Shit Harper Did

Shit Harper Did

Herb and Garlic Pizza Dough

Who doesn't love a good pizza? Pizza is easy to make, and and the dough can be made ahead of time so you have it ready when you are. A lot of people are intimidated by using yeast in their home cooking, to be honest, i was one of those people not so long ago, but it's nothing to be afraid of. I've personally only used instant or dry active yeast so far, i have yet to experiment with other types. Instant yeast requires no proofing, and you can add it right to the flour. The key to getting the yeast to rise is using water that is warm enough to make it get to work, but not so hot that it will die from the heat. Yeast is alive, and it has lots of wonderful potential, it is good for you and your digestive system, so long as you don't over do it. Fortunately in baking, a little bit really does go a long way.

Making pizza is pretty simple, and you get to have full creative control over it from the very beginning to the very end. Whether you want to make a more traditional pizza, or the more common extremely cheesy pizza most of us north american's love, it's really all up to you how you want your finished product to turn out. This is my favourite recipe for dough, but of course you can change the flavours to whatever suits you best. Remember, if you're using dry herbs instead of fresh herbs, always double the amount to get the flavour. Don't like oregano? use any herb you wish. Don't like garlic? omit it entirely, or use equal amount of seeds instead.

Herb and Garlic Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups never bleached all purpose flour
3/4 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp fresh finely chopped oregano
2tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finger hot water

• In a mixing bowl measure flour, yeast sugar, salt (don't let the salt touch the yeast), garlic and oregano.
• Using a dough hook, or wooden spoon, slowly stir flour mixture while very slowly pouring in water and oil. Add just enough water to bring the dough mostly together and continue kneading until a ball is formed. 
• Knead dough ball for 5-10 minutes with a dough hook on low speed or with hands by folding dough onto itself and pressing down, repeat this motion. Dough should become smooth and elastic. If dough is sticky add more flour, if the dough won't come together, add a little more water.
• cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for an hour to an hour and 30 minutes. (At this point, if you wish to keep the dough until the next day before you make the pizza you can now put it in the fridge as it is. Otherwise, continue the process.)
• Knock dough down and turn out onto a floured chopping block or counter and roll out with a floured rolling pin (make a circle or a rectangle, whatever shape your pan is) roll out to 1/4" thickness give or take depending on how thin or thick you like your dough. 
• Transfer dough to lightly oiled baking pan before adding desired sauce and toppings. 

All Recipes Created and Published by: Rachel Gonsalves

Summer Savoury Dinner Rolls

Spring is here and after all this rain we're having, we're all going to be seeing a lot more herbs about in our gardens, in our stores, and on our plates. Fresh herbs are a wonderful addition to any recipe, and there's always room to experiment. Don't have fresh herbs at your disposal? Substitute with about double the amount of the dry stuff; the flavour, though not as fresh and full, is still there and of course makes for a delicious recipe.

Have a favourite recipe you love to make all the time? Of course you do, but after a while, doesn't it get a little tiresome and, well, bland? Try to add a bit of fresh chopped herbs to the mix, anything you think might compliment the dish. If you like chicken, basil and rosemary are popular compliments, basil and oregano pair well with tomatoes in sauces and bruschetta, cilantro adds a nice touch to a rustic homemade salsa and dill adds that little extra something to a fresh yogurt sauce and works well in a marinade for fish. There are thousands of ways to invite herbs to the party, and there are tons of different herbs to mix and match so you always end up with something fresh and exciting on the table. If you're not accustomed to toying with fresh (or even dry) herbs, begin with something you already know works well, something you've tried before and get comfortable. Before you know it, you will be adding herbs to everything you make.

Today i'm going to share with you something pretty simple. I've taken a bread recipe that i have perfected and made a couple changes to turn it into a fresh and delicious summer roll with chopped savoury and black pepper. Of course, you can use any herb you like, fresh or dry. Just remember to double up if you're using the dry stuff.

A quick tip for bread making: never let the salt touch the yeast directly, and remember that the sugar is important to get the yeast working to its full potential.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 1/4 cups never bleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbs chopped fresh savoury (or 2 tbsp dry)
2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 cup finger hot water (may need an extra 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp olive oil

To Make the Dough:

• In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl for your mixer if you have one, combine flours, salt, sugar and yeast. Stir gently to combine. 
• In a measuring cup, add olive oil and hot water (you should be able to put your finger in it for a couple seconds without burning yourself.)
• With a Stand Mixer using the dough hook attachment, stir flour on low speed while pouring water and oil in very slowly until dough just comes together in a ball with little flour left behind. If you are doing this by hand, you can use your fingers or a wooden spoon.
• Knead dough for 5-10 minutes on low speed in the mixer or by hand on a clean floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• Oil a clean bowl lightly and place dough ball inside and turn to cover with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 hour and 30 min or until dough has doubled in mass. (i like to let it rest while i'm cooking something else on the stove, the heat in the kitchen really makes a difference.)
• Once dough has completed first rise, knock down once with your fist. Turn out onto floured counter, knead briefly, roll out to 1" thick  and cut into 14-20 pieces (depending on how large or small you would like them). Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet about 1/2" apart. 
• Bake in the middle of your preheated oven at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a hollow sound is heard when thumped. 
•  remove rolls from pan and cool on wire rack until they are room temperature. (15-30 min)
• Store in a sturdy and dry seal-able bag for about a week. (keeps longer in the fridge, or freeze for a month if you make double)
• Serve along with a traditional dinner, pasta or use as buns for sliders.

