Roasted Pepper and Goat Cheese Pizza with Avocado Salsa; Casino Martini

     Jeff and I had a very special pizza night.  We got Gracie all to ourselves.  Pam was out of town, Jen was out of town, and Roger had taken Jonah to the Civil Air Patrol.  Roger dropped Grace off on the way, and he had given her a frozen pizza, in case she didn't like what I was making.

     For most of the evening, it was just Gracie and I.  Jeff was working until after six, and he made a stop at the grocery store to hunt for bargains on the way home, and I think he had lost track of time.  I thought Grace would be bored with Jeff and me, but I was relieved to see she brought her homework.  I cleared off the table, so could have space to work.

     She informed me that her homework was super easy, and she could do it in ten minutes before she caught the bus in the morning.  She said she would rather help me.  Hmm, homework avoidance or a genuine desire to hang with her old auntie?  I chose to believe it was the latter of the two options.

Roasted Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Pizza with Avocado Salsa

Adapted from James McNair's Vegetarian Pizza

Crust:

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

2¼ cups bread flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup olive oil

Salsa:

1 cup corn kernels

½ cup finely chopped red pepper

½ cup finely chopped red tomato

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon minced jalapeño (seeds removed for a mild salsa, leave the seeds in for hot salsa)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 cup finely diced ripe avocado (cut and add just before serving)

Pizza:

1 recipe cornmeal crust dough (see above)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

10 ounces soft goat cheese flavored with herbs and sun-dried tomatoes
3 ounces roasted red peppers

8 ounces shredded mozzarella
Salt
Pepper

Make the crust dough: Combine the yeast, water, and sugar in a bowl and set aside for at least five minutes.  Stir the flour, cornmeal, and salt together in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil and stir on a low speed until the mixture forms a ball around the hook.  Continue mixing a little longer  until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.  Let rest for an hour in a greased bowl in a warm, dry place.

Make the salsa:  Stir together all the ingredients except the avocado.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.  Return to room temperature and stir in the avocado just before serving.

Assemble the pizza:  Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using.  On a corn-meal dusted pizza peel or board, roll or stretch the dough to a 16-inch circle.  Brush the dough circle all over with a tablespoon of olive oil.  Sprinkle the minced garlic over the olive oil.  Crumble the goat cheese up and distribute all over the pizza.  Cut the roasted red pepper into strips and arrange the strips over the goat cheese.  Sprinkle the mozzarella over the peppers.  Salt lightly.  Add a few grindings of black pepper over the mozzarella.  Slide the assembled pizza onto the hot stone in the oven (or place assembled pizza onto a well-oiled pizza pan and slide pan into oven).  Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the crust is crisp, and the cheese is starting to brown.  Remove from oven.  Allow to cool for few minutes.  Scatter the salsa over the pizza, slice, and serve.

     I put her to work right away.  I had made the dough for the pizza the night before, but I had forgotten to take it out of the freezer that morning.  Thawing the dough would require several hours, so we had to start with new dough.  I had measured out the flour, cornmeal, and salt into my mixing bowl before she arrived.  She was very curious about the whole process, so I explained each step.  I had her turn on the mixer and stir the flour, cornmeal, and salt together, explaining that we wanted to make sure that the salt and cornmeal was evenly distributed throughout the flour to keep it from all being in one spot on the dough.

     I filled my Pyrex measuring cup with warm water and added sugar.  She asked why I put the sugar and the yeast in the water first.  I told her that the yeast is a living organism.  The warm water sort of wakes it up.  The sugar is what the yeast likes to eat.  So, the yeast eats the sugar and farts, making bubbles that form a foam on the top of the water.  These bubbles are what makes the dough rise.  I had her smell the yeast-sugar-water concoction, and her eyes lit up.  "It smells like bread!" she said.  I smiled.  Grace shared my love of bread, and I had hoped she would get excited about the process, too.

     After she mixed the yeast mixture and the olive oil into the flour mixture, I had her roll out the dough.  I sprinkled the pizza peel with cornmeal, telling her that the reason we do this is so that the dough doesn't stick to the board.  We want it to slide off evenly and easily so none of the toppings get jostled or out of place while we transfer it to the oven.  She has been a witness to many a transfer disaster, and she nodded her head gravely.  "That's what gives it 'slip factor!'" she said, quoting one of the phrases my sisters and I use frequently when discussing whether the completed pizza is going to go easily into the oven.

