Mama Mia Pizza

Tonight's dinner menu consists of homemade pizza! Madison finally received its first snow dump last night so what better way to spend a Saturday night than warm dough with cheese and a movie?  I am preparing a pizza recipe from the Joy of Cooking but substituting pre-made crust for some real Italian-style handmade yeast pizza dough.  You know its a real recipe for authentic dough when it lists flour amounts in grams. I had to google the conversion to cups. Here is what I did:


Italian Pizza Crust
The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook


Mix the following in a large bowl:
1.6 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 g (1 packet) yeast
Mix the following in a separate bowl:
1/3 cup milk
3/8 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil


Add the wet mixture to the dry 
Stir with a wooden spoon. Knead for 5 minutes on floured surface. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise in warm place (about 1 hour or double in size).
Punch down and knead another 5 minutes
Place on a lightly greased baking sheet with sprinkling of polenta. Bake 415 degrees 10 minutes*

Pizza pie perfection step #1: Put in the extra effort!

*The recipe bakes it along with pizza toppings for 15-20 minutes so I reduced the time to get the crust to stiffen (raw enough to bake again with my pizza toppings)! I also brushed the crust with olive oil. Kneading dough for 5 minutes is difficult from what I discovered by this recipe. I guess-timated that I would need to knead for the length of two songs playing from my itunes. The Black Keys was great to knead with a rhythm! The most remarkable experience making this recipe was that the dough behaved so well! I have had many bad experiences making yeast breads. My dough never turns out right. THIS pizza dough, however, was as dream come true! I couldn't stop remarking that it was truly remarkable the whole time...stretchy, tender, and smooth. And it even rose nicely in the oven into the golden crusty dream that I was wishing for. I am flagging this recipe with a post-it note for easy future reference and recommending it to everyone! (Note: I got so enthusiastic about this dough that I tried to toss and spin it it in my hands instead of rolling out with a roller. This was not elegant to watch).


Roasted Garlic and Pepper Pizza
Joy of Cooking


1 garlic bulb
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 large sweet red peppers
1/2 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives
2 tablespoons  red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 (10 oz) prebaked thin Italian bread shell 
3/4 cup sweet onion slices
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese


As the name implies, this recipe requires oven roasting of a bulb of garlic as well as fresh bell peppers. I only had frozen green, yellow, and red peppers so I slapped those on a baking sheet and placed in the oven as it pre-heated for the garlic. I let cook for about 20 minutes and was surprised to see them so burned around the edges! The sugars seemed to seep out of the skins and onto the baking sheet making them very difficult to take off, as well as clean the sheet for the dough. I think I will use fresh next time. Slight variations in the toppings were also used: I also didn't have onions so a few dashes of onion powder was put into the topping mixture and pepperoni slices were added to half the pizza for fun! The garlic created a wonderful aroma in my apartment. The whole bulb seemed like a lot for a small pizza but  I followed the recipe and added it all anyways. Doubtful that there will be any complaining since both Joe and I will have garlic breath.


Almost 8:00 PM and pizza is done!! Its beautiful and colorful and smells dangerously delicious! I'm serving with side salad topped with tahini lemon dressing. Voila!

The colors shout "delicioso!!"

Final critiques: Do not bake raw crust separate from toppings. I solved the extra-crispy problem by serving with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil emulsion. Joe loved it regardless and had thirds. Will try again in the near future using the same crust but creative combinations of toppings.

Something Fishy

Tonight I am preparing Portuguese Fisherman's Stew. I cut it off of a White Northern Beans package years ago and kept it tacked on my refrigerator as a reminder to make. Well... that day has finally come! I am preparing it to be eaten tomorrow to give it a night of "rest" to allow the flavors to mingle and mature.


Portuguese Fisherman's Stew
Serves 4-6


2 cups Great Northern Beans, pre-cooked
1 lb. filleted firm white fish
1/4 cups lemon juice
2 quarts water
2 tbsp. margarine
3 small onions, sliced
1/8 cup minced garlic (fresh)
2 bay leaves

1 can (16 oz) chicken broth
 1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
 1 1/2 tsp. thyme
 Salt and pepper to taste

In large pot brown onions and garlic in margarine. Add cooked  beans, water, bay leaves, broth, stewed tomatoes, and thyme and  simmer for 45 minutes. In separate skillet add lemon juice, fish and 1/2 cup water. Simmer slowly until fish flakes with a fork. Drain liquid and add fish to stew. Season to taste with salt pepper. 

 

A peek from start to finish.

I made a few modifications to this recipe. For one, I used a olive oil and butter combo instead of margarine for cooking the onions and garlic. I also used concentrated natural chicken bouillon paste instead of broth. For the tomatoes, all I had on hand was the canned, diced variety so I used those instead of stewed. I'm not sure if there is a real difference if adding to soup or stew but I increased the simmer time anyways. The butcher at Copps helped me pick out a nice "firm white fish" to use. We decided on Flounder. He said it was more fishy than Tilapia or Roughy. I thought fishy would be good flavor for a rich broth (and it also happened to be a cheaper choice). Let me tell you something though, it really smells fishy too! My apartment is going to stink like fish for days...


I seem to be on the roll with fishy things since I just finished off some homemade pasta sauce that included canned sardines. It was one of those nights where you are scavenging your bare refrigerator shelves after a long weekend away trying to find something dinner-worthy. My choice ended up producing very potent breath that lingers until morning (even after brushing and Listerine-ing). It's funny how something so terribly smelly can taste so good!


So the stew is now finished and sitting on my counter to cool before putting it into the refrigerator for the night. I just realized I forgot to drain the cooked fish before adding. I think I will serve with some of my sauteed sourdough bread, that I talked about in a previous blog, and perhaps some white wine.