I think Jeff thought I was a little batty, putting winter squash on the grocery list I gave him this week. I was actually aiming for pumpkin, but I wasn't sure if he would be able to find it, so I suggested alternatives like acorn squash, or buttercup, or anything along those lines. He came home with acorn.
The recipe had me peel the squash and then saute it in butter and oil. Peeling the acorn proved to be quite an endeavor. The shell is pretty firm. I knew that there was no way I would be able to use a regular vegetable peeler. I decided to go for the knife method. This also ended up being quite difficult. I didn't want to slice too deeply into the squash and risk losing precious edible "meat", but I certainly didn't want any of the hard green shell left on it. First thing I did was cut it in half. I didn't want the thing rolling out from under my knife while I was trying to cut into it. That just seemed like it would have "missing digits" written all over it.
The inside of the acorn was lighter in color than I like to see in an acorn. I imagine that is because it is so far out of season. A little research into this (after the fact) taught me that it was not ripe. Apparently, the squash should have a little bit of yellow or orange on the outside, and the inside should be almost orange in color. If not, it won't be nearly as sweet. My pizza could have been completely different, had I used a "ripe" squash!
I laid one half of the squash cut side down onto my cutting surface. Then, I cut along the hump of the lowest lobe at three different angles to get the peel off of the entire length of the lobe. I repeated this technique for each of the lobes until my squash only hand green in the creases of the lobes. I repeated cutting along the lobes, but with ,my knife at a 45º angle in or out, depending on which side of the lobe I was working on. Needless to say, this was a tedious task, and in hindsight, it may have been easier to cut the squash into the slices before peeling. Maybe it could even be sauteed with the rind on it, and it could be peeled afterward, when the meat of the vegetable could just be slipped out of its skin.
My house filled with wonderful holiday smells as I sauteed the squash - warm butter, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. It was Christmas in May! I sampled a little of the sauteed squash once it was cool enough to touch with my fingers. It wasn't all that sweet, but the butter and seasonings did it wonders.
I had made my crust dough Wednesday night, put it in the freezer overnight and thawed it all day while I was at work. It had escaped its zipper bag packaging - not by blowing the seal or a seam or anything. No, this dough decided to blow a hole right through the side of the bag and make a vertical escape a little at the time, making itself look like some kind of snake.
The dough was nice and pliable, and rolling out into a fifteen inch circle was no problem. It even continued to rise again, while it was waiting for its toppings.
The recipe called for putting all of the cheese on before the rest of the toppings. I don't like to do that, because then there is nothing holding the toppings onto the crust. A net of cheese over the top of the ingredients holds everything in place. I split the cheese up and put half on the bottom and half on the top.
My pumpkin slices didn't stay together in perfect crescents like I had hoped, but since I had decided I was covering them up with cheese, I wasn't really concerned too much with their asthetic appeal (maybe Mr. McNair was more concerned with that then dropping toppings on his chest while eating it).
The next step was sprinkling the toasted pumpkin seeds over the squash. In hindsight, I think that should be the last topping (even after the cheese). They lost much of their crunchiness by being buried under half of a pound of cheese, but bury them I did.
SPICED SQUASH PIZZA
Adapted from James McNair's Vegetarian Pizza
Crust:
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
3¼ cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup olive oil
Squash:
1½ pound acorn squash (skin should have some orange or yellow to it)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
The Rest of the Story:
2 tablespoon of olive oil
3 tasblespoons salted roasted pumpkin seeds (shelled - green parts only)
8 ounces shredded smoked Gouda cheese
8 ounces shredded mozzarella
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
Make the crust: Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for at least five minutes. Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast and olive oil and stir on medium speed until well-combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix at medium speed until dough clings to the hook and looks smooth and elastic. Place in a well-oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel or drape loosely with a piece of plastic wrap and set in a warm, dry place for at least an hour.
Sautè the squash: Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds and strings (I use a grapefruit spoon for this - it makes it easier to detach the stringy stuff from the good stuff) and discard. Place the squash cut side down on a cutting board and cut the rind off with a sharp knife, being careful to remove all of the "skin" from the squash. Repeat with the other half. Slice both halves into ½ inch slices. Put the butter and olive oil into a large skillet and heat it up over medium heat. Add the squash and sautè for a few minutes until the squash begins to soften. Add the cinnamon, allspice, and cloves and continue to cook until the squash is lightly browned and tender.
Assemble the pizza: Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using. On a cornmeal or flour dusted pizza peel or board, roll or stretch the dough out to a fifteen inch circle. Brush the dough all over with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, making sure to get all the way to the edges and over the sides. Spread half of each of the cheeses over the crust. Arrange the squash slices over the cheese. Scatter the pumpkin seeds over the squash. Top with the remaining cheeses. Sprinkle the red pepper flake over the cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown and crust is golden. Allow to rest for a couple minutes before slicing.
The Salmon Calzones called for the whole wheat crust again. The original recipe for the crust called for all whole wheat flour, and we thought it was a little too tough, too earthy, and not nearly soft or fluffy enough. I tried replacing a third of the wheat flour with regular bread flour, hoping that would help. It still seamed pretty dry and stiff.
It had hardly risen at all when I had gotten home from work on Thursday.
It took quite a bit of elbow grease to roll each third of the dough into a six inch circle, and they were pretty thin.
I had cooked the salmon Wednesday night. I just sprinkled it with salt and pepper and broiled it for a few minutes until it was just barely done. Jeff and I each sneaked a piece to try. Of course, it wasn't just a nip of food - we were performing a very important observation - we were testing the fish to make sure it was done. It was moist and almost sweet and very delicious. I was almost sad that it was going into a calzone instead of directly into my mouth at that moment.
Once it completely cooled, I mixed it with the geren onions, mushrooms and dill. I covered the container I had mixed it in and placed it in the refrigerator for Thursday. When I had dolloped and spread the ricotta cheese over half of each of the three dough circles, I started adding the salmon mixture. There was quite a bit of this concoction, and we ended up not using it all. Had I been alone, I probably would have forced the salmon into the calzones, but Jeff and Pam voted to leave some out so that we might be able to close the dough up properly.
I left that task to Pam. She has a knack for sealing up dough. No matter how hard I try to do it, it always seems to come unsealed, unraveled, and/or blown out the sides.
SALMON PIZZA TURNOVERS
Adapted from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin
Crust:
½ cup warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup bread flour (you may want to adjust these two - maybe switch the measurements for the two flours)
1½ teaspoons olive oil
Filling:
½ pound salmon filet (I started with 3/4lb, ate some, and still didn't use it all)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon seasoning salt (I used Harley's)
2 green onions
2 ounces chopped mushrooms
7½ ounces whole milk ricotta
2 tablespoons fresh dill
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Make the dough: Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for at least five minutes. Combine the salt and flours in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and the 1½ teaspoons of olive oil. Stir at medium speed until dough comes together, clings to the dough hook, and looks smooth and elastic. You may need to stop the mixer a few times to scrape the sides of the bowl in order to get all of the ingredients incorporated. Place dough ball in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel or drape loosely with a piee of plastic wrap. Set it in a warm, dry place to rise for at least an hour.
Make the filling: Preheat the broiler on high. Place the salmon on a greased broiler pan, skin side down, if applicable. Sprinkle the fish with the lemon juice. Scatter the seasoning salt over the lemon juice. Bake in preheated oven for about 5 minutes or until fish can easily be flaked. Remove from oven and set aside. Change oven to a baking setting at 500º F. Divide the dough into three portions. On a cornmeal or flour dusted board, roll each portion out to a 6 inch circle. Flake the salmon into a bowl, discarding the skin, if applicable. Add the green onions, mushrooms, and fresh dill. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta over one half of each of the circles. Spread 1/3 of the salmon mixture over the ricotta. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fold the untopped half of each circle over the filled side and pinch the edges of the dough together to form a seal. Cut slits in the tops of the calzones for venting. Brush the tops of the calzones with olive oil to encourage browning. Bake in preheated 500º oven for 15 minutes.
While she was doing that, I started working on the cocktail of the day.
FRENCH TEAR
1-3/4 measure spiced rum
3/4 measure orange liqueur (such as Cointreau)
1/2 measure black raspberry liqueur
1 measure pineapple juice
Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a piece of pineapple on the rim of the glass. Enjoy!
It was gorgeously pink, definitely fruity, and quite delicious. It was juicy with a hint of spice, and dangerously easy to drink.
Our cocktails were poured (and tested), and the timers were going off. The squash pizza looked great. The cheese was bubbly and brown. The toppings appeared to ooze together in one mass of pulsing, volcanic goodness.
The calzones, on the other hand, did not look as appetizing. The beige crust remained the same color. It was difficult to determine whether they were "done" or not. The dough neither rose nor browned (or at least it didn't brown enough to contrast the brown the dough already had in it). A couple of taps on their exterior, though, indicated that they were definitely crispy.
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