Pizza for Days!

I dont know if it is the stress of traveling, the unfamiliar food of eating out too much or the lack of organic produce but when I am not in my own kitchen I never feel as good.  So when I got home from a conference in Monterey CA I was keen to do something exciting!  Fortunately my cook partner justin was on the same page and we made pizza!  

People always debate whether a good pizza depends on the crust or the sauce or the cheese/toppings.  Ill tell you now IT IS ALL THREE.  Sure you can still pull off a good pizza if the crust is perfect while the sauce is just ok but why bother with ok when you can have a really top notch pizza by getting all three right?  

First the dough:  

If there is a good bakery or pizzeria around the easy way is to buy your dough from them (which is what we did).   They have the industrial mixers and  A LOT of practice in making dough.  If you have the time of course make your own dough.  Not only does this give you the satisfaction of doing it all but it also gives you the chance to add extras (garlic, rosemary, dried basil or other spices, be creative).  A simple home recipe is 

7 cups white bread flour 

1 level tablespoon fine sea salt

1/4 ounce active dried yeast (about 1 tsp)

1 tablespoon raw sugar

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

First mix the warm water, raw sugar, olive oil and yeast in a bowl and let it sit.  While the yeast wakes up sift the salt into the flour.  Slowly add the flour to the water with a gentle fluid stirring motion.  The idea is to work up the gluten from the flour into long elastic strands.  Mixing too fast or vigorously will break this process. Once it become stiff flour your hands and begin to knead the dough ball in a fold->rotate->fold process (check out The Tassajara Bread Book for a great pictorial representation). 

Let the dough sit for an hour while you make sauce and toppings!  

Sauce:

This is one of those things that I need to measure better.  I start with a can of fire roasted tomatoes.  Getting fire roasted tomatoes makes  a big difference so really go looking for them.  Again you can make your own but this adds another hour to the prep time.  The roasted tomatoes have their natural sugars better accentuated while also obtaining the rich full body of roasting.  Simmer the tomatoes for about 45 min on a low heat.  Add a touch of salt and pepper and really that will already be a wonderful sauce.  Of course I go further adding some crushed garlic, fresh oregano, minced parsley and some olive oil. The amounts of each depend on the flavors you want to have.  More garlic will give a bolder taste , more oil will give a smoother texture, fresh herbs will add complexity.  Just remember   after you add something wait 5-10 minutes for the flavor to mix before tasting and deciding to add more.

Toppings

I like to make cheese sauces with blended almonds and nutritional yeast but on this pizza I went for a hearty summer feel.  There are caramelized onions, mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, thin sliced green bell peppers and eggplant pan fried with coconut oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar.  

Creation:

get that oven heating to 450 or 500 with a pizza stone in the over.  IF you dont have a pizza stone you can fake it with a heavy baking sheet turned upside down but really that ceramic stone is important to baking the pizza evenly.

Since we have good crust, good sauce and good toppings we want to construct our pizza with a balance of all three.  We push our dough down and  knead it into a ball, cut off a portion and roll it out to a 1/4 inch thick.  Dont try to make a big pizza by rolling out the dough thinner just use more dough for a bigger pizza.  spoon the pizza sauce on and spread it so it is nearly even but not so tick that you dough is totally hidden.  If you like a saucy-er pizza I suggest keeping some sauce in a bowl for dipping, too much pizza sauce on the dough will interfere with the baking.  Same is true for toppings, they should be evenly distributed but not completely obscuring the sauce.  I always have a tendency to overload my pizza with toppings but each component has a flavor it is adding, more toppings does not necessarily enhance the flavor. . .Balance between the flavors is the goal.  

The pizza bakes for 15-20 minutes depending on the heat of your oven and how much stuff you put on top.  You want the crust to go golden while the pizza stone cooks the dough from underneath to create a solid crust the whole way across.  

we served our pizza with a tomato lentil soup full of the vegetables we had on the pizza and a simple green salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

In the above picture you can also see the baked potato pizza which featured an almost 'cheese' sauce.  As is always the case with pizza I am ready for more!  

Spring time Sweets

I dont know if it is warming weather or just my sweet tooth kicking up but I got two sugar filled treats to share with you.  

The first was made with help from my dear friend Suzanna.  I got the craving for minty cupcakes back in December but it took 3 months to actually find the time to make them.  Te fun part about that was finding candy canes out of season!  We used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe:

1C soymilk w/ 1tsp vinegar whisked in

1/2 C butter creamed w/ 3/4C sugar

2 tsp vanilla (added to creamed sugar/butter)

1/3C crushed candy cane (this is about 3 candy canes that you can chop with a knife to 'crush' )

combine the soymilk to vanilla/sugar/butter

separately sift together:

1/14C flour

2T corn starch

3/4 tsp b powder

1/2 tsp b soda

1/4 t salt

 add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches then bake at 350 for 20 min. 

The frosting is a simple: powdered sugar->butter w/ vanilla .  you can add a bit of water or extra powdered sugar to get the consistency you like but I warn you the ratio of sugar to butter is around 3:1 so if you want 1 cup of frosting it would be 1/4C butter and 3/4 C sugar.  I like my frosting a bit thicker so I encourage you to use an extra Tbs or two of powdered sugar.  To finish it off we crushed one more candy cane as a topping!  

If you are wondering . . .not they are not seasonal because these sugar rush bombs are good all year round!  

It may seem strange to make cookie dough with the intention of eating ti raw but it is a habit I picked up living with Ben.  For the better part of 3 years we were vegan and wheat free.  The lack of gluten and eggs made it clear that cookie dough has some superior traits!  These are not wheat free but they make a great spring/summer time treat after you freeze them.  The recipe benefits from leaving out baking powder and baking soda since you are not baking them.  

1/3 C butter

1/3 C white sugar

3 Tbs Brown sugar

cream these together. . . and when I say that I mean mix it for 3-5 minutes.  Dont skimp you are actually changing the chemical composition bu doing this and it is an important step in making a good treat.  

mix in extras:

3 Tbs coconut flakes

3 Tbs crushed walnuts

2 Tbs carob chips (I dont like chocolate but I bet most of you will do chocolate chips)

2 tsp flax seed

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs coconut oil and 1/2 tsp water  (this makes up for the loss of egg)

add the flour in 3 portions:

1/3 C

At this point I just balled it and stuck it in the freezer for 30 minutes. If you want to get more fancy you can roll the dough in flax or sesame or toasted coconut or any other treat before you freeze them.  If you want to get extra fancy you can dip them in chocolate post freezing place the coated dough on wax paper and put them back in the freezer.  

If you really want to go crazy you can hollow out a ball and fill the dough with frosting left over from the cupcakes.  Not only is it insane in its sugar deliciousness but all of your friends will look at you with a combination of surprise, disgust and hunger!  Like you have never eaten frosting filled cookie dough for lunch!  Eat well!  

Food for 200

so . . .I did something kinda crazy last week.  I made A LOT of food.  About a month ago Boz asked me to handle food for an upcoming event.  I had a budget of 300 dolalrs and needed to feed 200 people a combination of vegan and non vegan food.  OF course I wanted to go all vegan but I got help to deal with the non-vegan side of things.  While I turned 50 pounds of potatoes into 65 lbs of potato salad and 45 pounds of cabbage into 50 pounds of cole slaw Hani and Marie handled BBQ chicken (eww right, huge thanks for them dealing with it).  Of course I wanted there to be a comparable vegan choice so I went with the classic BBQ jack Fruit. 

Considering how delicious and simple it is to make this dish I am always amazed that people do not know about it.  First question is always "jack fruit?  what is that?"  Well Ill tell you: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit 

or rather  I will let Wiki tell you (please donate).  The cool part is this fruit has been eaten in India for over 6000 years, and it is just like I always say . . .you want a new idea look at the oldest vegetarian group on the planet!  Fortunately we can take this fruit and give it an american twist.  The hard part is often finding a good source of jack Fruit.  For last weeks meal I completely bought out the Asian market here in Davis, which is where you can often find canned jack fruit.  If you go with fresh jack fruit you need to soak it in water over night (or longer) to reduce the sweet/fruity flavor.  Getting from the can is way easier.   

Preparation is pretty much boiling the fruit in flavor water.  I use a combination of vegetable stock, garlic and onions.  The secret for getting the BBQ into it is a touch of liquid smoke . . . and oh man how have I never cooked with liquid smoke before?  You knwo that smell that people associate with barbecued whatever?  well it isnt the meat, it isnt the marinade, it isnt the grill it is the smoke!  liquid smoke adds that woodsy taste that you get in your nostrils and keep craving.  It is also what turns ketchup into barbecue sauce (more or less). 

The cole slaw and potato salad were pretty challenging and in the amount of time I had I didnt manage to take many photos.  Some day soon I might have enough time to actually document what I am doing again. 

Also a big thank you to Brad and Diana who helped plate food for 100 hungry climbers and the dozens of spectators at the Competition.

salad sandwich

Simple filling and delicious.  What we have here is massaged kale with shredded carrots and beets, a home made almond 'mayo' (which is my experimenting with vegan/paleo/raw foods) and a smattering of Dijon mustard.  The bread is a store bough sourdough which is lightly toasted. I think what made this sandwich a winner was the fact that I used carrots from the garden; they were sweeter and more flavorful than any other carrots I have had!  you cannot tell from this picture but it was also a combination of standard orange carrots and some purple carrots.  they taste different but I cannot tell you exactly how  :)  

Full meal posts are gonna be off for a bit . . . my cook nights are double booked and getting food to my house is more important than the blog.  Maybe tomorrow I will make a 'full meal' lunch for my day off!

This is not the burger you are looking for

In the dead of winter you cannot blame me for wanting a taste of summer.  I just wanted to fire up the grill and toss on some portobello's, some marinated zuchinni, a few potatoes and of course corn. . . but it is January, it is cold outside, I am not gonna take the time to set up a grill and most my favorites are out of season.  After rummaging around the kitchen I made a mash of black beans (left over from dinner) and boiled yams, the mix was mostly yams.  That was not all, I grated some carrots in and tossed in some sauteed onions with seasonings (garlic[duh], salt, pepper, paprika and cumin).  I was surprised by how firm the mash was right off the bat!  I didn't have to add ant flour to stiffen it up.  I did use some corn meal on the outside before tossing my patties into a grill and it made it so they held together instead of sticking to the pan.  I put the patty on a baguette with barbecue sauce, dijon mustard, karinata kale, and a fresh sprout mix.  I rounded out my summer daydreams with thick cut fires baked at 400 F with lots of pepper and a dash of salt.  The good news is the days are already getting longer! 

NYE Pasta!

Happy New Year!  So glad to make your acquainted 2013, I think we will be good friends.  Of course even new exciting times can have their hick-ups. 

My last minute dinner tonight is this beautiful lemon garlic pasta.  I am quite the fan of the non-tomato based pastas but you have to get comfortable with fat (i.e. oil or butter).    This pasta dish features seared carrots, blanched kale and boiled beets and only used two pans.  A really fun thing to do is boil the beets with the pasta; I know this will result in some nutritional loss but I love the way it colors the pasta.  I sauteed the carrots in coconut oil with cumin seeds, mustard seeds onion and some garlic.  The kale was added to the pasta after the water was drained, allowing the remnant heat and steam  to cook it just a bit.  The trick to a 'butter' sauce  is to basically toss your pasta in a really nice salad dressing, something that has a combination of fat and acid but in this case is heavier in fat. My plan was to just use some olive oil and lemon juice  The tragic mistake . . . I went to add a dash of basil and the top popped off.  If anyone spends enough time in the kitchen you will hit these 'salt shaker top' type catastrophes the trick is learning how to recover.  I had a taste and the problem was the dryness of the leaves and the 'grassy-ness' or the sense that I was trying to make a pesto pasta but messed up.  To cut the grassy aspect I added extra fat and made some of it coconut oil to give a better richness.  I also found the flavor of the basil to be a bit on the over stated side so I cut it with extra vinegar and sued a combination of white for the sharpness and a bit of balsamic to get a sweetness that I thought was needed.  The end result was not what I wanted it to be but I still am going to bed with a happy belly!

Davey's Macaroni

About a month ago I tried a relatively new restaurant in Oakland called Home Room.  This hip place features a menu of many macaroni and cheeses with ad ins that make the combinations nearly endless!  To my enjoyment they even have a vegan option!  The service is wonderful the ambiance is just to die for and the food is decent.  The brussel sprout appetizer was by far my favorite, but the fresh green salad had a simplicity that was refreshing without being boring.  The mac and cheese was unfortunately not that great.  It was good, with a  soft cheesy flavor but the sauce was watery and the extra cost for mushrooms was way too much for the quality. Unfortunately the sauce was too thin and I am used to a more bold flavor for my not-cheese sauces.  Still I would recommend it for an quick bit in Oakland.

Homeroom mac 'n cheese with peas and muchrooms

At this point I have to admit that I am biased against most mac 'n cheeses because I have had what is arguably the best mac 'n cheese.  It was introduced to me by my friend Davey.  Brussel sprouts still being too expensive I made a side of collard greens and a kale salad.  

Lets get down to it and turn this:

into this!

Mac ' Yeast

What I love about this recipe is how surprisingly simple it is to make with amazing flavor! This is one of those dishes that really proves anything can be transformed by a good sauce.  As the name may suggest the basis of this 'cheese' sauce is nutritional yeast.  In a blender place:




1 C soy milk
1 C water
1/3 C Soy sauce
1/2 C firm tofu
1 1/2 C nutritional yeast
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs powdered garlic
1 Tbs salt (or powdered vegetable bouillon)
1/2 C safflower oil (or your oil of preference)

This all get blended together until it is smooth and creamy.  As with most sauces the importance is the balance between fat and flavor (where flavor is usually water based).  The tofu in this acts as a great source of protein and more importantly as an emulsifier to keep the water and oil mixed.  The proportions above are good for about 1 lb of pasta and you can adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more or less water (though I tend to go for a thicker sauce).  This sauce is going to be baked so don't make it to thick or you will burn! 

I used 2 lbs of pasta and doubled the above proportions with one bag of frozen peas (aprox. 12 oz).  It is ok to under cook the pasta a little, even preferred, because we are going to bake this whole mess at 350 F for 15-25 minutes.  if you made your sauce to thin you can bake it longer to thicken it up but really this step is for mixing the flavors and giving a nice crust to the top layer of macaroni. 

before oven                                  .  

after oven                                         .

The extra sprinkle of paprika and nutritional yeast is just for effect and hardly effects the flavor.  

Kale Salad

I did some pretty simple side dishes with steamed broccoli and a kale salad. This kale salad was a mix of karinata kale and red Russian kale with shreds of carrots and golden beats.  The dressing was an orange ginger vinaigrette and the sesame seeds were added in excess (just the way I like it).  I have done kale salad a few times so feel free to look at old recipes.  Again the secret is in the sauce, balancing acid with fat and flavor.  Sometimes Kale makes this extra tricky because you want the acid to sit on the kale for 20- 30 minutes before you add the fat and flavor.

Steamed Broccoli

The broccoli was simply cut up and steamed but the secret to delicious broccoli is getting ti fresh as possible.  the less time ti sits off the plant the sweeter it will be.  If you can get a young broccoli and get ti picked fresh that day you probably dont need to steam it and could serve it raw with a  spicy or savory dipping sauce where the natural sweetness of the broccoli balances out the flavors.  I know you probably dont think of broccoli as being sweet but man it can be surprising! 

Collard Greens

If you are trying to eat local and winter comes rolling round you best make friends with collard greens.  The nice thing is that they are such a common treat for some sub cultures in the USA that figuring out how to cook them is not that hard.  As you might suspect it is high heat with a  good oil and some onions and garlic for the yum factor.  Collards come in big broad leaves (we are talking a foot wide) that are easy to wash and prepare.  Just cut out the stem (save them) and then slice the leaves into manageable strips.  make sure you use 'too many' leaves as this is much like spinach and other dark greens you cook, they loose a lot of volume when you apply heat.  It is common to blanch the leaves before cooking (dip them into boiling water fr a minute) as this cuts down on the bitterness and makes a more manageable volume.  I prefer to use an acidic cooking stock to cut down the bitterness, typically lemon juice.  By avoiding the water you get to hit the leaves with full heat of the skillet and it gives them a nice sauteed flavor that I always have trouble getting if I blanch first.  

Eat it up!