....is the Citizen

Citizen Queen Anne
706 Taylor Ave N, Seattle, Washington

A nice deck on a sunny day.

Pulled Pork with a little Creme Fraiche and Chips. Sangria on a sunny day.

....is Pesto Pizza

I made the Pesto from scratch and tried a new Dough.


Pesto
1 Bunch Basil
1/8 Cup Pine Nuts
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes
2 Cloves Garlic
1/3 Cup Parmesan
Salt & Pepper

 Basil.

 Pine Nuts, Parmesan & Sun Dried Tomatoes.

A little blending in my mini-food processor.

Wanna make it creamy? Scoop in some Greek Yogurt. Sound weird? Yup. And yummy.


Dough
2-1/4 Cups Warm Water, Divided
2 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Yeast
About 5 Cups Flour, Divided
1-1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Salt

Whisk 3/4 Cup Water, Sugar, & Yeast in a large bowl and let stand until surface has a few little bubbles and is creamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1-1/2 Water, 3-3/4 Cups Flour, Olive Oil and Salt, til smooth. While stirring gradually add up to another cup of Flour until the dough starts to pull itself away from the edges of the bowl.

Kneed the dough on a generously Floured surface until elastic and smooth, about 8 minutes of hard work. Dust the surface with flour as you go, don't let it stick.dust with flour and place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit in a warm spot until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.

....is a Stuffed Bell Peppers Date

Makes 4 Servings:
2 Large Bell Peppers
½ Cup Onions, Diced
¼ Cup Celery, Diced
¼ Cup Green Bell Peppers, Diced
1 ½ Tbsp Olive Oil
¾ lbs Ground Beef or Turkey
1 Medium Size Eggplant, Peeled and Cubed
Salt and Cayenne (or other seasoning) to taste
Fine Dried Bread Crumbs
Grated Parmesan Cheese

 Slice the bell peppers in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, rinse under cool water and set
aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onions, celery, and chopped bell
pepper, stirring, until they are soft and lightly golden, 6 to 8 minutes.

 

  Add the ground beef and cook, stirring, until the beef is brown and all the pink has disappeared.

Add the eggplant, season with salt and cayenne, reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing the eggplant with a fork as it cooks. The eggplant should be quite soft. If the mixture becomes dry, add a little water from time to time to keep it moist.

Remove from heat, then add enough bread crumbs to bind the mixture slightly. Cool for about
10 minutes.

Fill the bell pepper halves with equal portions of the mixture. Place the filled peppers into a
shallow baking pan and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350
degrees for about 30 minutes.

If you like the peppers to be a little softer, you can blanch the bell peppers (before filling, of
course) in boiling water for about 30 seconds, or just enough to soften them up a bit.

 

 CPB.

Mine.

Day after Scramble with the left over Stuffing.

....is a Hot Niçoise Salad Date

A Meal Made for Two
1/4 lb Fresh Green Beans
1/2 Cup Cherry Tomatoes
1/4 Cup Black Olives
Fresh Basil
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
2 Tuna Steaks
2 Eggs
1 Lemon
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

 CPB.

Mine.

Preheat the oven to 400 and when it gets up to temp or just before put the bell pepper whole on a the baking pan (same one we'll use later) drizzle with olive oil. Leave it in for 10-15 min. While you're doing the rest of the prep.

Halve the tomatoes. Toss the asparagus, tomatoes, olives and about 4 Tbsp of olive oil. Tear the basil in halves or thirds. And place it all in your  baking pan.

Ok back to the bell pepper. (I'm kinda make this up as I go because I'm trying to simplify it from the recipe.) So it should have softened some, cut it in half and take out the seeds (careful not to burn yourself!). Cut each half it into strip of 6ths or 8ths. And toss it all in the baking pan.

Take the Ahi Tuna Steaks and rub them (or drizzle if you don't want to touch them) with olive oil and then salt and pepper both side. Lay it amongst the veggies.

Crack the eggs into your brand spankin' new ramekins. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put them in the baking tray too. This is a one pan, two ramekin type meal. Save on dishes.

Put everything the oven for 13 minutes or until the eggs are set and the tuna is cooked thru (it will flake) but is still moist.

Pull the pan out and squeeze lemon over everything and serve.

 CPB.

 Mine.

....is Cowboy Cookies

 

 

In one bowl:

1 cup granular sugar

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter (if you're not going to make it into actual cookies 1/2 cup of butter is fine, save yourself the extra fat)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

In another bowl:

1.5 to 2 cups flour (again depends on if you want actual cookies, if you do add more flour or they'll be super flat, still yummy though)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cream everything in the first bowl before adding the dry ingredients from the second a few large spoonfuls at a time. 

Finally fold in:

2 cups oatmeal

1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips

Bake at 350 until golden brown. Time depends on how gooey you like them 12-15 min as cookies, 25-30 as pizzookie.

....is Zucchini & Asparagus

 Use a peeler to grate the Zucchini into long thin slices.

 

 Blanche Asparagus and Dress with Olive Oil, Lemon, Salt & Pepper.

 

I used it and some other ingredients the next day to make a Salad for dinner. 

(recipe from BLS)

....Vodka Sauce & Pasta

1 Medium Yellow Onion Diced
3-4 Cloves of Garlic Finely Minced
2-16 oz. Cans Tomatoes Diced (32 oz. total)
1 Cup Vodka
16 oz. Light Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Parmesan Grated

I think this makes 6-8 Servings. You can easily stretch it with more Tomatoes and Sour Cream/Cheese, but you might not need to add more of the others, mostly it's to taste. Originally, I got this recipe from a family friend (RTG) but I think I've changed it some over time.

 Saute the Onions and when they're soft add the Garlic.

 Add Tomatoes and let the liquid cook down some. Then add the Vodka Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Add Sour Cream and Cheese (save some cheese to put on after it's served). As it cools it will thicken up a bit but it may look pretty soupy at first.

Serve.

Enjoy.