Antipasto Pizzette; Cranberry Apple Pizza; Costa del Sol

      I was exhausted when I came home from work on Wednesday.  Jeff was gone, playing farmer again, and I hadn't been sleeping well.  I just wanted to go to bed, but I knew that if I didn't get some preparations done for tomorrow's dinner, it would be really difficult to get the food on the table in timely fashion.  I had to bargain with myself.  Just start with one thing, and see how you feel afterward.  If you still can't keep your eyes open, you can take a nap.

     I started with the crusts.  I took two portions of basic crust out of the freezer for the antipasto pizzettes.  I thought one wouldn't be enough to make 6 pizzettes, and I found one portion of sweet crust for the cranberry pizza.  OK.  That was a start.  I am still standing at this point, so I should do one more thing.  I'll go ahead and make the caramel. 

     The directions say to whisk the caramel over medium-high heat until it turns into a brown liquid.  I found that before this happens, the sugar clumped up some.  I don't recommend using, as I did, a regular whisk.  The balls of sugar that formed kept getting stuck inside the bubble.  I switched to an open-end whisk.  This worked better, and it was able to get into the "corners" of the pan, where the sides of the pan meet the bottom of the pan.  It is important to have the cut-up pieces of butter handy for when the sugar becomes liquid, because it can burn and make the caramel bitter. 

     I had made this recipe once before, but I had forgotten that when you start adding the butter to the liquefied sugar, it foams up and attempts to climb out of the pan.  It is a little startling at first, but once you know to expect it and keep stirring, it works out fine.  Once the butter is melted, take the mixture off of the heat, and whisk in the cream.  It is still pretty runny at this point.  As it cools, it gets thicker.

    With that accomplished, I felt I could clean up and go to bed.  The caramel smelled so good, though, I had to try it.  I slid a finger along the length of the whisk, where some of the sauce was clinging.  It was warm, sweet, with a nutty, toasty flavor.  It was absolutely delicious!  Wanting not to waste any, I felt it was my duty to make sure that the tines of the whisk were completely cleaned off before going into the dishwasher.  The best too for this?  My tongue, of course.  I happily licked the whisk clean, but discovered that with an open-end whisk, this can be kind of difficult.  The tines of the whisk that weren't being "cleaned" at that particular moment decided to kick back and whack me in the face.  I had caramel on my cheeks, forehead, and I think I had some behind my ears.  Oh, but it was worth it!   

  

     When I got home from work, I started by rolling out the dough for each pizza.  I started with the sweet dough.  I rolled it out to fit in my 12 inch deep-dish stoneware.  The directions said to brush the pan with melted butter, but, again, the butter on my counter was fairly soft, so I just rubbed a tablespoon or so all over the inside of the stoneware.  Once I had the crust loaded into the pan, I rubbed another tablespoon over the top. 

    I used Grandma's Apple-Peeler-Corer-Slicer from Pampered Chef to prepare the apples.  This is a really slick tool.  I recommend it highly for anyone who ever makes pies or anything that requires peeling or slicing apples or pears.  You jam the apple onto the corer portion of the contraption and turn the handle until the apple (or pear) until it bumps up against the peeler blade and pushes the apple through a circular blade, and it comes out the other side still in the apple shape but cored and sliced.  Well, actually, it isn't completely sliced, it is actually like one big curly-q.  A slide of the knife down one side of the apple makes them into separate rings. 

     One apple was enough to cover the bottom of the crust with a bit of overlap.  I sprinkled the (sweetened) dried cranberries over the apple rings.  I tossed the brown sugar over that, and it was ready for the oven.

     By this time, Jennifer and the kids had arrived.  They brought a stuffed pizza from Papa Murphy's, and coincidentally, it needed to be cooked at the same temperature as the cranberry apple pizza, so we put them in together in the bottom oven.  Jeff had driven all evening to come home during the night, so he was around and able to help the kids get a movie started in the nest, and we didn't hear another word from them until we called them up for dinner.

     The Antipasto Pizzettes called for a LOT of ingredients.  Jennifer and I agreed that the amounts were too great for the size of pizzas we are making, so we cut most of them in half.  When I started reading the ingredient list, I realized I had made a grave error.  When I had impromptu guests over on Tuesday, and I had seen the tomatoes on the counter that I had purchased the week before, and thought I should use those as a side dish.  Four tomatoes seemed like a lot for three people for a side dish (I sprinkled them with feta, Romano, oregano, and olive oil and baked them until the cheeses were brown & bubbly), but what else was I going to do with them?  I had forgotten that I was saving two of them for pizza.  Hmmm....  We had one tomato (or two baked halves) leftover from that meal.  They were going to be cooked anyway, right?  Why not use them anyway?  The cheese and oregano can only add, right? 

