Welcome to my little test kitchen, where I attempt different recipes in hopes that I can share something that will appear on your dinner table. Please let me know, in the comments section, if you try one of these recipes and your own personal review of the recipes. It is such an honor & a pleasure to read your reviews and to know that you have enjoyed something from my blog!

Last week I discussed a recipe (for slow cooked hot dogs) that I had gotten from a not-so-little cookbook called, “Not Your Momma’s Slow Cooker Cookbook.” I have been enjoying this book a lot and am intrigued by many of the recipes in it. I hope that you can either buy this one or pick it up at your local library. I have definitely benefitted from it during the time I have been borrowing this book.
In the book was a recipe that was not a slow cooker recipe, but a recipe that I am always trying to perfect in our house. The recipe was for bread machine pizza dough. In a past entry, I discussed my favorite pizza dough recipe and the best way to store and prepare your dough. Despite having a favorite dough recipe already, I really do enjoy trying things out and this recipe did NOT disappoint at all!

They included a recipe for Slow Cooked Pizza Sauce (which I haven’t had an opportunity to try yet, but will let you know how it turns out in next week’s edition) and bread machine pizza dough that yields two balls of dough. This dough had many variations on it, but I am a stickler for a classic dough recipe so I have only attempted their Pizza Dough Master Recipe.
This dough was the best dough that I have ever prepared in my bread machine to date. It was a breeze to throw into the machine, rose beautifully, and was so easy to roll out that I literally just rolled the dough directly onto my pizza stone.

I am no expert dough roller, in fact, I hate rolling dough at all. If the dough is too difficult to roll out, I have been known on occasion to just toss the dough out and hit the McDonald’s. I can’t stand it when dough does not roll with ease and I don’t have the time or patience to work with it. This will probably never change…ever. Please do not lecture me on the beauty of rolling out dough or how much better bread tastes when not done in the bread machine- this will not happen in our home. I enjoy homemade bread and pizza, but I will not invest the time (at this point in my life) to knead & roll dough for hours. I think that is why I appreciated this recipe so much- it was easy for even the novice dough roller…or whatever you would like to call me!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did and that you can give this one a shot. I doubt that this recipe will disappoint you. Happy cooking!

Pizza Dough Master Recipe from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook

1 1/3 cups water
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons bread machine or instant yeast (I used instant and it worked wonderfully)

Combine all the ingredients in the pan according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Program for the dough or pizza dough cycle and press start. When it is ready the dough will be soft.

After the rising cycle ends, at the beep, immediately remove the pizza dough and place on a work surface lightly sprinkled with yellow cornmeal, semolina, or rice flour. Divide into the desired number of portions or leave whole. With a rolling pin or pressing with your fingers and the heels of your hands, roll out the dough from the center outward, rotating the dough as your roll or press to get an even circle. Lift up the dough and pull to get the desired size. Place the dough on a cornmeal or semolina sprinkled pizza pan, pressing a ½” rim around the crust. For a thin crust, proceed directly to the next step (This is exactly what I did. See above about my impatience with dough). For a thick crust, cover the curst with a clean tea towel and let rise at room temperature until puffy and doubled in bulk, 30-40 minutes, before topping and baking.

Spread with sauce almost to the rim with a large rubber spatula, sprinkle with some cheese and arrange any other toppings on top. Finish with a big more melting cheese. Fresh cheeses that melt well are best for pizza, such as mozzarella, (is Aldi shredded mozzarella a “fresh” cheese. Nope, but that is what I used and it worked just fine!) Gorgonzola, provolone, Monterey Jack, fontina, Brie, feta, & fresh goat cheese. Top with a drizzle of olive oil.

Immediately place the assembled pizza in its pan directly on the stone in the oven and bake until the crust is brown and crisp, 12 to 15 minutes (5-8 minutes longer for a thin crust) at 450 degrees. Check the underside of the crust by lifting with a metal spatula to be sure it is browned enough. With heavy oven mitts, transfer the pizza to a cutting board and slide off the pan. Cut into wedges with a pizza wheel, kitchen shears, or a serrated knife. Eat it hot!

* This recipe yields 1 ½ pounds of dough, enough for two thin 12-14-inch rounds, on ¼ inch-thick round or deep dish crust, four 8-inch crusts, six individual mini-crusts, or one crust to fit into an 11×17-inch rectangular baking sheet.*

Did someone say slow cooked hot dogs? Yup! That wasn’t a typo at all. This week we tried a new recipe (of sorts) out of this great cookbook that I picked up from the library. The cookbook is called, “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker,” and I can tell you that the title fits. There is no way that my mom would have made any of this stuff. They have omitted the classic French onion soup mix, condensed soup, and meat combo. They replaced this with really good recipes, full of yummy ingredients and tips for using your slow cooker in traditional (and untraditional) ways. Despite the omission of the canned soup recipes, they did include a recipe that caught my eye…a recipe for cooking your hot dogs in the slow cooker.

Let me begin by explaining why I appreciated a recipe like this. For one, I had gone to the grocery store that day and was dead tired by the time I got home, put the groceries away, and fed the baby. The last thing I felt like doing was making dinner, but I would have hated spending $100 on groceries, only to go out and pick up a pizza. I wanted something quick, easy, & did not require any effort on my part. It was 4:00 and I had zero ideas. Hmmmm…How about hot dogs?

Now I do appreciate a hot dog from the grill, but my main complaint with the grilled hot dogs is the dilemma that usually by the time we have brought the dogs in to feast on, they are already cold. I like my hot dogs really hot and my husband prefers hot dogs without charring. His solution is to boil them. Boiling hot dogs, for some odd reason, extremely grosses me out. Something about meat floating in water and then dealing with dumping the water…I don’t know, I guess I have an aversion to it.

When my husband came home from work, he leaned over to look in the slow cooker and saw what was in there. “Slow cooked hot dogs? Now that sounds like something I would want to try!” So we did. And we liked them.

These are not fancy, but it is a great meal for when you have absolutely nothing else on the agenda. It would be great for potlucks or playgroups and the cost is minimal.

When cooked in the slow cooker, they have a crisper skin (then boiled) and these tasted absolutely delicious. You know it is a hit when my son begins singing his, “Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog” song, while dipping his hot dog in ketchup. A hit with everyone in the family- then this recipe will get an encore performance in our house.

I highly recommend the cookbook, and I highly recommend trying this recipe!

Crock Hot Dogs

8 hot dogs (about one pound)

Put the hot dogs in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH until hot & slightly browned around edges, 1.5-2 hours. Remove with metal tongs and serve hot, in buns, with the fixings.