At-home cooking ideas with The Cook’s Warehouse

ATLANTA - With schools closed and many people working from home, there’s a good chance you’re spending more time in your kitchen than you normally do.  

So how can you make good use of the items sitting in your pantry — things like flour, canned tomatoes, and spices?

We stopped by Atlanta’s The Cook’s Warehouse to get some ideas from owner Mary Moore.  Moore created The Cook’s Warehouse 25 years ago, and the business has since become a mainstay for both professional and amateur chefs looking to pick up the latest kitchen gadgets and tools.  Because it sells food and cooking tools, The Cook’s Warehouse does remain open for now, and is offering curbside service for those who want to call ahead and shop by phone.  Items may also be ordered from The Cook’s Warehouse website.

Now…on to the recipes.  Moore demonstrated two ideas, both of which use items common in every pantry.  First, we made pizza from scratch (from dough to sauce to toppings), and then we learned how to dress up a baked potato into something truly gourmet.

The recipes for both are below — and click on the video player to watch Mary Moore make magic with common kitchen ingredients!

MARY MOORE’S FROM-SCRATCH PIZZA:

Tools: 

Pizza peel 

Pizza stone or steel

Pizza cutter

Bench scraper 

Perfect Pizza Dough

Makes 4 individual pizzas

¼ cup warm water, between 110 and 115 degrees

1 tablespoon molasses or honey, optional 

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (Fleischmann's) or 1¾ teaspoons instant yeast (SAF Brand) 

16 ounces bread flour or all-purpose flour (3 ¼ cups) 

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 cup room temperature water

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Semolina or cornmeal, for dusting pizza peel

Combine water, molasses, and yeast in a small bowl for 10 minutes, until yeast is bubbly and activated. 

In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. On low speed, add yeast mixture, water, and olive oil. Turn the speed up to medium and continue mixing until the dough ball is soft and smooth, about 6 to 8 minutes. Dough can also be mixed in a food processor for 1 minute or kneaded by hand for 10 minutes until smooth. 

Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, approximately one to two hours. (Dough can be transferred to refrigerator at this point for up to three days to slow proof. The flavor will continue improving with time.) If refrigerated, bring to room temperature, about 4 – 6 hours, before moving forward with the recipe.

Gently press dough down and transfer to a floured surface. Using a bench scraper, divide into four equal pieces. Gently roll into smooth balls, cover with plastic wrap and set aside while making sauce. (Dough balls can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen in a freezer safe plastic zipper bag for up to six months.) 

Place pizza stone or steel on the middle rack of the oven. Preheat oven to 500/550 degrees F for a minimum of thirty minutes. 

Generously dust a pizza peel with semolina or cornmeal. Gently stretch and pull the dough into a thin circle, being careful not to tear the dough. (The thinner the dough the crispier the crust.) Occasionally check to make sure dough is not sticking to the peel, as it will need to shimmy right into the oven. 

Top dough with a little bit of sauce (not too much!) and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Add desired toppings, but remember less is more. Slide pizza directly onto the stone. Cook pizza until golden brown and bubbly, about 5 to 7 minutes. The first pizza will cook the fastest, and each one after will take a bit longer since heat escapes each time the oven door is opened.  

Easy Pizza Sauce

1 (14.5 ounce) can tomatoes 

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Seasonings, to taste (red pepper flakes, dried oregano, dried basil, kosher salt, and black pepper) 

Crush tomatoes with your hands or puree them in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Combine pureed tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and seasonings in a large bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Leftover sauce can be frozen for up to six months. 

Topping Ideas

Potato + Bacon + Goat Cheese 

Chicken + Barbecue Sauce + Red Onion + Gouda

Prosciutto + Arugula + Balsamic 

Mozzarella + Tomatoes + Basil 

LOADED SWEET BAKED POTATOES:

Serves 4

4 sweet potatoes 

2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise (root to tip) 

2 sprigs thyme, optional

1 bay leaf, optional 

4 eggs, poached (see sous vide instructions below) 

2 cups spinach, arugula, or microgreens

12 ounces bacon, cooked and crumbled 

Kosher salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat sweet potatoes with olive oil. Transfer to foil lined sheet pan and roast until tender all the way through, about 1 hour. 

Heat a large stainless saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Melt two tablespoons butter and add onions, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and a generous pinch of salt. 

Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook onions, stirring every few minutes to prevent them from sticking and coloring too much in any one place. Cook until jammy and deep golden brown, about 45 minutes to one hour. (Leftover caramelized onions are great on sandwiches, burgers, and pizzas!) Discard bay leaf and thyme. 

To make sous vide poached eggs, preheat water to 167 degrees F with an immersion circulator. Lower whole eggs directly in water bath and cook for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water. When eggs are finished, transfer to ice water bath to stop the cooking, about 1 minute. Remove from water and set aside. (When ready to eat, crack egg directly over sweet potato.) 

Cut open hot sweet potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add a handful of fresh spinach—

the heat will slightly wilt the greens—followed by caramelized onions, crumbled bacon, and a poached egg. Season with another dash of salt and pepper. Serve immediately.