Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Tired of the same old pizza?

2 cups rotisserie chicken, chopped
1/4 cup fresh pineapple tidbits
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/3 - 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
2-3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 -3 cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar
2 cloves garlic, minced
Black pepper
Fresh coriander
1 lb pizza dough

Cook bacon and take the pan off the heat then remove bacon to a plate. Add the minced garlic to the pan with the 1 tbsp olive oil, stir and set aside.

Once the pizza dough has risen, punch it down then press onto a 14" pizza pan.

Here's the link to the recipe I used:
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2014/03/this-is-best-pizza-ever.html

Brush the bacon fat, olive oil and garlic onto the dough and then spoon on the BBQ sauce. I used this Orchard BBQ Sauce recipe which added layers of flavour to the pizza.
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/05/orchard-bbq-sauce.html

Sprinkle half the cheese on, then top with chicken and onion. Add the rest of the cheese, the pineapple and bacon. Finish with a few grinds of pepper. 

Pop it in a 500 F oven for 11 minutes.

Add a few sprigs of fresh coriander and grab a slice!

Orchard BBQ Sauce

Whip this stuff up for a zingy, spicy sauce you can put on just about anything you want to slather it on!

You'll need:

1 small orange and zest, about 1/2 cup chopped
1 apple chopped, 1 cup
2 tbsps tomato paste
1/2 cup brewed coffee
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp molasses
1/2 tsp liquid hickory smoke flavour (optional)

2 tbsps worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps sugar
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
as many grinds of black pepper as you like

Toss the chopped orange and apple in a food processor and pulse until it looks like this

then put everything in a pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes until sauce begins to thicken.

If you want your sauce smoother, whirl it with an immersion blender.

Microwave Lemon Curd

This curd is so easy to make using the microwave. You can whip it up in no time flat.

1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons (or 1 lemon, 1 orange)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Using a large microwaveable bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and zest together. 

Whisk juice and melted butter together, then add it to the eggs, sugar and zest.

Microwave on HI for 3-5 minutes, stirring after each minute.
This is how it looked after 3 minutes.

When ready the curd should coat the back of a spoon. That's how you'll know it's done. Mine took the full 5 minutes to cook. Time varies depending on your microwave. 

You could press the curd through a sieve to have a smoother finished product, but I like a little pulp and the zest in my curd. I think it's especially pretty with the orange zest too.

Sterilize jars by pouring boiling water into them. Don't forget to put a piece of cutlery in each jar before the boiling water so as not to crack the jars. Fill and seal. Cool and refrigerate.

Use on toast or to fill tart cups.
Here's another way to have it....
served for brunch in easy Puff Pancakes.

Here's the link
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/05/puff-pancakes.html

Puff Pancakes

When you want to show off a little but you do not want to try hard to do it  : )

1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp orange or lemon zest (optional)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Melt butter and set aside.

Add the remaining ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Add a little of the melted butter, swirl, then add the rest of it to the batter.

Grease 8 muffins cups (I used Baker's Joy, I love this stuff!)
Pour in the batter. Doesn't look like much eh?

Bake for 15 minutes until golden and puffed. Almost done!

Serve right out of the oven with your favourite toppings.

You could serve these for breakfast, brunch or even as a dessert.

This time I cooked up some chopped apples with a little sugar and water, plated it with caramel ice cream topping and a dusting of icing sugar.

Or you could try some tangy lemon curd

Here's the link

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/05/microwave-lemon-curd.html

What toppings will you try?

Top Sirloin Korean Stir Fry

So if you have leftover beef from yesterday's Marinated Top Sirloin Steak found here:
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/05/marinated-top-sirloin-steak.html

Then you are on your way to another easy supper.

Just slice up the rest of the steak and set aside.

In a deep skillet heat up a couple tablespoons of olive oil and sauté some sliced onion, red pepper and minced garlic, until the veggies are tender crisp.

Add a few handfuls of frozen (and thawed) carrots, yellow and green beans. Add the steak and toss it all together with some Korean BBQ sauce. 

Heat through a voilà! 

This supper literally took 10 minutes to get it to the table. 
How 'bout that?!

My Mojito Garden Sign

Just a little patch of mint, little mojitos in training, so I thought a sign would add some whimsy to this spot in the garden.

I looked for a piece of wood to make the sign with, then realized I had a sign that says "Trick or Treat" on it. Won't need that until October so why not use the back side of it. Double duty. When you look for a piece of wood, look for soft wood.

I found a font I liked, and for some reason couldn't print it, so decided to softly just trace it off the screen.

Because my piece of wood is a soft wood I was able to trace over the lettering, pressing enough to imprint the wood.

It worked very well except for where the knot is but I managed alright. Add any little images you like. I found a couple of mint leaves.

Now skip the painting, just use permanent markers!

Filling in the lettering was so easy, anyone could do it.

And because there's no paint to dry you can spray a clear exterior Varathane right over your masterpiece!

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Marinated Top Sirloin Steak

It does not have to be complicated.
A piece of meat, some salad dressing and a little time.

So I bought this Kraft Asian Sesame salad dressing. I didn't like it much. (Sorry Kraft). But that's ok. It's great as a marinade!

I poured some all over this great slice of beef, just over 1 lb and about 1" thick, covered the dish and refrigerated for 6 hours.

On the BBQ it went for a few minutes on each side, then I let it rest for 5 minutes, sliced it against the grain and served it alongside this edamame salad. With a little drizzle more of that dressing. Turned out to be much better as a marinade than salad dressing.

The meat was so tender!