Stove-top Ratatouille

We moved to a small town in Northern Arizona

 about 18 months ago. 

I needed a change of pace and a better housing situation. I'm still close enough to the city that I can take a short day-trip if I need to be in Phoenix for work meetings or TV shoots, but far enough away from the crazy heat and hustle of the city to enjoy a more country life.  I've always been a very simple gal, and I don't really need anything fancy. It's been a perfect fit and we're thriving here. It's a whole new world.  We bought an acre and are really enjoying the cooler weather and totally different growing zone for our garden as well.

Many of you are aware of my avid love of gardening and this new part of the state has been just what this gal needs. We've had a couple of very successful gardening seasons compared to Phoenix where the heat is just relentless and well...evil. This year, around March, my youngest son (now 17 years old and in college) helped build a greenhouse to extend our growing season a lot and also to get experience with a greenhouse ecosystem. He's seriously considering a career in Botany and Horticultural Science...and I couldn't be more thrilled about that! So really the greenhouse is for school right? I mean I learn something everyday and this has been a learning experience for sure. 

So here's the journey. We started with a 16 foot by 20 foot greenhouse kit. Some good soil, 100 cinder blocks and lots of anchors (about 6K pounds worth of cord and screw-in-the-ground things) to keep it from flying away in our very, very windy mountain town. 

Face worked really hard to make this happen. 

Then we installed soak hoses and planted all the seedlings that we had been nurturing inside under the grow-lamps. We planted 3 carrot varieties, beets.  Peas that will climb. There are 25 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  There are herbs like mad for my shenanigans in the kitchen including basil, cilantro, tarragon, dill, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, chives and 3 varieties of sage. I also wanted to try my hand this year with leeks. 

Things started to grow really well! 

We even put in solar powered lamps so I could just weed in the middle of the night if I wanted to do so. Don't judge me. I really love being in this place. Sometimes I say I'm weeding, but I'm just sitting out here reading a good book or listening to some good Gospel tunes. It's really good for my soul. 

Now everything is pretty huge! We had to take out the zucchini and we're putting in our second crops for Fall. Other things like the broccoli have bolted like mad, but I'm saving the seeds so I'm just using the extra leaves for coleslaw and low-carb enchilada or lasagna bakes. Our cilantro went to seed so I harvested the large branches with seed pods to dry for spices and also to replant seeds in the spring (or indoors during the winter). 

As our adventures in gardening continue I decided that I really needed to be a chef and actually make a version of Ratatouille that didn't require using and oven. I wanted one that also used a lot less oil than most traditional recipes, since they tended to be heavy. So with our Japanese eggplant, zucchini and honkin' huge load of heirloom tomatoes coming into full ripeness...this was a must! 

Pick the eggplants young and tender to avoid lots of thick seeds and to minimize the sponge effect it has on oil in cooking. If you aren't growing your own tomatoes, be sure to pick firm and ripe varieties. I used both large chopped tomatoes as well as the smaller cherry varieties. 

We have a few things outside the greenhouse too...

Face built a few grow-boxes in the yard. There is space for all his side projects. Yes. He built all of these from scratch. I'm so proud. 

Now. For the recipe...

My Stove-top Ratatouille 

1 medium globe eggplant, peeled, coarsely chopped

1 large zucchini, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more

¼ cup olive oil

1 Tbsp fresh thyme

1 large onion, halved, sliced ½ inch thick

1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 pints cherry tomatoes

2 large tomatoes, chopped 

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup fresh torn basil leaves 

Directions:

Toss eggplant, zucchini, and 2 tsp. salt in a colander. Let sit 30 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels. 

Heat oil in a large heavy Dutch oven or other heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high. Add eggplant and zucchini and cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables begin to take on color, about 10 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook another 5 minutes until clear. Add thyme and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Cover and slow cook on very low heat for 10-15 minutes more. 

