Spoonbread Pizza

I’m not sure what possessed me, but tonight I decided to try and make a polenta pizza dough.  Now bear in mind that since I was doing Nutrisystem its been a while since I’ve thoroughly reviewed my fridge and tonight found it quite lacking.  Several things I intended to put on the pizza had to be scrapped if their expiration date was any warning of their viability… I’m not sure what the greenage that ended up on the pizza was because it came in my Fresh Picks grab-bag and I had thought it was spinach until I saw the little spidery pinkish stalks it clung to.

I underestimated the stubbornness of the polenta.  To make the “crust” I ended up breaking it down and heating it in a pot with water, olive oil, milk, margarine, salt, pepper, garlic powder and other seasonings.  When it became mushy I added in some asiago cheese and some flour.  I then realized that this would never be a dough since I hadn’t added any eggs or anything that would hold it together.  So I decided to make it a “spoonbread” pizza!  I spooned the resultant mixture into a greased pan and covered it with asiago and browned the cheese in the oven.  I figured that every pizza needs a hard crust of some kind, so this one would be cheese!  When this came out it looked insanely delicious.  I kind of wish I had just stopped here…

Cheesy Spoonbread

After that cooled I added BBQ sauce, the freaky greens greens, and mozzerella.  Now I know y’all are thinking this isn’t very healthy.  I should have added some sort of chicken or turkey or something!  In fact, tomatoes or artichokes on this pizza would be amaaazing… but alas, my cupboards are bare *sniffle*

Finished Product!

If I did this recipe again, I would like to get a better brown crust on both sides of the polenta.

Smoked Bologna Sandwich

I don’t know about y’all, but I loooooove smoked bologna.  Every time I go down to Tulsa and visit my grandparents we have smoked bologna sandwiches, which usually consist of bologna and white bread.  Cheese never did seem to go well with it and I really didn’t believe it possible to improve on those basic flavors.  That is until now! They sent a nice hunk of bologna back with me to Chicago (my sister got stopped going through security with it!) and eventually you actually do get tired of that basic sandwich! :O Tonight I found a suitable runner-up.

Ingredients:

• Brainy Bagel
• Smoked Bologna
• Smokey BBQ Sauce
• Creole Seasoning
• Smoked Gouda

Pop a Brainy Bagel in the toaster oven until golden brown.  Take it out briefly to smear on a thin layer of Smoke Daddy Sweet & Smokey BBQ sauce.  Famous Dave’s Rich & Sassy BBQ sauce is also acceptable   Add slice of smoked bologna.  Sprinkle with the Cajun/Creole sesasoning of your choice. Now it is very important that the seasoning go between the cheese and the bologna because the grease and moisture from both will help to unlock the flavors in the spices.  Naturally, the cheese goes on top!  I had to use reduced fat provolone because it was the only thing I had in my fridge Apparently that does not brown in my toaster oven… That said, I would HIGHLY recommend using smoked gouda!! Its in keeping with the whole smoky theme here plus it would really complement the flavor of bologna. Toss it in the toaster oven until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown on top.  Now there is one thing you could add to this little open-faced wonder … garlic aioli.

Oh hey um yeah you have a little drool over there…

Now bear in mind, this isn’t your crappy garden variety bologna like Oscar Mayer or something… if you’re planning on buying your own bologna to smoke then I would go with Boars Head or something of a similar quality.  Simply go to the deli counter and show them with your hands how big a peice you would like… not sliced. Then pop it in your Hasty Bake! Whats that? You don’t know what a Hasty Bake is?… Don’t worry, most people above the mason dixon line don’t either You could go all Alton Brown and make your own smoker… but that’s probably too much trouble.  Plus if you’re like me, you’re allergic to smoke… and wood chips :/ Soo yeah its best to just buy it already smoked somewhere.  This is where living in Oklahoma or Texas comes in handy