The Pizza Diary

I don’t know when the affliction began. I think it was the nettle-preserved lemon pizza at Regazza in San Francisco over the winter. The papery crust really hooked me and a seed was planted. My early experiments, while satisfying, were nowhere near my idea of a good pizza. In my mind, the crust would make the pizza – everything else was just a formality. My doughs were overworked and lacked good crumb structure. More research ensued. I started a yeast culture – figuring if I was gonna dive into this world of yeasted breads, I better have a culture on hand. Little did I know, the sourdough culture I was about to develop would add an added layer of complexity to the whole process. I dove into books, internet forums and the occasional pizza slice out was analyzed and critiqued. I soon realized that if I wanted a real crust to develop in my humble home gas oven, I would need a better stone. I landed on a cordierite slab after getting scared off by the sheer weight of a soapstone slab – plus, the soapstone would probably take too long to heat through for my low volume of baking. Next in line was a digital scale. Most recipes and discussions stressed the need for exact weights of ingredients for dough making. Dough was talked about in terms of percent hydration, multi-day fermentations and crumb structure. If I was going to go for it, I had better roll up my sleeves and get kneading. And knead I did until my arms were tired, the floor a mess and dirty bowls piled everywhere. What I really needed was a solid stand mixer. Again, if I was gonna go for it, I needed the right tools, and the best tools. I found a used Hobart N50 on ebay. These things are widely regarded as one of the best stand mixers on the planet – with the design essentially unchanged since they were first introduced way back in the 40s or thereabouts. They can mix concrete, winch a truck out of the mud, and knead a dough to a gluten-y goodness.

Pumpkin sauce – pear pizza. An early attempt with a lackluster dough and a sauce that got lost between sweet and savory. Ready for improvements this fall.

Starting to get better with my crusts. This one has decent over spring, a good, bubbly outer crust with toasting of some of the bubbles for added flavor. This is a three day ferment in the fridge.

Dough worked a little thinner, probably missed out on some good oven spring with a premature oven, but the local sausage was excellent.

Dough ready to get topped. Some bubbles are popping up along the edge and this one really popped in the oven.

Really happy with this crust. Good color variation, oven spring and crumb.

Another satisfactory result.

Summer utility pizza with roasted tomato sauce.

Roasted tomato-garlic sauce ready to land on its new home, and eventually find its way into my belly.

Good crumb on a thicker crust pizza.

Roasted tomato-garlic sauce – the essence of summer

Simple pizzas – no sauce, just a little cheese, garlix, mozz, parm, bell pep and onion.

Roasted tomatoes (and a head of garlic) for sauce

Crumb structure on a thinner crust summer utility pizza.

Summer utility pizzas

Preparing a couple of summer utility pizzas. Roasted tomato-garlic sauce, red onion, garlic and bell pepper marinated in olive oil and pepper, kale marinated in lemon juice and sea salt, fresh zuchini, basil, moaazarella, provolone and topped with fresh oregano and parmesan after coming out of the oven. You will not find a better pizza in town.

Sopressata.

 

Celebrating Spring with Food

Here on the coast, Spring seems to launch itself in full force one day, hunker down the next all the while building to the next crescendo of a calm, sunny morning. Up in the hills, still soggy and chilly from yesterday’s rain, black trumpet mushrooms are scattered under the tan oaks secretly playing the songs of a passing winter. Craterellus are a bit difficult to spot, but once clued in, they can appear in scattered patches bursting through a forest floor littered with light colored tan oak leaves. Clean them up, saute’ with olive oil, butter, thyme and a wee bit of salt and pepper, add them to caramelized leeks, toss in a little creme fraiche at the end. Layer them with a bit of gruyere in a tart shell and you will be reminded that life remains solidly in the good zone. Serve with a salad of fresh spring arugula, last fall’s kabocha squash and roasted seeds and heaven can be found in every bite.

Velvetine landscapes of spring time

Black trumpet blowing it's song through the woods

A whole band blares out the tunes of spring time, good food and the coming of summer.

Mushroom-leek tart, arugula-kabocha salad and the clutter of a kitchen at work.

A little-fava-dab-will-do

Fava bean season is rapidly waning ... natures perfect bean cozy in their fleecy shell

Fresh basil, red sicilian garlic and olive oil. Oh yeah, and favas, too!

One-by-one the outer covering of the fava is removed.

...and carefully worked into a wonderful spread that also doubles as an evening mosquito repellent if eaten in ample quantities for lunch.