Transfer to a serving platter and top with basil.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Southern Christmas Chicken and Rice Gumbo Meal in a Jar

Several years ago I visited my son's 4th grade classroom to share some regional foods of America. It was a lot of giggles seeing kids try okra for the first time and explore some of the southern foods they don't get to have often here. One of the class all time favorites (with bells, whistles, several helpings and begging for more) was this chicken gumbo! Who knew?  Well, the irony of this one is that it was all made from freeze-dried food. It was all dried including the okra.  I still can't find it freeze dried anywhere besides my friends at North Bay Trading Company!  However, I'm having a hard time actually not eating it!  It's like popcorn, but good for me! 

I love fresh tender okra too. I swear, I should have been born in Georgia. Wait...did someone from Macon  lose a daughter in Logan, Utah in the mid 70's? If so, she's been living quite comfortably with the Mormons and needs more okra! Okay. Admittedly, I seriously belong in my family. We have some southern relatives back in the family tree so that probably explains my okra-fetish. Admittedly, I'm also out of okra. That's embarrassing.  5 years later, this is still a favorite around my house. I'm making these again this year for Christmas! 

This  is a classic chicken Andouille gumbo. Using freeze-dried sausage along with the smoke and spices in this recipe mimic the andouille sausage traditionally used in good Southern Gumbo. I get all my freeze-dried ingredients from my own website: Thrive Life Chef Tess and the powdered sauce mixes from a place called Firehouse Pantry Store. 

Chef Tess Chicken and Rice Gumbo

1 cup freeze dried diced chicken

1/2 cup instant rice

1/3 cup freeze dried sausage

2 T ultra gel or cornstarch

1/3 cup dehydrated onion

½ cup freeze dried bell peppers
1/2 cup freeze dried okra 

¼ cup tomato powder

1/3 cup freeze dried celery

2T powdered butter

2T worcestershire powder

2T dehydrated parsley flakes

1T dehydrated minced garlic

½ tsp buffalo wind sauce powder

1 ½ tsp chicken bouillon powder

½ tsp hickory smoke powder

In a Quart Sized Jar layer the ingredients, shaking the powdered ingredients into the solid ones. Top with an oxygen absorber and close tightly. 

To Prepare meal: Combine contents with 4 ½ cups boiling water. Simmer 5-7 minutes. Yields 6 cups

If you omit the rice, it is lower carbohydrate for diabetics.

There you go.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Good Morning Arizona! 3 Brilliant Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Tomorrow morning I will be on Good Morning Arizona sharing 3 Brilliant ways to use Thanksgiving Leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I'll be incorporating a lot of whole grain goodness from Organicgrains.com in this one because I not only have the honor of using their grains often in my baking as part of my regular job but also because I love them!
Breakfast: 

Puff Pastry (or Biscuit) Turkey Quiche Cups

1 package froze puff pastry*

8-10 oz cooked turkey, well seasoned

8 slices of bacon, sliced in 3 pieces (total 24 small pieces)

3 eggs, beat well

1/4 bell pepper, chopped fine

12 1 inch squares of Havarti or Swiss Cheese

Pepper to taste

Allow the puff pastry to come to room temperature and cut into 12 squares. Line the bottom of a muffin cup with the pastry up the edges.  Put pieces of bacon and bell pepper in each cup and top with a few chunks of turkey.  Fill cup with 1 Tablespoon scrambled egg. Put a nice little cheese top on the whole deal-eee-oh (no I really don't have a real technical jargon for the muffin thing-a-ma-gig...sorry.) Bake 425 degrees 13-15 minutes. Serve warm. Any leftovers need to go in the fridge. 

*Variations:

Low carb: Omit the puff pastry and spray the muffin tins well with a non-stick coating (or line with a cupcake liner).  Proceed with the recipe filling the cups as described. 

Biscuit: Use biscuit dough in place of the puff pastry dough.
Flavors: Change the seasoning using your favorite variety of fajita seasoning for a Southwest quiche, French herbs de Provance for a more classic flavor, Spinach to replace the bell pepper if desired. Play with these! 

Lunch:

Start with the Sweet Potato Bread...

