” There’s nothing more exciting to cook than discovering a new ingredient or finding an interesting new way to use an old favourite.”
Fine Cooking In Season
My love affair with fruit in baking and fruit based desserts continues unabated, often bordering obsession. Got back rejuvenated from the vacation, exhausted too, to find an absolutely delicious looking book waiting for me in the mailbox. This finger licking good Peach, Plum & Apricot Streusel Crumble was just waiting to be baked!!Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season’s Best from the Fine Cooking Magazine. The cover had the most beautiful picture of juicy plums, blueberries etc. A quick peek within and outstanding photographs by Mathew Benson had me sold!The cover drew me to the book and at 2am I was leafing through it oblivious to the tired aching muscles etc. An almost 24hour flight from Sydney via Hong Kong forgotten, the tired kids suddenly unimportant as they fell into bed in a dazed stupor, suitcases all over the place … the book had me mesmerised!
“Fine Cooking in Season is like having an expert and friend guide you from the farmer’s market to your kitchen, helping you make the most of the delicious bounty available throughout the year. Focusing on produce at its peak is not only flavorful and inspiring, but also a natural way to get a variety of healthy food into your life.”–Ellie Krieger, host of Healthy Appetite on the Food Network and author of The Food You Crave.
Included in the package is a DVD with the Fine Cooking Magazine archive from 1994-2010; for me a virtual treasure. Thank you Taunton Press{I think they sent it as I have no clue who mailed the book to me; it’s been signed by 3 good folk too…gracias} for a book I will always treasure, one thats found pride of place on my shelf. I love it! This was going to be a nice distraction indeed from the monotony of post vacation chores. Unpacking suitcases, putting stuff away, not wanting to touch jackets in this hot weather, cooking to keep the troops happy, dusting the cobwebs off {2 weeks away in the summer and the spiders seem to have a party!}. A quick trip to the local bazaar and yay … all senses awakened, stone fruit were practically tumbling off shelves.I made this stone fruit crumble using 2 recipes. For the filling I used the Peach or Nectarine Cobbler recipe, and since the diva was on a diet and I couldn’t ‘pie’ the fruit, I decided to use the topping from a Ginger Streusel Pie recipe {with a few healthy changes like using 1/2 oats 1/2 flour instead of only flour, slightly reduced butter etc} … this was a celebration of stone fruit!I do love this season. The colours, the flavours, the charm of stone fruit … always like a dream. The crumble was addictive and difficult to keep away from, “sweetly tart and full of soul” … if you know what I mean. Add to it a nutty walnut streusel topping, crisp and delicious and you know this was meant to be. The trusted Thermomix delivered the streusel in one quick whiz.Mr PAB was served his portion with a handsome drizzle of low fat unsweetened cream … and it was nirvana I hear. The lad got a small drizzle too. The teen & me looked at the cream longingly but voluntarily stayed away … there is a post vacation diet which holds ominous significance. 2 thin slivers were demolished by the teen and pre teen last night, with the lad hurriedly polishing off the last crumbs and asking if I could make some again, soon maybe? This is a book I certainly enjoyed for its pictures, its fresh ideas, and for its recipes contributed by some fine culinary gurus which include some of my favourites – Alice Medrich, Abby Dodge, Suvir Saran, Raghavan Iyer, Amanda Hesser among a host of other celebrated contributors.The next book for review on my list is this one by award winning journalist Stephen Fried. The book is interestingly titled “Appetite For America“; Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West – One Meal at a Time. It’s a first ever biography of this visionary entrepreneur considered to be the founding father of the American hospitality industry and gastronomic culture. {I’m halfway through this fascinating journey … which ends in some delicious recipes. More on that in a later post}
Summary:I do love this season. The colours, the flavours, the charm of stone fruit … always like a dream. The crumble was addictive and difficult to keep away from. Sweetly tart and full of soul, add to it a nutty walnut streusel topping, and its crisp and delicious!
Recipe adapted from 2 recipes from Fine Cooking In Season {pgs 134 & 200}
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Toss all the ingredients in a large bowl immediately after chopping the fruit.
Adjust sugar if fruit is too tart.
Turn into a 9″ pie dish {or 6-8 individual baking dishes} and level out.
Top with streusel, pressing gently to ensure the entire fruit is covered.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until the juices are bubbling over and the topping is light golden brown.
