My All-Purpose Bread Mix

I've been in a great groove with homemade meals lately. For us, bread often makes the meal. This isn't to say we don't eat heaps of healthy whole foods. But if we're trying to be successful with resisting takeout and meals out of the house, making tasty pizza and other bread-y things is essential. So, I want to share with you the ONE recipe I've been using to make all of it.

I use this mix for garlic knots, pizza dough, and naan.

It does it all!

What you'll need . . .

• 3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups warm water or non-dairy milk

Method . . . 

1. In a large bowl, whisk together 3-1/2 cups flour, the sugar, yeast, and salt.
2. Add in water if you're making garlic knots or pizza dough. Add in milk if you're making naan.
3. Mix with your hands until a ball forms. You may need to add more flour if it's too sticky to handle.
4. Knead for 5-10 minutes. I find it's best when I really take the time, but five minutes will do in a pinch.
5. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel.
6. Let rise in a warm spot for 2-3 hours, until doubled in bulk.

To bake . . . 

• Divide into small balls to make garlic knots. Bake for 10-13 minutes at 425 degrees F, until golden.
• Divide into discs to make pizzas. We place this dough on well greased pans and press it thin. Bake with toppings at 450 degrees F for 10-13 minutes, until golden.
• Divide into fist-sized balls and roll flat for naan. Bake on a pizza stone in a well preheated oven at 500 degrees for a few minutes until golden.

What's your favorite multi-purpose recipe?

I hope to be back into another blogging groove soon. Ada woke up with the stomach bug and I have some big deadlines this week. But we'll all survive! What would you like to see next? Any requests?

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Pumpkin Pizza Dough

I’ve been making pumpkin pizza crust for years. So long, in fact, that my favorite recipe has changed from this first time I posted it in 2010. If you make pizza often from home (like we do), this crust will help health it up a bit. It’s also way tastier than plain pizza crust. And you can use it for far more than just pies. Think garlic knots, rolls, calzones, etc.

All with this simple 5-ingredient recipe.

And don’t miss the secret below!

PUMPKIN PIZZA DOUGH

What you'll need . . .

• 1 cup warm water
• 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3-1/2 cups unbleached bread flour*
• 1-1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

* These days I often do a mix of half bread flour, half whole wheat flour. It gives the crust a hearty texture. Sometimes I’ll roll in a little cornmeal before baking, too.

Method . . . 

1. In a small bowl, whisk together your warm water and active dry yeast. Let sit until frothy -- around 5-10 minutes. Pour in the maple syrup, olive oil, and pumpkin puree and mix again.
2. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of flour with your salt. Create a small well in the center using your fist.
3. Pour your wet ingredients into the well and use a spatula to bring everything together. When you can no longer mix that way, use your hands to knead -- adding the final 1/2+ cup of flour until you form an elastic dough.
4. Return dough to the large bowl and drizzle with more olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a wet tea towel and let rise for 2 hours, until doubled in size.

RECIPES

Oven Baked Pizza:

This method is a little different from what you might be used to. Now, the recipe yields enough dough for two large pizzas. We bake ours on a pizza stone by preheating the oven (with stone inside) to 450-500 degrees F.  When we’re ready to bake, we take the stone out of the oven, place the crust on top and spread with sauce, sprinkle with cheese, etc. Before placing the pizza back in the oven, we turn it to broil and then broil the pizza on the middle rack for 7-10 minutes, until browned and bubbly.

Seriously, if you bake pizza at home and don’t have a stone, pick one up! (This one costs a little over $16) We’ve been using the same one since we got married in 2007. We do our pizza on it, of course, but also most of our baking of garlic knots, biscuits, sweet potato fries, etc. I feel like I could dedicate a whole post to the pizza stone, and maybe I will.

You can also use this dough in these recipes:

Pumpkin Garlic Knots
Pumpkin Pesto Rolls -- my personal favorite
Brie-Stuffed Pumpkin Pesto Rolls
Gourmet Grilled Pizza
Homemade DP Dough Calzone

THE SECRET

And here’s the coolest part about this recipe: You can basically substitute in ANY kind of puree in for the pumpkin. Trust me and try it. I’ve made Beet Pizza Dough, Pesto Pizza Dough, and even Garbanzo Pizza Dough -- all by using similar ratios + this recipe as a jumping off point.

