Pizza Dough!

Being a native Brooklynite I am QUITE passionate about my pizza.   Pizza has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  When I was a kid I would walk home from school and get a slice and a soda at Smiling Pizza in Brooklyn.   When I was in high school L&B's Spumoni Garden was the place to be and BTW has the BEST square slice of pizza in Brooklyn.   If anyone feels differently about L&B's I got one thing to say...  However, I will bite my tongue because this blog is classier than what I got to say.

When I was in college I would drive to Howard Beach to go to NEW PARK Pizza and grab a plain slice.  NEW PARK's plain slices are pretty amazing.  If you disagree with this read what I said about people who disagree with my opinion on L&B's....

So one might ask the question... "Why haven't you really tried to tackle pizza on your food blog?"   The answer is quite simple...There is no pretty good pizza.   There is GREAT pizza, regular pizza, and fake pizza like Dominos, Imos, and the pizza casserole known as CHICAGO PIZZA.   Now I don't want to start a fight so I will leave Chicago Pizza for another post but come on chitown it is a pizza casserole not a pizza.

Since i <3 pizza and am proud of my cooking, I have NOT tried to really make my own.   Trying to build a good pizza is like trying to climb mount everest.   If you don't have a sherpa, you aint making it up.    Since I don't have a pizza sherpa I have always avoided trying to make a true BROOKLYN pizza pie.

Well I still dont have a sherpa but the time has come to give pizza making a try.  I am now officially trying to work on building my pizza skills.   It will take me years to develop proper pizza skills but the mission has begun.

I am starting to feel comfortable sharing the progress of this work so here goes....

My first new york pizza I am willing to share is a basic pepperoni pizza.  Here is a the shot of it:

The pizza dough was the starting point for me.   Brooklyn pizza is what it is because of the dough.   I need to start my journey with a base recipe so I am going to use the About.com recipe I found.   While this is a recipe that I doubt will turn out the way I want it, it is a good start.   So here it is:

New York Pizza Dough Recipe from About.com

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) instant dry active yeast
• 1 cup warm water (not hot!)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups bread flour, or as needed
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

1. Add the water, yeast, sugar, and a 1/2 cup of the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir well and let sit for 20 minutes. It will get bubbly.
2. Add olive oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour, and mix with a wooden spoon until it's together enough to turn out on to a lightly floured work surface to knead.
3. Knead for about 10 minutes, while adding more flour a little at a time, to produce a soft, elastic and slightly sticky dough. Do not add too much flour, just enough to keep it from sticking to the work surface as you knead.
4. Form the dough into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. Drizzle a few drops of oil and coat the top of dough to prevent the surface from becoming dry.
5. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
6. Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls and place in large zip lock plastic bags and refrigerate overnight.
7. When ready to use, remove from fridge, and let the dough come up to room temperature before using. 

This recipe was ok.   A few things I did not like:

1. I didn't think the consistency of the dough was all that right.   
2. The flavor was a little eh and needed some salt
3. Texturally it needed a lighter internal texture and a crunchier crust
4. It needed more than just bread flour
5. I did not let it sit long enough to rise.  TIME IS YOUR FRIEND
6. I dont have a pizza oven so it doesn't cook quick enough

As per the marinara sauce I used my basic marinara sauce:

2 large can of crushed tomatoes

red pepper flakes

4-6 cloves of garlic

1 sweet onion

1 large shallot

salt

pepper

olive oil

herbs (basil, oregano and italian parsley)

1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

The trick to a good marinara is time time time...  TAKE YOUR TIME and go low and slow on the cooking.   Just sweat the garlic, onions and shallots.   Hit it with salt and pepper and add the red pepper flakes.   Put in the crushed tomatoes, stir it, add in the herbs and go low and slow.   Stir in the cheee and let it melt then season it to your liking. 

YUM

Anywho...  I need to invest my time in working on the dough.  I will give it a go once a month and see how my pizza making progresses.   The pizza I made was delicious and in time I will figure out how to make a great Brooklyn pizza.