All recipes created and Published by : Rachel Gonsalves

Chocolate Brownie Bites

Every now and then I have a weak moment where i want to eat something really bad for me, like rich brownies or a layered cake with buttercream icing. Of course, there are times when it's okay to indulge so heavily with foods you regret once you've swallowed the last bite. Unfortunately, those days are not as frequent as the cravings.
It's important to keep your taste buds busy, and your body healthy and happy. There's a lot of ways to satisfy those urges for sweets and still feel like you're in control of your body.
As always, i don't call for as much sugar as similar recipes might, i prefer to keep it tasty with real flavours. Unfortunately with things like cookies, and cakes and pastries, butter (or margarine) is virtually inescapable, but you can cut back on the fat without cutting back on the flavour. I use in general about 1/4 to 1/2 cup less fat than many comparable recipes and i'm more often pretty happy with the results. I have experimented with even less fat than that, but i wasn't as satisfied with the results. The taste was good, but the texture changes when you try to cut back too much on a key element. So when you're working with your own recipe's, experiment by slowly cutting back on the stuff that's bad for you like butter, margarine, oil, salt and sugar, and increase the flavour elements and aromatics to balance it out. I think you'll be pretty pleased with your results once you find that perfect balance for yourself.

For these cookies (yes cookies, they taste like brownies, they're soft like brownies, but they are cookies) I use half the butter and half the sugar in comparison to the cookie recipe i originally started working with.


Chocolate Brownie Bites Recipe:


Dry:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup never bleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant coffee
1/2 cup cocoa (fry's is the best)
1 cup brown or white sugar
1/2 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Wet:
1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk (milk, almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, etc...)

Method:

• Combine flours, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
• In a separate mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract and cocoa powder, instant coffee, then add the egg. Mix until creamy and consistent. 
• Add flour mixture to butter and egg mixture alternating with milk. mix to combine.
• gently stir in chocolate chips to combine.
• Portion tablespoon sized cookies on cookie sheet (about 15 cookies for one tray, makes about 3 trays.) you don't need to grease the cookie sheet. You may freeze the remainder of the dough in some plastic wrap for 2 months or make all 3 trays, baking one at a time.
• Bake cookies in preheated 350° oven and bake for 12 minutes. Cookies should be soft and fluffy to the touch when done. Cool cookies on wire rack for at least 5 minutes before devouring.

Last night i made a batch of these cookies, and to my dismay i ate six of them. I wish i were kidding, but then again, it's not so bad. At least i didn't eat 6 brownies! 

Tasty Whole Wheat Bread

Who doesn't love bread? Even if you don't love it, you most likely still buy it, and eat it with other thing you love. Bread, while inexpensive to buy, is so much more cost efficient to make, especially if you use the best of sense and buy the bulk sized bags of flour like i do. Bread, to my surprise, is very easy to make, and wonderful to play with and create different flavour combinations that will go nicely with your many, many toppings. You can make sweet bread, salty bread, herb bread, spicy bread, you can even make bread with fun shapes! Whatever your creative urges, fresh baked bread is a wonderful outlet.

I had a problem when i first decided to make bread. I could not for the life of me find a decently simple recipe with plain old common ingredients. Since it was my first whack at it, i wanted to make a plain old whole wheat bread. I followed the ingredients perfectly, aside from a few substitutions and i ended up with a dense and unpleasant tasting hunk of baked dough. it didn't taste good, not even with soup. I was so disappointed that i didn't even want to try it again, but i pressed on.

My second attempt at baking bread i decided to go with my gut. I added hotter water against the guide's wishes, changed a few things here and there and my own measurements and keen judgement took over. Before i knew it: presto! i had created my very own bread recipe. You would not believe me if i told you how ridiculously thrilled i was.

Watching that dough go from a lump of flour and other stuff to a gigantic puffy cloud of promise... okay maybe i am getting a little to enthusiastic, but just you try it and restrain your wonder.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour (never bleached is more nutritious)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp quick rise yeast

2 tbsp olive oil

1  cup of finger-hot water (may need an extra 1/4 cup)

 optional: 1-2 tbsp caraway seeds, or any preferred seed.

