Pizza Now, Breadsticks Later

I'm a bargain hunter at heart, which means I love a good two-for-one deal. That applies not only to shopping, but also recipes that can help me knock out two meals (or at least a portion of two meals) at once.

When you're cooking recipes meant for four but only feeding two, this tends to happen a lot ... but usually in the form of leftovers. Now sometimes those leftovers can be repurposed into a fabulous second meal. And sometimes they just become a quick lunch. But they rarely manifest into something as delicious as this!

I loved the idea of pizza on the grill from the moment I saw the recipe, but I didn't realize just how simple it was. After all, it involves yeast and yeast is always complicated and time-consuming. Not so when you're dealing with thin crust pizza! This pizza requires absolutely no rising time and yields four personal-sized, deliciously thin, cracker-y crusts. But wait ... Bill and I can't eat four pizzas (truth be told, we couldn't even finish two!). So what to do with that leftover dough?

Well I'm obviously not going to waste it! I hate to waste food almost as much as I love a good deal. So I got to thinking ... if I allowed the remaining dough to rise while we were cooking and enjoying our quick and yummy grilled pizzas, I'd have what amounts to a delicious Italian bread dough. So why not make breadsticks!? Perhaps it's not what America's Test Kitchen had in mind when they developed the recipe, but cooking for two requires a little creativity. And it was certainly a genius accompaniment to the next night's dinner :)

Grilled Pizza ... and Breadsticks!
Ingredients:
1 cup water, heated to 110 degrees
1 tablespoon olive oil (plus additional for brushing dough)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup prepared sauce (I used leftover Basic Tomato Sauce that we had in the freezer)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
In a large measuring cup, combine water, olive oil, sugar, and yeast. Stir until yeast is dissolved. Let st 5 minutes.

In a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, parmesan, and salt. With machine running, slowly pour in water-yeast mixture. Mix until dough forms a ball and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead about 3 or 4 times until cohesive.

Divide dough in half. Place half of the dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place (like on top of the oven).

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the second half of dough into 2 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball, flatten into a disk, and roll and stretch dough to form a 9-inch circle. Transfer to baking sheet, seperating each with a layer of parchment.

Prepare grill. Light about 100 coals and spread over half of grill.Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered, with lid vent open completely, for about 5 minutes.

Brush tops of dough with olive oil, then place oiled side down on cool side of grill. Grill 3 to 5 minutes, poking large bubbles with tongs. Brush each lightly with olive oil, then flip. Top each with sauce, then cheese. Grill, covered, until undersides are spotty brown and cheese is melted, about 3 to 5 minutes. Move pizzas to hot side of grill to crsip, about 1 minute. Serve

After pizza, when your dough has had about an hour to rise, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, then dust with cornmeal. Shape remaining dough into breadsticks, place on baking sheet, and bake 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap, and serve with pasta tomorrow!

Vacation Food

I was browsing through some vacation photos tonight and they made me hungry. Being big food-lovers (and I say food-lovers instead of foodies because I feel like foodies are much more particular), eating plays a pretty big part in all of our vacations. In fact, we probably do more research on awesome restaurants and signature dishes in any given city we visit than we do actual activities or points of interest.

During my trip down vacation memory lane, I started thinking about some of my all-time favorite foods I've had on our trips. So I thought I'd count them down for you, and give you a few photos where possible.

10. Crepes from La Creperie at Paris Las Vegas
I'm sure that the crepe I had from a street vendor in Paris, France, was actually better, but the crepes at La Creperie inside Paris Las Vegas are pretty amazing. I'm not really a fan of savory crepes, but give me nutella and whipped cream and I'm in heaven. I try to go here once during every Vegas trip. There's just something about a crepe that makes you happy, oui?

9. Shave Ice from any beach-side stand in Honolulu

I have to admit that it took me a while to get over the fact that they call it "Shave Ice" when it should be "Shaved Ice." You know I'm a stickler for grammar, but obviously Pidgin English isn't. I got over it enough to enjoy shave ice just about every day on our honeymoon. Maybe it was the Honolulu heat, but there was something so super refreshing about chipping away at a shave ice while you strolled around on the island.

8. Pancakes from Snooze in Denver
I believe there are two types of people in this world: waffle people and pancake people. Snooze is for pancake people. You know they're good when you can get a Pancake Flight, which includes three of their incredible varieties. I skipped the flight, but had "The Graceland" which, as you'd expect, involves bananas, peanut butter and bacon. But Bill had "Pineapple Upside Down Cake" which was a-ma-zing!