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped fine
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled, diced {I used frozen}
Method:
Place the flour, oats, walnuts and salt in the bowl of food processor and whiz briefly on low speed to mix.
Add chilled butter and whiz in short pulses until you get a breadcrumb like mix. Reserve {This freezes well too}
Thermomix instructions – Place all ingredients, including walnut halves in TM bowl, and process for 7 seconds, speed 5 until walnuts chopped fine. Add frozen, diced butter and process for 7-10 seconds, speed 6 until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
“Baking chocolate-chip cookies – an act that makes all seem right with the world….”
Dorie Greenspan on Twitter
I’m back!! Just got in from Sydney 2 days ago, and am left wondering why good times fly by so quick. Had an absolutely wonderful time Down Under, a vacation we have come to look forward to. En route, we took a 3 day break in Hong Kong, thoroughly enjoying the the geographical diversity and amazing views it offers! It’s a place we never tire of …We enjoyed these cookies in Hong Kong, happily munched with leisurely cups of morning coffee… who would have thought! Made them for The Secret Recipe Club a day before we flew out, a great pick from Bizzy B Bakes, the blog I was partnered with this month. Bizzy B’s baking blog is full of infectious enthusiasm. She’s a huge fan of Dorie Greenspan, and does mainly gluten free recipes. {I’m late posting as life hit me full in the face the minute we got back.} From a very cool Sydney to a very HOT / 40C in Delhi {and 77% humidity}, I hit reality pretty soon. There are suitcases to be unpacked, laundry to be done, the kids are incessantly whining for a pup ASAP, school projects await completion, pictures need editing, mails lie unanswered … and a hungry blog stares at me!
It’s June with Bizzy B Bakes, my secret partner for the month @ The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of the very talented & sweet Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from. It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog! Click on the link if you want to join the fun!!
As Chef Bizzy B said of the Cranberry, Pecan and White Chocolate Cookies … “First, I thought that this unusual combination would not go together but they did mesh beautifully and I have a new cookie to add to my repertoire. The richness of the flavors blended together is just right. I love the softness of the cranberry in contrast with the harder pecans and chocolate – I love chocolate.” I used tart dried cherries instead of cranberries, and dark chocolate chips instead of white chocolate.The recipe was indeed SIMPLE, a one bowl wonder!About Hong Kong … what’s not to love about this beautiful spot on Earth which has so much on offer. Thanks to the hub visiting Hkg often , we were leaping off ferries, trams and the MTR like we’d been here forever. It’s a network beautifully connected and easy to use. We’ve done the Peak often in the past, but the lad wanted to once again, so we chugged up the steep slopes in the Peak Tram to alight to breath taking views of the city, harbour etc.The harbour was crossed umpteen times, the iconic Star Ferry carried us from end to end offering us great views of the harbour all around. Raced and caught the Symphony of Lights just in time. We felt the pulse of Hong Kong … from contrasting landscapes of steep mountains with dense greenery to bays, beaches and rivers, from high rise buildings to the busy, bustling lanes of Stanley Market etc … fun!
[print_this]Recipe: Chocolate Chip & Tart Cherry Cookies
Summary:The richness of the flavors blended together is just right. The softness of the tart cherries in contrast with the harder dark chocolate wins you over.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C.
Beat butter in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add sugar and beat until blended.
Beat in egg, then add vanilla and mix.
Add dry ingredients and mix well until blended.
Using a sturdy wooden spoon, dried tart cherries, chocolate chips and nuts, mixing in until well blended.
Drop tbsps of cookie batter on a lightly greased baking sheet, flattening slightly with a fork if desired.
Bake cookies until just golden, checking after 12 minutes.
It’s May with Megan, my secret partner for the month @ The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of the very talented & sweet Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from. It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog!I was thrilled to find my April Secret Challenge recipe picked by The Pioneer Woman in her postWeb Deliciousness: Strawberries!
Ree was generous with her words. She said “Old Fashioned Eggless Chocolate Cake with Balsamic Strawberry Cream Filling by Passionate About Baking. This is the first time I’ve seen this food blog and the photos are just spectacular, not to mention the treats themselves. Wow.”, and then went on to add another of my posts in the round-up to say”Whipped Strawberry Curd Cream Tartlets with Walnut Shortbread Crust. My, oh my. I don’t know what to say.”
