Monthly Archives: May 2010

Chicago Style Deep-Dish Pizza

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So let me preface this by saying I only make this pizza on weekday evenings, I realize that sounds insane to most people – what she is cooking a yeast risen dough on her evenings does she have no life? And of course the answer to that my dear friends is why would I bother to have a life when I have FOOD. I understand that to all of you this is a trifle non-sensical. We subsist on food but why revel in it? Why go to beach if you don’t like the sand in your toes, I reply.

This pizza is A-MAZING. For real. It makes me swoon – every time. It is perfect dough covered in cheese and rich delicious tomato sauce and then more cheese. The crust is flaky and fresh from the oven this pizza is a delight (it isn’t too bad cold either… you know because you get two whole pie pans of the pizza following this recipe).

Boyfriend and I will almost always consume one of the two pizzas this recipe makes for the dinner it has been intended for then use the rest as lunch and dinner for the next day. The cheese firms up and the sauce becomes closer to ketchup then anything else without actually becoming ketchup – its a sauce that only has a slight variation to my 3 Ingredient Tomato Sauce. I’m in love with it. Pair the whole thing with a salad and well, basically it is LOVE. And the scents as they permeate the air as the dough rises, the sauce thickens, and the pizza bakes… well let’s just say you’ll want to devour the pizza the INSTANT it comes out of the oven (PS not something I recommend, unless you are NOT overly fond of your tastebuds – in which case HAVE AT IT).

This pizza is awesome as a low-work (I know you’re thinking yeast can’t be low work you crazy person) no fuss recipe on those gross rainy spring evening that tend to sneak up these days. Have fun. And try it, be surprised. It’s delicious.

Chicago Style Deep-Dish Pizza
Adapted just barely from Cook’s Illustrated
Note: This is a pretty forgiving yeast dough – most pizza dough is if made correctly, and DO NOT get intimidated by the length sometimes its just easier to be wordy. Also if you can’t figure it out leave me a comment!
Make 3 Ingredient Tomato Sauce with grated or finely chopped onions instead of just half onions and let it simmer until it has reached a thick almost pudding like consistency (an extra 20-30 mins).
3 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (either yellow, white or blue)
1 1/2 tsp Table Salt
2 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (1 package if you use those)
1 1/4 cup tepid water (a little warmer than room temp but not more than 115 degrees)
3 Tbsp Melted butter plus 4 tbs softened and set Aside
1 tsp plus 4 Tbs Olive oil set aside
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, yeast and cornmeal) in the bowl of a stand mixer until even, this takes 1-2 mins with a dough hook, by hand with a wooden spoon it would probably only take a minute. Add the water and melted butter and mix to fully combine on low speed another 1-2 mins scraping the bowl occasionally to check for pockets! Increase your mixer speed to medium and knead the dough until it is smooth and glossy, I can never get the glossy quite *that* glossy, until it looks even and not lumpy really 3-5 mins (by hand I think it would be much the same kneading time). Coat a large bowl with the 1 tsp of olive oil and stick the dough in there and let is rise somewhere warm until doubled, 45-60 mins.
Make your sauce now!
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
After your dough has risen to the appropriate size turn it out onto a dry (NOT FLOURED) work surface and roll it out into a 15×12 inch rectangle. Spread the 4Tbs of softened butter (remember that butter I had you set aside, hell-o let’s use it ALL) over the dough, using your hands is easiest, leaving a border of about 1/2 inch overall. Roll the dough up into a tight cylinder (but not tight enough to squeeze out the butter, that would be bad). Flatten the cylinder out and halve it with something sharp. Tuck the ends of both halves into the bottom of the dough so you get a ball, add both balls to the greased bowl and toss that in the fridge while you go watch an episode of Buffy (about 40 mins). This is called lamination, fancy right?
Ok, you watched Buffy – was it the Hush episode?, that’s one of my favorites. Right laminated dough. Your dough is laminated (which means we let the gluten calm down) so roll out one of the balls so it will fit into a pie plate of a 8 inch round cake pan and press that dough into the cake pan. Sprinkle 1/2 pound of grated of finely cubed Mozzarella cheese on the dough and cover it with half of the sauce you made earlier. Grate a little bit of Parmesan on top and stick it in your now blisteringly hot oven (so watch your fingers) for 45 mins to an hour, until the Parmesan is lightly browned and the crust is golden.
Let it rest for ten minutes and ENJOY. The leftovers of this ROCK!
Sprinkle

On Breakfast and Scones and Coffee

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I love a homemade lazy breakfast. There really isnt anything that satisfies my Saturday morning quite as much as a good cup of coffee and standing in front of the oven, stove top or toaster to create something warm and bready that can be slathered in butter. There is something very satisfying about knowing you created the breakfast you are enjoying with your own motivation and not just out of a need to eat. These scones are no exception to that rule. I originally found the recipe on one of the many cooking blogs that clutter my GoogleReader feed and it piqued my interest, so I starred it thinking maybe I’ll go back to it. I will mention that I rarely eat a satisfying scone – mostly I find them bland and dry, the exception to this rule being those ones I ate in the catacombs at St. Martin’s in the Fields (oh the clotted cream how it sings to me).

