First Bentos!

Well, a few days ago I got those bento boxes in the mail. I was kind of excited to make them for me and John, but also tired and kind of short on time, inspiration, and ingredients. I didn't take any pictures of the process of cooking, since it was all easy and boring, so I'll just tell you what I did.
I cut up and steamed some broccolini and carrot, then cut up celery. I thawed out some brown rice that had been in the freezer for me. John doesn't like that rice (it's not my favorite, either), so instead I made him a half a sandwich with roast beef and colby cheese. I also put some tomato slices in mine, and I threw a little donut in his. I made us each a little hot dog octopus. Hee hee! I think they're cute. You just cut a hot dog into half (or I did 2/3rds for John and 1/3rd for me), then cut partway up each half to make the tentacles. It's actually easier to cut them into six sections, though octopi of course have eight legs. Anyway, you can cut a little face into them, and throw them into the microwave, and as they plump, the legs separate. It's really cute. The same principle can be used to make circular hot dogs for when you run out of hot dog buns but still have hamburger buns. Just make some slices in one side of the hot dog, halfway through its width, before you nuke them. Whee!
The steamed carrot was surprisingly sweet, and good. Note for next time: Keep stuff to be microwaved in one tier. I didn't end up heating anything up, since it was all mixed together. It was good, but I think it might have been better warmed.

Anyway, here are the pictures!

 

Pizza

So I did make that dough last night, but I ended up going to bed after one hour and sticking it into the fridge, instead of letting the dough rise for the two hours as the recipe suggested. I was a little worried that this would affect the quality of the dough, and it did seem a little heavier than I was expecting, but it was still delicious.
This recipe is from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (link is to Amazon-- this book is great to have around!)
I made a half recipe (this is the whole recipe here), and used half of that to make one pretty small pizza that John and I split.

Olive Oil Dough
2  3/4 cups lukewarm water
1  1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1  1/2 packets)
1  1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6  1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded -- but not airtight-- container.
Mix in the flour. I just used a big wooden spoon. It doesn't look like it's going to have enough liquid in it, but it does.
Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature for about two hours.

You can use it right away, or keep it in the fridge for about 12 days, tops. It's easier to handle when it's cold, though. Less sticky.

Here is mine right after mixing:           

And after an hour rising and a night and day in the fridge:

I preheated my oven to 550 degrees F with a cookie sheet in there (it smoked a whole lot, but that's a different story. You also might want to be careful and throw on the exhaust fan and keep an eye on the smoke detectors), since I don't have access to the fancy pizza stone technology they mention in the book. The theory is that putting the dough onto a hot surface right off the bat helps cook it more quickly for a crispier crust.

I put flour on my hands and sprinkled some on top of the dough, then grabbed about half of it and formed it into a ball on a floured cutting board: 

Then, not having access to fancy rolling pin technology, I flattened it with my hands and a drinking glass. I also lifted it up at one point and sprinkled corn meal underneath it:

Okay, now on to the toppings.

I used the following (portions are estimations, since I cut up wayyy more than I used):

1/4 cup sliced tomato

1/4 cup chopped broccolini (longer, skinnier broccoli with tender stems-- had some on hand. Yum!)

~4 basil leaves (fewer, but they were big so I ripped them up)

3 tablespoons pasta sauce (actually, mine apparently had meat in it so wasn't vegetarian.. but yours doesn't have to!)

1 cup chopped fresh mozzarella

Here they are (in mass quantities):

I spooned a few tablespoons of the pasta sauce onto the center of the dough, and spread it around like I've seen them do on the Tee-Vee. Then I threw on some of the toppings:

I very carefully picked the pizza up (almost lost one of the pieces of mozzarella) and put it onto the cookie sheet in the by-now-preheated oven. I baked it for nine minutes, and it turned into this:

There was a little excess water that ran off of the pizza and boiled off quickly in the pan, I'm guessing because the fresh mozzarella and tomato had quite a bit of moisture. It didn't really matter to me, but you might want to keep it in mind when you make your own pizza. Also, the basil came out a bit crispier than I thought it would. I tried to protect it under cheese, but some corners poked out.

All in all, it was quite tasty! I'll have to try making the dough again sometime to see if leaving it to rise more makes it lighter.

I don't care what anyone else says, tomato and broccoli are the best pizza toppings ever. And the fresh mozzarella really does make a difference. There's also something really satisfying about making dough from scratch. This is a really easy recipe, but it gives you that feeling of accomplishment. That's why you need to grab the book!

There are approximately 350 calories in each 1/4th of this pizza, if I've done my math and measurements correctly. (Edit: Just put away the leftover toppings and I didn't use nearly as much cheese as I thought. So I'm not sure how many calories are in it, and am too tired to try to figure it out. Later I'll go over it again, if I remember. Less than 350.)

Worth it!

Caprese salad

Some fresh mozzarella fell into my lap the other day, so I decided my first meal on here would be the simple yet tasty caprese salad!
Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Tomato
Fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil

It was really simple, so I won't bore you with pictures of me slicing things up-- plus, I didn't take any.
Basically, you just slice up your tomato and your fresh mozzarella, then arrange them in a row alternating cheese and tomato (or however you want, obviously), interspersing some fresh basil leaves as you go. Then you drizzle the whole affair with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and, if you want, garnish with some bread, like baguette. I had some crostini that I'd bought from the deli to accompany the salad, and they were delightful together. Crostini is basically just thinly sliced and toasted bread. I think mine had some olive oil and black pepper in it, as well, and it was crunchy and delicious!
For my single-person recipe, I used about 4 ounces of mozzarella and one smallish tomato. The entire thing was approximately 470 calories, if I am not mistaken.
I love fresh mozzarella-- it's such a mild cheese, but the texture and flavor are very satisfying. The fresh basil adds some stronger flavor, almost anise-like, but I still liked it even though I'm not a fan of black licorice. And of course, the tomato. Delicious and full of lycopene. I personally think that the balsamic vinegar brought more deliciousness to the table than the olive oil, but what do I know.
Oh, and here's a picture of the finished product! Thanks to my man (let's call him John) for letting me borrow his camera.

I still have fresh mozzarella left over, and lots of basil, so I think tonight I might make some dough and then tomorrow evening whip up some mini-pizzas! It'll be a first for me, so I hope it turns out well.

Culinary Baby Steps

I told myself I'd have a lot more time to explore the magical world of cooking once I graduated. I graduated in the winter of 2007, and now, almost two years later, I still haven't really done anything.
So I thought I could try making a blog about cooking. I recently made a blog for reviewing books I read, so this seemed like a natural step.
I was also inspired by the food blog at http://justbento.com and their corresponding Flickr page-- I actually ordered a bento for me and one for my boyfriend, so expect to see those up here at some point, once they arrive.
Here's the plan: I'm going to post recipes and sources, and copious pictures of me trying them out. Even if no one reads this blog, I hope that it will give me the motivation to cook more frequently.