A 30-Minute Home-Made Pizza that’ll Arrive Faster than Dominos and Taste Thrice as Delicious

Most Canadian pizza chains are the pits. Dominos went through this whole makeover in the US because their crust tasted like cardboard and their sauce was both too bland and too sickeningly sweet, but in Canada we’ve had no such luck. The pizza chain owned by the vehemently pro-life Tom Monaghan hasn’t changed a lick north of the border. (Although they do have a half-assed new app that makes ordering pizzas…fun?) I have the same criticisms for Pizza Pizza: awful crust, awful sauce, awful toppings. So, here at casa Marmaduke (what we’ve nicknamed our new digs) we’ve decided to boycott the big chains and make our own pizza. But seeing as we’re all busy people, we don’t always have time to make our own crust. (Although Yves does have a great recipe that substitutes beer for yeast, which I promise to share.)

What You’ll Need:

$2.00 pre-made dough from No Frills
1 onion (mere ¢ents!)
3 cloves of garlic ¢
1 handful of kalamata olives, half for the sauce and half to garnish the pizza
1 tbs of capers  ¢
1 can of crushed tomatoes ($1.00)
2 tbs oregano
1 tbs thyme
1 ball of mozzarella ($2.50)

What We Used to Garnish:

Eggplant, cut into slices, brushed with olive oil, salted and baked at 375· for 15 mins, flipping once ($1.00)
4 mushrooms ¢
1 banana pepper ($0.25)
1 tomato sliced ($0.35)

The Steps

1. In a deep pan sauté diced onions & crushed garlic until silken.
2. Throw in half of the olives, the capers, the crushed tomatoes, and 1 tbs of thyme, 1 tbs of oregano and let simmer for 15 minutes on low.
3. Decant sauce into a bowl, and with a hand blender, and blend away!
4. Oil your pizza tray (we used olive oil), then stretch out the dough, and sprinkle with 1 tbs of oregano.
5. Sauce up the pizza!
6. Grate the cheese and sprinkle!
7. Adorn with garnishes!
8. Baked our delicious disc of molten-cheesy goodness at 375· for 20 minutes, and then we broiled it for 5, but you should watch your pizza like a hawk while it broils.

Enjoy!

7$ soup to feed 7: Peas Please

Peas are a great legume, but outside of England they seem to be a little neglected. This recipe actually combines two neglected delectables: peas and tarragon. The woody anise flavour of the tarragon is a nice accent to the naturally sweet peas.

This is a delicate, but filling soup, with a great colour.  It’s easy to make, but your guests’ll think you slaved away. It’s best with fresh English peas, but a bag of frozen peas will work just as well. Feel like experimenting? Try mint instead of tarragon, or blend the two.

What you’ll need…

1 tbs butter

1 medium white onion (0.50)

1 bag of peas  750 g  (2.00)

¾ cup Sweet potatoes  (0.75)

5 cups vegetable or chicken stalk (1.50)

¼ cup heavy cream (1.00)

1 splash dry white wine (0.25?)

1 bunch tarragon (1.25)

Optional garnish: bacon or goat cheese

Preparation

• Peel and chop onion coarsely
• Peel and cube the sweet potatoes
• Wash the tarragon, strip leaves from steam and chop Reserve seven 4cm top tufts for garnish

Turn Up The Heat

1. In a large pot melt 1 tbs of butter, add onions and cook on medium until translucent.
2. Add sweet potatoes, peas, and stock. Let simmer for 25 minutes on medium low.
3. Test to ensure that potatoes are cooked through by piercing a larger potato morsel with a fork. The potato should give no resistance, for soup you don’t want to keep the potato’s integrity in tact. If the potato breaks apart, then you know you’re in business.
4. Remove soup from the burner and let cool down for five minutes.
5. Blend with a hand blender, adding cream, tarragon, and wine while blending.
6. Salt to taste. Taste before salting, store bought stock is pretty sodium rich.
7. Serve garnished with a sprig of tarragon, a crumble of goat cheese or a drizzle of cream, and if you’d like, a dusting of bacon bits.

Bon Appetite!

6$ soup to feed six

The skies are darkening, the trees are shedding, and Torontonians have elected Rob Ford as mayor of Toronto. Now, I don’t want to alarm you by screaming that the sky is falling, but it may just be the apocalypse. It’s time to withdraw all your money from the bank, hoard it under your mattress, and start fortifying your apartment against the inevitable onslaught of zombies. Or, you could just curl up with a big homemade bowl of tomato soup, a grilled cheese sandwich, and accept that winter’s on its way.

TOE-MAY-TOE/TOE-MAH-TOW SOUP

INGRIDIENTS

• 1 large yellow onion (30¢)
• 1 garlic clove (20¢)
• 10 medium sized tomatoes (Just grab a one dollar bag from the discount vegetable section of your supermarket. It doesn’t matter if they are wrinkly or dappled, they’ll taste fine, I promise.) (1.75$)
• 3 cubes of bouillon (vegetable or chicken, to your taste) (75¢)
• 5 cups of water
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (Herbs are one place where splurging is totally kosher.) (1.50$)
• parmesan cheese for garnish (1.50$)
  

STEP 1 : peeling tomatoes

• Bring a pot, large enough to totally submerge all your tomatoes, of water to boil. Submerge all your tomatoes in the water. Let stand for 3 minutes.
• While your tomatoes are boiling prepare a cold-water bath for your tomatoes. Place the cold-water bath in the sink, under the tap.
• With a slotted spoon gather your tomatoes and submerge them in the cold water bath. To ensure the water stays cold leave the tap open on low.
• The tomato skin should now be easy to peel.
• Time to peel and core your tomatoes!
• Reserve on the side

STEP 2: Don’t cry!

• Coarsely chop your onion.
• Press your garlic.

STEP 3: Playing with fire

• In your biggest pot bring 2 tbs of olive oil to frying temperature.
• Add your onion and garlic and sauté until translucent.
• Add tomatoes, water, & bouillon.
• Turn stove top down to a simmer, and let simmer for thirty minutes.

STEP 4: Get your soup on!

• Get out your hand blender and puree to texture that pleases you. I like mine very homogenous.
• Add the basil, finely chopped.
• If you are inclined, feel free to add some milk or cream to taste, but this is not necessary.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Serve into bowls and garnish with parmesan.

Saag that doesn’t sag

Sauté onions, chillies, garlic, and ginger until translucent.

A quick and dirty meal that strays from the traditional saag, but doesn’t leave your taste buds wanting. This saag recipe can be made to suit the palate of meat eaters, or the chicken can easily be substituted with either paneer or Yves’ Veggie Tenders.

 

Ingredients
– Enough oil to coat the bottom of two pans (2 tbs approx)
– 1 large yellow onion
– 4 cloves of garlic
– 2 green chilies
– 1 tbs turmeric
– 4 tbs curry powder
–

cardamon adds a wonderfully sweet aroma to the dish, but make sure to remove the pods before serving. The pods themselves are bitter when bitten into.

10 cardamom pods
– 1 tsp cloves
– 2 tbs ground coriander
– 1 tbs red chilly powder
– 1 inch piece of ginger
– salt (to taste)
– 1 can crushed tomatoes
– 3 bunches of spinach (washed and chopped)
– 2 ½ pounds of chicken breast OR 2 packages of Yves’ Veggie Tenders
– 3 cups of plain yoghurt

 

Let’s git cookin’

1. Cut the chicken into bite sized strips or leave the breasts whole for a sexier looking dish. Fry the chicken, real or

Yves' veggie chicken tenders make a great chicken substitute.

Yves’, in the oil until for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown and set aside.
2. In a deep pot heat enough oil to coat the bottom and add the ginger, garlic, onions, and chilies.
3. When onions are translucent add turmeric, curry powder, cardamom pods, cloves, and ground coriander. Fry for another minute—do not allow to burn. If necessary add a little extra oil.
4. Add spinach.
5. Add can of tomatoes & salt.
6. Let simmer for 30 minutes until spinach becomes soft enough to be broken easily by the back of the spoon.
7. Remove from stove and let cool.
8. Pick out the cardamom pods.
9. With a handheld blender blend the mixture; keep it a little chunky, you don’t want it too soupy!
10. Stir in 2 cups of yogurt.

Cut down on costs and preparation time by using frozen spinach.

11. Add chicken. If you have decided on the sexier full breasts you will need to let them simmer on low until cooked through. Time depends on thickness of the breast.
12. Stir and place back on stovetop on low heat. Let cook on low for 20 minutes.
13. Serve on top of basmati rice, or accompanied by naan, or roti, with a dollop of yoghurt on top and sprinkled with chilly powder. & remember to salt to taste!

 

It's fast, it's healthy, it's delicious: it's saag that doesn't sag!

 

Last Leg Blueberry Pie

As summer rolls to a close, it becomes very hard to say no to behemoth boxes of blueberries. Maybe it’s that old hibernation drive that makes moderation become such a foreign concept, but they’re so very economical and so very delicious! Who could say no? Now, I can manage to inhale my fair share of the blue delectables, but eventually the box gets pushed to the back of the fridge. A few days later, when my interest is re-piqued, the berries, thanks to the heat, have become a minefield of rotten berries mixed with still perfectly firm and succulent sister berries. Most people see the mould and immediately go for the garbage, but while these berries might no longer be picture perfect, I promise you they’ll still make a killer pie.

Blueberry cheese crumble

You will need… for the dough
– 1 cup of butter
– 2 cups white all purpose flour
– ½ cup of sugar
– 1 pinch of salt
– Rind of one lemon
– 1/8 cup cool water (if needed)

You will need… for the crumble
¾ cup flour
– ½ cup rolled oats
– 1 egg yoke (whisked)
– 1/3rd of the end dough

You will need…. for the filling
– 4 cups blueberries (roughly)
– ½ cup pressed cottage cheese
–  I use Harmony Organic . Great product & great people.
– 2 tbs corn starch
– 1 tbs flour
– 1 tsp lemon juice
– ¼ cup brown sugar
– ¼ cup white sugar

You will need… from your kitchen
– 10 inch pie plate, 2 inches deep
– Tin foil
– A handful of rice
– Mixing bowls & implements
– Cling wrap
– Rolling pin

Let’s begin with the crust, since that will need to chill for a while after preparation.
THE DOUGH
1. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar) into a homogenous white mass.
2. Add lemon rind to dry mixture. Mix well!
3. Cut butter up into about twelve small cubes and add to dry mix. Get your hands right in there and combine the butter with the dry mix until it manifests into dough. If you find the mixture is a bit too desiccate, i.e. you can’t get one the dough to combine together into a single mass, add a bit of water.
4. Separate the mass of dough into two balls. One ball of dough should be roughly 3/4 of the dough, the other 1/4. Roll both masses of dough into two seamless balls and place in cling wrap. Reserve in fridge for later. They should remain in the fridge at least 15 minutes.

THE FILLING
1. Go through the berries and pick-out all the moldy soldiers. Wash and repeat.
2. In a mixing bowl combine berries, cottage cheese, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, & flour. Gently mix with hands insuring everything is evenly distributed.

THE BOTTOM CRUST
1. Spread the cling wrap on the counter to cover an area equivalent to approximately one metre by a half metre. Sprinkle with flour.
2. Get out your chilled ball of dough (the larger one, the smaller can remain in the fridge) and place it in the centre of the cling wrap.
3. Roll out the dough into a circle with a diameter of approximately 13 inches.
4. Place the dough in the pie plate—the cling wrap should ease the transfer.
5. Fold the dough so that it is anchored over the lip of the pie plate.
6. Perforate the pie bottom with a fork.
7. Cover the pie with tin foil and weight down the fin foil with the rice. This is to reduce the likelihood of air bubbles.
8. Bake crust for 15 minutes at 357 F.

THE TOP CRUMBLE
1. In a mixing bowl combine the rolled oats, the remaining dough, and flour.
2. Crumble the dough into small pieces. Gently mix the ingredients into a mealy texture.

THE GREAT COMBINE
1. Place filling in pie crust
2. Cover the top of the pie with the crumble. Pat down LIGHTLY.
3. Paint the top with the egg for a future golden hue.
4. Place in oven at 375 F for 40 minutes. As always, every oven is a little different so use your judgment before digging in. When the blue berries are bubbling and oozing a dark purple jelly—that’s a good sign.
5. Let cool.
6. DIG ON IN.