  Jennifer was disappointed, I think.  She would prefer a tomato free existence except where salsa is concerned.  I am trying to change her mind about that, since I grow an entire yard full of tomatoes.  I think slowly, she is coming around.  I made her cut the tomatoes and scatter them on the six little crusts I had rolled out.  She cut half a pepper and sprinkled that as well.  She sliced and portioned out the hard boiled eggs.  I made an executive decision to skip the capers, which she agreed with me that they wouldn't be missed with the massive list of other ingredients in this recipe.  Both olives went on in half the amount listed.  We also halved the pepperoncinis (and we sampled a couple along the way).  I actually did use an entire can of tuna, which I thought might be a mistake, because it might overpower the entire flavor of the pizza.  We were just about to sprinkle out the cheese when I realized we forgot the onion!  We briefly discussed abandoning them, because we weren't sure they would stay on the mountains of pizza we had created.

     I have been reading up on crusts, and most of the stuff I have read talk about preheating your pizza stone for an hour before you use it, and I have always poo-pooed that.  It really seemed like overkill to me, a waste of electricity (or gas, if you are more privileged than me).  Coincidentally, my oven had been on, with the stones in it for over an hour by them we were able to get the pizzettes in the oven.  This crust that I have made several times over rose to the occasion (please forgive the pun).  The puny, thin little ovals I had rolled out that would barely support the weight of the mile long list of ingredients, puffed up to twice their original size with a crust exterior and soft pillowy interior.  And, in just 9 minutes, the ingredients warmed up and the cheese bubbled up beautiful and brown.

     Not only were these little pizzas beautiful, but they were tasty as well.  I loved it, don't get me wrong, but next time around, I would increase the amount of pepperoncinis - somewhere between 6 and 12.  It could have used a little extra heat and a little extra brine.  The tuna was a great compliment, too.  Just a little salty, seafaring flavor mixed in with the olives and cheese and tomatoes (which I don't think we could have done without, as Jennifer suggested).  I really enjoyed this!

    The drink of the week was Costa del Sol.  I did not read ahead and make some simple syrup before the big event.  Actually, to be honest, I didn't even read the recipe except to make sure I had the liquors that were involved.  We used plain old regular sugar instead and the drink turned out fine.  Jen even thought that the grittiness of the sugar added to the attractiveness of the drink.  It was fizzy and tart, two qualities I am very fond of in a drink, and it was not overly sweet (maybe it would have been if I had made the simple syrup).

     The Cranberry Apple pizza came out beautifully.  I poured some caramel sauce over the top, and it instantly melted in.  The apples were al dente - slightly firm, but warm and juicey.  Jennifer, who claims to hate cooked apples, kept picking partial apples off the pizza that was still in the pan.  The cranberries were tart little bursts of acidity that was a perfect counterpoint to the rich caramel and brown sugar.  Delicious!

     The only thing that could have made the evening better would have been if Pam could have made it.

Skillet Pizza; Pineapple Pizza

   Wednesday, June 15th was my 15th wedding anniversary.  My "golden anniversary" according to my cubicle-mate, Debi.  My husband?  My darling husband of 15 years, my best friend, my greatest companion, and the love of my life...  was in Iowa farming with my dad.  Me?  I was here, alone, feeling somewhat sorry for myself.  I had pulled a muscle in my back on Sunday, and had tried every combination of
muscle relaxer and Ibuprofen combination I could think of since Sunday.  Nothing was working.  During work on Wednesday, I had decided that, since Jennifer was going to be out of town, and Roger was unlikely to come and bring the kids, and Jeff might or might not make it, and Pam had prior obligations she needed to attend to, maybe I would skip it.  A bowl of vodka (a.k.a. a martini) and Bones reruns ought to fix everything.

     Ah, but I am a creature of habit, I respect order and obligation (even if it is made-up obligation), and I just wouldn't feel right just sitting in my living room (the nest, as we like to refer to it) watching reruns, if I hadn't at least done something productive.   I went ahead and did some "pizza preps".  I don't necessarily have to make pizza on Thursday, since it may just be me, but I deserve nice meals too, right?  And, I bought all of the ingredients, right?  Besides, it wa
s raining again, and the hammock was too soggy to call me into its folds.