Lake's Edge Blue Goat's Milk Cheese Review

While walking around Brooklyn I passed one of my favorite shops "BKLYN LARDER."  They had a sign that read "VERMONT CHEESE SALE."  I could not resits.  I mean any sign that says Cheese + Sale is going to get my attention.  

I stumbled inside and decided to take a look at the selection of cheese from Vermont.   I ended up selecting a cheese called Lake's Edge Blue Goat's Milk Cheese.    I was in the mood for something creamy and light and this cheese looked like it fit the bill!

I brought the cheese home and decided to dive right in.    The cheese was amazing!  It was tangy, creamy, and had the essence of ash in it.   This was a truly delicious cheese!   If ANYONE runs into this cheese out in the market do yourself a favor and pick it up.    I am defintly going back to BKLYN Larder to go get myself some more!

Truffled Sausage Pizza with Fresh Tomatoes and Sage - MY FIRST PIZZA!

So in my travels I ran into a pizza stone at a buddies house.   This thing was awesome.   I never thought I could make my own semi-legit pizza at home.  YAY!   God help my belly because I am going to do this all the time now!  hehehe.  

Since discovering this I went to my local kitchen store and picked myself up a nice pizza stone.   

The first thing I needed to tackle was figuring out how to deal with a ball of fresh pizza dough.   To be quite honest I am went through 3 pizzas before I really had something that was "ok".   I need to continue to improve it.    I think the key is to put a little olive oil on the pizza when you are spinning it out.    For some reason this made the pizza easier to stretch.  

This brings me to another point.   Spinning a pizza is possibly the most fun thing in the world.    I have stared in awe at  my local pizza spots for years and I employed the techniques I witnessed in doing it at home.  it is easy and fun!    use your fists.   Stretch it out slowly.  It is easy as pie and super happy fun times :) 

Now I have to admit I still need to do work here but the olive oil discovery on the dough definitely changed things for me.   I am going to try again soon and see if I make an improvement.   In this pizza the crust was still too thick but was super close to wonderful.   Almost there!

Ok now let move on to what I put on the pizza :)

Here is an ingredient shot:

 

I used simple goodness....

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Fresh Sage

Sweet Italian Sausages

Vine Ripened Tomatoes

Red Chili Flakes

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

Black Truffle Infused Olive Oil

Simple!  

I started by heating up a pan and tossing in some truffle oil.  I took the sausage out of its "casing" and tossed the chopped up meat in the pan.  Once it began to brown I put in about 1.5 tablespoons of fresh chopped sage and salt to add a nice flavor to the meat and balance the truffle flavor.  

I coated the dough in a thin layer of truffle oil.   Put on nice thing pieces of mozzarella everywhere.  Layered on the sausage and then thin sliced vine ripened tomatoes.   From there I put on the chili flakes (about 1 teaspoon) and then tossed it in the over until it was nice and crispy.

I finished it with more sage, more chili flakes, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.  

What did I get?   Deliciousness!  I need to improve the crust but I am well on my way to a perfect pizza at home!  YUM YUM PIZZA!

Finished Product:

Panko Crusted Fried Squash Blossoms with a Mustard Summer Salad

This morning I walked up to the Grand Army Plaza Farmers Market.   When I got there I saw a stand that was calling my name.   What you ask???  SQUASH BLOSSOMS!

These are such a pretty vegetable or flower or whatever they are.   They have the brightness of a squash and the hint of their flavor.  Their couldn't be a more perfect little blossom to cook with.

So what could I do with these squash blossoms and only one thing came to mind.  Stuff and Fry!  Stuff and Fry!

I decided to stuff them with an herb cheese.   I got two parts fresh ricota, one part tangy goat cheese and some farm fresh thai basil.   I dipped them in some milk then rolled em in flour.  I then dipped them in milk again and layered on some wonderful panko bread crumbs.  I fried em up in some vegetable oil and got them golden golden brown.   YUM

I picked up some mustard greens, fresh jersey tomatoes, and some fresh cucumber.   I whisked together some olive oil, dijon mustard, brown sugar, salt and pepper.   I tossed all the greens in dressing with the chopped up tomatoes and cucumber.

