
Last night, right before I fell into a deep sleep – around 11:40 pm – I whipped up some habenero cactus jelly. What? Let me explain. When I can't fall asleep, I pretend I'm a cheftestant on Top Chef. Absurd, I know. I am not a chef. Not. even. close. It doesn't matter, my cooking qualifications are irrelevant. I just need to fall asleep, people, and counting sheep doesn't cut it. So, each night, I enter myself into a quick fire challenge, think about what I would cook, and how I would make it. Take, for example, the recent Top Chef quick fire on cooking cactus. I got in my PJs, crawled into bed, then went through a bunch of potential cactus dishes in my head. I finally decided on habanero cactus jelly. Five minutes later I was a asleep. Some times, I'll actually make the dishes I dream up; sometimes not. Habanero cactus jelly? Not.
Continue reading "Vichyssoise Deconstructed (Potato, Leek, and Gruyere Pizza)" »

I never order takeout pizza. It just doesn't taste good and it can be expensive. Instead, I keep a bag of Trader Joe's pizza dough in my freezer. At 99 cents, the dough is a bargain, and, as long as you don't spend a lot of money on ingredients, you can make a recession-ready pizza in no time. Take this pizza, for example. I caramelized a red onion (89 cents), cut a few sprigs of rosemary off my office plant (practically free!), and added a handful of Gruyere cheese (~$1.50). That's about $3.50, if you count some olive oil and a bit of cornmeal for the pizza paddle. And, this pizza was enough for two meals. Take that Ben Bernanke.
Continue reading "Caramelized Onion, Gruyere, and Rosemary Pizza" »

Peaches on pizza? Trust me. A perfectly ripe peach can go from sweet to savory with the right company. All you need is pizza dough, some sauteed onion, garlic, thyme, and cheese. Cheddar would work. So would parmesan. I used bleu cheese because that's what I had on hand.
Continue reading "Peach, Arugula, and Bleu Pizza" »
The other day I spotted a box of figs at Whole Foods. Yes, they were from California. Yes, I still wanted them. Yes, I bought them. Go ahead and judge me. I'm at the point in winter when I'm over apples that are totally past their peak and I am craving blood oranges and pineapple. Strawberries too. I can't take it any more. After making my case to a small jury of lemons and limes, I convinced myself that my carbon footprint was relatively impressive. So I bought the figs with pizza in mind. A pizza that I had a Liberty Tavern that still takes up space in my brain and makes my stomach growl.
Continue reading "Fig, Thyme, and Andouille Sausage Pizza" »
Today at the farmers market, I had a hard time finding vegetables that grow above ground. There were parsnips, pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, and beets. Then I came across the mushroom stand. I bought a box of cremini and a box of shiitake. The mushrooms matched with thyme and roasted garlic packed this pizza with flavor. It didn't even need cheese, but I added some anyway because I didn't want my parmesan to feel left out.
Continue reading "Shiitake and Cremini Mushroom Pizza with Roasted Garlic and Thyme" »