Whats For Dinner?

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:07 pm

I was told I'm to make pizza tonight. My dough recipe makes a double...so one is going to have beef, sausage, onions and mushrooms...and one for me with mozz, provolone, garlic and this rotella cheese I have...it's prosciutto and basil wrapped in mozz. I'm going to slice it and use it as a topping.

djmadscribbler · Post by **djmadscribbler** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:11 pm

Kasdeja wrote:I was told I'm to make pizza tonight. My dough recipe makes a double...so one is going to have beef, sausage, onions and mushrooms...and one for me with mozz, provolone, garlic and this rotella cheese I have...it's prosciutto and basil wrapped in mozz. I'm going to slice it and use it as a topping.

I love prosciutto... I love basil... I love mozz.... put all three together - it's like some diving union. Plus, on pizza - Kas, I bow down before your genius.

I pray at the alter of your pizzanous.

Edit: for grammer and spelling - the regular Dumb Duo!

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:13 pm

Let's not forget it will also have provolone. I think that it is superior to just mozz as a cheese for pizza.

I'm, like, a pizza making goddess.

AutoPilate · Post by **AutoPilate** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:18 pm

There was a thread in another forum I frequent about homemade pizzas... someone made a suggestion to put something in the dough but I can't remember what.

//edit: Now I remember: honey. Apparently one tsp. per pie is enough. Ref: http://bbs.bunglefever.com/viewtopic.php?t=42562

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:20 pm

I add wheat gluten...and sometimes herbs and such. Honey. Hmm. wouldn't that make it a tad sweet? Sometimes I make some homemade Italian sweet bread and make french bread pizza out of it.

djmadscribbler · Post by **djmadscribbler** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:23 pm

Yeah, honey (or any sweetner) will give you a nice fluff to the dough because it gives the yeast more to eat. If you want a really thin, crispy, New York style crust than stay away from the added sweetners. If you like your crust with more volume then lay it on! (Sorry, my 7 years as a baker or bleeding through!)

AutoPilate · Post by **AutoPilate** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:26 pm

See? And you thought I was only good in the sack.

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:26 pm

Hmmm...I like my crust recipe pretty good. I've pretty well cloned the classic Chicago crust.

After this discussion and a phone call...I am not making homemade italian sweetbread and making it into pizza.

Baker, eh? I'm an avid amateur baker...I'd love to do it professionally, especially breads. I make a mean bagel.

djmadscribbler · Post by **djmadscribbler** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:40 pm

Yeah it was really fun - for the first couple of weeks. Then it was just work like any other job.

Since it's been 4 years since then I've reclaimed my joy of baking. Plus I agree with you - traditional crust recipes don't have much sweetner in them and I prefer it that way. However, many americans like really fluffy breadstuffs (hence the Temple of White Bread) and that's where adding things like honey come from. It doesn't usually taste "sweet" (unless you add waayyy too much) but it does make for a much softer crust.

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:44 pm

Eh, too much European blood in me to cheapen my delicious Chicago style dough, lol. Now I am just trying to get as close to a French baguette as possible, considering the restrictions of an American conventional oven.

djmadscribbler · Post by **djmadscribbler** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:50 pm

The key to a good baguette is slow rising and I like to spray water in the oven when I put the loaves in (because stem equals better crest formation usually).

If you really like traditional Eureopean style breads then this http://www.amazon.com/Village-Baker-Cla ... 0898159164
is probably one of the absolute best books I've ever seen. So much information and the recipes are great.

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:52 pm

Yeah, I'm doing that...it's just hard to recreate a genuine baguette...and the ones you buy in the store wrapped in plastic and having no crust...just...blah. I'll have to get that...I'm already going broke thanks to the King Arthur Flour Company website, lmao.

djmadscribbler · Post by **djmadscribbler** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:03 pm

King Arthur's nice but it's not really necessary. Any unbleached (organic to taste) high gluten flour will do. Something like 95% of the flour in this country all comes from the same mills - it's just the packages that are different. Last I heard, King Arther and Bob's Red Mill and a few others were still milling their own stuff but really - flour is flour in my experience.

That said though - I'm a firm believer in feel and sometimes you find a flour (or a butter or whatever) and it's just feels better when you're using it - this inspires confidence and confidence inspires good results so ultimately whatever feels best to you will most likely work best for you.

That's one of the myriad things I like about baking - there are so many variables involved, and almost all of them come from the baker or the environment. But that's what makes each batch of baking special.

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:07 pm

Aaactually...I just use pillsbury bread flour

Ijust love all the baking gadges, pans, etc. on the King Arthur website.

djmadscribbler · Post by **djmadscribbler** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:11 pm

Pillsbury's great. I usually use the stuff with the white label - you know it says "Flour" in plain black letters in a bold sans-serif font

Yeah, they do have great gadgets though! I so want Kitchen-aid mixer. I haven't made bread in a couple of years because it's a pain by hand and takes more time that way than I have. But I hope to get a mixer soon - than my Village Baker book better look out!