Easy Pizza Party

Michael serves up a rich and zesty pizza that appeals to both adults and kids. He starts off with a good tomato sauce base that includes essential ingredients like onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste and of course, oregano. This is a great party meal. Guests can personalize their pizzas from a selection of toppings. Panzerotti and twisty bread with dipping sauce round out this simple but delicious party hit.

• Butterscotch Sauce
• Pink Lemonade
• Pizza Parlor Sauce

Pizza Parlour Sauce

Yield: 2

A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason, this is also an account of what happens when I make this dish, so you’ll understand each step. Of course when you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don’t like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour, you have to add your own!

A good pizza sauce is dominated by the rich flavours of tomatoes and the bright flavour of oregano. I actually prefer dried oregano to fresh because it seems to have a sharper flavour. This sauce is a good base for any pizza toppings…

Ingredients:

Pizza Parlor Sauce

• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 x onion, finely diced
• 3 x garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 can of diced Italian tomatoes
• 2 tbsp of oregano

Directions:

Pizza Parlor Sauce

1. Preheat a saucepan over a medium high heat then add the olive oil and onion. Sauté until the onions soften and begin to turn golden, and then add the garlic. If you add the garlic with the onion, it will burn in the time it takes the onions to begin browning. Continue to sauté for a few more minutes, being careful not to scorch the garlic.
2. Add the tomato paste and canned tomatoes and stir well, crushing them with the back of the spoon. Add oregano, while continuing to stir then bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes, until thickened. If you like, puree in the food processor until smooth.

Butterscotch Sauce

Ease of Preparation: Easy
2 Cups

This classic sauce turns anything into instant dessert with its deep caramel flavour. Every time I transform bland white sugar into rich, slightly bitter caramel I get excited. I think it’s magical how much flavour a simple cooking process can add! Your family will too.

Butterscotch Sauce

A cup of white sugar
A cup of water
A stick of butter (four ounces) cut into a few pieces
A cup of cream
A dribble of vanilla

Pour the sugar into a small, tight pile in the middle of a saucepot. Add the water, pouring around the pile then begin heating over a high heat. Don’t stir! The water and sugar will quickly dissolve together and form simple syrup. As the heat increases it’ll begin simmering and steaming and the water will gradually evaporate. Once it’s gone the steam will die down and the temperature will begin to rise leaving behind a pure melted sugar syrup.

As the heat continues to rise the sugar will start to turn pale golden. When you see the first hint of colour gently swirl the pan to keep the colour even. When it’s a deep golden brown add the butter and whisk it in until the sauce is smooth. This will drop the caramel’s temperature out of the sugar browning range.

Add the cream and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until thickened.

Pink Lemonade

Ease of Preparation: Easy
8 Glasses

This lemonade is just as popular with grown-ups as it is with kids. Its pink color comes from an old bartenders trick, bright red grenadine syrup. The balance of sweet and sour flavours are just the thing on a hot summer’s day and it’s not too sweet for seconds – or thirds!

Pink Lemonade

Eight lemons
A cup of sugar
A splash or two of grenadine syrup
A pinch of salt
Lots of cool, clear water
Lots of ice cubes

For maximum fragrance and strong lemon flavour, zest the lemons. Use a small bowl then vigorously juice the lemons into it as well. Whisk in the sugar and salt. They won’t dissolve perfectly in the juice but will in the water.

Fill a two-quart pitcher halfway with ice cubes. Add the lemon syrup and top up with cold water. Stir in grenadine syrup until you like the color.

Serve immediately and get ready to pass on the recipe!



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Chef At Large

Army Food

Michael gets more than a taste of the life as an Armed Forces Reservist in a field-training kitchen. In the course of a 15-hour day, the field kitchen makes a company move; it comes under fire; feeds troops in the field; and pulls off a 5-course dinner for VIP’s. The “green” Reservists get pushed to their limits.