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Ever since my children could stand, they’ve been next to me at the stove as I cooked. When they were very young, they would join me at the cutting board and put their hands on mine as they “helped” me slice, dice, and chop. I’m a firm believer that the more opportunities children have to help in the kitchen, the less picky of eaters they will be and the healthier attitudes they will have about food and about themselves.

I wanted my daughters to be adventurous eaters, so I liked to introduce new foods and make sure they always tried everything. As they got a little older, they would express their likes and dislikes, which was also something I encouraged.

“Pink Chicken”

One day when my oldest was two or three, she came in from playing and asked what we were having for dinner. I told her we were having Basil Pesto Salmon, and she told me, “I don’t like salmon.” I knew that she had eaten salmon many times and had always enjoyed it, but I didn’t say anything. She went off to play some more, and her young memory forgot the interaction.

When we sat down to dinner that night, I thought I would try to fool her into eating, so when she asked what was on her plate I said, “Pink chicken.” Pink was her favorite color at the time, so it worked out well that the salmon was a sort of pink color. She ate every bite and said it was her favorite dinner and thanked me so much for making it. For years we continued to call salmon “pink chicken,” and even when she was old enough to know the difference, we continued the nickname. To this day, Basil Pesto Salmon is one of her favorite meals to eat and to cook herself. It’s super easy, nutritious, and delicious, and a great way for kids to flex their cooking skills.

To turn this dish into an extra-fancy affair, serve it as bite-size hors d’oeuvres on an appetizer buffet! And if you’re short on time, just buy some quality pesto instead of making your own.

Salmon

• 4 salmon fillets, 5 oz each
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese

1. Place salmon in lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper and allow to marinate while you prepare the pesto. (See Pesto recipe below.)
2. Preheat oven to 400°F.
3. Place 4 piles of parmesan (about 2 Tbsp in each pile) on a baking sheet, gently pat down to form into approx. 3-inch circles. Bake 4-5 min. until cheese starts to bubble and turn golden. Remove from heat and allow to cool and become crisp.
4. Remove salmon from marinade, generously coated.
5. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in sauté pan over med heat. When oil is hot, carefully place salmon in pan, and cook 4 min. Turn salmon over and coat with heaping Tbsp of pesto sauce. Cook additional 2-3 min. just until the fish flakes with fork.
6. Serve topped with cheese crisp.

Basil Pesto

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves (I like to substitute ½ cup fresh spinach leaves for half of the basil. It’s a great way to sneak in some greens)
• 3 Tbsp pine nuts
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a food processor or high-powered blender, place the spinach, basil, and pine nuts. Pulse a few times to chop roughly.
2. Add the cheese and garlic, and pulse several more times to combine.
3. While blending, add the olive oil in a slow steady stream to keep the mixture emulsified.
4. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides so all the ingredients are incorporated.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Consistency should be similar to mashed potatoes with small, uniform chunks.

Enjoy!

When we were trying to decide what recipe I should share, someone asked my son, Jaxon, “What’s the best thing your mom cooks?” Without even thinking about it, he instantly said, “Atole!”

Rice atole (pronounced “uh-toe-lee”) is a Mexican dessert—kind of like a pudding. Jaxon’s grandparents made it for him when he was a baby, and he looooves it. In fact, it was one of his first words! And since he loves it so much, I realized I’d better learn how to make it.

My one bit of advice is to be careful that you add both condensed milk and evaporated milk. I’ve tried to leave one out and double the other, but it doesn’t work!

• 1 cup white rice
• 5 cups water
• 3-4 cinnamon sticks
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. In a rice cooker, combine rice, water, and cinnamon sticks. Cook for 10 minutes, longer if needed. Rice should be soft but not mushy.
2. Remove cinnamon sticks. Add in butter, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and vanilla.
3. If needed, cool the atole by adding a splash of milk.

It’s hard to explain how important Jell-O was in my childhood. My mother had an entire section of her pantry dedicated to that relic of the 1950s. Jell-O was a staple at our table, and more than once, after she’d set out a delicious Sunday dinner of homemade rolls, homegrown veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy, and homemade pies, I heard Mom apologize, “I’m so sorry; I didn’t make Jell-O.”

My wife sees it a little differently.

