Best of the Month November 2013

A review of my most popular blog posts from November.

November was another great month.  I keep receiving more followers on all of my social media and it's fun to share my recipes with others.  I also love seeing other's recipes to inspire me to make new and/or different things.

My biggest brag this month is that I got 2 pictures on TasteSpotting.  Can you guess which 2?  I'm so proud of this I hope it means that my photos are getting better.  Unlike many great pictures on photo sites, I do not have much time for styling.  Styled photos with props look great but most of my recipes are things I make for dinner and I try to get a good photo before I eat it.  This makes good photography difficult but I try to take multiple snaps and I think my editing is getting better.  Hopefully we will see more of Joybee, What's for Dinner on the big name photo sites :)

Black Bean Soup

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A creamy, flavorful, and meatless soup made with black beans and spices.  Filling enough for an entree.  This was my most popular post of November and it was accepted to TasteSpotting.  This recipe received 359 views and 72 +1s.

Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry

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A flavorful vegetarian curry made with cauliflower, chickpeas, and spices.  This was the second picture to be accepted to TasteSpotting (it's no coincidence that my top two were both accepted).  This recipe received 234 views and 64 +1s.

Cheese Steak Stromboli

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Shredded beef, peppers and onion rolled in a pizza dough with cheese and baked until crisp.  This Post received 244 views and 64 +1s.

  

Chicken Parmesan

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Breaded chicken in a tomato sauce smothered in Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.  This recipe received 234 views and 64 +1s.

Easy Cheesy Popcorn

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A quick and simple snack idea using a packet of macaroni and cheese mix.  This post received 172 views and 23 +1s.

Thank you everyone who stops by my blog I appreciate all my viewers and have a happy new year.

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Cheese Steak Stromboli

Shredded beef, peppers and onion rolled in a pizza dough with cheese and baked until crisp.

When I had leftover shredded beef from Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches I immediately thought steak pizza.  My idea was to add peppers and onions and provolone as well as mozzarella cheese to make it like a Philly cheese steak.  Pizzas can be a little more difficult to transfer into a hot oven (at least for me) so I decided to roll these pizzas like a burrito and make Stromboli.  This was a great idea.  A 6oz, thin crust, pizza dough makes a personal sized Stromboli that is quite filling.  I didn't serve these with marinara sauce, but if you want to go ahead.  I used a pizza dough recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice but you can use any recipe you like or even Italian bread dough (eventually I will post a pizza dough recipe).

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded (cooked) beef
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
provolone
mozzerella
6-6 oz pizza doughs, at room temperature

Sautee onion, pepper, and garlic together until peppers and onions are soft.  Add the shredded beef and Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly.  Allow mixture to cool completely (you don't want to put hot toppings on the pizza dough, it makes it difficult to roll up).

Preheat oven to 500F with a baking stone on the lowest rack

 Press or roll out the pizza dough, one at a time, until it is about 10 inches in diameter.  Top the dough with about 1/2 cup of meat mixture and then some cheese, (use as much as you are comfortable rolling). Then roll the dough like a burrito.  Fold 2 opposite sides in and then roll the entire dough, as tightly as you can, into a log shape.  Pinch the seam together so that it is well sealed.  Slit a couple of air holes in the top.

Slide the Stromboli onto the baking stone and lower the oven to 450F.  Bake for about 15 minutes until browned and crispy.  Keep an eye on the stromboli they may cook faster or slower depending on your oven, and the cheese will probably bubble out a bit, I don't know how to prevent this but there is usually still plenty of cheese inside.  Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Makes 4-6 stromboli (I only made two and refrigerated the rest of the ingredients for the next night).  Serve with marinara if you like, or any dipping sauce you like, but they are great alone.  Enjoy.

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