Cheesy Garlic Fingers! (Bacon Optional)

Something I realized about where I live - is that there are several pizza and kebab restaurants and not one of them sells cheesy garlic fingers.
Garlic fingers (if you're not familiar) is more or less pizza dough with loads of garlic butter on top and cheese - and of course - bacon is optional.

I'm from Canada and there's always some sort of combo of pizza and garlic fingers  - which is handy for the vegetarians (bacon aside of course) who might not eat the communal pizza!

So as a spur of the last moment decision - I decided to try to make some.
I don't know how I haven't EVER tried to make my own - but it suddenly became necessary that I try.

What you need:

• Pizza dough (I use this recipe in my bread machine!)
• I also added liquid garlic to the dough mixture so it'd be nice and garlic-y!
• Liquid garlic or very finely minced garlic (or both really)
• Dried parsley and chives
• A lot of butter - about a quarter cup!
• A lot of shredded cheese! (I just used a pizza blend.)
• Optional: Already cooked and crumbled bacon.
• I have discovered cooking the bacon in the oven! Less mess and fairly quick at 200*C for 15 minutes on the middle rack with baking paper underneath for even less mess! :)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 225*C and roll out your pizza dough onto a lined baking sheet.
2. Melt your butter, minced garlic, dried parsley and chives in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl.
3. Brush/drown your rolled out dough with your garlic butter mixture, sprinkle cheese generously all over and top with crumbled up bacon.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is bubbling and dough edges are golden brown.

Now, you're probably wondering what kind of sauce goes best with cheesy garlic fingers?

According to my Californian friend - Dominos serves theirs with some sort of tomato sauce. Probably pizza sauce.  Probably not as amazing as Donair sauce...oh donair.

A donair is a Canadian invention of sorts - delicious all year round, cures hangovers (so I hear) and in general is amazing.  And the official food of Halifax, Nova Scotia I read online!

Read more about the beauty of a donair here.

But what goes best with donair is its side kick - the sauce.
Which looks like plain ol' white whatever - but is amazing and apparently so freaking easy to make - I'm disappointed and thrilled!
Disappointed because no amount of gym hours is going to save me....thrilled because it's easy as pie!

Vinegar, condensed (sweetened) milk and garlic powder - OMG.  That's it!  Whisk and chill.  So delicious.  Also amazing on pizza too since you're probably having that too, right?

And guess what? You don't need to live in Canada to make it.
All the ingredients are readily (usually) available in most stores!
I found the recipe here!

These are great for potlucks, birthday parties, having guests over or just for yourself!

Of course I had to make pizza as well...

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed getting fat with me making your own garlic fingers!  ;)

D.

Jelly Roll Cake!

One thing I learned in school this past week was how to make jelly roll cakes.
They're so easy - too easy.

So I tried to make my own at home using home-made jam and chocolate sauce (couldn't find my dark chocolate bar for shaving) and I baked it a smidge too long!
So it isn't rolled up as nicely.  But it still tasted lovely!

At home - yeah it was threatening to break so I just flattened it because it wasn't flexible enough to roll properly or tightly.

School version - much more roll-y looking!

I got positive reviews of my piping skills of the whipped cream at school (photo below) until I started to run out of whipped cream and some pieces had too much cream.
"This isn't America D! We use a lot less cream!" she chastised me.
Naturally, having American friends over on Friday called for "American-style" whip cream.

At school all pretty.

So how easy is this?

Pre-heat your oven to 225*C

• 4 eggs
• 2 dl of sugar

Beat these with an electric mixer!  I used just a whisk and it wasn't beat well enough and I found the cake to be a smidge heavy.

Sift:

• 1 dl of potato flour
• 1 dl of all-purpose flour

Fold it into the wet ingredients and mix well (not with mixer with a spatula) and then pour into a baking-paper lined baking tray and bake for 5-8 minutes.

I try to aim for 7 but apparently nearly hit 10 with the one I made on Friday!

Remove from oven and have a second baking paper sheet on your surface sprinkled in sugar, powdered sugar, cocoa powder or whatever you want your cake dusted with on the outside.

Flip cake onto the 2nd sheet and slowly peel off the paper backing.

Spread a thin and even layer of filling all over the cake (but don't go over the edges!) - whether it be:

• jam
• Nutella
• marmalade
• whipped cream etc.

Carefully roll the cake horizontally from one side to the other and tightly as possible without breaking the cake.

Wrap tightly in baking paper and chill in the fridge until you're ready to serve it - then slice it up and enjoy!

This is a fantastic cake for your next handicraft meeting, book club meeting or little tea party!  It's dairy-free (unless you put the whipped cream or chocolate) - which will make your local lactose-intolerant/dairy-allergic friends very happy I'm sure.

D.