Pizza with Mom

I spent Thursday night at my parent's house because I had a job interview in their area the next day. Mom works late on Thursday, so I offered to make dinner, and she proposed pizza.

I used a Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pizza crust mix that reminded me a little too much of Play-Doh as I worked with it. The taste was OK, but "off" compared to normal pizza doughs. I really don't dig the gluten-free stuff; I just used it because Dad is going wheat-free. (Here are dough recipes I would normally use, whole wheat and basic.) The crust had to be par-baked for 7 to 9 minutes before applying the toppings and baking for another 15-18 minutes.

I surprised myself when I turned a little can of tomato paste into enough sauce to spread on two 12-inch pizzas. I added about a teaspoon each of basil, oregano, garlic powder, and a couple dashes of pepper, then a tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese. I stirred it thoroughly with a fork and spread it onto the crusts with a spatula.

After the crusts were covered with sauce, we added a layer of thin-sliced mozzarella, which Mom had brought home from the deli.

One pizza was topped with fresh roma (plum) tomatoes (sliced into circles), basil, and some grated romano cheese.

The other pizza was topped with broccoli (cut into bite-size pieces and steamed in the microwave for about 3 minutes to soften it up), diced sweet red peppers, and diced chicken breast. (I cooked the chicken from raw, about 1o minutes in the microwave, flipping and checking repeatedly.) On top of all that, I spread an 8 ounce bag of pizza-blend shredded cheese (in this case, the mix was mozzarella with cheddar).

To review, the layers were as follows: Crust-->Sauce-->sliced mozzarella-->meat and veggie toppings-->shredded/grated cheese.

Then we baked the pizza for 15 more minutes. Both pizzas came out gorgeous and tasted delicious!

The Easiest Pulled Pork Ever.

I bought a whole pork loin, because it was on sale for $1.49/lb. at Price Rite. It was an 8 pound boneless log of meat, but I knew just what to do with it. I cut it into three chunks, about the same size (a little over 2 1/2 pounds each), threw one into the crockpot, and put the others into gallon size zipper bags and froze them.

This is how I cooked the portion in the crockpot, and will do another tomorrow.

1. Put the entire chunk of pork in the crockpot.

2. Pour a bottle of barbeque sauce (about 20 ounces) on top. Splurge a little on a high-quality sauce. Add sliced onions if you'd like. Chris doesn't like them, so I skip them.

3. Set the crockpot on HIGH. Let cook for about 5 or 6 hours for a 2 1/2 pound chunk of pork.

I did flip the meat a couple times early on, but it's best just to keep the lid on and the heat in.

Last time, I used an orange barbeque sauce, which went well with the brown rice and stir-fry of Asian vegetables I made for side dishes. Tomorrow I think I'll make cornbread and salad.

P.S. A while ago, I posted about making a similar dish with chicken in the slow cooker. In that post, I included a recipe for a great homemade barbeque sauce.

Gimme back that Filet-o-Fish! Give me that fish! Ooh!

I may be the only person in America who really likes that McDonald's jingle. I was actually psyched when it returned to the airwaves last week.

I was also psyched to find this article on Slashfood about the Filet-o-Fish, the alternative burger that quietly exists year-round but claims the glorious spotlight (or is it just the heat lamp?) this time of year.

"Interestingly enough, meatless Fridays are what prompted Lou Groen to create the Filet-o-Fish in 1962, after losing business on Lenten Fridays at his McDonald's franchise in heavily Roman Catholic Cincinnati.

"The sandwich not only saved his restaurant but ultimately led to the sale of 300 million Filet-o-Fish sandwiches annually at McDonald's around the world. Of those 300 million, 25 percent of those sales come from the 40-day period before Easter Sunday."

Pretty nifty.