httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=430_lH_Af3Y
When I thought up the idea of doing my own cooking show with my very bestest friend and “Cohort in Cooking”, Helenka [Evil editor’s cautionary note: uh-oh, he’s trying to make me forget he bypassed my editorial eagle eye last week], a few years ago, I never thought I would reach this milestone. Okay, so 10 episodes of 10 minutes each may not really seem like a huge achievement but, hey, let’s celebrate anyway because it’s a 10 in our books! [Evil editor’s clarification: though the finished episodes may be only 10 minutes long, between the additional prep time (done by those dedicated, hard-working kitchen pixies, lol) to the total length of raw footage that requires considerate selection and additional application of a bit of pizzazz, the CIC is proud to boast that we’ve more than earned that 10!]
I love pizza and my favorite store-bought brand is “Delissio”, especially the garlic bread one. However, if you are a nutritional fact info reader (as I am), you will shy away from it as well as all other store bought pizzas due to their incredibly high calorie, fat and carb counts – for the very small slice that is supposed to be one serving. No matter how good it is (or was, in my memories), I find myself walking away from buying it. How’s that for willpower?!? [The CIC offers congratulations and applause. Besides, our version tastes fabulous!]
I was pleasantly surprised and eager to try this version of a mini pizza using “English muffins” as the unexpected secret base instead of dough. We really enjoyed these little treasures. I have since made them several times, varying the ingredients. [See the CIC pout! He didn’t invite me to partake.] I’ve tried a version with sun-dried tomatoes, even switched English muffins with those new burger buns called “thins” (from the you know who company [Evil editor’s note: he’s just pulling my leg; he really means the PC brand]). They are bigger so you can really lay out the ingredients on their culinary canvas; of course, the calories, etc. will be higher. Just remember this is all about learning how to eat better by cooking at home. I think this one deviation in the bun is just fine, though do stick with the original if all you are looking for is a snack.
Thanks to all our fans. We really enjoy doing this show and appreciate that you are watching us faithfully every week. So here’s to the next 10 episodes. If you hadn’t figured it out yet, I prefer to set short attainable goals in many of my endeavours. 😉
Enjoy!
Please note: We try and review the recipes in the cookbook; however, in an effort to respect copyright, we are not able to reproduce the actual printed recipes here. If you do have the book, please follow along with us!
Review: Mini Pizzas
Notes from the Chef’s Sidekick (Helenka)
Dinner was Mini Pizzas, 3 Ways on Page 92 from The Book. Of course, we decided on the Basil Pesto, Goat Cheese way. The other ingredients were kalamata olives, red onion slices and artichoke hearts.
One of the biggest problems with eating/judging serving portions of pizza is that people overestimate how small one serving is. An excellent case in point is that supermarket frozen personal mini pizzas actually contain EIGHT servings … and not merely one that the word “personal” would otherwise indicate. However, in this case, the size was limited severely by the use of English muffins (and that’s smart thinking). Yet the lavish use of extravagant toppings didn’t make us think we were being restricted in any way. In fact, it was the deliberate contrast between textures (smooth, crumbly, crunchy, squishy … and now I’m giggling because I’m remembering chewing and savouring) that made the experience so much fun, especially having to bite down through all of the multi-hued layers.
The salt I chose for this … well, it really couldn’t be anything else other than the Mediterranean sea salt. Along with grindings of black pepper and the oil from the preserved artichoke hearts, we had a *free* salad dressing for our arugula, spinach, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes and red onion slivers. And that’s something else to remember: when ingredients come preserved (but not in mostly chemical formulae, because … yuck), you can easily incorporate the liquid for cooking or, as in this case, a salad dressing. Hey, we like *free* … and we thought you would, too.
Variations
This episode also brought back 35-year old memories of getting together with friends and having one of them whip up a pizza on the spot. I remember the pizza dough … and sardines (hey, I happen to love sardines), onions and a bit of olive oil. I believe there were anchovies as well. In any case, it was a fun, spur-of-the-moment meal to have late at night. The weird dreams were a bonus.
But the memory also highlights the fact that, too often, pizzas are covered with too much goop, things that have no distinguishable shape or texture and therefore cannot be appreciated (let alone chewed). However, if you use real ingredients (in small portions), then you can allow your tastebuds to savour all of the varied shapes, sizes, textures and flavours, because good food deserves to be respected as well as enjoyed. And there should be absolutely no limit to your imagination, whether it’s sardines or … something even stranger!
The other two choices from The Book were either Hawaiian or Sausauge and Pepper. In my opinion (and verdict), our choice was amazing.
Cooking time (duration): 60
Number of servings (yield): 2
Meal type: snack
Culinary tradition: USA (General)