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As I was at the checkout line at Trader Joe’s, the cashier exclaimed I must’ve really wanted lots of pizza, looking at the 5 packages of pizza dough, 3 jars of sauce, 3 pounds of mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, spicy italian sausage, eggplant, olives, tomatoes, zucchini and mushrooms. Then he eyes the box of Honey Nut O’s….and with a raised eyebrow, asks “You’re not putting that on the pizza, are you?”
“No, that’s stuff I eat in between…heh.”
Living in California for the past few months, we have yet to find a pizzeria that offers anything close to what we nostalgically crave from New York. Don’t get me wrong; pizza here is good, but…..different. If the big seller at a Cali pizzeria is barbecue chicken and pineapple pizza, well, it’s like comparing apples to oranges. You can’t compare pizza from NY to pizza from Cali. Every bite I take, no matter how tasty it can be, is still unsatisfying. My brain tells me something is always missing, in the sauce, the cheese, especially the crust. Where’s the orange-y color that’s suppose to result from the sauce melding with the cheese? The little bubbles that pop up on the cheese and crust from the extreme temperatures of the brick oven? The crispy crust with black spots here and there, to add that extra baked in, charred flavor?
So I decided to make my own pizza for a week. Why a week? 1) My husband would have the happiest week in his marriage ever, 2) I wanted to see if I could replicate anything remotely resembling NY pizza and 3) Honestly, I Just Wanted Pizza!! So here goes Day One of my pizza experiment, pepperoni pizza.
I wanted to start of with something simple. Cheese, pepperoni and sauce, with plain white pizza dough. If you would like directions on how I made my pizza, click on my previous post here. But after you make pizza once, you don’t really need instructions on the process ever again. I mean…it’s just stretching dough out onto a baking sheet, slathering sauce, adding toppings, then baking at 500 degrees for 12-17 minutes depending on your oven. The real dilemmas are what kind of ingredients to use, what kind of baking sheet, what temperature, whether to add cheese at the start of the baking process vs. a few minutes before the baking process ends, etc. That determines whether your pizza will taste it’s optimal level.
I’ve really thought this over, if you couldn’t tell.
See the little bubbles on the edge of the crust? I love those bubbles. They are bubbles of extra flavor that make eating the crust (something I absolutely hated on homemade pizza before) a joy. It didn’t hurt to drizzle some olive oil on the edges before putting into the oven, either. And greasing the pan with olive oil.
The grease from the pepperoni helped bubble and brown the cheese as well. Contrary to what I did in the past, I added all the mozzarella at the beginning of the baking process. I only did this because the pepperoni would keep the cheese nice and hydrated (with grease, that is) and I wouldn’t have to worry about it drying up into a rubbery slab that slides completely off the crust.
See that crust? That’s the result from the kind of dough I bought + baking sheet + oven temperature + olive oil. A lot of factors contribute to this kind of outcome. I used Trader Joe’s pizza dough, with comes pre-packaged in a 16 oz. bag for $1.29, in the cheese and deli meats section of the store. I think it has to do with the amount of water they use to make the dough. I’ve used Wegmans, Walmart and Tops pizza dough in the past, and none have given me the results I see now. The ones in the past always gave me thick, bready, dry crusts with pockets of unevenly baked (and sometimes raw) spots, especially in the middle of the pizza. I’ve read reviews on how people thought this dough was too wet to handle and how they had to add more flour before using it. But why would you need to? I like it the way it is. It had just the right amount of flavor, and eating it was as satisfying as eating the toppings.
Now, you might not get the exact same results as I have. In fact, I might not get the same results in the future as I have now unless I did everything the exact same way. So think about the little things that go into making a ‘perfect’ pizza. Not all of it is from following directions on general baking times and temps. Play around and have fun with it.
As long as you’ll roast 2 pounds of your favorite veggies and combine with at least 1 pound of uncooked pasta, your proportions should be alright for this recipe. I used up the veggies lying around in my fridge for this recipe. You can use the veggies you prefer, of course. When they are roasted, they will shrink in size dramatically, so don’t freak out if it seems like too many vegetables at first. Just go with it!
