Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Ok, this recipe is hands down, one of the best things I make. It is so simple, so quick...and SO good! I have said many times that I love, love, love buffalo chicken anything. And pizza's alright too. I don't love pizza, but every once in a while, I do crave it. But, one way to make something go from alright to amazing is to buffalo chicken-ize it!

I've been making this pizza since Mr. Z and I got married, and it's on our regular rotation. We have this pizza about once every few weeks. For some reason, I've never thought to blog about it because it's so simple, but when I made it a few days ago, I decided to go ahead and blog it. My buffalo chicken pizza is all buffalo chicken-y. No tomato sauce, onions, or celery...not my style. This recipe is great! If you are a huge buffalo chicken fan like I am, you have to try this recipe!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Original Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 c. Frank's Buffalo Wing sauce
1 lb. ball of pizza dough
1/4 c. bleu cheese dressing
8 oz. Italian blend shredded cheese

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until just done. Add butter and buffalo wing sauce and mix well to fully coat all of the chicken. Let cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough ball into a circle. Spread with bleu cheese dressing, leaving about 1/2" around the edges. Top with chicken. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the pizza. Bake on pizza stone for about 30 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown and get bubbly.

Crab Cakes

I either love crab cakes or hate them. Crab cakes are one of those things that are very easy to mess up. The number one way to screw them up is to put too much filler. If I can't even tell that there is crab meat in there, that's a problem. But, if you don't put enough other ingredients in there, they'll fall apart, which also creates a problem. I've made crab cakes before, and they've always turned out pretty good, but these...these are pretty amazing. They're very simple, but that's the way I like it so you can really taste the crab. Seriously, these are definitely going to become part of my regular rotation of meals. I may or may not have already made them twice in the past two days! I came up with this recipe on my own, after flipping through a bunch of recipes that were not exactly what I was looking for. Also, I made this recipe only for myself- it only made two decent sized crab cakes, so if you are cooking for more than one, you may want to at least double it.

Crab Cakes
Original Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 stalk of green onion
6 oz. can of crab meat, drained
1 egg
1/2 c. Italian style panko
pinch of salt and pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. paprika
sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Heat 1/2 tsp. olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add green onions and saute until they are soft. Set aside and let cool slightly.

Put crab meat, egg, panko, salt and pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and cooked onions in a mixing bowl. With a spoon, stir gently until well mixed. Divide mixture into two equal parts with your hands and make a patty out of each.

Heat the remaining 1/2 tsp. of olive oil in the same pan you cooked the onion in, over medium-high heat. Add crab cakes and cook for about 3-4 minutes on one side, turn over, and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream

Because I've been out of town and just busy in general, the bowl of my ice cream maker has been sitting in my freezer empty for almost 2 months now. Last night, I had enough, so I went searching for a new (and different) ice cream flavor.

I am not a fan of peanut butter and jelly at all, but oddly enough, I sometimes randomly have cravings for it. When I saw this recipe, I decided to try it, but was not convinced that I'd like it. Turns out, I did like it! But, just liked it. But, I guess that's to be expected for a non-fan of PB&J. Mr. Z, on the other hand, loved it. So I say, if you like PB&J, try it...I'm sure you'll love it too!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream
from Laura's Recipe Collection, written as I made it

Ingredients:
3/4 c. smooth peanut butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 2/3 c. half and half
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. grape jelly, stirred well

Combine peanut butter, sugar, half and half, salt, and vanilla extract in a medium sized bowl; blend with a hand mixer until well mixed and smooth. Put the mixture in the refrigerator and chill for one hour. Pour in ice cream maker, and freeze according to ice cream maker directions (mine was about 25-30 minutes).

Mix in the jelly with a spoon until it is evenly distributed throughout the ice cream. Put the bowl in the freezer until it is completely frozen.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

These are pretty similar to the "Crab" Stuffed Mushrooms I made a few months back, but they were so good, I figured they deserved their own post. On a recent trip to Sam's Club, I bought a 4-pack of huge portobello mushrooms, and last night I finally decided to make them. I love portobello mushrooms, mainly because of their versatility, but also because they are pretty hearty...sometimes I even cook them in the oven and use them in place of meat on a hamburger bun.

Like the last time I made stuffed mushrooms, I came up with my own recipe, adding things here and there until it tasted just right. These were delicious...both Mr. Z and myself loved them. I made all four, so we had leftovers for him to bring to lunch today, which he was very excited about. I would definitely make these again soon...as soon as I can get back down to Sam's Club to buy another pack of portobellos!

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Original Recipe

Ingredients:
4 portobello mushrooms, stems removed
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. crab meat, chopped into small pieces
3/4 c. Italian blend shredded cheese
1 stalk of green onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. Italian style panko
4 tsp. shredded parmesan cheese

Place mushrooms stem-side down on a cookie sheet; broil for about 5 minutes. Take out a set aside. Turn oven to 400 degrees.

Mix cream cheese, crab meat, cheese, onions, and panko; stir until well mixed. Divide mixture into 4 equal parts. Turn mushrooms stem-side up, and fill each with 1/4 of the mixture. Press down with your hands to fill the whole top. Top each mushroom with 1 tsp. parmesan cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cheese gets brown and bubbly.

Angelo Pizza

Yes, I do realize that it has been over a month since I've updated my blog. But, you have to forgive me...I've spent much of the past month on several trips out of town, helping people move, helping fix up a house, and well, you get the point. Anyways, I hope to get back into the groove now that I'm home on a regular basis again.

We used to have a Buca di Beppo about 10 minutes down the road, until they tore it down and put another big chain restaurant there. It was one of those places that we'd pass by every time and say, "oh, we should go there sometime soon," but when it came time to choose a restaurant to go out to, we'd forget about it. I liked it...it wasn't my favorite, but it was pretty decent compared to most restaurants we have around here. Every time we went there, we ordered the same. exact. thing. We got chicken parmesan and...Angelo pizza! We'd always have a ton of leftovers, but chicken parmesan was non-negotiable for Mr. Z, and Angelo pizza was non-negotiable for me.

The other day, when I drove by where Buca di Beppo used to be, I thought about that pizza, and couldn't get the darn thing out of my head. I decided to attempt it on my own...and, oh my goodness, was this pizza amazing! It was even better than the Buca di Beppo version. I came up with this recipe up from what I remembered the pizza being.

Angelo Pizza
Original Recipe, idea from Buca di Beppo

Ingredients:
1 lb. ball of pizza dough
1/2 c. alfredo sauce (I used jarred sauce)
8 oz. Italian blend shredded cheese
4 oz. chicken breast, cooked and chopped into small pieces
1 c. frozen corn
1/2 c. baby bella mushrooms
2 slices prosciutto, chopped
1/2 medium potato, sliced very thin

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pour corn on a cookie sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until it starts to brown, stirring halfway through.

Roll dough ball into a circle. Spread with alfredo sauce, leaving about 1/2" around the edges. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the pizza. Top with chicken, roasted corn, mushrooms, prosciutto, and potatoes. Bake on pizza stone for about 30 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown and get bubbly.