Barefoot Bloggers: White Pizza with Arugula

Wow - just got back from a week long trip to visit family in Kentucky. Surprisingly good weather for Kentucky in August and lots of good food. I got my fill of Catfish, Hush Puppies, BBQ, Pies and Cobblers. I even managed to bring back 4 lbs of frozen KY BBQ to last me a little while. Enough talk about that - I am making myself hungry. I made this recipe a few weeks ago before I left so I will do my best to remember it.

The White Pizza with Arugula looked like a great recipe to me but I wasn't sure my wife would like it. I have been experimenting a little with cooking pizza at home (in the oven and on the grill) but my wife isn't a fan of white pizza so I had not done that yet. This was quicker than most pizzas I have made in that it only required 40 minutes for rising time total. It probably only took a little over an hour to make the whole pizza. It does call for a few "exotic" ingredients. I got the fontina - it is an expensive cheese but is a nice melting and tasting cheese so I figured it would be good here. Not fond of goat cheese so I skipped that and used a little feta that I had on hand in place of it. My supermarket did not have arugula so I ended up just getting a bagged spring mix to use in place of that. I made just 1/3 the recipe for two pizzas.

The pizzas were fantastic. When I first made the vinaigrette I was a little worried with how lemony it was but it worked very well on the pizza and wasn't too strong at all. My wife gave it too thumbs up as well. It is a nice meal having the pizza and salad all in one. If you don't like the salad idea I think the pizza would hold up on its own as well - throw some chicken or something on it and it would be great. The crust cooked up very well and my wife even ate all the crust which she does not normally do. I might end up making this my go to crust recipe now.

Thanks to Andrea of Nummy Kitchen for this months recipe. Looks like Andrea does do a lot of "Nummy" baking on her blog.

White Pizza with Arugula

(Source: Back to Basics, Page 82)

Makes 6 pizzas

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Good olive oil
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• Kosher salt
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:

• 3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
• 11 ounces creamy goat cheese, such as montrachet, crumbled

For the vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces baby arugula
• 1 lemon, sliced

Directions

Mix the dough.

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

Knead by hand.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Portion the dough.

Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place the doughs on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.

Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 circles on each sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

TIP Make sure the bowl is warm before you put the water and yeast in; the water must be warm for the yeast to develop.

TIP Salt inhibits the growth of yeast; add half the flour, then the salt, and then the rest of the flour.

TIP To make sure yeast is still "alive," or active, put it in water and allow it to sit for a few minutes. If it becomes creamy or foamy, it's active.

Barefoot Bloggers: Curried Couscous

I was a little worried about this months Barefoot Blogger recipes. They are both recipes that I knew would be scary to my wife Lara. This is the first of the scary recipes. I knew it would be scary for several reasons:

• She doesn't like yogurt.
• She doesn't like nuts.
• She doesn't like curry.
• She doesn't like raisins.

I think that's the whole list but I think that makes more things that she doesn't like than likes in this recipe - not very good odds.

The recipe calls for raisins or dried currents. I have no idea where you would find dried currents so I decided to mix it up a little with dried cranberries. When I went to put everything together Lara sees me and asks if I was going to leave out the dressing, dried cranberries, nuts, and onions for her! I compromised and left out the nuts for her but left everything else.

The salad was a surprise hit. Lara even said it was good. The curry flavor was very muted and wasn't at all scary. There was only a 1/4 cup of yogurt so it was not even noticeable - just added a little moistness. Lara even said the dried cranberries were good in it. I think even though it had a lot of things she would not eat by themselves there was not too much of anything and all the flavors blended very well.

I enjoyed the salad a lot too. I think I will probably have to make it for a picnic or two this summer and see how it goes over. The dried currents sound good but if you can't find them I think the dried cranberries were a nice substitution - and they added a little bit of color.

Thanks to Ellyn of Recipe Tester and Collector for this months selection. It looks this recipe is a family favorite for her - thanks for sharing with all of us.

Curried Couscous

(Source: The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, page 94)

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup small-diced carrots
• 1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
• 1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
• 1/4 cup small-diced red onion

Directions

1. Place the couscous in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous. Cover tightly and allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
2. Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the carrots, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, and red onions, mix well, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Barefoot Bloggers: Chinese Chicken Salad

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. This was one of the easier Barefoot blogger recipes but it was also one of my favorites. My wife doesn't like peppers so I substituted about two cups or so of pea pods instead of the pepper. I put the pea pods in with the asparagus in the final minute or so of cooking to give them a quick blanch. I am sure the salad might have looked a little nicer with the red pepper but I think the pea pods were a nice addition. I was a little worried that my wife would not like this one with the Asian flavors but she even went back for seconds. This one is definitely a winner! Thanks to McKenzie at Kenzie's Kitchen for this months pick. Check out McKenzie's blog to see what it is supposed look like with the red peppers.

Chinese Chicken Salad

(Source: Barefoot Contessa Parties!, page 98)

Serves 12

Ingredients

• 4 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
• 2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
• 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub with the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.
3. Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.
4. Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.