Have you tried pumpkin pizza dough? 

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Purple Cabbage Garlic Knots

Without planning to, I've set a new goal for myself. I'd like to create pizza dough in all colors of the rainbow, naturally. As you already know from the millions of recipes, our favorite dinners involve either pizza or garlic knots, so we've made an effort over the years to find a way to make it a healthier option. Using purees has really transformed this process.

So far, we have:

• RED with Beet Pizza Dough. 
• ORANGE, obviously, with my favorite Pumpkin Garlic Knots. 
• We could count our Chickpea Crust as YELLOW -- but I'll work on that one. 
• GREEN is in the form of delicious Pesto Dough made with homemade pesto.

And now PURPLE!


As I mentioned in yesterday's Curious George Juice post, I actually juiced the cabbage for this recipe instead of pureeing it. However, I'll give the puree option as well -- since it would be more like the other recipes we have on this site (in other words, if you'd like to try a similar dough, but don't have a juicer).

What's different with juicing versus cooking + pureeing is that the flavor is far more intense and concentrated. I'd describe purple cabbage knots as sweet and earthy. What I can't necessarily tell you is the difference with regard to nutrition. Obviously when juiced raw, the cabbage retains most of its nutrients, but loses the fiber. I don't know how much is lost in the baking process, but I am thinking more remains than with pureeing.

As you can imagine, the color is more vibrant, too.


PURPLE CABBAGE GARLIC KNOTS
works equally well as a pizza crust recipe

What you'll need . . . 

• 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 warm water
• 1 tablespoon Sugar in the Raw (or sugar)
• 1 cup cabbage juice (room temperature or warm, not cold)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3-1/2 cups bread flour

Method . . .

1. To make our cabbage juice, we set our Breville Juice Fountain on high and juiced quartered purple cabbage until we got 1 cup. Set aside.
2. Mix the yeast into the 1/2 cup of warm water + the sugar. Let sit until frothy -- proofed -- about 10 minutes.
3. Mix in the cabbage juice and olive oil until well combined.
4. Add in the flour a cup or so at a time until you reach 3 cups, then start kneading and add more as needed. You may need more or less flour, depending on a lot of factors. Just knead until you form a smooth, elastic ball that isn't sticky . . . but not dry either!
5. Cover with plastic wrap or a wet tea towel + let rise for at least 2 hours in a warm place.

My prettiest knots to date!


// PUREE ALTERNATIVE

If you'd rather use puree, just steam cabbage and puree in a food processor until smooth. You can experiment with using just a 1/2 cup puree . . . up to a full cup for the juice in the recipe above. Adjust your water content accordingly until you reach the same smooth, elastic round. All else should be the same.


// COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

• For knots: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, preferably with a pizza stone inside. Divide dough into two large balls and save one for another day. Divide one of these balls up into between 10 and 16 knots, depending on size preference. Roll and knot your dough and then bake for up to 12-15 minutes. Top with a mixture of olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast for a non-dairy option).
• For pizza: Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F, preferably with a pizza stone inside. Divide dough into two large balls and save one for another day. Spin or otherwise stretch your dough into a crust that will fit on your stone. Then bake for a few minutes before taking out of the oven + topping with your favorites. Bake for another 12-15 minutes.

Happy Friday!

Have you tried any of our colorful pizza dough recipes? Which one is your favorite? And do you have a suggestion for BLUE?! My mind briefly wandered over to a sweet blueberry recipe, which I might just have to try, but I'm not sure about that.


And don't miss our 90 healthiest recipes of 2013! Lots of delicious, wholesome foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and beyond. Includes both vegan and vegetarian recipes to please the entire family -- even toddlers!




