Long Time No See and Pizza Hut Pizza Dough

Wow! I haven’t posted since January 10th! Miss me? ;)

Long time no see huh? I thought I should post to inform you guys that no, I have not fallen off the face of the earth or been eaten by human eating zombie dolphins. Or something like that.

I’ve had a bunch of different stuff going on at the same time in my personal life that has made it impossible for me to update regularly. Long story short lets just say that life has not been nice. And I will be accepting your prayers. ;) Heres hoping that things will get better soon! (On a side note! My horoscope said that I’ve been going through a lot the past few months, but that there are new great changes coming for the better! So fingers crossed ;))

Anywho, enough about me. How have you all been? I have soooo many things I need to do food blog related wise. I was in the midst of a ‘blog renovation’ before life started sucking, so I will definitely be trying to get back to that! I also need to go check out a bunch of food blogs for all those posts I’ve missed!

Now, on to the yumminess! Growing up, making pizza was a standard in my house. On weekends my mom would ‘wing it’ and make some dough, and we would slather on some ketchup and sprinkle on some cheese and veggies. Now that I’m more of a, what would you call it….food snob? This simply wont do! I have been searching for a good pizza dough for a while now, and a little while ago I stumbled on this beauty. Pizza Hut crust clone? Yes please! I’ve got to say I was pleasantly surprised! The crust was puuuurfect … I promise you best pizza dough you will ever taste. If its not, I want YOUR recipe!

What I love about this is you can toss in the ingredients into the bread maker and have it do all the work. Do you work all day? Toss in your ingredients into the dough maker, and set your timer so that when you get home you have ready made fresh dough. Spread your pizza sauce on top and sprinkle on your toppings and you have prepped dinner in 5 minutes!

Now what do I mean when I say this crust is awesome? My definition of a perfect crust is to have a nice ‘sound’ when you tap it…nice and crunchy on the outside and soft hot bread on the inside. Mmmm…..pizza crust….

Copy Cat Pizza Hut Dough Crust

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cornmeal ( I used semolina)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Directions:
1. Add ingredients (except for cornmeal (or semolina)) to machine bread pan in order as per manufacturer's instructions. Set to "Dough" cycle.

2. Lightly grease your pan and sprinkle with cornmeal.

3. When the dough cycle is complete, roll out dough and place in pan. Let rest in pans for 10-15 minutes. Add toppings of your choice.

4. Bake at 350°F until done (approximately 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of toppings).

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Super Easy yet Super Yummy Apple Pie

Growing up in a first generation immigrant family has had a profound impact on how I act and how I see the world. This applies in the ‘big picture’ sense such as whether I agree with new immigration policies or not, how I feel about traditional Canadian holidays, and many other things. However, on the more personal level, coming from an immigrant family has had a dramatic affect on one major element of my life. Food.

Growing up I would eat both the hot dogs and french fries, and the Zereshk Polo O Morgh. My parents tried to stay true their Persian Roots and more often than not we had Persian food every day. As the years passed, my parents naturally became more influenced by the new country they were now living in. One day we would have Persian cusine, another we would have a stir fry, another we would try this new thing called ‘shepherds pie’ or ‘burritos’. My parents are all about staying true to their roots but also embracing new things that their new home country had to offer – and what better than food?

Of course my mother would always make these new ‘western’ recipes her own. My mom doesn’t like using recipes. She’s made enough food to know how things ‘should taste’ and likes to ‘assume’ what a recipe will be like. Shepherds pie? Looks like ground beef and veggies with mashed potato on top. So she would adapt her own recipes and incorporate some of her favorite Persian spices. Sometimes her refusal to follow recipes would turn disastrous, but other times it would turn out better than the ‘real’ thing!

Another example is of the famous classical apple pie. When I was much younger my mother and I went shopping at our local grocery store. It was near thanksgiving time and they were giving free samples of apple pie at the store. We both tried some and weren’t necessarily blown away. That’s when my Mom decided that she could do it better. She adapted this recipe herself and honestly, I think it tastes so so soooooo much better than anything you could buy at a store. I don’t like the overly spiced apple pies, if you do then this isn’t for you. But if you aren’t necessarily a huge fan of an overdose of nutmeg and cloves, then make this pie. You. Will. Love. It.

The Fastest and Yummiest Apple Pie You Will Ever Make

Heres all you need:

*Apple Pie Crust (made fresh or frozen pre-bought ones)

*Apples (as many as you would like…I used about 6)

*Sugar (as much as you like)

*Cinnamon (as much as you like)

 

Instructions:

1.     Take your pie crust and place it into your pan

2.     Don’t pierce it and put it in the oven before hand. Just start filling your unbaked dough with the apples.

3.     Wash your apples and peel and dice them.

4.     Place a fairly even layer of apples at the bottom and sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon.  (use as much as you like to taste…we love cinnamon so I usually add a lot…but if not just sprinkle a tsp or so. As for sugar, remember to use sugar according to your apple type. If you have a more sour apple you will need to use more sugar)

5.     Then add another layer of apples and keep sprinkling sugar and cinnamon. Keep continuing to put as many layers as you like

6.     Then pop on the rest of the apple pie crust

7.     Put in the oven at 350F until the apples are soft and baked and the crust is nice and golden. 

Enjoy!

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