Welcome to May (hem!!!) - Pizza Edition!

Well, the traditional Mayhem hasn’t managed to find Seeley and me this year. I’m not moving across the country and she’s not completely lost in math. Well, here at Authors Kitchen, May just isn’t May without the hem, so we’ve decided to create a bit of our own.  Not only is Seeley sure to stir things up with her impending return (Yay!!), but we’ve decided to have a pizza off! Ok, so it’s not exactly your typical competition, but you know how we feel about rules. Basically, you're just going to get some recipes for some fantastic pizzas!

First up, a thin crust, honey mustard pizza. Somewhere in New York right now, someone is yelling at their screen about how honey mustard and chicken don’t go on pizza. Just wait until they hear about the crust.  I would say this falls into the category of what I call “cracker pizzas”. You know those crispy, thin ones with a crust that almost resembles the consistency of a cracker? The ones in the freezer section of your grocery store for like a buck? The ones you occasionally enjoy in private but would never actually admit to? Yeah, those. Did you know you can make your own, in less than 30 minutes, with no preservatives and other scary ingredients, and that tastes amazing?

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 1 cup flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 – 5 Tablespoons warm water 

Toppings I used: 

• Cooked chicken
• Red bell pepper
• Green onion
• Feta cheese
• Mozzarella Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 Tablespoons mustard 

Before you start you’ll probably want to turn your oven to 425°.  Then, into a mixing bowl go the flour, salt, and baking powder.

Stir them together and add the olive oil and 3 Tablespoons of water. 

Mix, continuing to add water ½ Tablespoon at a time until all of the flour is incorporated and you have a soft, but not really sticky, dough. 

Knead the dough for about a minute just to bring it all together and get rid of any bits of flour or lumps. Form it into a round disk, cover it with a damp towel (paper or cloth is fine) and set it aside.

While that’s resting, slice your bell pepper into thin slices.

Then, the green onion.

Next comes the sauce.  In a small bowl, combine two Tablespoons honey

And two Tablespoons mustard.

Stir them together until they're completely combined.  I’m not sure why, but when you mix honey and mustard you end up with something much thinner in consistency than either of them on their own. If I were a chemist, I’m sure I could explain why, but well…

Now for the crust. Grab your rested dough and begin rolling it.  Be sure to keep moving it as your roll so that it doesn’t stick to your countertop.  You want the end result to be about 1/8 inch thick and 12 ish inches in diameter. 

Lightly brush your pizza pan with olive oil before transferring the crust. I just put a little on a paper towel and rubbed it over the surface. With a fork, poke the entire surface of the dough.

Into the oven for 4 minutes. Yes 4. Not 3. Not 5.  It should look something like this.

Sprinkle on some grated mozzarella.  Wait, I was supposed to measure that? I don’t know, a cup? Enough to lightly cover the surface.

As for the chicken, I just used some leftover rotisserie chicken, but you can, of course, cook your own. Just make sure you do it before starting on anything else.  Whichever you use, slice it thin and place it around the pizza. Follow that with the red bell pepper, green onion, and feta.

Cover with a light sprinkle of mozzarella, just to help hold everything in place. Then, drizzle over the honey mustard. You probably won’t use it all. 

Back into the oven for another 12 minutes. When it’s ready it should be nice and bubbly on top and starting to brown around the edges. 

Remove it and allow it to cool on a rack for at least 2 or 3 minutes before cutting. Then just slice it like you would any other pizza.  I know, often times pizza places cut their thin crust pizzas into square pieces. Why? It makes no sense. The shape of the pizza hasn’t changed. I just don’t get it.

So there you have it, a delicious, thin, crispy crust pizza you made all on your own. Feel free to use the same crust with more traditional toppings or these toppings on a more traditional crust, as well.  This is more of a guide than an actual recipe. 

So, Seeley, what kind of pizza are you bringing to the May-hem party? 

Welcome to May-hem 2014!

Here at Authors Kitchen, we have a bit of a tradition. It isn’t one we engineered for ourselves, rather, we just embrace the chaos that May likes to throw our way.  Well, this year is no exception.  In fact, I am making yet another cross country move.  This will make three big moves in four years, and all of them have been in May.  So welcome to May-hem!  First up, coconut limeade. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ¼ cups fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 liters coconut water 

In a small saucepan, place your sugar and pour over two cups of coconut water. 

Turn it on medium heat, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.  No need to bring it to a boil or anything.  As soon as the sugar is dissolved, just turn off the heat and set it aside. 

Now for the limes. When you’re making something like this, it’s very important to juice your own limes.  I seriously love this press juicer for stuff like this, but if you don’t have one, you can use any reamer or just squeeze them by hand. 

When you have 1 ¼ cups, go ahead and pour it into a pitcher. 

Pour in the remaining coconut water.

And last, but not least, add the syrup. 

Then just stir it all together and put it into the fridge to chill. 

Now, I have to be honest, the end result of this recipe didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped.  Coconut water has a bit of a salty flavor, which made for an excellent flavor with the lime.  Unfortunately, it also has a slightly viscous consistency.  If you’re a fan of coconut water and don’t mind the somewhat weird mouth feel, definitely give this a try.  Otherwise, I will soon post a recipe for something similar, not using the coconut water.  Although, it might be safer to save it for June, so I don’t end up with two questionable lime drinks this month. 

Which month of the year seems to throw you curveballs?