The Sweet Potato Bread is my original recipe made in full in the Fall Sweet Potato Bread Tutorial with the embellishments and leaves.  Here, I'm just giving you the recipe for the plain loaves. 

Chef Tess' Sweet Potato 5 Day Bread Dough

yield: 4 loaves 

2T active dry yeast (over 3000 feet use 1 T only)
4 cups milk, cold is best 
3/4 cup honey Or Organic Maple SYRUP
1T salt
4 eggs (or 1 cup egg replacement)
3/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes. cooled to body temp again. The consistency of thick oatmeal.
1T baking powder
 2T cinnamon, 
2tsp ground ginger and 
1T vanilla
2 cups Organic Grains Freshly Milled hard white wheat flour
12-14 cups  organic grains bread flour  (I have used fine ground white wheat and been fine doing all whole grain, use only 12-14 cups total if whole wheat is used )

Directions: Dissolve yeast in milk. Stir in honey. Allow yeast to get all foamy and look like it is having a hay day. Add egg, oil, mashed sweet potato, baking powder, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour spices, vanilla, and salt, in that order. Do not let yeast come in contact with salt on its own or it will kill the yeast. Beat until smooth. Allow dough to rest 10-15 minutes

Add enough of the flour remaining to make a soft dough that is easy to handle but not dry. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 full minutes. about 600 turns. Yea. 600 by hand. 5-6 minutes by machine on medium speed. Form into a ball and place in an ungreased 2 gallon bowl, covered tightly. If you don't have a large enough bowl...use two smaller bowls. Or...just half the recipe if you are worried. Put in the fridge. Punch down after 2 hours (this may be faster if you use warm ingredients or flour. If the dough is over 85 degrees when you put it in the fridge, be sure to punch down sooner. Also...if you have kids who open the fridge a lot, be sure to lower the temperature a bit so that your fridge is really as cold as it should be) Form into a ball again. Cover tightly and chill at least 8 hours.

Be sure to punch down daily (this not only expels gas, but also ensures even temperature in the dough). This dough can be made up to 5 days before Thanksgiving! So, it's nice to have around. It's also amazing to make into rolls instead of bread, should you choose to do something else. This makes four loaves. Four. I will only make one here, but you'll get the idea. Take one-quarter of the dough and roll it into a tight ball. I like to expel as much air as possible so it raises rather uniformly. Gather the dough at the bottom and make a tight ball out of the dough.

Place on a parchment lined baking stone or baking sheet, at least 12 inches by 10 inches. Allow to rise until doubled, uncovered, lightly misted with water. When almost raised, turn on the oven to 425 degrees.  Bake 425 degrees 15 minutes and lower the temperature to 350 for the final 15-20 minutes of baking.  Allow cooling. Slice and wrap tightly. 

To make into the Turkey Grilled Cheese simply place a slice of the well-seasoned turkey and 2-3 slices of sharp cheddar on a thick slice of the sweet potato bread. Grill on the stove in a medium skillet over medium heat with melted butter until golden and toasted.  Add a Tablespoon or two of cranberry relish and a drizzle of good balsamic. Garnish with minced fresh rosemary if desired.

Dinner: 
Marinara Turkey Sliders with Roasted Garlic 

Get your rolls.
In this recipe, I used the 4 Ingredient Make-Ahead-Rolls from Organicgrains.com. Or the Make-Ahead No Knead Cracked Wheat Dinner Rolls (pictured below).  If you're still looking for great roll recipes, these will save your brain power. 

You will need:
1 dozen baked rolls 
1 lb cooked turkey
1 cup roasted garlic
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
12 slices mozzarella
1/2 cup Garlic infused Ahuacatlan Avocado Oil
1 cup parmesan cheese
Parsley, chopped (for garnish if desired)

Direction:
Cut a 1 1/2 inch circle out of the top crust of each roll and set aside. With each roll, remove a little of the soft interior or push it down with your thumb. 

