I asked Benji if he was interested in having homemade buttermilk biscuits today, and he said yes, so I made them. I served them with Breakstone’s salted whipped butter and pure maple syrup and they were phenomenal! I could have eaten 10, but I only had 3!

Ingredients:

This serves 4-6 people. So quantities in parentheses are for 2 people.

2 cups unsifted unbleached flour (1 cup flour)

4 tablespoons sugar (2 tablespoons sugar)

1 teaspoon kosher salt ( 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt)

2 teaspoons baking powder ( 1 teaspoon baking powder)

1 teaspoon baking soda (1/2 teaspoon baking soda)

2 cups Friendship 1 1/2 % buttermilk (1 cup buttermilk)

2 eggs (smallest one from extra large eggs) (1 egg)

2 1/2 tablespoons melted salted butter ( 1 1/4 TBSP. melted butter)

Measure dry ingredients into mixing bowl and whisk by hand just to blend.

Measure buttermilk into a pyrex measuring cup. Crack the eggs (egg) in and mix with a fork. Pour in your melted butter.

Pour your mixed wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. If you think the mixture is too thick, thin it out with a 1/2 tablespoon of whole milk- I did this. The batter was still quite thick which is what I wanted! Mix with a rubber pretty gently till blended with a small few lumps remaining.

Heat up the nonstick skillet on medium heat. After skillet is pretty hot, take a piece of paper towel and pour a few drops of oil onto it, and then rub it onto your skillet.

Using a 1/4 cup measurer, scoop into the batter and plop it onto the skillet smoothing the batter out a little with the measuring cup. When you see some bubbles forming on the top and you think your pancake is brown on the bottom, you should be able to put a spatula underneath the pancake just a little to take a peak and see if it’s medium brown on the underside. If it’s brown, then flip it over and wait for it to get brown on the other side.

Serve with softened whipped Breakstone’s salted butter (from Shop Rite or Stop n Shop) and pure maple syrup!

If my wonderful, incredible mother made brownies, which she didn’t do that often, this is the recipe she used. I adapted it on my own for my Passover brownies, which is on this website too. I made this today with my grandson Noah, who spent the day with me, putting me into a state of bliss. I made breakfast for him- 2 eggs over easy, hashed browns, and toast. We played a great game of Scrabble where he killed me and had me in hysterics as he made me look up dozens of words on the Scrabble dictionary (many were actual words, too). Then we made Chinese shrimp and broccoli for lunch. We watched maybe 4 episodes of the Nanny, took a walk, and then made the brownies. This day was an absolute bonanza for me! When the brownies came out of the oven, he had one warm, and he said they were possibly better than my Passover brownies. My son Benji had probably 6 of them, and he texted me saying: “The brownies are perfect and the best brownies I can ever remember.” So I’m totally satisfied that my El Exigente also approves. On top of that, my wonderful dolly girl Randi texted me that her husband Dan “absolutely loved the brownies” and that he couldn’t stop commenting about their texture and taste and the perfect balance of sweet, butter, and salt. He doesn’t usually indulge in sugary desserts, so I’m thrilled that he loved them.

4 oz. (but now 5 oz.) bakers unsweetened chocolate (I’m absolutely using 5 oz. these days as I just did today, Feb. 18, 2022)

1 small handful of semisweet chocolate chips (maybe 15 to 20 chips or so)

optional 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee granules (but I didn’t use on Feb. 23, 2021! or on Feb.25 )

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup unbleached flour (you can measure it into measuring cup and then sift it if your flour seems a little lumpy). I just stuck my whisk into my flour jar and whisked it for a few seconds before I measured the flour into my measuring cup.

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt (if using salted butter, reduce to 1/2 teaspoon)

Grease 9 by 13 nonstick pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Melt butter in saucepan over lowest flame.
2. When butter is 3/4 melted, put chocolate squares in pan, and move around with wooden spoon so chocolate doesn’t burn. When chocolate is almost fully melted, toss the very small handful of semisweet chocolate chips in to melt.
3. As soon as chocolate is fully melted into the butter, turn heat off, and add espresso if you are choosing to, and add sugar. Mix with wooden spoon.
4. Add in 4 large eggs, one at a time, mixing in after each one.
5. Add in vanilla and mix.
6. Dump flour, salt, and baking powder into the chocolate mixture, and fold in with wooden spoon or rubber spatula only until you can’t see any streaks of flour remaining.
7. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 20-25 min. until a toothpick comes out clean and you can see brownies are separating from sides of pan a bit.
8. Cool on rack and cut into 24 squares.

