Hola,

We have a huge update today!  We recently moved to a new website:

http://www.sodikaeats.com/

This new website will allow us to expand out blog a little to include some restaurant review and more recipes!  So please come check out our new site.

Kaleb

Best Pizza dough ever!

Pizza dough


This is the best pizza dough EVER!   And so easy to make!

1 1/2 tbs of active dry yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1  1/2 tbs of sugar
2 cups of warm water

Let this ingredients sit as the yeast rises for 15 min.

Add 1 tbs of olive oil
4 cups of flour with an additional 1/2-1 cups for kneading.

If using a stand mixer using the dough hook, start by turning it on low and slowly increase the speed until you get to medium high, mix for about 10-15 minutes stopping after 5 minutes to check if you need to add a little more water or flour. The dough should be sticky to the touch but not so sticky that your hands come out covered in dough.

If mixing by hand, slowly add the flour a cup at a time, mixing with a spoon.  Once you have mixed in all of the flour kneed by hand for 10-15 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl to rise for about 30 minutes. The dough should be twice it's original size, then you punch it in the middle and form it into a ball again. If you are in a hurry you can use it to make pizza now or you can allow it to rise one more time.  Cut the dough in half and form two balls then cut those in half so you have four balls of dough.

Each of these balls is enough for 1 large thin crust pizza. I like to place 2-3 of these in the fridge to use later.

Marinara Sauce

My husband came up with this recipe, it's based on Giada's Marinara sauce but it's chunkier and simpler;)
Kaleb usually makes it for me on Sundays (isn't he the best?) and we keep it in the fridge to use on pasta, pizza dough and anything else I want throughout the week.  It's also very healthy!

Ingredients:

10 cloves of garlic chopped finely
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion chopped finely
2 carrots chopped finely
2 celery sticks chopped finely
Add other vegetables if you want to sneak them in (my husband likes adding Zucchini)
1 32 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (the Giada recipe calls for 2 cans, but we like it thicker)
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat pan on medium heat add oil, add onion and garlic, cook until they are translucent.
2. Add carrots and celery and cook until carrots are soft and the celery is translucent for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and the bay leaf.   Mix all the ingredients together and turn heat to low.  Let simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes (the longer the better).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you like spicy food you can also add some red pepper flakes while it is simmering, this will give it a nice kick!

Refrigerate for up to 7 days, you can also freeze to use later.

we use the Marinara with our favorite pizza crust-recipe coming soon!

Happy 2015 everyone!

I started the year in Studio 5, showing how to make Chocoflan!



Chocoflan is amazing  because it's semi-homemade and really quick to put together-although you can also step it up and use your favorite chocolate cake recipe instead of the boxed version.

Flan is a baked custard served with caramel sauce that is very popular in the Hispanic countries.

I tell a little bit about my love for chocoflan in the Studio 5 segment.   Check it out!

Cake:

1 Jar (12.25 oz) caramel topping

1 Box of Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ triple chocolate fudge cake mix (or your favorite chocolate cake mix)

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Flan:

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

1 cup milk

4 eggs

4 ounces of cream cheese 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup bundt cake pan with butter or cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cup of the caramel or Dulce de Leche topping in bottom of pan. 

2.  Beat cake mix, water, oil and 3 eggs with electric mixer on medium speed about 2 minutes and pour batter over caramel topping in pan.

3. In blender, place flan ingredients and blend on high speed until smooth, about 40 seconds. Slowly pour mixture over batter. (Flan mixture will mix with batter, but they will separate during baking, forming 1 layer of cake and 1 layer of flan.)

4. Cover cake pan with foil. Place in large roasting pan; add 1-2 inches of hot water to roasting pan.

5.  Bake for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Remove cake pan from water bath to cooling rack; remove foil. Cool completely, at least 1 hour.

6.  Place serving plate upside down on cake pan; turn plate and pan over. Remove pan.  Serve with remaining topping or whipped cream.