I am quite determined to win Kelly’s apron. Even though I know that in the end, it’s sheer luck if she pulls out my name. But I’m going to give it my darnedest. So, even though I was in Washington D.C. on Monday, I’m going to jump in with a Blue Plate Friday.

Friday is my very favorite Blue Plate day. It seems like all the other days of the week can be so busy. But even if Friday has the same amount of busy-ness during the day, I’m somehow always more relaxed when it’s over. On Friday nights you can most likely find my family settled on couches, watching all the episodes of Bones and NCIS that we’ve taped during the week. (No of course, we’re not actually using VHS. Our TV magically records things, and I don’t really know how it works or what it’s called, so for me, it’s still “taping.”) And while we’re watching our taped shows, the food of choice on our not-usually-blue plates is homemade pizza.

As a sidenote, I am optimistic that nice weather will bring a change to our Friday night activities. It’s been years since I’ve watched this much TV. But it’s been cold and icky and forensic crime shows have been a welcome escape from the stress of unemployment and uncertainty.

But, back to the pizza … My mom used to make homemade pizza when I was a kid, and it was always one of our favorites. She usually made two rectangular pizzas and we would create many different personalized sections with various toppings. Mom even liked sauerkraut pizza, but that never really appealed to anyone else. At our house now we have such a wide range of tastes that it’s easiest, and least expensive, to just make cheese pizza. And the crust is so good that there are no complaints. Mom always made the crust with regular flour, vegetable oil, and sugar, but I’ve played with it a little and enjoy the following variation as well … (Prepare yourself for yet another of my rambling recipes. I really don’t know how to be succinct when explaining cooking.)

Honey-Wheat Crust Cheese Pizza

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Dissolve 1 pkg (2 1/4 t.) yeast in 1 c. warm water. Water should only be about 100 degrees or you’ll kill the yeast. When making dough of any kind, it’s apparently important for all the ingredients to be at least room temp. I have a real problem with this in the winter, so I’ve started putting the water in the large glass bowl I plan to use for mixing and putting the whole thing in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This helps to warm up the bowl, and it doesn’t take too long for the water to cool down again.

Once the yeast has dissolved, add 1/2 t. salt, 2 T. olive oil, and 1 generous T. of honey. I always do the oil first and then use the same measuring spoon for the honey because it slips right out instead of making a sticky mess. Stir until dissolved.

Slowly add 2 c. all-purpose unbleached flour, and 1 c. wheat flour. I prefer to mix the flours in another bowl first so that I’m always adding a consistent combination. Add about 1/4 c. at a time, and mix well. Sometimes it seems to take a little more flour and sometimes less. Today I wound up adding probably another 1/3 c., but it’s very humid today so maybe that has something to do with it? By the time you’re at the end, you’ll probably have to mix it in by hand, so give it a few good kneads in the bowl and then turn it out onto the counter.

Quickly rinse the bowl you just used for mixing and put a little oil in the bottom. Turn the smooth ball of dough in the oil a couple of times to gently coat it. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the oven. Turn the oven off. This keeps your dough in a warm, draft free place, which is also very important in the winter. This is a little trick I learned from America’s Test Kitchen. Allow dough to rise for at least 2 hours, which is the other reason it’s good to do this on Friday nights. I think Mom got hers to rise in 1 hour and I have to admit mine’s looking good after 40 minutes today, but it usually takes longer for me. Probably because it’s been so cold.

When risen, remove dough from oven and preheat oven to 450.

Divide dough in half and spread each half onto your baking materials of choice. Mom used to use shallow cookie sheets lined with oiled foil. I have used parchment paper and then transfered it to preheated baking stones. For the last several weeks I’ve been out of parchment paper and it’s very hard to transfer a floppy pizza anyway, so I’ve just been spreading the dough right on the stone (one rectangle, one round) and then switching the placement of stones in the oven every 5 minutes while cooking to ensure that both bottom crusts get crispy enough. The baking stones heat so evenly you can cook both pizzas at the same time, which is a great time saver.

Mix one 8 oz. can of tomato sauce with a little water. Mix in plenty of garlic and onion powders, oregano and basil. I don’t use any specific measurements here; just do it to taste for your family. Spread evenly across both doughs, leaving a little bare dough around the edge.

Sprinkle, generously at our house, with shredded cheese. We’ve decided we prefer the Italian cheese mix pre-shredded in the bag. There’s usually a pizza cheese option, but the Italian cheese has more variety and usually yeilds a better flavor.

Bake pizzas at 450 for 20 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.

We often have a simple green salad alongside this.