I’ve made this a few times over the last few years, as it’s a favorite of Benji’s and Randi- who recently said, “This is my favorite thing that you make.” Ezra requested this as his 10th birthday dinner. I brought it over to their house yesterday, and it was eaten outside due to Covid-19. I think Ezra had 3 servings, Dan had 2( unusual for him), Randi had 2, Noah had 1 and Hannah didn’t eat a full serving. I brought some home for Benji and me, and Benji was in rapture as he was eating. I definitely think it’s one of his top 5 favorites of my recipes. It’s so easy to make while still being a pain in the neck! What I love about this recipe is that the lasagna comes out a b

Ingredients:

1 lb. Whole Foods 85 or 90 percent chopped meat

little oil (sunflower or olive)

5 large garlic cloves, chopped fine

32 oz. jarred marinara (best brand by far is Mezzetti)

salt, pepper, oregano

1 lb. whole milk ricotta (egg optional- I do not use)

1 1/2 lbs. mozzarella grated

1 lb. lasagna noodles

grated parmesan

Directions:

In large saucepan, put about 1 T. oil. Put the beef in. Sprinkle with kosher salt, and cracked black pepper. Brown beef. I use a potatoe masher so the meat doesn’t clump together. Drain fat and put beef in bowl- set aside for a minute. Then pour 1 T. oil in same pot, and saute garlic on low flame till translucent. Add a small sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes. Add back the beef, add the marinara sauce, add healthy amount of oregano (about 1 teaspoon. Simmer on low flame uncovered while you boil your lasagna noodles till al dente. Drain noodles under cold water to stop cooking.

Take out a large 9 by 13 pyrex dish. Spoon about 5 T. of sauce on bottom of dish to coat. Put a layer of noodles over sauce overlapping a little. Use a partial noodle along edge to totally cover the bottom of dish. Take a spoon and shmear thin layer of ricotta directlly on the noodles. Then Sprinkle with grated parm, sprinkle with oregano. Sprinkle with lots of grated mozzarella. Dollop sauce over. It doesn’t have to totally cover the cheese.

Put another layer of noodles, again slightly overlapping and fitting a partial noodle on the side. Schmear the ricotta, sprinkle the parm, sprinkle the oregano, sprinkle with mozzarella, dollop with sauce.

Put another layer of noodles, again slightly overlapping and fitting a partial noodle on the side. Schmear the ricotta, sprinkle the parm, sprinkle the oregano, sprinkle with mozzarella, dollop with sauce.

Final layer of noodles, you may have only 4 noodles left. You probably won’t have any ricotta. That’s fine, so just sprinkle lots of mozzarella on top, a healthy amount of grated parm, a little oregano, and then dollop the rest of your sauce on the top of the mozzarella cheese.

For baking: Preheated oven 350 degrees. If lasagna is being baked right after being prepared, leave uncovered while baking. About 45 min, it will be ready.

If you are baking out of fridge, then bake with foil for 45 min, and maybe take off foil and bake uncovered till browned on top. If you want, switch setting to broil for a minute or 2 to brown the cheese.

A few weeks ago, I was at the beach house (a far cry from the trailer!!!!!) with Benji and Titi, and as usual, I was cooking NOTHING when I was down there, which is obviously the total opposite of what my whole life has been about- (COOKING…COOKING….BAKING….COOKING…BAKING…, etc). Anyway, we were eating out at one of the few restaurants open all year long- The Crab Claw. They have outdoor seating under a tent with heaters which is perfecto for covid life. So, Benji ordered a special – chicken pot pie. He loves gooey, gravy-laden mixtures of food, so this one has it all going on for him. Surprisingly, it was extremely yummy and tasted totally as if somebody had concocted it in their own homey, homespun kitchen. I tasted it for future reference and future recipe development, of course but to Benji’s chagrin, as he hates me taking anything away from even one little miniscule morsel of food he’s inhaling. But he’s improved of late in this department, which I totally attribute to his wife’s positive influence of moderating his obsessive selfishness when it comes to food sharing. It was definitely delicious! My and Benji’s only slight complaint was that the underlayment would have been better served with actual pie crust vs. the more easily constructed, totally adequate, and boxed (but homemade tasting) ubiquitous Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry the chef apparently used. Also, there was no bottom crust, which could be seen as either a positive or a negative, depending on either the sogginess or flakiness of said crust. I’ve totally been hankering to make a good version of chicken pot pie to present to Benji and Randi and Ezra and Noah and Hannah and Danny (Dan, Randi’s husband doesn’t get mentioned here, because there would never be any left for him to even taste), and Titi- who is starting to like? Ameran food. I was all in for this. I found an old recipe I’d made, and I also put my hands on a bunch of other recipes, and I found a video on line that looked pretty, pretty good (you have to raise your voice like Larry David on Curb). I will put the link here: from Crouton Crackerjacks on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aaPyvlgjPs

