Zucchini Flatbread

I've finally broken out my bread book again.  Being away for the summer made me miss out on trying a new bread in June and July, but I'm going to squeak this one in before the end of August.

The recipe is in two parts, first you need to make the bread and then you cook up the zucchini topping.


DOUGH
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose, unbleached flour
1 packet granulated yeast
1/2 T kosher salt
1/8 cup vital wheat gluten
2 cups lukewarm water
cornmeal for pizza peel

Directions
1.  Measure dry ingredients and mix together. 
       *I like to do this in a plastic container with a lid for easy dough storage.

2.  Add water and stir with a wooden spoon.

3.  Cover the dough with a lid (not airtight) and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.  (If it rises for longer, that is fine.)

4.  Place dough in the refrigerator.

ZUCCHINI TOPPING
 Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
2 scallions, sliced thinly into rounds
3/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 small or 1 large zucchini
1/2 cup Parmigiano0Reggiano cheese, grated
freshly grated pepper
2-4 T raw pine nuts or almonds

Directions
1.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat.

2.  Add the scallions and saute until softened and fragrant.

3.  Add the parsley, zucchini, salt, and pepper.
     *I didn't have any parsley on hand, but it was absolutely delicious without it.

4.  Cook until everything is wilted and the liquid has mostly evaporated.  This should take about ten minutes.

5.  Remove from the heat and let stand for about a bit minutes ... Then, add cheese.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
1.  Preheat oven to 450 F with the pizza stone inside.

2.  Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a grapefruit-size portion.

3.  Shape the dough into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides.

4.  Flatten the dough on your pizza peel (dusted with cornmeal) with your hands or with a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/8 thick.

5.  Cover the surface of the dough with the sauteed zucchini.  Sprinkle with almonds (or pine nuts).

6.  Slide the flatbread pizza from the pizza peel onto the pizza stone in the oven.

7.  Bake it for 12 to 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

8.  Finish with a grinding of salt and pepper.



Let cool a bit before serving ... then enjoy!



 

Shrimp Scampi

This shrimp scampi recipe is from my favorite Food Network host, Ina Garten.  I find her philosophy of bringing out the natural flavors of food instead of doctoring it up with tons of sauces and spices so refreshing.  I have never been disappointed in any of her recipes; they are always amazingly delicious.

One of the great things about this shrimp scampi is that I can make it with just my pantry items ... no grocery trip necessary.  However, it tastes so bright and fresh that it seems like you put a lot of work and ingredients into it.  The fresh ingredients, shrimp and lemons, are easy to have on hand, so I usually do.  If you needed to use lemon juice from a bottle, I guess you could, it just would not taste as fresh.   

INGREDIENTS
3/4 lb linguini or spaghetti (you can use a whole box too)
salt
pepper
3 T unsalted butter
2 1/2 T olive oil
1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb large shrimp, deveined and peeled  (I use frozen shrimp)
1/2 lemon, zested
1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed ( ~ 1 1/2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced into rounds
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS
1.  Bring water to a boil and add salt and a splash of oil - add pasta and cook according to package

2.  Heat butter and olive oil over medium-low heat


3.  Add garlic and saute for about 1 minute

4.  Add shrimp with 1 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper - saute until shrimp turn pink




5.  Remove pan from heat and add lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon rounds, and red pepper flakes

6.  Toss with pasta and serve!

Brooklyn - Prospect Park

Brooklyn Bridge

I spent a fair amount of time in Brooklyn this summer visiting Tim.  Before this, I had maybe step foot in it for a few minutes after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.  However, it is a wonderful place, at least the Park Slope area, which is where I spent most of my time.  It has a more intimate and quieter feel than Manhattan, but is just as culturally rich and vibrant.  So, since I really knew nothing about Brooklyn, as it seems to be a forgotten step-brother to Manhattan (along with Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx), I decided to read a little about it on ... Wikipedia.  (disclaimer:  yes, even though I'm a librarian, I do use wikipedia and love it)

A few interesting tidbits about Brooklyn:

• Eendraght Maeckt Magh is its official motto, which when translated from the Dutch means, Unity makes strength.
• Brooklyn is the most populous of the five buroughs.
• The first major battle in the Revolutionary War following the signing of the Declaration of Independence was fought in Brooklyn. 