Yesterday I declined to participate in Blue Plate Mondays because I really didn’t think the meal was worthy enough. I tried a version of Swedish meatballs that was a hybrid of recipes from The Joy of Cooking and the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Classics both. My other sacred text of cuisine is the America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook.

Anyway, the meatballs … they were OK. In my mind Swedish meatballs are lovely little carnivorous treats that are always available at any decent potluck. Also, in my mind they are slightly sweet. Not exactly glazed, but almost. Mine were not. And I let the noodles cook too long. They had the smooshy texture of homemade noodles, but they just weren’t quite what I wanted. So I’m not going to post that recipe. (However if anyone has a tasty slightly sweet meatball recipe, I’d love to have it.)

So we will observe Blue Plate Tuesday instead. And I hope that it still counts because I am dead set on winning Kelly’s apron.

Tuesday’s Blue Plate Special was quesadillas. This is a house favorite. We have it probably every couple weeks. I highly recommend this dinner on a weeknight because it’s fast, and everyone can top it the way they want.

Let’s begin.

Start with a couple of good sized chicken breasts, cooked any way you like. When I have time, I bake them in the oven. In the past I have also boiled them (and used the stock later) or just cooked them in a pan on the stove. Microwaving is a last resort. The cooking is always the longest part of the process, so when possible cook the chicken in advance.

After cooking the chicken, shred it. You can also just cut it into small pieces, but the shredding makes the chicken fit better in the tortillas. Once it’s shredded, put it back in the pan with some water or chicken broth. Add some garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and chili powder.

Use large flour tortillas, and lightly (very lightly!) spread vegetable oil one side of the tortilla. The cookbook says to spray it, but as I don’t have a spray bottle, I just use my fingers. Lay the oiled side down on a nonstick baking sheet and put chicken on one half, leaving a half inch clear around the edge. Cover the chicken with colby-jack cheese. Use a small amount of vegetable oil around the perimeter of the chicken and fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling. Press down to seal the edge as well as possible, and then lightly (very lightly!) spread oil on the exterior of the tortilla.

Bake quesadillas in the oven at 475 for 10 or 15 minutes, until lightly browned. The will be crispy. And hot. So be careful when you take them off the baking sheet.

We like to top them with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. Refried beans are a lovely side.

Next week, I’ll post a recipe for General Tso’s Chicken. Which Lucas likes to call General Beth’s Chicken. Which amuses me.

“Domesticity is not for the faint of heart.”

Here in my new living situation in Columbus, my main household responsibility is cooking. This is just fine with me; I actually requested it. But, let me just admit, it’s harder than I thought. I have even more respect for my mother, who worked hard and made dinner most nights. My Columbus-family is already a little tired of my repertoire.

So I’m going to join my friend Kelly in observing Blue Plate Mondays. Of course, posting this recipe doesn’t actually mean that I made it for dinner. It means that you should make it for dinner, and I should continue staring into the fridge and pantry contemplating whether I might be successful with shell macaroni, vanilla soy milk, and canned pears.

However, in this case, I made this recipe on Saturday. It was lovely, if I do say so myself. My mom used to make this, and our whole family loved it. So here you go. I tried, unsuccessfully so far, to come up with a catchier name for it. Suggestions appreciated.

Sausage Casserole:
Fry up around 8 sausage patties. I use turkey sausage, and this time bought one that was too lean. (Didn’t think you’d ever hear that, huh!) If it is too lean, the patties just stick to the pan. The directions said to add a little oil. But I ask you, what is the point of adding oil to sausage that you purposely bought lean? In this case I added water, which worked, but didn’t allow the patties to get brown and crispy.

Scrub 8 small-ish potatoes and 8 carrots and cut into bite sized chunks. Of course the smaller you cut them, the faster this will cook. You can also add some onion, if your family likes that.

Put the sausage and veggies in a 4 quart baking dish that has a lid, and grind a good helping of black pepper over the top. I had to use two 2-quart dishes because I didn’t have any other options with a lid. This worked out well though, since one casserole could be onion-free.

Combine one large can of tomato soup with a little water. Sorry, no definite quantities here. Just keep mixing until it seems saucy, but not soupy. Then pour it over the sausage and veggies.

Bake it at 375 for an hour. I know, this is the part that makes it hard to do on a weeknight. I’m sure the crockpot would be helpful in this situation, but I don’t know if the potatoes would hold up for 8 hours of workday, even on low. But it’s worth a shot. I was afraid to turn the heat up any higher, but I was tempted. I know it doesn’t work for baking, but really we’re just heating this up, right? So maybe jack it up to 400 or 425 and see what happens. I’m a little leary because I blew up a glass bowl in the microwave the other day. Indeed, domesticity is not for the faint of heart.