I have a few comments about how the recipe could be improved from what I produced. It needed a little more salt- I used about 1/2 teaspoon in the filling and I’d up it to 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. I’d up my black pepper to 1 teaspoon of freshly cracked pepper from about 1/2 teaspoon. I used fresh thyme leaves- about 1 teaspoon, and I’d use 2 teaspoons next time. Additionally, I would add about 1/2 teaspoon cayenne to just give it a little hint of heat (nice alliteration). I did put a tiny sprinkling in which was not sufficiently detectable; thus, I sprinkled my plate of pie with some cayenne.

Final comments: next time, I’m upping the liquid to filling ratio this guy’s recipe called for by 1/3. Finally, the crust question. I did something very interesting. I used from Whole Foods, the Wholly Wholesome Organic Pie Shells for the bottom crusts, and that was fine. For the top crust, I used Trader Joe’s Frozen Pie Crusts. Even when you defrost them fully, they crumble and break. No problem. Just smoosh into a ball, and roll out like you would your own pie crust. Once you roll out the pie crust, you will definitely find that it is a bit too thick, so roll it out the way you would for a homemade crust of your own crust, and just trim the outside if it’s too big and throw out the excess.

Verdict: Ezra LOVED the finished project. He jumped up and down just upon my pronouncement that I had brought homemade chicken pot pie, and he ate at least 3 pieces! He said he’d actually been hoping for the last few days to eat some chicken pot pie. Noah seemed to like it, but didn’t say much, and Randi definitely seemed to love it. Hannah spit out the little tiny spoonful Randi gave her. Dan never got a taste. Benji last night said, putting on his standard Alexa Hente look, “The recipe has the potential to be really great with more salt and cayenne, more liquid, and a little thinner crust.” As for my opinion, I really liked it, but it definitely needs more salt and a bit of cayenne and a slightly thinner top crust (Looks like I’ve trained Benji to think like me!)

This will make 2 chicken pot pies:

Ingredients:

For filling:

2 large chicken breasts (1 split breast) (about 1 lb.) on bone is best and skin on- seasoned with salt and pepper (I brown on both sides in 1 tablespoon of oil in cast iron skillet, and then I put in 350 oven for about 20 min. more just till no longer pink.) Cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.

1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup or 4 oz.)

8 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (optional but very tasty)

1 medium onion chopped very, very fine (optional as some kids like my grandkids don’t like onions!)

2 2/3 cups of organic chicken broth

1 1/3 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves chopped

about 1 very large or 3 smallish to medium russet or idaho potatoes, cut into bite size pieces and boiled for about 5 min. till just cooked, then drained under cold water to stop cooking, and set aside

about 3/4 cup frozen organic corn

about 1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots

Directions: preheat oven to 375 degrees

Take out 2 unbaked pie shells (I used Wholly Wholesome Organic), prick bottoms with fork, and put in preheated oven- 375 degrees for about 10 min.

Take out 1 box Trader Joe’s frozen pie crusts you have previously defrosted in fridge or on counter.

In large saucepan, melt 1 stick butter. Add in onion, and saute over very low flame till totally translucent and very, very soft. Add flour, salt, pepper, and thyme, cayenne if desired and whisk till blended. Cook for a minute or so. Add in all broth, and milk and over low to medium flame, use wooden spoon till mixture starts to thicken. This will happen very quickly. Turn heat off. Add precooked chicken, the frozen corn, the frozen peas and carrots, and the precooked potatoes. Fold very gently.

Pour into 2 prebaked pie crusts.

