Friday Night Favorite - Pizza Four Ways

Clockwise from top left - cheese, shaved
asparagus with scallions and goat cheese,
spicy salami and basil, white.

Say what you will about Sunday suppers, but for me, Friday night dinners are the best of the week. There's something about Friday night that feels worth celebrating - whether it's with a family date night at one of our favorite kid-friendly restaurants or a cozy dinner at home with a meal that I know everyone will love. This past Friday we opted to stay home and celebrate the end of our week with handmade pizza, topped four different ways.

When it comes to making pizza dough from scratch, I'm still experimenting. This recipe I used was from one of my favorite cookbooks and food blogs, Smitten Kitchen. Thought it was easy and did produce a nice crisp crust, it turned out a bit too crisp for me. I liked this recipe because it used the dough hook of my KitchenAid and rested overnight in the fridge requiring little babysitting. I pulled it out about 2 hours before dinner to give it a chance for a second rise. If you have a favorite pizza dough recipe, send it to me - I'd love to see it!

I love making pizza for my family because it's easy to please each of them with their excruciatingly different tastes. One kid prefers plain cheese pizza, one won't eat sauce, my husband craves spicy, and I always like something green (arugula, basil, zucchini - or in this case a shaved asparagus salad).

If you don't want to bother with making the dough from scratch, you can always pick up a batch from your favorite pizza place, Italian deli, or grocery store. Then load up on your favorite toppings and let your family choose their own. I baked these pizzas on a pizza stone set on the bottom of my 475 degree oven for 6-8 minutes, but you'll have to adjust that time based on how thick you roll out the dough.

No Friday night celebration is complete without a cocktail, and since you're not driving, you can have two! You can't go wrong with beer, but if you're feeling more adventurous (and you've got some mint hanging around), a mojito would be nice. Happy Friday, everyone!

Pasta Fit for Company

Pasta with crab, dill, lemon zest & chilies

Sometimes, the most effort you can muster for dinner is a box of dried pasta and a jar of sauce. But for those nights when you're craving the comfort of pasta and have time for a little more effort, try this surprisingly light, fresh, and flavorful recipe. Once you collect the ingredients, it's pretty simple to put together, but the combination of sweet crab meat with the brightness of the fresh dill and lemon zest along with the heat from the chilies tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen.

It's based on a recipe for Crab and Gruyere Soufflés that Chef Stephen Sands, a Chef at Culinaria Cooking School (the cooking school I work at) served at a recent wine dinner. He paired it with a 2011 Jean Luc Mader Reisling, and you should too. The recipe calls for one cup of wine, so use the same wine you'll serve and the pairing will be even better.

I made this one evening for me and the husband, but after one bite I knew it would make a great dish to serve for company too. It's quick to assemble once the pasta is cooked, so it will leave you plenty of time with your guests - and plenty of time to enjoy a cold glass of wine!

Pasta with Crab, Dill, Lemon & Chilies
serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 lb. dried pasta (I used spaghetti, but fettuccine, angel hair or linguini would work just as well)
8 oz. lump crab meat
1 cup white wine (something good and drinkable, like the one I recommend above)
1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill plus extra for serving
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1 red chili, diced, seeds and ribs removed
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 oz. Gruyere cheese, finely grated

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.
2. Sauté chilies in olive oil over medium high heat in large sauté pan for 1 minute. Add crab meat, dill & lemon zest and cook for another minute. 
3. Remove pan from heat, add white wine and return to heat. Simmer, stirring gently so as not to break up crab meat too much for 1-2 minutes until some wine cooks off. Add lemon juice and simmer until reduced further, about 5 minutes.
4. Add cooked pasta and reserved pasta water to pan with crab sauce and fold together to incorporate.
5. Serve plated with chopped dill and Gruyere cheese sprinkled on top. Enjoy!

Ridiculously Good (and Easy) Mac and Cheese

My kids eat a lot of mac and cheese. I don't think you understand what I mean by a lot. It's embarrassing, really. They've eaten boxed mac and cheese in a dozen shapes and colors, frozen mac and cheese in any brand you can name. They've ordered mac and cheese off of countless menus - if it's on there, they've eaten it. If it's not on there, they've probably asked for it anyway in hopes that someone would take pity on them and whip up a batch. They've eaten it made with powdered cheese, squeezed cheese, shredded cheese, and even with some pureed butternut squash masquerading as cheese (not fans). We are a house of mac and cheese aficionados. So it is not lightly that I say that this recipe below is some good mac and cheese. It's creamy - not grainy, takes just one pot, and is made with actual real cheese - bonus! Plus, it's easy to dress up if you're in that sort of mood too (lobster? truffles? ham and peas?). I can't wait to hear what you think - you're going to love it!

Ridiculously Good and Ridiculously Easy Mac and Cheese

Creamy, gooey and delicious - comfort food
at it's best.

Ingredients:
1 lb. elbow macaroni pasta
1 1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheese (1 cup sharp cheddar, 1/2 cup gruyere, 1/2 cup parmigiano regianno)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
dash of cayenne pepper (at serving time for the grown-ups)

Directions:
1. Boil pasta in salted water for 6 minutes. Drain and hold in strainer while you prepare the sauce.
2. In same pot, melt butter and add flour over medium heat. Whisk until roux starts to brown very slightly. Add milk in steady stream while whisking furiously. Continue to whisk steadily for a few minutes until cream sauce thickens.
3. Temper egg with a few spoonfuls of cream sauce and then add egg to cream sauce. Continue to whisk.
4. Add shredded cheese to cream sauce and switch over to wooden spoon. Turn heat down to low and stir until all cheese has melted. Add garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Once cheese has melted, add drained pasta to pot. Stir to cover pasta in all the gooey goodness. Serve and enjoy!

Celebrating Easter with Coconut Cupcakes

A Tower of Toasted Coconut Cupcakes with
Candy-Covered Chocolate Eggs

Ever since I discovered this recipe for Toasted Coconut Cake from Cooks Illustrated, I've been trying to find excuses to make it. It's not the kind of thing you can make and keep around your house for a few days to nibble on - at least not my  house. Coconut cake for breakfast? Sure, it goes great with coffee. An afternoon snack - why not? And everyone needs something sweet after dinner, right?  So if you lack willpower like I do, break out the recipe when you're invited somewhere special. It's guaranteed to produce plenty of ooh's and ahh's. Plus, with a recipe this good, it's way more fun to share it with friends.

The first time I made the cake was for a New Year's Eve celebration and it was a huge hit. And for the past several Easters, I turn it into cupcakes and top them with the toasted coconut and those little candy-covered chocolate Cadbury eggs so they resemble birds nests. They look gorgeous, and they taste even better. The secret to this super creamy, coconut-ty frosting is the creme of coconut (you know, the same stuff they put in pina coladas...) - and the, um, 4 sticks of butter don't hurt either.  I follow the recipe as is, but for cupcakes, take the time down to 22-25 minutes. Enjoy!