  Normally, I would start with the crusts.  I had a sweet crust in the freezer, so I just moved that to the refrigerator to thaw.  I didn't have enough energy yet to think about the basic crust.

  I thought, well, at least I should cut up the pineapple - if I'm not going to use it for pizza, at least it would be all cleaned up and ready for me to eat instead of the most-delicious barbecue flavored Cheetos my husband had planted in my snack cupboard.  So, I cut the pineapple up.  It was kind of labor-intensive.  OK, not really, but more effort than I felt like putting forth.  I had thoughts like, why did I talk Jeff out of buying the pre-cut pineapple for $1 more.  Or, why isn't my dad here?  He is so good at this, and I think he really enjoys it - it's his skill, and he enjoys being appreciated for it....  And, THIS is why I don't normally eat fresh pineapple. 
     I wanted nice rings, but without the core.  I decided to cut off all of the bark-y type stuff on the outside first.  I don't have one of those fancy pineapple corers (like they sell at Pampered Chef).  I have always thought it was silly - you can just CUT the core out, right.  Or, eat it, like Dad does (CHEWY).  But, if I were going to make the scheduled pineapple pizza, the pine
apple should be in pretty rings, right?  I don't have a thin-enough knife that is as long as a pineapple, and I was afraid the larger knives would make cuts that were too large to sustain the beautiful ring I was trying to achieve.  So, I took one of my steak knives (it is about half the length of the pineapple).  I jabbed into the end of the pineapple along the side of the core.  I tried to pull it around the core in a nice circular shape (ha!), but it didn't move in a nice fluid motion, as I had hoped it would.  So, I pulled it out, and rammed it in along side of another part of the core.  I did this until I had completely cut around the core (it wasn't exactly pretty, but it was complete).  Then, I flipped the pineapple over and did the same thing from the other end.  Once that was done, I turned the pineapple on its side, and made my slices (the recipe called for 12 slices, since I was only making one pizza).  I was pleased with the result: although my top and bottom core cuts didn't exactly meet, they did in most areas, and when
 I sliced the pineapple, the core was easily popped out.  This wasn't exactly true for the end pieces, as the broke apart before I was able to get the core out, but I think I
 got some pretty rings out the deal.

Ok, cutting up the pineapple wasn't so bad, and I was still standing.  I decided I could at least pit the cherries.  I did purchase a cherry pitter a while back and have never used it.  Looking at it closely, it resembles some kind of torture chamber.  And, I guess it would be a torture chamber, if you're a cherry.  I cannot believe how fantastic this worked.  I was skeptical. I pictured my beautiful, round, plump cherries getting smashed into oblivion, pits still inside.

   Since that was kind of fun, it reignited my interest in the process.  I decided to go ahead and make the basic crust.  As I have said before, I just throw everything into my Kitchen Aide and let it do all the work.  Once the dough looks smooth, I cut it into four pieces, freeze three and use the fourth for one 12" pizza.

   At this point, my back was going on strike.  What to do about that?  Well, the muscle relaxers hadn't done me any good.  Ah, yes, the bowl of vodka... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

    

   Thursday, when I got home from work, Jeff was there!  After we caught up a bit, we realized we were starving.  Let's get our pizza on!

_______________________________________________________________________________________

    First, I rolled out the sweet crust for the dessert pizza.  the directions said to brush the pizza pan with melted butter. My butter was pretty soft anyway, so I just grabbed some and smeared it over my deep-dish pizza stone, before laying the freshly rolled crust in it.  I think I am having a size problem with my fruit, now, too, because there was no way I would be able to fit 12 slices of pineapple on this pizza without piling them on top of one another.  I just barely fit six.  So, maybe my pineapple is bigger than the author's.

     While that was baking, I rolled out the dough for the skillet pizza.  I must have cut the original recipe unevenly, because this seemed like a really small amount of dough.  Oh well!  It is just the two of us tonight, and I really would prefer to use my new 10" everyday pan anyway.  I rolled the dough out on top of a sprinkling of fine cornmeal (which is how I always do it  to keep it from sticking to the board).  I laughed, when I read the part about removing the extra dough.  First of all, there wasn't any.  Second of all - who wants to get rid of any?