Take one Trader Joe’s pie crust and make it into a ball of dough. Roll out on floured parchment paper till the correct thickness and size of a regular 9 inch pie crust. Drape over filling and crimp under bottom crust to seal well.

Make egg wash with 1 egg yolk and either 1 teaspoon of water, milk, or cream. Brush over top crust. Make slits in pie crust.

Repeat with 2nd pie crust.

Bake for about 35 min. to 45 min. till crusty is nicely browned. If you feel crust isn’t browning quickly enough, just raise the temperature to 400 degrees for a bit.

You can freeze your second pie by wrapping it in heavy duty tinfoil. I’d defrost it in fridge for a day, and if I didn’t have that type of time, I’d let it sit on the counter for a few hours, and then I’d bake it at 375 degrees till nicely browned. Depending on how frozen it is when you put it in the oven will determine how much time it needs to cook through.

NOTE:

I place the pie which is in an aluminum tin inside of a regular ceramic pie plate to bake it and to freeze the other one.

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I made this many, many years ago, and Randi (and Danny) both loved it. I think I took it from an Oprah Magazine dated September 2001. The first time I made it, I put it in a baking dish under the broiler in the oven. The second time I made it, I grilled it. I remember Randi saying it was the “best thing she had ever eaten.” So now I will definitely make it again, and I will see if maybe Noah and Hannah like it, too. The recipe is adapted from “Yellow Velvet Soup with Prawns” by Melissa Kelly.

Shrimp:

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (I didn’t use)

1/2 lb. extra large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine chili powder, lime juice, honey, and optional cilantro.

Add shrimp and marinate for 1 hour in fridge.

Grill (or broil in pan in oven on low setting) 2 min. on each side.

Season with salt and pepper.

When I was a teen, one of my family’s favorite restaurants to go to occasionally (due to the expensive prices) was O’Conners Steak House in Warren. This place was hopping and really loved by the very large steak loving population at the time. When you were being seated, you’d pass by a case displaying the myriad of steak cuts you could order. I loved steak (and still do) so much that I even loved looking at it in its raw form. The steak was delicious there, and in retrospect, I’m shocked I was allowed to order steak, because that would have definitely been above our budget. I’m sure my parents restricted me from ordering the largest cut, though. So the times we went there must have been for a special occasion. I loved the steak there so much! It was charbroiled and cooked to perfection. As if my ecstasy over chargrilled, juicy medium rare steak, salad, and baked potatoes oozing with butter was not enough, I went crazy for the dessert. I ordered a blueberry cobbler, which arrived warm in its own little ramekin with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Oh my! The warmth of that slightly sweet Jersey blueberry filling topped with a slightly crunchy crust on top was pushed over the top by the contrast of that cold and creamy vanilla ice cream! It was a memorable meal and an incredibly luscious dessert! Skip ahead to August of 1984 when I found a jewel of a recipe in my montly McCall’s magazine. There was no photo, but I could tell that the recipe entitled “Fresh Blackberry Cobbler” might produce something close to O’Conner’s blueberry cobbler. I baked it and I was jumping for joy that the confection was exactly what I was hoping for. Through the years, I made it a few times and I always loved it, but I sort of forgot about it until now. I made it this week to bring to Randi’s house, and all three kids did love it! Noah said, “I don’t even like blueberries, Safta, but I love this dessert!” Ezra said, “The combination of the warm cake with the cold icecream is so good!” Hannah just ate hers contentedly, like I did. Here’s a photo of the original recipe and of the baked cobbler.

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 heavy quart of rinsed blueberries

scant 1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 very generous tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar (reduced from original recipe’s 1/2 cup

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

Batter:

1/2 cup unsifted flour

scant 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons butter, softened, but not melted!

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions: Preheat oven to 375°. Grease with butter a 9 inch pie plate.

Make filling:

1.Wash berries and shake to dry.

2, In small mixing bowl, add sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon to berries; mix gently.

3. Pour filling mixture into greased pie plate. Then dot with the 2 tablespoons butter.

Make batter:

1. In medium bowl, combine all batter ingredients, and mix with wooden spoon till smooth.

2. Put dollops of batter in about 9 portions evenly spaced on top of berry mixture. (You don’t need to smooth batter down!)

