Eating In Day 3 & 4

OK now, where were we?  I was sidetracked by a few things this week.  Beautiful, unseasonably beautiful weather made me spend less time cooking and more time outside doing this...

But still I stuck to eating in.  Day three we made stir-fry chicken and broccoli with black bean sauce  served over brown basmati rice.  I held off on adding sugar snap peas to the stir-fry as originally intended so that I could make them the side dish instead.  I blanched the sugar snap peas for 30 seconds, plunged them into ice water then dried and chilled them.  I added mandarin oranges from the pantry and drizzled with a sesame ginger dressing.  Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top if you have them.

Day four was pizza.  I didn't have any tomato sauce made so I used a sundried tomato pesto on the crust topped with fresh mozarella and turkey pepperoni.

 The pizza dough was made a few weeks ago and frozen.  I have tried many pizza dough recipes and while it's hard to duplicate the thin crust, wood-fired oven pizza I love, this recipe is my favorite so far.  It allows you to roll the dough very thin so it's crispy yet still chewy.  Double the recipe and put the rest of the dough in the freezer.  Total cost for pizza, about $5.  To have a pizza delivered to the house, $17.  And if you make small little rounds of dough, your family or friends can make their own pizzas thereby leaving more time for you to go outside and do more chalk art with small children.

Pizza Dough
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Co.
Makes four 12-inch pizza crusts

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast (such as SAF brand)
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ cups water

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the yeast and
salt. Add the water and stir until blended (the
dough will be very sticky). Cover the bowl with
plastic wrap and let rest for 12 to 24 hours in a
warm spot, about 70°.
2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Fold the
dough over on itself once or twice, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Generously sprinkle a clean cotton
towel with flour and cover the dough balls with it. Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
4. Stretch or toss the dough into the desired shape, cover with toppings and bake on top of a very hot
pizza stone.