Whole Wheat Focaccia with Artichokes....it's a Hearts and Flours Improv!

It's time for another monthly Improv and this month--in honor of Valentine's day--our theme is "Hearts and Flours"! For those not in the know, the monthly Improv, hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, is a friendly little competition where we create dishes based on two seasonal ingredients. Truth be told, I took this month's theme a little out of the box. Instead of creating a heart shaped food, I used "hearts" in my food--and made it heart healthy to boot!

Yum...I love artichoke hearts! Unfortunately, I've only ever had them in fatty appetizers or drenched in oil. These are packed in water.

If you haven't deduced from my last post, Healthier Mixed Berry Muffins, I'm trying to drop a lot a little weight and eat a little healthier. That is not to say that I won't continue posting some decadent stuff (I promise--those Orange-White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cinnamon Rolls will be up next), but I've found that a little moderation is in order. Luckily for me, my husband is on the same wavelength so it's easy for me to try out some new things.

One of the things that we discovered is that it's a lot easier for us to make better eating choices when we're at home. That said, it's hard to make dinner for the two of us after working all day. So, believe it or not, this focaccia bread recipe came about because I was tired and in a rush (thank goodness for my KitchenAid mixer!)

Whole Wheat Artichoke Focaccia

Printable Recipe

Dough:

1 cup warm water (like bathwater warm)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fast rising yeast

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt 

Topping:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or black pepper)

1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and sliced

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Combine the water, sugar, oil and yeast in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes, or until it starts to foam.

In the mean time, whisk together the white whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups of the all purpose flour, salt, and seasoning. Add it to the yeast mixture.

Using the dough hook on the stand mixer, knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, if needed. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it once. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set it in a warm, draft-free area to rise for 30-45 minutes.

Whole wheat flour can make the dough a little dry. Initially, I dumped all of the flour into the mix at once...I had to add a little more water. Luckily, the dough is pretty forgiving and it all turned out fine.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F; spray a 15" X 10" pan with cooking spray.

Gently deflate the dough and press it into the prepared pan. Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with the garlic powder and the pepper. Evenly top the dough with the sliced artichoke hearts, drained tomatoes, onions,and spinach. Sprinkle the cheese and the Italian seasoning over the top.

I was going to bake this on a pizza stone, but discovered it had broken in half (!). Luckily, using the jelly roll pan made this even easier.

I loved this combination of toppings, but you can get creative here...add some olives, fresh herbs...whatever floats your boat. :)

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Cut into squares--this will make 6 servings at about 300 calories per serving.

I really loved how this turned out! If you aren't familiar with white whole wheat flour, you can read about it on the Whole Grains Council website...it's a great way to add whole grains if you aren't fond of regular whole wheat flour. Feel free to substitute your favorite spices. I used a little cayenne pepper to give it a slight kick, but regular pepper works fine. I'll bet some fresh basil (I didn't have any) would make a nice addition, too.

Don't forget to check out what everyone else is making!

Eggs Florentine on Golden Polenta (low cal and gluten free)

Last year, when Saucy Mama ran the "Fab with Five" contest, I thought it might be the most difficult contest that I could enter. Create a recipe using only five ingredients, including one of Saucy Mama's delicious sauces or mustards? Luckily, the sauces turned out to be so good, that it really wasn't all that difficult. While I didn't win, I had such a great time coming up with recipes that I was one of the first in line to sign up for this year's contest. This year the theme is "Skinny Mama" and we, some 50 bloggers, are to come up with low cal or gluten free recipes....healthy stuff. Yikes. The last recipe I posted was for Carrot Cake Pancakes. I wasn't so sure I could do this. Then, the box of mustard arrived in the mail.

You can win a selection of three mustard's...see how below!

Holy Cow! We received the three mustards in the picture, plus three others. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard, after all....

Since my last recipe was a rather caloric, albeit tasty, breakfast entree, I thought I would start with a healthier breakfast idea.

Eggs Florentine on Golden Polenta with “Skinny” Mustard Sauce

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Saucy Mama Tarragon Lemon Mustard or Champagne Honey Mustard

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

12 oz prepared polenta, cut into 8 1/2" rounds

3 teaspoons olive oil, divided

1 (6 oz) bag baby spinach leaves

8 eggs, poached

Salt and pepper to taste

First, mix the yogurt, mayo, mustard, lemon juice and water together; set aside.

Heat two teaspoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the polenta slices and fry them over medium/low heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until golden and crispy. Remove from skillet and cover to keep warm.

Add an additional teaspoon of oil to the skillet and add the fresh spinach. Saute for 3 or 4 minutes, or until wilted and heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the spinach from the skillet. Spoon the mustard sauce into the warm pan and cook for about a minute until heated through.

Arrange two polenta slices on a plate. Top each slice with 1/8 of the spinach and a poached egg. Drizzle the sauce over the egg; repeat for each polenta slice. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. This recipe will serve 4, two eggs each.