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Brie-Stuffed Pumpkin Garlic Rolls

Finally got a chance to make the last dish for our Thanksgiving Brunch special. So far, we've served up Soft-Boiled Eggs atop Spinach Toast, a Bittersweet Pumpkin Pie, and Maple Roasted Fingerling Potatoes. There were a lot of directions I wanted to go with another selection, but I simply couldn't choose between sweet + savory.

So I settled on these guys.

This recipe is incredibly easy to make. So much so, you'll want to eat them again and again. If you've been reading for a long while (in which case, I'm thankful for you!), you've already got the basics down. You can even mix your dough together today, let rise, and refrigerate for use tomorrow.

Get going!

:: Make up a batch of Pumpkin Garlic Knots dough + let rise for 2 hours.
:: Then consult the Pumpkin Pesto Rolls post for some method illustrations.

The real difference with these rolls versus the others is the filling.

Check it out:


BRIE-STUFFED PUMPKIN GARLIC ROLLS

You'll need . . . 

• 1 wedge buttery brie, cut rind off + chop
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup 
• 1 handful baby kale or spinach, chopped 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• Salt + pepper to taste
• Jam for topping

Method . . .

• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin, like this one.
• Once you've chopped the garlic and kale, just toss everything into a bowl and mix by hand until well incorporated.
• Then roll your dough atop a floured work surface into a long log. Divide into 12 equal portioned pieces of dough.
• Take each piece and roll out into an oval-ish shape, spread your cheese mixture inside, then roll and place in your muffin tin.
• Continue with all remaining pieces of dough and until you run out of brie mixture.
• Then bake in the oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Until golden brown and bubbling. Let cool before eating.

We then topped ours with some delicious Hot Pepper Raspberry Preserves. You can eat them however you like. But consider this your alternative to boring stuffing. Or just eat them whenever. I mean, these rolls are quite literally stuffing, so we have you covered in that regard!

I wish you luck with all your final shopping trips + tweaks with recipes for the big day tomorrow. I'd love to know what's on your menu this year. As well as if you celebrate with traditional Thanksgiving dinner or do something a little different like brunch.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Pesto Pizza Dough

I told you I'd be back with more pesto-riffic ideas for you. I'm pretty sure this is my favorite way to use homemade pesto in bulk -- and it works no matter what ingredients (think GREENS) you end up using. This basic pizza dough works great for, well, pizzas + calzones, but also a sweet modification of one of my favorite recipes: Pumpkin Pesto Rolls.

Now make some PESTO garlic rolls!

PESTO PIZZA DOUGH
Vegan optional, depending on your pesto.

What you'll need . . .

• 2-1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar or honey/maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup Garlic Scape + Swiss Chard Pesto
• 3+ cups bread flour
• pinch salt

Method . . .

1. If you haven't already, make your pesto. As I've said in the past, you can sub in most leafy greens you have around your kitchen -- so feel free to get creative. We've used anything from swiss chard to kale, etc.
2. Then in a large bowl, combine the warm -- not hot -- water, yeast, and sugar. Stir and let sit until frothy -- around 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the pesto and olive oil. Stir well.
4. Then add in the bread flour + salt -- at first just 2-1/2 cups. Knead and add more flour 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture forms an elastic ball. Not sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours until doubled in bulk. 
5. Then punch down and divide into two balls. Store one and divide the other again -- but into between 6 and 8 balls. Then follow the instructions in the Pumpkin Pesto Rolls post for the rest.

Like I said, making a simple + satisfying pizza is always great, too. Tomorrow I'll share this beauty with you -- homemade kalamata tomato sauce and all!


Have I convinced you to eat pesto with every meal yet?

What's your favorite use for the gorgeous, surprisingly healthy green spread?

MORE THINGS PESTO:

Steamed Pesto Dumplings
Garlic Scape + Swiss Chard Pesto
Pumpkin Pesto Rolls
Spinach Pesto
Vegan Walnut Pesto
Basil-Pesto French Toast
Pesto French Toast, II -- with Avocado Butter
Pesto Quiche with Oatmeal Crust
Pesto Garlic Knots
Pesto Portabella Sandwiches
(Pesto) Smothered Mother

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Pumpkin Pesto Rolls

I've been holding out on you. Maybe that's not the right way to put it. It was gluten-free month after all. But I made these ages ago, just hadn't had the opportunity to take great photos.

