On the Menu

Tis the season of scares, frights and fun, and only fun should occur while cooking! While surveying dozens of friends, quite a few are less than confident in the kitchen. Below, find a few recipes that are not only achievable for any level of chef-wanna-be’s, but contain a few hints with each recipe to ensure panic-free success. Save your scares for Halloween and get cooking!

Hints: When baking with yeast, two things are vital; yeast must be fresh, and liquid temperature must be accurate to dissolve and activate the yeast. Essential is a quality candy thermometer for this purpose as well as to ensure precise temperatures for other cooking endeavors. Finally, with the recipe below, purchasing a back-up ready-made refrigerated tube of pizza dough may provide a bit of stress relief, should efforts go awry.

Deep Dish Pizza from Scratch

Pizza Dough 1 tsp. sugar 11/4 oz.. pkg. active dry yeast 1¼ cup warm water (105˚-115˚) 2½cups flour ½ cup yellow cornmeal plus more for pan-dusting ½ tsp. salt 1½ Tb. olive oil and 1 tsp for final brushing

Olive Oil cooking spray Pizza 1-15oz. can pasta sauce 3 cups grated cheese Pizza Toppings/seasonings of choice: sliced pepperoni, sliced vegetables, fresh spinach, mushrooms, onions, minced garlic, browned sausage or ground beef, dried basil, jalapeños, etc. 2 9 inch cake pans, sprayed with cooking spray and lightly dusted with cornmeal.

Prepare either food processor with knife blade or mixer with dough hook. Spray a medium sized glass bowl with cooking spray. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine sugar, yeast, and warm water. Stir to incorporate and allow to stand 5-7 minutes to dissolve. In food processor or mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, and salt. Pulse to mix. Slowly add yeast mixture and 1 ½ T. olive oil alternately, pulsing until dough forms a ball. Continue to pulse or mix until dough is completely mixed. Place dough on lightly floured surface, lightly knead for 30 seconds, and place in prepared glass bowl. Turn dough ball once to coat with oil spray, and cover with clean dishcloth. Place in a warm location to rise until nearly doubled, for

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approximately 45-60 minutes. When risen, turn dough back to lightly floured surface, punch down and divide in half. Place cloth back over dough sections, allowing to rest 10 minutes. Roll each section into 11-12 inch diameter circles, placing each in prepared pans. Work dough up sides of pans. Place prepared and cloth-covered pans in warm place to rise again, approximately 20-30 minutes while preheating oven to 375⁰. During final rise of crusts, prepare pizza toppings of choice. To assemble: spread pasta sauce on risen dough, place toppings of choice, sprinkle seasonings, and sprinkle cheese on top. Brush olive oil on edges of pizza dough. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until crust is golden.

Crocky Mexican Pinto Beans

4 cups dried pinto beans, rinsed and sorted. 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce ½ yellow onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 Tbs. ground cumin powder 1 Tb. dried oregano Optional: Green chile to taste, peeled and chopped

Place all ingredients in slow cooker, stirring to incorporate. Place lid on crock. . Set slow cooker on high. Cook for up to 12 hours Pop 6-7 quarts of popcorn. Place in large bowl and set aside. Line two heavy cookie sheets with heavy-duty foil and set aside. Preheat oven to 250⁰. Mix butter, brown sugar, salt, and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat, continually stirring until mixture comes to a gentle, rolling boil. Stop stirring and allow caramel to boil 4 minutes. Remove from stovetop heat.

on high. If desired, turn slow cooker to warm until ready to eat.

Caramel Popcorn

1 stick butter 2 cups brown sugar, packed 1 tsp. salt ½ cup light corn syrup 1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. baking soda

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Stir in vanilla and baking soda until caramel is a foamy light brown color. Drizzle caramel over popcorn and stir to coat. Distribute coated popcorn onto prepared cookie sheets, separating clusters. Place in oven to bake, stirring every 15 minutes for one hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Break up any large popcorn clusters and store room-temperature in airtight containers.