1.25.2005

Pizza, Lean 'n Thin

I usually don't write about what I ate last night. But, this was kind of interesting. I usually have a lump of dough in the fridge from the baguette recipe. Recall, that's a lean dough, about 3 grams fat (veg shortening) per 500 grams of dough; much less than my pizza dough which has about 25 grams fat (olive oil) per 500 grams (and a little honey). I keep the baguette dough in the fridge (up to a couple days) so we have something on hand to add something special to an otherwise skimpy meal.

Last night Mom was out wining and dining a job candidate and it was me and the kid home for dinner. Table for two and I had no plan. After a brief panic, I took my lean dough, warmed it a bit, and decided to make a couple personal pizzas out of it with some fresh tomato (ugly ripes™, the best!), mozzarella and a bit of Reggiano. Seemed like a promising fix. But would that lean a dough work for a crust? I like my pizza crust with the oil and trace of honey to give it a tender interior, crispy exterior and amber color.

To my (and Frankie's) pleasant surprise, it worked quite well. A bit more chewy than usual but since we let the topped pies rest a good 10-20 minutes (diaper change between pizzas) before shoving them in the 550-deg-F furnace, they bubbled up nicely and were adequately tender. Frankie ate mostly my crusts, a couple pieces of orange and a crayon (purple, I think). She likes sauce more than fresh tomato but the different dough was a nice change.

The image is one just out of the oven and one about to go in on my two peels.

10 comments:

Guy said...

How come you don't write about what you ate last night? If you had a big ol' fancy standing rib beef roast with world class gravy, some fluffy taters along with some outstanding greens, wouldn't you write about that the next day?
Seems to be you just need to eat crazier.

Biggles

Dave said...

Some nights we eat goldfish crackers or Spongebob Squarepants-style Cheese-Its. Those nights are crazy indeed, you just don't want to hear about 'em.

Molly said...

Dave, that pizza looks gorgeous. I'll take one to go--and a purple crayon, please.

Guy said...

OH yeah huh. Not very inspiring.
I been looking through a Family Circle magazine from 1968 and found a recipe from Campbells. I don't like the ingredients, but the idea was fine.
Make a meat loaf free form (no loaf pan, just on a cookie sheet). Cook for an hour. Then schmear mashed potatoes over all, reinstall in oven for 15 minutes. Amurican cooking at its prime.

Biggles

Dave said...

Thanks Molly, it was tasty indeed.

Biggles, that sounds pretty awesome. Free form meatloaf is good, lots of crunchy exterior. The smeared potatoes thing is a bit tough to comprehend though.

Anonymous said...

I have made a meat loaf roll before. After mixing the meat loaf, I spread it out into a rectangle then smeared some mashed potatoes over it. Then rolled it all up, and threw it in the oven.

Haven't made it in while, but I think I may know what I might do with the next batch of left over potatoes.

-- eric
www.playingwithfood.org

Dave said...

That sounds pretty "back 'o the box", but really good. I might give that a shot myself. Thanks Eric.

Anonymous said...

Dave - I think I got the idea out of an old Wisconsin church cookbook. There can be some crazy recipes in those, but every once in a while you come across a real gem.

--eric

Dave said...

Cookbooks like that are almost more valuable for the anthropological value than anything. They're pretty fun to look through.

Guy said...

Well, I'm a tater fan. And to cover meat with taters makes my eyes jiggle.

I'm wanting to CRISP up the taters so it's crunchy on the outside. Olive oil or butter, then in to a really hot oven for 15 minutes. I got one of those portable convection ovens, maybe that at 400.

Yee haw?

No, that's Hee Haw !

Ouch, too much coffee. I'm outta here.

Biggles