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COOKING AND RECIPES
- MY RECIPES -
This section will grow as I copy my recipes out of scrapbooks and bits of paper and onto the computer. If you have any requests please let me know!
Pizza Dough
Humous
During the years that I have been made pizza I have tried lots of different doughs but this dough is probably the tastiest I have ever made. Aside from the standard dough ingredients it has honey, olive oil and a little wholemeal flour. I doubt whether it would pass the Joska and Francisco test of ‘traditionality’ but that certainly didn’t stop them eating it.
Note: If you want to make really yummy pizzas at home but this recipe seems too daunting, complex or time consuming, don’t worry because there are plenty of alternatives. Firstly, most bakeries, given a days notice, will sell you a lump of bread dough which makes excellent pizza bases. When you get home simply roll it out and presto, a great pizza base with no effort! Secondly, pita breads make great pizza bases and are easy for kids to make pizzas with (actually….they make it easier for adults too!) as they keep their shape better than regular dough (pizza was the one of the first dishes I ever cooked and my first pizzas where made on pita bread bases).
What you need
- 2 ½ cups of white flour
- 1 cup of wholemeal flour
- 2 tablespoons of gluten floor (optional)
- ½ of salt
- 2 teaspoons of dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 1/2 cups of warm water (no hotter than tepid)
- 1/8 of a cup of olive oil (more if you like. Up to ¼ of a cup)
- 2 teaspoons of honey
Method
Put the flours and salt in a large bowl and mix well. To the cup of warm water, add the yeast, sugar and a few pinches of flour, stir well until the yeast is dissolved and leave the mixture until it starts to froth (if the day is warm this will take about 5 – 10 minutes, longer if it is cold).
NOTE: The above method is an excellent way to awaken the sleepy yeast that has been ‘snoozing’ in its packet for making any bread recipe. Even though a teaspoon of sugar is added, this is only to give the yeast a ‘kick start’ and will not leave the dough sweet, as the yeast feeds on the sugar and converts it into carbon dioxide (if I remember my chemistry classes correctly).
Next, add the yeast mixture, the honey and the oil to the flours and mix well until the concoction forms a ball. The dough should be moist but not so moist that it sticks to your hands. If the dough ends up getting stuck all over your hands, add more flour. If it remains dry and lumpy, add more water (do any additions little by little).
Knead the dough for about 5 – 10 minutes (either in a food processor, bread mixer or by hand) and then form it into a ball. Cover the ball with a little extra olive oil and then leave it to rise in a warm place (on top of the refrigerator is sometimes good) with a plastic bag on top to keep it moist. After about 45 minutes it should have doubled in size. Now, knead the dough again for 30 seconds and then form it into small apple sized balls ready to be rolled into pizza bases. Place the ball on a floured surface and cover them with a plastic bag or moist cloth. Make sure the balls are well covered in flour or they will stick to everything. Presto! Your pizza dough is ready to be rolled out thinly and turned inside wonderful pizzas. Be sure to cook your pizzas in an oven turned up to maximum heat and if possible on a pizza tile that has been preheated.
(picture coming soon)
Humous is a Middle Eastern paste that is scrumpously delicious and very nutritious. Many vegetarians and vegans find humous a very useful addition to their diet as it is high in protein, has a moderate level of healthy oils and is free of all animal products. It tastes so good however that it is also a favorite of many non-vegetarians too. I personally am a humous junky and when I make it I often plunge into an extreme humous binge in which I eat it for every meal until it runs out.
This recipe makes quite a lot of humous however it is very versatile and if your anything like me there is absolutely no chance that any on it will go to waste. In this recipe humous is used as a dip, but it is also excellent for spread on toast with tomato breakfast or as part of a falafel roll (pita bread filled with humous, tabouli, tomatoes, lettuce, falafel ball and garlic sauce - the recipe for falafel rolls is coming soon. If you know how to make falafels from scratch please let me know).
Humous
Ingredients
- 4 cups (or two cans) of cooked chickpeas
- ¼ cup of lemon juice
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 4 dessertspoons of tahini
- a pinch of ground black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil (for garnishing)
- Ground paprika (for garnishing)
Additional extras you may with to consider (by no means necessary – the base recipe is shit hot on its own!)
- ½ teaspoon of cumin
- ½ teaspoon of powdered ginger
- 2 heaped dessertspoons of chopped parsley
Method
Drain the chickpeas and set aside the liquid and a small handful of the chickpeas. Put the chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the tahini and blend again. If the humous is too thick add some of the reserved chickpea liquid. Taste the humous and check that it tastes good. Depending on your taste you may want to adjust it by adding a little more lemon, tahini etc. If you are using some or all of the additional ingredients add them now.
Serve the humous in a bowl and garnish with the handful of chickpeas you set aside, a good drizzle of olive oil and a healthy sprinkling of paprika.
Garlic Toasted Pita Wedges
Ingredients
2 large wholemeal pita breads
10 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Finely chop the garlic and mix with the olive oil. Next, brush the olive oil onto both sides the pita breads and cut them into small wedges.
Arrange the wedges onto two biscuit trays so that they don’t overlap too much (this will make them cook slower). Bake them for about 3 hours or until they are golden. When they are done open the oven door and leave them too cool and become crunchy.