Mind-blown.

PUMPKIN + PESTO ROLLS

What you'll need . . .

• A full batch of Pumpkin Garlic Knots dough, recipe here.
• A full batch of Walnut Basil Pesto, recipe here or your favorite pesto recipe with a similar yield.
• A standard muffin tin, like this one.

Method . . .

1. Let your dough rise + make your pesto.
2. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease the cups of the muffin tin with olive oil and set aside.
3. Knead dough for a minute, then divide into 12 equal balls. Using a rolling pin, flatten and roll out one ball until it is about 4 to 5 inches long.
4. Spread a heaping tablespoon of pesto onto it and roll. Place into muffin tin.
5. Continue with process with the remaining pieces of dough and pesto until all cups are full.
6. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving with your favorite tomato sauce.

I hope the photos convey that this recipe is a MUST-make. I'd also love to figure out a gluten-free version. As always please, please, please let me know how you like this recipe! It's definitely a new favorite.

We ate them up quickly, but if you wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in an air-tight container, I think you could freeze/reheat these pretty easily.

Enjoy!

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Grilled Cheese (Knot!)

Alternative to grilled cheese? Take Pumpkin Garlic Knots, bake them so they are slightly under-done in the middle. Then slice in half, top with cheese of your choice, I used cheddar, and broil for a few minutes until browned and bubbly. Then top with the usual garlic knot mixture.

This "recipe" is simple enough.

Goes great with Roasted Tomato Soup!


Happy Halloween, by the way. If you'd like to check out Ada's awesome lion costume, just head over to Writing Chapter Three! I want her to wear it every single day.

And here's to the New Leaf plan and avoiding mass quantities of candy tonight.

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Roasted (Canned) Tomato Soup

When tomatoes aren't in season, we stock up on the canned variety and keep plenty in our pantry. Many soups, stews, sauces, etc. call for tomatoes. They're pretty versatile, too, and we toss them into a variety dishes year-round, well beyond typical Italian fare.

Yesterday, I was craving tomato soup. I've never made it at home before, but it's one of my favorites with a crusty grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough, most preferably. I'm a lover of roasting everything, as you well know, and I've drooled over many roasted tomato soup recipes online -- including this one from Deb at Smitten Kitchen.

So . . .

. . . I set out to make a roasted tomato soup with canned tomatoes, fully accepting that it may flop. But I had the time. Obviously fresh is best, but when that's not an option, I'd definitely say that this recipe yielded some tasty soup in its own right.

To roast, you'll need a rimmed baking sheet and two 1-lb cans of whole, peeled tomatoes -- drained. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. If you've worked with these tomatoes before, you know the insides are often very juicy. I also halved them and took out the seeds. I roasted 3 large cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped, with the bunch.

I drizzled the pan with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Then I let roast for 10 minutes, stirred, roasted another 10, stirred, another 10 stirred, until the pan turned black. That isn't an instruction. That's just what happened and why I decided to take them out when I did. 

By this time, the garlic had browned, so I let everything cool a while and then blended the tomatoes and garlic with a few tablespoons of water.


ROASTED (CANNED) TOMATO SOUP

What you'll need . . .

• Roasted tomato puree (from above)
• 1 quart vegetable broth (low sodium)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance (or butter)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method . . . 

1. I combined the chunky tomato puree with the ingredients above in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. I turned the heat down to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes, until thickened slightly.
3. I kept tinkering with the spices until I got it just how I wanted it.
4. I then served it with some special pumpkin garlic knots, as you'll see tomorrow.

Have you found creative ways to use canned food? What have you made?

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Moonshine Kingdom

Nothing much to report from this morning. I'm finishing up some storm preparations, as I just wrote on Writing Chapter Three. This weekend went well eating-wise. Though, I did find myself in possession of a couple frosted sugar cookies from Wegmans. (Note the passive voice.)