     I have never cooked a pizza in a skillet before.  I liked what it did for the crust.  The bottom was slightly crisp - it had a nice chew to it.  Also, I couldn't believe how much it brought out the flavor of the cornmeal I rolled it  out on.  It was toasty and slightly sweet.  The sauce (I cheated and used jarred spaghetti sauce, because the making of the sauce would have been something to do yesterday) and the cheese cooked up nicely with the lid on.  There were a couple of drawbacks, however.  The cheese didn't get that nice and bubbly brown crust that I like on the top of a pizza (Jeff isn't wild about this), of course.  The pizza was really easy to get out of the pan, but I could see a potential problem if there were more than just cheese on your pizza.  As it was, the sauce and gooey cheese slid around a little as I was transferring the pizza to a cutting board.  Since everything was so slippery, I was able to just push it back into place.  Jeff didn't see me do it, so no harm no foul. 

.

                   

I didn't measure the cheese when I put it on there.  I think I put on more than it called for, so that may be why it seemed extra slippy.  When we cut and served the pizza, the strings of cheese overlapped the plate and hung down the sides.  This makes for a good snack later when you thought there was nothing left to eat of the pizza.  There were no leftovers from this pizza.

    I skipped drink of the week today, because it just doesn't seem as fun without the sisters.  We had a nice bottle of Kim Crawford Pinot Noir.  It was light enough not overpower the simplicity of this pizza, but it had enough fruitiness to combat the acidity of the tomato sauce.

     Once we polished off the main course, we moved into the dessert pizza.  When I had taken it out of the oven, the juices from the pineapple and cherries had co-mingled with the brown sugar, but it was still pretty runny.  I wasn't sure that the pizza was done, because the pineapple and cherries looked the same, and the book gave no indicators to look for to test for done-ness. 

  Apparently, while it had cooled the liquids sort of carameled up and clung to the ingredients instead of swishing around on the bottom.  Jeff was so impressed with the flavor of this pizza, he had seconds.  It was juicy, fruity, and sweet.  The crust fared well, too.  As I have mentioned, I have previously had issues with this crust recipe, but this one worked.  The only drawback was that it got a little (I don't want to use the word "slimy") overly soft where it connected with the pineapple.

   I hope it is as good tomorrow for breakfast....

  

Pizza Florentine; Mango Coconut Pizza; Salty Dog

     I started out Wednesday with what I affectionately call "pizza preps".  I do as much as I can (or feel like doing) the day before Pizza Night, so my sisters don't rip through my cupboards, looking for food while they wait seemingly endlessly for the pizza to be done.  Also, as mentioned earlier, once the girls show up and the drinks start flowing, my attention span isn't what it should be.  So, the less I have to do when the ladies get here, the better.
  First I took an already prepared "sweet crust" out of the freezer to thaw.  I have made this recipe a couple of times before.  There seem to be a few variables at work here.  I always make the full recipe, divide it by four, and use 1/4 recipe for each pizza.  In previous uses, we have found the crust to be tough.  I am not sure if that is because it was previously frozen, or because it was still somewhat cold when I cooked it, or I cooked it at the wrong temperature or too long or what.  I vow to check into these variables as I can.  The last one I made was pretty decent, and I had let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight, and warm on the counter during work (for about 10 hours), before rolling and baking.  That is the method I am going to use this time.
    



From The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin (received as a gift from my Mom, Roberta)

 I didn't have to make the crust this time, because I had one in my freezer from a previous mixing.
     My next preparation was to make the Marscapone sauce.




from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin

    So, I am separating the eggs, and I wonder:  there is this little white, snot-like substance that always sticks to the yolks.  What is this and is it considered part of the yolk or part of the whites?  From my googling research, it appears that it is called "chalazae."   According to Wikipedia, it is "two spiral bands of tissue that suspend the yolk in the center of the white (the albumen). The function of the chalazae is to hold the yolk in place. For culinary use of eggs, particularly in baking, the chalazae are sometimes removed in order to ensure a uniform texture."  So, should I be removing it or including it with the whites or the yolks?  I still don't know.  I included them with the yolks.
     I had a hard time keeping the water on the stove hot, but not boiling.  Also the level was difficult to keep up without touching the bottom of the bowl.  I used a Pyrex bowl.  I also do not have a hand-mixer.  I used my husband's stick-blender.  I don't think that this is the right tool, but it was the closest thing I could think of.  The sugar sort of splattered along the outside edge of the bowl, but the yolks stayed in the center.  I figured I could live without so much sugar.  It took longer than the stated time to thicken the yolks.  It may be different with a real mixer.  I may have to investigate that further at a later date.