The salad dressing is extremely easy to make, using a combination of olive oil, lemon juice, grated parmesan cheese and herbs. This recipe is a nice side dish for a potluck dinner, or a backyard bbq (if you live in an area that you’re able to barbecue in right now, that is…).
Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables (serves 8)
Ingredients:
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2 pounds of raw vegetables (32 oz.), chopped into bite size pieces
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olive oil for drizzling onto vegetables
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1 pound of corkscrew pasta, bowtie pasta, or elbow macaroni
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1 can of chickpeas, or any kind of canned beans (optional)
Ingredients for dressing:
Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut 2 pounds of vegetables into bite size pieces. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Set aside.
2) Cook 1 pound of pasta until al dente. Pour into a colander and drain. Set aside.
3) To prepare the dressing, combine lemon juice, mayo, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese. Then, drizzle a thin stream of olive oil into the mixture, whisking to combine the ingredients until completely emulsified. Salt and pepper to taste.
4) In a large bowl, combine pasta, vegetables, 1 can of chickpeas or beans (optional). Pour on the dressing and combine until thoroughly coated. Set in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the flavors soak into the pasta before serving.
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut 2 pounds of vegetables into bite size pieces. I used a combination of 8 stalks of asparagus, one tomato and two zucchinis.
Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Set aside.
You’ll end up with a beautifully caramelized array of veggies.
Cook 1 pound of pasta until al dente. Pour into a colander and drain. Set aside.
To prepare the dressing, combine lemon juice, mayo, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese (on right).
Then, drizzle a thin stream of olive oil into the mixture, whisking to combine the ingredients until completely emulsified.
Salt and pepper to taste.
In a large bowl, combine pasta, vegetables, 1 can of chickpeas or beans (optional).
Pour on the dressing and combine until thoroughly coated.
Set in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the flavors soak into the pasta before serving. The longer it sets in the fridge, the better it will taste.
If I don’t have the motivation or inspiration to do anything, I look for things that make me motivated or inspired. That is, when I’m motivated enough to do so :P So here are a few sites that will hopefully awe you. Who knows, maybe I’ll make this a habit, just posting a site or two that I think is worth checking out when we all run out of ideas.
These are in no particular order, and they are completely random subjects. Hope they make you smile.
http://paullung.deviantart.com/gallery/ – check out the photo-realistic drawings this guy does. they aren’t photos, look carefully…
www.jeffbridges.com/fish.html
apina.biz/6580.jpg
www.digart.pl/zoom/3210375/Roze_11.html
If you wanna watch the movie for free, you gotta sit through the commercials!
By movie I mean my photos, and by commercials I mean my spiel. I mean, you don’t have to. You can turn the volume down when the commercials come on, or go to the bathroom, get a snack, etc. until the movie comes back on. Same here. No pressure.
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of pessimism, complaining (rants), cynicism, pessimism, and cynicism throughout the internet. Maybe I’m just looking for it more than usual. Or maybe times are tough for everyone and people are giving up on hope. Awhile back, I read a news article about a giant snowstorm back on the East Coast. The article said it was one of the biggest snowstorms this area had in a long time, and for many kids it was the first time they’ve ever seen snow. The article showed a photo of a little kid making a snowman at the park. A normal person’s reaction would be, “aww isn’t that nice, a kid’s having fun playing in the snow”. But when you read the comments in response to the article, there are arguments about whether global warming exists since it snowed (global warming does NOT mean it won’t snow, btw), then the arguments always get into politics, and whose fault the snowstorm was, then the arguments change to religion, and soon people just start bashing one another. If the news wasn’t depressing enough most of the time, the comments and peoples’ reactions are much, much worse.
After trying to avoid everything negative, there is very little left to read. Except books. Fortunately, the conversations we’ve made with new friends in San Diego have been very un-stressful, uncomplicated, and un-fake (is that a word…?). I don’t go home fuming after hanging out because of a rude comment someone said, or having an argument for the sake of an argument. Why is it that some people love to contradict something you said, just for the sake of contradiction, whether it’s correct or not? How is that trying to sound intelligent? If you believe one thing, don’t say the opposite just to one-up another.
Why are we all so miserable? Why does everything have to be an argument? Why are compliments always back-handed? Why are words always twisted so someone else can make a point? Then nobody is listening to one another. We all end up talking for ourselves, in which case we only talk in circles, never learning from one another, never growing wiser.