In each roll, add 1 1/2 oz turkey, 2-3 pieces of roasted garlic, 2 Tbsp Marinara, and1 slice of mozzarella. Top with the circle of crust that was removed previously. Brush with garlic infused olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot. Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

There you go! Make some awesome meals with all those Turkey leftovers!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Meal in a Jar: Breakfast Ham and Zucchini Quiche Casserole (Low Carb & Gluten Free)

One of the classes I adored teaching was how to make shelf-stable meals in a jar that are good 5-7 years. This is, in fact, something I have done for my family for years. It's just a super practical way to have a "grab-n-go" meal for any occasion. Unlike other jar meals I've seen, the ones I plan are "just add water" and include the meat, veggies, sauce and all...ONE jar. One place. Grab-n-go!   These quart size jars make a meal for our family of 6 (4 adults, 2 children) and average about 9 cups of prepared food coming from the small amount of space in a quart jar. They can be made in mylar bags, but I personally prefer the jars. They're airtight, rodent proof and clear, so I can tell if the food is still gorgeous. Yes, I do slip into my Hollywood fashion designer alter-ego and say, "Fabulous Darling! Fabulous!"  Yes. I realize I'm odd. Shhh. I'm happy in my delusion. It keeps me young. What was I talking about? Oh yeah...

 I'm sharing an adaptation of an old family recipe that I think is a keeper! I made it for my kids and the 12-year-old had 3 plates of it. Next time I'm making half gallon jars. I'm getting into teen years with these little whipper-snappers. Yikes. Needless to say, the meals will feed a normal family of 5...or one teenage boy. I also plan a loaf of bread a day per person (for rolls, breadsticks, or sides like that) in my food storage. I have a whole series of jars based on those too...but that will be a later post.   This is an adaptation of my mom's Zucchini Casserole. I grew up with this fresh from the garden and I wanted to capture the flavors in a jar meal for storage.  Thankfully I have found the most beautiful freeze-dried zucchini slices!  I have to stop myself from eating them like potato chips right from the can. You know what else I love? I love the there's no junk added to my favorite brand of freeze-dried veggies.  It's just the veggie. Just the fruit. Nothing added but happiness. 

When the Breakfast Ham and Zucchini Quiche Casserole is in a jar, it looks like this...

Cooked, it looks like a quiche and tastes like a quiche...without the crust. 

My Mom's Ham and Zucchini Quiche Casserole

adapted from  cheftessbakeresse: Geneve's Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:

2T  Dehydrated Green Onion

1 cup Freeze Dried Ham
1/2 cup Freeze Dried Bell Peppers
1/2 cup Freeze Dried Zucchini
1 T Powdered Butter
1/4 cup Ova Easy Egg Crystals or Scrambled Egg Mix
1/2 cup Powdered Sour Cream
 2T  Ultra Gel
1/2 tsp  Italian Seasoning
1  1/2 cup Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese

Directions: 
 *Real freeze dried meat must be in a glass jar or mylar bag with an oxygen absorber. Open all your cans of happiness. Line up your jars. Get all your measuring tools and stuff together. Make sure you have all your ingredients. 

Put the green onion, freeze-dried ham, zucchini, and bell pepper in the jar. Add the powdered ingredients and shake them down into the veggie mixture. This is how I get a lot of product into a small space. I shake things a lot in my jars. 

 Add the cheese and top with a fresh 300 cc oxygen absorber. You can also use the jar attachment on a food saver, but you'll need to either cut a coffee filter to fit the top of the jar or use a cupcake/muffin liner at the top of the jar just inside the rim to keep the dry particles from clogging the hose. I prefer the speed of the oxygen absorbers. Frankly, that's how I can do so many in a short amount of time. If you want to use the slower method with the lid attachment, you totally can.  In about 25-30 minutes, the jar lid will "pop", indicating you have a vacuum seal. 

I made eight of these meals in about 15 minutes (one was prepared and in the oven when I took this picture). Eat your heart out, Rachael Ray. One dinner in 20 minutes is so last week.

To prepare:  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Pour the jar ingredients into a 2-quart bowl and add 2 1/2 cups cool water. Allow to hydrate 10 minutes.

 Lightly grease a 9 inch by 9-inch casserole (or solar oven 9 inch round pan works too).

Cover with foil.  Bake until set, 325 degrees 35-40 minutes. Do not over bake. May be stored in the refrigerator after baking and heated for service. 

I had enough ham to make about 10 of these meals, so initially, the cost is about $8 a meal. Some meals or less if you use the TVP. The sausage TVP is amazing. I'm a big fan.

There you go! Welcome to my meals in a jar!  

Estimated Nutritional Information:
Yield 5 Servings, 336 calories, 25 g fat, 5 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 21 g protein.

Again, the sales of freeze-dried products from my website is a huge blessing to my family and will be to yours.  I give out the recipes here as a service. If you do share them, please give full credit to this site.  Thank you so much!  Onward an upward!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Shakshuka : The Versatile Middle Eastern Low Carb Egg Dish

Those of you who have been with me long enough remember the early days of the blog when I first introduced many of my loyal friends to some of my fast, delicious, and super simple comfort foods. My children were young. I ached to express my culinary creativity with my sweet family and dear cooking students. At that time, as it has often been through the years, every penny counted. I wasn't the chef buying truffle oil and expensive wine. I just wanted to feed my babies healthy good stuff.

 I still want all the whole food I can give them.

So, back when we embarked on the "whole foods on a budget campaign", I never in a bazillion years would have known that it would have led us to book deals, radio show hosting and my own TV show airing weekly in Las Vegas. If anything, I thought maybe I wouldn't absolutely lose my mind under a pile of dirty dishes and endless laundry while listening to "The Wheels on the Bus" on a loop.

As for the food, nothing has changed here at home except for the fact that my boys are now teenagers and eat like they have hollow legs. The job title has been added upon, I'm no longer just a full time stay at home mom, but also a full time Caregiver to my aged Mother in Law. When life turned I was given the challenge of being the full-time bread winner working in restaurants and bake shops as an executive chef, it was a struggle to find a balance.

God blessed us with a miracles this year and I am finally now able to be home again as a food writer, chef and recipe developer for a large grain company (and thankfully only having to travel a few times a month away from the home). It's funny how life changes. Both boys are now home-schooled. Little Man is almost done with college!  Granny is still here. Ace is still plugging away. Things are crazy every single day, but we love it!

However, we still want whole food. We still want to stay on budget. We still want it to be super delicious! Super. Freakin'. Drop-dead-happy-delicious. If anything, after all these years, I expect extra awesome flavor in as short a time as possible! 

So...that brings us to today's adventure.  One of the early day recipes we lovingly referred to as  2 Ingredient Ravioli Eggs...

We ate it often. My kids still love it and ask for it.

Fast forward eight years since I introduced it here on the blog.   I've seen a trend here in the Phoenix valley. Bistros and upscale neighborhood foodie establishments are starting to have a similar egg dish on their menu to the one I grew up adoring. We've seen them called "Eggs in Purgatory" but the original dish actually is North African in origin and is well known in the Middle East and Isreal. Earlier this week I saw it on one of my favorite food sites, Serious Eats and I knew I had to share my version of this more complex recipe.   It's a classic comfort dish, simple to make and quick.  Though this more "exotic" version has several more ingredients than my childhood favorite, it has found it's way into my heart with it's spice and additional vegetables. Change up the sauce with southwest seasonings and you've got an awesome fajita version of this dish. Add Bacon, caramelized onion, tarragon, and fennel instead of the cumin and you've got a delicious French version. Keep it simple with just tomato and egg...and you've got what my dad, The Pansy Man, would make for us at the end of a long work day or as a satisfying Saturday morning breakfast with thick wedges of homemade bread from fresh ground wheat.

The sky is the limit on how you can customize this one. However you change it up, it will always be one of my go-to classics. 

