Basic Pizza Dough & Peanut Butter Pretzel Pops

Yes, I decided to do two recipes again this week. Same reason as last week. If I don't, I fear I will be writing this blog for many years. Which is not a bad thing but I do not know where I will be in a couple years. So, on with the recipes.

The first recipe was torn out of the Food Network Magazine and the second I don't know. It is an ad for a particular brand of pretzels. Which magazine this add was in, I have no idea.

The only ingredient I needed to purchase for the Pizza Dough was the Yeast. This was the second time in my life I have purchased yeast. I bought the individual packaged portions.

I did not buy the "Snyder's" brand of pretzels. I bought No Name. All taste the same to me. I got the candy melts and the lollipop sticks at Bulk Barn.

The Pizza Dough was quite easy to do. I thought about taking a picture of the yeast after it had become foamy but I thought about it as I was pouring it into the well.

I kneaded the dough for about 4 minutes and ended up with with this:

I sliced it in half and placed it in the bowls coated in oil and after an hour and a half it doubled in size.

I tried using a rolling pin to roll it out but after one roll I decided it would be easier to use my fingers to stretch it out to the size of the pan. I added my favourite toppings and into the oven it went.

I baked it at 450 degrees for 18 minutes. It came out beautifully!

I probably could have been more generous with the cheese. The edges looked dry.

Now for the Peanut Butter Pretzel Pops. I mixed  and then froze the peanut butter mixture. Then I started to scoop out the portions for the balls. I made 5 with the bigger scoop and calculated roughly in my head that it would not end up making 20 balls so I switched to the smaller scoop.

I ended up making 29 balls with the smaller scoop.

They went into the freezer for the instructed 15 minutes. Now for the inserting of the lollipop sticks. This is what happened the with the first ball.

In order for this not to happen again, I allowed the balls to thaw slightly and held the ball on each side before inserting the rest of the sticks.

Now for the dipping. There were two casualties. This one ended up in my mouth.

The bowl did not work so I switched to a cup.

You must work fast. If the balls become to soft they will fall off the sticks. Once you get them all done they may look like this.

They then went into the fridge for the chocolate to set. They tasted slightly better after the chocolate set.

I really enjoyed the Pizza Dough. I actually stood and stared at the oven while it cooked. I did it for two reasons to watch the cheese bubble and more importantly to make sure it did not burn. I enjoyed the slight sweetness due to the very small amount of sugar put in the dough. I will need to learn to be more generous with the toppings. I am KEEPing this recipe.

After thinking about the whole process of making the Peanut Butter Pretzel Pops, I would make them again. Other than the lollipop sticks, I usually have all the ingredients on hand and the process was quite simple. These would be great to bring to a party or for a small sweet treat. I will KEEP this recipe.

Weight Watchers followers:
Pizza Dough made two medium sized pizzas, 8 slices each,  4 points / slice (dough only)
Peanut Butter Pretzel Pops = 4 points each

Corn Dogs with Macaroni and Cheese

I did two recipes today. Figured I have a lot of recipes to get through so why not try two.

The Corn Dogs recipe was torn out of the Food Network Magazine and the Macaroni and Cheese recipe was torn out of the Women's World Magazine.

The ingredients for the Macaroni and Cheese were very basic and the only thing I had to go out and buy was a package of Elbow Macaroni.

The ingredients for the Corn Dogs were not as basic and required a stop at Bulk Barn for the Mustard Powder and the Corn Meal.

I was expecting to have seven for dinner so I did 1 1/2 times the recipes for the Macaroni and Cheese and the Corn Dogs.

The assembly of the Macaroni and Cheese was simple. Make sure you mix the sauce ingredients well.

The Corn Dogs were a little more time consuming to prepare. There were no issues when whisking the ingredients together. The issue came when I was supposed to pour the batter into a tall glass. The batter was very thick! On to step two. When heating such a large amount of oil it can be very difficult to regulate the temperature. I will admit I do not have a deep-fry thermometer. I used a candy thermometer. That may have been the cause of all the problems to come. I really do not know. I brought the oil up to the requested temperature, I proceeded to dredge the hot dogs in flour and now onto step three. When reading this recipe I envisioned a hot dogs being nicely coated in a yummy cornmeal batter. That was not the case. The batter being as thick as it was did not want to adhere to the hot dog. Frustrating! My husband took over and tried various techniques to get the batter onto the hot dog. I aided in suggesting to add some more milk to the batter. After getting the batter onto the hot dog we placed it into the oil and the batter expanded and started to fry a lot faster then expected. At this point I was ready to just cut the remainder hot dogs up and add them to the macaroni and cheese.