Two of my favorite Brooklyn activities this summer both occurred in Prospect Park.  They were spending a lazy afternoon in Prospect Park,  the Central Park of Brooklyn, and attending two free, outdoor concerts in Prospect Park.  The park is probably a 10 minute walk from Tim's apartment.  There are plenty of trees and open grassy areas where you can spread out a blanket.  The summer concert offerings are amazing - the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of each weekend ... 3 different performers each night.  Our first concert we went with my Anna, William, and Breanne to see a blue grass band, the Punch Brothers.  Our second concert was with my good friend from college, Marisa, to see a new band formed by two of the former Dixie Chicks.  Yes, these two concerts happened to be a little more "country", but the offerings are very eclectic from jazz to reggae to Latin to indie rock to gospel and more.

I'm looking forward to exploring more of Brooklyn because the little bit that I have experienced has been wonderful!

July 15-31

As usual, I'm playing catch up again.  So, here are the pictures for the second half of July.  Once school starts back up again, hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly since I will be home!

July 15-21 on PhotoPeach



July 22-31 on Animoto


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Curried Chicken Salad

A few years ago I had the most delicious curried chicken salad wrap at on of my favorite places, Selin's Grove Brewing Company.  So, my mission began ... to make a curried chicken salad that was as delicious.  I started by trying a few that I found on the internet, but it didn't have the same intense curry flavor.  Finally, after at least 4 to 5 different recipes, I stumbled upon Ina Garten's recipe for curried chicken salad ... amazing!!!


Ingredients
3 whole chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup Major Grey's chutney
3 T curry powder
1 cup celery, medium diced
1/4 cup scallions, chopped (white and green parts)
1/4 cups raisins (I like to use golden raisins)
1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews

Getting your chicken ready
You have two options for preparing your chicken:  
Option 1
Preheat your oven to 300F.
Place the chicken on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil then salt and pepper vigorously.
Roast for 35-40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked.
When cool enough, remove meat from bones.
Option 2
Place chicken in a large stock pot.
Salt and pepper the chicken and then fill the pot with water until the chicken is 3/4 covered.
Heat on high, bring to a boil, and cook for about 30 minutes and then remove chicken from pot.
When cool enough, remove meat from bones.

Dressing
Combine the mayonnaise, wine, chutney, curry powder, and 1 1/2 tsp salt in a food processor.  Process until smooth.

Throwing it all together
Combine the chicken with enough dressing to moisten well.  Add the celery, scallions, and raisins.  Mix well.  Refrigerate for a few hours to let the flavors mingle.  Finally, add the cashews and serve:)

Kayaking on the Susquehanna

 I've lived a 10 minute walk from the Susquehanna River for the past 6 years ... and I only kayaked on it for the first time this week.  There is a new business that opened up on the Isle of Que, the island between Penns Creek and the Susquehanna, that rents kayaks for an extremely reasonable price.   I noticed it on one of my runs this summer ... then I had a torturous 40 minutes left to think about how great it would be to be kayaking instead of running.


So, when Tim came to visit, I was finally able to cross "kayaking on the Susquehanna" off my list of things to do!  We took a 2 hour kayak trip that the owner recommended. 

We paddled up one side of the river with a short detour through a marshy island in the center of the river.  The river was so low that we were able to get out at one point and walk our kayaks up the river for a few feet.  We also discovered an inlet off the main river.  As we entered the inlet, I felt like I was entering newly discovered land.  We were surrounded by trees and bushes on either side.  Suddenly, though, a hint of civilization appeared in the form of a tire swing.  It was a quintessential Americana summer location. 

Shortly after leaving the inlet, we paddled over to the opposite side of the river.  After going under an old railroad pass, we found an island with a nice beach to stop at for lunch.  Just as we sat down to dig into our chicken salad wraps, we saw a bald eagle.  It was both of our first time seeing a bald eagle in the wild and it was pretty impressive.  After lunch it was time for a swim, of course!

We ended our trip with an enjoyable, and easy, paddle downstream.  Next time a 4 hour trip is in order.  We also want to check out the fall foliage tour that this place offers.  They also have photography tours, which I may look into as well!