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Cheesy Garlic and Herb Pull-apart

This recipe was created from a simple bread dough recipe with our own twist to make it garlicky and extra yummy.

Ingredients
1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon of sugar
3/4 Tablespoon of yeast
3 ish cups of all purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup of grated cheese (we used pepperjack)
1 cup of parmesan cheese
2 eggs
spices: parsley, basil, lemon pepper, thyme
1 head of garlic

Directions
To start, put the sugar, water and yeast into a large mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place. A trick to create a warm place is to pre-heat your oven for 15-20 seconds and then turn it off and place the bowl in the oven.

While the yeast is being activated, you can begin to prepare your other ingredients. Start by pulling apart the head of garlic and pealing all the cloves. An easy way to peal the garlic is either smashing it with a large knife or using a plastic garlic peeler to roll the garlic to get the skin off. If you haven't seen this kitchen gadget, it is one of the coolest ones out there. Either finely chop these or put them in a food processor. Add to the garlic food processor mix, a dash of each of the spices. Feel free to add anything else that seems good. For example, rosemary.

Once all the other ingredients are ready appx 10-15 minutes should have passed. Take out the activated yeast mixture from the oven.

Add a cup of flour to the yeast mixture and mix to a paste. Add the grated cheese, oil and herb blend to this and mix again. Add the rest of the flour slowly

If you do not have a dough hook and mixer you will need to use a wooden spoon and then kneed by hand. We used my orange kitchen aid with the dough hook and the plastic flour rim, which contained the flour nicely. The consistency you're looking for is playdough. If it is to sticky, add more flour, if it is to dry add more water or you may have forgotten the oil.

When the dough is fully kneeded and has the correct consistency, let it rise using the same technique for activating the yeast. Ensure you leave it for 25+ minutes. The more you let it rise the more "holes" it will have in it and the softer it will be.

When you're finished letting it rise, take it out of the oven and using flour on your hands roll into balls the size of a golf ball or smaller.

Mix the two eggs together in a small bowl and add any additional spices you want (ie. salt and pepper). Brush egg over each dough ball and roll in parmesan cheese. Stack dough balls on cookie sheet- 2 rows high seems like a good amount. Put in pre-heated oven.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and a knife comes cleanly out.

nom nom nom nom

This is our first time creating this and it was delicious! Highly recommend sampling straight out of oven...once it has cooled enough to touch :). (preferably on a cooling rack) Another option to make the top golden brown instead of the egg is to roll in melted butter.

 

Francis Quiche

The following is a Francis classic shared by Dale's Nanny. We have made it for Easter and the Trupanion Picnic, which won best cooked dish.

Our tips: Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes (until golden brown and a knife/toothpick comes out clean)

Easiest to blend eggs and ingredients with a hand mixer or standing mixer

Add mushrooms if desired
Cheeses can depend on desired taste - Recommend pepper jack and cheddar

Bake one vegetarian and one with meat - the recipe is good for one regular size pie pan so double the recipe for two quiches

Slice up tomatoes for a nice topping. Add the tomatoes to the quiche once it has been cooking long enough so the tomatoes don't sink - about halfway through cooking

This is a great dish for breakfast, lunch or snack...really anytime and you can even freeze it for later

Pizza Mission: Best Chicago Deep Dish

Rating Scale: 1 - 5 (5 high)

CONTENDERS: 
                             #1 Lou Malnati's                      #2 Gino's East             #3 Giordanos

CATEGORIES:
Crust                              3.5                                       1                                   5
Sauce                             2                                          4                                   4
Cheese                           3                                          3                                   3  
Wait time                        5                                          5                                   1
Ambiance                       5                                          3                                   4                    
Filling                             3                                2 + 4 (Pep- Spinach)       4 - 3 (Pepp -Spinach)     
Salad                             4                                          3                                   4                       
                                     25.5                                     22                                 24.5
Ordered:
#1 Caesar Salad, The Lou Deep Dish (1/2 without mushrooms, contained spinach mix, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese) -There was not enough sauce, didn't like the mushrooms

#2 Side salads, personal deep dish - 1 spinach, 1 pepperoni - The crust was nothing special - not crumbly, gooey nor flaky.  It came with plastic utensils and plates. Loved the spinach but didn't like the pepperoni. Average salad.

#3 Caesar Salad, Stuffed deep dish, 1/2 spinach, 1/2 pepperoni - Very good crust. The cheese had good flavor but was a bit excessive.  Waited over 1 hour.  Atmosphere was great.

And the winner is.....

Lou Malnati's per above......

But....

Our favorite was....

Giordanos

Artichoke Chicken- my ultimate comfort food

I recommend less mayo- like 1/2 cup and serving over white rice :) also buying a precooked chicken from the store saves time and makes it really easy 

Beer Tasting

I have never really tried to like beer but recently it has intrigued me. This sampler I would say was a good way to start to experience beer. I ranked them and I think my favorites from top to bottom were:
1. Silver City Delux
2. American Caboose Stout
3. Roslyn IPL
4.Fort George Sunrise OPA.

Phad see euw take one

I have been wanting to make Thai food for awhile and finally did! With my brother's recipe brought back from Thailand and help of friends, we made Phad see euw.

We struggled with getting the noodles, but now we would recommend not cutting them before unfolding them.....and soaking the complete sheets in the soy sauce.  Also, letting them sit room temperature before trying to pull the sheets apart.

One other thing to improve on for next time is the spice. We used chili powder and paprika. I think there could be some other flavors that could be nice. Will experiment with round 2.