I love Megans blog Megans Cookin’ – Sweet, Savoury, Simple … goes the tagline. Her blog is delicious and we are addicted to her chocolate chip oatmeal snack bars; these are a weekly bake in our home. I have tried them in numerous avatars, with different flour substitutions like whole wheat and buckwheat {in addition to healthy oats in there}, and with different conserves, jams etc {homemade bitter orange marmalade, homemade strawberry vanilla bean conserve, blueberry conserve} …… with chocolate chips, with dark chocolate on top, without dark chocolate on top. They are THAT POPULAR at home and the kids love them! I had made a batch the morning I got a mail from Amanda telling me my secret partner was Megan.Could Amanda have guessed what I had just baked? I couldn’t post the same bars again as I have already done so on PAB. I hadn’t slathered them with dark chocolate this time because the weather is really hot, so I thought I’d use them some other way!Here’s what I did. I ran about 5-6 energy bars in my thermomix and got fine biscuit crumbs. My plan was to use them as a sweet tart base, with a cherry pie filling as cherries are in season here and very very tempting to use! Thought I’d do a bittersweet chocolate filling as in this Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise with Crème Chantilly & Balsamic Cherry Sauce I had recently made.That morning, an ardent local baker,the sweet Nidhi, messaged me literally begging me for a vegetarian something after she had drooled over the Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise. She’s allergic to eggs; I just had to oblige this lovely girl. {BTW, Nidhi, just finished reading the book you got me, and I loved it!}So the filling was rapidly reworked to accommodate Nidhi and her no egg request. You will not believe how delicious this turned out to be!! Finger-licking good, and well set too. Chocolate and cherries, like chocolate and strawberries, are a combination made to please the spirit!For folk with egg allergies or for a vegetarian version, I have an eggless tart recipe in this Whipped Strawberry Curd Cream Tartlets with Walnut Shortbread Crust. You could also use graham crackers or digestive biscuit crumbs.Take a look at the cross section. A filling that was smooth, luscious and sang the dark chocolate cherry song out loud! The diva on diet begged for more, and adamantly had two helpings despite being literally hit on the head and reminded of her diet! The son charmed his way to seconds! The base was full of chocolaty goodness too … a winner of a tart!This time I didn’t cook the cherries into a sauce. I barely simmered them in brown sugar and balsamic vinegar for 1-2 minutes, just to soften them and to help get them a glazed look, then fished them out of the sauce and cooked the syrup to a thick reduction. Oh, I added a dash of lime juice as well to give it a kick. Worked nicely!
[print_this]Recipe: Nutella & Cherry Chocolate Tart
Summary: A vegetarian filling /chocolate tart filled with deeply luscious dark couverture chocolate and nutella.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1 sweet chocolate tart base, 9″ {recipe follows, or premade etc}
500ml low fat cream, room temperature
200gms dark chocolate {I used 55% couverture}
2/3 cup Nutella
2 tbsp cornflour
100gms fresh cherries, pitted, halved
Method:
Mix cornflour in 1/2 cup low fat cream.
Place remaining cream, dark chocolate and Nutella in a heavy bottom pan, and simmer until the chocolate melts, stirring constantly.
Add the remaining cream & cornflour mix and continue to stir until mixture thickens to a batter like texture, thicker than flowing custard.
Cool for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle baked tart shell with the pitted and halved cherries. Pour the chocolate mixture over this, level out and chill for at least 3-4 hours, until set. Pour the balsamic cherry topping over, chill for another 30 minutes, remove from pan and serve.
Recipe: Chocolate Tart Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
5-6 energy bars {recipe here}, powdered in processor
50gms unsalted butter, melted
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Keep a 9″ round tart pan with a removable base ready.
Mix the cookies crumbs and butter.
Turn out into a 9″ tart pan and pat out evenly to cover the base and work into the sides. Mine was uneven on the sides, but the filling merged in later. {Also was not roll-able maybe because of the intense heat}
Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool completely on rack. It will firm up when cool. Loosen the shell, and leave it in the tart pan.
“One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There’s something about this season, and it’s certainly not the heat & dust which spells the North Indian summer. It’s the cherries, plums, peaches and apricots that make life oh-so-worthwhile! Stone fruit in season spells INSPIRATION!
