Spring Pie

Pizza. Lately I have been resorting to pizza on work nights. No not delivery and not even frozen pizza, not even your traditional tomato sauce pizza. Rather I have been resorting to pizza in the general sense. I take a cheap bag of pre-made pizza dough from trader Joes and add different veggies that I have sitting around in my fridge waiting to be eaten. In the words of an Ex the pizza is just a vehicle for the good stuff.

Pizza starts with a good bed. I have found a good cheap bed that is perfect to lay all my veggies on: trader joes pre-made pizza dough. First, the price is right: $0.99 a bag and this is enough to make two pizzas (each pizza is enough for either one with left overs or plenty for two). Second, Trader Joes has three different varieties: plain, herb garlic, and whole wheat.

After a good bed you need some good sheets and a nice comforter to make your bed yummy and pretty. Lately I've been topping my pizza with fresh spring time vegetables. After several trial and errors I have found that the best pizzas are those with simple toppings and not overdone. I had several where I kept putting on topping after topping and then adding cheese. While these were delicious i have grown to like the simpler pie with a few simple toppings and lately have been going cheesless. Following are a few of my recent creations:

Leek Garlic and Mushroom

This is a very simple pizza but the flavors are perfect together. On top of plain pizza dough I brush Olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then I add finely chopped leeks, thinly sliced garlic clove and top with thinly sliced crimini mushrooms. Then cook in oven untill the crust is crispy and the mushrooms perfectly cooked.


Green Onion, garlic, Potato, Mushroom and Asparagus

This is my latest creationg and I think my favorite so far. I used the herb and garlic dough brushed on olive oil sprinkled salt and pepper and a few red pepper flakes. Then added finely chopped green onion and thinly sliced garlic. Next, I added very thinly sliced yellow potatoes and thinly sliced crimini mushrooms. Finally I topped it off with halved asparagus that had been tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper. YUM. and it is pretty too.


Sweet potato Pizza

I made this pizza when I realized that I had a surplus of sweet potatoes that needed to be eaten ASAP. Started with a plain pizza dough base, brushed the dough with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes. Then added very thinly sliced sweet potatoes. Next I added caremalized onions. Topped with tiny mushrooms tossed with olive oil salt and pepper and rosemary (can't remember their name; the mushroom lady gave them to me in exchange for watching her stand at the farmer's market) and finally topped with a few shavings of romano cheese.

Mushrooms!

I have always had an affinity for the delicious taste of various fungi known as mushrooms! But lately I find myself gravitating to the mushroom in every meal I cook. At both the Dupont and Penn Quarter farmers markets there is a mushroom producer that always has a great selection. When I am feeling indulgent and the season is right (basically the month of may) I can score my favorite wild fungi- the Morel. Though my go-to mushroom is a crimini (a baby portobella).

My favorite way to prepare the crimini is by quartering it, tossing with olive oil, salt pepper, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Then I saute on a medium heat and eventually add butter and cream for a mushroom cream sauce. Good by itself with quartered mushrooms or equally good pureed and added with your favorite fresh pasta.

Alternatively, I take the mushrooms tossed with olive oil et al. and put in a roasting dish (tonight with asparagus) and roast it until the asparagus and mushrooms are soft yet still have a bite to them.

These mushrooms are so versatile that I eat them along side roasted asparagus, on top of a fresh salad with a light dressing, with egs prepared in any which way, or as its own main course.

Who needs boys when you have fungi in your life?

Dang, I LOVE mushrooms!

When the Urge Hits: The Tang of Spring

Lately I have been enjoying simple foods. I like something that taste great yet takes minimal effort to prepare. I want something that I can just have waiting in the fridge and eat when the urge arises: instant gratification- taking food porn to a new level!

Rather than keeping little-debbi nutty bars (from my youth) or other snack food, my go to instant gratification snack food has been a tangy sweet treat! At the farmer's market Kuhn's orchard has been bringing beautiful stalks of rhubarb. I take these green and red stalks cut them up and toss in melted raw butter from Painted Hand Farm and add 1/2 cup of sugar, a dusting of cayenne pepper and a tad of cinnamon. (fresh ginger and lemon juice are also good additions.)

I cook it over a medium flame until the rhubarb breaks down and makes a mushy jam. Then I put in a seal tight container and keep in the fridge.

Then when the urge hits me I pull out my rhubarb compote and a helping of Keswick Creamery yogurt and have a great indulgent snack!!

Smelly Feet

My favorite neighborhood pizza place recently changed their menu to my distain! Radius pizza in Mt. Pleasant, Washington DC is a great neighborhood restaurant that is well known for its free bottle of wine Wednesday special and for me their gorgonzola gnocchi. Since Radius is literally two blocks away from my apartment it has become a staple in my weekly diet. Their gorgonzola gnocchi is e at the center of my love of Radius. Unfortunately, Radius recently changed their menu and took the gnocchi off so now I am left to my own devices.

My love of gorgonzola gnocchi started about a year ago when I went to my best friend, Malea’s house. (Actually my love of gnocchi is a sordid affair: I have one bad memory of ordering it, under peer pressure, at my birthday dinner at Pasta Mia in Adams Morgan, it was served with a tomato sauce and I hated it. Like most loves I gave it another try and now have a lasting relationship with it.)

After work Malea and I stopped by Calvert Woodly to get some wine and cheese. As we were waiting in line I smelled the foulest smell emanating from under Malea’s arm. It literally smelled like rotting flesh and stinky feet all bound up in one. I was reluctant to say anything to Malea because I was starving and looking forward to her home cooked meal. Plus, I pretty much trust her cooking instincts.

A stinky cheese purchase and half mile walk to her apartment later we were in the kitchen boiling potatoes to make our own homemade gnocchi. My responsibility was to roll the gnocchi against the fork and let to drop (according to the directions from Marcella Hazan). Soon, I realized the under the heat of a flame and sliced with heavy cream, the pungent odor of gorgonzola gives way to a rich creamy sweetness that pairs wonderful with homemade gnocchi.

Last night I decided to recreate my favorite gnocchi meal. This time I didn’t make my own Gnocchi. Instead, I purchased it from the farmers market that I work at. The gnocchi was a perfect little pillow of potatoes. For the sauce I first caramelized onions in olive oil and then added the gorgonzola to melt and then added cream. Finally, I dropped the slightly boiled gnocchi in and served it. Next time I think I might add some mushrooms to the sauce. I also roasted fresh asparagus from the farmers market. YUM! Mold that smells like funky feet never tasted so good!