As a member of the Crafts family (as in Culinary Crafts), my wife grew up with a very different culinary childhood and a different attitude about Jell-O. In our first year of marriage, my mom happened to tell Meagan that my absolute favorite dessert was a no-bake peach cheesecake topped with Jell-O. Always excited about a new recipe, Meagan decided to surprise me with it one day when I came home from school.

Well, Meagan is experimental when she bakes, discarding and substituting ingredients when it suits her, which consistently leads to tremendous results that are 1000% better than the originals. However, this is not one of those recipes.

Sometimes, there’s no substitute for Jell-O.

Meagan spent months working on this recipe, making dozens of edits and substitutions. She replaced the Jell-O with a homemade peach gelée, and she substituted fresh vanilla whipped cream for the Cool Whip. She tried using Culinary Crafts' famous cheesecake base instead of this no-baked version. Meagan experimented with fresh peaches, frozen peaches, diced peaches, sliced peaches, pureed peaches, compotes, marmalades, and curds. She tried a myriad of different ingredients, combinations, and setting methods, but nothing seemed to work the same way as the Jell-O original.

After one of these attempts, I finally asked Meagan, “Why not just follow the recipe?” She admitted that she had—several times—but she had to throw them out because she couldn't make the Jell-O set.

I had to laugh. Of all the millions of things my wife, the Queen of the Kitchen, does expertly, making Jell-O is not one of them. And in this recipe, there really is no substitute for these classic ingredients.

We still make this peach cheesecake with Jell-O whenever we visit my parents, but Meagan reminds me every time that once my mother passes away, she’s never making this recipe again. She says I’d better enjoy it while I can.

And I do!

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Filling

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 4 tbsp powdered sugar
• 12 oz Cool Whip, defrosted large bowl of popcorn

Jell-O Filling

• 1 ¾ cups water
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 oz peach Jell-O
• 6 cups of peeled & diced fruit of your choice (Frozen fruit works great, but I love using fresh peaches in season. Match the fruit to the flavor of Jell-O.)

Crust

With all the chocolates, sugar cookies, gingerbread, fudge, candy canes, and other sweets that bombard us around Christmas, wouldn’t it be great to have a more satisfying treat on hand? Something both festive and filling? Something like…Christmas bagels?

I like to make these Noel nibbles every December to celebrate the season while taking a break from all the sugary sweets. Not only are these Christmas bagels delicious and visually stunning, but they’re also a great excuse to recruit a loved one to help you in the kitchen. Your kids can form great memories of rolling the colorful dough and shaping the bagels while you talk and laugh together. What better way to celebrate the holidays?

Christmas Bagels

(makes 1 dozen bagels)

Ingredients for Sponge

• 10 oz bread flour
• 10 oz warm water
• 0.03 oz yeast
• 5 g malt powder

Instructions for Sponge

1. The night before you plan to make the bagels, make your sponge by mixing all four ingredients together for four minutes. Scrape bowl and mix for two more minutes.
2. Place sponge in a container, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temperature for at least 1.5 hours.

Ingredients for Dough

• 23.5 oz bread flour
• 9 oz warm water
• 0.15 oz instant yeast
• 0.8 oz salt
• 0.3 oz malt powder
• green and red food coloring
• 1 oz molasses

  Instructions for Dough

  1. Place the proofed sponge into a large mixing bowl and add the water, yeast, salt, and malt powder. Mix.
  2. Divide dough into three equal parts. Add green food coloring to one portion and red to another. Leave the third portion uncolored.
  3. Mix the uncolored dough portion at low speed for 4 minutes. The dough should be slightly firm and a tiny bit sticky. If it’s getting too firm or dry, add a little water. (A softer dough will be much easier to mix and shape into bagels.) Turn speed up to medium and mix dough for 5 more minutes. Repeat this step with the other two portions of dough, one at a time. (If you’re using a mixer, mix the portions in the order of white, green, then red. Otherwise, the colors can get messed up.)
  4. Prepare sheet pans with parchment paper that has been sprayed on both sides.
  5. Working with one portion of dough at a time, scale the dough into 4 oz balls. (If you want to make mini bagels instead of regular size bagels, scale into 2 oz balls.)
  6. On a flat surface, stack the dough balls with one red, one green and one uncolored ball on top of each other. Gently roll the stack on the flat surface until the dough portions combine to form a “snake” approximately 1 inch in diameter.
  7. Shape the rolled dough into bagels by wrapping them around to form a ring. Where the two ends come together, gently roll the seal back and forth until the ends fuse.
  8. Place on prepared baking sheet, spray the bagels with cooking oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Retard dough in the fridge overnight or at least 6 hours. (You can also freeze the dough to be used later.)
  9. Remove the bagels from fridge. Dissolve molasses in a pot of boiling water. Boil bagels in the water/molasses mixture. When the dough starts to expand, flip the bagels and boil on the second side. Using chopstick or a slotted spoon, carefully remove the bagels from the boiling water.
  10. Bake bagels at 375°F for 15-20 minutes or until bagels are lightly golden brown. Allow bagels to cool to room temperature and slice clam-shell style.
  