  I finally reached the thickness level I think that the recipe called for.  It needed to cool, so I thought that this was a good time to work on the "florentine" pizza.

   A note on Florentine pizza.  In my mind's eye, I had always pictured "Florentine" anything as some sort of dish that included spinach.  I tried googling "florentine", and come to the same conclusion.  But, alas, this recipe has harmed no spinach.  Apparently, for this pizza, the "florentine" is artichokes.  I am ok with that, I just want to know the correct terminology.

from The Complete Book of Pizza by Louise Love

     I didn't have any pre-made Basic pizza dough, and I really didn't feel like making another batch of dough, so I scroundged through the freezer and found a whole wheat dough.  I pulled that out and left it on the counter to thaw and rise.  I took it out at about 8pm and left it out on the counter until I was able to roll it out at about 7:30pm the following night.
    I debated about using a pre-made sauce for this pizza and ignoring the instructions for a new sauce, but I hadn't read all of that before I bought the ingredients, and since I had them, I figured I should use them.  Especially since I had misinterpreted the ingredient list and thought I needed 3 ripe tomatoes AND a 28oz. can of tomatoes.  I thought I ought to use the fresh tomatoes for this, since I am not a great fan of fresh tomatoes on their own.
    
         Pam had called me and left me a message before I was done with work.  I listened to it on my way home.  She said she was thinking about a strawberry blue cheese poppyseed salad that Judy (our honorary sister in Atlanta) had suggested.   I called Pammy back and got her voicemail.  I suggested that, if she meant that she was going to make that for us tonight. that perhaps she could replace the strawberries with blueberries, so Jeff could have some salad.  Unfortunately my husband is allergic to strawberries. 
     Pam showed up around 6pm on Thursday with Jonah, my nephew.  Gracie had another softball game, and Jonah didn't want to go, so Pam brought him over here.  We set him up downstairs with Star Wars II, and he was content.  At least I think he was:  We didn't see him again until dessert was served.
 
     First things first, we had to get our drink on.  This week's drink was called Salty Dog.

From the Ultimate Book of Cocktails by Stuart Walton (a gift from my sister Jennifer)

It's apparently a Greyhound with salt around the rim.  I didn't care for it at first, but it grew on me, especially after we added more vodka to it.


     I started by cooking the crust for the dessert.  I put it into the preheated 375º oven, and set the timer for the recommended time.  About 3/4's the way through the cooking time, I was detecting a warm toasty smell, so I opened up the oven to take a look at the sweet crust.  It appeared to have a little time left to cook.  I closed the oven and didn't give it another thought.
     A few moments later, Pam exclaimed (something I can't publish here).  Apparently, she was toasting almonds, and they had gotten away from her.  Who needs to set a timer, when you can smell when they are done, right?  Apparently, that was the warm, toasty smell.
   When the timer went off for the sweet crust, I opened the oven again to take a look at it.  It had curled up and browned on top, so I figured it had fulfilled it's ovenly duties.  I took it out, but I noticed that the underside wasn't cooked as much.  It was still soft on the bottom.  I went with it anyway, because we have had issues with this crust being too chewy on previous bakings.
   We decided to start without the Liggetts, since they weren't going to be there until after 8:30.  We started on the salad, since  the pizza wasn't ready yet.  It was simply delicious!  Judy had given the recipe to Pam via texting or e-mailing or some super-electrronic method.  It called for Romaine; toasted, salted almonds; blue cheese; creamy poppyseed dressing; and red onions (along with the strawberries, of course).  We took the liberties of changing the fruit to blueberries (they happened to be buy one container and get one free at Lunds) and changing the Romaine into spinach.
   Pam texted Judy to inform her of the alteration of her recipe, which Pam dubbed as "audience participation".   Since it was never explained to Judy (our "new" sister) that my husband is allergice to strawberries, and that was the original intent of altering her recipe, she sent a text in reply, suggesting that a better compromise between the recipe originator (her) and the audience participation suggestions, would be to combine the berries and the lettuces....  It sounds loveley, but I think it would defeat the purpose of trying NOT to let Jeff's tongue swell up.
  Pam, Jeff, and I couldn't get enough of the salad.  We ate the salad sparingly to save an appropriate portion for Jennifer and Roger, but it was too good.  We ended up polishing it off before they showed up.  Pam made another "batch" before they showed up, so they would be none the wiser.  It was apparently a hit with more than just the three of us, since there was nothing left.  Of course, it took a little coaxing to get Roger to try it, but try it, he did, and I didn't see anything left on his plate later.  So, unless he dumped it when Pam and I weren't looking, I think he might have liked it.

     The artichoke pizza was good.  It probably would have been better with the white crust, but, again, the whole wheat was all that I had.  I was surprised at how flavorful the simple sauce was.  I had left the pizza in longer than I had intended to, so there were some nice, browned spost interspersed on the pizza.  These were beautiful.  I loved the contrast of the slightly-briny artichokes against the creamy mozzerella.  I even actually remembered the post-oven instructions to sprinkle Parmesan over the top of the pizza, which added a little salty flavor to balance out the acidity of the tomato sauce.  It was really delicious.  The sauce was simple enought not to combate the mildly flavored artichoke hearts.

     And, now for dessert.  I was a little worried about this dessert.  I am not a wild fan of mangos, and I am less wild about coconut.

I cut all of the ingredints in half and only made one pizza.  The dreamy, creamy marscapone sauce was fantastic.  I was worried about adding two of my less-than-desirable ingredients to it.  However, once the whole thing was combined, it was pretty good.  There was so much sugar incorporated into the recipe, I don't think it would have mattered what the fruit was...  I mean, the marscapone sauce (buttery, cream-cheesy, sweet, eggy) with fruit, topped with (as Jennifer informed me later - sugar added) coconut shreds and FROSTING!  The crust was tender, as I had hoped (and have not been able to achieve before with this recipe), slightly sweet, and sturdy enough to hold all of the ingredients.
     As good as it was, I determined that I still cannot get past the mango-aversion, and Jeff and I (ok, I am not) a huge dessert eater, so I sent the left-lovers home with Jennifer and her family (the kids loved it, and if it gets them to like fruit, more power to it, right?).

     Side bar on the drinks:  While the salty dog grew on us, and the more we drank of it (especially after the addition of more vodka), the more we liked it; we did not chose to make additional servings.  I thought we ought to make something out of the leftover coconut milk that was leftover from the frosting endeavor.
    Our first attempt was grapefruit juice (we had some of that left over, too), coconut milk, home-made cranbverry vodka, and blue curacao.   I found it too sweet.  Pam wasn't thrilled with it, but couldn't put her finger on it.  We, of course, drank it anyway.
     Next try was cranberry vodka, coconut milk, Licor 43 (which is a vanilla-based liqueur with 42 other flavors), blue curacao (I just love that blue color), and a little regular vodka to balance it out.  Pam said it wasn't sweet enought.  I took back our drinks and re-shook them with some Dr. McGillicuddy's Vanilla.  That seemed to do the trick.  Jennifer and I did have to help Pam drink hers, because we were well into it by then.  Or, did Pam and I have to help Jennifer, because she is a bit of a light-weight... I can't remember.

Chili Pizza; Quick Hazelnut Pizza; Bridesmaid (Drink-o-the-week)

My sister, Jennifer, and her family weren't going to be able to make it until after 8, because her daughter had a softball game.  Pam had also originally said she wasn't going to be able to be there until after 8, because she had a simulator session for her job as a pilot for Delta.  I found this out Wednesday night, after I had done all the prep work (I do as much prep work as I can - cutting veggies, making crust, browning meats - on Wednesdays, so I can get the pizza on the table before everyone expires from hunger).  My crust was made, the chili was cooling, the cookie "crust" was done.  All that was left to do was assemble both pizzas and bake the chili pizza.

I have made the basic crust recipe several times from this book (The Complete Book of Pizza by Louise Love).  It claims it makes one deep dish pizza or two 14" thin crust pizzas.  I have figured out that it really is twice as much as it needs to be.  The first time I used the entire recipe, it was for a sausage pizza, and it turned out like a loaf of bread with something inside of it.  Delicious, but seriously filling and bread-y.  If I am making a deep dish pizza, I make the entire recipe, but put half of it in the freezer in two Ziplocs to use for another week's pizza (or two thin crust pizzas).

The chili recipe for this pizza was very easy.  I have generally found chili to be easy, so I am not sure why I am surprised.  I would have liked to kick the heat up a bit, and we did so post-oven with some minced jalapenos that we each sprinkled over our slices.  I ended up only using half of the chili.  Pam pointed out that it is only fitting, since we only used half of the crust.  She may have a point there.

From The Ultimate Book of Cocktails By Stuart Walton

Pam showed up earlier than she had originally thought she would and informed me that my niece's softball game was actually around the corner from my house.  We debated enjoying the one on one time with each other (Husband Jeff is visiting his relatives in Nebraska), starting in on "drink-o-the-week", and snacking until the Liggetts (Jennifer and her family) arrived or going to watch the game.  We were ready to drink, but sisterly love won out, and we decided we couldn't start "drink-o-the-week" without Jennifer, so we made three doubles and headed to the ball park.

A side note: It has been a spacey day for me.  I couldn't figure out why no one put their garbage out this morning, and I was wracking my brain as to what kind of weird holiday may have occurred this week that I had to work through.  It had been Memorial Day, and I had already forgotten that I had Monday off.  Anyway, so I was doubling the drink for each cup.  I read that we needed 1 measure of lemon juice for each drink, so since I was doubling I would need two measures for each.  Then, I reached for the lemon juice from the fridge.  On my way back to the counter, I went over it again in my head: 2 measures for each drink, since I was doubling, I needed four per cup.  Pam and I were chit-chatting as I was doing this, and as I am putting the third measure in the second cup, I mention that I thought that was a LOT of lemon.  Pam agreed, so we rechecked the recipe (argh!).  I DOUBLED THE DOUBLE.  It was already co-mingling with the gin.  Pam suggested we combine all three cups and redistribute.  It was a fabulous idea.  I also ran out of simple syrup (and I am not too fond of overly sweet drinks), so we had 1½ measures for each cup, where it called for 2 (for a double).

When we brought the drinks to the ball park, Roger and the neighbors were jealous.  Roger and neighbors Michelle and Chris helped Jennifer with hers (she is kind of a light-weight, anyway).  It was a hit, but we found an interesting note.  If you wanted a consistent flavor, you had to keep stirring.  We originally had a really lemon-y drink.  A couple sips later, and it was gooey sweet.  Roger sipped from the top and got only ginger ale.  Michelle sipped it and said "that would be even better with lemon in it".  HA!  Pam's ending opinion of the drink was that it needed more gin.  That is usually my ending opinion of any gin drink.

Pam and I decided to leave the game early to make sure that the pizza was ready when the Liggetts arrived.  Of course, we had finished our drinks, and we were now quite hungry (and thirsty after that walk).  We put the pizza in the oven, and started working on something else to drink.  Pammy added gin to the remainder of her drink, and I finished the gin and tonic I had made while waiting for company.  We took some of the leftover chili and combined it with cream cheese and cheddar cheese and nuked it for an impromptu dip.  We decided it wasn't spicy and added salsa.  That had the strange effect of making the dip disappear from the bowl.

The pizza came out of the oven, the Liggetts arrived, and we found ourselves thirsty again.  We decided to open the last bottle of wine that we had brought back from Washington State when we were there visiting relatives in April.  It was Challenger Ridge Syrah.  It was a beautiful pairing with the chili and cheddar.  It was big and juicy and delicious.     



Last two pieces of Chili Pizza



     

My nephew, Jonah, by his parents' rules, was allowed to either have a piece of candy his sister, Grace, had given him or the dessert pizza that was on my menu tonight.  I told him it was like a big, chocolate chip cookie with milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate chips inside of it, and it has Nutella spread over the top.  He chose candy.  It was nice of him to leave more for us.

  The "crust" of this pizza was truly the star.  Pam and Jen and I said that it would be good without the Nutella, but Roger disagreed.  I didn't have the listed amount of milk chocolate chips, so I made up the difference with an equal combo of the white and dark chocolate chips.  It didn't take as long to bake as the recipe indicated.  It was about 25 minutes instead of the 30+ it indicated.  It was a lovely brown on top (before I spread the Nutella over it).  The inside was soft and chewy, and the edges did not get hard and crunchy as sometimes happens with bar recipes.   It was rich and gooey and the perfect ending to a delicious meal.

Basic Pizza Dough

The recipe in the book claims that it makes 2 thick crust pizzas, 2 stuffed pizza pockets, 1 thick crust pizza, 6 individual pizzas, but I think those amounts are half of what this recipe makes.

4½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (I usually use bread flour - I feel I need the extra rising power,                                                                                     since I make this in advance)

1tsp. salt

¼ cup Olive Oil

2pkgs dry yeast (I have never purchased in packets - I use 2½ fast yeast instead)

1½ cups warm water

2 tsp. light brown sugar

                Measure ½ cup warm water (about 110º) in a measuring cup and stir in 2 tsp. of light brown sugar.  Be sure the water is only warm - not too hot.  If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and the dough will not rise.  the warm water and the sugar help the yeast to become active.  Dissolve the yeast to in the water and let set it aside for at least 5 minutes.  The yeast will become frothy during this time.

                Meanwhile, sift 4 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl with the salt.  make a depression in the middle of the flour and add 4 tbsp of olive oil and 1 cup of warm water.  When the yeast mixture has risen for 6 minutes, ad it to the flour.

Dust the surface on which you will be kneading the dough with flour.  Now mix the ingredients in the owl with your hands, gather them together and place them on the floured board.  Knead the dough for 8 - 10 minutes.

                Knead the dough by pushing part of it away from you with the heel of one hand and then folding it back towards you.  Repeat with the heel of the other hand.  Then rotate the dough, turn and repeat.  Add more flour to the board (it will become incorporated into the dough) if the mixture is too wet or too sticky.  Eventually, the dough will become elastic and will stay together in a cohesive ball.

              Rub a clean bowl with olive oil and place the kneaded dough in it.  Moisten the top of the dough with oil, as well.  Place a clean dish towel over the bowl and put it in a warm, draft-free place to rise.  The oven is a perfect place to let the dough rise.  The pilot light generates a little warmth, and there are no drafts to disturb the dough.  However, if you're using the oven for  something else, a cleared place on an upper cupboard is a good alternative as warm, draft-free location for the rising dough.

            When the dough has risen for 1½ hours, remove it and place it again on the floured board.  You are now ready to roll out the dough for the pizza of your choice.

                That being said, I usually throw all of the ingredients into my Kitchen Aide with a dough hook and let it mix until it is smooth.  Then I divide the dough by four, and usually use one fourth for each thin crust recipe, ½ for a thick crust pizza, etc.; and I put each of the rest of the fourths into plastic zipper bags and freeze until needed for another recipe.

Deep Dish Chili Pizza

1 recipe basic pizza dough (see above)

2T olive oil

1 large onion (not grapefruit sized)

1 clove garlic, minced

1lb hamburger meat

1 large can (28oz.) Italian plum tomatoes

2 cans (15oz each) red kidney bans

1T chili powder

1t ground cumin

1t salt

1 bay leaf

¼oz. unsweetened baker's chocolate

2C grated cheddar cheese
 

                You can make this chili while the dough is rising.  Heat the oil in a large frying pan and the chopped onions and garlic in it over medium heat for 6-7 minutes until they are transparent.  Add the hamburger meat and brown it with the onions.  If the meat gives up a lot of fat, tip the pan and spoon it out.  Drain as much of the liquid as you can out of the tomatoes and the kidney beans.  Add them to the meat and onion mixture with the spices and the unsweetened chocolate.  Cook over low flame for 1 hour.  This chili has less liquid than usual, so you have to keep an eye on it to be sure that it doesn't burn.  Mash some of the kidney beans with you spoon when you stir the chili. Most of the liquid will have cooked off by the time the chili is finished.

                When the dough has risen for 1½ hours. preheat the oven to 450º .  Roll out the dough so that it is larger than the pan.  Slip the dough over the deep dish pan that has been sprinkled with cornmeal  Press the dough against the edges of the pan and neatly trim the overhanging dough.  Brush with olive oil.  Then spread the chili over the dough and cover with grated cheddar cheese.  Bake for about 2 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Quick Hazelnut Spread Pizza (from The Everything Pizza Book by Belinda Hulin)

1 recipe cookie crust dough

1½ cups Nutella

1c chocolate chips

2 cups shredded coconut

Whipped cream

Prepare the cookie pizza crust as directed in recipe.  This is good enough to stand by itself, so do not feel obligated to continue with this recipe.  Spread Nutella over the baked crust.  This is where I stopped, and the pizza was fabulous.  Again, feel free to stop here.  Spread chocolate chips and coconut over the top.  Serve in wedges with whipped cream (I skipped this step, as well).