Last Night's Dinner - Disguised Leftovers.

Here's Dixie hiding under the oleander trying to avoid the puppies.

Several nights ago, Mr. Hawthorne decided to cook a lamb shank in the slo-kukker.
Since the lamb didn't take up much room, we added in half a Boston Butt.
The other half went to making bar-be-cue some time ago.

He poured in some red wine and I added some parsley.

And cooked away until the meat was falling off the bone.
CanIjusttellya, I could literrrrallllly seee all the flllllavors.

Now, a few days later, I needed to use these meats up,
so I decided to make lamb/pig pie.

First saute some onions.

Then I had my sous chef, Mr. Hawthorne pull the meat off the bone.
He always complains because I give him the shit detail.

Add the meats to the onions, and then I added some squash since I have squash out the wazoo.

I added 1 can of beef broth.

And a can of tomato sauce.

Next, add in oregano, chili powder, and cumin.

I realized I had a leftover chicken bosom in the fridge along with one pork chop with the cinnamon on it. Mr. Hawthorne carefully washed off the pork chop since he hated the cinnamon and he chopped up both and added to the pot.

Barely simmer for about an hour.

Near the end, I chopped a green pepper and added a can of corn and just heated through.

Now, my cornmeal crust:

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold Crisco
5-6 TB ice water

Combine the dry ingredients, then cut in the shortening until coarse crumbs form.
Add just enough water to form a fairly soft dough.

Flatten dough into a disk, wrap up, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

I've poured the pig/lamb pie mixture into a buttered baking dish and rolled out my cornmeal dough on a floured board.

Roll up the dough on the rolling pin.

Then carefully unroll it over your dish.

Daughter Hawthorne helps with the decoration.

Here's my decorated pie with an egg wash brushed on.

Ooops. Rosie should have watched this a little more closely.
It looks more burned than it was.
Actually, even the brown crust tasted good.
It did not deter Middle Hawthorne from consuming large quantities.
This is one of his favorite meals and he was especially happy to have lamb in it.

Mr. Hawthorne had a hankering for pizza so I started on a dough:


Proof:
warm water
1 package yeast
sugar

Add in:
1 egg
a few tablespoons of oil

Add in bread flour a little bit at a time.
Keep adding until you have a manageable dough, then turn it out and knead on a floured surface until the dough is very smooth and elastic, adding flour as kneaded ... or needed.
Cover. Place in a warm spot to rise until doubled.

If you really want the hard core visual instructions,
go here.

Just go past this post and on to the next one.

And now my favorite part:

SMASH!

Here's Rosie tossing her dough.
Mr. Hawthorne probably shot 30 pictures of me tossing and only got this one with the dough in the air. He's a tad slow on the shutter release.

I'm making two pizzas today.
The first will be a pineapple/ham pizza.

I had some leftover homemade pizza sauce in the fridge, so I got to use that all up.

My sous chef adds the ham and pineapple slices.

I also had some leftover peaches so we added them along with cherries.

Mr. Hawthorne carefully places mozzerella slices.

I don't particularly care for these PRE-shredded cheese blends.
They don't have near the flavor of freshly grated cheeses, but Mr. Hawthorne was determined to Semi-Ho this pizza.

The next pizza is a basil pesto based pizza.

I decided to add a little extra on this one.
Cheese inside the crust.

Nice yummy, gooey cheese on the inside.

First I spread pesto over the baked crust.

Next, I put on sun-dried tomato slices, which I'd soaked in hot water for 30 minutes.

I used up my leftover black olives.

And I used up my leftover caramelized onions.

Feta cheese goes in.

Steamed fresh spinach.

Now, some mozzarella cheese.

Here are my two pizzas ready for the oven.

And here are my delicious pizzas. The crust is nice and crunchy/crispy
and the fillings were scrumptious.

After dinner, I found this legal pad which Daughter Hawthorne had left behind.
And, yes, Beau still pees like a girl.
Hee!

Now, for the after dinner entertainment.
I had on Food Network in the background, and I heard a familiar voice.

Why it's Aunt Sandy!

Whoa, wait a minute.
Is Snadra chanelling Linda Evans of Dynasty fame?

What's up with the shoulders, Girlfriend?

Did she leave her coat hanger inside her jacket?

Perhaps a Kurtain rod?

I didn't know this was back in fashion.

Is this really back in fashion?

I find it ironic that Aunt Sandy is giving out the awards for the Million Dollar Pillsbury Bake Off, when she couldn't bake her way out of a bag if her life depended on it.
Bake from scratch?
That's MONKEY BUSINESS!