  This Christmas bagels recipe can be adapted to other holidays and occasions simply by playing with the color combinations. In the past, I’ve made these bagels for Pride Week every year.

  Happy Holidays, and eat well!

Every year, around this time, our father makes his famous Pumpkin Chipotle Chicken Chili.

Even though Dad is officially retired, he can be seen here in the kitchen practically every day making lunches for the team, helping out in a crunch, or sharing the awesome culinary expertise he gained over decades of catering. His Pumpkin Chipotle Chicken Chili is a favorite with the team here at Culinary Crafts: seriously, it is sooo good! It’s like a spicy, warm, welcoming Thanksgiving hug.

One of the key ingredients in Pumpkin Chipotle Chicken Chili—and in a lot of the other delicious, picante dishes Dad makes—is the combination of seasonings we refer to simply as “Ron’s Spice.” When you mix up a batch of the spice (see recipe below), we recommend making plenty of extra to keep on hand. It’s perfect for kicking up the flavor profile of fish, steak, chicken…basically any protein. The fire of the cayenne is balanced beautifully by the other sweet and savory spices. You’ll be amazed how many recipes will benefit from a little of Ron’s Spice.

Pumpkin Chipotle Chicken Chili

(Makes two gallons)

• 1 cup Ron’s Spice Blend (see directions below)
• 4 lb chicken tenders
• 1 large purple onion, diced
• 4 oz butter
• 2 chipotles, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 2 (28 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes
• 4 (15 oz) cans pumpkin
• 4 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 4 cups sour cream

1. Dry brine the chicken tenders by rubbing them in ½ cup of Ron’s Spice and letting them rest for 1-2 hours.
2. In a large pot, sauté the chicken tenders over medium-high heat. Once browned, remove chicken from pot and dice into bite-size pieces.
3. Deglaze the pot with a few Tbsp of water or white wine. Add butter and onion to soak up all the flavor from the browned remains (the “fond”) left over in the pot. Add another ½ cup of Ron’s Spice and the diced chipotles. Let it all bloom together until chipotles are tender.
4. Add garlic and let it brown for 60 seconds. Add tomato paste and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
5. Add diced tomatoes, pumpkin, black beans, chicken stock, and browned chicken. Bring to simmer for 30 minutes, then remove from heat. Add 4 cups sour cream.

Ron’s Spice Blend

(Makes 2.5 cups)

Mix together:

• 8 Tbsp salt (kosher or any other kind without iodine or other chemical additives)
• 4 Tbsp white pepper
• 4 Tbsp black pepper
• 4 Tbsp brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp oregano
• 4 Tbsp chili powder
• 4 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 4 Tbsp garlic powder
• 4 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp cayenne

Pro Tips: Any kind of salt will work so long as it has no iodine or other added chemicals. Also, feel free to kick up the heat level with as much cayenne as you and your guests can handle!

If your favorite part of autumn is the return of pumpkin spice, we feel you!

That first chill in the air makes us start salivating for that sweet, fragrant flavor we all love. But rather than waiting for that magical moment when pumpkin spice appears in bakeries and coffee shops, why not make it yourself? Homemade pumpkin spice in less expensive than store-bought, and it tastes way better when you make it fresh. Plus, you can fine-tune the flavors until you reach pumpkin perfection!

