Mostly Homemade Chicken Garlic Pizza

Back where I come from… isn’t that a Kenny Chesney song? Anyway, in the Pac-Northwest we have this delicious take and bake pizza place called Papa Murphy’s.  It’s an easy thing to grab for dinner on the way home or as a special treat for birthdays/holidays, whatever.  Since moving to California in 2005, I have yet to find anything like this delectable pizza house.  When I was home last November we ordered my favorite pie from big Papa Murphy, Chicken Garlic with extra tomatoes and chicken [go big or go home]!  I had the craving for this pizza a couple weeks ago and decided to test out my new Pampered Chef pizza stone with my own version.  I ran into a couple of snafus but isn’t that the beauty of blogs, I’ll share that I’m not perfect and you’ll like me even more for it, right???? [please say yes]  I convinced my girlfriends to let me come over and watch the Game of Thrones premier and the American Country Music awards with the caveat that I would provide the pizza and they’d very generously share their kitchen with me.  I think they were pleased with the Papa M copycat. 

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough [I used Trader Joe’s whole wheat, enough for 1 large pizza]

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 Tablespoon ranch dressing seasoning

1 teaspoon white wine

1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

2 green onions

2 Roma tomatoes

2 cups cooked chicken breast

1 generous cup of mozzarella cheese

1 generous cup of cheddar cheese

1 generous cup of Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  If using a pizza stone, place the stone in the oven during the preheating process for about 10 minutes.

Remove pizza dough from fridge and let it sit for about 15 minutes before handling it. I would call this homemade pizza but I cheated and bought the dough.  Maybe next time I’ll attempt dough from scratch. 

Mix together Greek yogurt, garlic, ranch dressing seasoning, white wine and black pepper. 

Cut the chicken breast into quarter sized pieces or whatever size is to your liking.  I wasn’t very ambitious and I purchased precooked just chicken from Trader Joe’s because it’s so easy.  If I had leftover chicken this would be a perfect way to use it up and it would probably be much tastier! 

Chop up the green onions.

Chop up the tomatoes. There are two ways you can do this- keep the seeds and tomato innards in the mixture or you can remove them.  I excluded them because they tend to make things more soupy on the dough- ain’t nobody got time for that!

Now comes the most laborious task of shredding all that delicious cheese.  I purchased pre-shredded mozzarella because when I’ve used the fresh log in the past it gets all wilty and sad within minutes of shredding it. I did hand shred the cheddar and Parmesan. Yum!

Here’s where I made my mistake… I rolled out the cold dough onto a cold pizza stone, apparently the internet says to throw the pizza stone into the oven while you are heating the oven to slowly bring the stone up to melt your face off temperature.  Allegedly you can possibly crack your stone if you put a cold stone into a very hot oven.  Thankfully that didn’t happen to me but the pizza took FOREVER to cook all the way through.

Anyhoo… Roll your dough out onto the pizza stone, I added a smidge of olive oil to the stone (I don’t think that’s necessary either- probably aided in the extended cooking time).

Spread your mixed up white garlic sauce onto the pizza. I would suggest using enough to fully cover the pizza but not too thick that the pizza is swimming in sauce. There’s a fine line between “saucy” and “all I can taste is sauce.”

Add Mozzarella. 

Add chicken.

Now add cheddar and Parmesan cheese.

Add tomato & green onion and if you have any leftover cheese, feel free to toss that on top. A little more cheese never hurt anyone, you’re already eating pizza- this is not diet food, people!

Toss that bad boy into the oven at 400˚ for 20 minutes and you should have the cheese bubbling and golden by that time. If it isn’t behaving like I’m telling you, allow it a couple more minutes to get with the program.  I had to leave mine in for about 10 more minutes, could’ve been a fluke or something to do with the crazy amount of times opened the door to peek at it.  I. Was. Starving.

Here he is in all of his big Papa glory.  [Throw yo hands in the air if youz a true playa!]

Also... Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers out there.  I was lucky enough to spend the last 5 days with my Momma [and Poppa] in Hawaii.  Such a nice, relaxing vacation in paradise!

Oriental Cabbage Salad

This is an old DeBord family recipe.  My mom has used it for years and she generously shared the recipe. I have fond memories of this salad on special occasions like Easter, 4^th of July and Memorial Day.  It was always at big events in our family.  Dinner was always served al fresco in our backyard with a vibrant sunset in the background.  Mix in some kids doing cannonballs into the pool or my dad successfully spraying the pool deck with a can opener jump and you can almost be sure that this salad was present.  I might be a bit biased because of my history but this is one of my favorite salads.

It’s a crowd pleaser even if it is a little unconventional, you’ll see what I mean…

Salad Ingredients:

            ½ head of cabbage

            1 large red bell pepper

            3 green onions

            1 cup slivered almonds

            1 to 2 tsps sesame seeds

            1 package Top Ramen noodles, chicken flavored

Dressing Ingredients:

            ¼ cup sugar [you can also use agave nectar as an alternative]

            4 tablespoons oil [I prefer vegetable oil as I’ve tried olive oil and it doesn’t mix as well- it’s too thick and clumpy instead of nice and runny like dressing should be]

            3 tsp rice vinegar

            1 seasoning package from noodle package

            ground pepper- about a teaspoon or 3 strong cranks on the pepper grinder

Brown the almonds and sesame seeds in a 350˚ oven for about 10-12 minutes.  Be careful to make sure the almonds don’t burn.  There’s a fine line where they turn from a nice toasty brown to a burnt crisp of a nut.

Chop the ½ head of cabbage.  Be sure to remove the very hard center portion of the head.  It’s not fun to eat.  I’m picky about my cabbage so I make sure all of the gross white membrane doesn’t get into my salad.

Chop the red pepper, remove the seeds, and cut to small to medium size pieces.

Chop the green onions.

Smash up the Top Ramen noodles before you open the package to avoid getting the noodles all over the counters and the floor (learn from my mistakes, people!).  I know what you're thinking: "Top Ramen, really?  Those ten cent noodles that you eat in college when you only have twenty dollars left in your checking account and you'd rather spend the rest of it on beer?"  Yup those noodles.  They're the perfect amount of crunch and flavor to take this to the next level of delicious. 

Add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl or Tupperware container.  I prefer to use my Pampered Chef mixing bowl because it has a lid and it’s an easy way to toss the salad with the lid on. 

Next up is the dressing.  This dressing is best if it’s prepared in advance, chilled and then drizzled over the salad about 10-15 minutes before eating to allow all of the flavors to blend.

Combine oil and vinegar.  I like to mix the liquids first before adding any of the granular ingredients.  

Add the sugar, slowly, mixing to prevent clumping.

Add the seasoning from the noodle package. [An alternative is to only add 1 tsp of the seasoning + 1 tsp of regular kosher salt or PinkHimalayan Salt. I know you fancy readers are out there.]

Grind in your ground pepper.

Now shake the jar filled with dressing vigorously before placing in the fridge to chill out for about an hour. The contents will separate in the fridge so make sure you shake the substance again when you are ready to consume. 

Honestly you don’t completely have to chill it before serving it just tastes a little bit better. When I don’t already have this prepared and I’m starving for dinner you better believe I eat this within 5 minutes of making! 

Enjoy!

Breakfast Pie

I am terrible about eating breakfast during the week, seriously terrible. I know it’s the most important meal of the day but this girl loves her sleep, especially in the mornings. I’m not particularly hungry either so I usually just skip it. I know. I’m very bad.

Let’s back this story up to Friday, March 14^th, or Pi Day.  I work with a bunch of engineers and apparently this day of the year means more to them than the other 364 days.  My high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Pettyjohn, would be proud that I actually knew what they were talking about.  Since my office is a pretty fun work environment, we decided we would all make some kind of pie to contribute to Pi-Palooza.  There was every kind of pie on the sign up list, chocolate, fruit & berry, pumpkin, pecan, strawberry, etc.  These all sounded delectable and scrumptious but I thought we needed a little savory option.  I elected to make breakfast pies… this breakfast pie.

The pies were devoured in less than 15 minutes so I knew I was on to something.  I only made 12 for the office and I felt bad that the slow-pokes didn’t get any but, snooze ya lose.

These are easy to make. They are a smidge time consuming but definitely worth it.

First things first, you’ll need to have these ingredients:

• 10- 12 eggs
• 1lb breakfast sausage (I used Jimmy Dean)
• ½ sweet onion
• ½ scallion
• 1 whole red pepper
• 3 green onions
• Dash of salt & ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (I always forget to do this first!).

Start the breakfast sausage in a fry pan.  Break up the large pieces as you would cook ground beef. 