Peaches are beginning to appear but are yet to reach their blushing best. The cherries on the other hand are juicy enough to paint the town red, pleasantly more sweeter than expected. I had 3 not so sweet peaches and a box of fabulous cherries on hand, and I headed for the bookmarked folder with Smitten Kitchen in mind. SK is a great place for fuss free and delicious comfort food; bars, cookies, cakes all celebrated at Deb’s beautiful place.
These Granola Bars from her blog are a favourite. This time I had peach shortbread in mind as the recipe sounded quite flexible. I contemplated sneaking in some more colour into them, and thus were born Cherry & Peach Oat Crumb Bars. 3 cups of flour sounded a bit more refined than what my comfort zone allows. I took a chance and substituted a cup of plain flour with rolled oats, both basic kitchen pantry cabinet items, and always found in my larder.
Didn’t get a smooth, very crisp shortbread look like Debs, but the oats fitted in quite well. Do you like to bake with stone fruit? Whats your favourite? I love doing the crumbles, crisps and buckles, but often it isn’t enough to feed the blog, if you know what I mean. These bars are wonderful to make if you are on limited time. You can easily halve the recipe too. Do remember though that if you have a light porous stone in the kitchen, cherries will mark your space forever! Use vinyl tablecloths that are easy to wipe clean as pitting cherries is one of the messiest jobs, yet the rewards are the sweetest!
I wasn’t too sure what I would do with such a large number of crumb bars as I got carried away and made the whole recipe. Would they freeze well? Hmmm … with these thoughts I ran the squares past the kids when they came in from school, hungry as ever. Plain flour might have made these firmer; oats made them slightly chewy soft. The bars were loved … and are all gone! I think this is a great way to use stone fruit in a bake. Fruit and oats offer a great make ahead snack for summer, served chilled out of the fridge! These also make an indulgent dessert served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream/whipped cream and a stone fruit compote. YUM!!
BTW, here’s an update on the kittens. They’re growing, are almost 2 weeks old and are getting quite adventurous! They’ve been gone since yesterday. Man Friday says that the mother will take them to seven different places before they learn to fend for themselves. Mumcat picks all three in her mouth, jumps over the wall and disappears! Then in a few days they are back again!!
Preheat oven to 190C. Line a 9 X 13″ baking tin with baking parchment.
Whisk the flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of the blender to mix. {Thermomix Speed 5, 6 seconds}
Add chilled butter, vanilla bean and egg and process until you have a breadcrumb like mix. {Thermomix Speed 10, 6 seconds, repeat}
Turn out 2/3 of the crumb mix into the prepared tin and pat gently into place. Top with sliced peaches and pitted cherries. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar if using.
Scatter the remaining 1/3 crumb mix over the fruit and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is light brown.
Cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight box in the fridge.
“When your mother asks, “Do you want a piece of advice?” it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.”
Erma Bombeck
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! Finally the day to celebrate the toughest job in the world, one that makes you wonder ‘Why?‘ over and over again. As always there are no right answers, but this wonderful piece by Erma Brombeck written way back in May 12, 1974 for her Mother’s Day column tries to explain!
Dear Mother,
When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into his sixth day of “overtime” when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”
And the Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order?
She has to be completely washable, but not plastic; Have 180 movable parts… all replaceable; Run on black coffee and leftovers; Have a lap that disappears when she stands up; A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair; And six pairs of hands.”
The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands… no way.” … you must read the rest here When God Created Mothers
Woke up this morning to find a beautiful new ipod nano that the kids bought for me as a Mothers Day gift.The teen paid for it, and on last count she was still trying to wrangle the half the lad owed her! The way he’s trying to wriggle out of it is hysterical, both equally persistent! I am so touched with the gift … they downloaded all my favourite songs onto it {Tracy Chapman, Dire Straits, Enya, Scorpions, Eric Clapton, Gordon Lightfoot, Eagles … 1000s more, all there!}, my fave FM music channels, pictures etc, wrapped in pretty hot pink paper!I made these delicious little desserts for today. One the the high points of summer in North India is the advent of stone fruit, especially cherries and peaches. The first sight of luscious deep red cherries takes my breath away. Always priced high, the way to announce the seasons first, yet temptation wins over resolve and the heart sings a song again! This year the crops better, sweeter and even more tempting!Came home 2 days ago with a box that weighed just under 800gms and had many happy thoughts, the first being a lattice cherry pie, or maybe a cherry clafoutis. The teen had other ideas however, being a cherry lover, and soon most of the box was history. Yet it was my bake a dessert day as it had been a while since I made an indulgent dessert.The Internet has magical powers and drags you into its web, pulling you deeper and deeper. I was quite happily lost in Canelle et Vanilles beautiful pictures, when I googled for a cherry gelee to replace a strawberry gelee. Of course I got distracted, landed up at Epicurious and got searching for cherries.Cherry Syrup? Mmmmm, yes please. That sounded good, but underneath was something that sounded even better, something that I had never heard of – chocolate marquise!
Chocolate marquise is a delicate chocolate dessert made of dark chocolate, heavy cream, egg yolks, butter and sugar. Though chocolate marquise is fairly simple in its ingredients, it makes for an elegant dessert as it can be molded in various shapes and served with fresh or chocolate dipped fruit and shaved chocolate pieces. Chocolate marquise requires no baking, but you will need at least three hours to allow it to chill in the refrigerator before serving.
It’s tough to leave a tempting title like a Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise without an in depth read. Expectedly, pretty soon I was lining molds and humming a sweet song! Yum Yum Yum is all I thought! One thing was definite, that my marquise would be individually plated, a form of serving dessert which I enjoy most. Of course you can line a loaf pan, or rectangular mold and set the marquise. Chill and slice prior to serving. Else do what I did with some leftover – set in individual goblets. Outstanding and fun! I think if you are short on time, the goblets work best and offer visual delight. I layered in a big hurry as I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. From experience I can now say – expect the best!If you like bitter chocolate, then use a nice dark couverture like a 65-70% one, else you can even go with a medium. In that case, maybe reduce the sugar a bit if you like. For an adult variation, maybe spike it with a liqueur and top it with a complimentary fruit pairing. Chocolate holds endless appeal and pairs well with a variety of fruit – cherries, strawberries, oranges, mangoes etc. If cherry season isn’t there yet, try a pairing with strawberries in balsamic syrup.
[print_this]Recipe: Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise with Crème Chantilly & Balsamic Cherry Sauce Prep Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes Ingredients
200gms dark chocolate, melted {I used 55% couverture}
85gms unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
3 egg yolks
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
2 tsp cherry liqueur
1/8 cup water
200ml low fat cream, chilled
1/8 cup powdered sugar
Method:
Blend 50gms {2/3rd} of the butter with 1/8 cup of sugar, then add the cocoa and whip again. Set aside.
Place the remaining butter, yolks, scraped vanilla bean, remaining 1/8 cup sugar and water in a metal saucepan and whisk until well blended.
Place the saucepan over simmering water, and stir constantly until the temperature reads 160F. Take off heat and blend with an electric blender for about 5 minutes till it becomes smooth and cool.
Whip this into the butter, sugar, cocoa mix, add the cherry liqueur if using, blending until homogeneous and smooth. Fold in warm chocolate. Adjust sugar if you like.
In another bowl, whip up 200ml chilled low fat cream with 1/8 cup powdered sugar until it holds peaks. Fold this gently but firmly through the chocolate mix.
Divide the marquise into your prepared molds, smoothen out to the edges and leave to set for at least an hour.
Top with the crème chantilly if using, {recipe follows}, drizzled with a balsamic cherry sauce {recipe follows}.
“I got the Sun in the Morning and the Moon at Night…”
Annie get Your Gun
The lyrics above from the musical, Annie get Your Gun which we performed in university, sum my post perfectly. I had everything I ever wanted that day! I had Peter Reinharts pizza dough risen and ready to be baked into pizza when the bell rang. It was the good old postman and he looked HAPPY! Was it the misplaced lens cap that I had ordered on ebay? He looked happier than ‘lens-cap happy’, and impatiently thrust a heavy parcel into my hands. “It’s here!” he announced as if I had won the first prize…
ERGO was written boldly across the packaging. I had completely forgotten that the pro knife folk at Ergo had asked me if I would be interested in reviewing their range of knives. YES please! They sent me 2 knives from their pro-series range – a 7″ Santuko Hollow ground edgeand a 3.5″ pairing knife, in my opinion 2 knives that are a must have in every kitchen!