This recipe is great on lattes and smoothies, as well as pumpkin pie, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, and bread. But it’s also fantastic on roasted vegetables, in warm soups and stews, stirred into oatmeal, or sprinkled over applesauce, ice cream, or gelato. Yum!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice

INGREDIENTS (makes 3 Tbsp)

• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp cloves
• Optional: ¼ tsp ginger

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Congratulate yourself on how easy that was!

Like other spices, homemade spice is best when fresh ground. If it doesn’t get gobbled up right away, you can store your spice in an airtight container for up to three years.

HEALTHY AND DELICIOUS

Not only is homemade pumpkin spice amazingly delicious and easy to make, it’s also surprisingly good for you! Nutmeg and cloves are high in antioxidants and have been shown to have antiviral and antibacterial effects. Both nutmeg and allspice have anti-cancer properties, and ginger is strongly anti-inflammatory. Also, some studies indicate that cinnamon is great for balancing blood sugar levels, while allspice has numerous health benefits.

Enjoy, and eat well!

Peanut butter and jelly (or jam) sandwiches are icons of American childhood. In fact, the average American kid eats more than 1,500 PBJs before graduating high school and will consume almost 3,000 over their lifetime. The PBJ is a perennial favorite in school lunches and after-school snacks because it's delicious, quick, simple, and cheap to make. But it can be so much better with homemade brioche bread!

If you were like most kids, the sandwiches you grew up on were made with highly-processed, store-bought bread that was...unremarkable. Let’s be honest; the bread was just there to help get the jelly and the peanut butter into our mouths.

Well, it’s time for the PBJ to get an upgrade. Our Brioche Bread PBJ uses a rich, buttery bread that makes the perfect complement to the sweet and nutty goodness inside. And all of it—the bread, jam, and peanut butter—can be made at home fresh from scratch.

BRIOCHE

The star of this next-level PBJ sandwich is the brioche bread.

Brioche is made with eggs and butter, which puts it in the family of breads called viennoisseries, along with baguettes, croissants, Danish pastries, and sweet rolls. It’s so delicious that it’s practically a dessert sandwich! (In fact, this brioche dough can also be used to make mouth-watering doughnuts.)

A word of warning: before you tackle brioche, we strongly recommend using a stand mixer. Brioche dough needs to be kneaded a lot. The butter and egg yolk fat that give brioche its rich flavor also interfere with the ability of yeast to make the dough rise, so the dough is too sticky and thick to be kneaded by hand unless you’re looking for a major workout! Don’t even try using an electric hand mixer or you’ll risk burning out the motor.

Ingredients for Brioche (makes 1 loaf)

• 6 oz. water
• 1.2 oz. milk
• 0.5 Tbsp yeast
• 0.9 oz sugar
• 1 large egg
• 10 oz. bread flour
• 1 oz. all-purpose flour
• 0.75 tsp salt
• 1 oz. melted butter

Instructions for Brioche:

1. Add flours, sugar, yeast, and salt to a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment.
2. In a separate container, mix the milk, butter, and water. Stir and add the eggs. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl.
3. Mix on first speed until combined, then continue mixing on 2nd speed for 20 more minutes or until the dough clings to the paddle and the sides of the bowl are clean. Check the consistency of the dough. It should still feel a little bit tacky and have a smooth, glossy surface. You may have to add a little extra bread flour if the dough is too soft.
4. Flour your hands, then place the dough on a lightly floured flat surface. Shape the dough into a single loaf or, if you want to make bun-style sandwiches, divide the dough into six equal parts, then roll each portion into a ball. If you want to give your brioche loaf a weave or other decorative design, place your covered dough in the fridge and let it chill until it can be handled easily. Then you can shape in into whatever beautiful design strikes your fancy.
5. Place the dough into a greased loaf pan or, if you want roll-style sandwiches, divide it into six even dough balls and arrange them on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place as the yeast does its magic! In 1-3 hours, the dough should at least double in size.
6. To give your brioche a gorgeous golden sheen, beat one egg and brush the egg wash lightly over the top of your dough.
7. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue baking for another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and firm.

FREEZER JAM

The jams we make take advantage of the natural sweetness of fresh fruits that are in season. Practically any berry or fruit will do, so feel free to experiment!

