Our mother didn’t cook on Friday nights when we were little, and we tend to agree with this as policy. Fridays are a grace note, the last day in our long week. We all need a reprieve from the weekday staples of broccoli and pasta.
As children of the 1970s, we adored TV dinners on Friday nights: the tinfoil tray with its geometric partitions (a bonus for the child who hated her different foods to touch); the fried chicken; the square of potato with its matching square of melted yellow; and most beloved of all, the teeny dish of warm apple cobbler, something we’d never have eaten full-sized, or home-made.
TV dinners smelt ever so slightly of airplane diesel, but this did not deter us. They were consumed while watching “The Love Boat,” which probably enhanced their charms.
For many of us now, pizza is the go-to Friday night supper. It is a blank slate that can work for the adult, the sophisticated child, and the fussy eater alike. It takes kindly to being gussied up with artisan ingredients, but it shines equally as a basic Margherita.
(Also, it’s easy-peasy. Delivered in forty minutes or it’s free).
But this Friday, refrain from ordering in. Below are two pizza recipes that are shockingly good, considering their healthful ingredients. Which will balance out the glasses of cold Prosecco you can sip to launch your Friday night.
End-of-school pizza party! Whoo-hoo!
Ingredients:
Yeast-Free Herbed Spelt Pizza Crust
Preparation:
Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil.
On a clean counter, measure out flour and the salt. Add baking powder, water and 2 tablespoons oil; mix it together with your hands…dough will be sticky…add flour as needed.
Knead dough until smooth, about 1 minute. Make two dough balls. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let sit until your ingredients are ready.
Makes enough dough for 2 thin-crust pizzas.
Classic Veggie
Pizza Dough
TOPPING:
Preparation:
Roll out pizza dough.
Transfer to oiled pizza pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover dough with sauce and a sprinkling of cheese. Assemble toppings. Cover with remaining cheese and season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
Bake until dough is crisp and browned and cheese is melted, 13 to 16 minutes.
Transfer pizza to a cutting board. Cool 5 minutes.
Rustic Potato Pizza
Pizza Dough
TOPPING:
Preparation
Roll out your pizza dough and lay it on a lightly oiled pizza sheet.
Brush dough with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, rosemary; sprinkle with cornmeal.
Layer the thinly sliced potatoes all over the pizza, scattering the mozzarella between slices. Top with garlic, sprinkle with rosemary leaves, and dot with goat cheese. Add additional mozzarella if desired, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Bake until dough is crisp and browned and cheese is melted, 13 to 16 minutes.
Transfer pizza to a cutting board. Cool 5 minutes
Photos by our good friend Margaret Gdyczynski
Popsicles.
Is there any other word that so instantly evokes childhood summertimes?
Say “popsicle” out loud and you can almost taste the twin rectangles of frozen grape. Or cherry. Or the flowery sweetness of that faux-banana.
We remember the concentration it took to split a Popsicle perfectly in half, one for you, one for your sister, and the tragedy that ensued if you botched it, and one of you received a broken third.
We recall the feel of the splintery wooden sticks as you chewed on them afterwards, wishing you had an extra fifteen cents for another.
Or, even better, a quarter: because a quarter could buy you a Lola, a solid pyramid of frozen flavoured ice. The corner store clerk would snip the top of the triangle, and you’d concentrate on pushing up the perfect sliver of Lola to suck on, making it last, not wanting to happen what always did, the sugary juice slurped until all that remained was a slab of clear, flavorless ice.
To usher in the summer of 2013, we took our boys to a big city park for a walk. And Popsicles. Twelve dollars later, the two older boys had swirly Cyclones, lemonade ice-pops on sticks that are always too short and which hasten the inevitable sticky mess. The little one had a healthier frozen strawberry bar, and sweetly believed that he had the same as his older cousins.
Below is a recipe that says summertime almost as sweetly.
There is a grown-up version too. Which will make the beginning of summer holidays that much sweeter.
Strawberry Creamsicle
Ingredients:
Preparation
Blend strawberries in a powerful food processor (or mash in a bowl for chunky option).
Mix honey into yoghurt and stir well.
Combine strawberries and yoghurt. You can make this as artistic as you’d like—creating swirls with a light mix, or a full blend for uniform Popsicle. Pour into molds (in a pinch, use an ice cube tray and toothpicks) and freeze.
Makes 4-8 popsicles, depending on size of mold.
Melonberry Slushies
Ingredients:
Preparation
Combine fruit and vodka with a splash of fresh lime juice (and mint if desired) and a cup of crushed ice. Blend well.
Pour into a festive martini glass and garnish with a sprig of mint.
Makes one grownup slushie. Or two small summer cocktails.
Every day is Father’s Day.
Nope, wait, that’s kids.
It’s Father’s Day, and there is much to celebrate.
We recall with fondness our dad making weekend breakfasts and inventing silly lyrics to “Down by the Old Mill Stream.” Taking us to the movies. Inventing a cast of characters for an eccentric saga of bedtime stories. He was, and remains, a good dad.
Things have changed since we were small; involved dads are now a given. At-home dads, as detailed in a 2012 article in the New York Times, consider themselves “the new normal.” (The last few years have also seen a stylish rival for the Yummy Mummy: the Hipster Dad, in his narrow jeans and thick spectacles, with his beard and baby carrier).
Regardless of generation, it seems a truth universally acknowledged that men like BBQs. We hosted a very sophisticated Manhattan dad last summer—an opera-goer who knows the MoMa collection by heart—and even his eyes lit up at the sight of our Big Green Egg.
There is something basic about a BBQ. Man make fire, that kind of caveman thing.
So gather ye fathers while ye may, the grandpas and the dudes alike, and lay in the thickest, juiciest T-Bone from a happy place like Rowe Farms. Let the menfolk do their stuff.
Meanwhile, you assemble this: a tangy, delicate-yet-substantial potato salad, which can stand up to the heft of a good steak.
Grilling is thirsty work. So offer this icy-cold martini and—while admiring its crystalline depths—give thanks that it’s 2013, and Don Draper’s legacy is more than just poor parenting.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.
Ingredients:
Preparation
In a large pot, cook the whole potatoes in boiling water for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender.
Carefully drain, rinse with cold water, and when cool enough to handle, thinly slice.
Transfer to a large bowl. Pour the vegetable stock and white wine over the potatoes, toss gently to thoroughly coat, and then set them aside to cool.
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper, and whisk well. Add the herbs and whisk rapidly to incorporate them into the mixture.
Drizzle the dressing over the potatoes, add the green onions, and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill for 30 minutes or more to allow the flavors to blend. Gently toss the potato salad again, re-season with additional salt and pepper to taste, and serve at room temperature.
Makes 6 to 8 generous servings
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