I don’t want to be one of those people complaining about other people complaining, and I hope this didn’t come off that way. But think of it this way…if you’re not good at social interactions, try to be a better person as you’re driving. Let someone cut in your lane, and in turn that person will do the same for someone else. Do something nice like that for someone once a day. It shouldn’t be a chore, and eventually you might not have to force yourself to do it. Don’t scream at someone for cutting in front of you while driving, you don’t own the lane. If you willingly let people cut you in line, you wouldn’t be screaming all the time. Sometimes, it’s not about who’s right or wrong. Nobody is out on the road deliberately trying to screw you over and ruin your day. Eventually, everyone will get to where they’re going.
So think positive, people.
And on to the picture-show…
I know this is probably the grossest thing many have you have seen…hot dogs on a mixture of avocado and mayo. Don’t judge me!
I’m back for now. Sorry for the long hiatus; I’ve been going through a lot of stuff recently and I’ll explain it all some other time. For now, here’s a recipe (finally) for cream puffs. Cream puffs are a very versatile pastry used for both sweet desserts or savory hors d’oeuvres. The dough, called pâte à choux, is made with 5 simple ingredients, and after it is baked the outside is golden and crisp while the inside is delicately hollow, giving you ample space for various fillings such as cream, cheese, meat, or seafood. The same dough is also used for making éclairs.
For my cream puffs, I made a cream cheese filling with a hint of lemon. You can opt out the lemon if you prefer, or add something else in place of it, such as orange zest or vanilla extract.
Cream Puffs (Makes 20-24)
Ingredients for pâte à choux:
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1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
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1 cup water
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1/8 tsp. salt
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1 cup all purpose flour
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4 eggs
Ingredients for filling:
Directions:
1) In saucepan, combine butter, water and salt and bring to a boil. Add flour, stirring rigorously until the mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add mixture to a mixer, and beat eggs in one at a time until smooth. If you don’t have a mixer, mix with a wooden spoon. On a cookie sheet, drop batter by teaspoons about 4 inches apart. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. DO NOT open the oven to check until at least 5 minutes before bake time is over; the puffs will collapse if oven is opened too early. Cool on wire rack.
3) To make the filling: beat 1/2 pint heavy cream with a mixer until whipped, and set aside in a bowl in the refrigerator. Then start blending the cream cheese with powdered sugar, adding a little sugar at a time until combined. Add 1 tsp. lemon zest (optional). Fold in whipped cream by hand until combined with cream cheese.
4) Carefully cut the tops off the puffs and add a spoonful of cream cheese filling to each. Serve and enjoy!
**If you are serving at a later time, keep the puffs and the filling separate in the refrigerator until you’re ready to combine them. That way they won’t get soggy. If serving in the distant future, the puffs can filled with filling then frozen in zip-lock bags (for up to 2 months), then defrosted at room temperature.
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Directions with pretty pictures and elaborate jibber-jabber:
Melt 1/2 cup of butter in a saucepan.
Add salt. Don’t mind the 1/4 tsp. I used; I made a double batch.
Add water.
Let the mixture come to a boil.
Then add the flour.
Stir rigorously until the mixture forms a sticky ball of dough.
Like this.
Cool for about 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven for 400 degrees.
Put dough into the mixing bowl.
Add one egg at a time, beating until well blended before adding another egg.
Blend until dough is smooth.
On a cookie sheet, drop batter by teaspoons about 4 inches apart. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. DO NOT open the oven to check until at least 5 minutes before bake time is over; the puffs will collapse if oven is opened too early.
Cool on wire rack.
To make the filling: beat 1/2 pint heavy cream with a mixer until whipped, and set aside in a bowl in the refrigerator.
Then start blending the cream cheese with powdered sugar, adding a little sugar at a time until combined.
Add 1 tsp. lemon zest (optional).
Fold in whipped cream by hand until combined with cream cheese.
Carefully cut the tops off the puffs and add a spoonful of cream cheese filling to each. I like to put the tops back on haphazardly to show a gap of filling. It’s like a tease.
Serve and enjoy!
Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to eat the rest of the plate.
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