The Nirvana is in the first bite... a dough recipe.

I was chanting as I was typing... dough, dough, dough.... dough.


I have done a lot of side by sides, experiments with different flours, and liquids. This is what I have so far for my dough recipe. It is completely subjective.

Pizza Dough

a personal meditation

• 3 cups unbleached all purpose Flour or a combination of Whole Wheat and all purpose. Exact quantities depend on humidity and protein content of flour.  Right now I use 1/2 cup Hard Red Winter Wheat from a local grain CSA.
• 1/4-1/2-1 tsp of dry active Yeast. In my experience 1/4- 1/2 tsp is all that is needed if the flour is completely unbleached all purpose. Currently I use 3/4 tsp because of my particular w.w. flour, other wise it will rise very, very slowly. 1 tsp if you are not fermenting and needs a quick rise... Those handy little flieschmann packets are too much!
• 2 tsp corse Salt.
• 1 1/4 cup of cold water water (warm (not hot) if you don't want to ferment and are making the same day)*.
• parchment paper rounds for desired number of pies.

In a mixer add, yeast, salt, water... No need to bloom. With a paddle attachment stir and add in flour slowly. I add my w.w. flour first and then the rest about a 1/2 cup at a time. Once you have a nice soupy mixture, change attachments and use dough hook until flour is combined and a dough is formed. Don't worry if you do not use all the flour. It changes day by day. Turn dough out of bowl and knead by hand adding in more flour until the dough is tacky and no longer sticky. Form into a round.  


If freezing for another day (I have found it freezes well for up to a little more than a week) put into a greased ziplock bag and squeeze the air out. If using the next day or two (longer ferment the better) put dough into a greased bowl turning once so that there is a little oil on the top of the mound. Cover with plastic wrap and put into the fridge over night. I like two days for this process. 


The day of use, remove from the fridge and let the yeast wake up, and leave out in a warm draft free area until the dough has risen to twice its size and gently punch down. Punching down as I learnt through trial and error is not forming a fist and clobbering the unsuspecting dough. It is using finger tips and gently indenting the dough and letting it naturally deflate. Let the dough rest again for at least another 20 minutes before forming into rounds. That is when I get the rest of my Pizza making apparatus, parchment paper rounds and toppings ready.


To form, evenly cut into desired amount of pies that you want. Form little balls and cover with plastic wrap, and working one at a time and on a floured surface, lightly press into a circular shape.  I like using my hands the best, stretching a pulling. Throwing would be great but you need a high ceiling and patience, especially if you keep dropping it. The trick is centrical force. I am not adapt at this method so I don't do it. You can always use a rolling pin to form into nice circles.  Start at the centre of your formed round and roll out on a 45 degree angle, pick dough up and turn 45 degrees and roll again. Repeat until you have desired thickness and size. Whatever forming method you use, you can get four medium sized pizzas or about 10-12 mini ones out of this recipe. Put each round onto a piece of parchment paper.


Dress with desired toppings.


To bake, preheat your oven to as hot as it will allow. I have a wimpy electric oven that on a good day will go to 550 F. I use pizza stones that I preheat at the same time as the oven. WARNING: This is not the best carbon foot print method... I preheat my oven for an hour or longer. The stones absorb and hold the heat which is great for a faster hotter bake but because of the thermal mass takes longer to get up to temperature. Put a Pizza pie into the oven on the parchment, bake for a few minutes until it is nicely firm and the parchment paper can be removed quickly with a pull. Like a tablecloth magic trick. Finishing baking until sufficiently golden brown and gooey, remove and put on a wire rack. Don't let it cool too much, you want it to be still hot and stringy. The nirvana is in the first bite. I think and I could be wrong by putting it on a cooling rack first the bottom doesn't get soggy. Cut and serve.


It really is simple. I have probably said too much and confused the heck out of a lot of people, but try it and practice it. Some people are about toppings, some about crust. I am about the crust first and use very simple toppings. My sauce is nothing more than crushed raw tomatoes (canned in the winter and fresh in the summer) pureed with salt and pepper and marinated with whole raw garlic.


One final tip, dough does not stick to wet hands, a good thing to know when removing it from the hook and cutting into pieces.


* the dough can be used the same day as it is made, just make sure you give it a good hour or more head start.

An Adventure in Rome...

OK, maybe not. Who can afford airfare these days? And what to do with the kids, give them to a relative or sherpa them around?  Hmm... no, we'll stick to Italian style family meals in our very own home. Maybe for ambience we'll string up some vines and paint a mural on our ceiling.

Romanesco Cauliflower  & Fresh Pasta 

• One head of Romanesco Cauliflower also called Romanesco Broccoli
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tbsp anchovy paste
• 3 tbsp olive oil plus some for drizzling*
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese plus more for garnish**
• chili flakes (optional)
• flat leaf parsley for garnish
• lemon wedges

For fresh pasta- Recipe from Mark Bittman's 'How to Cook Everything'

Use only half of the yield for this dish.

• 2 cups organic un-bleached flour (I used one cup white & 1 cup whole wheat from a local grain CSA)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 lg eggs, 3 egg yolk
• water if needed

I'm cooking for kids so speed is essential. I have tried to make pasta dough on the counter with a well in the centre of my flour for the eggs and never had much success with it.  I am sure it is touch and practice and one day when I have time I may try it again but for now I will stick to the food processor.

