Mesh Sugar Shaker - A New Use

It's been way too long since my last post. It's not due to lack of cooking though. I'm still cooking and baking, I've just been a little busy. I have A LOT of photos to sort through.

In the mean time, I thought I'd share a quick post on my new favorite gadget. I love gadgets. But even more than gadgets, I love finding a new use for them. Working with dough means sprinkling a lot of flour on your workspace and the dough itself. It also means it ends up everywhere and a lot goes to waste. I've been using this mesh sugar shaker to sprinkle the flour and it works great! It really helps keep the flour contained to my workspace and when my hands are wet, I don't have to worry about drying them and 'caking' up the flour.

I found this one at World Market for under $5.



Look how beautifully and evenly it spreads the flour. Yes, I'm a little OCD, just a little. :)

Pan Grilled Flat Bread & Pizza

I was looking for a whole wheat bread recipe and came across this flat bread recipe. I'm not going to lie, it's a lot of work, but I'll do it again! It was well worth the work. Making the dough and pan grilling was easy, it's the rolling. The rolling itself is easy, it just takes a bit of time. I had a lot of fun though. Anyone up for a flatbread making party?

Ready, set, go!







I grilled the bread in a cast iron skillet. They got progressively better as I got a better feel for how long to have them in the skillet. Once they cooled for a few minutes, I brushed them with some olive oil and added a sprinkle of salt. Delicious! I tried to only eat half of one, couldn't do it.



I got the recipe from my ultimate favorite cooking site, Cooks Illustrated . We use to subscribe to the magazine, but now have the online subscription that has the magazine online, as well as a ton of other resources. They test their recipes anywhere from 30 plus times, they compare brands, products, and have video demonstrations. It's well worth the yearly fee and I really like that their site is completely ad free. If you love to cook and love to learn, I highly recommend subscribing, or at least request a free issue.

I used the bread to make a no sauce pizza (basically a margarita pizza). Minced some garlic and spread it on the bread. (See my mincing garlic tip below.) Added some mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and fresh basil. Baked the pizza on a pizza stone for about 5 minutes, then added the chopped basil and baked for about another minute. I was seriously in pizza heaven. I felt like the end of a cooking show. You know what I'm talking about? At the end of the show when the host tries the food and says..."mmmmmm, this is sooo good. Wow, mmm...this is incredible, mmm so good." Yeap, that's how I was feeling.



I'll leave you with a tip for mincing garlic. Use a zester. This isn't a new tip by any means, but for those that haven't tried it, it makes mincing garlic so much easier and faster. Just watch your fingers or you may mince your fingers too. *ouch*