A Daringly Slow Baker

One of the three pizzas I made. This one was brushed with garlic and herb olive oil in lieu of sauce and topped with goat cheese, red pepper and Nicoise olives.

I'm not really a slow baker, more of a slow poster. This challenge should have been up by October 29th, but we all know how busy my life is, so I'm hoping everyone will understand. This month's challenge was hosted by Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums and I'm including her words here about why she is hosting single and also why I didn't want to miss out on posting this particular challenge:

Originally, I was supposed to host this challenge together with Sher at http://www.whatdidyoueat.typepad.com (USA) and Glenna at http://www.afridgefulloffood.typepad.com (USA), but life’s sad events made me stride that horse alone…

As you all know by now, Sherry passed away tragically on the 20th of July2008 after having been struck by a massive heart-attack. Glenna, on her side, has decided to quit The Daring Baker’s and to stop her baking adventure for personal reasons. So that’s why I am all alone on that challenge.

Prior to her sudden death (9 days before), Sher had shared with me her recipe idea for the October challenge that she, Glenna and myself should have hosted together. When she died, it was clear for me that I would respect her choice and that I would still submit her recipe. This is my last ode to a very appreciated blogger, DB member, skilled baker and cook whom I miss a lot!


~ Sherry “Sher” Cermak 1948-2008 ~

This is the challenge we were put to for this month:

THE CHALLENGE: You have to use the tossing method (as explained below) for at least 2 Pizza Crusts. If you are not comfortable with it, then you can switch to the rolling method, but you HAVE to try the traditional method and exercise it, using at least two dough pieces. You should also capture the moment by either filming or photographing yourself while tossing the dough.

**I didn't get a photo of this, but you can bet I did it! Not very well, I can see where it would take practice to get this part right, but I did give it a go on two of the three pizzas I made.


~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:

4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled - FOR GF: 4 ½ cups GF Flour Blend with xanthan gum or 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup corn flour, 1 cup oat flour, 1 ½ cup arrowroot, potato or tapioca starch + 2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast - FOR GF use 2 tsp
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar - FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

Or

2. FOR GF: Add the oil, sugar or agave syrup and cold water, then mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespoons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

Or

8. FOR GF: On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the number of desired dough balls from the refrigerator. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with a gluten free flour. Delicately press the dough into disks about ½ inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil. Lightly cover the dough round with a sheet of parchment paper and allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

Or

10. FOR GF: Press the dough into the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough).

NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

Or

11. FOR GF: Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

Or

12. FOR GF: Place the garnished pizza on the parchment paper onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

Or

13. FOR GF: Follow the notes for this step.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

REMARKS:
Tossing links: http://www.wikihow.com/Toss-Pizza-Dough, http://www.vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?f … D=35480534, http://www.ehow.com/how_2066953_toss-pizza-dough.html, http://www.classic-hand-tossed-pizza.bl … hands.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhcTKeslAmk, http://www.ask.yahoo.com/20050222.html

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NOTE ON SAUCE: Your sauce (any) should not be too thick as it will thicken in the hot oven. Less is more but make the less truly more by using quality ingredients.

SAUCE IDEAS: Pestos, white or brown sauce, tomato sauce, sour cream, thick cream, Bolognese sauce, etc…
Check here for sauce recipes: http://www.tenspeedpress.com/page.php3?ftr=300

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TOPPING IDEAS: Seafood, fish, meat (dry, cured, smoked or ground), cheeses (Gruyère, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella, Provolone, Ricotta, Maroille, Munster, etc…), nuts, tofu, veggies (tomatoes, bell peppers, artichokes, hearts of palm, zucchinis, pumpkin, red onions, etc…), herbs (mixes, fresh or dried), spices (garlic, gourmet salt, pepper, curry, berbere, ras-el-hanout, za’atar, etc…), nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashew nuts, Brasil nuts, macadamia nuts, etc…)….

TOPPING LINKS: http://www.greatpartyrecipes.com/pizzatoppings.html, http://www.correllconcepts.com/Encyclop … ppings.htm.

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GENERAL PIZZA LINKS: http://www.breadtopia.com/pizza-dough-recipe/

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See how Peter Reinhardt’s “Napoletana Pizza Dough” recipe turned out: http://www.chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=142, http://www.101cookbooks.com, http://www.ieatfood.net/?p=7.

Quadrucci - Making Pasta

Pasta is such a diverse and widely consumed product that many people have no idea how easy it is to make your own. Pasta is also so cheap that many people wonder why one would make their own. For myself it's a feeling of accomplishment. I've always enjoyed making something that most people think can only be store-bought: cream puffs, wonton soup, fortune cookies.

The first time I ever made pasta with a machine rather than rolling it out myself was in school. Every pasta dish that was served at the school restaurant was made from fresh pasta. Making pound after pound was a bit tedious, but worth it.

Making your own pasta is like making anything else homemade; you get to be in control of what goes into it. Whole egg or egg white, salt or no salt, semolina flour or all-purpose flour. Water or not, oil or not.

Most store-bought pastas are made from semolina flour - a flour made most often from durum wheat. It's usually more coarse than standard all-purpose flour, so many people mix the two for pasta making. I've made pasta from all semolina and from half and half and I prefer the latter. All semolina makes a very stiff dough.

Here's the recipe based on what I made last week.

Basic Pasta Dough
Printable Recipe

1 cup semolina flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs

I don't usually add salt to my pasta, but I was making quadrucci, which are rather large, and wanted a little more flavor because they were being served simply, in broth.