3. Bake for about 35 min. till mixture is bubbly and batter is lightly browned. You should not see any raw dough.

Let cool for at least 45 min.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

So, I’ve been making variations of the same Jewish brisket- that I grew up eating and loving- for the last 40 years. My kids love my brisket, my parents loved my brisket, my brother Kenny and his family love my brisket, and I love it. That homey, Jewish flavor is so nostalgic of my childhood. I learned how to make brisket from my mother, but I improved upon her recipe by adding elements from my Aunt Florence’s recipe. As a child, brisket was probably my favorite dish, and every year at Passover, on the first Seder, I awaited the moment my Aunt Florence would carry her glorious brisket from the kitchen over the beautifully set table, hoping she would place the dish in front of me (which never happened). The recipe that I currently make which is easier to make than my Aunt Florence’s original, but comparable in taste is this one: http://judysrecipeconnection.com/judys-best-brisket/ I’ve noticed over the years that while my daughter Randi and her husband Dan really love my traditional brisket, my grandkids, Noah, Ezra, and Hannah, are not too crazy about it. Knowing how much they love the flavor of barbecue sauce, I decided to finally branch out, go out of my comfort zone, and make some barbecue style brisket. Well, to say that it was a success is an understatement. Last week, I delivered a “shissel” of this brisket to their house, and Randi face-timed me to show me the licked clean plates of the kids. In fact, I got to watch Ezra licking the last drops of sauce off his plate. That vision is what I live for! Before I left my house to make the food delivery (we’re in the midst of Covid-19), I allowed my son Benji to eat 3 slices of it, and between his facial expressions and sounds of ecstasy, you could say he liked it! So, I’ll make it again soon for everybody- including Danny (other son)- and even allow Benji to have more than 3 pieces.

Ingredients:

one 3 1/2 lb. to 4 lb. brisket to even a 5 1/2 to 6 lb. brisket

kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder

1 medium to large onion, sliced (optional)

barbecue sauce: 1 cup ketchup, 1/3 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar, 16 oz. hot water mixed with 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon Chicken Base OR 16 oz. chicken broth (I use the 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon with the 16 oz. water)

Secret Ingredient: S & F Sweet Bay Barbecue Sauce (I’ve only found it at Whole Foods so far)

1. Season both sides of brisket with kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Place in roasting pan, fat side up.
2. Mix ingredients together in a bowl for the barbecue sauce (above), and pour it around the brisket in the pan.
3. Slice onion (I’ve used it or not used it, and it really doesn’t make much of a difference).
4. Cover tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil.
5. Bake in 325 degree oven for 2 hours. Then take out, uncover, and add the secret ingredient: S & F Sweet Bay Barbecue Sauce (from Whole Foods). Schmear about 1/4 cup of this sauce over the top of the brisket. Then measure 1/2 cup more and pour it into the sauce in the pan- mix a bit to blend. Recover tightly and place back in oven for another 1 1/2 hours. Take out. If fork goes in easily, it’s done. If fork doesn’t, then recover and cook another 30 minutes. If fork still doesn’t go in easily, cook for another 30 minutes. It should be done after 4 hours total.
6. Take meat out of pan, and let cool in fridge. It’s much easier to slice when it’s cool or cold. Take out, cut off fat, and slice against the grain- slices should be about 1/4 inch thick. Place slices either back in the same pan you roasted the brisket, or in whatever casserole dish you plan to heat it up in. If you are using a different dish, then pour the barbecue sauce from the roaster into the pan with the sliced meat.
7. Cover with aluminum foil, and either refrigerate till you plan to use it, or heat it up (covered with foil) in the oven for dinner.
8. Note: If you did use a sliced onion, you may want to discard it before serving. If my grandkids saw those onion slices, that would turn them off to the dish.

I started making this a few years ago for my son Benji. His favorite recipe of mine had always been my pasta with meat sauce and meatballs, but that is a whole patchka! In recent years, Benji became very interested in ordering when he went out to a good Italian restaurant, but he said he was always disappointed because it just “didn’t compare to your meatsauce and meatballs!” So I needed to come up with a quick recipe to achieve the same taste as my meatsauce and meatball recipe. When I made it the first time, he loved it. When he was away in the Marshall Islands for a year, he sent me an email with a list of all the things he wanted me to make when he came home. This beefaroni was on that list. Now that we’re home due to Coronavirus, this beefaroni was the perfect thing to make- total comfort food for Benji!