My husband insisted on figuring it out. He did it and this was what we ended up eating tonight for dinner.

The Macaroni and Cheese was simple to make and unfortunately the taste was simple as well. Perhaps it was because the cheese was only on top. The Corn Dogs tasted really good but because of all the issues with the batter and how stressed I got it's not worth the effort.

Both of these recipes will be TOSSed.

Weight Watcher's Points: Corn Dogs, approximately 8 points each and approximately 8 points for 1 1/2 cups for the Macaroni and Cheese.

French Apple Tart

I chose to do a dessert today. Tis the season for apples.

This recipe was torn out of the Food Network Magazine. My favourite magazine for recipes.

Ingredients for the pastry were easy to assemble. No purchasing required. The 1 1/2 sticks of butter is the same as a 3/4 cup. I cut it up into 12 pieces.

I got to take out my food processor that I have owned for years and have only used three times. I followed the directions on how to make the pastry exactly the way it is written and ended up with this:

The recipe states "knead quickly into a ball". I did not know exactly what that meant so I just brought all of the dough together and tried not to be finicky about the cracks.

While the pastry dough sat in the fridge I assembled the ingredients for the apple portion of the recipe.

A half a stick of butter is the equivalent to a 1/4 cup. I "diced" it up into approximately 24 pieces. I do have rum in my house but not "Calvados" rum so, I used water.

Buy extra apples. I ended up using 5 instead of 4. I did not use the melon ball coring technique they suggested. Instead I quartered the apples and removed the cores with a knife. I wish that apples did not turn brown so fast!

When sprinkling with the sugar, it felt like the sugar never ended. Next time I will try and keep the sugar on the pastry. The next photo is why.

Tip: Stay close by to occasionally spot any air pockets.I almost forgot about that part of the instructions.

Warning: When rotating the pan smoke will exit your oven! So, turn on the exhaust fan or have a book ready to fan the fire alarm off. Also, my oven must be hotter than other ovens. I baked it for 25 minutes before I rotated the pan and then I set the timer for 15 minutes and took it out at about 10 minutes because the edges underneath were very dark. Next time I will start with 15 minutes, rotate the pan and then another 15 minutes.

When it came time to brush the apricot jam onto the apples, it was like deja vu. It never ended. I did not end up using all of it. Probably just over half the amount.

At this point I really wanted a piece. I calculated the Weight Watcher's points and chose to cut it up into 24 pieces.

One piece is 4 points. 

Four very yummy points! I will KEEP this recipe. Varying the fruit is a great alternative or using the recipe for the pastry dough to make turnovers.

Pappardelle with Creamy Chicken Sauce

Wishful thinking on my part when I chose to make this recipe. The Perogies were such a hit with my nephew I thought he might like this one too. He quietly told his Dad "I don't really like it". Better luck next time.

This recipe was torn out of the Canadian Living Magazine. Same magazine as last week's recipe.

All the ingredients except for two were relatively easy to assemble.

I looked for Pappardelle at the grocery store. Apparently I did not go to the right one. I could not be bother to check another store so I went with the next best thing Fettuccine. The other ingredient, Coriander, I could not replace and ended up going to Bulk Barn to get it.

Here is the finished product.

I cannot decide if I'm going to toss or keep this recipe. I enjoyed it and so did the majority of the adults at the dinner table. My nephew as I said before did not. I really enjoyed the dill combined with the tangy sour cream. The peas added a sweet element. I am going to KEEP it.

Weight Watcher's Points: Makes 4 large servings and 1 serving is approximately 11 points.

Potato Cheddar Perogies

First time making perogies. I have always purchased them frozen. Not anymore!

This recipe was torn out of the Canadian Living Magazine. It has the Tested Until Perfect check mark so I was expecting great things.

I assembled all the ingredients as usual. These are for the dough:

The dough only had 5 ingredients. It was quite simple to put together. I did end up getting rid of the spoon and incorporated the ingredients by hand. I used all of the water plus another 1/4 cup to achieve the consistency of "soft but not sticky".

