Jonny's Cookbook

Gingerbread houses are way more fun when you give the dough some color, but it is tough to do that with the dark brown gingerbread cookie dough you traditionally use. I substitute honey and granulated white sugar for the molasses and brown sugar in this recipe so you have a lighter gingerbread that you can add food coloring to. For the roof (or anything else you'd like to make brown), make a traditional gingerbread by substituting molasses and brown sugar. I also use shortening rather than butter so the cookies don't spread as much in the oven. By the way, this is NOT that rock-hard construction gingerbread that you often see used for gingerbread houses. This is a traditional recipe, which works for houses BUT also tastes (and smells) good as well. After all, what's the point of making a house out of cookies if you're not going to eat it? This also recipe makes great gingerbread cookies. I made green gingerbread trees out of the extra dough I used for the house I made...

My wife and I will never agree on whether chicken belongs on pizza (I say no!), but this is my one exception. The first time I had Thai red chili sauce on pizza was at a pizza and BBQ place in Provo, Utah. Unfortunately, it's not around anymore, but the idea stuck with me. I eventually made it for my wife and it instantly became our favorite pizza. My "beef" with chicken pizza is that chicken has almost no flavor, and most restaurants do little to season the chicken other than adding some salt & pepper...maybe. With this recipe, I've tried to incorporate some of the flavors I remember from my trip to Thailand into the chicken - the salty Fish sauce, the sweet nut flavoring, and the sour lime. Feel free to experiment with the toppings & chicken flavorings. I don't think I've made it the same way twice, and it always turns out great because the key is that combo of cheese, chili sauce, and chicken!   Ingredients For the chicken : 2 Chicken Breasts, chop...

We literally eat this almost every week. It's fast, yummy, and nutritious. And as a bonus, our kids love it and will eat an entire bowl!     Ingredients 16 oz Potato Gnocchi 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes (halved) 8 oz fresh Mozzarella Pearls Fresh Basil, chopped Garlic Powder Olive Oil Balsamic Reduction or Glaze Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese Black Pepper Direction Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. While it's cooking, combine the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, and basil in a bowl. Drain the gnocchi and add it to the bowl. Add Olive Oil and Garlic Powder, to taste. Serve topped with the balsamic reduction, black pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Note: You can replace the Gnocchi with another type of pasta if you'd like. Another family favorite is to substitute orecchiette with this recipe.    

  Pizza is by far my favorite food, so when we were in Italy earlier this year you can bet I ate a lot of it. While we were in Rome, we discovered Pizza al Taglio . The bread of the pizza is thicker, similar to focaccia, and it is baked on a sheet pan to get a super crispy crust. It is then cut into rectangles. I fell in love immediately and set out to try and figure out how to make it. After a lot of trial and error, I figured out a recipe and technique that is close enough. This is now my go-to pizza dough for our Friday night pizza parties. It's easy to work with and turns out perfect nearly every time. I'm always amazed at how much it puffs up in the oven! Go out of your way to find the Italian Tipo 00 flour - it makes a difference. Ingredients 3 1/2 - 4 cups (500 gr) Tipo 00 flour or bread flour (I get the AnnA brand at Harmon's - this should be about 1/2 of a 1-kilo bag) 1 1/2 cups (350 gr) water 1 1/2 tsp (3.5 gr) yeast 2 tsp (10 gr) salt 2 Tbsp (20 gr) Olive Oil...

  My mom's side of the family emigrated from Denmark to Idaho in the early 1900s. We were only a few generations removed, so a bit of the Danish culture stuck around. One of my favorite things were the little Aebleskiver (apple slices) we would have for breakfast. Little warm pancakes balls that are stuffed with apples, dusted with powder sugar, and dipped in jam. It doesn't get much better. You will need a special cast iron Aebleskiver pan to make them. If you end up loving them as much as we do, you'll probably end up with two. These are best eaten warm. The recipe below will easily feed 4 - 6 adults.   Ingredients 3 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 2 Tbsp sugar 3 cups buttermilk 6 eggs, separated 7 Tbsp oil Butter, cut into small cubes Optional, but highly recommended: Apple sauce and/or Jam for filling Powdered sugar for dusting Jam and/or Syrup for dipping Directions Mix your dry ingredients together and then mix in the liquids, with the exception ...

Sunday is baking day and sometimes when I bake bread I like to mix it up and throw in some things from the fridge that are leftover from last week's meals or shopping. Sometimes it ends up meh...but this one turned out fantastic. It's easy to get creative with the filling in breads. I'd love to hear how you've adapted this for yourself.     Ingredients 2 1/2 cups warm water 8.5 g (1Tbsp) active dry yeast 12 g (1 Tbsp) sugar 780 g (6 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour, sifted 12 g (2 tsp) kosher salt 115 g (1/4 cup) softened unsalted butter 4.5 ounces sliced olives 160 g Swiss Cheese, cut into 1" cubes 6 sliced green onions (green parts only)  Directions Pour warm water into a lage bowl and dissolve sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top, give it a stir, and let sit for about five minutes, until the yeast dissolves and foams. Sift three cups of flour on top of the water/yeast mixture and use a spoon to blend it together. Sift in the the rest...

  There almost nothing I like more than cooking out on my Traeger in our backyard. I use it nearly year-round and swear that it can make anything I cook taste 10x better. With one big exception. The first few times I tried cooking any meat I wanted seared and cooked quickly at a high temperature--think steaks, hamburgers, etc--I was sooo disappointed. My steaks turned out dry. My burgers were more baked than smoked or grilled. It wasn't what I wanted, and for a while was resigned to just using my Traeger to smoke meats. I cooked steak and burgers on a cast iron pan in the house. And then one day I had a light bulb moment--why not put the cast iron on the Traeger? After some trial and error and tips from my buddies, I finally figured it out and now cooking hamburgers on the Traeger is one of my go-to meals during the summer. So, how do you get that sear with the smokey flavor? The key isn't outside. It's in your kitchen. I have a cast iron grill pan...