I love a nice runny yolk, but if it's not your bag, simply cook your egg longer.

Not sure how to poach an egg? Watch Alton Brown do it here:

How easy was that? And thanks to the Saucy Mama mustard, the sauce is tasty, gluten free, and low in calories. In fact, you can eat two of the eggs with sauce for about 325 calories! Not too shabby.

Now, how about that giveaway? Saucy Mama is generously giving away a three pack of mustards to one of my readers. Simply leave a comment telling me what kind of recipe you would use your Saucy Mama mustard in and you will be entered . On Wednesday, February 29th, Saucy Mama will open the voting polls on her Facebook page, and you, our readers, will decide which 10 recipes will be in the final judging. For additional entries, simply vote for the recipe that you like best, and come back here to let us know you voted for your favorite. Winners will be chosen using Rafflecopter on or about March 7th, 2012. Good luck and enjoy all of the creative entries!

Disclaimer: I was given a Saucy Mama box of condiments in order to create this recipe. All opinions, as always, are my own.

Pizza...it's worth repeating

I'm thinking pizza is my favorite food. Seriously. I've certainly written about it more than once. The best part is that since I've started making my own, it's become easier and easier. I can come home from work and have a pizza in the oven in less than hour. How cool is that?

Do you want the short version? Here it is:

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.

Basic Dough

Printable Recipe

1 1/4 cups warm water (bathwater warm, about 110 degrees F.)

1 tablespoon sugar or honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons (or one package) dry yeast

3-3 1/2 cups bread flour (can swap out 1 cup of bread flour for whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon salt

Place the water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar or honey and the olive oil. Stir in the yeast. Let this mixture stand for about 5 minutes or until it starts to foam (this way you know the yeast is working). Add three cups of the flour and the salt. 

Attach the dough hook and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. It should clean the sides of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, add a little flour, a tablespoon at a time. Likewise, add a little water if it's too dry.

Place the dough in a well oiled bowl and turn it over so that both sides are oiled. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let the dough rise in a draft-free area until it's doubled, about 45 minutes.

Punch the dough down and plop it on a floured surface ( I prefer my Silpat), then divide it in two. Put one of the halves of dough back into the bowl and cover it back up.

The Silpat makes it easy to transfer the dough onto the pizza peel.

Spread the dough out into a 10-12 inch circle. Sometimes mine are oblong. :)

Put a generous handful of cornmeal on a pizza peel and spread it around. Place the dough on top of the corn meal ---you are now ready to top the pizza.

No matter what kind of toppings I choose, I start by drizzling a little olive oil over the top of the dough. At this point you can spread some sauce over the top, but since I'm not a huge sauce fan, I just sprinkle some seasonings on top (whatever I have on hand--tonight it's Italian seasoning, some garlic powder, and a little salt). Put on the toppings of choice. Here, I added sliced tomatoes, onions, fresh spinach, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and a shredded blend of cheeses. I normally don't measure the cheese, but use about a half of an 8 oz. bag. Get creative. Like olives? Load 'em on. Pepperoni? Go for it.

Of course your pizza stone is going to get all gnarly looking after a few uses. Don't mind this--it gives it character....

Slide it onto the pizza stone and bake for 10-12 minutes. I had my oven on convection and just had it in there for 8 minutes.

Pull out that pie and slice it up. Then do it all over again with your second piece of dough.

Don't you love this time of year? Fresh tomatoes, spinach and basil...there's nothing better.

And don't forget to save a piece for breakfast.

Sweet Heat Caramelized Onion and Spinach Pizza

Friday night at our house means one of two things--pizza or fish. Tonight I am limited to things I have on hand in the house, so the decision is made--pizza!

Pizza is one of the most versatile foods there is. Seriously, you can top the dough with just about anything. Feeling Hawaiian? Throw some pineapple on there. Mexican? A little taco meat. Plus, you can have as few or as many ingredients as you want. Or have. Did I mention that I am limited to things I have on hand in the house? It seems to me that it's time for a Saucy Mama Fabulous with Five recipe. 

Sweet Heat Caramelized Onion and Spinach Pizza

2 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling on pizza

1 large sweet onion, sliced thin

1/4 cup Saucy Mama Sweet Heat Marinade, plus more if needed

1 pound prepared pizza dough*

2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

1 cup shredded Mozzarella or blended cheese

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

*You can find prepared pizza dough in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores, or ask your favorite pizza restaurant if they will sell you some dough.

Place a pizza stone in the oven and heat oven to 450 degrees F. (Use the back side of a baking sheet if you don't have a stone).

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions to the pan. Cook onions, stirring often, until softened, but not brown, about five minutes. Pour the Sweet Heat Marinade evenly over the top of the onions, reduce the heat to simmer and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until caramelized. Add 1-2 additional tablespoons marinade if the onions look too dry. Remove from heat and set aside.

