Uncategorized Archives - There's Always Pizza

Dirty Martini Dip

martini dip If you love martinis then this is the dip for you. Boozy olives and creamy blue cheese is perfect with a crispy crostini and a cold martini!

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Dirty Martini Dip

Ingredients

3/4 cup Pitted Castelvetrano olives, drained and quartered
1/4 cup Olive brine
1/4 cup (2 ounces) gin
1 tablespoon Dry vermouth
3 Strips lemon peel (from 1 lemon)
8 oz (1 packet) cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz Creamy blue cheese, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon Black pepper
3 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 Baguette sliced and toasted

Instructions

Place quartered olives, olive brine, gin, vermouth, and lemon peel strips in a bowl. Let marinate in the refrigerator until flavors meld, at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
Strain olives, reserving the olives and brine mixture separately.
In a medium bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together cream cheese, blue cheese, salt, pepper, and 5 tablespoons of the reserved brine mixture mixer on medium speed until well blended. Taste and stir in additional brine mixture, if desired.
Transfer cheese mixture to a small serving bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into the center. Spoon reserved marinated olives over top. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with flaky salt and pepper. Serve with crostini.

Stefani Hood2024-12-12T16:11:57+00:00December 12th, 2024|Starters, Uncategorized|0 Comments

When the fall and winter seasons approach there is nothing more comforting than French Onion Soup, but it never feels like a complete meal. Adding chicken makes this a meal that even picky kids will eat and will fill them up! Super easy and so flavorful, plus you house smells amazing with all the onions cooking. It takes about 45 min total!

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French Onion Chicken

Servings 4

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts
1 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons granulated onion
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1/4 cup butter, divided
2 onions, cut into slices
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1.5 Tablespoons flour
2 cups beef broth
1/2 baguette, sliced into 1/2 sliced
6 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
6 oz Provolone, shredded
3 Tablespoons Chives, chopped

Instructions

If you can buy thin cut chicken use that if, if not, slice your chicken breast lengthwise to create thinner breasts.
In a bowl combine sour cream, granulated onion and garlic. Add chicken and coat evenly. Place in the fridge for 30 min- 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
In an oven safe skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add onions and cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until soft.
Remove onions from skillet. Add remaning butter and oil. Turn heat up to Medium high. Add chicken breasts-with the sour cream coating still on. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Saute chicken on each side for 3-4 minutes or until brown. They will not be cooked through.
Remove chicken to same plate as onions.
Sprinkle flour into pan. You might need to add a bit more butter to create a paste. Let cook 1-2 minute. Add beef broth. Whisk until smooth.
Add chicken back to skillet and top with onions. Arrange baguette slices on top of onions. Top with cheeses. Place into oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese if bubble and golden. Sprinkle with chives. Serve.

Stefani Hood2024-12-12T16:13:10+00:00November 14th, 2024|Meats & Fish, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Cannelloni

Cannelloni is a pasta dish similar to lasagna-the only difference is that the sheets of pasta are filled and rolled into long tubes instead of layering the sheets with the filling. This is a vegetarian lower calorie version, but is still just as comforting and satisfying as the heavier traditional version of cannelloni.

I do not put any meat in this recipe, but you can absolutely add Italian sausage or ground beef to give it more oomph. Instead of meat I put mushrooms to give it that hearty texture, but you can add zucchini, red peppers, eggplant… The only trick with adding all those vegetables is you need to sauté in a skillet until all the water it out otherwise your cannelloni will be soggy.

Now, on to the cannelloni noodles… I am very lucky to have Central Market (HEB) and several Italian markets near me so I use the “fresh” lasagna sheets I find there. BUT, have no fear if […]

Stefani Hood2021-01-18T19:01:16+00:00January 18th, 2021|Pasta, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Macho Salad

There is nothing like a really good salad, but making a really good salad is not as easy as it sounds which is why we all go out and pay $25 for $6 worth of ingredients. But, there is nothing better than a hearty, healthy salad (just watch the dressing calories). I have to admit I am not a huge fan of the Houstons/Hillstone/White House/Honor Bar/Bandera food chain only because I kinda feel like the staff is a bit rude and I really hate eating at 11am or 4:30pm or waiting 2 hours for a table, but I do love most of their dishes on the menu. One of my favorites is the Macho Salad at Honor Bar. It is filled with so many good things like roasted chicken, cornbread croutons, avocado, dates, goat cheese, corn… its just yummy!

So, one of the best things about this salad are the cornbread croutons. Do not let this turn you away from making this salad. They are not hard to make, […]

Stefani Hood2025-03-07T16:13:06+00:00January 12th, 2021|Soups & Salads, Uncategorized|2 Comments

Winter Stovetop Potpourri

It is almost Christmas! This year seems a bit anticlimactic for some reason. Maybe because part of the joy of Christmas is being at home with nothing to do but watch movies, eat good food and hang with family. Yeah, well we have been doing that since March! I want OUT! I am so sick of my house! What about you?

But…, since we are at home for a bit longer I want to try and make the holidays special and a good memory to think back on. One way is holiday traditions that you have with your family and the other is smells. I have said this before and I’ll say it again-smells are SO important! Smells are so closely linked with memory. More so than any other sense. Odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions in the brain related to emotion and memory. There ya go-a bit of trivia!

Stefani Hood2020-12-17T16:04:33+00:00December 17th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Cheesy Roasted Asparagus

Well if your kids don’t like their veggies with this recipe then they are not normal:) This ooey, gooey, cheesy asparagus is so delicious and easy enough to whip up on a crazy busy night, but still gorgeous enough to serve at a dinner party. All your guests will love it, even the ones that say “I don’t like vegetables”. And I promise your kids will love it! This is recipe is also Keto friendly so if you are on that diet then this is PERFECT for you.

In the winter it can be hard to find those beautiful thick asparagus stalks so be sure and watch your cook time if you all you can find is the skinny stalks. There is nothing worse than mushy vegetables so for the skinny stalks cut the cook time down a couple minutes. If you are lucky enough to find the thick ones then be sure to use your vegetable peeler and peel off the bottom 1/2 of the stalks (after you have cut off the tough woody ends).

Enjoy […]

Stefani Hood2020-03-30T21:57:15+00:00December 6th, 2019|Sides, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Lightened Up Spring Pasta Alfredo

I love pasta! I know it is the devil’s food, but I just love it! It is my go-to when I don’t want to cook or when I am home alone because the boys are off hunting or when I’m sick. Pasta just makes everything better. And it is SO easy to make! Lightened Up Spring Pasta Alfredo is no exception and it is not as heavy as spaghetti and meatballs or manicotti so you can still fit into your swimsuit come July-God I hate swimsuit season!!!! If I have to choose between eating pasta and wearing a caftan in 100 degrees or not eating pasta and sitting in a bikini I will choose pasta:) I mean really how many days do you sit around in a bikini? Go for the pasta, ha! I hear caftans are light and airy.

This recipe is a traditional pasta alfredo sauce, lightened up, but if you want to go even more healthy you can make this pasta with my Skinny Alfredo Sauce and it will be just as delicious. I normally […]

Stefani Hood2018-04-11T17:33:49+00:00April 11th, 2018|Uncategorized|0 Comments

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Dirty Martini Dip

Dirty Martini Dip

Ingredients

Instructions

French Onion Chicken

French Onion Chicken

Ingredients

Instructions

Cannelloni

Macho Salad

Winter Stovetop Potpourri

Cheesy Roasted Asparagus

Lightened Up Spring Pasta Alfredo

Ingredients

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