I know what you're thinking... I think.  The title of this post sounds weird.  But, I'm not that creative, and that's exactly what this post is about.  My neighbor worked for a spice company this summer and left the job with a myriad of culinary goodies, including--you guessed it--YEAST.  I don't know about you, but I'm not a baker.  I'm a cook, who dabbles and experiments, and does my best to make delicious baked goods.  I've mastered the quick bread, I've made boxed cake, and sometimes my cookies come out so it's safe to say that yeast is scary.  Have a really incredible food science background from my undergraduate education is wonderful.  I understand how to use yeast and why it works the way it does, but I've never really done much with it.  After experimenting this weekend with the Fleishmann's Yeast my neighbor gave me, I don't find it as intimidating.  Actually, I'm excited to experiment with more bread recipes--maybe even bring back the childhood memories I have of my father and I in the kitchen, making Jewish Challah bread.  BUT... that's another post.

Last night, I celebrated Pizza Night.  In college, I'd either celebrate Pizza Sunday with my roommate or some friends.  The dough would always be homemade and the pizzas were always delicious.  I had to bring back those memories--the smell of the fresh baked dough, the bubbly cheese, and the creative aspect of choosing your own toppings.  My pizza crust recipe is an adaptation on Alton Brown's pizza crust recipe.  The only things I did differently was use 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup wheat flour to make a whole wheat pizza dough.  In addition, I added cornmeal to the bottom of the crust for extra texture.  You can find my version of this recipe here.

I set out to make my own pizza dough.  Something I had done before, but since it's unfamiliar, I was a little afraid it wouldn't work.  When I'm unfamiliar with cooking something, I follow a recipe to the T and then still, I get worried.  I'm not sure why.  Either way, Alton Brown's recipe worked out GREAT.  
The thing I love about homemade pizza is the #DoItYourself nature of a great pizza.  Pick your toppings, and bake!  My neighbor Carsen came over and we created our own pizzas.  One was a traditional tomato and motz pizza and the other was our more creative, assorted roasted veggie pizza with olive oil and garlic.  Both were delicious.  With pizza, the sky IS THE LIMIT.  Seriously, be creative.  I want to know what types of pizzas you make!  Comment below...

The final step with these pizzas is simple.  Bake the pizza off in a 500 F oven for about 7 minutes, or until your pizza is golden brown at the edges and the cheese is bubbly.  I hope you have a pizza stone, because I think it makes all the difference.  Your crust will be nice and crispy.  When making homemade pizza, a stone is really a must.  It's worth the investment, I swear.  And just a word to the wise, I set my smoke alarm off during this process, so be careful!

This was scary.  I've never baked bread by myself before.  That last statement makes me sound slightly childish, but it's true.  The only time I've truly made bread from scratch was with my father.  Of all the strange things I've cooked and baked, I'm not sure why I've never attempted bread on my own.  Either way, I was nervous as I got started this afternoon.  I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did successfully make a loaf of bread!  I adapted a recipe from Fleishmann's and made it my own.  I added an egg wash on the top of the bread to add additional texture and a golden brown crunch to the top.  And it wouldn't be flaxseed bread with out a little flaxseed topping!  Click HERE to see my recipe.  Below are some pictures I took throughout the process that may or may not help you.  I forgot to take one at each step of the process but use these as you choose to.  My recipe is also at the bottom of this post if you scroll all the way down.  By no means am I a bread expert (YET), but it wasn't that difficult.  It just required patience, which is something I'm working on.  It's safe to say that I will be making my own breads again in the near future.  Stay tuned!

What is more perfect than a fried egg?  Pretty much nothing.  Think about it.  A perfectly fried egg has a soft, fluffy white with those crisp outer edges, and a perfectly gelled, yet still runny yolk.  And when you cut in to the egg?  Pure perfection.  The yolk runs all over the plate, covering the rest of your meal like a delicious sauce.  Why not take this little piece of perfection and stuff it inside a tomato?  

Honestly, I'm not sure why I haven't thought of this idea earlier--and, I can't take all the credit.  This morning, I was watching "The Kitchen" on Food Network and was inspired by this recipe created by Marcela Valladolid.  This tomato inspired episode of "The Kitchen" was full of amazing ideas but this one surly takes the cake.  I made a few swaps in my version of this recipe to lighten up the dish just a little bit, but the idea is the same.  You have salty, smokey turkey sausage (instead of chorizo) cooked with thinly sliced yukon gold potatoes stuffed inside a well seasoned tomato.  I used one of my farmers market tomatoes, however, I'd suggest using a meaty, beefy, beefsteak tomato as it stands up to baking better.  I like the creaminess and lightness the queso fresco adds to the dish.  Its a mild cheese that really adds a nice finish to the tomato.  I just use a tiny sprinkle.  And for a pop at the end, I squeeze on a little lemon juice and sprinkle with cilantro.

What are you waiting for?  Get cooking!  You can find my recipe below.  Each tomato comes in at around 300 calories with the cheese.  If you opt out of using cheese, your baked tomato will come in at around 250 calories.

So if you saw my post yesterday, I came home with an ABUNDANCE of fresh produce yesterday morning.  Since I just moved to Peoria, I don't know a lot of people here yet and so I've been occupying my free time doing one of my favorite things- cooking (eating is a close second--both hobbies are related).  So, see below for an update on some new recipes, and some quick tips on how to make the most out of your farmers market finds.  Most importantly, happy eating! 
 

So i got some awesome fresh herbs at the farmers market and I really want to make them last.  Here's a storage tip.  Take your herbs out of the packaging they came in, wrap in a paper towel, place in ziploc bag, and store in the fridge!  I like to label and date my bag to keep on top of how fresh my herbs are.

So why purple potatoes, you might ask?  Well there isn't necessarily a specific reason, however they did look amazing at the farmers market, and who doesn't love the fun color?  One thing to keep in mind with these potatoes, or any produce, is that the deeper and richer the color, the more nutrients and health benefits that produce will have!  Compared to white potatoes, purple potatoes happen to be very rich in antioxidant phytochemicals--similar to those found in other powerhouse foods such as blueberries.  These antioxidants are most known for their immunity boosting and cancer fighting properties.  The best part about the potatoes is that they taste remarkably similar to their white fleshed counterpart, so sub them into any recipe you would normally use regular potatoes for a fun variation that adds a pop of color.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb purple potatoes (or you could use red or yukon gold if you don't have purple)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb of multicolored string beans (or regular green beans)
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
2 tsp brown mustard
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chives, minced
1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 F and get a pot of water boiling.

Scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt and cut into quarters, lengthwise.  Mince the garlic and chop the oregano.  Toss the potatoes in the olive oil, garlic, and oregano.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread out on a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes.  Potatoes are done when they are fork tender.  

While the potatoes roast, trim your green beans.  Grab a steamer insert for your pot and put the green beans in that, then place over boiling water and steam for 3 minutes.  You don't want mushy green beans so do not steam any longer than 3 minutes.  Immediately after steaming the beans, shock them in a bowl of ice water to retain the bright color and nutrients of the beans.

Slice the red onion into very thin slices.  Feel free to use a mandolin if you'd like.  Chop up the fresh chive, cilantro, and flat leaf parsley.

To make the dressing, whisk mustard, lemon, and olive oil in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  
Combine 1/2 the dressing with the green beans and onions and allow the flavor to absorb.

When potatoes are done, combine everything together in a bowl and add a little more dressing.  The potatoes will absorb the most flavor while they are still warm.  Feel free to add all the dressing or just a little bit more.  This can be done completely to taste!  The last step is to toss in all those fresh herbs you chopped.  

Enjoy a big bowl as a meal, or serve as a summer side dish with some grilled chicken or shrimp.

