Pizza with Friends

As much as I love to cook for my friends, cooking WITH my friends is always a laugh, and Saturday night was no different. Debbie and I, after taking a pizza making class a few weeks ago, decided we would make pizzas for Ladies Poker Night at, our friend, Sharon's house. Since we had some trouble with the store bought pizza dough in class (from Trader Joe's) and found working with homemade dough much easier, we opted to make our own dough, which meant heading over to Sharon's early to get the dough rising, and ingredients cut.

We used the recipe from our pizza making class, listed below, which we found easy to make and work with. We started around 4pm, making 4 batches of dough, since there would be 8 people coming over (each batch of dough made 2 personal pizzas). Thankfully all of our yeast was alive and active, which kept us on target for the party. Once the yeast was activated, after about 4-5 minutes, we slowly mixed it into the flour mixture until it was combined. We then floured our boards and hands and started kneading. From there we let the dough rest, and had a well earned glass (or 2) of wine.


After the dough had risen, we started the prep work. We had cheese, peppers, garlic, mushrooms, shallots, olives, sweet Italian sausage, and pepperoni to prepare. Once it was all sliced, chopped, cooked, and organized in an assembly line fashion, we started arranging our pizzas. I had remembered that rolling out the dough was not easy, but needless to say, I didn't think it would be THIS difficult. We had a lot of trouble making the dough round...


But regardless of the shape, they all tasted oh so good. The crust was crispy and light, and the toppings were cooked to perfection. At the end of the night, we all voted that Debbie's pizza with garlic, shallots, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil, was the best of the bunch. . Here it is before it went in the oven..

Needless to say, I do not have an after photo, since we were all too busy eating the pizza to remember to take a photo.. Whoops... :-)

As always there are lessons learned when cooking. Here are ours..

1. Do not knead the dough for a 3rd time before rolling it out. It condenses too much and makes it even more difficult to get into a beautiful round shape.

2. Sprinkle a bit of good olive oil over the pizza to give it a nice sheen and flavor

3. Finely chopped garlic is a fabulous addition to ANY pizza.

4. Put basil leaves on the pizza AFTER you bake it, not before.

5. If you are cooking your pizza on a pizza stone, assemble pizza on the pizza peel with a lot of cornmeal to ensure the dough dough does not stick when trying to put it in the oven.

6. If you are cooking your pizza on a pizza pan, be sure to use plenty of cornmeal on the pan prior to putting your pizza dough on it, or it will stick to the pan once it's finished.

Here are some more photos from our pizza making experience....

Basic Pizza Dough
From Cooks Boulevard cooking class
2 personal sized pizzas

Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water, about 110 degrees F
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour,plus extra for kneading
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together yeast, warm water, sugar and olive oil. Let sit for about 3 minutes to fully dissolve and activate the yeast. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt. With a rubber spatula, gradually mix the yeast mixture into the flour until just combined and dough barely holds together.

Turn the dough out onto a clean counter surface dusted with flour. Knead the dough with flour-dusted hands until the dough has become smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. The surface should be tight and silky and bounce back slightly when pressed. Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

Once doubled, punch the dough down and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Knead each 1 slightly to form a uniform ball. Set aside and cover them with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap to rest for 30 minutes.

Note: Dough can be made the day before and refrigerated overnight once it is divided. Keep covered tightly in plastic wrap or in a sealed food storage bag.

Variations: Whole wheat dough: Replace 3/4 c of the four with whole wheat flour. Garlic and herb dough: Add 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, and 1/2 tsp granulated garlic to the flour mixture

Marinara Sauce
From Cooks Boulevard cooking class

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
4 cups tomato puree
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 large fresh basil stem with leaves removed
1 teaspoon sea salt, preferably gray salt
Pinch light brown sugar

Heat the olive oil in a large non-reactive pot over moderate heat. Add the garlic and saute until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the garlic and bring to a simmer. Add sugar. Add the parsley and basil and simmer until reduced to a sauce-like consistency, about 15 minutes. Remove the basil stem before serving.

Lunchtime Reading

Being a woman, it seems like I am ALWAYS on a diet. So when I saw the latest website on dieting and low-calorie recipe advice on LA Times Daily Dish, I thought I would check it out.

Hungry-Girl is obviously made for women, note the pink background and name. They feature low-fat, low- calorie product updates and reviews, recipes, diet and nutrition advice, and survival tips for eating (and drinking) out. I don't love the way it's organized, but I did love the section on low- and non-fat products, which appear to be taste tested. I mean, who wants to eat low-fat mayo, if you can't even trick yourself into thinking it's full-fat? And for those of you on Weight Watchers or other diets based on points, the recipes and tested products have their point values listed. So no more guess work on your diet. YAY! Unfortunately, no lying to yourself either. Boo!

