first time's a charm

so over the past week or so i made pizza for the first time, a frittata (see his birthday post below), and truffle mac 'n cheese. and i completed all with rather spectacular results if i do say so myself. the truffle mac 'n cheese was about the best thing ever.. but that's pretty much anything with truffles.. black or white... and i pretty much winged it.. but for those curious it was super easy.. so here's an approximate on the recipe for 2 people.

2 tbs nonsalted butter
1 chopped shallot
2 tsp flour
1/2 cup heavy cream (i totally free poured this)
1/4 cup milk (this too)
1.5 cup swiss/monterrey jack/aged cheddar cheese (whatever your preference.. and i just grabbed like 2 handfuls)
1/2 pkg macaroni (cooked and drained)
2 tsp truffle oil* (i didn't measure this either)
salt/pepper

melt the butter in a pan on low-med heat. then add the chopped shallots.. after a couple minutes add the flour and cook for about a minute. Slowly add the heavy cream and milk, stir and once it starts to boil lightly add the cheese. stir and add more milk or cream if sauce is too thick. once the cheese is melted through turn off the heat and stir in some truffle oil. finally mix in the macaroni, salt and pepper to taste and serve while hot.

* we actually got our truffle oil from italy but you should be able to find black or white truffle oil from oil&vinegar (woodlands mall) or places like central market, whole foods, william sonoma or sur la table... though this is not verified. oh and black truffle oil is less expensive. i used black truffle oil and it turned out deliciousness.


antipasti pizza | bbq chicken pizza

this was a super easy and delicious dinner. i used the pillsbury pizza dough and whatever else i had in my fridge to come up with this 2-sided pizza.

first, spray cookie sheet with cooking oil, then spread out dough. i spread freshly chopped garlic across the dough along with 1/2 cup of italian mix cheese and some red chili flakes. then i cooked the dough for like 7 min or until the cheese looked cooked in. after that i let it cool slightly then on one 1/2 i spread bbq sauce and lined cooked chicken over it and topped it with cheese. on the other 1/2 i spread sliced roma tomatoes, artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, and topped it with cheese and dried basil. i put it back in the oven for about 10 min or until the cheese looked good and melted. overall the antipasti side was our favorite, although the crust could have been crisper.. probably cook the crust longer before adding the toppings. next time i'll do anchovies and capers.