Simple Asparagus Pizza

Friends, I am in and out like a bad radio station.

I'm sorry, it's trip season!  What do you think?

Should have given warning though.

I have been in San Francisco.  Via Ashland, Oregon and Redding, California.

What phenomenal little towns!

Ashland, with its country folk and lush green parks and academics and performers, the usual combination of sophisticates and drunks.


Redding, with its hot sun and palm trees and olive oil and citrus fruit.  Who are you, California!

I don't even know.

And of course the wedding, the reason I traveled.  My lovely friend getting married under towering redwoods in the evening.

Then taking friends to the airport, a stop in San Francisco and chowder in a sourdough bread bowl on the dock.

Back in the car, books on tape, thirteen long, long hours and boom.  Back home again.

I love my life.

Simple Asparagus Pizza (adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perlman)
I love simple food in spring and summer.  No late nights up alchemically combining, stirring the sorcerer's pot.  Just good, easy food.  Eat those vegetables, eat them!

Yields 1 thin crust 12-inch pizza.

1/2 pound asparagus
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Several grinds of black pepper
One 3/4-pound pizza dough, ready-to-go (here's a recipe for a good one)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 lb mozzarella, grated
1/4 lb cheddar, grated
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Preheat your oven to its highest temperature - about 500 degrees in most cases.  If you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven.

Wash and chop your asparagus.  Discard the woody ends.  Toss the pieces in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Roll or stretch out your pizza dough to a 12 inch round (mine wasn't exactly round...).  Transfer to a floured or cornmeal-dusted pizza peel or a similarly prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle the dough with all three cheeses.  Pile the asparagus on top.

Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes, until the edges are browned, the cheese is bubbly, and the asparagus might be lightly charred.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with scallions, and eat.

Cake Class II

Cake class!  This is my second project cake, basketweave trim and royal icing flowers.

The roses were fun, the lilies were fun.

The white primroses with inadvertent pink trim were fun (there was some rose pink leftover in my piping bag when I put in the white, and they came out like this!  Which is great because, primroses really look like that!).

But my heart really belongs to those little blue violets.  Such unassuming little fellows, spending all of their time making their companions pop.

But without them, this cake would be a mess of pink and orange.

Shine on, little blue violets.  Shine on.

Sweet Pea Pasta Alfredo

 
It's time for some springtime treats!

You know what kind that is?

It's the green kind.

Fall has caramel and cinnamon, in winter you get clove and orange.

In spring, there are peas.  Nature's candy.

Have you had a fresh pea before?  I think my first experience of them was joining forces with my cousins to eat each and every one off my aunt's pea trellis.

She uh, she wasn't pleased.

This is a simple springtime pasta dish.  Easy to make, easy to eat, easy to love.

You may have to sit and shell peas for a while, but you know what?  It's not that bad.

It's actually kind of fun.  I got my husband and toddler in on it and turns out it suits all ages!

Well, the little one did a lot more tasting than shelling.

An important job, really.

In fact, I think we should all just follow his example.

Sweet Pea Pasta Alfredo (adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, by Deb Perlman)
Serves 4

Salt to taste
1/2 pound dried pasta
1 cup fresh shelled peas (from about 1 pound in the pod) (you can use frozen or canned if you want, but you'll miss out on the floral sweetness of the fresh)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions.  Add peas to cook during the last 30 seconds of pasta cooking time.  Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water and set aside.  Drain the pasta and the peas together.

Dry out the pasta pot and pour in the heavy cream.  Bring it to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the butter and stir it until it has melted.  Generously season the sauce with freshly ground black pepper; add a pinch of salt and the lemon zest.  Add 3/4 cup of the Parmesan and stir it until the sauce is smooth; then toss in the drained pasta and peas.  Cook the pasta and sauce together for 2 minutes, until the sauce has thickened slightly.  Add the reserved pasta water by the spoonful if needed if the sauce becomes too thick.

Divide the pasta among bowls and garnish with the remaining Parmesan and red pepper flakes, if desired.

Seattle

She was tap dancing!  For percussion!

And who could forget?

Left to right, top to bottom:  Vanilla, chocolate cream cheese, lavender, compost (a mix of oats, coffee beans, chocolate chips, etc.), lemon, and salted caramel.

In Transit

Hola amigitos!  I am going to Seattle!

Girl trip, three friends, two babies, a math and science conference where I will grip my glass and pretend I remember what pi means.

