Fresh & Easy Flatbread

20 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by Nicole Small in appetizer, grilled, product review, recipe, summer

Tags

appetizer, appetizer recipe, cheese, flatbread, food, food blog, food blogger, garlic, grilled, pizza, product review, recipe, recipe blog, recipe blogger, summer, tomato, vegetarian

A few years ago, these grocery stores called Fresh & Easy started popping up everywhere in Phoenix! I love them because they offer fresh produce, cheeses, meats, as well as many ready-to-go meals. In addition, they sell delicious pizza and focaccia doughs so that you can make homemade pizza! Their rosemary focaccia dough is my absolute favorite. It can be paired with just about anything: used in a sandwich, grilled and dipped in olive oil, and even used as a pizza or flatbread (as in the recipe below)!

One of Fresh & Easy’s cheeses is my new obsession. I am always looking for new cheeses, and I am so pleased with this find- I really love goat cheese, and Fresh & Easy sells a delicious goat gouda that I got during my last visit. It is so flavorful, I can’t wait to go back and get more! In addition, I enjoy the arugula that Fresh & Easy sells. It has such a nice bite; I have tried arugula from other groceries in my area but none of them are as balanced as Fresh & Easy’s.

I decided to stop by Fresh & Easy and pick up these items, as well as some grape tomatoes, and make a nice flatbread for dinner. Fresh & Easy makes it so simple to put together a delicious and quick meal on week nights.

Fresh & Easy Flatbread

Serves: 2 as a meal, 4+ as an appetizer
Time: 35 minutes to prep & grill

Ingredients

1 Fresh & Easy Rosemary Focaccia dough
2 oz Cablanca Goat Gouda, finely grated, plus a few pretty shaved pieces
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
1 handfull of arugula
1 tbsp olive oil, divided in half
3 tbsp corn meal
Sea salt & fresh pepper
Flour (for rolling focaccia out)

Directions

Preheat your grill and place a pizza stone directly on the grates.

Roll out the focaccia dough using flour to prevent sticking. Place 3 tbsp corn meal on a pizza peel and spread it around evenly.

Place the rolled out dough on top of the corn meal. Take a fork and pierce the dough all over the center, save for about 1/2 inch around the edges to make a crust. Drizzle 1/2 tbsp olive oil over the dough and spread around with your fingers. Sprinkle dough with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Top with the grated goat gouda.

In a small CorningWare® dish, smear olive oil all around to prevent sticking. Place halved grape tomatoes face up and drizzle with remaining 1/4-1/2 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh pepper.

We have a gas grill that has three vertical sections of coals. When we grill a pizza or flatbread, we turn on all three sections at first to preheat our pizza stone, then turn off the middle one to cook the pizza/flatbread so that it cooks evenly. So, if you have this option, turn off the middle section and then place your flatbread (using your pizza peel) onto the pizza stone.

While the flatbread is cooking, place the tomatoes in the CorningWare® dish directly on the grill and let cook while the pizza is cooking.

Cook flatbread until the dough is done and remove using your pizza peel. Remove the CorningWare® dish carefully with oven mits.

Top the grilled flatbread with the grill-roasted tomatoes, a handful of fresh arugula, and shaved goat gouda. Cut into squares. Enjoy!

What is your favorite new foodie find?

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I feel that it is important to note that this was not a sponsored post, I just really love Fresh & Easy and was inspired by the ingredients found there.

Lavender Cookies with Lemon Glaze

16 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Nicole Small in dessert, lavender, product review, recipe

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

baked, cookie, dessert, dessert recipe, food, holidays, lavender, lavender cookie, lemon, product review, recipe, recipe blog, sweets, vegetarian

Ever since I had the lavender ice cream at Sweet Republic, I am absolutely smitten with anything lavender. So, when I found a bag of lavender last time I was in Sedona, I snatched it up with high hopes of a multitude of baked goods. The first on my list were some lavender cookies for Mother’s Day. My Mom loves lavender, so I thought it would be the perfect treat. This recipe is really easy, and the lemon glaze compliments the fragrant lavender perfectly.

Lavender Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Makes about 15 cookies

Cookie Ingredients*

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (or 5/8 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp dried lavender buds, coarsely chopped

Directions

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. Add the vanilla, lavender and flour. Form two balls with the mixture and wrap each separately in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Take out one ball of dough at a time and roll it out (I use chop sticks to measure the thickness- put your dough between 2 chop sticks and roll out until your rolling pin is rolling on top of the chop sticks). Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes, I used flowers for mothers day, and place on a greased baking sheet. Dust with colored sugar (if desired) and bake for about 9 minutes. Let cool before glazing.

*For the cookie dough, I adapted this recipe.

Lemon Glaze Ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

Mix all ingredients together. If it is not thick enough, you can add extra sugar. Spoon onto cookies and chill.

I also sprinkled a few lavender buds on the top of each cookie. This recipe is perfect for any event, but is also easy enough to make for no reason at all- just to enjoy some sweet lavender.

Dry Lavender Soda

If you are as much of a lavender fanatic as I am, you would also love this soda that I just tried. The brand that makes it is called Dry, and they have created a line of sodas with only four all natural ingredients each- the important ones. With flavors like wild lime, rhubarb, and cucumber, you’re sure to find an interesting flavor that suits you!

These sodas are such a treat, and they’re all around 45-70 calories each! In addition, Dry sources as many ingredients from local areas as they can, and they give back to their communities. Their labels have even been recognized for their design! When it comes to wines, I usually lean towards ones that include tasting notes, so I think it is really cool that Dry has incorporated not only tasting notes but also paring ideas with their sodas. It makes me want to try all of them…

Enjoy!

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Graeters Ice Cream

19 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by Nicole Small in dessert, ice cream, product review

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Tags

dessert, graeters, ice cream, product, product review, sweets

Graeters makes one of my favorite ice creams – Black Raspberry with Chocolate Chunks!

Graeters Black Raspberry Chip

Graeters ice cream is one of my favorite frozen treats. Every time we visit Kentucky, we take a special trip to a nearby Graeters location. Nearly everyone gets the Black Raspberry Chocolate ~~Chip~~ Chunk flavor, and it is just so divine. The texture is luscious, and the flavor is amazing with the perfect balance of sweet and slightly tart. The chocolate pieces are HUGE, and you often consider whether or not they actually break the chocolate bars up before adding them to the ice cream! The best part about this ice cream is when you take a bite and get a huge piece of chocolate.

Love in a Pint

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