Combine flours and salt and make a well in the center. Drop 3 eggs into the well and start mixing them into the flour until a stiff dough forms. If you are making pasta on a very dry day you may want to add a tablespoon or so of water to the eggs. Cover the dough and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Roll out or run through a pasta machine and cut as desired.

Fresh pasta cooks faster than its dry counterpart, so you need to keep an eye on it as it cooks. As with dry pasta, timing depends on the size and shape of the pasta.

I made quadrucci with herbs encased in the center of each. It makes for a very pretty presentation and isn't very difficult to do. The photo above is the finished quadrucci in broth.

The making of pasta:




Stirring together egg and flour.

Dough at the proper consistency and ready to rest. Run dough through each setting twice starting with the widest first - number 1. Turn the dial to the next number and run the dough through again - twice. Do this until you reach the desired setting. I like number 7. Lay very dry flat-leaf herbs on half of the sheet of pasta. Make sure to space them well, they will expand in size once run through the machine again. Fold the other half of the pasta sheet over the herbs and press down lightly so they don't move when transferring the sheet to the machine. Run the pasta sheet through the machine on the number just before the one you decide on. Run it through one more time on the correct setting. For example, I wanted a number 7 thickness, so I ran the dough through 6 first and then through 7. This is the way the sheet should look when finished. Cut into squares with an herb in the center of each square. Cook in boiling stock until done.

This is an example of quadrucci with herbs done the wrong way. Any moisture on the herb at all will cause the pasta to tear, resulting in exposed herb. All is not lost, however!

Run the damaged dough through the machine several more times so the herbs distribute themselves throughout and then cut it to a desired shape. I made fettuccine with mine.

That 'damaged' pasta looks pretty good! These are ravioli made with a full sheet of pasta.

This is thin spaghetti the kids helped to make.

All-in-all, not difficult! It helps to have a machine to get the dough to the right thickness, but you can roll and cut pasta by hand, as well.

Veggie Wednesday: Two Books

I have two great books along green-living lines that I think you should check into. The first is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Cooking by Beverly Lynn Bennett of Veganchef.com and Ray Sammartano.



This is one of those essential books for vegan living. With 240 delicious recipes and tips galore, you may not need another book about vegan cooking. I absolutely love the formatting of the book. There are 6 parts, each prefaced with a cute little cartoon (one of my daughters kept leaving the book open to Part 6 because she thought the cartoon was so funny) and 22 chapters in total. That's a lot of information and a lot of great recipes.

The 'extra information' boxes are so helpful; broken down into Thyme-ly Tips, Soy What?, def-i-ni-tion, and Sour Grapes, they're placed just where needed to add that little extra bit of info necessary to that particular recipe. I've learned quite a bit from those little boxes!

This is geared toward the beginner, but the recipes are so terrific that I would recommend this for even the seasoned vegan.

The second book is Eco-Friendly Families by Helen Coronato. I love this book! I've learned more about green-living and recycling than I ever thought possible. It's written in a very approachable way and full of family-friendly ideas for living as ecologically responsible as possible.

My favorite part are the Five-Minute Makeover boxes throughout the book. They are the small ideas that help you to make a big impact without taking much time at all. I also think the first chapter, "Taking Inventory: Getting Ready to Go Green" is brilliant. Helen helps you to figure out where you are, where you want to be and just how to get there in the most painless and simple way you can.

She causes you to think and re-think about your family's impact on our earth and how you can help to keep your footprint small. It really is for all ages. The crafts at the end of the book are wonderful and the resources listed are all you'll need to send you and your family on your way to greener living.

You can purchase both of these books at Amazon.com.

Interlude

I found these perfect, juicy, tender and delicious little Seckel pears at my favorite farm stand. If only they lasted longer.

Freshology

This past week I was lucky enough to be the recipient of four days' worth of Freshology meals. I was sent a sampling of the Get Slim meals offered by Freshology, Inc. and now I'll share my thoughts on it all.

When the box arrived, my first thought was that I would never fit it all into my refrigerator. I was wrong, it was just very good packaging surrounding the meals. The top of the box was filled with water bottles that were still frozen and everything underneath was intact and ice-cold. Once it was all unpacked, it actually fit onto one shelf in the fridge.

The contents were: 10 bottles of water, 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 dinners and 4 desserts. My first impression of the meals was that they looked a bit small. Coming from the Get Slim program, I thought that was about right. Usually the idea is to cut back on portions and control calories that way. I was wrong about this, too!

Not only was the food delicious and perfectly prepared, it really was filling. Really. My family is one of those 'heaping plates' families and I couldn't wrap my brain around those smaller portions having the ability to be fulfilling. I can easily see how a person could lose weight - in a healthy and delicious way - with Freshology meals.

Here is the menu from one of those 4 days:

Breakfast: Spinach & Mozzarella Frittata with Fresh Fruit & Grilled Ham Steak
Lunch: Mediterranean Salad with Cucumbers & Kalamata Olives
Dinner: Grilled Salmon with Grilled Asparagus & Carrots
Dessert: Blueberry Coffee Cake

This was all fresh, PRESERVATIVE FREE and cooked to perfection.

Freshology offers 6 different meal plans from Freshmommy to Wholefamily, each with a fantastic array of menus that rival anything you'll find at your finest neighborhood restaurant. You can find Freshology meals online at Freshology.com or you can call 1-877-89-FRESH and speak with a representative who will help you choose the right program for you. It's a revolutionary way of thinking about eating; fresh, healthy, delicious and convenient.

Don't take my word for it, though, JLo and Ricki Lake are just two of the celebrities featured on the Press page at Freshology. You can watch clips about their success with the programs and check out other celebs as well.