Ergo Chef has a fabulous range of knives, ergonomic and stylish in design, forged from one piece of high-carbon German steel (type X50CrMoV15), so there’s no chance they’ll snap in two. They’re also precision heat-treated for long edge life to 56-58 RC. {That’s “Rockwell,” the hardness test for steel}. In layman’s terms, that’s a perfect hardness for long edge life.
I’ve ALWAYS been maniacal about my favourite kitchen tools, especially good kitchen knives. I have an old Santuko which has seen its days and these gleaming Ergo-babies had me chopping in next to no time. The Ergo Chef knivesfeel good and sturdy to hold, have a razor S H A R P edge, and a comfortable wonderful grip.Have you a ‘thing‘ about chef knives? Do you obsess about no one else getting near your fave kitchen knife or culinary possession?
The design is ergonomic {as reflective of the name ERGO CHEF} and chopping has seriously taken a whole new meaning since they arrived. Onion slices as thin as paper, herbs chopped fine like I love them, the characteristic hollow ground depressions that keep food from clinging to the knife … in my eyes perfect properties for a good knife. We were well on our way to PIZZA now… CHOP, CHOP, CHOP!!This pizza dough is touted by Heidi @ 101 Cookbooks as the best pizza dough ever, and she’s spot on! The last time I made Peter Reinhart’s pizza dough was for a DB challenge. I was far too inexperienced and even though it made a great pizza, what I got this time was simply the best. It’s SO GOOD that I might never bother experimenting with any other recipe. It’s got many plus factors primarily the make in advance factor. That works for me like nothing else. I sleep best when I know I have dough in the fridge. In addition, the crust is light as can be, crisp on the edges, and the resting in the fridge gives it a mature deep flavour …Maybe the dough was good because of the Thermomix {another kitchen ‘item’ I’m obsessive about; add to the list my microplaner … }, or probably the vital gluten that Suma from Bangalore was sweet enough to courier me. Mr PAB called it the best pizza we’ve had! Did I tell you that the dough had a wonderful roasted garlic flavour which came through with just the slightest tang of my pickled red chillies? Of course it had a generous helping of fresh herbs from my flourishing herb garden! Yes, this was the best pizza ever.The toppings were minimal as Heidi suggested and she was a 100% right again. I would have loved to just make it a plain Margarita, but I struggle to get nutrition into my troublesome teen so my toppings on a basic homemade red pizza sauce were finely sliced mushrooms {sauteed in EVOO, garlic and herbs till flavoursome}, and roasted bell peppers, topped with Himalayan buffalo mozarella, pickled red peppers and fresh oregano!! The base took well to the toppings and we really enjoyed this vegetarian pizza! {pardon the pictures of the pizza as it was night by the time I got organised}.
Tell me dear readers, do you have a kitchen gadget/tool that you are possessive about ? What is your favourite pizza dough recipe?
[print_this]
Peter Reinhart’s Napoletana Pizza Dough Recipe
Summary: Adapted from 101 cookbooks, this pizza dough is touted by Heidi @ 101 Cookbooks as the best pizza dough ever, and she’s spot on! It’s SO GOOD that I might never bother experimenting with any other recipe. It makes a light airy crust which is wonderfully crisp on the edges. The overnight rise in the fridge gives it a mature deep flavour, enhanced by my addition of roasted garlic and pickled red peppers…
Prep Time: 40 minutes {plus overnight rest, and 2 hours rest at room temperature}
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour Ingredients
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, chilled
4 tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 tsp instant yeast
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 head garlic, roasted
1 tbsp preserved red chillies {optional}
1 3/4 cups chilled water
Preparation
1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn’t come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea- spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.
2. Thermomix method for dough: Place all ingredients in TM bowl and mix at speed 6 for 8 seconds. Run for 2 minutes on interval mode. Turn prepared dough out and proceed to step 3.{Donot leave TM unattended while running on interval mode}
3. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag.
4. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)
5. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Before letting the dough rest at room temperature for 2 hours, dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Now let rest for 2 hours.
6. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a heavy duty spare sheet pan on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven as hot as possible. {If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan.}
7. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn’t as effective as the toss method.
8. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12″ in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other top- pings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American “kitchen sink” approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.
9. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake {Mine too about 15-18 minutes as the highest oven temperature is 250C}. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.
10. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.
