Pizza Night

(cross posted at Ninja Poodles!)

I haven't gotten to the stage where this is all fun and easy like everyone says it's supposed to be, but maybe if we keep trying, huh? Maybe individual pizzas would be better, like Mir does. It's a heck of a mess to clean up, but maybe if I could get everyone involved in that, just like with making it, it would help? Yeah, I'm a genius. Someone let me know how that works, m'kay?

Pizza Night has potential, though. And I do REALLY love this recipe for pizza crust, adapted from the recipe that comes with Ricki Carroll's 30-Minute Mozzarella Kit, which I've discussed here already. This is one of those activities that has a very high "kid-friendly" rating, if you're keeping score.

Quick & Easy Pizza Dough (makes one 14" thick crust or two 12" thin crusts...or, you know, several that are smaller than that--whatever)

3-3.5 cups all purpose flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 pkg. or 1 Tbsp. rapid-rising yeast
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup very warm--not hot--whey (you could also use buttermilk, or even regular milk)
2Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
Cornmeal for dusting pan

Combine 2 cups flour, dry yeast and salt, then stir in warm whey, olive oil, and honey until mixture is moist throughout. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover, and let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.

If you're in a hurry, just go on ahead with the next step after the 10 minute rest--it'll turn out fine. But if you have time, let the dough rise until doubled. It rises pretty quickly, so just get it ready 30 minutes to an hour ahead of time, and you'll have plenty of time for a rise. Then punch dough down and continue.

Lightly oil pizza pan(s), sprinkle with cornmeal, and roll dough out to fit pans. At this point, you can top your pizza(s) and bake them at 400F for 20-30 minutes 'til done. OR, if you have a few extra minutes, pre-bake the crust before topping it. Just prick the crust with a fork, and bake it for 5 minutes or so, until the surface is a little toasty. Then top and bake as usual.

Again: The steps you may omit are the rising of the dough and the pre-baking of the crust.

Yum! Now, since we've conquered the crust and the cheese, if someone has a great homemade pizza SAUCE recipe, let's have it!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

There is also an Alton Brown recipe for these that looks promising, but I haven't yet tested it. But this one, this one is easy, fast, and VERY authentic with the inclusion of a boiling in water and baking soda prior to baking. I encourage you to try this, if you don't already make pretzels. If I can do it...well, you know the rest.

SOFT PRETZELS

For pretzel dough:

1 packet active dry yeast
1 C. warm (NOT HOT) water
2-3/4 C. flour
1 T. sugar or equivalent in honey
1/2 t. salt (slightly more if using kosher salt)
2 T. olive oil (you could also use softened butter)

For boiling:

4 C. water
2 T. baking soda

For topping pretzels prior to baking:

2 T. kosher salt OR herbs of choice OR cinnamon sugar OR finely grated cheeses OR anything your imagination dictates

Directions:

Add yeast and sugar or honey to warm water; let sit 5 minutes to allow yeast to get foamy.

Combine 1-1/2 cups flour, salt and oil in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast mixture and stir, or mix with stand-mixer, until well-combined. Add remaining 1-1/4 cups flour. Knead dough 3 minutes by hand, or half that time using a stand mixer with dough-hook attachment; form dough into a ball, lightly oil dough, turning to coat, cover, and rise for 1 hour. Dough should double in size. (I like to use my trusty old microwave trick here: boil a cup of water in the microwave, then push the cup of hot water into the corner and place your covered bowl with the dough in it inside the microwave and shut the door. DON'T TURN ON THE MICROWAVE.)

Punch down dough and divide it into 12 equally-sized pieces, and roll each piece into a ball (dust hands with flour to prevent sticking). Place balls on a cookie sheet or lightly floured surface. Cover lightly and rise for 15 minutes or so. Don't crowd them together on a plate like I did--it's not a disaster when they stick together, but it is a pain.

Roll each ball into a 16-inch length (make a snake!) and form into a pretzel shape. Or, divide each ball in half and roll each half into a 3-inch stick, about 3/4-inch wide. Let rest a few minutes so they can "fluff up" a bit.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475°F. Grease, or spray with cooking spray, a large cookie sheet. In a non-aluminum pot, bring remaining 4 cups water to a boil with baking soda. Add pretzels to the boiling water in batches (do not crowd) and boil 1 minute each, turning once.

Scoop pretzels out with a slotted spoon, allowing excess water to drip through. Place pretzels on cookie sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt or other desired toppings. Bake 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Makes 12 large pretzels or 24 sticks.

These yummy snacks are DEFINITELY best eaten right out of the oven, BUT, if you want to make a larger batch and store some, LEAVE OFF THE SALT or other toppings before baking. Bake them plain, and allow to cool COMPLETELY. Once the pretzels are TOTALLY cooled, place them into the freezer on an uncovered cookie sheet for flash-freezing. Once they're frozen solid (an hour or so--do NOT forget and leave them there overnight), place them into freezer bags for storage.

When it's time to prepare one for a snack, take it out of the freezer, and place onto a paper towel. Have your desired topping, salt, cinnamon sugar, whatever, ready to use, and working QUICKLY, one pretzel at a time, dip your finger into some water and brush the water over the tops of the frozen pretzels. Before the water can dry (seriously, work fast), sprinkle on the toppings. Then heat in the microwave in short bursts until pretzels are warm and soft. They'll be almost as good as when they were fresh from the oven.

My friend Erin informed me that her grandmother always brushed her pretzels with melted butter, and I have to admit that sounds divine. With the frozen ones, you could probably use the butter instead of water to make your toppings stick, too. That would be especially yummy with the sweet versions, and none too shabby with salt or other savory variations, either!

So now you have the straight dope: Go forth and pretzel! YUMMMMM.

Spoon-Tastic!

This is an easy fresh corn spoonbread that is a great dish to make with kids--it's pretty much all about measuring and stirring and pouring, which are MY kid's favorite things to do in the kitchen. The recipe is from Southern Living, and is credited to Beth Trueblood of Lanesville, Indiana.

Fresh Corn Spoonbread

Ingredients:

1 cup white cornmeal mix
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar (or equivalent in honey)
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups fresh corn kernels (about 5 to 6 ears)
2 cups plain yogurt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix together dry ingredients, set aside.

Stir together corn and all remaining ingredients.

Add corn mixture to dry mixture, stirring just until blended and moist throughout. Pour batter into a 2-quart baking dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until golden brown and set in the center. I may have tented some foil over the top for the last 20 minutes or so...I really can't recall. Just eyeball it, and don't let the top and edges dry out during baking.

Enjoy! It's some yummy stuff.

The "Stuff" of Dressing

Also? Gordon Ramsay TOTALLY validated my approach to cooking a turkey on FOX-NY News tonight, which is to cook it in pieces, rest the meat before carving, and do the carving "backstage" and serve with sauce made from deglazing the roasting pan. We're going to be eating elsewhere, and the turkey is already cooked, but I have a lovely breast/rib turkey roast thawing that I'm going to roast here this weekend.

Anyway, here's the components of the dressing we made this year. Finished product won't be baked until tomorrow. If it's a hit, I'll dig up a link to the recipe. Click the picture for more.

Beer & Cheese Bread, Bernard Clayton Recipe

This has got to be the best bread I have ever had. Ever. And I make it myself. So anyone should be able to do it. The recipe is from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads, and someone has been kind enough to type out the entire recipe exactly as written in the book (is that legal?), here. The key ingredients are beer and two kinds of cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

--5 cups bread flour
--2 packets rapid-rise yeast
--12 oz. beer (really doesn't matter what kind--this batch was Miller Lite)
--12 oz. processed American or Swiss cheese (we're talking sandwich slices here, or you could even use Velveeta, if you believe that Velveeta is actually food; I prefer American)
--2 Tbsp. sugar
--1Tbsp. salt
--2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
--8 oz. Natural (block) Swiss cheese

In a heavy saucepan, heat the beer, American cheese, sugar, salt, and butter just until melted and blended.

Immediately remove from heat, and allow the liquid to cool until it's just "warm." Too hot, and it will kill the yeast, too cool and the yeast won't activate. Stir occasionally to keep the cheese blended. I pour mine out of the saucepan I heated it in, to speed the process.

Meanwhile, combine 2 cups of the bread flour with the 2 packets of yeast in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Chop up the 8 oz. of Swiss cheese into 1/4-inch pieces. Later, when you leave the room and your BAD counter-surfing ninja poodle eats the cheese, you'll have to chop up 8 MORE ounces.

Once the liquid mixture has cooled sufficiently, add it to the flour and yeast mixture you've set aside, and stir it well with a wooden spoon or with a mixer. Then gradually add in the remaining 3 cups of flour, blending by hand or mixer until the dough is a shaggy mass that cleans the sides of the bowl.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface, working the Swiss cheese cubes into the dough as you knead the dough for several minutes, slamming it against the work surface occasionally.

Place dough in a large, buttered bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover tightly and set to rise until doubled, at least an hour. My personal no-fail dough rising method in this drafty house is to boil a cup of water in the microwave, then push the cup of water into the corner of the microwave, and set the dough bowl in the microwave with the hot water, shut the door and leave it for an hour.

Punch the dough down for a minute or so, working the air out of the dough, but don't man-handle it for too long.

Divide the dough into two equal portions, then with one portion at a time, press the dough out into a rectangular shape that is a couple of inches longer and wider than your loaf pans (this recipe calls for 8" x 4" loaf pans). Leaving 1/2" intact at the top end, cut the slab of dough into three equal pieces, and then braid them, tucking the ends under. (You can skip the braiding--I only do it because Bernard says to, and I kind of love him.)

Place the loaves into buttered pans (actually, I just used cooking spray, liberally applied), cover the tops with wax paper, and set to rise. I use the closed-microwave method here, too.

Recipes always say to let loaves rise to "1/4-inch above the rim of the loaf pan," but if I can get more rise in a loaf, I like it even better!

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, tenting the top of the loaves with aluminum foil for the final 10-15 minutes of baking time, to prevent the tops from over-browning. Turn loaves out onto a wire rack to cool, and be sure to get a slice while it's still warm, just to eat out of hand. This stuff is a meal in itself, but see Ninja Poodles! for a quick recipe for one of the best grilled-cheese sandwiches you ever had.