Potato and Leek Flatbread

Oh how I love interesting pizza!

Potato and Leek Flatbread (adapted from Real Simple)

1 pound refrigerated pizza dough
2 leeks, cut into thin strips
2 waxy potatoes, (red or gold) sliced thinly
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup grated Gruyère cheese

1. Heat oven to 450° F. Stretch the dough into a ¼-inch-thick circle or rectangle.
2. Layer the potatoes, leeks thyme and cheese onto the dough in that order.
   
3. Sprinkle with the Gruyère. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Bake until the crust is golden and potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into pieces.

The Return to American Flatbread

One of my favorite places to eat is American Flatbread. I've said before that my family makes a point to go there once during the week of our vacation. I personally love trying the specials each year. The mystery of what is it going to be this year makes the anticipation of going so great. If I had any experience

This is a picture from their website.



This year my uncle, who had never been before came with us, which meant that we got to try some new things on the menu that we normally pass up. Here is a photo of the Specials menu:
We got to try the special salad and this year we also had the Evolution salad:
This is the salad. Take a close look at the bowl and tongs. We went to the wood market and got these for early Christmas presents. The bowl I got is the perfect size for 2 to 3 people for salad.
We also had some of the pizzas. The Med Bread and the Cheese and Herb, as well as the sausage with mushrooms, pepperoni and one of each of the specials.I thought this would have been the best of the pizzas. This is the special with beets and potatoes. I thought the best part was the rosemary honey but the pizza wasn't quite as wonderful as I had hoped. I think the beets would have been preferable in slices rather than chunks.
This is a picture of the other special, the bolognese. I thought it was very tasty but it needed a tiny bit of salt or parm. cheese.
This is the sausage and mushroom, which is probably my favorite regular menu pizza.
This is the pepperoni and peppers from the regular menu. My uncle who made the new banner picked this and we were glad he did because it really was quite delicious. If you can get the chance to eat at American Flatbread I highly recommend it.

Pita Pizzas

This isn't a recipe but a great idea for a small lunch or late night snack. The best part is that it's ready faster than the convenience foods you get in the freezer section of the grocery store. You can use any toppings you want (although for things you don't normally eat raw, you may want to pre-cook them, like meats).

All you need:

whole wheat pita-pockets
sauce or olive olive
cheese of your choice
toppings
cookie sheet
parchment paper or aluminum foil
oven with broiler setting

Put you covering on you pan. Heat your broiler to high. Top pitas with sauce toppings and cheese. Thin layers are best. Broil pizza for 3-5 minutes. Watch them so they don't burn. The crust will get nice and crispy.

In search of the yeastless pizza crust...

I was having my cousins HT and E over for "make your own pizza". I don't like dealing with yeast dough when I'm having guests because it's a little bit of a hassle. Luckily on Sunday night I decided to give a new recipe a dry run. I found a flatbread recipe and found some junk in the house to put on it. The problem was it was too dry and cracker-like which wasn't what I was looking for.

Being that I had to cook for the children (plus my mom and aunt) on Tuesday, I had no choice but to find another recipe and cook it sight unseen. After reading the copious reviews I decided I should be able to trust it. I liked it! The kids seemed to enjoy it and the parents seemed to like it too. Here are the two recipes and the pictures from each. You decide what you like...
Flatbread Dough (from Whole Family Fare)

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
   
2. Start by mixing the dry ingredients together. Add the egg yolks and olive oil.
   
3. Pour in the water and slowly mix until it forms a very shaggy dough.
4. Knead for a few minutes (you may need to add a little more flour so that it isn't so sticky).
5. Let it rest for 20 minutes, before rolling it out (preferably onto an preheated baking stone). Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and top with your veggies and cheeses. Place back in the oven for 5 minutes.

I topped this one with leftover fajita chicken, shredded and mixed with crushed fennel seed, sliced leftover apple, and a little shredded colby jack cheese. I don't think I would reccommend these particular toppings.

Here is the other recipe:
Yeast Free Pizza Crust (adapted from cooks.com)

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. water
1/4 c. olive oil

Mix all ingredients and let sit 10-15 minutes to rest. With a little whole wheat flour on the board, roll out dough to desired size and thickness. Top and bake on 500 degrees for 12-15 min.

Here the kids are eating.
Here we are with the kids' creations. They had red sauce, cheese and bacon.
The Aftermath
The adults had pear and blue cheese pizza with walnuts and rosemary. MMMMMMM

Pear and Blue Cheese Pizza

This is hands down the meal I make most often for J and I. I found the original recipe on allrecipes.com but I do my own thing most of the time. I may have said in the past that I'm not really a fan of raw pears. I don't like the grainy, sandy texture. Cooked pears are delicious. This meal uses the ever popular pear and blue cheese combination. I'll post the link to the original recipe but I have varied this many times.

Pear and Blue Cheese Pizza (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1 pizza crust (I dislike the pre-baked crusts immensely, I either make my own, make flatbread dough, or buy just the dough. Here I used whole wheat dough from the store. I try never to use the dough in the can, it has a funny taste.)

1 bosc pear, peeled and cut into slices or cubes (slices work better on flatbread because chunks are heavier and flatbread doesn't cook as long)

olive oil

6 slices provolone cheese

1/4-1/2 cup blue cheese (I have used all kinds of varieties. I wouldn't use anything too expensive because you aren't eating it raw)

~1/4 cup nuts, coarsely chopped (I recommend walnuts as stated in the original recipe. We have tried several types and sometimes we have even forgotten the nuts entirely)

1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

freshly ground pepper

1. Spread the pizza dough out. If you are using a baking sheet cover with parchment paper.
2. Brush dough with olive oil.
3. Cover dough with provolone cheese, pears, blue cheese, nuts, rosemary, and pepper in that order.
4. Bake according to pizza crust instructions.

I have made this with grilled chicken added. I have followed the original recipe and added the chives. I find that as long as the ingredients listed above are part of this pizza you can alter little things and it always turns out heavenly. This is J's most requested meal. It is super easy and tastes like you got it in a restaurant. I've also drizzled a tsp of olive oil over it before baking and I think this time I used a tsp of honey instead. The honey added a nice sweetness to parts of the pizza that didn't have pear on it.

Back from Vacation

Every year (since I was 14), my family goes to Lake Dunmore in Vermont for a vacation/family reunion. In the last 5 years or so, our tradition has been to go to American Flatbread for dinner either the night we get there or our last night there (being that they used to only be open twice a week). This year was no different in that respect. Some other highlights besides swimming in the lake and playing numerous games of Bananagrams, were our outings to Sewards, a family restaurant/dairy in Rutland and the A & W Root Beer stand in Middlebury where you eat in your car and the waitresses wear roller skates. We also took our cousin to Fire and Ice in Middlebury and sampled some of the various food in Burlington, nothing too noteworthy.

At Sewards we always order the same thing, a burger and sides, which has to include cottage cheese from their dairy. At the end we have the requisite ice cream and or pie. Here are some pics of our lunch at Sewards. The burger has VT cheddar cheese on it! The ice cream here includes black raspberry, pistachio and butter pecan.That evening we went to American Flatbread which uses natural and sometimes local ingredients. We ordered the usual Med Bread for the kids (which is basically the traditional red sauce with cheese), as well as the maple sausage and mushroom which you can find on the menu. We also had one of each of the specials. Here is the special board which describes each of the pizzas. The others are a shots of each of the most interesting pizzas.As for the A & W Root Beer stand we went for dinner but beware! The burgers have ketchup, mustard and pickles on them. Whatever you do, don't miss out on the root beer float. They have a variety of sizes and you can order it with diet root beer if you want. If you prefer buy the gallon of root beer and make your own floats at home. It won't come in the A & W mug, however. Here is the aftermath.

Zucchini, Onion, and Goat Cheese Flatbread

This is birthday week. Last Saturday we went out, tonight we are going out, this weekend we are going out. So for lunch I am trying to get all the cooking that I can. One of my all time favorite things to make is flatbread. This particular dough recipe I adapted from Pam Anderson's (not the blond celebrity) cookbook The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. She has a whole bunch of other ideas for flatbread but I usually just make up my own. This one was inspired by the fact that zucchini is abundant during the summer even if I don't have a garden of my own. The dough is super easy and doesn't need to rise which makes it great as a quick meal as well. Here is what I did with the dough today although you can add any seasonings you want really. I make one or 2 pizzas instead of 4 mini ones but it was originally for 4 personal flatbreads.

Dough (makes 4 individual flatbreads)
1 cup bread flour
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

Technically you are supposed to use a food processor with a dough hook but I just mix all the ingredients together and form together a ball using my hands. I also add whatever spices I want. Today I used dried rosemary and cracked black pepper.

Once the dough is rolled out, I brush the crust with a little olive oil.

Zucchini, Onion, and Goat Cheese Flatbread

1 recipe flatbread dough
2 oz crumbled goat cheese
1 small zucchini (courgette)
1/2 red onion sliced
olive oil
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper
sugar

1. Roll out the dough and place on a baking sheet on top of parchment paper. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2. Brush dough lightly with olive oil.

3. On the stove caramelize the onion in approx. 1 tsp of oil. This may take as long as 15 min. You can be doing the next steps while you wait. Be careful not to burn the onion.

4. Thinly slice the zucchini into rounds. 1/8" to 1/4" of an inch is fine.

5. Remove onions from pan. Using the same pan lightly saute the zucchini rounds until almost soft. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Place the toppings on the flatbread: zucchini, then onion, then goat cheese.

7. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper and a pinch of sugar.

8. Place flatbread into oven and cook for 10-15 min.


IT WAS HEAVEN. Enjoy!