Kale – a work in progress

It’s apple season – and kale – hmmm – OK I overcooked the peas a bit and should have waited a bit longer before tossing in the apples…

Kale, apples, black-eyed peas and onion with a wee splash of balsamic vinegar - oh my

Roasted tomatoes

I promised myself I would take care of chores today: laundry (including folding), kitchen cleaning, vacuuming (yes, I occasionally do vacuum the house), and, the fun part, making tomato sauce!  All this prior to tomorrow’s hike into a rarely-fished stretch of water unseen to most.  The river is currently up nearly a foot and a slow drop should be ideal for an afternoon exploratory descent into this land of poison oak, free-roaming black bears and wild steelhead.

After a bit, the tomatoes and garlic are roasted, the chard blanched and the work begins.

These fall easily out of their skin into a waiting bowl of basil and roasted garlic. The mixture is gently kneaded and placed into serving sized bags for mid-winter nourishment.

The chard and beet gratin was angelically smooth with a hint of nutmeg. I worked in some parmesan but it’s not very assertive in the mix.

Mixing very soft coot with slightly stiffer pheasant rump to see how it responds as a “do all” fly for varying current and swing speeds.

Mixing very soft coot with slightly stiffer pheasant rump to see how it responds as a"do-all" fly for varying current and swing speeds. (yes, I know my wings are a tad too fat)

Lunch special – Broccoli Polonaise

Needed a hearty helping of vegetables after yesterdays cholestorol-fix breakfast.  In keeping with the gratin theme, I was motivated by Prof. Steve Holzinger’s article”All About Gratins”

The Broccoli Gratinee sounded fairly straightforward:  butter, breadcrumbs, parmesan seasonings over crisp steamed broccoli baked in a hot oven.   The parmesan was to be added at the end of the butter-breadcrumb mixing and the mixture may have been too hot and set in the pan before being transferred to the gratin dish.  After a quick ten minutes in the oven it was set to cool.  Despite the dryness – it was super yummy – I couldn’t have ordered up a better lunch.  This recipe will require some further contemplation – reminding me of the old adage “Think before you Cook!”

Out of the over to cool – might be a little dry.

Lunch is served – the poblano peppers on the left needed to be roasted today or else – perhaps for a future poblano-wrapped halibut dinner.

Served with garlic bread… the broccoli is probably too dry – but that’s the stuff for future experiments!

Chard Gratin for lunch hold the halibut

The gratin is best after it’s sat for a bit.  I’ve only made a couple of them and only two of them could I say that I nailed it – either with just the right amount of nutmeg or set up just right and not too gritty or watery.  I had hoped to have the gratin today with some fresh halibut since the ocean was relatively flat and a boat ride was in order.  Once out there, though, my stomach indicated otherwise and I spent a couple of uncomfortable hours on the boat trying not to move too much for fear of upsetting the delicate balance of a semi-stable stomach on rolling seas.  Plenty of sand-dabs for Kyle (I was too busy ‘balancing’ to work a sand dab rig) and he had never eaten them before.  They are probably one of my favorite eating fish – but lots of work for tiny filets – and I definitely wasn’t going to be up to it this afternoon.

I returned home to a Sunday newspaper, baseball game on the radio and chard gratin.  Exactly what I needed.  It may not look pretty to the eye, but neither did I after a long morning afloat.  After the first bite, I thought to myself “you nailed it”  yummmmm.  Not a cure for seasickness – only a night’s sleep will take it completely out of me – but a darned good way to start an afternoon nap.

A slice of chard gratin before an afternoon nap is a surefire way to take the seasickness edge off (glass of juice and sparkling water not pictured).

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen

The pursuit for chard gratin continues…

The chard is blanched for a minute and then the excess water is squeezed out.

The bread crumbs are ready…needing only to be crushed

The chard is chopped and sauteed with a wee bit of garlic and finished with nutmeg, salt, pepper, a healthy sprinkling of flour and milk is slowly worked into the mix.  I may have made this a bit too watery.

The chard is transferred to a pan…

And topped with the breadcrumbs.  I may have overtoasted my bread … we’ll see…

Into the oven for a slow cook so it doesn’t bubble up.

Stay tuned…

Pursuing the Perfect Gratin

Saturday morning… Farmer’s Market

Time for a Chard Gratin

Raw materials

The bible of all things vegetable

Bread Crumbs to be