Put flour and salt in a food processor, pulse a couple times to combine. Add eggs and yokes, pulse for an additional 30 secs or until a ball forms. If it is dry add some water slowly, if wet add a bit more flour, a tiny bit at a time.

Wrap in plastic and rest for 30 minutes in the fridge or longer. Can stay there for up to 24 hrs. Then process dough with a pasta machine. Unlike an Italian grandmother I have never been able to roll it out and form little shapes. I use a Kitchen Aid to form sheets then roll it up to cut long strands.

For Sauce:

Cut cauliflower into florets, parboil for 2 mins in a large pot of water (big enough to cook pasta), drain and shock them in cold water. Reserve. Meanwhile keep water at a boil and cook pasta.

In a large fry pan heat olive oil on medium heat. Cook garlic, anchovy paste and chili flakes if using, until you can smell the paste and the garlic is soft, roughly a minute.  Add the cauliflower florets cook for a few minutes more. When pasta is done add the noodles to pan, the cheese and drizzle with enough olive oil so that the noodles do not stick to the pan. Toss mixture and check seasoning.

At the table either just before serving or on individual plates, grate more cheese over top noodles, drizzle with more olive oil and garnish with parsley, fresh pepper and lemon wedge.

*I have a cooking olive oil and a higher quality one for drizzling at the table.
**We use  a microplane grater for our cheese so it is very light.

photos by Jeff.

A combined effort

Saturday night we still had some Pizza dough left over from the previous nights festivities. As in last week's attempt, the dough with the higher proportion of whole wheat did not rise in time for the main event- Luckily, to not disappoint my guests I knew that this was a distinct possibility, my daughter and I made a back up dough using less whole wheat flour. The "just in case" dough saved my butt and my guests not disappointed. 


But what to do with the remaining dough? After one too many glasses of wine my husband and I forgot about the dough rising in the back, it was left out over night. The next morning in a panic barely roused from bed I ran to check its progress. I was expecting the worst, a doughy gooey mess uncontainable by the bowl.  What I found was a nicely risen dough and that is when my husband and I hatched our plan. I gently punched it down and left it until later.


Ever since we got our latest and last issue of Gourmet Magazine my husband had been eyeing a particular Pizza Patate (p36)   a recipe by Jim Lahey and the author of my bread- The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method. We didn't need to use Lahey's particular dough recipe but my husband was just as eager to do the "potato pizza" part.The results were spectacular. The high whole wheat dough was perfect for this dish and due to the extra long ferment and rise, had a well developed crumb. I may even be as bold as to say that the whole wheat component may even be better suited to this dish as it gave a rich nutty flavour that was harmonious with the crispy potatoes and sweet onions; then again I will have to try a side by side.


As well as being an ideal autumn comfort meal, it is also a predominately local one. The potatoes are from one of the years last farmer's market, rosemary from our backyard and the whole wheat flour from the Urban Grains CSA.


Photo by me.

A use for whole wheat flour.

As mentioned before, my husband and I inherited (about 10lbs) various whole wheat flours from a friend who joined our areas first grain CSA. So when my husband suggested that we have lasagne for dinner last night I quickly volunteered to make the pasta sheets. I learnt a couple of things about the CSA's flour from my Pizza dough making a few nights ago. The flour's texture is both soft and bristly from the finely milled endosperm and the tough bran casing. I suspected these qualities could work to my advantage and make a porous noodle that would grab the sauce. Also, as noted the Pizza dough did not rise so well and pasta dough doesn't need any rising, just a short resting time. We used the fresh sheets to make a Sugar Pie Squash lasagne with ricotta and basil.

And what to do with my excess pasta dough? Makes more sheets and turn them into noodles. I discovered early on that my pasta machine did not do a very good job at cutting noodles into fine ribbons so we problem solved this by simply folding the sheets and cutting them roughly to form uneven and roughly shaped noodles. Thus next day's lunch was Tagliatelle* with a tomato garlic

sauce.

* a rustic porous noodle made with whole grain flours in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Mine resembled torn rags.


Mum and daughter making fresh pasta

Experiments

The big event is Pizza night Friday nights. Pizza is and always should be with a capital P. I am constantly trying to out geek myself and last week I think I did it, so this week there is a lot of pressure on me.

I have spent the last five years becoming more and more obsessed with this culinary treat, one that most people don't think of as a gourmet food, true there has been a revival of late with fancy obscure toppings but what about the grass roots? Simple, classic, and clean flavour? Crust, Sauce, Cheese with minimal adornment. For that reason we do two types, the classic margarita and a fennel salami, but this blog is about the crust - this is the vehicle.

Pizza has an immediacy to it, the first bite, hot from the oven. It has a slight crunch, not crisp like a cracker but nearly. The texture should give slightly but have some chew. The flavour should be subtle with a slight tang and there should be air. My first recipe for pizza dough was simply yeast, salt, water and flour. It still is, but because I learned to crawl before I could walk, I can now run.

Experiment after experiment I have finally come up with a base recipe that works for me, so now I can play with it. One of our friends joined the first grain CSA in our area and share some of the product with us. I am trying two separate batches with two different whole wheat grains- a Hard Red Winter and a Hard Red Spring Wheat. Tomorrow night will be the Winter slowly fermenting in the refrigerator and next week the Spring safely stored in the freezer.

 photos by me

The dough was a minor disaster- but not major enough that it couldn't be fix by time. I allowed another day of resting and rising and it made an adequate crust. I now have some experience and can make adjustments  next time.