South of the Border Pizza

Pizza is a staple on our weekly menu here at casa de Wilkerson.  Not only is it a delicious and quick meal, the possible variations are endless.  Also, with our whole-wheat dough and veggie-centric toppings, I like to think our pizzas are at least healthy-ish.  And that's really what I'm going for in my diet, healthy-ish.

The dough we use is super simple to make.  In fact, Ryan has become the go-to pizza dough maker and doesn't even use a recipe any more. (See, no bread-baking experience necessary!) I'll do a full post on just exactly how to make this amazing dough later, but here is the basic recipe that we use.  The recipe either makes four individual sized pizzas or two large pizzas to share.  For us this means we usually eat pizza for two days in a row! Of course if you are still too scared to make your own dough, you can buy pre-made pizza dough at the grocery store, or an even better option is to ask your local pizza place if they will sell you a ball of dough.  In college we bought balls of dough from Shakespeare's Pizza for less than $1.  It was well worth the spare change and strange looks we got carrying a dough ball around campus!

When you make the pizza you can either be super fancy (like me) and stretch the dough with your hands, or less fancy but just as effective (like Ryan) and roll the dough out with a rolling pin.

Although we have made so many different varieties of pizzas, it had never occurred to me to make a Mexican inspired pizza until I stumbled across this recipe on pinterest.  In what may have been the fastest turn-around time in history from initial pin to reality, this pizza joined our menu for the week and won the imaginary blue ribbon for best pinterest inspired meal ever.  

The base is made up of black beans, olive oil, chili powder, cumin, salt, and chili en adobo all mashed together.  Chili en adobo was a new food for us.  It was spicy, smoky, and really imparted great flavor into the pizza.  Next time we will absolutely be using a heavier hand when applying the sauce.  

After the beans and chili en adobo sauce are spread evenly, top with onions, tomatoes, and corn.  At this point we also sprayed the exposed crust with olive oil and sprinkled on some Arizona Dreaming (we love our Penzeys spices!).  The olive oil and spices just make the crust a little more crunchy, golden, and delicious when baked.  

Then, just pop that sucker in an oven heated to 450 degrees for about about ten minutes. 

When the crust starts to turn golden brown, take the pizza out and sprinkle with cheese. Then put it back in the oven for about three minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

When the cheese is melted to gooey perfection, take the pizza out of the oven and slide it off the pan onto a cutting board (or two if your pizza is massive like ours). 

You could stop here and eat the pizza as is, but I don't think you want to do that.  We topped the pizza with a cool creamy sauce made of avocado, sour cream, a pinch of salt, and lime juice.  Instead of using half the avocado like the recipe suggests, we just doubled the sauce recipe and used the extra for dipping. 

In case you are unfamiliar with how to remove an avocado pit

Drizzle on the sauce, cut into pieces, and enjoy your quick, inexpensive, and healthy-ish dinner.  You deserve it! 

Our sauce could have been thinned a little more with lime juice, but we only had one lime! 

We will definitely be making a variation of this pizza again. Perhaps topped with grilled onions and peppers to make it more fajita inspired?  Or maybe instead of black beans and chili en adobo as a base using hummus and pesto?  Once you learn the basic technique, the ingredients are infinitely adaptable.

Does anyone else love experimenting with pizza toppings? Is there an amazing pizza you have had at a restaurant that you would be able to recreate at home?  Let me know in the comments!

This recipe is from thekitchn.com.  

South of the Border Pizza

1 1-lb ball of pizza dough, preferably homemade 

1 16-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon chile en adobo, minced, plus extra sauce for spreading on the dough

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small tomato, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (no thawing necessary)

1 cup Mexican cheese blend 

Sauce 

1 avocado

4 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt

1 lime, juiced

1 dash of salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  

Stretch or roll dough on a lightly floured surface into a circle the size of your pizza pan.  Or if you don't have a pizza pan, a rectangle the size of your cookie sheet.  Transfer the dough to your pan.

Microwave the black beans in a medium sized bowl for 30 seconds, or until they are soft enough to mash.  Add the chili en adobo, chili powder, cumin, salt, and olive oil.  Mash together with the back of a fork until it forms a paste.  

Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the chili en adobo can onto your pizza dough. The more you spread, the spicier your pizza will be. Next, spread the bean paste evenly on the dough.  Then top with chopped onions, tomatoes, and corn. Spray or brush exposed crust edges with olive oil and sprinkle with your favorite Mexican spice blend.  Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the crust starts to turn golden brown.

While the pizza is baking, make the sauce by smashing together the avocado, sour cream, lime juice, and salt in a bowl.  

Remove the pizza, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for about 3 more minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Top the pizza with dollops of the avocado sauce, cut into pieces, and serve warm.  Any extra sauce can be used for dipping. 

Enjoy!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Is there any better sensation than waking up on a lazy weekend morning with the buttery smell of biscuits wafting into your room?  Could there be a more wonderful way to begin the day? I don't think so.

With just a little bit of time and a few simple ingredients anyone is able to create something that will almost instantly bring joy and comfort to others.  So, if someone you love is in need of a more pleasant weekend wake-up, consider making them biscuits.  And sure, you could use the pre-made dough that is vacuum sealed in the cardboard tube, but instead take about ten minutes longer and make these.  You won't regret it

It all starts by throwing some flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.

Whisk it all together, then add some butter. I like to cut the butter up into little cubes to make it easier to incorporate. 

Work the butter into the flour with either your fingers or a pastry blender.  You want the mixture to be coarse with small pebbles of butter still intact.

Next add the buttermilk and stir until it just forms a craggy mass of dough. You want to avoid over-mixing this dough. 

When it starts to come together, use your hands to gently knead it into a solid ball of dough, and then move the dough ball to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into a slab about 1/2 inch thick.

Using either a biscuit cutter (if you are fancy) or a drinking glass about 2 inches across, cut the biscuits out by  pressing straight down into the dough.  You want to avoid twisting as you cut, so as not to seal the sides closed resulting in a flat biscuit. 

You can gently push any remaining scraps together to get another biscuit out of the dough. But it may not rise quite as much as the original biscuits.

Now all that is left is to pop them in the oven and wait an excruciating 12 to 15 minutes until they are golden brown and delicious!

These can be dressed up to be sweet with either honey or jam, or they can take a walk on the savory side as the base of a breakfast egg sandwich or smothered in gravy.

This biscuit recipe was taken from one of my very favorite blogs smittenkitchen.com 

If I can't convince you to give these a try then take a look at Deb's post, and see if that changes your mind. 

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

9 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter

3/4 cup buttermilk* 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda) together in a large bowl.  Incorporate butter into the mixture with either your hands or a pastry blender until the texture resembles a coarse meal.  Pour in the buttermilk and stir to form a shaggy dough.  Use your hands to gently knead the dough together, and then transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into a slab about 1/2 inch thick.  Using either a 2 inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass cut out the biscuits by pressing straight down.  Place the cut out biscuits on your baking sheet and put them in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.  They are ready to take out when they are golden brown and smell like heaven. 

*If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute a milk and lemon juice mixture.  Before assembling the other ingredients, pour 3/4 tablespoon of lemon juice into a 3/4 cup measuring cup. Then pour the milk on top of the lemon juice to completely fill the measuring cup.  Let this mixture sit for at least five minutes before using.

Hello.

This blog isn't quite sure what it is yet. 

I have delusions that it will become a wildly successful baking blog that attracts millions of readers and leads me to publish a cookbook and get my own show on Food Network. 

Chocolate Chip Scones with Peanut Butter Glaze

Or perhaps my DIY designs will go viral on pinterest and Nate Berkus will see them and invite me to co-host his show.  

C'mon Nate, together we can teach America to upholster headboards!

Or maybe with Ryan's money-saving tips this blog will replace My Memphis Mommy as the premier coupon blog of the mid-south.  

We paid $4.13 for all of this! Don't you want to know how?

Will there be pretty pictures of baked goods? Definitely.  Will I try to inspire you to get your DIY on? Probably.  Will I throw out tips on how to live like a human being on a very small budget?  Maybe. Will anybody read it? We'll see.