Shakshuka (Middle Eastern Poached Eggs)

YIELD:Serves  6-8

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons garlic infused Avocado oil
• 1  ½ medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 large red pepper (bell pepper for milder heat, or a hotter variety, such as red horned pepper, depending on your heat preference), stems, seeds, and ribs removed, thinly sliced
• 2 fresh small hot chili (such as jalapeno), stems, seeds, and ribs removed, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp.  sweet Hungarian or smoked Spanish paprika
• 1 ½  teaspoons whole or ground cumin seed
• 2 (15-ounce) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
• ½ cup minced cilantro and parsley, blended
• 10 eggs
• Sliced Kalamata or black olives, feta cheese, or artichoke hearts, for serving (all optional)

Directions

Heat oil in a large, deep 12-inch skillet with lid. When shimmering, add onion, pepper, and chili and spread into an even layer. Cook as you would fajita vegetables, without moving until deeply brown and beginning to almost char, about 6 minutes. Stir and repeat. Continue until softened, about another 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until soft and fragrant, about a minute. Add Spices and toast about 30 seconds more. Add tomatoes, stirring carefully. Lower temperate to low simmer. 

With a spoon, make a whole near the edge of the pan and carefully break an egg into the whole. Repeat until you’ve partially submerged all 10 eggs in the pan. 

Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes for runny centers and 8-10 for a more well done firm center, until egg is poached to your preference.

Sprinkle with the herb mixture and additional toppings if desired.  Serve hot with fresh toasted bread. 

We like the eggs a little harder in the center.
My Fitness Pal Nutritional Information : Serving size 2 eggs, 281 calories, 17 gr. Carb, 5 grams fiber (12 net grams carbohydrate), 15 g protein, Fat 17 g.

There you go. A simple and delicious way to have a quick satisfying dinner.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

2 Shelf-Stable Complete Pizza Kits for Camping and Beyond

    I spent an evening a while back teaching how to make these awesome shelf-stable pizza kits with some of my friends in Utah.  These are "just add water" simple and they use the technology of freeze-dried cheese. Yes. It is real cheese. Yes, it hydrates beautifully and gets gooey and awesome for pizza. Yes, it is shelf-stable for a very long time. These kits are perfect for any day of the week! They're easy to make and delicious!  They can travel anywhere without needing a fridge for the ingredients. People often ask, where to get the freeze-dried products.  My family is greatly blessed by the extra money brought in by sales tracked back to my freeze-dried food website.  

The crust is a quick rise with the addition of some baking soda and buttermilk powder so it will raise light and fluffy without yeast! The other secret is the addition of a tablespoon of lemonade powder. It is just enough to give the lemon-herb crust a fantastic depth. I use my spice blends because I know what they taste like. If you have a favorite, go with it, right? 

Pizza Kits for Camping and Beyond

Each kit:

•      1 quart-sized bag crust mix
•      1 snack-sized bag sauce mix
•      1 sandwich-sized bag 2 cups freeze-dried cheese

 I use freeze-dried mozzarella cheese for the Italian and Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese for the Enchilada Pizza.

Storage: Place all bags in a mylar bag or PETE container with a metal lid and an oxygen absorber.* Seal. Store meals in a cool dry place.  Meals will be shelf-stable up to 2 years with an oxygen absorber. *If making vegetarian pizza, no oxygen absorber is needed, but they will only be shelf-stable about 6 months.

Crust quart bag:

No-Raise Lemon and Herb Pizza Crust Mix

3 cups bread flour

1T lemonade powder

¼ cup buttermilk powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1T Chef Tess Romantic Italian Seasoning (or Fajita seasoning for Southwest pizza)

¼ cup powdered shortening

1T SAF yeast or Instant active-dry yeast

Directions: Combine with 1 ¼ cup cool water and knead until a soft dough is formed about 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest 5-10 minutes. Roll or stretch-out into a 10-12 inch circle. Top with hydrated sauce and cheese and place in a heated Dutch oven or baking pan. Bake 425 degrees 25-30 minutes until cooked through.