Whales!  Space needles!  Pikes and sounds and ferries!

It's gonna be a blast.

Down side however is that, due to prep and circumstance (I don't know what that is but it has a nice ring to it), I have absolutely nothing for you tonight.  This will change so very soon, since my number one goal in visiting Seattle is to go to This Place. 

I went there a few years ago on my only other visit to Seattle, and I will never, ever forget it.

I will share with you all when I return next week!

Until then, let this video of French people dancing and running from yeti-lions tide you over.

Overloadeded Spicy Cheddar Muffins

 
I am going to tell you how to make homemade popcorn.

Because you know what?  You don't need a popper, air or otherwise.  All that is a scam.

A scam!

All you do is, pour about 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil into a large pot and put it over medium-high heat.

Add in 1/4 cup popcorn kernels.

Affix a lid, slightly ajar.

Hey girl, you look like you could use a muffin.

And WAIT!  The pops, they will come.

When the pops lessen, remove from heat.

Drizzle in butter and sprinkle in salt.  Or be creative and add parmesan or cinnamon, or seaweed.

Why am I telling you how to make popcorn in this post about cheese muffins?

Because that is the kind of week it has been.

Right now I am making cupcakes, eating popcorn, and blogging about muffins.

Busy baby, yeah.  And I like it that way.

(Unless it's too much because then BOOM and you can ask my husband about when that happens but you know what you probably shouldn't let's just let it go)

Overloaded Spicy Cheddar Muffins (adapted from Joy)
Makes 12

So you may have noticed I am still joyfully welcoming dairy back into my life.  Everything I'm making this week seems to have cheese in it somewhere...no regrets! 

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour (you can replace both of these with 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
12 sliced pickled jalapenos for topping
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper for topping.

*One note from Joy about using paper cupcake liners with these muffins!  "When warm, the muffins will stick to the paper.  When muffins are room temperature, the papers will come out of the papers easily.  To avoid this nonsense, just grease and flour a muffin tin instead of using cupcake liners."  I found her to be correct on this.

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 12 cup muffin tin and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, egg, and melted butter.

Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients.  Stir to incorporate.  Before the mixture is entirely mixed, add the grated cheese.  Stir to incorporate making sure that the mixture is evenly moistened and the cheese is well distributed.

Divide batter between prepared muffin tin.  Top each with a jalapeno slice and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper.

Bake muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.  Muffins are best served warm. 

Everything Seafood Pasta

Dairy time!

I've been off of wheat, dairy, and sugar for a while, due to minor health issues.  Those health issues are clearing up now, however, and I'm slowly adding things back in.

Two weeks ago, fruit!

Two weeks from now, wheat!  (looking forward to that)

Now, dairy!

To celebrate bringing dairy back into my life, as well as the end of the fish-phase of my year of seasonal eating (meat-free from here on out), I bring you:

SEAFOOD BEHEMOTH.

I am not normally very keen on seafood.  I grew up in a desert place where eating a lot of seafood, well, it just wasn't wise.

Now I'm living much nearer to the coast, and I've been dabbling in the fresh fish and shellfish available.

The main thing that was new to me in this dish was scallops.

Scallops!  Have you had them?  I loved them.

Little buttery meaty guys.  Almost as soft as the noodles, but with a tasty, mild, meaty fish taste.  They were a winner.

It's a heavy dish, so invite your friends over to help enjoy.

Or just eat it yourself.  It's all right, we'll keep it between us.

Everything Seafood Pasta

2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
8 oz clam juice
1 lb scallops
1 lb small shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 oz crabmeat (I used imitation, I know, take the girl out of the desert but you can't take the desert out of the girl)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup flour (I used a GF version)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 lb macaroni noodles, cooked and drained  (I used GF potato noodles)

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F, and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large skillet, saute onion in oil and 2 tablespoons butter until tender.  Stir in broth and clam juice; bring to a boil.  Add the scallops, shrimp, crab and white pepper; return to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and scallops are firm and opaque, stirring gently.  Drain, reserving cooking liquid.  Set seafood mixture aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the remaining 1/2 cup butter; stir in flour until smooth.  Add milk and reserved cooking liquid gradually.  Add salt.  Bring to a boil and cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from the heat, stir in cream and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Stir in the seafood mixture and the cooked noodles.

Spread noodle mixture in a 9x13 inch greased baking pan.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.  Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.