by angela@diggingbliss | Feb 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
Hits: This one crisped up better than the first, probably because I transferred it to a pre-heated pizza stone after a few minutes (easier said than done). Also, pesto is just delicious on a pizza.
Misses: The T.J.’s Canadian bacon turned out to be a thicker cut than you normally want on a pizza, but it still tasted great. After awkwardly transferring the pizza from a metal pan to the pre-heated pizza stone, I accidentally turned my oven off for the remaining baking time. That made the pizza crust a little on the chewy side.
Next, I’m going to try making my own dough using my Kitchen Aid mixer. Oh, and I think I need a metal pizza peel.
02/13/08 edit:
Other things I’ve gleaned from the web recently:
- Place pizza on lowest rack in oven.
- Go easy on the sauce… less is more.
- Don’t cover the entire pizza with cheese… always make sure you can see through to the bottom so you don’t create a seal.
- Use bread flour (King Arthur’s Sir Lancelot is preferred by some) instead of all-purpose flour
- Heat up your pizza stone for about an hour before baking pizza.
- If you’re rolling out your pizza, don’t flatten the edges.
- A little sugar or honey helps activate your yeast.
I also discovered lots of interesting pizza video tutorials on the web. Some are funny, some are strange, some are slick productions, some are homespun, some are awful, and some are very instructive. Most of them will make you hungry.
In the slick and instructive category, you have Tyler Florence.
Tyler Florence Making Pizza Dough
Tyler Florence Making Mushroom Pizza
by angela@diggingbliss | Feb 9, 2008 | Uncategorized
My home pizza baking project was overall a success. I was pleased with how large (approx. 16″) and thin the crust was, but it didn’t crisp up and brown on the bottom as much as it should have. This is probably why people use pizza stones… to try to replicate commercial pizza oven conditions. I think I have some brick-like pizza stones… somewhere… and will try to find them. I may also have taken it out of the oven a bit too soon.
Tonight, I’m making another pizza; this time with pesto instead of red sauce and Canadian bacon instead of turkey pepperoni. I might also get a little crazy and use kalamata olives in place of the regular ol’ canned sliced black olives.
Meanwhile, I’ll get back on PizzaMaking.com and see what they recommend for achieving a slightly crispier, darker crust.
Mmmmm…… pizza.
by angela@diggingbliss | Feb 7, 2008 | Uncategorized
I have been feeling doubly guilty about not blogging much and not gardening at all lately. What can I say? Except for the first hint of green at the base of my dormant perennials and a few cruelly random sunny days, the garden is still looking pretty bleak and mucky and frost-worn.
I find myself indoors a lot, wearing my UGGs and my North Face winter coat. It’s 59 degrees outside, for God’s sake. What’s wrong with me? I can be such a pansy sometimes.
Aside from recent quandaries about where to cast my vote in the California Primary, what to do with the rest of my life, and how to save Britney… and all the abandoned animals… and planet earth (not necessarily in that order), I have also been doing some serious thinking about pizza.
My taste buds are easily bored and since my son inherited the same trait, I’ve been trying to find ways to curb our trigger-happy gourmet pizza delivery dialing habits; especially considering I’m usually feeding his ginormously tall best friend too. Sure, we’ve tried take-n-bake, but the crust just doesn’t have that artisanal taste or texture we’re craving.
My brother, the ex-chef, says he’s going to teach us how to make pizza from scratch. Won’t that be some wholesome down-home family fun? Until then, I bought some Trader Joe’s refrigerated pizza dough to try. Pizza fanatics on the fantastic site PizzaMaking.com say good things about T.J.’s dough. These people are deep into pizza. Read the forum and you’ll see what I mean. I want to be just like them.
So far, I’ve assembled nearly all the ingredients and tools I need to make two 16″ pizzas. It’s become sort of fun tracking my expenses because it’s looking like I can make two fully loaded pies for under eight bucks total.
By chance, I came across a little article about a pizza garden today. While theme gardens aren’t usually my thing, it’s a cute idea and reminded me that not only can I assemble my own pizzas when I feel like it, I can also grow some of the ingredients!
If you think about it, pizza is made from really basic stuff: dough, tomatoes, olive oil, cheese, herbs, veggies, and meat if you like. I’m no locavore, but it’s neat to think that I’ll be making sauce from my own tomatoes and herbs this summer. I miss you so much, fresh basil and tomatoes. And pizza? I want to marry you.
Anybody else out there still hiding inside? Anybody ever make their own pizza from scratch or part scratch? Anybody out there ever make their own pizza sauce from garden-grown tomatoes? If so, I salute you and would love to know how it turned out.
