Pizza with Bacon, Onions, and Greens January 9, 2008

Ah it’s time for new year’s goals again. Mine are pretty much the same as last year - become a better cook, learning about different cuisines, cooking seasonally, and working on more difficult recipes. Phew, a lot of stuff to cover this year. One thing I’ve been really bad about last year is diligently using my cookbooks. I think I have a few books I’ve not even cooked one recipe out of. Shame on me.

So I decided to start off the year with one of my favorite cookbooks, the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook. I admire Alice Waters’ dedication to seasonal and sustainable agriculture. I had dinner there once, too long ago, and the quality of the ingredients was very impressive and the food was absolutely delicious. The recipes are heavily French and Italian influenced. The Cafe Cookbook contains recipes for home-cured pancetta, various sausages, terrines,… all of which I hope to get to this year. The head cheese recipe? I might skip that one as it requires “a small pig’s head” and I’m not quite ready for a small pig head in my kitchen.

I hit up a few recipes this time around including Romaine Leaves with Anchovy Dressing, Gribiche which I paired with blanched asparagus, and last but not least Pizza with Bacon, Onions, and Greens. The pizza dough recipe is unique in that it uses a bit of rye flour. This dough received many favorable reviews. I didn’t really think of kale as a pizza topping but wow it was great! I loved how the edges of the leaves got a lil crusty. And bacon - what’s to complain? I spread the toppings sorta thin because I wanted to stretch them to make four pizzas but next time I’m loading up on the kale and bacon. Loved the combination.

Pizza Party December 19, 2007

I’ve attempted pizza a few times before although most results were not quite successful. It was Boy’s birthday over the weekend and I thought homemade pizzas might make a fun and casual dinner. My only successful pizza had been the last time when I made Squash Blossom, Burrata & Tomato Pizza. I crossed my fingers hoping that the pizzas would turn out alright and got to work.

First one up was Pizza Bianca. I made a garlic confit puree for the base sauce then topped it with mozzarella, ricotta, tomato, thyme, basil, parmesan, red onion salt and black pepper. I was trying to go for Abbot’s Pizza Bianca sort of flavor. It didn’t quite get there but I enjoyed this one a lot. Simple classic flavors.

This next one is not so classic - Kimchi & Pork Belly Pizza. This one turned out stellar although some people were scared to try it. I made the base sauce by sweating diced onion, then adding a generous portion of gochujang and some water. I simmered this until the sauce thickened a bit. It ended up looking like tomato sauce. For the toppings, I brined pork belly with ginger, peppercorns, chile de arbol, salt and pinch of sugar overnight. Next day after hurriedly trying to dry out the pork belly I cut them into lardons and sauteed them in olive oil until browned. For the kimchi part I thinly sliced baechu kimchi (napa cabbage) and lightly rinsed it with water to wash off some of the seasonings. I sauteed this in butter and added freshly ground pepper.

Assembled with just mozzarella cheese and baked off on a pizza stone, the pie that came out was so savory and delicious. The combination of pork and kimchi as always is stellar. The kimchi’s usual sharp flavor was muted by the rinsing and once cooked it was carmelized and sweetened just like in kimchi fried rice. I was a skeptic before but I’ve convinced myself and a few others that kimchi pizza made with some thoughtfulness can be a great thing.

For the third and last variety I made Wild Boar Sausage, Apple & Shallot Pizza. I forgot to take an after picture so the not so appealing picture above will have to do. I’ve been eyeing that sausage among the other gourmet sausages in Surfas’s cooler section. I paired it with granny smith apples, thyme, and sliced shallots along with tomato sauce. Pork and apples are a traditional pairing so I thought this twist might be interesting on a pizza. Plus the wild boar sausage was excellent. I think I first had it at Rosamunde in SF washed down with some delicious beer next door at Toronado.

Anyhow, I think pizza was enjoyed by all. Boy’s favorite was the kimchi pizza!

Squash Blossom, Burrata & Tomato Pizza July 17, 2007

I conclude making homemade pizza is great! Even though this was only my third time… There was a huge gap of time between the first pizza making (last year sometime) and second pizza making (a few weeks ago), during which I proclaimed dough is my enemy! and moved onto other stuff. But I gave myself another chance at homemade pizza and I think I’m hooked now.

I absolutely love watching the yeasty dough rise, the way it smells, and my favorite part, gently punching down the risen dough with my fingers. At that point the dough has become a spongy airy mass and sticking my fingers into the cool dough feels so pleasant. Haha, I know it sounds a little weird. I feel an addiction coming on.

Making the pizza dough is a cinch too, especially if you have standing mixer. But I just used a bowl and hand-kneaded mine though using Marcella Hazan’s recipe. Kneading can get tiring but the whole dough making process is quite enjoyable. Who woulda thunk I would ever say that?

This pizza came about because I had burrata leftover from making the heirloom tomato salad in the last post. While perusing the web I came across a few reviews of Mozza that mentioned its Squash Blossom, Burrata and Tomato Pizza. I’ve never tried that one but thought I would assemble my own version for my dinner.

I stretched out the pizza dough then brushed it with olive oil, topped with homemade tomato sauce (canned roma tomatoes processed and cooked with garlic, olive oil and dried oregano), then sprinkled with pregrated mozzarella cheese, topped with squash blossoms that had been trimmed on the bottom to remove the stamen and any pointy leaves cut off. Lightly drizzled olive oil just over the blossoms and seasoned the whole thing with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Popped it into a 500 degree oven onto a preheating pizza stone for about 7 minutes. Then topped with spoonfuls of cool burrata with a light drizzle of olive oil, salt & and pepper, shredded basil, and voila… a delicious pizza straight from my own oven.

On the side of course I needed some vegetable. Red Butter Lettuce Salad with Sweet Pimenton & Buttermilk Dressing. I ended up picking each leaf up with my fingers and eating them as if the lettuce cups were edible spoons. The buttermilk dressing was simply some buttermilk, mayo, scallion, white vinegar, salt, pepper. I didn’t really have time to jazz it up nor did I measure anything because Boy and I were running late to watch Ratatouille.

Ratatouille was great by the way. The animation and the food was amazing! Good thing we had a good dinner before we watched or we would be starving by the end.