7. Blueberry Ale from Salem Beer Works in Boston

So it's not technically a food, but I'm pretty sure that here in Milwaukee beer is considered a food group. Much to the chagrin of native Milwaukeeans, I'm not a beer drinker. But when I can find a fruity beer, I'll usually give it a try. Salem Beer Works in Boston had a blueberry ale, and what made it tasty was the fresh blueberries floating in it!

6. Arancini from Galleria Umberto in Boston
I'm going to confess, I didn't know what arancini was before I visited Boston. But when I learned they were Sicilian fried rice balls, I had to have one. Usually made with risotto filled with meat sauce, mozzarella and peas, then coated in bread crumbs and deep fried, arancini are unique but oh-so-good. They're quite possibly the best part of the very limited menu at Galleria Umberto in the North End.

5. Pizza from Galleria Umberto in Boston
Galleria Umberto is truly a whole in the wall, but known for making the best pizza in Boston. And it truly is the best. They open at 11:00 a.m. every day and close when the pizza sells out, which is quickly. Bill and I went twice during our trip to Boston in May and the line was out the door on both visits. All they have on the menu is Sicilian-style pizza (cheese only - don't you dare ask for another topping), calzones and arancini, but the few things they do they do well.

4. Dole Whip from the Dole Pineapple Plantation (and other ice cream stands) in Honolulu
You haven't lived if you haven't had Dole Whip! I'm not kidding when I say that a trip to Hawaii is worth it for the Dole Whip alone. Think pineapple flavored soft serve. Mmmmm! It's so light and super duper refreshing. I'm sure I could find a recipe and attempt to make it, but I'm afraid it would ruin the memory.

3. Teriyaki Chicken from the Dole Pineapple Plantation in Honolulu

You wouldn't guess that the best meal we had in Hawaii came from the cafeteria at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. But hands down, those teriyaki grilled chicken cutlets, two scoops of rice, salad and fresh pineapple spears were to die for. I'd give just about anything to relive this meal.

2. Cannoli from Modern Pastry in Boston
You have no idea how much I wish I could teleport myself to Boston for cannoli from Modern Bakery every night. I have a special place in my heart for cannoli because my grandmother made them on special occasions, so I always get excited to have one. But too many have soggy shells and way-too-sweet filling. Modern makes their cannoli just like Nana did. And they're perfect.

1. Sourdough Bread from Boudin Bakery in San Francisco
So San Francisco isn't technically a vacation destination because I still consider it home. But given how infrequently I go (a couple times a year if I'm lucky), it sometimes feels more like a vacation. No matter what, I always fill up on Boudin sourdough. As far as I'm concerned, Boudin is the ONLY sourdough. It's the perfect balance of crusty and chewy and is good any way you want it - as a sandwich, as a bread bowl, with a salad, alongside pasta. After the Golden Gate Bridge and the Giants, Boudin is my favorite part of the city.

There are probably dozens of amazing foods I'm leaving off the list, but if these were the first to come to me I figured they must rank at the top. Now that I've made myself so hungry, I can't wait to hear about the best foods you've had on vacation :)

Do You Use Your Leftovers?

After munching on way too many Badger Bits at work today, I couldn't bring myself to make a big dinner. And when that happens, there's only one answer: leftovers.

Now as you might suspect (or know from experience), cooking for two yields A LOT of leftovers. When I can, I freeze them. But more often than not they just end up in the fridge ... for several days. And sometimes weeks. Who am I kidding? Usually they'll sit there until I'm forced to remove them to make room for something else. And yes, sometimes that "something else" is more leftovers.

This irritates me because I hate to waste anything, but most of all food. And that's probably the reason I save so many leftovers ... I convince myself that we're going to eat them. But since Bill is averse to leftovers (almost as strongly as he despises condiments), we rarely do.

So I'm looking for more opportunities to use our leftovers and I was proud of myself tonight for finding one. We had some amazing leftover ravioli filling from Sunday night's adventures, plus a loaf of French bread on the verge of stale. So I thought ... French bread pizzas! Thanks to my stellar pantry and fridge-stocking skills, I had a jar of pizza sauce and a bag of shredded mozzarella. Our pizzas ended up being delicious, and best of all, they won Bill's approval.

On another note, I may be attempting fresh pasta again sooner than I thought. After my semi-failure the other night, I happened to catch an episode of Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives" where he visited an Italian restaurant in Nashville. I don't associate amazing Italian food with Nashville, but this hole-in-the-wall looked awesome! Guy featured their recipe for fettucini with vodka sauce and get this ... they roll their pasta out by hand! So it is possible! I found the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/fresh-pasta-con-vodka-sauce-recipe/index.html

It's not very descriptive, so it's a good thing I actually saw the segment. I may give it a shot this weekend, so look forward to that.

In the meantime, I want to know whether your leftovers live in the fridge until they're able to walk out on their own or if you're good about using them.