Pita Pizzas

Last night, I had some random stuff in my kitchen.

Handmade pitas from a local bakery.
(3 days old, this is too old for bread that doesn't have preservatives)

Frozen All Natural Organic Turkey Breakfast Link Sausage.

Cherry Tomatoes, about ready to wrinkle.



I made olive oil and garlic glaze.
(I used 3 tbsp of oil and 3 garlic cloves for 5 pizzas but could have made 6 easily)



Basted Pitas with Olive Oil Garlic

Toppings: Cherry Tomatoes, Chopped Onion, Turkey Sausage, Grated Cheese

I Made:

Two Sausage and Onion Pita Pizzas
Two Cherry Tomato and Cheese Pizzas
One Cheese Pizza (just wanted some plain cheese and garlic)

We saved one of the Turkey Sausage and Onion Pizzas for Breakfast this morning.


Olive Oil Garlic Ratio:
(1 tbsp of oil per large clove of fresh pressed garlic)

Pita Pizza Ratio:
About 2 pitas per tbsp of oil, but we like a lot of garlic, so you could adjust.

Canned Salmon "Traditional"

Last night I learned that "Traditional" packed canned Salmon has bones, skin, and cartilage. The instructions on the can said to puree this into your salmon patties with the food processor. I deboned and skinned them. I wanted chunks of salmon in the cakes and I had already added my veggies to the breadcrumb/cracker-crumb mixture. (yes, I used both)

I did not want the veggies to be pureed, it is nice to have tiny diced ones in the cake. But, If you wanted to have more omega 3's in the cakes, you could have pureed the bones etc. with your breadcrumbs and veggies, holding aside the biggest meaty chunks to crumble in later.

So, I combined

1 stack of wheat ritz crackers
4 slices toasted white bread
1 handful of multigrain generic "wheat thin" type crackers

2 large cans "traditional salmon" cleaned
1 small can salmon packed in water

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
3 tbs dry parsley (from farmers market, purchased in bulk scoops for 1$ per large scoop)
3 cloves garlic (needs more for my taste)
1/2 yellow pepper (needs more for my taste)
1/2 red jalapeno pepper (needs more for my tastes)
1 green pepper (1/2 pureed) (1/2 diced and set aside)*
1 red pepper (1/2 pureed) (1/2 diced and set aside)*
1 sweet onion (1/2 pureed) (1/2 diced and set aside)*

3 eggs

2 or more cups of olive oil (I buy bulk from the Al Habashi Mart in Kansas City, 128 oz. of the best quality olive oil for $30.00)

pureed the bread and crackers
add 1/2 of each pepper and the onion
add spicy peppers and garlic
(this is where you would add bones etc.)
pureed completely
added diced sweet peppers and onion
added chunked salmon

mixed till even

fried in olive oil on a medium-high temperature

(thinking of using sesame oil for next time, maybe with a soy/sesame/orange flavored mayo)




Served with Lemon Garlic Mayo aka (Lemon Garlic Aioli)

About 2/3 cup real Mayo (can't say exactly what i used, a couple of wallops, you should adjust to taste)
1 large fresh lemon juiced (lime would also work)
3 cloves fresh garlic pressed
Fresh ground pepper
Whisk!

Food is Fun!

Just got off the phone with Sabrina. We spent 20 minutes talking about groceries and another 20 minutes talking about food in general. At the end of this conversation, she challenged me to start this blog.

When I think about it, this blog has, in a way, been requested before. I love to create good food, using my instincts and my general knowledge of how ingredients work together. I avoid choosing one way to cook a dish. I know that every head of broccoli has a different experience of growth, and every individual tomato, sweet potato, and so on and so forth. So I know that no matter what someone does to get the same result every time, there are always subtle differences. I strive for variety and balance in my food. So when my friends and family ask me for a recipe, instead they get a long conversation about a process including many options, improvisations, and dumb luck tales from Susie's Kitchen.

So here you are, ladies and gentlemen, some things I have learned about food since I first pondered the mystery of who invented gravy when I was 10 or 11 years old.