To Make the Dough:

• In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl for your mixer if you have one, combine flours, salt, sugar and yeast. Stir gently to combine. 
• In a measuring cup, add olive oil and hot water (you should be able to put your finger in it for a couple seconds without burning yourself.)
• With a Stand Mixer using the dough hook attachment, stir flour on low speed while pouring water and oil in slowly until dough comes together in a ball with no flour left behind. If you are doing this by hand, you can use your fingers or a wooden spoon.
• Knead dough ball for 5-10 minutes on low speed in the mixer or by hand on a clean floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• Oil a clean bowl lightly and place dough ball inside and turn to cover with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 hour and 30 min or until dough has doubled in mass. (i like to let it rest while i'm cooking something else on the stove, the heat in the kitchen really makes a difference.)
• Once dough has completed first rise, knock down once with your fist. Turn out onto floured counter, knead briefly and shape into a loaf. Place in a 9" loaf pan (or place on a cookie sheet for a more rustic loaf), cover gently and let rest for another hour in a warm place. 
• Bake the bread in the middle of your preheated oven at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until a hollow sound is heard when thumped. 
•  remove bread from pan and cool on wire rack until bread is room temperature. (15-30 min)
• Slice in 1/2" thick slices and store in a sturdy and dry seal-able bag for about a week. (keeps longer in the fridge, or freeze for a month if you make double)
• Enjoy the healthy, delicious bread and reap the many rewards.

All recipes created and Published by : Rachel Gonsalves

Home Made Tomato Soup

Continuing with the theme of soup, I'll share a recipe that will help you along with one i've already posted. If you have the time, home made soups are totally worth it, and much healthier.

When you make soup you should always use broth instead of water for the liquid to add flavour and substance. Soups with water instead of broth tend to be much thinner and lack in taste and nutrients in comparison. It's also harder to add good flavour to soups with water instead of broth, with out using a ton of salt and other 'seasonings'.  

This soup doesn't require a lot of ingredients, and if you want the full soup benefit but don't have enough time to devote to making the broth yourself, you can always buy broth and stock in cube form. I would recommend a product that has some sort of indication that they use fewer preservatives and flavour enhancers. If you are buying a vegetable or a mushroom broth, the cubes that are 'vegetarian' or 'vegan' tend to have fewer ingredients, all of which you can recognize. Remember, store bought broth and stock has a high quantity of salt which you can't control. Making the broth at home gives you full control over what goes into the pot and what goes into your body.

If you want to make the soup from scratch, you can always use my "Homemade Vegetable Broth" recipe to use as the liquid for this soup.

We'll be making Tomato soup. Tomato soup is hearty and wholesome and delicious. Whether you have a big bowl by itself or you have it with a yummy grilled cheese for dipping, Tomato soup is a comfort food that can't be beat.

Homemade Tomato Soup

6 medium tomatoes chopped

1 large onion diced 

2 stalks celery sliced

1 large carrot sliced thinly

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground cumin

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups vegetable broth

1tsp olive oil

water

To Make The Soup

In a large pot, pour 1 tsp olive oil and bring pot to medium high tempurature. Add diced onions and cook until translucent. Add cellery and carot and brown lightly. Add cumin, salt and pepper, stir to coat. Add tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes sirring frequently. Add 2 cups vegetable broth, bring to a boil. Add a little water as needed if the soup becomes too thick. Boil for 10 minutes and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for one hour. Turn off heat and cover, allow to sit on burner for one more hour. With a hand blender blend the soup until you have a smooth consistency. (Don't have a hand blender? just pour the soup into a regular blender with a heat resistant jug, just allow the soup to cool a little. Don't forget to cover tightly! Blend in batches if you need to.)

The soup is ready to serve and enjoy. You can also use this soup in my "Vegetarian Sort of Goulash" recipe.

 This recipe was revised and published by: Rachel Gonsalves

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Soup is simple. A lot of us are intimidated by it because of the amount of time it takes, and many of us have bad experiences from making a bland and boring soup. Not to fear, making a full flavour soup is easy, and though it takes a long time, it does not require a whole bunch of effort.

The first thing is making the broth. Once you have your broth ready you can make any soup you dream of. The broth is the essential key to flavour when it comes to soup. If you use stock, or broth, instead of water you are guaranteed to have a tasty soup that everyone will enjoy.

Homemade Vegetable Broth


1tsp olive oil
1 large white onion cut in chunks (you can leave the skin on)
1 leek chopped and washed
2 large stalks of celery
1 large carrot chopped (no peeling necessary)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
water

you will also need: 1 large soup pot, 1 large heat resistant bowl, 1 large mesh strainer.

Making the Broth


In a large pot add the olive oil and bring to a medium high heat. Toss in all the veggies in the order of the ingredient list, stirring briefly between each addition. Once all the veggies are in the pot, add the salt and pepper, stir and pour in enough water to cover the veggies completely. Add the bay leaf to the top and bring the soup to a boil. Allow to boil for ten minutes and reduce heat to a simmer and simmer broth for 1 hour. If the water level goes down below the veggies, add more water to keep everything covered. Once the hour is up, turn off the burner and cover pot, leaving pot on the burner, and leave pot on stove for an additional hour.

Place a large mesh strainer on your heat resistant bowl. Pour entire contents of pot into the strainer, lift the strainer and press with a large spoon to squeeze out all the juices. The veggies in the strainer are not for eating, they go in the compost. The liquid in the bowl is your broth. Pour in a mason jar, cover with a tight fitting lid and you can keep soup in the fridge for up to a week. If you wish to freeze the broth, pour into a freezer safe airtight container and you can keep in the freezer for up to two months.

Use this broth instead of water when you make any kind of soup for a delicious tasting soup.

Recipe created and published by: Rachel Gonsalves