Dinner - 18 February 2008

You know, it's just amazing what you can do with some leftover pasta sauce, leftover sausage, a couple cups of flour, some cheese, &c. 

The cheese was some aged provolone I had.  It didn't melt all that well, but it had a lot of flavor. 

The sausage was some I ground a few weeks ago out of a marked-down pork roast and some fatback.  I had about 5 pounds, of which I immediately ate one and gave away one, then froze the rest.  I took a pound out of the freezer a few days ago, and this used the last of it. 

The dough I started a couple hours before out of some durum flour: I thought it would have more flavor and hold up well.  It was a little tougher than I wanted, but it was ok. 

While the dough was rising, I slowly cooked some onion down to about 25% of its original volume and sat it aside. 

Oven pre-heated to 500°F.  I pre-baked the crust for about 8 minutes, and heated up the leftover pasta sauce while the crust was baking.  Crust came out, got the toppings (too much, but what the hell) and a drizzle of olive oil.  Then the pizza went back in for another 8 minutes or so. 

Half a pizza and two beers later, I'm feeling kinda sleepy.  :)

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I've been writing up a lot of home cooking lately.  Truth is I'm too poor to go out and eat.  :/ 

Comments

[Fritz]

Long ago and far away on Long Island NY where I grew they used to make pizza with a crust that would balloon up along the perimeter.
I suppose they did this by folding over the dough along the edge to make it trap gas and bubble up?

Thumbs up to you
Your pizza has the appearnace a well defined edge. I bet it was good.:)

[Lenore]

Your home cooking always sounds better than what one can find most restaurants, Joe.

[Joe Eater]

Fritz: Thanks. It was nice looking. I did roll the edge over, but I still got more rise there than I was thinking I would.

Lenore: I know I've got high standards, but really you could do better out. But I'll work on it. :) I think I'll leave the oil off next time, and put more salt in the dough. And despite all the flavor in the aged provolone, it might have been nice to have something gloppier, like the traditional mozzarella.

[miles]

So I've got a question about cooking pizzas... I have a pizza stone that I try to preheat with the oven. But then I have trouble rolling/patting/tossing the dough out on the stone (because it's hot), or rolling it out first and transfering it to the stone (always gets folded, or squished, etc.). What's the best way to do this? Should I forget about the stone? Should I forget about preheating the stone? Is there a good way to move an uncooked pizza dough? The pizza still tastes good, it just doesn't look good. Any help would be appreciated.

[Joe Eater]

Miles: I don't have a stone -- I wish I did -- so my advice here is based more on book larnin' :) than experience. However: The way I'm told one is to do this is by preheating the stone in the oven and leaving it there. Form your dough on a peel that's coated with cornmeal (or place the round on the cornmeal-coated peel after you've formed it). Stick the peel in the oven over the baking stone; tilt the nose down a little, then jerk the peel out, leaving the dough on the stone. You might have to do this with multiple jerks, but the idea is to get the dough off the peel and onto the stone with minimal distortion of shape. The stone should be hot enough that it will cook the dough without sticking. When the pizza is done, use the peel again to get it off the stone.

If the dough wants to stick to the peel, use more cornmeal (some people use flour or other substances, but cornmeal is traditional). If the pizza sticks to the stone, then probably the stone wasn't hot enough; preheat it for longer or at a higher temperature. I'd probably run the oven at the highest temperature you can set it on, and give the stone a good 20-30 minutes of preheat time (unless the stone or your recipe has specific instructions to the contrary).

Don't try to mess with the stone while it's hot. Just stick it in the oven and preheat. When you're done, leave it there until the oven is cool. I think a lot of people with stones just leave them in the oven all the time.

Again, since I don't have a stone or a peel, this is all just my understanding of how it's supposed to work. YMMV.

[miles]

I've been meaning to invest in a "paddle" (peel) for a long time and maybe that's the missing piece of the puzzle. I'll experiment tonight and let you know how it comes out. Thanks for the pointers!

[phoebe]

a peel is necessary with a stone, and I also think a screen is incredibly helpful. you can get them at the restaurant supply for next to nothing. simply make your pie on a floured screen, pop on the stone for the first 8-10 minutes of baking, remove screen and finish on the stone. Perfect pizza at home!

[Joe Eater]

Miles: Do let us know how it works.

Phoebe: Thanks! Always good to have a real expert around. Does CSPie ever include pizza pie? :)

[phoebe]

expert...i don't know about that! and I wish I could make pizzas for all, not enough time, not enough oven....

[miles]

Last night I used a flat cookie sheet for a peel, and used it to transfer the uncooked dough to the stone in the oven. It worked pretty well, but it still stuck a little and I think I should use a bit more corn meal to make it slide off better. But all in all, the transition went much better.

I've never heard of or seen a screen used in this context. Is there a particular kind of screen I should look for when I'm outfitting my home pizza factory? Any ideas of a good place to look for one? Thanks for the pointers!

[Joe Eater]

Miles: I don't know for a fact that these folks have screens, and I don't know what's convenient for you, but the folks at RCF seem nice, and they do have a lot of stuff. I'd call them and ask if they have one. They're over in Lakewood Shopping Center (or the Shoppes At Lake Wooddeee or whatever they're called).

[phoebe]

here is a site that sells screens, though I know you can get them at any restaurant supply, like Herndon on Roxboro:

http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/Kitchen.PizzaSupplies.PizzaScreens?gclid=CPiTq4mg05ECFQQilwodLniKZw