Thursday, January 15, 2009

Calzones!

I love Google images. I know that I should be taking pictures on my own, but when I'm getting home from work at 6:00 and wanting dinner on the table at 6:45, sometimes things get a little rushed. And I just don't have the time to stop and photograph here and there. So Google images to the rescue! Anyway, these calzones are delicious. Make them now.

You will need:
One can of refrigerated pizza dough, or make your own recipe for pizza crust (I made my own over the weekend and kept it in the fridge till Tuesday night's dinner)
Shredded cheese (mozzarella, an Italian blend, provolone, whatever)
Pizza sauce (if you want)
Toppings (I used sausage, pepperoni, and salami, but you could use anything--mushrooms, olives, peppers, chicken, tomatoes, whatever)

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Roll your dough out nice and thin on a greased baking sheet. (I actually lined my baking sheet with parchment paper AND greased it. It worked really well.)
Start layering your toppings on one half of the dough--sausage, then cheese....

Then pepperoni, and another layer of cheese. Etcetera. Layer until you can't layer anymore. Layer like your life depends on it! You can put pizza sauce in there, too, or heat some up for dipping. I'm not a huge fan of pizza sauce--in fact, I'd opt for no sauce on my pizza 100% of the time if it were entirely up to me, so I didn't use any. To each their own.

Fold the other half of the dough over the top.
Pinch the edges closed nice and tight. Brush the top of the calzone with olive oil or butter (if you want), sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese (if you want), and splash on some dried oregano, basil, and parsley (if you want).

Bake for about 25 minutes.

Serves 2-4. (We sliced it in half, and we both had about half left for lunch the next day.)
Takes about an hour to prepare, especially if you have to brown sausage or cook chicken. If all your ingredients are ready to go out of the fridge, it'll take about 35 minutes.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Garlic Crusted Lemon Pepper Chicken

How's that for a mouthful? It's pretty delicious, too.

You will need:
4-6 chicken breasts
2 cups of flour
1 lemon
5 tablespoons minced garlic
Olive oil
Onion powder
White pepper
Black pepper
Oregano
Parsley
First thing, slit your chicken breasts in half lengthwise.

Next up, dice your garlic.

Coat your chicken in flour.
Put about a quarter-inch of olive oil in a pan and heat over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.

Add the garlic and stir it around for a minute or two.

Add the chicken and cook until the oil starts to bubble.
Then, toss on a layer of pepper, onion powder, and herbs.
Cook for four-ish minutes. Flip.
Coat the other side in pepper, onion powder, and herbs.

Cook for four-ish minutes, and flip again.

Re-season and flip as needed, until done. Remove from the oil, drain, and enjoy. Yummy!

Takes about 30 minutes.
Feeds 4-6.