In an appropriate Halloween theme, of course.

This weekend marked the Zombie Run, but due to the storm, I think most people were out scrambling around to get water and supplies. (Not-so funny story: All the stores are out of water.) Only a few of us showed up compared to a couple years ago. So, we went out for coffee brains instead.

At least I got a few photos. I don't think Ada knew what to think when mommy had all that strange makeup on. I'm still washing it off my forehead, too.


Weekend highlight: I made the most delicious batch of Pumpkin Garlic Knots (and replaced the agave with maple syrup -- you may also use honey). We ate them Friday night and we f.i.n.a.l.l.y watched Moonrise Kingdom. Delete. I did it AGAIN! I keep accidentally calling it MoonSHINE Kingdom.

That would be another kind of movie entirely, wouldn't it?


Of all the recipes on this blog, the pumpkin garlic knots are -- by FAR -- my favorite. Also one of the easiest. And I make them year-round, even when the pumpkin supply is relegated to the bottom shelf in the most obscure corner of the grocery store.

Which has me thinking: Right now we mostly have winter squashes waiting to be roasted, dough waiting to be baked into bread, and eggs that need to be fried before consuming. We have some packets of baby food for Ada and some raw fruits and veggies for us, but very little else that can just be eaten as-is.

When the weather gets rough, do you have a stash of emergency foods? I need to add this to my last-minute list. Oh, and I need to get this load of funky diapers into the wash ASAP, too. I wouldn't want to be stuck with them any longer than necessary.

More soon!

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Garbanzo Garlic Knots

I think I've told you guys before that we eat garlic knots and collards for most dinners these days. What's even crazier is that the meal never seems to bore us. We keep it interesting -- developing new knots recipes along the way -- and Stephen is particularly instrumental in this process.

We ate a lot of great Italian food last week. For me, though, this situation meant I ate mostly white breads with cheese and sauce (and birthday cake). In the form of pizza. It was glorious, sort of.

This week, on the other hand, has been all about incorporating more beans, greens (Light-On-The-Greens Smoothie, anyone?), and whole foods into our meals.


GARBANZO GARLIC KNOTS

What you'll need . . .

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1-1/2 cups bread flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 large (fresh) basil leaves, chopped

Method . . .

1. Mix the yeast into the warm water and let sit until bubbly. About 5 minutes.
2. Puree garbanzo beans with 1/4 cup water and the basil leaves.
3. Mix the water/yeast with 2/3 of the garbanzo puree and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours and salt. Then make an indent in the middle and pour in the wet ingredients.
5. Mix together and then knead with your hands to form a smooth, elastic ball.
6. Cover bowl with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 2 hours.
7. Then divide ball into two -- pack one away and use the other one to make 12 dough-knots.
8. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. If you have a pizza stone, let it preheat. If not, a regular pan should do the trick.
9. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Until golden.

For the garlic topping, we combined 1 tablespoon minced garlic with 3 tablespoons olive oil. You can also add in some Parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and pepper. Stephen then likes to head to our garden and clip bits of every kind of herb we have growing out there to throw into the mix.


New trick: We stopped mincing our own garlic and indulged in a gigantic container of pre-minced that we keep in the fridge. It tastes great. Plus, it cuts prep time by a few minutes. Always a plus!


Looking for other great garlic knot recipes? We have a few favorites!

Ring-O-Fire Garlic Knots
Pumpkin Garlic Knots
Beet Pizza Dough (use it for knots!)

Now: Photos from the garden.


These plants seem to have sprung up all at once while we were on vacation. We hear that some heavy rain showers are responsible. Fine with us -- we weren't around . . .


Our backyard flower garden, too, experienced a blooming:


I can't wait to harvest all our veggies. But that means I need to start reading my book about preserving/canning -- and soon!

Anyway, some many call our addiction to garlic knots a food rut. We just think we found something we like that works night after night. Anyone else have a meal like that? Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.

And over on (never home)maker, baby! we're talking about savings. We're horrible at it, but we may have found something that works.

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