Rosie Is Published.

Please check out my January column in the Outer Banks Voice:

Let's Celebrate the Oyster.

Rosie Makes Pizza.

The Hawthornes love a good pizza,
so I don't want to hear a collective internet groan,
"Eeeeeehhhhhh.  Rosie is doing pizza again."

Just stay with me.
I'll show you the how-to-do's.
 
Pizza ain't hard to do.


First you make the dough.

Pour 1/2 cup warm water in a medium bowl.

Sprinkle a package of yeast over the water

along with a teaspoon of sugar to wrestle the yeast down.
Let it proof, i.e. let the yeast prove it's alive.
It should get foamy and bubbly.
When the yeast has proofed,

fork in a 1/4 cup flour at a time until it's a shaggy dough.

In total, about a cup or so.
Work in about a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and work it.

Knead away!

Until you have a nice, elastic ball.
Place in an oiled bowl.
Cover and set aside to rise until doubled.

Meanwhile...

... I minced a couple of garlic gloves

and chopped up some peppers from the garden

along with an onion.

Sauté in a little butter.

Add a can of tomato sauce to the vegetables
 and let it cook over low heat.

Here's my trick for pepperonis.

Set the very thin slices on a paper towel and ...

 ...NUKE 'em.
30 seconds or so, depending.

Ta daaa.

Grease on towel not on pizza.

Next, I sautéed some shrooms.

About an hour or so later,

my dough has risen nicely.

I put cornmeal on my parchment paper.
Helps in sliding the dough off and onto my pizza stone.

Flatten the dough out, and work it,
starting at the middle and pushing out.

Let it rest.

Drink a glass of wine.

Come back and work it some more.
You don't need to rush this process.
Just push out and rest.
And drink.

I like to form a little lip around the outside.

And I like dimpled dough.

Let it rest and rise a bit.

Quick trip in a 450° oven for about 7 minutes

to brown the crust.

Grate assorted cheeses.
Cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan.

Have toppings ready.

Add extra sliced onion and peppers.

Top with cheese.

Give it a drizzling of olive oil.

450° oven until cheese is melted and browned.

Dee-vine.

You do know that I make the bestest pizza pie.
The crust was perfect!

You want a good pizza?
Come to Rosie's!

Rosie Makes Chicken Pot Pies For Her Hawthornelets.

The Hawthornelet-He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named,

requested chicken pot pies.

Rosie hops right on it.

I just happen to have a package (several) of 5 chicken bosoms

and I have carrots, celery, onion, frozen peas, 

chicken broth, cream, and a box of those refrigerator pie crusts.

Well, that's all the fixin's I need.

Rosie Tip #573

Keep those pie crusts on hand

for when you don't have time to make a pie from scratch.

I don't recommend the frozen pie crusts -

they tend to crack in the freezer,

especially when another Hawthorne-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named

piles a bunch of crap on the crust.

 

 Rosie's Chicken Pot Pies

Makes 5 8-oz. ramekins.

2 chicken breasts

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped red pepper

1/4 cup celery

2 TB chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 TB olive oil

2 TB unsalted butter

1/4 cup flour

1 cup chicken stock

3/4 cup heavy cream

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

One pie crust

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 TB water.)

Heat oven to 350°

Place chicken breasts in a skillet, cover with water,

and add a little salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer.

Cook the breasts, uncovered, about 15 minutes.

Let sit for 5 minutes.

Remove chicken from water and dice into bite-sized pieces.

Set aside.

The chicken will be slightly pink inside.

Don't worry.

We're going to cook it.

Clean out the skillet, dry it well,

heat it up over medium,

 and add 1 TB each of olive oil and butter.

When butter starts to sputter,

pour in the vegetable mix and sauté for a minute, stirring.

Add in the other tablespoon of butter and the flour.

Cook the flour, stirring for 1-2 minutes.

You want to cook out the taste of raw flour.

Slowly pour in the chicken broth, stirring.

Let it thicken.

Add in the chicken.

Slowly add the heavy cream, stirring,

and bring to a boil.

Reduce and stir until nicely thickened.

Add in frozen peas.

Ladle into ramekins.

I used five 8-oz. baking dishes.

Cut out circles in pie dough to cover tops of ramekins.

Crimp edges.

Slit a few steam vents on top.

Brush with egg wash.

Bake at 350° until pie crust is golden brown,

about 25 minutes.

Tent with foil if necessary

and rotate pan halfway through so pies cook evenly.

 

 

Rosie Gives You A Chicken Double Whammy.

The other day,
I was spending some quality time
on the sucking black hole of time-sink that is Facebook.

One of my imaginary friends posted this recipe
for Caramelized Baked Chicken Wings.

I happened to have chicken bosoms,
so we have our lunch.

Caramelized Baked Chicken Bosoms

3 chicken bosoms

drizzle of olive oil in bottom of baking dish

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 2/3 cup ketchup

3/4 cup honey

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

This was the basic recipe.

I added a one-inch knob of frozen ginger.

Place chicken in storage bag.

Mix marinade ingredients together and pour over chicken.

To prepare the ginger,

take a spoon and scrape the skin off the frozen ginger.

Nuke about 25 seconds

and squeeze ginger juice into marinade.

Place pulp into garlic press and
scrape off the first and second pressings into marinade.

Marinate, massaging every now and then, for two hours.

Bake in 350° oven until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°.

Extremely moist, flavorful chicken.
Well received by the Hawthornelets.

Now, for Moreover Caramelized Baked Chicken.

Rosie doesn't do "Leftovers."

Rosie does "Moreovers."

Here's my lucid explanation:

 Nothing goes to waste in the Hawthorne Household.
And I don't refer to the remnants as leftovers.
Immediately after writing the word "leftovers,"
I knew I needed another word
that was more real, more definitive, and positive.
First I thought of the word re-do's.
But that implies it wasn't done right
the first time around
when it certainly was.
Then I considered do-overs.
But, of course,
that, too, has a negative connotation.
I've put a lot of thought into this
trying to come up with just the right word which describes
the process of what I do
in the life chain of the produce and viande
I prepare and serve and consume.

And my word is moreovers.

Think about it:
You've already produced and served
a wonderful, satisfying, convivial repast.
So, what's next?
MORE is next.
When you say "Moreover,"
you're likely going to top what you previously said,
put an exclamation point there,
and/or put it in bold or italics.
So, I have no leftovers.
I have MOREOVERS!

We had one chicken breast left.

The next day,

Mr. Hawthorne made Moreover Chicken Lo Mein.

The Hawthornelets scarfed this down!

Mr. Hawthorne's Chicken Lo Mein

1 cooked Chicken Breast à la Imaginary FB BFF, thinly sliced

handful of rice noodles, boiled for 2-3 minutes as per instructions

Heat 2 TB peanut in skillet or wok

and sauté sliced baby zucchini,

chopped onions, sliced Napa cabbage,

 red, green, and orange peppers, and ginger slices.

Add in noodles, chicken, and toasted sesame seeds.

Toss with my sauce.

Asian Sauce

1/4 tsp dark soy sauce

2 TB soy sauce

3/4 tsp oyster sauce

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp rice wine

Mix all together.

Oh my.

So good.

It's gone.