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface (if you use a silicone baking mat, you can omit the flour), and roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch circle. There is no need to be precise...mine turned out a little oblong rather than round. Generously sprinkle a pizza peel with corn meal and transfer the pizza dough to the peel. Again, use the back of a baking pan if you don't have a peel.

I was out of Mozzarella cheese, so I used what I had. This was a Mexican blend and it worked just fine.....

Drizzle a little olive oil on the pizza dough. Top with the spinach leaves, the caramelized onions and the cheese. Carefully, slide the pizza onto the pizza stone Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden. Sprinkle with some sea salt and freshly ground pepper, if desired.

The caramelized onions made with the marinade are nothing short of amazing. Saucy Mama Sweet Heat Marinade includes black pepper and sweet-hot chili sauce---you really don't need any other spices. I did enjoy a sprinkle of sea salt and some freshly ground pepper on my slice, however.

I know you want some.....

This is my final entry into Saucy Mama's Fabulous with Five Recipe Contest. You still have time to win your own box of Saucy Mama goodness. Just leave a comment on this post Tri-Tip Hoagies with Sweet Heat Slaw. You have until 11:59 P.M. on May 21, 2011 to enter. Don't forget to check out Saucy Mama's site--you can order sauce to your heart's content.

Coast to Coast Cooking--Chicken Saltimbocca with Creamy Mushroom Cavatappi

“No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize.”—Julia Child.

I went into this endeavor with that quote in mind, certain of disaster.

My wonderful friends at BakeSpace.com came up with a really cool cooking project called Coast to Coast Cooking. In their first attempt, using Food Network’s Melissa D'Arabian’s 4-step chicken recipe, they all created their version and linked up to each others’ blogs. It was so much fun that they did it again, but with Paella. That time, they invited the blogless (including me) to join in and I was lucky enough to have Danielle (Cooking for My Piece of Mind) invite me to be a guest blogger. What a blast that was! It totally resulted in my own blog creation.

This month our mission was to create our own version of saltimbocca. This was just a little scary for me, since I had no idea what it was. Luckily, it is another recipe that has many different interpretations. Just skimming through a few recipes, I noticed that, for the most part, the only things that were constant were the use of sage and prosciutto. Much like every homework project I ever attempted in college, I was going to wing it!

Literally translated, saltimbocca means “jump in the mouth”. Most recipes I found used either chicken or veal. I know for certain that my friend Shane (Culinary Alchemist) will surprise us with another meat, but I, on the other hand, had to keep in mind that whatever I made had to be eaten by my family and prosciutto would have to be as exotic as it got. It was going to be chicken for me. I also decided that I would stuff the chicken with the prosciutto, some cheese and a little seasoned spinach. Then I would accompany the bird with some cavatappi topped with a creamy mushroom sauce.

I started out by flattening a chicken breast half with a rubber mallet. It helps not to get too aggressive here, as it rips the flesh of the chicken. I found this out, but I won’t apologize for it, hee hee. Then I placed a very thin piece of prosciutto, some thinly sliced pepper/jack cheese and the spinach. For the spinach, I just cooked a package of the frozen stuff, drained it really well (squeezed out the water), and mixed it with a little olive oil, a few dashes of lemon/pepper and some ground sage (shoot—why hadn’t I thought to buy the fresh sage?). I left out the salt because of the saltiness of the prosciutto. Then I rolled it up, tucking in the sides, much like an eggroll. I only did two, since it was Labor Day and I was making a traditional BBQ for the family. I didn’t want too many leftovers.

Next I dredged the chicken in flour, then in a beaten egg and finally in some Panko bread crumbs seasoned with a little parmesan cheese and lemon/pepper. I then heated some vegetable oil in a heavy skillet and quickly browned the chicken pieces on all sides. I put them in a pan and baked them at 350 ° for 45 minutes.

While the chicken was in the oven, I made the sauce. In a large skillet, I melted about 4 tablespoons of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Notice, I haven’t measured anything so far. I was indeed winging it. I sautéed a half of an onion, chopped, a package of sliced mushrooms and two crushed cloves of garlic. Then I seasoned all of it with about a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and some pepper. Oh, and I added about a ½ cup of dry white wine and some roasted red pepper slices from a jar. I let all of this cook down (it smelled sooo good!) and then I let it simmer while I cooked up the cavatappi. When, the cavatappi was nearly done, I added about a cup of light cream, a cup of parmesan cheese, and another splash of wine to the mushroom mixture and let it heat through. I stirred in the drained cavatappi and slapped my husband’s fingers out of the pan.

Finally, I sliced the chicken placed it on top of the cavatappi. Holy Cow!! This stuff was delicious. Thankfully, there was no need to apologize.

If you would like to see what my beeps (BakeSpace peeps, for the uniformed) created, here is the link:


Coast to Coast Cooking