ARF/5-A-Day #56

Hey all, happy Tuesday! The weatherman assures us that the temps here are going to reach the high 20s/low 30s towards the end of the week. It’s so cold right now, high 20s is going to feel like a heat wave!

Still feeling under the weather, so The Husband gallantly offered to make dinner, and who am I to say no to that? It was either that or take-out. He went with steaks and one of his specialties, homemade french fries, which very nicely counts as my ARF/5-A-Day entry for tonight. He tinkers with the method each time he makes them, adjusting seasonings here and there, but each time, produces fries that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Just the way I like ’em.

Now, I promised breadstick info. Last week, Rachael Ray had an episode where she made Rach’s Twist-a-Ronis. The Husband went to the grocery store for me on Sunday, to get the stuff I needed for our Super Bowl Bar Food Feast at The Neighbors, but they were out of two of the ingredients for the Twist-a-Ronis, and since one of them was the main ingredient of pizza crust, I figured this recipe wasn’t happening. Of course, when he comes home and we put away the groceries, I find I have pizza crust in the fridge. Ooops. So I made the recipe, just without the pepperoni. Let me tell you, it was hard as the dickens to twist the strips without the cheese falling out, but it was worth it. Love, love, love these. Looks wise, they remind me a little of a breadstick recipe my sister made awhile back. On the episode with Rachael Ray, she made a salsa to dip these in, but I nixed that, instead going for a marinara sauce. To me, salsa is great for chips, a perfect vehicle to “hold” the salsa. But with breadsticks, it’s a completely different animal, and the marinara worked perfectly. I’d definitely make them again … sans pepperoni and salsa.

Until tomorrow…

A year ago today… Key West.

On with the small round-up for tonight. Claire from Cooking is Medicine is up first tonight with a trip down memory lane and the Best Banana Bread:

Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food is up next with the gorgeous colored Pomegranate Martini:

Cook. Craft. Enjoy. is up next with her very antioxidant-friendly Green Salsa:

The Chocolate Lady finishes us off this week with the very unusual Radish Linguine with Spicy Sesame Sauce:

Twist-a-Ronis
Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 15-ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 tube ready-made pizza dough, recommended brand Pillsbury
24 slices pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Unflavored cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°F. For the dipping sauce, heat a small saucepot over medium-high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Add the onions, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes, and cook; stirring every now and then until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the fire-roasted tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring up to a bubble and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes.

Once you have the sauce going, unravel the pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface and stretch to make an even rectangle. In an even layer, on half of the rectangle, place the pepperoni down leaving a 1-inch border and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.

Fold over the other half of the dough and press down gently on the edges to close the halves together. With a rolling pin or your hands, gently roll over or pat down the folded dough. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut 8 to 10 thin, strips about 1-inch thick.

Holding each end of the strip, twist it a few times and transfer to a baking sheet. Spray the entire tray, including the twist-a-ronis, with cooking spray and pop in the oven until golden brown in color, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with the dipping sauce alongside.

Yields 4 servings