know that it’s a good idea to keep frozen pizza dough on hand, but did you know that you can keep frozen partially baked pizza crusts, too? I’m sure you’ve seen the variety of pre-baked pizza shells you pick up in shrink wrap at the grocery store near the bread section. These are like that, except that they’re -wait for it- tasty.

There’s no real mystery to the process. On days when you find yourself with a little bit of time to spare, whip up your favorite pizza dough, portion it out and roll it or stretch it out like you’re going to make a pizza. Bake it for just a handful of minutes and remove from the oven before the crust starts to color to cool. Then freeze and wrap the crusts individually. Here are a few helpful things to keep in mind when making partially baked pizza crusts:

For the best results, use a pizza stone that preheats with your oven. Transfer your dough to and from the oven on a cornmeal dusted peel. If you don’t have a pizza stone, the next best option is a parchment lined pan dusted with cornmeal or semolina.
Get generous with the cornmeal or semolina. Use a good layer of cornmeal or semolina flour on your pan, peel or parchment; whichever vehicle you use to get your crust in and out of the oven. Since you’re not completely baking the crust, it is crucial to prevent the dough sticking before or after baking. This step provides a little insurance against sticking dough.
Cool crusts completely before stashing in the freezer. This simple step improves the final baked pizza, so don’t skip it.
To save room in the freezer, make a stack of crusts, separating each layer with parchment paper. After stacking, wrap tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap or a large, resealable freezer bag. You can use the parchment separating the crusts beneath them during baking, too.

Frozen crusts ready to be topped.

When time is short and pizza calls your name, simply pull a crust from the freezer, top, and bake. It doesn’t get much easier than that. You can have a pizza done before the local place could have delivered one. There are a couple of tricks to getting the perfect pizza from your homemade frozen shells.

Use pre-cooked or mostly cooked toppings on pizza shells. Since the crust is already partially baked, you aren’t going to need to cook it as long. That means that your toppings aren’t going to cook as long, so you need the head start cooked toppings will provide. This means cooked, chopped meats are good (as is pepperoni since it’s already fully cooked.)
Don’t overload the crust! Okay, this rule applies to using fresh dough, too, but it bears repeating. As tempting as it is to put half a pound of cheese on your personal pan pizza, it just doesn’t work. The crust would be blackened before your cheese was all melted and bubbly. If you have too many toppings, your crust will suffer for it. Resist!
Break out the olive oil. Lightly brush the outer edge of your pizza crust with olive oil before topping. This helps develop a deep brown, crackling crisp crust. (Of course, if you prefer the paler variety, this can be omitted!)

And finally, since I’m on a hint-sharing binge, I want to let you in on some of my favorite ways to use pre-baked crusts.

Get creative. Experiment a little. I’ve found that most of my favorite sandwiches (Reubens, Smoked Turkey with Cheddar, and French Dip Sandwiches, just to name a few…) translate very well to the pizza medium. Have fun with it.
Make a build-your-own-pizza bar on movie night. I have not yet met a kid who isn’t in love with the idea of building his or her own pizza. Lay out bowls with toppings and sauces and give each person their own pre-baked crust. I guarantee happy faces. (Psst… It’s a great way to use up odds and ends from the refrigerator, too. Got a little leftover cooked chicken and some hot sauce? Hello, Buffalo Chicken Pizza!)
Miracle last minute bread. I have, on more than one occasion, pulled a pizza shell from the freezer, topped it with cheese and tossed it (on its parchment square) straight onto the rack of a hot oven until the cheese was melted and bubbly. Ta da! It makes almost instant crispy bread to serve alongside hearty soups in lieu of crackers. Dunked into a steaming bowl of sausage and white bean soup or a humble tomato soup, this really shines!

To help get you started on stocking your freezer I’m sharing one of my favorite pizza crusts; onion rye. Rolled thin, this crust gets cracker-crisp and holds up well to all kinds of pizza toppings. It is an obvious choice for my favorite game of “turn this sandwich into a pizza”.

This crust serves as a perfect compliment to the flavors of a classic deli Ham and Swiss on Rye. Tender balsamic caramelized onions provide the sauce on a pizza that is so good that you’ll be ready to bake another one as soon as you take a bite of the first. And what’s to stop you since you already have all those crusts in the freezer?

For a printer friendly version of this recipe with no photos, click here!