Lupa Update

Yes, we have already been back to Lupa, and YUMMY! I can already tell that it's going to be become our go-to, neighborhood restaurant. On Tuesday, Carl had the carbonara, which turned out to be a little salty. I'm guessing from salting the dish, even though they had used pancetta. I still liked it, but it could definitely be over-powering for some. I had the lasagna, which was just as good as last time, with lots of yummy bolognese sauce on top.

Lupa Trattoria
http://www.lupatrattoria.com/
4109 24th St. @ Castro
415-282-5872

Rating: 7.5/10
Cost: $$ (out of $$$$$)

Gravlax or smoked salmon?

Technically, they are not the same thing, but their names are often used interchangeably. I quickly found this out when searching for a recipe to make my own smoked salmon and kept coming across recipes that used "smoked salmon" as an ingredient, but not how to make it on my own. Then Chow.com published an article on Gravlax v. Lox and accompanied it with a recipe on cured salmon by Traci Des Jardins. Perfect timing!

After searching through tons of sites and my cookbooks at home, I picked a recipe and started curing. I decided to try Traci's recipe first, as it was the most basic. Helpful Hint: When perfecting a new recipe, try a basic recipe first. Once you are comfortable with that recipe, read through other recipes to get ideas on how you would like to make it your own. For suggestions on making changes to your recipe, check the comments section on recipe websites. For this recipe I used wild, previously frozen coho salmon. It's the wild salmon that always seems to be at Whole Foods, and it was even on sale this week. YAY! When I made Traci's recipe, I found it to be a little sweet for my liking, which may be from packing it in the salt/sugar mixture, and I couldn't taste the meyer lemon I had bought especially for the occasion (boo). One step I found that is key, REMOVE THE PIN BONES. I was lazy and didn't do this, and wasn't able to get nice, thin slices.

For my next batch, I used Alice Waters gravlax recipe from her Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook. This recipe called for A LOT less sugar and salt, still in a one-to-one ratio, which I think helped it to be less sweet. It also called for all-spice and dill, but I think the ratio of all-spice to the salt/sugar mixture was too much and it over powered the salmon, especially the tail end. Lesson learned, always use the center cut. The tail-end peices cure way too fast. I did take out the pin bones this time, though, and it made a hug difference when slicing it. I also had issues with weighting the salmon. I used a baking dish on top of the salmon and found that the weight was not evenly distributed, so the texture was not consistent across the fish. Another lesson learned.

My latest batch, which I started on Sunday, I mixed both of the above recipes to come up with my own.

Ingrdients:
3 TBS of salt
3 TBS of sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 TBS of crush white peppercorns
3 stems of dill
1.5 lbs of center cut wild coho salmon cut in half

Mix the first 4 ingredients well, then sprinkle 1/4 of the mixture on the bottom of the dish. Put the first piece of salmon on top, skin side down. Rub a 1/4 of the mixture on top of the salmon. Put the dill sprigs on top. Then rub 1/4 of the mixture on the flesh side of the other peice of salmon and quickly put it flesh side down on top of the dill. There should be enough moisture in the salmon that the mixture should stick. Rub the remaining mixture on the skin side and rub extra mixture into the sides of the salmon so that every inch was covered. Cover the top of the salmon closely with plastic wrap. To add pressure and weight to the top of the salmon, I used a ziplock bag of rice and stacked a couple of cans on top of that. I find that rice is good because it forms around the salmon and the weight is more evenly distributed. Let this sit in the fridge for 24 hours. Drain any additional liquid that has come off the salmon, and flip the salmon over, so the piece that was on top, is now on the bottom. Let the salmon sit in the fridge for another 24 hours. At this point, drain off any additional liquid, and rinse of the mixture. Pat dry and the slice to serve.

I took this batch out of the fridge last night, and I have officially decided that I am curing my salmon too long. It still tasted a too sweet on the outside, but was just right on the inside. On a positive note, I really enjoyed the lemon-y flavor, which the first 2 batches did not have. Next time, I will be curing it for less time, but with the same recipe. I'll keep you posted...

Lunchtime reading

During my daily read through the LA Times Food Blog, I discovered that one of the writers is covering 1,001 things to do with bacon. I was immediately drawn to it and found out 1. that a 115 year old woman regularly eats bacon and 2. a recipe for chicken-fried bacon. YUMMY! What could be more tasty than deep fried bacon with a ranch dipping sauce? Of course, this will be one of those dishes, I will probably never make, but wish that someone else would, just so I could have a taste. Then again, if a 115 year old woman can eat bacon her entire life, then why shouldn't I try it.. If I do end up giving it a whirl, I'll let you know...

Italian food in Noe

Italy is my spirtual homeland. I love everything about it. The people, the sites, the culture, and most importantly, the cuisine. When I think of comfort food, Italian food is always the first thing to come to mind. I could eat pizza or pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When asked about my favorite meal, it's hands down, a garlicky-anchovy caesar salad with a corner peice of lasagna.. YUM!

So, last Friday, Carl and I went out to dinner in Noe and decided to try Lupa on 24th Street. It was YUUUUU-MMMY! We started off with an antipasti each. I had the the mussels and clams in spicy tomato broth, he had the crostini special. I got the point for this course. The seafood was fresh and the broth was tomato-y goodness. Perfect for dipping the free bread in. I could have eaten just that all night. Then I had one of the best caesars salads I've had in a long while. The dressing was heavy on the garlic and anchovy, which I like, but was creamy, which thankfully did not take away from the flavor of the dressing. Carl had the misticanza salad, which look simple and fresh. Again, I got the point.

For my main course I had the wild boar gnocchi. The gnocchi was soft and perfectly cooked, but the ragu had a hint of sweetness. I think they added too much sugar to balance out the acid from the tomatoes, and the wild boar tasted more like pork than than wild boar. Which isn't the end of the world, it just wasn't game-y enough. I would probably order this again, just to see if they were having an off night, since I like wild boar ragu so much. Carl had the lasagna which was DIVINE! It had lots of layers of pasta, a layer of beef and just the right amount of ricotta and bechemel. On the top layer of pasta was some melted and slightly crusty mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. On top of that was a lovely beef bolognese, with just the right balance of tomatoes, herbs and meat, which is why I think the wild boar ragu was just off for the night. Needless to say, he got 2 points for having the best main course.

The atmosphere was very warm and inviting. There were lots of regulars and families with kids, which gave it that nice neighborhood feeling, more like a big family dinner rather than a cheap diner. Our waiter was super friendly and I suspect he would recognize us the next time we are there. All in all, a great find, and one I'm looking forward to trying again soon.

The Sunshine is Here Again!!

This weekend is supposed to be hot and sunny in San Francisco, and you know what that means. BBQ's, which means parties and potlucks. I have an easy recipe to share, which Amanda kindly reminded me of today, and it's one of my favorite pasta salad recipes. The chopping of the vegetables is a little tedious, but once that's done, the rest is easy as pie. The best part is, you can make this ahead of time which makes it great for potlucks and parties.

This recipe is from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa).. I have made a few notes, in orange, of ways I have adapted this for my parties, based on different items I had in my fridge at the time. The great part about this recipe is that it's a great starter recipe. You can make lots of changes depending on what's in season, the vegetables and herbs and cheese you like best.. It's hard to ruin this one and it always goes at a party.. Of course, that could be because I eat it all. Enjoy!

Orzo with Roasted Vegetables
Prep Time: 20 min.
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 40 min.
Serves: 6 servings More like 8 as a side dish

Ingredients
1 small eggplant, peeled and 3/4-inch diced
1 red bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1 yellow bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1 red onion, peeled and 1-inch diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound orzo or rice-shaped pasta
2 tomatoes, seeded and 1/2-inch dice - it adds a nice freshness to the salad
sun-dried tomotoes chopped

For the dressing:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/3 cup good olive oil - The key is good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To assemble:
4 green onions, minced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts), toasted - I always forget to do this, but it does add a nice crunch
3/4 pound good feta, 1/2-inch diced (not crumbled) - mozzerella would also work
15 fresh basil leaves, cut into julienne
1/2 bunch of italian parsley chopped

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Toss the eggplant, bell peppers, onion, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, and pepper on a large sheet pan. Roast for 40 minutes, until browned, turning once with a spatula.
Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 7 to 9 minutes, until tender. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta, scraping all the liquid and seasonings from the roasting pan into the pasta bowl.
For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pour on the pasta and vegetables. Make this while the orzo is cooking, and be sure to toss the dressing with the orzo while it is still warm. This will allow the pasta to soak up some of the dressing. Let cool to room temperature, then add the scallions, pignolis, feta, and basil. Check the seasonings, and serve at room temperature. This is best served room temperature. The flavors get a bit muted if it's too cold.

Here's the link if you would like some additional suggestions on making this pasta. Thank you Food Network! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/orzo-with-roasted-vegetables-recipe/index.html

Have a great weekend.. Enjoy the sunshine!

Introduction

As this is my first blog ever, I feel like it needs an introduction... I am completely and whole-heartedly obsessed with food. I am always thinking about my next meal, the next kitchen gadget or cookbook I'm going to buy, recipes, their ingredients and where they come from. Of course, most of you know all of this, since I am probably talking to you about it, and if you don't, you will quickly find out just how obsessed I am.