zorkmead wrote:Menu:
Beef bourguignon (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)
(my guests brought mashed potatoes)
Olive and tomato focaccia
Salad with vinaigrette
Fudge cake frosted with fudge (an old Maida Heatter recipe)

That sounds like a really nice menu!

Monday night, pizza night (but these days, what night isn't? )


SPOM (sausage, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms)
This was the last 350g of the Chuds dough that I made about 2 weeks ago. Still tasted great, minimal rise, nice crispy texture. All scamorza on this one (wanted to use up what I had). Used a locally-made canned sauce that I used to love as a kid (Pastorelli). It's changed (or I have) and I thought it was just okay. You can't go home again. Back to draining crushed tomatoes going forward. This baked for about 10 minutes at 550F.


Slice & taz575 Damascus Pizza Wheel

Next up (on the pizza front), a whole new dough in which I plan to use 00 flour.

Happy Monday!

=R=

Tonight, plenty of leftovers to enjoy but I also felt like cooking something. So, using up of some stuff and making a vegetable stir-fry in the process seemed like a good way to go . . .


Mise En Place & Korin Kaguya White #2 Gyuto, 210mm
Black pepper, red onion, shoyu, toasted sesame oil, hot soy bean paste, fioretto, red bell pepper, minced garlic, Shaoxing cooking wine, avocado oil, cabbage and carrot.

Just wok'd this in stages and served it up . . .


Fioretto & Assorted Veg Stir Fry
Every once in a while, it just comes together nicely. This was one of those times. Very happy with the result.

=R=

Sweet corn season is once again upon us. Well, grocery store corn anyway. After a very disappointing experience a few weeks ago with some dry fibrous ears (maybe left over from 2024?!) I found some decent corn at the always-intriguing Jerry's Fruit and Garden. Ms. R's doing Invisalign, so no corn on the cob this year. I made our new favorite sauteed corn, cut off the cob with a butter knife and very slowly cooked in a tablespoon of butter and a good shake of salt.

Tonight was a chicken cacciatore-like affair, one of those ginormous Jewel chicken breasts browned and oven stewed with kalamata and Sicilian olives, red bell peppers, mushrooms, canned diced tomatoes and a little white wine. When the meat was plenty done, I cut it off the bone, chunked/shredded it, and returned to the pot. Served over some hose-like long pasta. Next time I'll thicken the sauce with a little tomato paste. Cooking these mammoth breasts very slowly with plenty of moisture seems to work pretty well, and if their texture isn't perfect their chicken flavor is good. I've done a similar thing with peppers and tomatillos for filling burritos.

New dough (100% 00 flour, ~66% hydration, 3% salt, 1.5% diastatic malt powder, 0.75% granulated sugar, 96-hour fridge ferment), more pizza . . .


Mise En Place & Konosuke Fujiyama FM Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
BBQ sauce, medium cheddar, pan-seared chicken thigh meat, dough, pepper jack, whole milk mozzarella, parm/romano blend, sauteed red onion, raw red onion and scallion greens.

Hand-grated all the cheeses, which was a bit challenging with the soft ones but I got it done with all my digits still intact! Seasoned the chicken with my bbq rub and 16-mesh black pepper, then seared it (fully cooked) in a combo of evoo and unsalted butter. Was going to use strictly raw onion on the pizza but decided to mix it up and cooked half of the onion in the chicken renderings.

After that, construct the pizza in a 12" Lloyd pan, bake for 3 minutes at 550F, transfer it directly to the stone and bake for another 8 minutes or so . . .


BBQ Chicken Pizza

I'm so new to this, the variables are vast and not entirely under my control but in a very obvious way, I'd say the 00 flour seemed to have a huge impact on the final product. This was the best crust I've produced since I started this pizza run back in early February. It was crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside and had a tender chewiness . . .


Crust Shot
The bread flour pizzas I made also had pleasant chewiness but they were tougher. In addition to being very flavorful, this crust provided the perfect amount of resistance. I think I still have enough of this dough left for two more pizzas but it might be a few days before I can get back to it.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:New dough (100% 00 flour, ~66% hydration, 3% salt, 1.5% diastatic malt powder, 0.75% granulated sugar, 96-hour fridge ferment)

Do you have an idea of how much flour you used per pizza?

I'm following a couple steps behind on the pizza trail. I made a batch of Roberta's Pizza Dough using 1.5x the original recipe (459g flour) based on some comments that the 306g original didn't deliver enough for 2 12" pizzas. I used 100% Len'z Best pizza flour, working through the 25# sack. No data, but from the feel it seems to be a low to moderate gluten flour with high absorption. A few folds and the dough isn't sticky, but not very springy or satiny either.

The larger recipe easily made 2 medium thick 12" pies with fairly thick rims, a not very common-in-Chicago style. Very easy to work dough that rolled and stretched with only slight buckiness. Laid them out on parchment, brushed very thoroughly with oil as the recipe suggests, topped with pre-roasted asparagus spears, diced fresh tomatoes and 2oz chevre (Aldi) per pie. Baked in the Woodfire at the New York setting (475F) for about 15 minutes each, took off parchment about 5 minutes in.The Woodfire did a very competent balance of bottom and top heat (the dark spots look a lot darker in the picture than they were in real life.) Very good, both puffy and crispy on the bottom and rim, and a lot of pizza - each of us hungry folks ate about half of one. Next try I may cut to 380g flour for a slightly thinner crust and bake at a higher temperature just to get the job done faster.

tjr wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:New dough (100% 00 flour, ~66% hydration, 3% salt, 1.5% diastatic malt powder, 0.75% granulated sugar, 96-hour fridge ferment)

Do you have an idea of how much flour you used per pizza?

350g of dough for a 12-inch pizza. My batch of dough produced about 970 total grams (560g of 00 flour and 370g of water, plus the other ingredients).

tjr wrote:I'm following a couple steps behind on the pizza trail. I made a batch of Roberta's Pizza Dough using 1.5x the original recipe (459g flour) based on some comments that the 306g original didn't deliver enough for 2 12" pizzas. I used 100% Len'z Best pizza flour, working through the 25# sack. No data, but from the feel it seems to be a low to moderate gluten flour with high absorption. A few folds and the dough isn't sticky, but not very springy or satiny either.

The larger recipe easily made 2 medium thick 12" pies with fairly thick rims, a not very common-in-Chicago style. Very easy to work dough that rolled and stretched with only slight buckiness. Laid them out on parchment, brushed very thoroughly with oil as the recipe suggests, topped with pre-roasted asparagus spears, diced fresh tomatoes and 2oz chevre (Aldi) per pie. Baked in the Woodfire at the New York setting (475F) for about 15 minutes each, took off parchment about 5 minutes in.The Woodfire did a very competent balance of bottom and top heat (the dark spots look a lot darker in the picture than they were in real life.) Very good, both puffy and crispy on the bottom and rim, and a lot of pizza - each of us hungry folks ate about half of one. Next try I may cut to 380g flour for a slightly thinner crust and bake at a higher temperature just to get the job done faster.

Looks good. I found a recipe for Roberta's dough but I decided not to use it because it called for a 50/50 blend of 00 and AP. First time out with the 00, I didn't want to include any AP because I wanted to isolate the differences between it and other flours.

And yeah, it's all about the reps when it comes to finding your sweet spot for all the different permutations. Every time I make a pizza, I want to try at least one or two new wrinkles. It's really hard to do everything exactly the same every time. That makes dialing it in harder. Plus, now the weather's changing . . .

=R=

Ronnie,

I think you might have been unduly influenced by Pizza Boy!

deesher wrote:Ronnie,

I think you might have been unduly influenced by Pizza Boy!

LOL, yeah! He's an involuntary influencer. He still brings pizza to work everyday for lunch.

=R=

Working a day ahead here because a long cook like this one makes more sense for me on a non-workday. Of course, it's our annual corned beef and cabbage . . .


Mise En Place & Dan Prendergast 1.2519 Monosteel Gyuto, 210mm
Green cabbage, carrot, onion and potatoes (to be added later). Can you guess what's coming next?


Corned Beef
This was a full brisket, corned/cured quite expertly, in-house at Zier's, and coming in at a whopping 13.5 pounds. I don't normally choose one this large but I had some extra people to feed and also have some plans for the leftovers. From here, added some water and a splash of stout (about halfway up the brisket), covered it and braised it at 275F for about 5 hours, turning it over and changing the water/beer out halfway through. Once out of the oven, remove it from the roaster, tent it, let it rest for a few minutes and drain the veggies. After that, slice and serve . . .


Plated Up
Flanked by some horseradish sauce and yellow mustard. Happy pre-St. Patrick's Day!

=R=

Working through my St.Patrick's weekend corned beef with . . . a reuben pizza!


Mise En Place & Dan Prendergast 1.2519 Monosteel Gyuto, 210mm
Homemade sauerkraut, leftover corned beef, rye-ish pizza dough, grated gruyere, Jarlsberg & mozzarella and 1000 Island dressing.

Dough was a first-time experiment: 75% 00 flour, 25% medium rye flour, 66% hydration, 3% salt, 1.5% diastatic malt powder, 0.75% granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp instant yeast and 3/4 tsp caraway seeds. 1000 Island was mayo, ketchup, dill relish, yellow mustard and horseradish.


Reuben Pizza
I wasn't mad at this. Scattered a few 'indicator' pieces of corned beef on top but most of it was under the cheese.


Slice
Very happy with the result. Rye crust experiment was successful. Looking back, maybe I could gone a bit heavier on the caraway but other than that, these ratios are solid. As much as I love tweaking the dough recipes, this pizza made it more clear to than ever that results are more a matter of timing and technique than recipes. Getting that kind of pillowy rise out of a partial rye dough confirms it.

Happy Monday and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

=R=

More pizza with the 00 flour/66% hydration dough. I've been keeping it in the fridge. It's now the 9th day since I made it and it's still performing admirably . . .


Rosa
Parmigiano Reggiano, red onion (mandoline-cut and evoo'd), raw pistachios (evoo'd and lightly salted) and fresh rosemary. The crust is so light and airy, you can see where I accidentally pressed my thumb through it while rotating it during the bake (three o'clock).


Slice & Crust
Lightly crispy on the outside. Tender and pillowy on the inside, with great flavor and a tender tug. Chris Bianco's topping combination -- way more than the sum of its parts -- is simple genius.

=R=

Any suggestions on where to purchase fermented black beans ? I'm fairly certain Richwell and Fresh Farms Wheeling does not carry them. Has anyone seen them at any of them at any of the Asian markets on Milwaukee ?

lougord99 wrote:Any suggestions on where to purchase fermented black beans ? I'm fairly certain Richwell and Fresh Farms Wheeling does not carry them. Has anyone seen them at any of them at any of the Asian markets on Milwaukee ?

I've definitely purchased them at Richwell. But don't go today. They're closed on Wednesdays through mid April. If not, H-Mart, too.

=R=

I think I bought a bag of them at the Milwaukee Av Park to Shop in December.

lougord99 wrote:Any suggestions on where to purchase fermented black beans ? I'm fairly certain Richwell and Fresh Farms Wheeling does not carry them. Has anyone seen them at any of them at any of the Asian markets on Milwaukee ?

I don't typically see them in the Korean markets. I bought a huge package the last time I found it; it's probably a lifetime supply.

Carbonaroid for dinner. I had a package of Rana-brand "skillet gnocchi", bacon, mushrooms, a couple precious eggs, and some romano cheese that somehow was still good after untold eons in the cheese drawer.

Cooked bacon, then mushrooms in the fat, then added a little oil (the shrooms ate all the bacon fat) and the gnocchi.

The catch is that the skillet gnocchi don't get boiled, so there's no starchy water for the sauce; I used a couple teaspoons of cornstarch and about 2/3 cup of cold water to the egg/cheese/pepper mixture. The sauce broke a bit because the pan (heat turned off) was still too hot. Gnocchi are the wrong shape for this dish, but the mushrooms helped hold onto the sauce.

Hashing my way through the leftover corned beef . . .


Mise En Place & Takeda NAS Sasanoha Gyuto, 210mm
Salt, scallion greens, scallion whites, corned beef, black pepper, evoo, granulated garlic and par-boiled russet potatoes.

Trying a new (to me) technique here with the par-boiled potatoes (peeled, cut in sixths, par-boiled then roughly chopped) because I was interested in producing a crispier end result. With them being slightly 'mashable,' there was more surface area to make contact with the pan, so that was easier to achieve. Normally, I pre-fry the potatoes in small cubes, and I like that method but I ended up liking this one, too.


Corned Beef Hash


Plated Up
With two eggs, sunnyside up.

=R=

budrichard wrote:"Woodmans also has KA 00 Pizza Flour. In Kenosha it's $6.69 for 3lb, in the flour aisle."
As of yesterday Woodman's in Kenosha had neither Pizza nor Pasta flour.
Next time I'm near a Jewel in Illinois, I will look for Pizza flour, otherwise it's mail order from KA.
-Richard

I bought 5-pound bags of King Arthur 00 Flour at Costco. Iirc, they were about $8/bag.

=R=

Inspired by a recent Pailin video and a half-gallon of rich chicken stock taking up room in my fridge, I decided to make this 'simple' soup for the first time (though, I've had it many times in restaurants): Tom Kha Gai. Since this is a relatively quick-cooking soup, it actually started with some side dish prep . . .


Persian Cucumbers & Takeda NAS Sasanoha Gyuto, 210mm
Was tempted to drag out the mandoline but with only 12 mini cukes, I figured it'd take less time to just do them with the knife. These essentially became an ajad-style cucumber salad after macerating in a sugar/rice vinegar brine in the fridge for a few hours (along with some shallot and Thai bird eye chiles). While that chilled and came together, it was time to prep the soup . . .


Mise En Place, Korin Kaguya White #2 Gyuto, 210mm & Takeda NAS Sasanoha Gyuto, 210mm
Chicken thigh meat, salt, palm sugar, Thai bird eye chiles & lime (later juiced and added in after the soup came off the heat), slitted red jalapeno, cilantro leaves, lemongrass, lime leaves, coconut milk, fish sauce, galangal, mushrooms (black oyster & white shimeji) and homemade rich chicken stock.

Was rolling along with the Takeda when it became clear that its thin, flexible blade would be no match for the very tough and woody galangal. So, I shifted gears and grabbed the Kaguya, which is a much more stout piece. Even then, the cutting through galangal was a challenge. It's basically a damp tree root. I got it done and the knife survived without much apparent wear.


Plated (bowled) Up
Garnished with cilantro and Thai chile powder. With ajad-style cucumber salad and jasmine rice.

Up top, I described this soup as 'simple' and by some measures it is (cook time, prep time, number of ingredients). But its also way more than the sum of its parts. Such complex and complementary flavors, great textures and a fragrance that permeated the entire house during its short cook time. I don't think I'd consider making a purely vegetarian version in the future but the chicken was the least interesting component in the dish. Next time, maybe tofu instead? So glad I made this.

=R=

Thank you for posting. I made the soup tonight served over rice in a bowl and totally agree with how good, complex and simple to make it is. I stopped following Palin about a year ago when she seemed to have lost interest in the channel.

I find it easy to thin slice galangal with my large serrated knife that I use to slice bread.

lougord99 wrote:Thank you for posting. I made the soup tonight served over rice in a bowl and totally agree with how good, complex and simple to make it is. I stopped following Palin about a year ago when she seemed to have lost interest in the channel.

I find it easy to thin slice galangal with my large serrated knife that I use to slice bread.

Glad you did. It's a good one. Yeah, she's a bit of a know-it-all -- and she's earned the right -- but I follow some other folks who are equally experts on Thai cuisine and they're not nearly as annoying as she can be at times. Just sayin'.

Tonight, taking a short break from pizza and working through my list of of other stuff I want to cook, it was finally time for some dumplings, which I hadn't made in a few years . . .


Mise En Place & Takeda NAS Sasanoha Gyuto, 210mm
Soy sauce, rehydrated/squeezed/minced dried shiitake mushrooms, chopped/salted/squeezed napa cabbage, coarsely ground pork, microplaned garlic & ginger, Shanghai-style dumpling wrappers, minced scallions, toasted sesame oil and an egg.

Really wasn't sure about the egg and I ended up not using it. I've seen an equal number of recipes that call for -- or don't call for -- egg. I think that it probably helps bind the filling but I was also pretty sure that a well mixed filling would emulsify adequately and wouldn't need the egg. So, I mixed everything together, holding back the egg. At that point (also cooked a small portion of it to check for seasoning), it seemed nicely emulsified, so I didn't bother adding it . . .


Mixed/Emulsified Filling
Not pretty but hey, that's the gig. This was after about 7-8 minutes in the stand mixer w/paddle attachment. 3 times I had to test this and adjust the seasoning to get it right. Glad I did, though. Not much you can do after it's in the wrappers.


Wrapped Dumplings
No two the same and none better than a Grade-B job but we're certainly n00bs to this. But in the end, we had no leakers and no breakers, so it was fine. There were about 2 dozen more on another sheet pan.


Sauce "Mise En Place"
Black vinegar, spicy chile crisp, scallion greens, toasted sesame seeds, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce and homemade chile oil (G Wiv recipe). Mostly pantry items but quite tasty. I think the resulting sauce would have made anything taste great!


Pork & Cabbage Dumplings
Pan fried then steamed to finish.


Dumpling Detail
Gotta say, I wasn't mad at that. These turned out really well. Next time, I'll probably grind my own pork to get the grind exactly how I want it. This was a bit coarse but standard grocery store stuff seems too fine. I hope to work that out going forward.

=R=

Back at it again tonight with another pizza but at least it wasn't circular . . .


Grandma Pizza
Add pepperoni and onions. Could have used a bit more frico but I'll be less cautious with the edge cheese next time. This baked in a 16x12" Lloyds pan at 450F for about 15 minutes, then directly on the stone for another ~4 minutes. This was approximately 600g of 66% hydration, 00 flour dough. Fridge ferment for ~72 hours.


Side View
Drizzled this with a bit of garlic oil at service. This was another winner. 00 flour seems to have really been a game-changer for me. Delicious all the way through the chew, great rise, tender crumb and an ultra crispy exterior.

Happy Monday!

=R=

My kind of pizza!!!
What size and coating of Lloyd's pizza pan do you use?
I have no idea what brand are my rectangular pans?
I liberally coat with olive oil before lifting the dough onto the pan and quickly assemble and into a 550F oven with convection. I also use the top broiler at the finish to get crispy pepperoni and cheese if required.
Mostly use KA Pizza flour if available.
Lately using San Marzano tomatoes for sauce with added anchovy paste, fresh garlic and
Greek oregano.
The olive oil gives the crust a fried feel and nice taste.
Standard low fat Mozzarella and pepperoni with a few anchovies.
Richard

budrichard wrote:My kind of pizza!!!
What size and coating of Lloyd's pizza pan do you use?
I have no idea what brand are my rectangular pans?
I liberally coat with olive oil before lifting the dough onto the pan and quickly assemble and into a 550F oven with convection. I also use the top broiler at the finish to get crispy pepperoni and cheese if required.
Mostly use KA Pizza flour if available.
Lately using San Marzano tomatoes for sauce with added anchovy paste, fresh garlic and
Greek oregano.
The olive oil gives the crust a fried feel and nice taste.
Standard low fat Mozzarella and pepperoni with a few anchovies.
Richard

My rectangular Lloyds pan is dark, anodized aluminum. It seems that's all they make these days. If they make steel, they're not readily available via their consumer-level website.

In this instance, I brushed about 2 Tbs of evoo all around the interior of the pan before I stretched the dough. This adds some nice additional crispiness to the bottom and sides of the crust, as it effectively 'fries' in that oil while it bakes.

I'm always open to broiling to finish if necessary but in this case, it wasn't. 450F in the pan for about 15 minutes, then remove it directly to the stone for another few. I waited until that point to add the parm and romano because those hard cheeses tend to break if cooked at higher temps for too long. On that note, it wasn't until it was out of the oven that I drizzled -- very lightly -- some (traditional for the style) garlic oil over the pizza. Fwiw, with a thin-crust, I'd go with 550F.

For 'sauce,' I've tried several brands and have settled on Bianco DiNapoli crushed tomatoes, which I drain well and then season with touches of salt, dried oregano, granulated sugar and evoo. For cheese, I'm using whole milk mozzarella. One nice part of making a grandma pizza is that it calls for sliced cheese, so getting it in that form is an easy get at the deli. I never buy pre-grated because I hate the anti-caking agents, but sliced to order is a real convenience. I cannot remember the brand of pepperoni I'm currently using (maybe Margherita?), but I bought a stick of it at Caputo's and slice it by hand.

=R=

Sound and looks delicious - Pizza is definitely a dish that lends itself to nearly endlessly tasty experimentation!

I had the time and inclination to make Saccia for dinner on Monday.

I've made it before and although it's not perfect (see the wrinkles and tears) - my dough rolling is improving:


And the filling and folding went fine:



And the happy result:


Enjoy your Tuesday everyone!

- zorkmead

ronnie_suburban wrote:
For 'sauce,' I've tried several brands and have settled on Bianco DiNapoli crushed tomatoes, which I drain well and then season with touches of salt, dried oregano, granulated sugar and evoo.

=R=

It adds a step but if you do a few cans at a time and freeze, it’s pretty easy—try roasting the full can of tomatoes instead of draining and using out of the can. The concentration of flavor is fantastic on pizza (good for making tomato soup as well). I’d pop the trays of tomatoes into the cold oven when you start preheating for the pizza and it should be a perfect slow cook. Once the “juice” is evaporated and the tomatoes look roasty, they’re ready to spread on the dough.

Lloyd's sells:

RCT-15141
Quarter Sheet pan, Bare Aluminum - 14 Gauge

$29.23
RCT-15141-SK
Quarter Sheet Pan, Silver-Kote finish - 14 Gauge

$34.73
RCT-15141-DK
Quarter Sheet Pan, Dura-Kote finish -14 Gauge

$37.48
XABP-18X13X1
Half Sheet Pan, Bare Aluminum - 18 Gauge

$17.64
XABP-18X13X1-SK
Half Sheet pan, Silver-Kote finish - 18 Gauge

$23.14
XABP-18X13X1-DK
Half Sheet pan, Dura-Kote finish - 18 Gauge

$25.89
XABP-18X26X1
Full Sheet Pan, Bare Aluminum - 18 Gauge

$25.08
XABP-18X26X1-SK
Full Sheet Pan, Silver-Kote finish - 18 Gauge Aluminum

$54.41
XABP-18X26X1-DK
Full Sheet Pan, Dura-Kote finish - 18 Gauge Aluminum

$69.08

My pans are Aluminum and measure 12" x 17" of unknown origin.
I wonder why the different sizes?
I have started to research pizza pans.
Lloyd's sell a bazzilion types other than what I posted!
-Richard

budrichard wrote:My pans are Aluminum and measure 12" x 17" of unknown origin.
I wonder why the different sizes?

They are probably jelly roll pans, outside the normal sheet pan range. Check this article: https://bakeorbreak.com/2021/06/a-baker ... heet-pans/

If they have plain, non-rolled, flanged edges, and are very old, it's possible they are Sears Maid of Honor.

Great reference!
Thank you.
-Richard

Jefe wrote:I made heart shaped pizzas last night (formed by hand rather than in a pan.) I tried a new-to-me recipe, this adaptation of Roberta's recipe from NYTimes.

I used all King Arthur bread flour and overnight fermented. Baked at 500 (high as my oven will go) on pizza stone heated for ~an hour. It turned out great! Blistery bubbles popping from a well risen cornicione. It crisped up nicely at about ten minutes and was a perfect middle ground between tender and chewy. I think this recipe is my new go to!

I made the Roberta's dough again, this time using the called for 1:1 00 flour and AP rather than all bread flour. Same overnight ferment. The end product was slightly tougher and chewier. Fwiw, I doubled the batch and used my stand mixer and dough hook, though following the recipe's kneading times.

And a hot take – the best sauce is high quality passata straight out of the bottle sprinkled with salt and optional dried herbs. It cooks on the pie but stays super bright.

Final note on latest pizza efforts – hot Italian sausage and rapini is a god tier topping combo.