With did I get?  Sinfully fresh, summery delicious, nutritious and slightly bad while absolutely delicious lunch!  YAY!

Food pics below:

YUM YUM

Fromage d'O'Cow Review - Cato Corner Farm Cheese

Ok so I tried a new cheese this weekend and for the first time in a while I was let down!   The cheese was the Fromage d'O'Cow from Cato Corner Farm.   It had a weird start that I could only describe as ammonia like.   I was really not a fan at all!   Total shame because this cheese is the slightly more aged version of Hooligan from Cato Corner Farm which I love!   Oh Well.   Try and Try Again!  Onward and Upward!!!!!

Farm Fresh Cheese From The Cato Corner Farm

Yesterday I visited the Grand Army Plaza Saturday Farmers Market and ran into a stand from the Cato Corner Farm.   What did they have at this stand you ask?  CHEESE GLORIOUS CHEESE!  Now cheese is something that I have really started to understand and enjoy.   I have given myself lots of cheese experiments and have really begin to love all types of cheese from sweet and subtle cheese to the naughty stinky cheeses.   In fact the naughty stinky ones are now the ones that I am beginning to love the most!  But I digress so allow me to get back to the matter at hand...the cheese I found in the farmers market.

I asked the cheese monger at the Cato Corner Farm stand to give me two nice cheeses and told him that I wanted one to be harder and one creamier but both robust and perhaps even bold.   I then explained I am not afraid of stinky cheeses as those are usually the best :)  The cheese monger gave me the following two cheeses:  Dairyere and Hooligan.

Dairyere was a wonderful little cheese.   It was a nice mildly sharp cheese that resembled a nutty Gruyere cheese.   Its finish was fantastic as the taste really stayed around.   I must say I love this cheese as an every week cheese that I would regularly buy.  I definitely recommend it as a cheese for all peoples as it was easy to eat and enjoy.  Here is a pic:

Cato Corner Farm Dairyere Cheese

Then I tried the Hooligan.   Oh Hooligan What Can I say About Thee?   Hooligan is a naughty cheese.  I mean REALLY naughty cheese.   The kind of naughty that makes you giggle quietly and makes you want to hide your desire for it from people.    This cheese was EPIC!  It is a creamy, stinky, salty cheese that if you put a tiny bit of honey on with a piece of thin bread you will find yourself experiencing an absolute mouthgasm.   Good lord GO EAT THIS CHEESE!!!!!

Cato Corner Farm Hooligan Cheese

Good job Cato Corner Farm.  I Heart Your Cheese!

Breakfast by the Grand Army Plaza Saturday Farmers Market

This morning we got up and decided to go to the Grand Army Plaza Saturday Farmers Market so we can begin our weekend foodventures with a set of fresh farm ingredients.  Nothing says "spring morning" like a nice walk to the farmers market while sipping on a cool and refreshing ice coffee.   I truly love spring in Da NYC.



So here was my breakfast ingredient list:

Smoked Pork Shoulder Bacon
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Chives
Cage Free Organic Eggs
Rustic Whole Wheat Bread
Gruyere Cheese

So here is what I prepared:

Scrambled eggs whisked to fluffy goodness and further fluffed up with some fresh milk.   I chopped up some fresh chives and scrambled it up by constantly stirring the eggs with the whisk so it got all ribbony.   YUM

I fried up the ridiculus smoked pork shoulder bacon.  Now for some reason I love frying up some bacon in my wok.   The does such a wonderful job of distributing the heat that bacon just loves a wok.   My aunt showed me that trick :) xoxo.    If you have tried farm fresh bacon you are missing out.  Something about it makes it so much gamey and smokey.   It is truly wonderful.    To make it MORE wonderful I sprinkled on a nice amount of pepper and a dash of brown sugar to take it to planet stupid.  YuM YuM YuM!

I clarified some butter and dumped in a ton of fresh rosemary.    I spread the butter on slices of the rustic wheat bread and layered on a nice piece of that gruyere cheese.   I got it all toasty in the broiler and BREAKFAST WAS READY!!!!!

Good lord was it yummy.

Here is a shot of the deliciously farm fresh breakfast courtesy of the Grand Army Plaza Saturday Farmers Market:

Lime Cilantro Skirt Steak with Beefy Polenta, Baby Bok Choy and a Blue Cheese Sauce

I was trying to determine what to cook at home tonight as I have been getting lazy with my cooking due to some increased need for focus at work.  Its always the day job that hinders my pursuit of being a chef! 

So I wanted to do something really BIG.  I mean something BIG in flavor that makes the eater giggle with levels of flavor as they work across their palette.  

I have been really craving some skirt steak lately as they are so very easy to make and so darn flavorful.   Skirt steak is one of those meats that you can flavor so amazingly as it is so thin and really takes on whatever you throw at it.  A wonderful steak to cook with!.  

I decided to flavor the skirt steak first by marinating it in a lime and olive oil marinade that I put a tiny bit of salt in to bind the flavors.   I let the meat sit for a little bit and really soak in that limey goodness.   I then made a quick rub by combining together 2 tea spoons of lime zest, about 25 pepper corns, salt and a handful of cilantro with a little bit of olive oil.   I combined it all together in a mortar and pestle to really get the flavors together. 

I wanted to serve it with something that was nice and silky so I landed on the idea of serving it with a nice bed of beef both based polenta.  Now polenta is made by adding in polenta mix with broth and some cheese.   The cheese is usually a parmesan cheese but I wanted to think of a cheese that is really more flavor that works with the beef.   I decided to replace the cheese with some heavy cream to bring in the creaminess the cheese work bring so I can find a more interesting way to use the cheese flavor.

What cheesy goodness goes well with beef?   hmmmmmm.......

As soon as I asked myself the heavens opened up and an heavenly voice became clear to me as the angels of the cheese gods professed "Blllluuueeee CHeeeeeeessssseeee"

Holla blue cheese and steak is absurdly wonderful!   Thanks cheese gods! 

My mission was clear make a wonderful BIG blue cheese sauce with a hunk of premium blue cheese and some heavy cream to thin it out and cream it up. 

Now all I needed was to balance it with a little bitterness and sweetness so I grilled up some baby bok choy.

What did I get?!?????

PURE DELICIOUSNESS!  BIG BOLD WONDERFUL LIMEY CHEESY STEAKY BEEFY CREAMY GOOD LAWD OF MERCY GOODNESS

YUM YUM YUM

Roquefort Gabriel Cheese Review - A Blue Cheese Ripened by BKLYN Larder

I picked up some Roquefort Gabriel at BKLYN Larder based on the cheese monger's recommendation.   This cheese was AMAZINGLY big.   This is probally one of my favorite blue cheeses of all time.   A creamy texture and salty finish makes this a wonderful cheese for anyone to try.   The cheese monger recommended that I pair it with the most delicious of italian honey which I will write about later but my word what a wonderful party in my face!  

YUM YUM Roquefort Gabriel.

Stanser Rotelli Cheese Review - A big cheese ripened by BKLYN larder

After a trip to BKLYN Larder I came back home with some Stanser Rotelli cheese.    This cheese was hand selected by the cheese monger at BKLYN larder.   I asked her to find me a "big" cheese.    She served me up Stanser Rotelli.

So what did I think about it?   Well Stanser Rotelli is a must buy if you like big cheeses.    It is a sweet, creamy, milky cheese that has a big finish that is nutty and piney.   I love it!   It is definitely a stinkier cheese but anyone who knows cheese knows that stinky usually means excitingly good. 

The folks at BKLYN larder ripened this cheese PERFECTLY.    I tried an unripened version a day or two after trying the BKLYN larder ripened version and BKLYN larder got it.   So get off you chair and stop reading this site so you can run down to BKLYN larder and go fetch yourself a chunk of Stanser Rotelli

Green Chili Cheeseburger with Quesa Fresca, Blue Corn Chips and Pickled Onions

In my quest to make the perfect burger I have been playing with green chili cheeseburger.   I was watching cooking channel and saw Bobby Flay make a green chili cheeseburger,   He included a quick pickled onion and blue corn tortilla chip.

I wanted to make my standard green chili cheeseburger and add the new ingredients one at a time to understand what each is contributing to the overall burger experience.

Lets talk about my green chili cheeseburgers for a second and talk about how I put them together.

Lets start with the meat.   I am a firm believer that you do not need to do anything to the right burger meat outside of quality 80/20 chopped beef.   Sprinkle each side with a healthy hit of salt and pepper to season them and then thats it.  Throw the burgers on a skillet to sear in the fat and you are good to go.

The next component is my cheese.   I use a quesa fresca which I chop up and toss in a sauce pan with heavy cream and a crumbled up saltine.

Next up are the chilis.  I take a nice selection of chilis: jalapenos, poblanos, anaheim and serrano.   I fire roast them and then smoke them.   You scrape out the seeds and veins and what you get is pure deliciousness.

I crumbled up some blue corn tortilla chips and plated the whole thing.   Here is the first pic:

So for starters the beef was delicious and amazing.   The peppers are smokey smokey goodness.   The cheese was salty creamy wonderful and the blue corn tortilla chip gave it a wonderful crunch.   I love it!

Ok now it is time to try again but this time with the pickled onions.  I put vinegar, a chili, peppercorns, garlic and bay leaves in a pot and brought it to a boil.

Now quick pickles are easy as pie to make.   Chop up the onions, dump them in the boiling pickle mix for like a minute or two and then pull it off the heat.    Let it sit for a bit.   Take the onions out and let them cool in your fridge.  They will have a nice bite, amazing flavor and will punch up any dish!

I used the same burger assembly but this time topped it off with the quick pickles.   What did I get?  AN AMAZING burger.  Salty, spicy, rich, smokey, and delicious!  Thanks Bobby Flay for the idea!

Taleggio and Ossau-Iraty Cheeses Followed By Miso Tuna Skewers with Serrano Fried Rice

Tonight we went over and shopped at Union Market.    We got the idea of making some miso tuna skewers with roasted pepper fried brown rice.  We decided to start the meal by grabbing some new cheeses to try.    I recently had some Grayson so I was defintely in the mood for stinky sweet cow cheese :) 

Stinky cow based cheese is so friggin amazing.    It is sweet and fruity and buttery.   I love pairing stinky cow cheese with some sort of fruit sweetness to balance the funk factor and bring out the fruitiness of the stinky cow cheese.

So we put down a hunk of Taleggio which is stinky goodness.    I paired it with a raspberry jam to bring out its fruit flavors and level out the buttery component.

Your experience with the Taleggio is pretty awesome.   The first thing your palette recognizes comes from scent and it is the funk.   Next you bite into the bread and get the creaminess of the cheese.   The tangy funk is subdued by the fruit jam but then it manages to break through at the end.   The fruit jam brings out the fruity goodness of this cheese.   All of your flavor guns fire euphoric levels of happiness into your brain.   Wow.

I paired the Ossau-Iraty with some whole seed mustard.  This is a great raw goats milk cheese.   I like it but need to spend more time with it and not pair it with such a dominant ingredient like whole mustaards seeds.   Lesson learned.   It was delicious but it could of been any kind of cheese with the POW of the mustard.

We served it with some paddelfish caviar to bring a fish component to it to our meal as we are going to be having sweet miso tuna and I wanted to remind myself I am eating seafood all meal.

Absolutely a perfect way to make your belly smile!

For the main course we cooked up some grilled Miso Tuna skewers with fire roasted Serrano chile fried brown rice with fish sauce.