     While she rolled out the dough, I opened the goat cheese logs and crumbled them up into a bowl.  When I was at Cub, they only had one little log of plain goat cheese.  It was only four ounces, and I was looking for ten.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some over-packaged goat cheese that looked like it had been rolled in sun-dried tomatoes.  Lo and behold, it was also on sale, AND there was a coupon!  I decided a little extra flavor wouldn't hurt.  I bought two five ounce packages for only a little more than the price of the four ounce log.  Even if I decided to scrape off the tomatoes, I think I was still money and one extra grocery trip ahead.

     She did a great job of rolling out the dough.  It was thin and even, and it was really, really circular.  I should have been watching her technique to pick up some pointers on roundness.  I handed her a bowl of olive oil and a brush and told her to brush the olive oil all over the crust.  She asked what that did for the pizza.  I honestly wasn't sure.  "I think it makes the crust a little crispier," I conjectured.  EHow told me it is to give the pizza a nice "sheen" and act as a sauce.  OK.  For this recipe, there was garlic over the olive oil, so I could see where they were going with it, but I wouldn't exactly call that a sauce.  However, it was on the Internet, so it must be true.  Also, I am not sure that we need to have a "sheen" under the cheeses, but that is what the recipe called for.

     When I handed Grace the bowl of cheese to distribute over the pizza, she asked what she should use to get it out of the bowl and onto the crust.  "Your hands!" I exclaimed.  It's no fun to cook unless you can get gooey!  

    I cut the roasted peppers into strips while she sprinkled the clods of goat cheese over the crust.  Once that was accomplished, I handed her the bowl of peppers.  While she did that, I ran downstairs to the freezer for the mozzarella.

     BY the time I came back up, she had the peppers arranged beautifully and was ready for the mozzarella.  She laughingly objected a little bit to the coldness of the cheese against her hands, but proceeded to distribute it all out over the pizza without complaint.  She did have to spend a little time under the faucet, trying to get her hands to warm back up afterwards.

    I took this opportunity to start making my drink.  When I thought it was going to be more than just me drinking the drink of the week, I had chosen one called a Caribbean Cruise.  When I had gotten home from work Thursday, I decided I didn't want to make an entire pitcher of pineapple juice for just me, and I really didn't feel like futzing with trying to make just enough for the drink.  I wanted to pour, shake, and drink.  No extra steps, nothing in-between.  I chose a new drink called Casino - mostly because I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen, and there were no extra preparations for them.

CASINO

2½ measures gin

½ measure maraschino liqueur

½ measure lemon juice

3 dashes orange bitters

Pour the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice.  Shake vigorously.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a cherry.

     I know I must say this about a large number of the drinks we make on Thursdays, but I really liked this.  The gin gave it a subtle zing on the finish, the cherry liqueur sweetened it up, the lemon counterbalanced the cherry, and the bitters gave it that nice, bracing edge.

     I had made the salsa (up to adding the avocado) the day before and quickly added the avocado while our pizzas were baking.  I chose not to put the salsa over the pizza (which would have made a great picture...), because I wanted Grace to try the pizza, and I wasn't sure that she would like the salsa.  Grace and I had just placed the pizzas, salsa, plates, napkins, and silverware on the table when Jeff arrived with his hard-sought bargains of the evening.

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     The pizza was fantastic.  I don't think it would have been nearly as good without the sun-dried tomatoes and herbs in the goat cheese.  Although, once the salsa was sprinkled over the top, it was elevated to a whole new level.  There was crunch, and spice, and citrus, and the rich, luscious, creaminess of a ripe avocado.  The corn added sweetness and pop.  It was a fabulous combination.  Grace tried the pizza itself without the salsa.  I couldn't changer her mind about that, which is too bad for her, because I really think she would have enjoyed it.  Well, she would have another opportunity, because I sent all of the leftovers home with her parents when they came over to pick her up.  I hope she gives it a shot.

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