Ingredients for Jam (makes 2-3 cups)

• 8 cups fresh fruit—cleaned, seeded, and peeled
• 2 cups granulated sugar (Depending on how fresh and sweet your fruit is, you’ll want to use between 1/4 and 2/3 cup of sugar for each pound of fruit.)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice (Fresh lemons vary in acidity, so it’s best to use bottled lemon juice.)

You can add pectin, but fruits already contain pectin naturally and will gel on their own. Add pectin if you like your jam to be thicker. (But if you add pectin, use a higher temperature to cook your jam so that the pectin will activate.)

Instructions for Jam

1. Place fruit, sugar, and lemon juice into a large pan. Heat on medium low, stirring to prevent scalding.
2. Continue to reduce jam until desired consistency is reached. At the right consistency, foam will stop forming on the surface of the jam. The best way to make sure your jam is done cooking is the frozen plate test.
3. Cool before use. Unused jam can be placed in labeled containers and stored in freezer or fridge. If you use glass jars, make sure the jars are heated or the jam is cooled before it’s poured into the jars.

Pro Tips: You can speed up the cooking process by using high heat, but you’ll need to stir constantly. Mashing the fruit in advance will also cut down the cooking time which also preserves more fresh flavor.

For peach jam, add 2 tsp cinnamon. For apple butter, use apple juice and add 1Tbsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, and 2 tsp cloves, then simmer and puree.

PEANUT BUTTER

You probably won’t save any money making your own peanut butter versus buying it at that store, but if you’ve come this far making homemade PBJs, don’t you want to go all the way?

Besides, our peanut butter is simple and delicious. A word of caution though: we recommend using a food processor, not a blender. Grinding peanuts into butter will heat up a machine’s motor, and most blenders aren’t up to the job.

Ingredients for Peanut Butter (makes 2-3 cups)

• 2-3 cups dry roasted peanuts (Don’t use more than 2 cups of peanuts unless your food processor is 7-cups or bigger)

Instructions for Peanut Butter

1. Make sure that peanuts are roasted and their skins are completely removed. Also remove the hearts of the peanuts, those tiny nubs between the two halves of the nut. They have a slightly bitter taste.
2. If you want your peanut butter to be chunky, place 1/3 cup of peanuts in food processor and pulse into small pieces. Set peanut pieces aside.
3. Place remaining peanuts into processor and run for 1 minutes. Do not add water. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Repeat this process until you reach the desired consistency.
4. Pay attention to your food processor’s motor. Don’t let it overheat! Give it a break as often as needed to let it cool down.
5. You’ll see your peanuts turn into a powder, then a dough, and then a paste. Don’t worry. Roasted peanuts will release their own oils, so be patient. Eventually, you’ll end up with smooth, creamy butter!
6. Once your butter is fully processed, you can add a pinch of salt to taste.
7. If you want even creamier butter, you can add a little vegetable oil to your processor. If you want your peanut butter chunky, remove your fully-processed butter from your food processor and gently stir in your peanut pieces from step 2.

Pro Tip: Some people love to add 1 ½ tsp honey. Or you might want to experiment with adding a little cocoa powder and powdered sugar. It’s your peanut butter; you’ve earned the right to go wild!

Best wishes for the new school year and all the school lunches ahead.

Eat well!

Whether you’re already an experienced sous vide chef or you’re ready to try out your brand new sous vide superpowers for the first time, here’s a fantastic recipe for you to try: Sous Vide Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce.

On one level, eggs Benedict is a super easy dish. Put Canadian bacon on a toasted English muffin, top it with a poached egg, drizzle it with Hollandaise sauce, and you’re golden! But every chef knows that it’s not that easy. With traditional poaching methods, it’s tricky to get eggs with the right combination of smooth, firm whites and creamy yolks. Hollandaise is even trickier; if you use too little heat, the sauce won’t thicken, but if you use too much, it will “break” and leave you with a goopy mess. Making eggs Benedict may be simple, but making it right has always been notoriously difficult.

Until now.

With a sous vide immersion circulator, you’re guaranteed perfect eggs and fantastic Hollandaise sauce every time!