Here are the ingredients for the filling:

Two large potatoes weighed approximately one pound. A 1/4 cup is equal to 4 tablespoons of butter.

The filling was quite easy to make. I turned on the stove to bring the potatoes to a boil while I made the perogy  dough and by the time the water started to boil for the potatoes my dough was made and resting for the required 20 minutes.

The filling smelt very good and I would have ate it out of the pot if it weren't for the company I was expecting and there obvious expectation that the perogies would have a filling.

When the recipe states in the top left hand corner that the dough shrinks it is not lying! Make sure to "stretch each round of dough" before adding the filling.

Thirty six perogies all in a row.

I am very proud of how these turned out! A lot better than the gnocchi attempt!

When it came to boiling the perogies and then putting them into a strainer I was worried that they would stick together but they didn't. Hallelujah! I did not cook the onions and then add the perogies as instructed because one of my guest does not like onions. Shh! She doesn't know that there were onions in the filling.

I on the other hand cannot have perogies without onions so they were fried up on the side.

Have to have sour cream aswell!

If you did not guess by the first line of this entry, this recipe is a KEEP! It was a little time consuming but VERY good! My 7 year old nephew loved them too!

Weight Watcher's: 2 points per perogy does not include the sour cream or the onions and peppers.

Lasagna Bolognese

I cannot remember if I have ever made a meat lasagna before today. If I have, it was a LONG time ago. 

This recipe was torn out of the Rachel Ray Magazine. I had a very stereotypical frame of mind when choosing it. An Italian Woman created it, it has got to be good!

I did not end up tearing out any of the other Lasagna recipes in the magazine. I like to stick to the classics.

Here are the ingredients all meticulously placed. (I am thinking about investigating a career in food styling)

 

The pancetta was the most expensive ingredient. It probably did not help that I purchased it already chopped. When I opened the package and attempted to finely chop it  I realized that it was a tough meat to cut! I would suggest buying it chopped.

The above picture was the most aromatic stage of the recipe. The garlic, bay leaf and thyme are a wonderful combination!

Then the ground beef, crushed tomatoes and water was added and voila, meat ragu.

Below is the the creamy bechamel sauce. Be generous with the salt and pepper!

Now for the assembly.

I do not know if my 9 by 13 inch dish is bigger than Rachael Ray's but I did not end up doing 5 layers.

Here is the end result.

Here is the 1/8 serving size.

I served it with ceasar salad and slices of Italian bread. My husband and mother-in-law really enjoyed it. 

So did I! I will KEEP this recipe. It is worth the 2 hours it took to make it.

Only 10 Weight Watcher's points for this massive piece of Lasagna!

Pumpkin Gnocchi

Happy Thanksgiving!

I chose today's recipe for two reasons. One, it contains pumpkin and two I have always wanted to try to make Gnocchi. How hard could it be?! Make a dough, roll it into ropes, cut it into pieces and boil. Well let me tell you it is hard!

This recipe was torn out of the Canadian Living Magazine.

The ingredients were fairly easy to find. I did end up having to going to a second grocery store to buy the pine nuts and the sage.

When reading the directions on how to make the dough, I thought it sounded easy. I mixed the first set of ingredients and then proceeded to incorporate the flour. That is where the frustration began. I started mixing it with the wooden spoon and quickly replaced it with my hand. My hand got very sticky. According to the recipe I was supposed to add flour until it "pulled away from the bowl but still stuck to the spoon" It was not obvious when that occurred. So, I guessed. When I had about a half a cup of flour left I began the rolling. It was not easy to roll! When pushing away from myself the dough would flatten. I ended up with this:

Too big and too long.

I boiled them and then added them to the brown butter and pine nut sauce.

I am going to TOSS this recipe. It did not taste horrible but it did not taste like the ones I eat at a local restaurant. I will not give up on gnocchi. I will attempt it again some day in the far future. Most likely a recipe with a cream sauce instead of butter. There was WAY to much butter. The Sage smelt nice and I have always enjoyed pine nuts but sage looks ugly after it is cooked.

For all you Weight Watchers followers: approximately 13 pieces were 13 points. Another reason why I will be tossing this recipe.