Recipes

I've had to try many new recipes here, as I'm cooking everything from scratch and there are different things available here than back home. I thought I'd post a few of my favorite new recipes here every so often!

Easy Foccacia Bread (Amy Medina, USA)

Mix:
* 2 cups flour
* 2 cups very warm water
* 2 t. yeast

Add:
* 2 cups flour
* 2 t. salt

Dough should still be sticky. Cover & let rise until double.

With fingers dipped in oil, spread dough onto an oiled cookie sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt, rosemary, garlic powder or Italian seasoning.

Bake at 450 F for 25-30 minutes. Cut or tear into strips and dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar or garlic butter.

Pizza Crust

Mix:
* 1 1/2 c tepid water
* 1 1/4 t yeast
* 1/2 t sugar
Leave for 10 minutes

Add:
* 1 t salt
* 2 T olive oil
* 2 1/2 c flour

Knead and continue to add one more cup of flour. Leave to rise for 1 hour. Hit it with your fist & push it down. Spread it on a greased pan. Cover with pizza sauce, cheese & toppings. Bake at 425 F for 25 minutes.

The cookbook doesn't say how much this makes, so the first time I used one batch for 1 pizza. It covered an ENTIRE cookie sheet and was probably 1-2 inches thick. It took much longer to bake, but was really yummy. The second time, after I realized how much it made, I split the batch & did two regular size circle pizzas. The crust was 'normal' thickness, and a little more crispy than the first batch. Make to your own liking!

Pizza Sauce
Fry half a chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic in 1 Tbsp of olive oil.

Add:
* 1/2 can tomato paste
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/2 t salt
* 1/4 t pepper
* 1 t oregano
* 1/4 t garlic powder
* 1/4 t thyme

Cook for about 10 minutes or more. Spread over pizza dough & top with cheese & other toppings!

Mirjam's Cappuchino Muffins (Mirjam Smits, The Netherlands)

Combine:
* 2 cups flour
* 3/4 cups sugar
* 2 1/2 t baking powder
* 1 Tbsp instand coffee powder
* 1/2 t salt
* 1 t cinnamon

Combine in another bowl:
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup melted butter
* 1 egg
* 1 t vanilla

Combine all but do not over mix!

Bake in oven 10 - 15 minutes (pre-heated)

So, the cookbook says to bake 'gas over 4', which I don't know what that means. I think I had the oven between 350-400. I also added 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder, because I wasn't sure the kids would like just the coffee flavor. They turned out great and the kids (and Marc) liked them! It would be fun to add chocolate chips, but I can't find them here. :(