Monday, September 19, 2011

Sarah's Taiwanese Calzones



      Yesterday (Sunday), was the first day this year that I did only 2 hours of schoolwork!  Amazing!  I seem to live in my classroom on Sundays.  In order to celebrate taking a break from lesson planning and graduate classwork, I decided to cook.  Zach had a basketball game to coach, and I thought about going.  However, it started to slightly rain, and I love to cook when it's raining.  It only rained for 10 minutes, but I imagined that it kept raining.
       I've made calzones before, but they were never anything special.  These weren't bad but not absolutely amazing.  In the words of Zach, "They're good."  Nothing special, just good.  That's ok.  I've come to the conclusion that I'm not great at making amazing calzones.
       I did have some leftovers for lunch today, and despite the fact that I accidentally put it in the freezer and not the fridge, it tasted just as good as it did fresh. 

The lovely ingredients.  In my calzones I put tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, 地瓜叶 - the Taiwanese don't have spinach, so I used sweet potato leaves instead.   That was the first food I knew the Chinese name for but not the English name. 


I let the dough rise for 2 hours.  I got a little busy cleaning out drawers in the kitchen, and I lost track of time.





Finished product.


Here's the recipe.  

Calzone Dough

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 packet yeast
  • 2 1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour for part of it).
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  1. Combine sugar and warm water in a bowl.  Sprinkle with yeast and allow to foam.
  2. Combine flour and salt in a separate bowl.
  3. Add flour to yeast mixture and stir to combine.  Add oil.
  4. Stir if possible, then turn mixture out on to a floured surface and knead for several minutes until smooth.
  5. Oil dough ball and set aside.  Allow to rise until doubled or so.
  6. Once ready to cook, preheat oven to 450°F.  Divide dough into balls.
  7. Roll a dough ball into a flat, circular shape.
  8. Add the toppings and pinch the calzone shut. 
  9. Bake until lightly brown.
  10. Allow calzone to cool slightly before eating.


Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hello,
I am excited to be blogging for the first time! I am an elementary teacher in North Dakota and cooking is my much-needed stress relief. Unfortunately, I don't always have time to make gourmet or from-scratch meals. When I get to, I really enjoy the process as much as eating the final product. I love my friends and am so grateful that we can share this blog together! Here is my cooking wish list:
*calzones
*home-made pasta sauce
*salsa
*home-made ice cream (I have an ice cream maker that I haven't used yet!)
*sour dough bread
*cheesecake
There are many more things I would like to try but that's all I can think of now. I can't wait to start!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Laura's Barbecue Chicken Calzones

Hey girls!  Tonight I make Barbecue Chicken Calzones!  They were super easy and really good.






Here is the recipe:

1 can Pillsbury classic pizza crust
1 package of deBarbeque BBQ Sauce with Chicken
1/2 cup of colby jack cheese

1. Turn oven to 425 degrees
2. Spray cookie sheet and unroll pizza dough on it.  Press the dough so it covers the whole pan then cut it into four squares...probably around 7x5 inch rectagles.  Spoon chicken into half the rectangle and spread it so it's within 1/2 inch from the edge of the dough.  Sprinkle cheese over each.
3.  Fold dough in half and press edges with a fork.
4.  Bake 9-12 minutes or until light brown. 

It only took about 20 minutes from start to finish!  I'd make them again for sure!



I'm excited to see your recipes! :)

Laura

Introduction of the Minnesota Girl

I'm so excited to begin this cooking club - Thank you Sarah for starting this!  I love your creative ways of keeping our group of friends close and not letting long distances get in the way of still doing fun things together. 

To any followers of this blog, I'm the Minnesota girl of the group.  Our group of friends met in high school and college and then, as it always does, life took us different directions after college and we are now scattered around the world - California, Taiwan, Minnesota and North Dakota.

These are some of the things I think would be fun to make with our cooking club, in addition to the list Sarah posted:

Homemade Apple Cider
Salsa
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Cheesecake
Bread Bowl Chili
Cinnamon Rolls
Bruchetta

Tonight I'm making Calzones!  I'll post the results.  I'm excited to see what your recipes are girls! 

Step out of the way Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray and Julia Child, the Minnesota girl is in the kitchen!  

Thursday, September 1, 2011

To Do List

  • Souffle
  • Pesto
  • Onion Rings
  • Ciabatta bread
  • Petit Fours
  • Truffles
  • Focaccia Bread
  • Apple Dumplings
  • Chocolate Cream Pie
  • Calzones