So I approached these scones with low expectations, boring was what I was expecting but not what I got. These scones are flaky and delicious – also not too sweet and totally malleable which I love about them. They also went spectacularly well with my perfect coffee (Thanks Polcari’s)! Since the initial find of the recipe I have made these scones twice – both times to enthusiastic applause (well mouth full nods) and plates where the crumbs have been licked off.

The boyfriend is not the biggest fan of ginger so I wasn’t expecting the response he gave me which was, quite simply, “Make more right now, please-and-thankyou.” I was shocked to say the least, someone who is decided not the biggest – read here could eliminate it entirely – fan of ginger asking for seconds with a ginger based baked good, well if you insist boyfriend.

With the tang of yogurt and the spice of ginger I desperately want to serve these for an afternoon tea. Now if only I can find a good place to purchase some clotted cream…

Whole Wheat Lemon-Ginger Scones

Note: I made these scones with jelly as the sugar (my mom makes a plum ginger kind) but real sugar would probably work just fine.  Also, I made my scones with greek yogurt which is a thick yogurt, if the yogurt you are using isn’t thick skip the milk.
1/2 c greek yogurt
1 t vanilla
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 c whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
½ t salt
1/4 c cold butter, cubed
2 T sugar
1/4 c candied ginger, diced
lemon zest from 1 small lemon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt, vanilla, milk and egg together until frothy. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Work in the butter with your hands until the mixture resembles small peas. Add in the sugar, zest, and ginger and stir in the yogurt mixture, reserving about a teaspoon for later. Mix gently with a fork until the dough comes together.

Sprinkle a clean work surface with a bit of flour and turn out the dough, kneading for no more than 12 times. Pat dough into a round shape, flattening it with your palms to 1/2 inch thick and cut into 8 wedges. This fits perfectly in a pie plate, or whatever it doesn’t really change shape as it cooks. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack and eat warm or cold.

A Perfect Spring Menu (With PIE)

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One of the hardest things for me is choosing a menu. I know that seems like a simple task, but how do you choose when there are recipes for Summer Panzanella and cookbooks hanging out in our kitchen full of recipes you’ve just been drooling over, like Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa and a refrigerator full of fresh Spring vegetables? Recently the Boyfriend and I hosted one of our old (I’ve known her since college – he’s known her since they were in preschool) friends for dinner. I’d been reading blog posts full of gorgeous spring produce and light meals of steamed asparagus with poached eggs, and the rhubarb – everyone has been gushing about rhubarb, those tart green and blush pink stalks bursting with flavor that just make the mouth water.

So the day before dinner I checked the Cooks Illustrated website (for inspiration not to avoid doing work) and there teasing my taste buds and solidifying my evening menu was a recipe for spring risotto that involved the asparagus I had been using in everything, fresh spring onions, and peas. Simple, classic and delicious – I was there.

Now about dessert, what was I going to pair with Asparagus and risotto? I had no idea but I figured Russo’s (the local and AMAZING produce market) would let me know once I got there for the other vegetables. As I stepped into the hubbub that calls itself Russo’s I saw it – sitting on a shelf directly in front of the doors were strawberries and rhubarb, the light bulb above my head lit up and a plan was formed, strawberry-rhubarb tart! I immediately called my mom, an expert on all things comfort food and amazing, for a recipe. In her awesome way my mother managed to give me the recipe for strawberry-rhubarb tart and thoughts about an appetizer, a simple apricot stilton served with crackers.

And there it is a perfect Spring Meal, ok there were some kinks but it was delightful and goin with what was in season was the way to go. Everything had great texture and flavor, complements of its “in season-ness!”

Strawberry-Rhubarb Tart
Adapted from The New Settlement Cookbook… kind of. I think.

