Pizza Neopolitan

My sister Linda and her husband Paul were down from Victoria for the weekend. They came by on Friday for dinner, and I was warned by Paul that I "better make some good food".

I like making this pizza for entertaining because everyone can make their own little pizza and since it only takes 7-8 minutes to bake each one, dinner is a fun, informal chow fest.
This recipe makes a light, thin, chewy crust and and wonderful raw sauce. Don't even think about using jarred sauce. Traditional toppings are fresh mozzerella and basil, but we also had carmelized onions, blue cheese, kalamata olives, mushrooms, zucchini, ham, pepperoni, and fresh tomatoes. The difficulty is to top the pizzas sparingling or else the crust will get soggy and not cook properly.

Warning: you need to start this dough early in the day. It takes very little yeast and requires a long, slow rise. The result is soft, extensible, flavorful dough. This recipe is adapted from Maggie Glezer's excellent book, Artisan Baking.

Pizza Neopolitan
Pizza Dough
3 1/3 c. bread flour
1/4 t. instant yeast
2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. lukewarm water

Sauce
28 oz can crushed san marzano tomatoes (or equivalent of fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded)
1 t. dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste (start with 1/4 - 1/2 t.)

Mix the Dough
Measure the flour, yeast, and salt together in the mixing bowl and stir them together by hand. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed while pouring in the water; continue to mix on low speed just until the dough gathers around the hook, about 3 minutes. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow the yeast to fully hydrate. Mix the dough on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the dough is fairly but not perfectly smooth.

Divide the Dough
On a lightly floured work surface, cut the dough into 4 equal pieces, each about 7 ounces. (Picture shows a doubled recipe.)
Shape each piece of dough into a tight ball using the following method:
1. flatten the dough and roll the dough up like a carpet.

2. turn the dough around and position it seam side up, and roll it up again.

3. roll the dough perpendicular to itself a third time
4. turn the dough seam side down and round out the dough under your palm into a tight ball.
(This may seem like overkill, but the point here is to make a really tight ball of dough.)

Place each ball on a floured tray. Flour the top of the dough and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Proof the Dough
Let the balls of dough proof at room temperature until they aer soft and puffy but still springy, 5 to 6 hours. Or refrigerate the dough after shaping it, for up to 36 hours. (Note: I was 8 hours away from dinner, so to avoid overproofing, I proofed it in the garage - a very cold room - and brought it to room temp. for the last couple of hours.)

One hour before baking, arrange a rack on the oven's second-to-top shelf and place a baking ston on it. Clear away all racks above the one being used. Preheat the oven to its highest possible temperature setting. (The recipe says it's somewhere between broil and clean. You are trying for 750 but 500 degrees can still work).

Shape the Dough
Flour your work surface and palce a fully proofed dough ball on it. Flatten the ball with your hands and press it into a disk. Don't roll out with a rolling pin. You want to be gentle with the dough and preserve the air bubbles.
Place the dough on a sheet of parchment or directly on a peel that has been dusted with flour or cornmeal. Spread 1/4 c. sauce on the dough and add remaining toppings. Slide the pizza on to the hot stone and bake 6-8 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is.

Whole Wheat Pullman Bread

If I had a flag, I would run it up the pole. That's how excited I am about this bread. I've been searching for a good sandwich bread, and while the white Pullman loaves I had made were good, the master plan was to make a subtle switch to wheat. This bread isn't 100% whole wheat, as it contains just a little more whole wheat flour than white, but it's a happy medium for our family.

Making this is so different than doing artisan bread because the dough itself is a lot firmer. I think adding too much flour (and possible using old yeast) is the biggest reason many bread doesn't turn out, so when searching for the right consistency for this dough, I just hold my breath and add enough so it almost cleans the sides of the bowl.

Anyway, about the bread. The finished bread has a tight crumb and a great flavor: a little sweet with a mild wheat taste. It holds together well for sandwiches and toast and makes great bread crumbs.

Recipe Notes:
This recipe is for two loaves, but it can easily be halved. As it is, it challenges the dough capacity of my KitchenAid mixer. I think the original quantities are intended for a 4x4x13 Pullman pan, but my pans are only 12 inches long, leaving me with some extra dough to either make a small loaf or a few rolls. When I weighed the finished dough, it came to about 6 lbs 12 oz. I put 3 lbs in each pan and made a few rolls with the extra. You could tweak the recipe so I wouldn't have extra dough, but the quantities are easy for me to remember, so I leave them as is.

Whole Wheat Pullman Bread
5 t. instant yeast (I use SAF)
5 c. warm water
6 c. whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground white wheat)
4-6 c. white flour (I use Lehi Roller Mills high gluten flour)
2 T. natural dough enhancer (optional)
2/3 c. nonfat powdered milk
2 T. salt (I use Redmond Sea Salt)
1/2 c. butter, room temp (oil also works very well and gives the bread a softer crust)
1/2 c. honey

In your mixing bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, yeast, and water with a spatula. Cover for at least 15 minutes, or until bubbly. (This "autolyse" step can be skipped, but I think it gives the wheat flour and yeast a chance to hydrate, and me a chance to get all the other ingredients ready.)
In separate large bowl, mix 4-5 c. of the flour (reserve at least one cup), salt, powdered milk, and dough enhancer. (Mixing the powdered milk with the flour prevents it from clumping when you add it.)


Add butter and honey to mixing bowl, and with dough hook on low speed, add the flour mixture. Knead for 7-10 minutes, adding the extra flour as necessary. Dough should gather around the dough hook and almost clean sides of bowl.



Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead by hand for one or two minutes.
Place in oiled container or bowl and let rise until at least doubled.

Turn out and divide dough as necessary for your pans (see recipe notes above). Roll out dough in a 12x8-inch rectangle with the long side facing you. Roll up the dough tightly to form a log. Pinch seam and ends to seal. Place seam side down in a pan that has been brushed with oil (including the bottom side of the lid). Cover with lid 3/4 and let rise until dough has risen to about 1 inch from the lid. Place in 400-degree oven for about an hour.
Start checking bread at about 45 to 50 minutes. When bread in finished, it will be well browned, pull away from the sides of the pan and sound hollow when tapped. If you can, wait until cooled before slicing!

Adventures with a Swiss Vegan

So when I signed up to host an exchange student from Up with People for one week, I was asked what my hobbies are. I mentioned I enjoy cooking, and apparently that's codespeak for "give her the vegan chick". I was a little worried at first, but it was really alot of fun. Here are some of the goodies we made:
Yukon Gold oven fries.

Sweet potato (yam) oven fries

Fries Two Ways. The sweet potato fries have a sweet/spicy mixture of salt, pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, and a little cayenne. The regular potatoes I think were just salt, pepper, and olive oil. Slice your potatoes in fry shapes, toss in a bowl with a couple of chugs of olive oil, and toss in your spices. Bake at 450 until crispy. The sweet potatoes may take longer to get crispy, and both may need a turn with a spatula halfway through. I find it helpful to line the pans with parchment.

Pumpkin Soup. Gwen made a delicious pumpkin soup. She made it from memory, but I can tell you it had a fresh pumpkin and butternut squash (peeled, seeded, roughly chopped), 1 onion, vegetable broth, salt, red curry paste (about 1 t.), coconut milk (1 c. or so), and fresh chopped basil. It was really, really good.

Artisan Boule. I made some homemade bread a couple of times. You'd be surprised how many commercial and homemade breads contain milk or milk powder, so I stuck with the artisan formula of flour, water, salt, yeast, and time.

Vegetable potstickers. The picture of the final product didn't turn out, but here's a photo of the filling. I got the recipe online, so I don't have the exact contents anymore, but here's what I remember: 1 leek, finely sliced, 1 head napa cabbage, finely sliced, 2 shredded carrots, 2 cloves garlic, 2 t. soy sauce, 1 T. rice wine vinegar, a little dash of sugar if you want, handful of cilantro. Other recipes called for bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.

Roasted vegetables, fried parsnips, hummus. We also roasted a ton of vegatables. Here we did butternut squash, sweet potatoes, onion and garlic. The white stuff in the other bowl is are parsnips, parboiled then dredged in season flour and fried in olive oil. Mushrooms were thrown in for a good measure. Also pictured is the hummus to spread on the bread.

Not pictured is the vegetable thai curry & rice, miso soup, and tomato salad we made.

Fresh Apple Cake. I found out the Gwen will eat eggs, so I jumped at the chance to make an apple cake. Actually, my sister Laura made it with Emma's help. It's one of my favorite cakes: moist, dark, chunky, and not overly sweet. Last night my dad had some and he decided that we wanted that for his birthday cake. This recipe is from the Junior League of Salt Lake City Heritage Cookbook.

Fresh Apple Cake

4 c. apples, diced

2 c. sugar (can be reduced)

2/3 c. veg. oil

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (white may be used; we used half of each)

2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

2 t. cinnamon

1 c. nuts (optional)

1 c. raisins (optional)

Optional topping:

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. nuts

2 t. cinnamon

Combine and sprinkle on unbaked cake. If you don't want to do this topping, you can leave in plain or ice it with some cream cheesd frosting.

Pour in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Pullman Bread

My Pullman bread pans have finally arrived! I have searched far and wide for these pans, which are basically lidded loaf pans that make a sandwich-type loaf. I found some at Orson Gygi's but they were the wrong size (the 16-or 18-inch length). When the guy at Gygi's said that he didn't know when the next order would be in because of something about the price of steel in China, I panicked a bit. I searched Amazon.com and found "only two left in stock. Order now!" So that's exactly what I did.

Ever since I gave Grandma Sycamore the boot I've been sticking to my guns and trying to keep on a supply of homemade bread. I'm excited about these pans because this type of bread is great for sandwiches, toast, i.e., what my family usually eats every day. This bread is easy to make, just chuck it in the bowl and knead. There's no milk to scald and since you're working with a pretty firm dough, it's easy even to knead by hand and not worry about adding too much flour. The result is a bread with a tight crumb that's easy to slice. This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.

Pullman Bread

Note: this makes one loaf but it's easily doubled

1 1/2 lbs (about 4 1/2 c.) bread flour (note: I didn't have to add all the flour, so hold back a little to until you see how it comes together)

3 1/2 t. instant yeast

1 1/2 t. kosher salt

1 1/2 T. sugar

1/3 c. dry milk

2 T. unsalted butter, room temp

1 3/4 c. warm water

vegetable oil, for bowl and pan

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine teh flour, yeast, salt, sugar, dry milk, and butter. Add the warm water and beat on low speed until the dough is smooth, elastic, and uniform in color, about 5 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and finish kneading it by hand, about five times, making sure that all ingredients are fully incorporated and the dough forms a smooth ball. Place teh dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a woarm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Gently deflate dough and pull the sides into the center. Invert the dough in the bowl, so that it rests smooth side up. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again until doubled in bulk.

Generously brush a 12-inch Pullman loaf pan with vegetable oil, making sure to coat the underside of the lid, as well as the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aise. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to a 12-by8-inch rectangle, with a long side facing you. Starting at the top, roll the dough toward you, gently pressing as you go to form a tight log. Pat in the ends to make even. gently roll the log back and forth to seal the final seam. Place the loaf, seam side down, in te prepared pan, and slide the lid three-quarters of the way closed. Let rise until dough is almost touching the lid. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425.

Close the lid completely and bake, rotating pan halfway through, until light and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 and continue baking another 30 minutes. (Note: I only baked another 15 minutes.)

Transfer pan to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Turn out bread and cool completely before slicing. The bread can be wrapped and stored for up to 4 days.

Buttermilk Bread

Now that I've awoken from my bread coma I can tell you about this great bread that I made the other day. I've been watching bread prices steadily rise and anticipating the cooler weather when I can finally give Grandma Sycamore the boot and make something much better. Let's face it, those types of bread are a step up from Wonder Bread but are gummy and have almost no flavor. Plus, homemade bread can be made for less than $1 a loaf.
I've never made buttermilk bread before, and this turned out nice. It had a pleasant tangy flavor and a sturdy enough texture for sandwiches. It's best with honey or jam acting as a sweet counterpoint to the buttermilk. This recipe is from Greg Patent's Baking in America, a really great book showing the history of American baking and providing authentic recipes.

Buttermilk Bread
2 c. warm buttermilk

1/2 c. warm water
2 1/4 t. instant yeast

7 c. flour
4 T. unsalted butter

1 lg. egg

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. salt

In mixer bowl or another large bowl, stir the buttermilk, water, yeast, and 3 cups of the flour together with a wooden spoon. Beat until smooth, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature untl doubled in volume and bubbly, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

In a stand mixer, add butter, egg, sugar, salt, and remaining 4 c. flour to the bowl. (Note: I hold back 1 c. flour and add as necessary. Do this especially if you are kneading by hand.) Knead on low speed for 5 to 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic and cleans sides of bowl. If the dough sems too wet and sticky, add a bit more flour.

Place in oiled bowl and let rise until almost tripled, about 1.5 hours.

Divide dough in half and shape into two loaves and place in two 9x5x3 loaf pans. Cover with lighly oiled plastic wrap and let rise until centers of loaves have risen 1.5 to 2 inches above rims of pans, about 1 hour.

Bake at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes.