Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza

Pizza is great for getting rid of leftovers.  I've started buying whole chickens, and the leftover meat lasts for days.  A couple of weeks ago I bought a huge pork butt.  It was over 8 pounds!  I popped it into the oven early in the morning, and I cooked it on low heat until supper time.  It was quite good and very tender, and I still have a bag of meat in the freezer.  I decided to use some of that meat to make a pizza, and I did not regret this decision!

The BBQ pizza uses the sauce I posted yesterday as a base and the crust I posted before that.  You'll want to have some leftover pulled pork for this, but you can also use leftover grilled or roasted chicken in a pinch.  I also mixed some crushed red pepper into the crust to add a bit of spice.  This recipe will make two pizzas, so if you only want one be sure to save the extra sauce and dough in the refrigerator.

Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza:


 Homemade Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 
• 3 1/2 cups flour (bread flour or all purpose flour)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional) 

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ketchup (I prefer the non-HFCS kind)
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard 
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp Sriacha (rooster sauce)

Pizza Toppings

Ingredients:

• Approximately 2 cups of pulled pork - cooked and cut/pulled into smaller pieces
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese 
• 2 stalks celery - chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic - sliced
• 2 green onions - sliced (green and white parts)

Directions:

1. Mix yeast and warm water in a large bowl.  Let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.  Stir the remaining yeast if not fully dissolved after 5 minutes.
2. Stir together the flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar until the dough is smooth and elastic.  If the dough seems too wet, then add flour.  If you're going to use the crushed red pepper, then make sure to add it with the other ingredients.
3. Coat a bowl lightly with olive oil and place the ball of dough in the bowl.  Roll it around to get covered in the oil, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Let the bowl sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.  Allowing it to sit longer will improve the taste.
5. While the dough is rising, lightly dust a large cookie sheet (round or rectangular) with flour or corn meal.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  It should be allowed to heat up for at least 30 minutes to an hour before you bake the pizza.
6. Remove the plastic wrap from the bowl, and punch the dough down to deflate it.  Remove it from the bowl and divide in half. 
7. Take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a lightly floured workspace.  Starting from the center, press the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.  Turn and stretch the dough until will not stretch any further.  Let the dough rest about 5 minutes.
8. Repeat step 7 until the dough is the desired size.  If you are worried about the dough tearing, then you can press it out once, and then place it in the pan to further press and stretch it.
9. Move the dough from the workspace to the pan.  Brush the top with a little bit of olive oil before you add your sauce and toppings.
10. Mix the sauce ingredients together and carefully spoon over the dough once combined.  You may have a little more than what you need for both pizzas.
11. Add the celery, garlic, and green onions.  Cover these with the pork.  If you have a bit of extra sauce, then drizzle a bit of it over the meat.  Spread the cheese over both pizzas.
12. After adding your toppings, bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the crust is browned.

Makes 2 12" pizzas

Curried Lentil Soup

I decided to give lentils a try because they are inexpensive, high in fiber, and everyone keeps raving about them.  Mr. Monkey was a bit concerned.  The last time he tried them, he wasn't a big fan.  He wasn't sure exactly what it was he didn't like, he just knew he didn't like them.  I had just bought curry, however, and I was wanting to get a little crazy with it.  I found this recipe at Epicurious, but a lot of the comments were concerning.  Many people reported the soup lacked flavor and body.  Most everyone agreed that the amount of seasonings and garlic had to be doubled.  At least.  I decided to take their advise and give it a shot. 

Mr. Monkey ended up liking the soup, though his initial reaction was a bit meh.  In the course of making the soup, you make a very basic hummus to stir into it.  I couldn't quite get the texture of the hummus as smooth as I wanted, and that's what was bothering him.  However, after eating a bit of it he warmed up to it.  Pairing it with the rice was a very good idea as it made the dish more filling.  I also didn't add extra water to thin it out since I was cooking it longer than recommended.

Another note about this recipe.  It's technically done after cooking 30 minutes, but I highly recommend you let it simmer at least an hour or two.  This will also make the soup thicker.  You will need a food processor for the hummus!

Curried Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil - divided
• 2 to 3 green onions - sliced
• 1 medium carrot - finely chopped
• 6 to 8  garlic cloves - minced, divided
• 4 tbsp curry
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup lentils
• 4 1/4 cups water - divided
• 1 15 to 16 oz can of chick peas (garbanzo beans) - drained, rinsed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp hot chili oil
• 2 tbsp (1/4 stick) of butter

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large pot over medium heat.
2. Add green onion and carrot; sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook until onion is tender and turning a little translucent on the white parts.
3. Add about half of the minced garlic, and stir until the vegetables are getting tender, but not brown.
4. Add the curry and garam masala, and stir until fragrant - about one minute.
5. Add lentils and 4 cups of water.  Increase heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Once 30 minutes is done, taste the soup.  Add a little salt or pepper as needed, but sparingly as we still are going to be adding stuff!
7. Puree the chick peas, 1/4 cup of water, lemon juice, hot chili oil, 2 tbsp olive oil, and remaining garlic in a food processor.  Process until smooth.
8. Add the butter and hummus to the lentil soup.  Stir well, and allow to simmer for another hour to hour and a half.  Stir every 15 to 20 minutes so the soup does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
9. If you want to have thinner soup, then add more water, but be sure to taste the soup after doing so to see if you need to add more curry or other seasonings.
10. Serve on its own, or with rice.

Serves 4 to 6

Chicken & Spinach Curry

Last week I roasted a whole chicken.  I decided to do it because of how inexpensive a whole chicken is vs getting boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  I don't think I did exceptionally well carving it, but I do have the carcass in the freezer for stock making purposes.  The leftovers provided at least 6 or 7 individual meals (counting myself and Mr. Monkey as separate meals), and that was with my lackluster carving skills on a 4 1/2 pound bird.  This was one of the meals that came out of it one day when I realized I had baby spinach that could go bad if I didn't use it, and thus decided to whip up a quick curry.  I remade this dish last night for the two of us, and served it over cous cous.  It's a light meal on it's own, so you may want to add rice, quinoa, or cous cous to make it a bit heartier.

I have a quick confession to make before we get to the recipe... I love curry.  I've had it a few times and was OK with it, but I finally broke down and bought some.  It's so good!  I can't wait to try adding it to other dishes. :3  Hopefully Mr. Monkey doesn't get tired of me using it!

The measurements for this recipe are for a small, single serving.  You can scale everything up slightly to make it for two or more people.

Chicken & Spinach Curry

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 cup roast chicken
• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp hot chili oil
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp curry
• 1 tsp sea salt 

Directions:

1. Warm the olive oil and hot chili oil in a large pan over medium low heat.
2. Add spinach to the warmed oil a little bit at a time and stir to cover in the oil.
3. Stir the spinach until wilted and add the chicken, salt, curry, and milk.
4. Continue stirring until the seasoning is well mixed into the spinach and chicken and no large clumps are built up on either.  Add a touch more milk if necessary.
5. Continue to cook until spinach and chicken are heated thoroughly. 
6. Serve on it's own or with rice, cous cous, or quinoa.

Serves 1

Flaming Bacon Mac & Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese.  I always have.  I can eat it plain, or I can mix things up in it.  I'll eat the boxed stuff if I have to, but what I have been craving for a while was the homemade stuff that you bake in the oven.  I had that as a child, and usually liked it.  I say usually because sometimes I had that weird little kid thing going on where you want the boxed stuff because you don't get it as much.  It seems like it's special, even though it really isn't.  Thankfully growing up made me appreciate a good baked mac and cheese.  Unfortunately I wasn't quite sure how to make one, and was a bit worried it would taste like flour and grossness.  I didn't want to use a processed cheese "food", but I had always been told that real cheese doesn't work well.  Thankfully I found this recipe at Eat More Heat that would pique my curiosity enough to give it a whirl.

It's really not hard at all!  I'm not sure why  I was worried about it now that I've made it.

I didn't have some of the stuff the original recipe called for, but I substituted where I needed to and it worked.  This mac and cheese is VERY hot!  You can cut back on the peppers or the seasoning if you must, but this stuff tastes good.

 

This song is appropriate.

Flaming Bacon Mac & Cheese

 

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb of bacon 
• 3 to 4 cloves of garlic - minced
• 3 green onions - chopped finely
• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp cajun seasoning
• 2 tsp chile powder
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 cups monterey jack cheese
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 cayenne peppers - diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers - diced
• 1 Hungarian wax pepper - diced
• 1 lb box macaroni 
• Plain breadcrumbs - for topping
• Parmesan cheese - grated for topping

Directions:

1. Cook bacon and reserve fat.  Note: you can still oven cook the bacon if you so choose, just make sure to pour the fat into the pan you'll be using to make the sauce.
2. Saute onion, garlic, and peppers in a large pan with the bacon fat over medium heat until peppers are tender and garlic is lightly browned.
3. While onion, garlic, and peppers are sauteing, warm milk over medium heat. While milk is heating, add butter and flour to the garlic and onions.
4. Pour warm (not boiling) milk into the butter and onions mixture. Stir until thick.
5. Reduce heat to medium low and add seasonings and crumbled bacon.  Simmer for 5 minutes to allow the seasonings to do their thing.
6. While sauce is simmering, boil macaroni until al dente.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Add cheese to sauce and stir until well blended and cheese is melted.
8. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Place drained pasta in pan, and pour sauce over pasta.  Stir pasta and sauce until well mixed.
9. Cover mac and cheese in bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
10. Bake until brown and bubbling, approximately 30 to 35 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8

Sloppy Joes sans Canwich

Sometimes I make something and am horribly disappointed in it, yet Mr. Monkey will insist that it's not as bad as I think it is.  This recipe started out as something else all together.  I made the original, and thought the whole thing tasted too sweet and was disgusting.  Mr. Monkey said it was fine if you didn't eat the cornbread part.  Indeed, the Jiffy cornbread was too cake-like, and the recipe wanted way too much of it.  The meat part wasn't bad though, and thus we decided to try it again as a sloppy joe sandwich.

It was awesome... though I did put a bit too much spice in.  I'll put the recipe up as I made it, but be aware that it will be spicy, and you might want to make adjustments.  I would recommend cutting out the cayenne and/or jalapeno peppers.

The "sans Canwich" part of the name is a play on the name of a certain canned sloppy joe mix.  You don't need that stuff to make a great sandwich!

Sloppy Joes sans Canwich

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 22 oz ground turkey (or 1 lb of your favorite ground meat)
• 3 cloves garlic - minced
• 2 green onions - sliced
• 1 medium red or orange bell pepper - chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper - chopped 
• 1 cayenne pepper - chopped 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 ground cumin
• 3/4 tbsp sriracha (Rooster) sauce
• 1/2 tbsp chipotle Tabasco sauce 
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to a large pan and warm over medium heat.  Add ground turkey and brown.
2. When turkey is brown and broken up into smaller pieces, add the garlic, peppers, green onion, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, hot sauces, and liquid smoke.
3. Simmer until peppers are tender.
4. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and tomato sauce until combined.  Lower the heat and allow to simmer until it's hot all the way through and is thickened.
5. Serve over your favorite bread or buns!

Serves 4