Ingredients for Hollandaise Sauce (makes four generous servings)

• 85 grams egg yolk (approximately 5 large egg yolks)
• 40 grams champagne vinegar
• 25 grams shallots, minced
• 60 grams water
• 20 grams lemon juice
• 3 grams salt
• 150 grams butter

Instructions for Hollandaise Sauce

1. Fill a pot or other heat-resistant container with at least four inches of water. Attach your immersion blender and set it to preheat your water bath to 167°F.
2. Heat vinegar and shallots in a small saucepan until you’ve reduced liquid by half.
3. Strain to remove shallots. Save the remaining liquid reduction.
4. Brown the butter.
   
   

   Pro Tip: “Brown butter” is butter that has been heated just enough that its milk solids have turned brown. For a demonstration of how to brown butter, see here. With its nutty flavor and fantastic smell, brown butter is a chef's favorite little secret. You can make countless good recipes even better just be substituting it for regular butter! Try it over pancakes, in chocolate chip cookies, or in just about any recipe that calls for a butter-based sauce.

5. Pour the brown butter, yolk, water, lemon juice, vinegar reduction, and salt into a ziplock bag. (No need to vacuum seal this bad boy!)
6. When water bath has reached 167°, lower the bag into the water until the ingredients are submerged but the top of the bag is above water. Attach the top of the bag to the side of the container with a binder clip to hold it in place. Don’t let any water get into the bag. Leave the bag in the sous vide water for 30 minutes.
7. Pour the contents of the bag into a blender and blend until smooth. This step ensures that the sauce will be silky smooth.

Ingredients for Eggs Benedict (makes four servings)

• 2 English muffins, halved
• 4 slices Canadian bacon (you can substitute thick-cut ham, steak, prosciutto, crab, or a protein of your choice)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 T chopped chives or parsley
• Hollandaise sauce (from recipe above)

Instructions for Eggs Benedict

1. Pour at least four inches of water into a pot or heat-resistant container. Attach your sous vide immersion circulator to the container and set its temperature to 167°F. (Since the eggs and Hollandaise sauce cook at the same temperature, you can prepare them simultaneously in the same water bath.)
2. When the water bath is at 167°, carefully place four large eggs into the bath. Leave them for 12 minutes, then remove them carefully with a slotted spoon and place them in a dish of ice water.
   
   

   Pro Tip: The best method we’ve found for “poaching” eggs is the sous vide method used by America’s Test Kitchen: you can find step-by-step instructions here. It’s not really poaching, of course, because the eggs are cooked inside the shell, but it’s simple, foolproof, and guaranteed to give eggs exactly the texture we want.

   This approach cooks the eggs at 167° for 12 minutes, which is much hotter than most eggs Benedict recipes recommend. Trust us, by cooking at a higher temp for a shorter time you’ll give the whites the perfect firmness without overcooking the yolks. Usually when you cook sous vide you set the temperature to exactly what you want and leave it—it’s practically impossible to overcook. But setting your temp to 167° means that you’ll need to pay attention and take the eggs out at 12 minutes or else they will overcook.

3. Fry your bacon in a pan over medium low heat. Carefully remove the bacon and set it on a paper towel to absorb excess grease. Scrape the pan clean, but leave a little bacon grease in the pan.
4. Toast the muffins in the pan, allowing them to soak up some of that blessed bacon goodness!
5. Assemble by placing your bacon on the muffins, carefully cracking your eggs and placing them on the bacon, and topping the whole glorious thing with your Hollandaise sauce and a sprinkle of chives or parsley.
6. Serve up your sous vide eggs Benedict and amaze your family and friends with your sous vide ninja skills!

Enjoy, and eat well.

A few months ago, Culinary Crafts had the privilege of co-hosting an event with renowned chef Wolfgang Puck and his amazing crew. For our May recipe of the month, we’re going to share one of the appetizers we served at that party, our perfect pizza. When we do pizza for big events, we make it in big applewood fired ovens, but when we bake it in our own ovens at home, this is the recipe we use.