YUM YUM MISO TUNA!!!!

 

 YUM YUM SERRANO FRIED RICE

Winter Soup Fun

After a wonderful breakfast sandwich that I whipped up this morning I recided that I wanted to make a nice winter soup.   I figured I could go to the market and just find a bunch of winter veg to make a soup with.    It was warm this week in park slope brooklyn.  The weather turned cold last night in brooklyn so I wanted to warm my belly up!

Basic plan....Pick up lots of winter veg like carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, and the like.   Start the soup with onion, garlic and a shallot with butter.    Add in the chopped up winter veg and then get everything all covered with butter.    Sautee the whole mix up a bit and then add in vegetable stock.     I finish it with a sprig of rosemary and a bay leave.   Let the whole thing simmer for 30 minutes or so and then puree it.  

Ok so here were my ingredients:

 

Here is a shot of the ingredients in the initial sautee

 

Here is the shot of the soup before I let it simmer:

 

It came out super delicious.   I ended up adding some heavy cream to the puree to make it a bit more silky.   I topped it off with a nice slice of goat cheese and some fresh chopped chives. 

YUM YUM SOUP

The Love of Egg - Making the yummy BIN36 egg sandwich

As indicated in my first "Love of Eggs" post I recently have eaten the YUMMY BIN36 Egg Sandwich.   This sandwich was *!&@# delicious and I must recreate it at home but do it my way with all ingredients I can find in just the Korean Deli down the road.  

Ok so lets look at what is in this thing and how it is described on the menu


Breakfast Sandwich  $12.00
two eggs (chef suggests scrambled or over medium)
with ham steak, smoked gouda cheese, lettuce and garlic aioli
on sourdough bread, served with homefries

Ok so mission #1 is to make my own garlic aioli.   I have never made an aioli but they are delicious so I decided to give it a shot.    What I got was epically delicious.  Oh Aioli why why why did I wait so long to make you!   This !(*@# is !(*@# amazing.   It is so simple too!   I took fine chopped like 5 small cloves of garlic.    I whisked it together with the juice of one small lemon and a large pinch of corse sea salt.   I whisked in one egg yolk.   I then SLOWLY whisked in olive oil until it really had a airy fluffy saucy feel to it.   I tasted it and it was !()*#! heaven.

I cooked the eggs medium sunny side up.     I grilled up some deli ham.    I toasted the bread with a little bit of olive oil.    I made a decision to make the sandwich open faced.    It will be more messy but I want to see this thing when I eat it.

So the assembly....Bread down on the plate with a slather of garlic aioli on the top side of the bread.    I put down a nice bed of baby greens.    I put the ham down and a nice slice of gouda cheese.     I put the egg right on top of the cheese so it could melt it slightly.     I topped it with a splash of MORE garlic aioli.  Here is the pic:

Cheese Please - My First Encounter with Grayson Cheese

As my previous post The Love of Eggs had indicated I recently spent some time eating at BIN36 in chicago.

One of the best parts about BIN36 is their cheese selection.  If you are in Chicago and love cheese definitely hit up BIN36...

Wait a minute....Everyone likes cheese....

If you are in Chicago you must hit up BIN36!

Ok.  I digress.   I submitted to the restaurant experience and instructed my waiter to deliver me a selection of cheeses and wines that would ignite my palette with flavor in a playful and adventurous way.   Well let me be the first to say my waiter delivered!   He deliver me a range of cheese from Humbolt Fog  to something I have never tried before....Grayson.

This was the stinky addition to my plate.   I love stinky cheese.   For some reason the stinkier the cheese the more euphoric it makes me feel.   Grayson delivered on being a FANTASTICALLY stinky hunk of pure goodness.    The cheese was tangy and sweet.   They paired it with a half glass of BIN36's BIN 19 2009 Pecorino white wine.   The wine brought out the sweetness of the cheese fantastically!   What a great little treat.  

I highly recommend Grayson cheese.  It is a stinker but SO delicious!