Guest Chef Pam

July 28, 2011
Cheeseburger Pizza

Guest Chef Pam:

 Wow, what a fun time making pizza. With three pizza places in town to buy already made pizzas, I had never considered making my own pizza. Pam showed how easy and tasty it could be without costing an arm or leg. The toughest part was browning the hamburger which is something I think most of us know how to do. We made two cheeseburger pizzas and one vegetarian pizza since two of our dinner mates were vegetarians. With the veggie pizza we left out the hamburger and mustard. We added the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to the tomatoes. We also added chopped leaf spinach before the first baking. Both turned out very well.  This did make the veggie pizza prettier so we decided to add the spinach to one of our cheese pizzas to make it pretty and give it a bit more nutritional value. We had salad, fruit and cherry cheesecake to go along with it and of course we ate every bite.

Things I learned:
I learned that I could buy a pizza crust that actually looked and tasted like take out pizza. I was brought up on chef boy are dee which you had to mix and roll out which made making pizza the dreaded task I was remembering. The crusts were $4.69 each which did make it a bit more expensive than the roll out kind, but sure made it more palatable to make for me. I also learned that ricotta cheese is very good on pizza and there are a lot of different kinds of shredded cheeses at the store besides mozzarella, cheddar or colby jack. I used my baking stones which I had bought a number of years ago and hadn't really used them. They worked well, but I still don't get how to clean them afterward. I was also afraid I would scratch or break my stove top so didn't dare put the stones on top of the stove when we pulled them out of the oven. Maybe some of you seasoned stone users could comment on baking stones. A cookie sheet just seems easier and lighter weight to me.

Pam's tip for a perfect pizza: (click on video)

Cheese Burger Pizza Recipe (for one pizza)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1-12inch Boboli Thin Pizza Crust (can use whole wheat)
1/4 of a medium onion chopped
1/2 lb hamburger (extra lean)
Italian seasoning to taste
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1 tsp Grey Poupon Mustard
5 oz can Boboli Pizza Sauce
14oz can Salt Free Diced Tomatoes (drained)
8oz Ricotta Cheese
4oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (can use any favorite pizza cheeses such as shredded Italian)

Brown together:

Hamburger, onion, mustard, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper

Layer: (place pizza crust on baking sheet or stone)
Smear sauce evenly over crust
Dob Ricotta cheese over sauce
Spread hamburger mixture over cheese

Bake: for 5-7 minutes to allow ricotta cheese to melt some.

Sprinkle:
Tomatoes over top of burger and cheese mixture
Mozzarella cheese over tomatoes

Bake: another 10-12 minutes or until cheese melts and bubbles

Guest Chef Janece

Thursday July 15, 2011 
Spinach Quiche


Guest Chef Janece : The first "Guest Chef" was a smashing success. Janece showed me how to prepare a wonderful Spinach Quiche. She called it a Mediterranean Spinach Quiche. It took an hour from start to presentation. I love that it took so little time. She showed how to cut the tomatoes and the spinach leaves with a pair of kitchen shears and it made the chopping very quick.

Things I learned: I learned about dried tomatoes, garlic in a jar and Farmer's Cheese. Janece explained that dried tomatoes work well in quiche because they are dryer and are less likely to cause the quiche to be runny. They have a more intense flavor and they are easy to cut with scissors.  She also explained that Farmer's cheese is a great choice for quiche because it is very mild and does not drown out the flavors of the other foods in the quiche. Janece recommends using a deep dish, glass, pie baking dish which worked very well for us. The quiche came out so perfectly, I hated to cut it. Just slicing and placing the Farmer's cheese on the top added to the beauty of the finished quiche as it melted in shiny patches over the top of the quiche. The eggs, spinach, tomatoes and cheese gave the quiche such bright colors that it came out gorgeous. There were no leftovers.

Janece's Tip for a fabulous quiche: (click on video)

Spinach Quiche Recipe: Look below the pictures for the recipe as we made it last night. 
We doubled this recipe to make two quiches.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spinach Quiche

1 deep dish, 9 inch pie plate
1 Already Pie Crust
6 eggs
1/2 of a 3.5 oz package of sun dried tomatoes halves (cut into pieces)
1/2 C baby spinach (washed and cut into pieces)
1/4 C 1/2 and 1/2 milk (can use whole milk or condensed milk as well, but skim may make quiche runny)
1/4 of a 3.5 oz package of Feta Cheese
1/4 of a can of Black Olives drained and chopped
2 tsp onion flakes
1 tsp dried basil
1 T (heaping) minced garlic (in a jar)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the eggs and milk with a whisk until blended.
Add the chopped spinach, tomatoes and olives
Add the feta cheese, onion, basil, salt and pepper.
Top with sliced Farmer's Cheese and more pepper

Back for 35 minutes until knife inserted comes out clean.



Serve with fresh fruit



Making Cooking Fun

Tuesday July 12, 2011
READERS WELCOME: I am hoping that the readers of my blog get inspiration, recipes and a good laugh as they read about my experiences which I'm sure will include some hilarious moments. Cooking should be fun and it should include friends. So come join me in this adventure.
What is Cooking With Marilee All About?

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG: The purpose of this blog is to bring an element of fun back into cooking. I just remodeled my kitchen and it looks beautiful. I want to do some cooking and have friends over to share my kitchen with me. Over the years cooking has gotten to be a chore for me and I want to develop an atmosphere in my kitchen where cooking is considered social, entertaining, and delicious. I am creating this blog to write about my experiences, share recipes and give others good ideas on how to make their kitchen a fun place.

THE PREMISE: I'm beginning by inviting "Guest Chefs" into my kitchen to show me how to cook their favorite recipe. I consider all my friends and family to be Chefs so any I invite into my kitchen will be my "Guest Chefs." The Guest Chef picks a recipe they enjoy making, I buy the ingredients and they come to my kitchen to show me how to make the recipe. We will spend a fun time in the kitchen cooking, laughing, talking and sampling. Then we will serve the meal to my husband, kids and other invited friends around the table.
THE FUN: I believe the fun comes with having a good excuse to invite friends over, sharing in the creating of a delicious dinner, and most of all sharing in the chore of clean up. That way when the evening is over, the kitchen is clean and we have some great memories. Plus I learn some great recipes that I can cook on my own when I have no friends around to help me.
MY FIRST "GUEST CHEF": My first guest chef is one of my favorite people. She has been my best friend since we were in 7th grade. She is actually driving over 2 hours to come to my house to cook with me. What a great friend and she definitely wanted to be the first to "Guest Chef." She has chosen a Spinach Quiche to begin my cooking experience. She will be here on Thursday, July 14. I do like quiche and have not made one in years.