4 Tbs. olive oil or other oil

1/2 large onion or 1 medium onion, minced

6-8 garlic cloves minced

kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes

1 or 1 1/2 or even 2 lbs. chopped meat, depending on how meaty you want your sauce to be

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (I like Cento)

2 small cans tomato paste

1 small can tomato sauce

about 1 cup water

1 teaspoon dried oregano

scant teaspoon sugar

1 lb. pasta, preferably elbows

grated parmesan for serving

In pot, saute chopped onions in  4 tablespoons light olive oil till translucent.  Then add chopped garlic and saute till softened. Add about 1/2 teasp or to taste of crushed red pepper flakes. Add chopped beef.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute over low flame- break up. I use a potato masher to make sure pieces of beef are broken up and evenly distributed with onion and garlic. 

Just stir till beef is no longer pink.  I use a spoon to take about 4-6 Tbs. of oil out of pan. Add all tomato product. Add oregano. Add sugar. Simmer over low flame about 30 min. cover on. If too thick, add 1 cup water. Simmer about 30 – 45 min. more, adding more salt, pepper as needed. after about 30 min. add 1 cup water. cooks about 45 min more.. Taste and reseason with salt, pepper, and more oregano if you wish. If you think the sauce is too thin, then take cover off, and simmer to reduce a bit.

Cook 1 lb. Elbows till al dente.  Drain and add to sauce. Mix and serve with grated parmesan or romano and crushed red pepper flakes.

The Most Perfect Pizza to Live on During Covid-19 in 2020

Home with Benji and Titi for a few months (Coronavirus) and I made an amazing pizza!! This week, I made this dough 2 times, and it made 4 small pizzas, which we ate 4 nights in a row for dinner, and here’s Benji’s comment, “It’s better than Ledos. It’s the best pizza I’ve ever had, and I’ve had great pizza in Italy and New York. I like the flavor of the sauce- It’s out of this world, and the crust, while thin is still doughy and substantial. The small pie means that most of it gets pretty well done around the edges, and it has the perfect ratio of cheese to sauce to crust.”

Dough recipe is adapted from NYTIMES: Roberta’s pizza crust

Put 1 full teaspoon dry yeast and 1 scant teaspoon sugar into ¾ cup warm water in the smaller bowl of mixer. Make sure gets bubbly after about 5 min. If it doesn’t, start over with different yeast. I prefer to use Red Star Active Dry Yeast or Red Star Quick Active Dry Yeast. Add 1 teaspoon safflower oil after it is really bubbly. Add 1 cup regular bread flour (if you have Italian OO flour, you can use that) and 3/4 cup unbleached organic flour. If you only have all purpose, that’s fine, but use unbleached flour and organic if possible. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Mix with dough hook like 5 minutes on low speed adding up to ¼ cup extra regular flour ONLY if dough is sticking to bottom of the bowl. You will know dough is ready when it isn’t sticky. You should easily be able to get it off the dough hook. If it’s so sticky that the dough sticks to your fingers, then add another sprinkling of flour and mix with dough hook for another few minutes. Then put in lightly greased bowl and cover with saran wrap. If you have like 4 hours- let sit on counter to rise. If you need to go a lot faster, put in oven after turning oven on for 1 min. and then immediately shutting oven off! It probably will take about 1 hr. to rise enough that way, especially if you are using quick rise yeast. Now after the 4 hours, divide into 2 parts, make into 2 balls. If you make right away fine, otherwise wrap up balls in Saran Wrap and put in fridge over night.

Make homemade pizza sauce I adapted from Serious Eats recipe! This is what makes the pizza so great and tasty!!!

Or… just use half of a 13 oz. jar of Rao’s Pizza Sauce for each pizza from Target- https://www.target.com/p/raos-homemade-pizza-sauce-13oz/-/A-17275989#lnk=sametab

Here’s the homemade:

2 large garlic cloves

2 Tbls. olive oil

2 Tbls. butter

1 28 oz. can Cento whole plum tomatoes in puree

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

sprinkling of kosher salt

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 scant tsp. sugar

 Grate garlic cloves using microplane into sauce pan that has the olive oil and the melted butter. Bring up to medium temperature and saute garlic and the red pepper flakes for 2 min. or so till the garlic is translucent. Then using a food mill, puree the whole tomatoes with the sauce into a bowl and transfer into the pan with the oil and garlic. Add the salt, the oregano, and the sugar, and simmer with top off for about 35 min. till reduced by half.  