NUTRITION:
231 calories, 13.5 g fat, 27.5 g carbohydrate, 4.1 g fiber, 4.6 g protein

Hands down, one of my absolute favorite things about exploring new cities (big or small) is to check out the local Farmers Market.  From the Hyde Park market on Sunday mornings in Cincinnati, to the tiny little market in Oxford, OH and even big 'ole Findlay Market in Over The Rhine, I've seen my fair share of absolutely incredible produce from people with even more interesting stories.  I think the biggest thing I've noticed is that the the cities that happen to be more in the middle of nowhere have the most amazing produce, for the best prices.  Think about it... middle of nowhere, that means the surrounding areas are likely farms.  Since the farms are so close and you're buying directly from the source, getting fresh and delicious produce becomes quite a bargain.  The Peoria market did not disappoint.  Located right along the Illinois River in downtown Peoria, there are dozens of vendors sharing their summer's harvest.  Not only is the view great (and if it wasn't raining, I would have snapped some photos), but the produce was great too!  I only brought 10 dollars with me and spent all of it on the most incredible variety of veggies.  (See pic below)

So the loot:  I left with a pint of colorful cherry tomatoes, 1/3 lb of multi-colored string beans, 2 beautiful eggplant, a lb of purple potatoes, 2 beautiful heirloom tomatoes and 1/2 lb of roma tomatoes.  I also got some fresh tarragon, oregano and thyme!  The biggest steal I got however was that zucchini.  It's hard to tell, but it's probably 8-10 lbs and was only $1.  I've been joking around, calling it my new baby.  Can you believe it?! 

Now I want to share a bit of farmers market advice.  This isn't the first giant zucchini I've purchased.  I got one about half this size at a farm stand last summer.  It's easy to get distracted by what an INCREDIBLE deal this is.  When was the last time you got 8 lbs of food for $1?  The thing with these large zucchinis is that they are not anywhere near as flavorful as their smaller, brighter colored younger siblings.  When a zucchini grows this large, it's better to utilize it in ways that are not necessarily dependent on an incredibly flavorful zucchini, or to cook it in a way that imparts a lot of flavor into the dish.  Some of the ways I plan on using this are to make zucchini parmesan or zucchini steaks, use my Vegetti to turn it into "spaghetti" and to bake zucchini bread!  The opportunities are definitely endless.

Now, my favorite part about summer markets is definitely the fresh tomatoes.  My aunt grows her own tomatoes and I can tell you that literally nothing beats picking a tomato right off the vine, and popping it into your mouth.  It's tart, sweet and full of flavor.  I promise you've never tried a good tomato, until you've eaten one fresh off the vine.  Absolutely incredible.  Since I don't have a tomato garden of my own, beautiful summer tomatoes from the market are the next best thing.  The beautiful thing about summer harvest is the extensive variety of tomatoes available.  There's big and lumpy heirloom tomatoes, which are sweet and full of flavor, a wide variety of sizes and colors of grape and cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and even more varieties I have yet to taste!  A tomato tip:  after slicing into your tomatoes, sprinkle with some kosher salt.  The salt draws out the natural juices in the tomato, and enhances the sweetness and flavor of the tomato, making the absolute perfect bite.  Now if you're like me, you can drizzle olive oil on some sliced tomato and sprinkle salt and call it a day, but sometimes, you want to be creative.  I know in my future, there is some fresh pico, a tomato sauce or broth, and I already enjoyed one of my favorite sandwiches.  See below for the recipe!  

So, what are you waiting for?  Check out your local farmers market, and let me know how it goes!

-Rose

INGREDIENTS:
1 ciabatta roll, toasted
1 heirloom tomato
2 thick slices fresh mozzarella
2 tbsp basil walnut pesto (check out my recipe)
Coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:
Toast the ciabatta roll in a toaster or in your oven set to the broil setting.  Spread pesto on bread, top each half with a slice of cheese.  On a cutting board, slice tomato into 1/2 to 1 inch slices.  Season with salt and pepper and top on bread.