Baker's Corner: Mixed Vegetable Pizza with Roasted Garlic White Sauce

Today was one of those slow-paced, enjoyable weekend days - the kind that felt a little bit extra special because my husband and I turned culinary collaborators. We decided to make pizza from scratch at home which is a bit of an event in our household because we don't cook together very often (either I take over completely or else he does). 

To be fair to him, he did 80% of the work with me floating in and out to offer minimal support and unsolicited advice 😂 Whenever we make pizza at home, it tends to be an elaborate affair with the whole process from start to finish easily taking up half the day. It doesn't feel like a chore rather a fun kind of edible art project....thought I'll admit that the cleaning up is a different story altogether.

We decided to switch things up today and make two kinds of pizza - a classic Margherita Pizza with Marinara Sauce and a Mixed Vegetable Pizza with a Roasted Garlic White Sauce. The latter pizza was a deliberate departure from our usual tomato-based pizza, just to add some contrast and variety. 

We previously tried making a white pizza sauce using mayonnaise (inspired from the yummy cool lime mayonnaise sauce they served at Singapore's Pizza Hut eons ago) but our homemade version didn't appeal to me. Confession time: I don't like mayonnaise that much, especially the kind that comes out of a bottle. I can handle small quantities in sandwiches, burgers, wraps and such but a heavy slathering of mayo is just not my thing. My husband on the other hand, loves the stuff. But keeping in mind my preferences, he began searching for an alternate white sauce recipe and found Emeril Lagasse's Roasted Garlic White Sauce. The marinara sauce that we make for our Margherita Pizza is also adapted from Emeril's recipe so we tend to trust any recipe credited to him. This is a really simple recipe but takes some time to make only because you need to roast a whole bulb of garlic in the oven. But the resultant sauce is smooth, thick, spreadable and has great flavour so I think it is totally worth the extra time required. 

We kept it simple and chose a few toppings such as bell peppers, button mushrooms, red onions and yes, pineapple chunks (we DO like pineapple on pizza so judge away!). You can customise your toppings depending on whatever floats your boat. You could throw in sweet corn kernels, jalapeños, baby corn, olives, zucchini, asparagus, broccoli and your choice of greens (baby spinach, kale, arugula) or herbs (basil, oregano, thyme). 

The pizza tasted amazing and I'm pretty sure it will feature as a regular in our household from now on. The crust turned out a little thicker than what we expected so rolling the dough out to a larger size is what we should have done to get it absolutely perfect. Oh well! 😛

I'm going to skedaddle out of here now. Check out this recipe, try it and let me know if you like it.

Recipe of the month: Quesadillas with homemade Salsa and Guacamole

I haven't been cooking much lately (that statement sounds so odd to me). I may have lost a bit of my cooking mojo you guys. But I know that is just a passing phase so I'm not too flustered by it. I still do find the interest to bake occasionally but the cooking bug has crawled aside for the time being. I had plenty of draft posts ready that I had the good sense of creating during my cooking highs so that has really been my saving grace 😁 I think the last blogworthy dish that I cooked was the Dabeli which was way back in April (I posted it on the blog only much later). After that....zero....zilch....nada!

Anyway, ever since my husband (I call him 'A' remember?) contributed his Margherita Pizza as a guest post to my blog last year, I have been bugging him to feature another one of his recipes. There are lots of dishes that he exclusively churns out in our kitchen that I really REALLY like such as Quesadillas with Salsa and Guacamole, Jalapeño Poppers, Thai Green Curry, Mushroom and Pea Risotto, Penne in a Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce, Papdi Chaat, Paneer Butter Masala, Egg Biryani and so on. He makes these signature dishes for me usually over the weekend - on a leisurely Friday or Saturday weekend. While he is hard at work chopping, dicing, sautéing and serving, I'll be propped on the sofa watching something on tv (and not helping one bit). So yeah, I do look forward to those weekends 😆

I've already chronicled our love for Mexican food in the past so I'm not going to go there today. I like salsa but it is the guacamole that really does it for me. I can polish off a large bowl of guacamole all by myself....a bagful of tortilla chips and I am good to go. We have chips and dip at home quite frequently but occasionally hubby also makes Quesadillas to go along with it. I acquired the taste for Quesadillas from Blooie's Roadhouse, an American pub/restaurant on Upper Bukit Timah Road that was walking distance away from our previous rented condo. We used to go there ALL the time and we would always order the Quesadillas and Jalapeno Poppers without fail. When it comes to Quesadillas, I like them simple. I know of people stuffing them with refried beans, mushrooms, avocado, bell peppers, olives, tomatoes, ground spices, herbs and other stuff but I just like them to have grated cheese and nothing else. That's how it is done in Blooie's and that is how it is made in my home as well.

So, here is my husband's recipe for Quesadillas with homemade Salsa and Guacamole. I am responsible for the photos in this post this time round and I feel they didn't do any justice to his dish (boo!). But I can vouch for the flavour so you will have to believe me that it is good.

'A' will be taking over now.....bye y'all.

Cheers,

Megha

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Hello again readers. I am back on this space after a gap of around 1 year. As I've mentioned before, cooking is something I enjoy....writing not so much. That may be the reason why even though this photographs and recipe for this dish were ready months ago but it is being published much later. I had a few dishes in mind that I was considering to feature as part of my next guest post and among them, Quesadillas with Salsa and Guacamole was one of them. This is a dish that I make frequently at home and it something that both me and my wife enjoy immensely.

My introduction to Mexican food began way back in India but it was only truly during my stint in the US when I truly began to get further acquainted with this remarkable cuisine. On a brief visit to Mexico in 2008, I was able to appreciate the freshness of the ingredients, bold flavors and colorful presentation of several popular Mexican dishes. In particular, authentically made Salsa and Guacamole were two dishes that left me with a yearning to recreate them at home.

Making Salsa and Guacamole at home is pretty easy. It is just a matter of gathering the ingredients and chucking them into a bowl. Quesadillas don't even take that much time or effort especially if you are using store-bought tortillas (a 10-year old could do it). Sounds good doesn't it? Rest assured that this entire dish can come together in under an hour. Serve it to your family or while entertaining friends at dinner parties and it is sure to be a big hit.

So please go ahead and check out the recipe....

Restaurant review: Mai Thai @ Chip Bee Gardens, Singapore

Me and my girlie gang go out for dinner on birthday celebrations but since the past few months we've all been so preoccupied that our outings kept getting postponed until we realized that there were not one but THREE birthdays that were pending celebration. Not wanting to push it any further, we finally settled on a date where all of us were available (no mean feat that was). The date being finalized, the next tricky bit was to pick the cuisine and restaurant. One of the birthday girls, expressed her inclination for Thai food and since all of us happen to be Thai cuisine enthusiasts, the choice was unanimous. Even though Singapore has many Thai restaurants, none of us had an absolute favourite so it required a little bit of brainstorming before we arrived at Mai Thai at Chip Bee Gardens, Holland Village. 

Established in July 2009, Mai Thai Restaurant is a casual fine dining restaurant with both indoor and alfresco seating, offering authentic Thai cuisine and warm hospitality in the rustic Chip Bee Gardens just opposite Holland Village. The location was super convenient for us because of its proximity to our workplace. We made a reservation in advance for 8 people, something I would recommend especially on a busy Friday evening. 

On arrival, we found that our reservation was in someone else's name so there was a little bit of a muddle before we were shown to our table. The restaurant isn't very big but the interiors are pleasing to the eye with subtle Thai influences. The largely white décor is interspersed with Thai-inspired artwork, statues, rustic table setting and warm lighting. 

The restaurant seemed short of staff so it took a while before we got the menu. Talking about the variety of food, the menu of the restaurant is very impressive. It has an array of dishes in categories ranging from appetizers to salads, soups, rice, noodles, side dishes, drinks and desserts. What's more is that there are certain dishes that come in a large serving that is suitable for sharing and there are vegetarian versions of several popular dishes.