Easy-Bake Thin-Crust Shrimp, Sun-Dried Tomatos and Mozzerela Pit-za

This was a pizza made from a slew of random ingredients in the fridge. Several days ago, my father and I went on a mission to make sun-dried tomatos out of tomatos we picked from our backyard garden. It took about 36 hours, and the amount of electricity we used probably exceeded the cost of actually buying a jar of those little buggers. But, they turned out really great.


So, this is an easy-bake pizza because I did not make the dough (you'll have to ask Kristen for dough making tips), or even used pizza dough at all. Instead, I used thick, large, flat pita from the fridge, which seemed perfect for the occasion.

The other kinda interesting thing about this pizza is the sauce I used. Due to the overflow of tomatos coming from the garden, I decided to make a large pot of tomato and beef stew last week. After a couple days of heating, and re-heating the pot, the beef and vegetables had significantly broken down. So, in a moment of pure genius (or grossness, depending on your threshhold), that stew became the sauce base for this pizza!

Sounds totally weird, I know. But it worked!

So, anyone who is curious about what actually went into this pizza, here's a faux-cipe. You're not going to get any sort of measurements, because I don't work like that (see previous post!)

• 1 large flat pita
• a spoonful of tomato beef stew (or if you're squimish, a bit of tomato sauce will do!)
• some uncooked frozen shrimp, defrosted, peeled,and deveined
• a generous amount of shredded mozzerela cheese OR crumbled feta
• some chopped kalamata olives, deseeded
• a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• a sprinkle of dried basil
• a sprinkle of red chili flakes, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay out the large pita bread on a baking sheet. Spread out the sauce evenly over the surface of the pita, being sure to leave the edges clean. Evenly place the shrimp, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes around the pita. Top with the shredded mozzerella. Put in the center rack of the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown. Sprinkle with dried basil and chili flakes, to taste. Voila! Pit-za!

Marry Me Eggplant

For all the years Kristen and I have know each other, our conversations have been filled with all things FOOD. We have shared many recipes with each other, and stories of our adventures and misadventures in the kitchen. We both love to bake things, although she is the only one who is actually good at it.

I love trying new tasty delights, but I don't have very much patience or precision. I inherited this from my mother, who raised me on some of her culinary creations--peanut butter and cheddar sandwichs, liver and dates puree, and tomato and cinnamon soup, were just a few of the delectable delights I grew up with.

I am far better at cooking savoury foods because there is slightly more margin of error. Too salty? Add more liquid! Too sour? Add more sugar! Too sweet? Add more vinegar! Too spicy? Don't be a wimp! Etc. Bottom line: keep adding stuff until it tastes good! Conversely, most of my baking endeavors have resulted in an epic fail. One time, I mis-read a recipe for banana bread and instead of putting 1/2 teaspoon of salt, I put in 2 tablespoons. And there is absolutely nothing you can do to fix that, except perhaps making a quadruple batch (which I did consider, and would've done if I'd had enough flour...but that was another issue). So I'm sort of a Foodie Imposter that way.

We were sharing a yummy almond croissant today at the Baguette , and we were both marvelling at how much we love to eat and make things to eat. I am absolutely obsessed with eggplant--I could pretty much eat anything that is related to eggplant. My favourite sandwich of all time is the Purple Caboose, found at the coffee shop beside my college in Rochester, NY. It was made of a lightly battered and fried slice of eggplant, a thick slice of fresh buffalo mozzerella, and savoury tomato pesto, all squished between two slices of foccacia bread. It also comes with a honey mustard sauce, which is the best in this world, I think. It's thinner than most, and has a more vinegary taste. I always ask for the sauce on the side so I can dip the sandwich into it's sweet and sour goodness, without taking away from the crunch of the eggplant. Simply heavenly! It is THE perfect sandwich!

I wanted to call this blog MarryMeEggplant, but Kristen refused. Then I suggested Mrs. Eggplant. Rejected. I Heart Eggplant. Rejected!!!

We settled on Tuning Forks because aside from being foodie imposters, we're also both music geeks.

So, I was going to post a picture of a pizza I made, as a way to sort of christen this blog, but that will have to wait. I'm off to watch The Next Food Network Star finale!