Back to the directions to put the pizza together:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll your first ball of dough out on a sheet of parchment paper that will fill up your whole baking sheet. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the parchment. Use rolling pin to roll dough out to about a 9 inch roundish shape or a rectangular shape about 12 inches by about 8 inches approximately on parchment, using flour on hands, on parchment, and on rolling pin, if using. Then slide the parchment paper with the rolled out dough onto a heavy cookie sheet. Spoon about 6 oz.- of pizza sauce (or half the Rao’s 13 oz. jar) over dough- not too heavy! Use a spoon to spread it over the dough all the way to the edges. Sprinkle lightly with grated parmesan cheese. Sprinkle about 8 oz. of pre-grated or hand grated mozzarella ( I use this cheese from Target- the whole 8 oz. bag for each pizza https://www.target.com/p/tillamook-mozzarella-shredded-cheese-8oz/-/A-53290359#lnk=sametab) over- not crazy heavy, but all the way to the edges. Then sprinkle with dried oregano.

Put in oven on next to lowest position in oven for 5 min.at 450 degrees Raise temp to 500 degrees Bake about 10 more minutes after the initial 5 min. till cheese is nicely browned and bubbly. If it looks like it needs another 5 minutes, do so. Slice into squares or triangles.

So this year, Randi asked me if I wanted to go to Ezra’s class’s Sukkah at school, and of course I said yes. I asked Ezra’s teacher if she wanted me to bake for the occasion, and she jumped at my offer. So I bought great autumn cookie cutters at Crate and Barrel and at Target, I made up a full batch of my Chanukah cookie dough, and then Hannah and Ezra cut out the shapes and decorated 2 batches, and I finished the third batch at home. I got great sprinkles at Whole Foods without all those bad chemical dyes. Then I baked one batch of Toll House cookies, and one recipe of Danish Apple Pie Squares. I was beyond ecstatic with how much everybody, including parents and kids and teacher responded to all of the food, but I was especially happy with the Danish apple pie squares. They were so, so perfect and the crust was actually cooked on the bottom. So pretty to look at and so delicious to eat! Randi and Dan monitor how much sugar the kids eat, but I had to let them each eat 1 apple pie square and 3 cookies! Had to let them! I found this recipe ages ago in Better Homes and Gardens.

This time, I didn’t increase the dough as I had in the past, and I divided the dough for the top and the bottom evenly. I greased the bottom of the pan. Then I rolled out dough on parchment, and lifted it up and fit it in the pan for the bottom crust. 

Dough: 

2 ½ cups organic King Arthur flour

4 tablespoons Crisco

1 ½ sticks salted organic butter, cold (¾ cup)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 extra large egg yolk mixed with whole milk to make a total of ¾ cup liquid

Now, I made this the night before I was planning to make the pie. I couldn’t use my food processor, because it was broken, so I used a pastry blender to cut the Crisco and butter into the flour and salt. When it was blended but still with pieces of butter you could see, I added all of the liquid, and mixed it with a spatula till it almost all came together. Then I dumped it onto parchment, and made it into a ball. Then, I divided it  in half (using scale) and formed each into a rectangular disk and wrapped them in plastic and refrigerated.

Next day, I cut up 8 med-large apples- a combination of organic honey crisp and some other variety from Whole Foods. I sprinkled maybe 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over all and let sit while I rolled out bottom crust.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease pan. Roll out bottom dough on a large piece of parchment large enough that it will fit on bottom and up sides of pan. Important VITAL STEP: Put 1 cup organic cornflakes in baggie, and coarsely crush them. Sprinkle them over bottom crust. Pour all apples evenly over bottom crust. Sprinkle ½ cup sugar mixed with heavy ½ teaspoon cinnamon over the apples. Put in fridge and roll out top crust on parchment paper. Put over and crimp edges. Then mix the left over egg white with 1 T water, and brush all over top crust. Make a few slits in the top. Bake for about 30 min. Then reapply egg white. I also brushed some whipping cream over the top to encourage browning. Bake another 30 min. Till top crust is nicely browned.

Let cool at least 45 min. to an hour, then cut into squares.

NOTE: After about 45 min. I tilted the pan and poured out a bunch of excess juice.