Dough Ingredients (makes enough for three 12-inch pizzas)

• ¼ oz yeast (one packet)
• ¼ oz sugar
• 2 ⅔ cups water
• ¼ oz salt
• 1 pound of flour (half all-purpose flour and half bread flour)
• ⅓ cup olive oil

Instructions

• 1. 1. In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Let them sit while you measure out the other ingredients.
     2. Add the salt, flour, and olive oil to your bowl. Mix slowly for 3 minutes. (If you’re using a KitchenAid, use the speed setting of 4.) Adjust the dough’s consistency as needed by adding a little more water or flour. Then increase the speed and mix for another 4-5 minutes.
     3. Dust your hands lightly with flour before you handle the dough. Divide your dough into three even portions. (Or, if you prefer to make two larger pizzas, simply divide the dough in half.)
     4. Roll the dough portions into round balls and place each of them into an airtight container. You can use regular bowls if you cover them with plastic wrap, pressing it down over the dough. Eliminating air will keep the dough from drying out.
     5. Place the dough in your fridge overnight.
     
     6. Approximately 15 minutes before you’re ready to work your dough, remove it from the fridge. Turn on your oven to 500 degrees or as high as it will go. Place a pizza stone or metal baking sheet into the oven to pre-heat. Use more than one stone/sheet if you’ll need more surface area to hold your pizzas.
     7. As your oven is heating, dust your hands with seminola, cornmeal, or regular flour. Dust a flat counter surface where you’ll work your dough. Also give each of your dough balls a light dusting.
     8. Work the dough balls using the technique shown in the first three minutes of this video.

     Pro Tip: When our chefs are making pizza at an event, they don’t always have a convenient surface to work on, so they stretch the dough in the air. The technique is similar except that you let the dough hang from your thumbs as you turn it, using gravity to help stretch it. Use whatever technique works for you, but don’t use a rolling pin—if you squash the dough flat, it will lose all that wonderful airiness that it gained by proofing overnight!

  2. 9. When your oven is heated, remove the hot pizza stone/cooking sheet and give it a light dusting.

     Pro Tip: If you’re using a baking sheet, flip it over and use the bottom side to cook your pizza. That way, when the pizza is done, it will slide off the hot sheet easily.

     10. Place your stretched dough onto your stone or cooking sheet. Use a pizza docker or a fork to score the surface of the dough. Don’t make holes all the way through the dough; just lightly indent it to prevent large air pockets from forming when it cooks. Air pockets will cause bubbles that tend to burn.
     
     11. Top the pizza with your favorite ingredients. Be careful not to overdo the sauce! Too much sauce will prevent the pizza from cooking properly, and you’ll end up with a soggy underside. If you’re using fresh herbs like basil or spinach, we recommend leaving those off until the last few minutes of cooking. Otherwise they’ll overcook and wilt.

     Pro Tip: If you like lots of sauce, consider baking your perfect pizza “Detroit style” by placing your cheese and other ingredients directly onto the dough. Then you can add the sauce on top of the other ingredients so that it doesn’t touch the dough. Or you can even wait until the pizza has finished baking before topping it with all the sauce your heart desires!

     12. Place your pizzas in the oven and keep a close eye on them as they bake. You may have to rotate the pizzas after a few minutes to give them an even bake. Once your crust is bubbling and forms a dark, golden brown, you know it’s done.
     Eat well!

Spring is the time to celebrate all things fresh! Our April recipe of the month, arugula salad with asparagus, snap peas, and parmesan, is one of our favorite ways to feature delicious veggies that are in season right now.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

Salad

• ½ pound of arugula, washed and dried
• 1 cup sugar snap peas, deveined, blanched, and cut on a bias
• 1 cup avocado, diced
• 5-10 spears of asparagus, blanched and shaved with potato peeler
• 1 cup shaved parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

Dressing

• 2 ½ tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tbsp mayonnaise
• ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1⁄6 – ¼ tbsp sugar
• ¼ lemon zest
• 7 ½ tbsp canola blend oil

Directions

1. Combine all of dressing ingredients except oil in a blender. Blend until smooth.
2. While blender is running, slowly add oil until emulsified.
3. Adjust seasonings to taste.
4. In a large bowl, toss arugula with dressing.
5. Plate the arugula (approx. 5 servings).
6. Top with peas, pistachios, avocado, asparagus, and cheese.

Enjoy!

Pro tips:

Blanching the veggies takes off their bitter edge and makes them a bright vibrant green color.

When zesting citrus, only zest the outer layer. If you get to the white fibrous part of the citrus (called the pith) you've gone too far. The pith is very bitter.

If your greens and produce start to look limp and wilted, you can give them new life by submerging them in ice water for a few seconds. They’ll perk right up!