Sauce Bags :

Chef TessBakeresse™ Instant Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup tomato powder
2T  freeze-dried onion
2T freeze-dried bell peppers
2T  freeze-dried mushrooms
1T granulated honey
1tsp Chef Tess Romantic Italian Seasoning 
1/4 cup ultra-gel

Directions: Add 2 cups warm water (depending on how thick you want your sauce) and stir well.

For meaty sauce, add 1/2 cup freeze-dried sausage and increase water to 2 1/2 cups. Always use an oxygen absorber if you use the real meat. 

Chef TessBakeresse™ Instant Fiesta Enchilada Sauce Mix
1/4 cup ultra-gel
1 ½ T freeze-dried onion
2T  tomato powder 
2T -4T ground ancho chile powder
1/4 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of The East Spice Blend 
1T Chef Tess Fajita Seasoning 
1 tsp baking cocoa (not hot chocolate)
2 tsp chicken bouillon (I like the no msg versions)
2 tsp lemonade powder

Directions:  Combine the enchilada sauce mixture with 2 cups of  cool water. Whisk well. 

For Chicken enchilada pizza: add 1/2 cup freeze-dried chicken to the sauce bag and increase the water to 2 1/2 cups when hydrating. Always use an oxygen absorber if you use the real meat. 

I apply a label to the baking directions onto the container so I can remember what the heck I'm supposed to do. 

They look like this:

Chef Tess Bakeresse Shelf-Stable Gourmet Pizza Kit Crust Directions: Combine with 1 ¼ cup cool water and knead until a soft dough is formed, about 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest 5-10 minutes.  Hydrate sauce and cheese. Roll or stretch-out into a 10 inch circle. Top with hydrated sauce and cheese and place in a heated Dutch oven or baking pan. Bake 425 degrees 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Sauce Directions: Add 2 cups warm water (depending on how thick you want your sauce) and stir well. Cheese: Lightly mist with cool water and allow to hydrate about 10 minutes. Top Pizza.

Chef Tess Bakeresse Homemade Shelf-Stable Gourmet Pizza Kit Crust Directions: Combine with 1 ¼ cup cool water and knead until a soft dough is formed, about 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest 5-10 minutes.  Hydrate sauce and cheese. Roll or stretch-out into a 10 inch circle. Top with hydrated sauce and cheese and place in a heated Dutch oven or baking pan. Bake 425 degrees 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Sauce Directions: Add 2 cups warm water (depending on how thick you want your sauce) and stir well. Cheese: Lightly mist with cool water and allow to hydrate about 10 minutes. Top Pizza.

Chef Tess Bakeresse Homemade Shelf-Stable Gourmet Pizza Kit Crust Directions: Combine with 1 ¼ cup cool water and knead until a soft dough is formed, about 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest 5-10 minutes.  Hydrate sauce and cheese. Roll or stretch-out into a 10 inch circle. Top with hydrated sauce and cheese and place in a heated Dutch oven or baking pan. Bake 425 degrees 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Sauce Directions: Add 2 cups warm water (depending on how thick you want your sauce) and stir well. Cheese: Lightly mist with cool water and allow to hydrate about 10 minutes. Top Pizza.

Chef Tess Bakeresse Homemade Shelf-Stable Gourmet Pizza Kit Crust Directions: Combine with 1 ¼ cup cool water and knead until a soft dough is formed, about 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest 5-10 minutes.  Hydrate sauce and cheese. Roll or stretch-out into a 10 inch circle. Top with hydrated sauce and cheese and place in a heated Dutch oven or baking pan. Bake 425 degrees 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Sauce Directions: Add 2 cups warm water (depending on how thick you want your sauce) and stir well. Cheese: Lightly mist with cool water and allow to hydrate about 10 minutes. Top Pizza.

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There you go my darlings! Shelf-stable pizza kits! Have fun with these! Onward and upward my darlings!

My family is greatly blessed by the extra money brought in by sales tracked back to my freeze-dried food website.  You also have the option of joining as a consultant/member and getting the commission on anyone who buys from you! I'd love to have you on my team! Thank you so very much for your support. Xoxo!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess