Ptomaine Wednesday- My family is growing weary.

The thing about Ptomaine Wednesday is that ever since I started, I've been preparing new recipes almost every night, not just Wednesdays. Most have turned out really well, a few were just a little above average. We haven't had to call for pizza yet, but tonight my husband grumbled something about missing the old stand-bys. So I guess I will have to work those back in to the rotation. I suppose there is comfort in knowing that you will enjoy your meal. (He is taking Chantix to try to quit chewing tobacco so I am trying to be extra- accommodating and pleasant.)

This week, I have been focusing on Rachael Ray's lighter recipes. Last week, I made Israeli Spiced Chicken.
The rub for the chicken is similar to the Morroccan rub I made a few weeks ago, with ginger being the notable missing ingredient. The chicken turned out good, albeit powerfully flavored. The best thing about that meal was the zucchini cooked with mint. I would have never thought about cooking with mint... it is fantastic! The mint mellows when cooked, so it isn't like eating chewing gum.

Tonight, we had Zucchini-roni pizza and Asparagus and Plum tomato Pizza. (they are on the same page of the cookbook)

Rachael calls for store bought pizza dough, in order to come in under 30 minutes, I suppose. I did see bags of fresh pizza dough at Winco for $1.50, and I contemplated buying them for the sake of convenience, but I thought I might as well save three bucks and spend the extra 20 minutes to make my own dough. I am glad I did. I used this family recipe that my friend Kathleen posted on her facebook page last year, and generously gave me permission to share:

Osterman Family Pizza Crust
1 T dry active yeast
1 C water (a little warmer than body temperature)
1 t sugar
combine these ingredients and let the yeast work for about 10 minutes.

add when yeast combo is bubbly:
1 t salt
2 and 1/4 C flour, sifted

mix well;pour 1/8 C oil over top of dough; cover bowl and set on top of preheated oven; let dough rise for 20 or 30 minutes.

sprinkle pizza pans (or cookie sheet) with cornmeal. lightly cover hands with oil and spread crust thinly on the pan. top however you wish and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.


The crust is to die for. The pizzas turned out great, although we all agreed that pesto on pizza, no matter how tasty it sounds, isn't that great. We all liked the pureed roasted red pepper sauce on the zucchini pizza, and we learned that we love fontina cheese.
Next week, I'm going to try a new recipe for the venison in the freezer.