Turkey Chili with Skillet Cornbread

I know I usually dedicate Fridays to fashion, but since I worked today and didn't necessarily feel photogenic, I thought I'd feature this tasty bowl of chili instead...

I can't believe October is going by this fast. Ever since summer I have been having visions of fall recipes dancing around in my head and now, suddenly, it's mid October! I noticed my soup section is looking pretty scarce so I think I will focus on more savory soups and stews this coming fall/winter, especially since the weather is finally starting to cool down. I have to say I've made quite a few chili's in my day but this one is on of my faves. I like corn in my chili because to me it breaks up the monotonous textures of meat and beans, this was also my first time using fresh tomatoes and while they added many prep steps, the end result was super delicious (as you can tell from the half devoured pictures).


For the Chili...

serves 3-4

1 medium sized onion, diced small
1 TBS olive oil (I used garlic infused oil)
1 lb. ground turkey ( I used 93% lean)
2 TBS tomato paste
2 TBS red chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 cup yellow corn
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4-5 steamed, skinned, seeded, and diced plum tomatoes (or you could use canned)
2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream, shredded cheese, and fresh herbs for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large sauce pan, heat oil on medium high heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add ground meat and cook until pink color disappears. Add spices and tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes.

2.Add beans, tomatoes, and corn and combine. Gradually add chicken stock and simmer for 10-20 minutes, you may need to add more stock if you prefer a more loose chili, keep in mind it will become thicker as it cools.

For the Cornbread...

recipe adapted from Alton Brown

2 cups yellow cornmeal (I used yellow grits because I didn't have cornmeal, hence the course looking texture)
1 tsp salt
1 TBS sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup heavy cream OR half and half
2 eggs
1 cup creamed corn
2 tablespoons canola oil (for the skillet)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet into the oven.

2.In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together to combine well.In a large bowl, combine the cream, eggs, and creamed corn, whisking together to combine thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir to combine. If the batter will not pour, add more milk to the batter.

3.Swirl the canola oil in the hot cast iron skillet. Pour the batter into the skillet. Bake until the cornbread is golden brown and springs back upon the touch, about 20 minutes.

Honey Oat Whole Grain Bread with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Compound Butter

Is there anything more comforting and downright jovial in this world than the smell of freshly baked bread? If my metabolism wasn't slow as molasses I would probably definitely have bread with every meal. There's something so satisfying about that warm, soft, chewy texture and when you spread some brown sugar cinnamon butter on a warm piece of toast? Forget about it.

Unfortunately I think the art of bread baking as gone by the wayside in America but it's so easy and affordable to make I'm aiming to bring baking back *cue new version of Justin Timberlake song
I think people are always intimidated at the thought of baking breads, when in reality they're probably one of the easiest things to make, don't get me wrong, baking is always an exact science and you do have to dedicate the time to proof, knead, etc. BUT as long as you have the time baking bread is probably one of the easiest (and dare I say most rewarding) achievements in the baking world.

Honey Oat Whole Grain Bread

makes 1 loaf

recipe adapted from The Comfort of Cooking

1 cup water
1 cup milk (I used skim)
2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast
2 TBS honey
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread or all-purpose flour* (I used only bread flour)
1 cup quick cooking oats, plus more for topping loaf (or you could just grind rolled oats)
4 TBS (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 TBS salt

Directions:

1.Combine water and milk in a microwave-safe bowl; heat 30-45 seconds until warm (about 115 degrees F). Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast and honey. Let sit 10 minutes until yeast is foamy.

2.Stir in flours, oats, butter and salt. Using a dough hook, knead on medium speed 6 minutes until dough is smooth, elastic and only slightly sticky (alternatively, knead by hand 10 to 15 minutes on a lightly floured surface). Keep dough in bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Let rise in a warm place* 1 hour until doubled.

3.When dough is doubled, punch down and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Press into an 8-by-8-inch square, tuck in sides slightly and roll up into a log. Transfer to a lightly greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, seam-side down. Cover with a tea towel and let rise 30 to 40 minutes until dough reaches the edges of the pan.

4.Heat oven to 400 degrees F (375 degrees F if loaf pan is dark or nonstick). Sprinkle oats on top of risen loaf. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, rotating halfway through baking, until loaf is deep brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from loaf pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Compound Butter

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temp.
2 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 TBS honey

1.Beat butter until smooth, add ingredients and taste. You can either put the butter in a bowl or take some tin foil/plastic wrap and roll the butter in a tube for freezing.

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Hobbit Seed Cakes

It's that time of year again! HOBBIT PREMIER TIME!! If you didn't already know it yet, I am a HUGE LOTR/J.R.R. Tolkien fan, like, super huge, so huge I made these Hobbit seed cakes to celebrate the release of the 2nd Hobbit movie coming out this Friday! Here is the reference from the first chapter of The Hobbit,

“Come along in, and have some tea!” he managed to say after taking a deep breath.

‘A little beer would suit me better, if it is all the same
to you, my good sir,” said Balin with the white beard. “But I don’t mind some
cake – seed-cake, if you have any.”

“Lots!” Bilbo found himself answering, to his surprise; and
he found himself scuttling off, too, to the cellar to fill a pint beer-mug, and
then to a pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cake loaves which he had baked
that afternoon for his after-supper morsel.

The Hobbit- Chapter 1, An Unexpected Party, J.R.R. Tolkien

I can imagine these cakes were light and fluffy, slightly sweet, and a perfect pair for a cup of tea or coffee, which is exactly what these cakes are! For the "seeds" in this seed cake I used poppy seeds, just because they added that pop of texture to the bread. This cake-like bread will make the perfect addition to an elevenses or second breakfast meal (okay, I'll stop with the references now).

Zooey was very intrigued with them...

Hobbit Seed Cake

makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup sweet creamy butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 TBS poppy seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS sugar (for topping)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350°F loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2.In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beat well after each.

3.In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and poppy seeds, with the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating two times with the buttermilk,and then vanilla. Beat just until smooth.

4.In another bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tarter until soft peaks form. Gently fold them into the muffin batter until blended.

5.Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle top with sugar then bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Concord Foods’ Cranberry Bread Mix Review and Giveaway!

I was recently contacted by Ocean Spray company to taste test their new Concord Foods’ Cranberry Bread Mix. I am always a fan of seasonal goodies and the combination of tart cranberries and refreshing orange zest sounded like the perfect mix. When I received the package I immediately checked out the ingredients and I was happy to see that I could actually understand (and pronounce) all of them. Ocean spray made it super easy to prepare a loaf that tasted just as good as homemade.

Instructions:

Just add 1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 cup chopped fresh Ocean Spray cranberries (you can also use Craisins® Dried Cranberries, just make sure that you soak them in water to re-hydrate them for at least 20 minutes.)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

2.Simply stir in the water and egg, then lightly fold in cranberries and nuts (if using). Pour mix into prepared pan and bake for 45 min. or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

This bread not only fills your house with heavenly smells, with it's colorful appearance, it looks beautiful as well. At first I was hesitant because sometimes orange flavors can be overpowering but I found that this bread had the perfect balance of tart and sweet. The bread was moist, fragrant, and bursting with the sweet floral accents of the fruit with the slightly tart cranberries. I myself did not find it necessary to add any spreadable topping but my family liked it with a little butter on top. This bread would definitely compliment any holiday meal but make sure to pick this baby up before the end of December because this mix will only be available during the cranberry harvest season! For other recipe ideas, products, and coupon offers, check out the Ocean Spray website.

This giveaway will include:
-A bag of Ocean Spray craisins
-A box of Concord Foods Cranberry Bread Mix
-A brand new Calphalon loaf pan
-And a bag of fresh, all natural cranberries

To enter, simply comment on this post and earn extra entries by liking The Nifty Cupcake on facebook and following me on instagram. A winner will be randomly selected this Friday at 8:00pm Eastern time.
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Favorite Fall/Halloween Recipes!

Bloody Witches's Fingers
Layered Pumpkin-Almond Cheesecake with Almond Brittle

Mini pumpkin pies with homemade crust
Undead Zombie Chocolate Cake with Blood Cherry Filling and sugar cookie gravestones

Midnight Mocha-Filled Cupcakes
Pumpkin Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Bites

These are some of my favs from last year (pay no attention to the semi-crappy photography). I always look forward to working with winter vegetables, and I try to come up with a cool/creepy Halloween themed dessert for our party every year. My goal this year is to work on creating more soups and stews as well as getting back into bread baking! There's nothing in this world that beats the smell of freshly baked bread coming from zeh oven...mmmmm. What are you looking forward to most food-wise this season?

Healthy and Hearty Pumpkin Bread Topped with Toasted Pepitas.

It's that time of year again!!! Put pumpkin in alllll the things!!! And by that time of year, I mean that time where it is slightly less hot out, it hasn't quite felt like fall here in Florida but I became sick of waiting...I even wore a heavy scarf, tights, and boots trying to summon the cold weather but it hasn't worked yet; for now I shall bump my a/c down, wear winter clothes, and fill my home with delicious fresh-baked pumpkin smells!

This bread not only looks pretty and captures all the essence of fall, it's good for you! By using just egg whites instead of the whole egg and light sour cream in place of vegetable oil, you are saving over 700 calories in this recipe! I also used 1 cup of whole grain flour and you cannot even tell it's in there. This bread is super moist and it actually gets better with age so you might want to bake it a day in advance and just let it sit out before serving.

Healthy and Hearty Pumpkin Bread Topped with Toasted Pepitas.

makes two loaves

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 egg whites
1 cup lowfat sourcream OR greek yogurt
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsps baking soda
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1/2 pepitas for garnish

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9x3 inch loaf pans.

2.In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, sour cream, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

3.Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. If you are using pepitas, sprinkle them on about halfway through the baking process. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Rainy Days and Banana Nut Bread (healthy version included)

I'm not sure if I've shared this with you before but I often fall victim to the S.F.C otherwise known as Spontaneous Food Cravings. These cravings aren't just a spur of the moment thing, they can last for months and months before my taste buds are ready to move on. A couple months ago I was obsessed with crab cakes, after that it was guacamole, and now... it's banana bread.

Let's talk about banana bread for a minute...it's delicious for one, easy to make, and it's moist texture and slightly sweet flavor pair perfectly well with a cup of coffee and anything that compliments coffee goes down as a win in my book. I decided to tweak this recipe a bit to make it more healthy, I'll provide two versions for you to choose. By using 1/2 a cup of whole grain flour you are adding 8 grams of fiber to the loaf without altering the taste (the texture will be slightly more dense however). Whenever I see butter in a bread or cake recipe I usually try to sub it out with either applesauce, yogurt, pumpkin (for the fall times), and in this case light sour cream. I promise you cannot tell the difference!

Banana Nut Bread (the healthy version)

makes one loaf

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup low fat sour cream (or greek yogurt)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten (or a 1/4 cup eggbeaters if you have them)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole grain flour
1/2 chopped walnuts

Banana Nut Bread (regular version)

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten (or a 1/4 cup eggbeaters if you have them)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 chopped walnuts

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 4x8 loaf pan by spraying with non stick spray.

2.No need for a mixer for this recipe. With a wooden spoon, sour cream (OR butter) into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour(s) and nuts last, mix. Pour mixture into loaf pan and bake for about 45min to an hour.

3.Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve

Strawberry Buttermilk Scones

This is always my go-to scone recipe because it's super easy to make! Most recipes require cold butter that you have to cut in which somehow always manages to form one big glumpy mess, by adding the butter in melted it automatically forms little pockets of buttery (soon to be flaky) goodness without all the hassle. You can add almost anything to this base recipe, for a savory scone cut back the sugar by a tablespoon, add 1 cup of heavy cream in place of buttermilk, and try to keep whatever filling you use at a single cup.

Strawberry Buttermilk Scones

makes 8 large scones

3 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
2 TBS sugar (plus extra for topping)
1 tsp baking powder
5 TBS melted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strawberries, cut small
heavy cream (for topping)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.In medium sized bowl mix together dry ingredients. Add strawberries and mix. Add melted butter 1 TBS at a time mixing with a fork with each addition until the butter starts to form little clumps then add buttermilk and stir lightly to combine.

3.Dump unto floured surface and kneed together until mixture forms a ball (it shouldn't take long), Flatten the ball out slightly and cut it directly in half. Take the two halves and form two separate balls, flatten those out slightly and using a *bench scraper cut a cross pattern into each ball forming 4 scones.

4.Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush each scone with a little heavy cream. To finish them off, sprinkle a little sugar on each one, then bake for about 20 min. or until slightly golden brown on top.

*what is a bench scraper? It's this

What is your favorite scone flavor?

Sweet Rosemary Cornbread

Every time I go to Panama I always smuggle back some fresh rosemary sprigs, for some reason it grows everyyyywhere over there! I don't think people even realize what's in front of them...which is probably a good thing because then people would stuff a handfuls into their suitcases like me heh. This cornbread is undoubtedly THE BEST cornbread I have ever made! It has a super moist cake-like texture, subtle sweetness, and the rosemary really adds a sweet herb quality that I really love! In fact, I think I am going to make rosemary a permanent addition to my cornbread recipes from now on! If you are not a fan of sweet cornbread you can always add 2/3 cup sugar instead of 1 cup other than that this is a super easy recipe and man is it good!

Sweet Rosemary Cornbread

(makes 1 loaf)

Baker's Joy, for greasing pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup half and half
3/4 cups whole milk
2 large eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 can of yellow corn, drained
1 rosemary sprig (optional)

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one loaf pan (9 x 5), and set aside.

2.Whisk the dry ingredients to blend in a large bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a different bowl, then add to the dry ingredients, and stir until no dry spots remain. Mix in corn.

3.Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, smooth with a spatula, and bake until brown at the edges and just cracking in the center, about 30 to 35 minutes. Add a rosemary sprig on top about halfway through cooking time if desired. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cinna-chip Scones

Okay, I am going to tell you of a magical land, one where there's delicious food as far as the eye can see, fancy cappuccino machines that can whip up whatever your caffeine craving desires, and good times to be had by all. This magical land is also known as my aunt's house. There are A LOT of foodies in my family but if there's one person that gets just as excited about food, eating, cooking, and all of thee above as I do, it's my Aunt Gin. So one time we visited and she baked these amazzzzinggg cinnamon chip scones! They were everything a scone should be; soft but not too crumbly and the perfect texture in between a cake and a biscuit. I was SO happy when she handed over the recipe, I didn't special order the cinnamon chips like she did, but Hersey's sells some that are just as good...almost.

Cinna-chip Scones
2 cups flour
3 TBS sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 tsp unsalted CHILLED butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes
3/4 cup cinnamon chips
1 cup (and 1 TBS for brushing)heavy cream
1 TBS turbinado sugar (optional)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

2.Place top ingredient in food processor and pulse to combine (about 12 pulses)

3.Stir in cream and chips to the dough mix and form a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Brush with heavy cream and top with turbinado sugar (if using).

4.Cut into 12 wedges or use a round biscuit cutter like I did and place on a baking sheet for 12-15 min. or until light brown in color. Cool before consuming...I know, it's hard to wait.

My aunt also says that she makes multiple bags of the food processor dough mix and sticks them in the freezer, that way all you have to do later is mix in the cream and chips, cut, bake, and viola!

Irish Soda Bread with Ina

It is now time for me to confess my absolute love and admiration for Ina Garten (a.k.a The Barefoot Contessa). There's just something about her that is so soothing and pleasant to watch, it's down right memorizing! Not to mention that her and Jeffery (her husband) are probably the cutest couple in existence. Sometimes when I watch her show I pretend that we're hosting a dinner party together and I am in charge of the flower arrangements and dessert. She is so calm in the kitchen and I think that tone somehow transfers over when you use one of her recipes. I decided on this particular one because it contains orange zest! I am a huge fan of incorporating a little citrus pick-me-up whenever I can and this sounded like the perfect opportunity to do so!

This bread is light, moist, and has the texture of a light pound cake. Be warned that this is a VERY wet dough, I panicked when I tried to kneed it and I ended up with a big sticky doughy mess on my figures...I thought oh great, I might as well throw it away and start over! But then I asked myself (which I often do) W.W.I.D? So I floured up my hands and threw that sucker in a round baking pan and by golly, that bread came out amazing!

Ina Garten's Irish Soda Bread

(yields 1 loaf)

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants (if using)
4 tablespoons sugar (I put 5 because I like a more sweet soda bread)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken*
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried currants (optional)

*If you don't have buttermilk just add 1 TBS of lemon juice to every 1 cup of milk you use.

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly Grease a round dutch oven or you may use a sheet pan.

2.Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

3.With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be VERY wet...like almost unmanageably wet.

4.Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf (if you can't achieve a round loaf like me, simply plop it into a round baking dish). Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Grapefruit Scones with Zesty Sugar Topping

Lately I've been receiving mysterious bags of grapefruit on my front porch. Normally I wouldn't oppose free food gifts but grapefruit has never been my cup of tea. I mean, here you have this delicious, orange-like fruit which appears to have all the sweet and juicy qualities of an orange, but no. Instead it sits on a thrown of lies and greets you with a brutal bitter slap in the face. I was determined to find some way to use them, I hate wasting perfectly fine produce. Whilst browsing the internet for inspiration, I came across these grapefruit scones from Joy the Baker, Grapefruit into scones?! Sounds just crazy enough to work...

Grapefruit Scones
(makes 8 large scones)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar (for grapefruit sugar)
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
1 Ruby Red grapefruit, zested and segmented
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)



Directions

1.Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3.Zest the grapefruit and combined zest and granulated sugar on a clean cutting board. Rub together the zest and sugar with the back of a spoon. The sugar will be tinted a pale orange color and smell of grapefruit. Measure 2 tablespoons of the grapefruit sugar and whisk into the dry ingredients. Save the remaining grapefruit sugar for topping the scones just before baking.

4.Segment the grapefruit next. Slice off the bottom and top of the grapefruit, exposing the wheel of grapefruit flesh inside. Use a sharp knife to cut away the peel and pith of the grapefruit, exposing the pink grapefruit flesh. Slice in between the white skin segments to the center of the fruit, at a slight angel, circling the grapefruit. Little grapefruit segments should fall from the fruit as you slice. Set segments aside.

5.Dice cold butter into small chunks and add to the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, and working quickly, break the butter down into the flour mixture until butter chunks are the size of oat flakes or small peas. The butter and flour combined will resemble coarse meal. Add the honey, plain yogurt and grapefruit segments. Toss together with a fork until all of the dry ingredients are moistened by the yogurt and honey.

6.Turn the scone dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Form into an 8 inch circle, about 1 inch thick. Use a knife or a bench scraper to cut the dough into six scone triangles. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops of the scones with milk or buttermilk, and sprinkle generously with grapefruit sugar.

7.Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until golden brown on top and firm but soft in the center. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with butter and jam. These scones are best served the day they’re made.

These scones have a moist, biscuit - like texture with the zesty citrus sweetness of the grapefruit sugar, definitely delicious even for a grapefruit hater.

Margarita pizza with no hassle whole grain crust

So you know how everyone has that one thing in the kitchen they just can't nail? No matter how many countless recipes and methods you've tried you just can't get it quite right? Well..that one thing for me is whole grain pizza crust. My feeble attempts have always come out super dense and bready (not the crispy crust I desire). Last week I was thrilled when I FINALLY found the solution. Sure, I technically didn't "make" this crust but I'll consider it a win.

Bob's Red Mill has a whole grain pizza crust mix. All you have to do is add water, yeast (which is included) egg, and oil - bake at 425 and it comes out to a perfectly crispy crust without that weird whole graininess you sometimes get when using whole wheat flour. you can pick this up at almost any health food store OR they sometimes have it in Publix.

Pizza is so much fun to make and so customizable to any palate. Heck, you can pretty much put anything on a pizza, the possibilities are endless! I personally love a good ol margarita pie. I have this crazy obsession with basil and I recently purchased a little basil plant which was just begging to be put on a pizza.

Isn't food pretty?

For the sauce:

(adapted from Diana Rattray)

1 clove garlic, mashed and minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
dash red pepper, optional

What to do?

Combine all ingredients. Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 2 pizzas

other then that it's just sliced tomatoes and mozzarella. Simple. Fresh. Delicious.