Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Pita Pizza

Well, he's done it again! In an amazing flurry of creativity, Michael took some leftover homemade pita bread that I made for a home-cooked Greek-fest on Sunday (I made pitas, tziziki, gyro loaf and roasted yellow squash) and turned them into fabulous Pita Pizzas!

They were thin and crispy, with really tasty pizza sauce that we collaborated on, although I have to say, I was more the prep chef than anything, chopping our fresh picked oregano, basil, thyme, home grown tomatoes and leftover red onion and mushrooms. He built the pizzas, using the pitas, sauce, leftover mozzerella and pepperoni and above mentioned items, and put them under the broiler for a few minutes. They were fantastic!

He got the idea Sunday night, when he saw the pitas I made. Each one was about 9" or so in diameter, and on the crisp side, so he thought they'd make great pizza dough and that next time, we should just make one BIG pita instead of 8 regular sized ones. (Well, OK, maybe it'd have to be 2 big pitas!) So to test his theory he went ahead and made individual pizzas on Monday. I have to admit, he was right!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Mock Crab Soup

Being from Maryland, blue crabs and crab soup have a special place in my heart, as does Old Bay Seasoning. I've been making "Crab Wings" for years, chicken wings that I season with Old Bay. I also make a wing sauce with lots of Old Bay in it to go with them.

Here's the 2nd Day Gourmet part...

After we're done with the wings, I take any leftover wings and any bones that we have and make a soup, just the same way my mother used to make crab soup after we had steamed crabs. I usually add some chicken thighs to up the meat content a bit, too.

Here's how...

The leftover wings, bones and thighs go in a soup pot with water. I add tomatoes, onions, and whatever fresh or frozen veggies I have on hand, usually peas, corn, carrots, celery, green beans, in any combination I happen to have them. (This time I didn't have any frozen veggies, so it was just tomatoes, onions, peas and carrots, but it was still very tasty! I think it was the best ever this time!)

Then I put some of the leftover wing sauce in there and add Old Bay as needed. Let it go for an hour or so, then remove all the chicken and bones and them them cool. After they've thoroughly cooled, carefully pick all the meat from all the bones and put the meat back in the pot with the soup. Discard the bones, they've served you well at this point!

Enjoy, Hon!