Ham and Swiss with Caramelized Onion on Rye Pizza

Ingredients for Onion Rye Pizza Shells:

Yield: 4 individual sized crusts, 2 small crusts or 1 medium-large (note: Yield has been modified to to reflect the quantities specified in the recipe. I always double recipes -yes, even my own- and based my original yield on the fact that I doubled my recipe. I’m sorry for any confusion!)

1-1/4 cups water
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg yolk
2-1/4 cups bread flour
2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rye flour (Use light, medium or coarse, depending on how strong you like your rye flavor. I use coarse. Rye? Because I love it.)
1 Tablespoon malt powder or sugar
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of white pepper
2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes
2-1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
Optional: 1 egg white whisked with 1 teaspoon water until frothy, caraway seeds and coarse salt for sprinkling over the edge of the crust.

Bread Machine Instructions:

Combine water, oil, egg yolk, bread flour, white whole wheat flour, rye flour, malt powder, salt, pepper, onion flakes, and instant yeast in the pan of your bread machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Program for a simple dough cycle and press start.

Stand Mixer Instructions:

Combine water, oil, egg yolk, bread flour, white whole wheat flour, rye flour, malt powder, salt, pepper, onion flakes and instant yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Turn the mixer on the lowest setting. Continue mixing until a smooth and elastic dough is formed. Place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Hand-prepared Dough Instructions:

Use a whisk to combine bread flour, white whole wheat flour, rye flour, malt powder, salt, pepper, onion flakes and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add the water, oil and egg yolk and mix with a sturdy spoon until a cohesive dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

To Prepare the Pizza Crusts:

Preheat the oven (with a baking stone, if you have one) to 425°F.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, punch down to deflate, and divide into 4 equal pieces. I find a bench knife is the easiest tool for this job. Form each piece of dough into a ball.

Gently flatten the dough balls and cover with a tea towel. Remove one dough ball from beneath the towel and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch it into an approximately 10-inch circle. A rolling pin gives you the super thin, cracker-crisp crust which I prefer in this recipe.

Dust a peel (or parchment lined pan) generously with cornmeal or semolina flour, lift the dough circle and place on the cornmeal. If desired, brush the outer 1/2-inch of the crust with the egg wash then sprinkle with caraway seeds and coarse salt. Use the peel to slide the dough directly onto the stone (or place pan in the oven.) Bake for 4 minutes, or until air bubbles start to puff up on the dough. Remove the now partially-cooked crust from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Gently pierce any air bubbles in the center part of the crust (the part you will top) while the dough is still hot. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

When all are completely cool, place each on a square of parchment that is the same size as the crust. Stack the crusts and parchment and wrap tightly with a double-layer of plastic wrap or put in a large, resealable freezer bag before freezing. These are best when used within 3 months of being made.

To Make a Ham and Swiss with Caramelized Onion Pizza

Ingredients for Two Personal Pizzas :

2 frozen Onion Rye pizza crusts
4 large cooking onions, peeled, cut in half and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
a pinch each of salt and sugar
balsamic vinegar
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 thin slices of good quality deli ham (I used honey baked ham.)
2-1/2 thin slices of Swiss cheese
Optional, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard mixed with mayonnaise for dipping

Begin by making the caramelized onions: Melt the butter over low heat in a heavy-bottomed mid-sized saucepan. Put onions in the pot, sprinkle the pinch each of salt and sugar over the onions and toss to coat with the butter. Stir occasionally until onions begin to become soft and start giving up their juices. Continue cooking over low for about 35 minutes, adding a splash of balsamic vinegar any time the onions begin to look as if they’re drying out. The onions are done when they are so tender it seems they’re melting. They should be moist, but not sitting in pools of liquid. Remove from the heat.

Preheat oven (and baking stone, if available) to 500°F.

Take two Onion Rye Crusts (and their parchment squares) from the freezer. Divide the caramelized onions evenly between the two crusts, spreading near the edges. Fold the ham slices gently onto the crust, covering most of the onions. Arrange the Swiss cheese slices evenly over the top and use a peel or your hands to slide the parchment and crust onto the pizza stone or directly onto the oven rack. Bake for 6-9 minutes, depending on how crispy you prefer your crust. Six minutes will give you a softer, lighter colored crust, while nine minutes will yield a pizza like the one in the photographs here.