Sucks to be you guys.
(Yes, YOU, our 3 faithful readers).
Why does it suck to be you? YOU have to keep following our blog because you have unknowingly become addicted to reading about food and cats. Which is embarrassing in itself. How do you explain something like that to your friends?
"Oh, sorry I didn't call you back last night, I was busy reading a blog about cooking and a cat named Pi who drinks from a waterfall!!!"
"........"
(By the way, I would probably be really excited and demand the URL, but I can assure you this would not be a common reaction).
Best to keep this to yourself.
Unless you hang out with people like us. Then, by all means, feel free to spread the joy. We would like to have 4 readers by the end of the year. If there are still only 3 of you, then Pi and I are going on strike.
So there.
And now it is time to get down to business. The likelihood that I am going to pack this one post chock full of food and useless information in an effort to not have to follow up with an additional post is about 98%. Ready?
Of pizza, crepes, and cats
By: Spoon
By: Spoon
I'm sure you all know that feeling you get after a really long day of work/school/youtube video watching. That feeling like the last thing you could imagine doing is putting effort into making something to eat (and doing the resulting dishes). You wander the kitchen with a sad face, alternating between opening and closing the cupboards and fridge and sighing dramatically. This is the moment where you wish you still lived with your mom, because she would probably take pity on you and make you something tasty. Instead, your roommate tells you to stop letting all of the cold air out of the fridge and to eat a bowl of her 5-day-old chicken curry and to be happy.
Fine.
SIGH.
So, what do you crave when you're super hungry, extremely tired, and exceptionally lazy?
Pizza, of course.
The easiest way to conjure up a pizza for yourself usually involves either the freezer or the phone. I will admit my version takes a little bit more effort, but I can promise you that it is likely more satisfying, and if you plan things right, you can get away with having only one utensil to wash. Impressive, huh?
It would be selfish of me to take all the credit for this idea, as it was Ginger who originally got me started on this. But, I will take the credit for making it most often, because really, honestly, I probably eat this at least once a week. Ginger eats it probably once a month, but she is more cultured than I am.
Which she should be, because in the coming years, one of us is more likely than the other to spend a large amount of time with our arm up a horse's butt, but I won't say who.
Need a hint?
So here are some videos that I feel encompass all that is cat.
Ready to be entertained? Good.
--Spoon
Fine.
SIGH.
So, what do you crave when you're super hungry, extremely tired, and exceptionally lazy?
Pizza, of course.
The easiest way to conjure up a pizza for yourself usually involves either the freezer or the phone. I will admit my version takes a little bit more effort, but I can promise you that it is likely more satisfying, and if you plan things right, you can get away with having only one utensil to wash. Impressive, huh?
It would be selfish of me to take all the credit for this idea, as it was Ginger who originally got me started on this. But, I will take the credit for making it most often, because really, honestly, I probably eat this at least once a week. Ginger eats it probably once a month, but she is more cultured than I am.
Which she should be, because in the coming years, one of us is more likely than the other to spend a large amount of time with our arm up a horse's butt, but I won't say who.
Need a hint?
Crispy Tortilla Pizza
By: Spoon
By: Spoon
Preheat the oven to about 350 degrees. If you want your pizza done faster, turn the temp up, but I have found 350 to be perfect in order to get the right amount of crispiness. Make sure you have a rack in the middle of the oven. I recommend doing this before preheating.
Place a flour tortilla on a paper towel (we're going for the least amount of dirty dishes, remember), and slather it with whatever tomato based product you can find in your fridge. Except ketchup. We're going for sauce here, so you can use anything from spaghetti sauce, to actual pizza sauce, to those cans of stuff you can get at the grocery store that just say "sauce" on them. I usually end up using spaghetti sauce, because there is usually a partially used jar in the fridge. Nobody ever uses an entire jar of spaghetti sauce.
After putting the sauce on your tortilla, add whatever toppings you want. I alternate between three different pizzas, but I'm lame like that. Get creative. Fridge dive. Hide something you don't like under a bunch of cheese to see if you can get yourself to pretend to like it.
Here are my three alternates:
1) Three cheese and basil: Parmesan, cheddar, and mozzarella cheese with some chopped, fresh basil if available.
2) Canadian bacon and mushroom: Self explanatory.