Crust
2/3 cup COLD butter
2 cups flour
1/4-1/3 cup ice water, or milk for a richer dough
dash salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Add the flour and cinnamon to a medium sized bowl of the bowl of a food processor. Using two butter knives, a pastry blender, or a food processor (if you are lazy like me) cut the butter into the flour and cinnamon until it is the size of small peas. If you are using a food processor be careful and watch it like a hawk or else your butter chunks will be small and your crust will lack proper flake. Add your ice water slowly to the flour/butter mixture 1-2 Tablespoons at a time until it has turned into a loose ball (it should have come together but not be a sticky clump surrounded by flour). Cut this ball of dough in half. Wrap one dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Roll out the second ball of dough so it will fit in either a 9 inch pie pan or a 9 inch tart pan and line the pan.

Filling
1 1/2 cup Rhubarb, depending on the size of the chunks you may want more
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp Cornstarch, plus 1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp Cinnamon
Dash Nutmeg
1 egg
2 Cup strawberries, chopped to slightly larger than the rhubarb

In a medium saucepan bring the rhubarb and sugar to a boil over med-low heat. Once the Rhubarb-sugar mixture has come to a consistent low boil put the cornstarch and water in a jar and shake to mix. Pour the cornstarch into the sugar-rhubarb mix and let simmer about 5 minutes (the mixture should clear up a bit and start to thicken). Remove the rhubarb sauce from the heat and stir in the strawberries. Allow the sauce to cool for about five minutes and slowly stir in the egg, be careful here – adding egg to the sauce while it is too hot will cause fried egg, if you are worried about this let the sauce cool completely before adding the egg. Pour the filling into the crust lined pan and add butter in dabs around the top of the pie and a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg (these can also be mixed in with the sauce as well). Top with the second crust you reserved, I cut my top crust out with a pretty little leaf cookie cutter (it wasn’t quite a big enough piece of dough). Brush the top of the pie with a milk or egg wash and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 20 mins at 400 degrees then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another fifteen minutes. If you are using a tart pan bake 15 mins at 400 and 15 at 350.

Serve this pie warm with a little bit of vanilla ice cream. The sauce is also delicious as a topping for ice cream or eating with a spoon, just hold off on the egg!

Asiago Cream Crackers

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So I realize that I have been sitting on this recipe forever (like I made them on New Year’s Eve kind of forever) and also that I still haven’t tweaked it completely. That being said these little puffs of crispy crackers were just right with a dollop of Hot Pepper Jelly (Christmas gift courtesy of sister and her girlfriend) as a toast to the new year (or would have been had the boyfriend and I stayed awake). There’s something indulgent in having a cracker made with butter, asiago, and cream as the main ingredients, topping the whole thing with smoked sea-salt well that borders on the obscene.

So with crackers made and veggies in sticks arranged on a plate we ate a meal of appetizers, followed up by perfect miniature cannoli from Modern Pastry in the North End. Turned on The Spirit and promptly fell asleep. As an adventure in seeing the ball drop it was a fail, but as an evening spent together indulging in homemade and milk-based delights in was heaven.

Asiago Cream Crackers
Adapted (eversoslightly) from SmittenKitchen

Note: I made these with just asiago but a little bit of finely chopped rosemary (or whatever you like with your asiago) would be wonderful in them, I’m sure of it. I’m thinking that next time they will have sun-dried tomatoes reconstituted in a little olive oil and chopped into fine slivers, I’m on the end of thinking that would be “practically perfect in every way.”

1 cup All purpose flour, more for flouring and rolling as needed
½ tsp salt
½ cup finely grated hard Italian cheese (I used asiago, SK used parmesan and thinks romano would work well too)
2 Tbs of herbs/sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
4 Tbs butter, cold (salted or un- it doesn’t really matter, if your butter is salted cut your salt in half)
¼ cup cream or half and half
Smoked sea-salt, fresh pepper, sesame seeds, rosemary – whatever you want for sprinkling

Heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add flour, salt, cheese, butter, and herbs/sun-dried tomatoes (if you are using them) to the bowl of your food processed. Pulse the food processor until the flour and butter are combined (about the size of peas). Add your cream or half and half and let the machine run until a dough forms (this should be quick so don’t wander away to catch the game or read a book). If you are not getting a dough add liquid one tsp at a time until it does, you want the dough to be one mass but not sticky.

Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick or thinner on a lightly floured surface. You can either cut the crackers now, like I did or just leave score marks down where you would like them to break apart, either way these crackers should be crispy and light when they come out of the oven. I made mine as little squares this time I think I’ll try to make straws when I make them again. Regardless poke them all over with a fork (so they look like crackers), brush them with milk/cream/half and half and sprinkle whatever toppings you have chosen on top.

Bake until they are moderately golden brown in the middle of the oven, about 12 minutes. Cool on a rack and serve warm or cold with hot pepper jelly or any spread (they were pretty delicious plain as well).

I don’t know how long these crackers will last but boyfriend and I ate a whole batch of them in one sitting over a game of Monopoly…