Chicken Fried Rice

2 cups cooked, cold white rice

1 cup cooked chicken, diced

2 carrots, shredded

1 small bag frozen peas

6 slices bacon, diced

2 eggs

EVOO

2 tbs butter

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbs minced garlic

Teriyaki sauce

Soy sauce

Ground ginger

Sesame oil

Sesame seeds

Cayenne

Ground black pepper

Heat wok over med-high heat, add diced bacon and cooked until crispy.

Remove bacon, drain on paper towel.

Remove all but 3 tbs bacon grease.

Add eggs, whisk slightly with fork to break the yolks. Cook until firm, then remove, slice into strips and set aside.

Add butter, plus drizzle of EVOO, reduce heat to medium.

Add cooked chicken, frozen peas, shredded carrots, teriyaki and soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and seeds, pepper and cayenne.

Cook over medium heat until peas are hot and carrots are softened, about 5mins.

Add rice and chicken broth.

Continue cooking until all liquid is absorbed and rice is warmed through and softened.

Add back in bacon and eggs.

Mix well.

Serve with chili sauce.

Foccacia Bread Pizza/Caprese Pizza

Ok, I posted this recipe before, but I've made some revisions, so here it is again, new and improved!

Foccacia Bread Pizza

1 1/2 cups bread flour (this is crucial to get the fluffy texture)

1 1/2 cups regular flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar

1 package active yeast

1 1/3 cup hot water

EVOO

Rosemary

Minced garlic

Grated Parmesan

Mix flour together in large bowl. Add palm-full of rosemary. Make a well in the middle. Sprinkle sugar and yeast into well. Pour in hot water, slowly. Let stand 5-10 minutes. Add 2 tbs EVOO and mix gently, starting from the well and working your way out.

Add in salt, sprinkle of rosemary, and a tsp of minced garlic. Mix til blended.

Sprinkle flour on a large surface, knead dough until smooth. You'll have to add about another 1/4 cup of flour as you knead. You don't want it sticking to your fingers. Do Not Over Knead! Keep it feeling silky and not sticky.

In a clean glass bowl, add 1tbs EVOO. Form dough into a ball and place in bowl, rotating to make sure all sides have a little oil on them.

Cover with paper towel and let rise 40 minutes.

Remove paper towel and punch the dough. Yes. Punch it. That will help pop all the air bubbles. And it's kinda fun.

Lightly oil a baking sheet with EVOO. Place dough on baking sheet. Add some oil to your hands. This will make spreading it WAY easier. Squish the dough flat, to about 1/2 inch thick.

Drizzle with more EVOO, then, using the handle end of a wooden spoon, poke holes into the dough.

Sprinkle with more rosemary, sea salt (if you have it), cracked black pepper and garlic powder. Top with parmesan cheese.

Place on middle in oven. Oven is OFF at this time! Place another flat pan filled with hot water on the rack below. **Note: putting the empty pan in the oven, THEN pouring in hot water makes way more sense.** Let rise again for 25 minutes.

Turn oven on (leave pan with water in there. It'll keep the bread from drying out) to 375. Bake for 20minutes. (Or for 25 if you just want the bread and won't be making a pizza out of it.)

CAUTION! When you open the oven, you WILL get a steam facial. Just be forewarned. It's hella steamy. :)

While your focaccia bread is rising the second time, in the oven, start on your pizza sauce.

Pizza Sauce

1 can tomato paste (6oz)

1 can hot water (6oz)

2tbs grated Parmesan

2tsp minced garlic

1tbs honey

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne

Dash of salt

Italian Seasoning to liking

Whisk together all ingredients in small bowl. Let sit as your focaccia bread finishes baking.

After dough has cooked for 20mins, remove from oven let sit while you veeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrry carefully remove the hot pan of water. With a long bread knife, slice foccacia in half, making 2 pizza crusts. Or, a pizza sandwich!

Spread with sauce and add toppings. Bake additional 5-10mins to melt cheese. Broil, if desired. I prefer a little browning to my cheese, so I always broil for about 5mins before slicing and serving.

Caprese Pizza

4 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

20 fresh basil leaves, rolled and chopped

Canned diced tomatoes

After slicing foccacia in half, take the seasoned half, flip it over, then spread a little of the sauce on it, topped with diced tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Bake until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, sprinkle with basil, serve immediately. Pizza Perfection!

Tilapia

Tilapia Experiment of 2010 has been declared a success! YAY! Cooked 3 fillets, 3 ways. One in a parchment packet, one in a foil packet and one directly on a cookie sheet. Parchment one was moistest, but the one baked on the cookie sheet had a nice crisp edge to it. The foil one? That was not at all done when I unwrapped him! So he cooked 25mins in foil, then 10 more on the cookie sheet. He still tasted fine, but took way too long to cook. So here's the recipes for the 2 versions that turned out the best!

1 package Coleson Tilapia

Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

2tsp minced garlic

s&p

Italian seasoning

Whisk marinade together and pour half into a plastic baggie with one tilapia fillet.

Repeat for 2nd fillet.

Let marinate for 30mins.

Preheat oven to 400.

1 sheet parchment paper

Pam spray

Olive oil

Rosemary

Old Bay

Paprika

Pepper

For the 3rd fillet, I placed him on the parchment paper that I had sprayed with Pam, then drizzled olive oil on him, sprinkled with all seasoning, and folded into a packet.

Place all 3 fillets on a cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam. Bake at 400 for 25mins. Serve with vegetable of your choice.