3) Some crazy greek based concoction: I saute mushrooms, shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, and kalamata olives in a little bit of olive oil. Believe it or not these are all ingredients that I have acquired from other recipes, so it's not like I went out and bought them with the intention of using them for tortilla pizzas. That is breaking the rules of tortilla pizza making. Tortilla pizzas are not intentional. The just happen. Embrace it. Anyway, I saute all of that stuff, plop it on the sauce, and then top it with feta and mozzarella. Tasty.
After you get your toppings all together, throw them on the sauce topped tortilla and then mound with cheese. Make sure to keep everything at least a half inch from the edge of the tortilla so as to prevent meltage and burnage.
Finally, bake it. Open the oven, grab opposite edges of the tortilla (I usually go with the 9:00 and 3:00 positions), and run as fast as you can to the oven before your tortilla decides to fall apart. Place the tortilla directly on the rack, so the bottom has a chance to get crispy. I can't tell you how long I bake mine for, as it is different depending on the ingredients and how "done" you like your pizza. I usually go sit down and forget about it until Ginger tells me my pizza is done. Works pretty well.
I think it takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Let's leave it at that. You'll figure it out.
When the pizza is cooked to your liking, slide it off the oven rack directly onto a cutting board, let it sit for several minutes, then cut and snarf. Pretty easy, huh?
So, as indicated by the title of this post, I also want to mention crepes. By mention, I mean talk about their endless possibilities as far as fillings. We made a double batch of crepes this past Sunday, and have been eating them all week. For anyone who doesn't know what a crepe is, get your butt to the MN State Fair this fall and visit La Creperie. I'll leave it at that.
I can't leave it at that. Crepes are delicious flat little egg-y pancake things that can be filled with so much deliciousness it will blow you away.
Actually, pretty much just cat videos that never fail to amuse us. For those of you without cats in your life, you are missing out. Pi makes us laugh at least 42 times per day, and that's when she's slacking. She going to be embarrassed that I'm telling you all this, but she jumped into a glass door last night while playing with one of her toys. She's fine, but she definitely didn't appreciate being laughed at.
Place a flour tortilla on a paper towel (we're going for the least amount of dirty dishes, remember), and slather it with whatever tomato based product you can find in your fridge. Except ketchup. We're going for sauce here, so you can use anything from spaghetti sauce, to actual pizza sauce, to those cans of stuff you can get at the grocery store that just say "sauce" on them. I usually end up using spaghetti sauce, because there is usually a partially used jar in the fridge. Nobody ever uses an entire jar of spaghetti sauce.
After putting the sauce on your tortilla, add whatever toppings you want. I alternate between three different pizzas, but I'm lame like that. Get creative. Fridge dive. Hide something you don't like under a bunch of cheese to see if you can get yourself to pretend to like it.
Here are my three alternates:
1) Three cheese and basil: Parmesan, cheddar, and mozzarella cheese with some chopped, fresh basil if available.
2) Canadian bacon and mushroom: Self explanatory.
3) Some crazy greek based concoction: I saute mushrooms, shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, and kalamata olives in a little bit of olive oil. Believe it or not these are all ingredients that I have acquired from other recipes, so it's not like I went out and bought them with the intention of using them for tortilla pizzas. That is breaking the rules of tortilla pizza making. Tortilla pizzas are not intentional. The just happen. Embrace it. Anyway, I saute all of that stuff, plop it on the sauce, and then top it with feta and mozzarella. Tasty.
After you get your toppings all together, throw them on the sauce topped tortilla and then mound with cheese. Make sure to keep everything at least a half inch from the edge of the tortilla so as to prevent meltage and burnage.
Finally, bake it. Open the oven, grab opposite edges of the tortilla (I usually go with the 9:00 and 3:00 positions), and run as fast as you can to the oven before your tortilla decides to fall apart. Place the tortilla directly on the rack, so the bottom has a chance to get crispy. I can't tell you how long I bake mine for, as it is different depending on the ingredients and how "done" you like your pizza. I usually go sit down and forget about it until Ginger tells me my pizza is done. Works pretty well.
I think it takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Let's leave it at that. You'll figure it out.
When the pizza is cooked to your liking, slide it off the oven rack directly onto a cutting board, let it sit for several minutes, then cut and snarf. Pretty easy, huh?
So, as indicated by the title of this post, I also want to mention crepes. By mention, I mean talk about their endless possibilities as far as fillings. We made a double batch of crepes this past Sunday, and have been eating them all week. For anyone who doesn't know what a crepe is, get your butt to the MN State Fair this fall and visit La Creperie. I'll leave it at that.
I can't leave it at that. Crepes are delicious flat little egg-y pancake things that can be filled with so much deliciousness it will blow you away.
Crepes
By: Spoon
Hey, an actual recipe! Don't get excited. You won't see from me too often.
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
That's it! Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, blending as flour is added so you avoid clumps. You could use a food processor, but we all know that I'm all about using as few dishes as possible.
Heat a medium sized pan for a couple of minutes, then use a pastry brush to put a thin coating of oil down in the pan. The pan is hot enough when drops of water sizzle instantly. Pour in enough batter to make a thin coating over the bottom of the pan (1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter), tilting the pan to evenly distribute the batter. The crepe should be very thin. Cook until set (about 30 seconds or so), then flip and cook on the other side for about 5-10 seconds. Toss the cooked crepe out onto a plate, then cook another, and keep tossing them onto the plate. They don't stick together, which is awesome. I usually re-oil the pan after every third crepe.
So, after you have your pile of crepes on a plate, what do you do with them?
You fill them.
Here is what we have tried so far, but know there are infinite possibilities. Sweet and savory things fill crepes equally well, it just depends on what you're craving.
1) Butter and cinnamon sugar
2) Eggs, cheese, and spinach
3) Baked squash, goat cheese, and arugula
4) Vanilla ice cream and homemade berry sauce
5) Fresh sliced banana, cream cheese (mentioned below), oats, cinnamon, and honey
6) My personal favorite: Homemade berry sauce and cream cheese (but not just any cream cheese). We used some awesome cream cheese we found at Seward Co-op and combined it with almond extract, powdered sugar, cream, and a touch of honey. SO good.
I'm getting really excited for asparagus season, so I have an idea for a slivered almond, mushroom, swiss cheese, asparagus combo. I'll get back to you on that.
The third (and final, breathe a sigh of relief!) part of this post is completely dedicated to cats.
Hey, an actual recipe! Don't get excited. You won't see from me too often.
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
That's it! Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, blending as flour is added so you avoid clumps. You could use a food processor, but we all know that I'm all about using as few dishes as possible.
Heat a medium sized pan for a couple of minutes, then use a pastry brush to put a thin coating of oil down in the pan. The pan is hot enough when drops of water sizzle instantly. Pour in enough batter to make a thin coating over the bottom of the pan (1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter), tilting the pan to evenly distribute the batter. The crepe should be very thin. Cook until set (about 30 seconds or so), then flip and cook on the other side for about 5-10 seconds. Toss the cooked crepe out onto a plate, then cook another, and keep tossing them onto the plate. They don't stick together, which is awesome. I usually re-oil the pan after every third crepe.
So, after you have your pile of crepes on a plate, what do you do with them?
You fill them.
Here is what we have tried so far, but know there are infinite possibilities. Sweet and savory things fill crepes equally well, it just depends on what you're craving.
1) Butter and cinnamon sugar
2) Eggs, cheese, and spinach
3) Baked squash, goat cheese, and arugula
4) Vanilla ice cream and homemade berry sauce
5) Fresh sliced banana, cream cheese (mentioned below), oats, cinnamon, and honey
6) My personal favorite: Homemade berry sauce and cream cheese (but not just any cream cheese). We used some awesome cream cheese we found at Seward Co-op and combined it with almond extract, powdered sugar, cream, and a touch of honey. SO good.
I'm getting really excited for asparagus season, so I have an idea for a slivered almond, mushroom, swiss cheese, asparagus combo. I'll get back to you on that.
The third (and final, breathe a sigh of relief!) part of this post is completely dedicated to cats.
Actually, pretty much just cat videos that never fail to amuse us. For those of you without cats in your life, you are missing out. Pi makes us laugh at least 42 times per day, and that's when she's slacking. She going to be embarrassed that I'm telling you all this, but she jumped into a glass door last night while playing with one of her toys. She's fine, but she definitely didn't appreciate being laughed at.
So here are some videos that I feel encompass all that is cat.
Ready to be entertained? Good.
--Spoon
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