Chop one half sweet onion.

Add in chopped onion to cooking sausage. 

Continue cooking until fully cooked, all sausage should be crumbly and browned. Set aside.

Beat eggs together in bowl. 

Chop up red pepper, ½ scallion, and green peppers. Add to beaten eggs.

Not pictured: red pepper. It wasn't feeling camera ready.

[side note: scallions made my eyes burn/water way worse than any other onions, ever. I usually wear contacts but I was wearing glasses and it felt like some pissed gasoline straight into my eyeballs. After I switched to my pampered chef chopper, the scallions were much less painful to deal with.]

 

Add in salt and pepper

Grease muffin tin.  You may use cooking spray or butter.  I used cooking spray because I had some and it usually gets the best coverage.

Add in about ¼ of a cup of sausage to each muffin cup.

[Notice token egg cup that got ahead of the photographer and decided to fill up on eggs and peppers, what a jerk.]

Then add in about a ¼ of a cup of the egg mixture.  I topped each cup with a smidge of sausage because a little bit more sausage is delicious and necessary.

Throw your muffin pan of eggy-goodness into the oven for 20 minutes until eggs are cooked all the way through. Don’t worry if the eggs climb out a little bit, that’s typical albeit a little ugly, they still taste good. 

And here’s the final product pie. 

[Feel free to go crazy with the Sriracha. I did.]

I have since decided to make these on the reg to freeze for eating throughout the week in order to help with my breakfast aversion. 

Enjoy!

Songs for Spring

It feels like Spring has descended upon San Diego.  I know most of the country is still under a sheet of ice but thankfully I live in one of the most lovely climates in the US. Spring makes me want to sit in traffic with the windows down and seat dance off into the taillights.  This is what I’m digging these days.  Some of these you may of heard of and some are new gems.  Enjoy!

Hollywood by RAC feat. Penguin Prison, Felix Da Housecat  //  This would be a good start to a run.

Ritual Union by Little Dragon  //  This is probably one of her most popular track by dang is it good.  Side note, she is releasing a new album in May, I’m sure it’s good.

The Man by Aloe Blacc  //  I know this is definitely getting over played on the radio but I love that catchy hook.

I Wanna Go by Summer Heart  //  It’s got a beat that’ll make you swoon. Well I don’t really know who swoons these days but it sounds like a plausible outcome whilst listening.

Timothy by Tennis  //  I have a brother named Timothy who played Tennis in high school so naturally I enjoy this track.

Love Is to Die by Warpaint  //  It’s a little bit emo and I’m ok with that.

Hey You- PPRR Dance Remix by Pony Pony Run Run  //  This track is peppy and electric and most definitely makes you want to hop around like a blissfully happy person

Solid Gold by The Golden Filter  //  If you can’t afford a new gold watch like me, this should tide you over until you find all of your pennies.

Despicable Dogs (Washed Out Remix) by Small Black  //  I pretty much sit at my desk during the day and bop my head back and forth to this synthy-song.

Stood Me Up by Dwntwn  //  Ladies, don’t ever let a man stand you up and get away with it, well don’t break any laws but it’s not cool and this song is the only good thing that’s come from being stood up.

Real Life by Tanlines  //  This is an oldie but a consistent goodie. This was another concert I missed at the Casbah and my friends raved about for months afterwards. Next time there’s a concert on a Sunday night, getting up for work in the morning will not be a sufficient excuse for me to be absent.

She Lit a Fire by Lord Huron  //  I had the pleasure of front row seats to this concert in December. Well this song is truly my favorite of LH. Honestly they don’t have any bad songs. You might know the Ends of the Earth song from a stupid Zale’s commercial but don’t let that ruin these Lords for you.  Buy their Lonesome Dreams album, I promise you won’t be upset with yourself or your purchase.

Not a Bad Thing by Justin Timberlake  //  I know, I’m going all main stream pop on you but I like it.  Since I’m a huge Jimmy Fallon fan, I of course watched the episode that Timberlake was most recently on.  He performed this song and dang, J-Timbo you did it again.

Don’t Save Me (Cyril Hahn Remix) by Haim  //  These hipster sisters are killing it even if everyone is mispronouncing their name.  I still say it wrong. It’s not Hayyyme it’s Hiiimmee. Confusing, right?

You can listen to most of these songs on my spotify playlist: Spring Fling  

-KD