Today there is a Pizza Party around the world that is being hosted by Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. , the authors of “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day.”

For the last year or so, Rick and I have been working on a wood fired pizza oven in our back garden. So this was a fun event to unveil the (almost) completed oven and share this great book with you too. To family and friends who have been (patiently) waiting for a pizza party- it’s on its way- I promise.     We’ve just been working on the practical aspects of using the oven. The doughs in the book will be helpful because we can mix up different batches of dough without a lot of time or effort and have them on hand for when the time is right to fire up the oven.

I have a separate post planned for when the last bit is complete on the oven to show you how we made it  and the different stages of completion- so more on that later. Right now let’s party with some pizza!

First gather the book and a few ingredients. I used four litre buckets to mix each dough in,  instead of the 5 quarts recommended because it was either them or a 6 qt which takes up too much space in my fridge.  So here are the ingredients. I made the “00″ flour variation of the Ultimate Tender Neopolitan Crust from page 73- because I happen to have about 40 lbs of Caputo “00″ flour from Central Milling on hand. It’s in the 5 Gallon bucket with the red lid pictured. The blue crock is my salt cellar.

I also made the “Cornmeal Olive Oil dough” on page 86, although I substituted purple cornmeal for the yellow listed. I know- I’m a rebel. Plus I had some to use up.  :)

I like to use my King Arthur (thingamajig)  mixing tool that my sister, Tonya, gave to me a few years ago for mixing things up in the buckets. It works great! Funny note:It’s in a gift box on their site featured with Bread in 5′s book.

This is what the doughs look like after raising and being chilled overnight:

So fire up the oven…

Rick just finished the spire on top of the onion dome. There is more to do but it works and more on the pizza oven to come in a later post.

It makes a great fire.

Toppings:

San Marzano tomatoes that I bottled this Summer from our garden, whizzed in the blender with a little salt and then strained make a delicious sauce.

I make pesto during the summer and freeze it in flexible ice cube trays. Just thaw and use.

Cubed Turkey Breast, Goat cheese, Brie, Ricotta,  Fresh and shredded Mozzarella, BBQ sauce, San Marzanos, pesto, homemade Bechamel, Ambrosia Apple, artichoke hearts, cooked sweet Italian sausage and pepperoni, shallots, onions and red peppers.

Prepared Margherita, San Marzano tomato sauce and fresh Mozzarella on "00" dough

Margherita out of the oven and topped with fresh Basil from the windowsill

Prepared Apple, Bechamel and Brie on Cornmeal Olive Oil Crust

After the fire:Turkey Breast on BBQ Sauce Before and after:

An “Italian Flag” one third each Margherita, Pesto and Bechamel Ricotta Before and after firing:

This is an "Italian Flag" before cooking

I had another pizza and some wood fired Naan to show you but I’ve lost this post twice running out of room so I’ll save those for another day. Party on and check out the other parties over at the Artisan Bread in 5 site.

Enjoy!

We enjoy the small plate style of Tapas now and then and two of our favourite dishes are Patatas Bravas and Crab Cakes. While it’s lovely to go to Meditrina or Martine Cafe (two of our favourite local tapas restaurants) and order many small plates to share- occasionally we like to make our own at home.

Patatas Bravas (brave potatoes) are very easy to make and so delicious.
In exploring some Spanish cuisine I’ve found that spicy foods are not often the standing order. A Spanish friend of mine once complained that black pepper was too spicy. So these potatoes are for those with “machismo.” 

Patatas Bravas

• Potatoes as many as you like, scrubbed and dried -about 2 pounds will serve four people
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 large or 3 small dried chiles- I use Guajillo, remove seeds and break up into pieces
• 3/4 teaspoon of toasted and ground cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 2 Tablespoons red wine or sherry vinegar
• pinch of salt
• olive oil for frying
• one bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• salt and pepper to taste for finishing
• chile salsa mayonnaise or romesco sauce for serving

Boil the potatoes until almost tender- about 10-12 minutes. Drain and cool them.
While the potatoes are cooling, place the garlic and chilies in a mortar and pestle and pound them until a smooth paste forms, add the cumin, paprika, vinegar and salt and mix well. Set aside.

Slice the potatoes about 1/4″ thick or even a little thicker. Heat a heavy, wide skillet for a few minutes over medium flame and then add olive oil to thinly coat the bottom. Add the sliced potatoes in a single layer and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Fry until golden on one side and then flip. They will stick at first- but will release once a crust is formed. Fry the other side until it releases and add the sliced pepper and fry until the pepper is tender. Add a tablespoon of the garlic-chile paste and turn the potatoes into it to coat all sides. Fry for a few minutes and then serve. Drizzle a  bit of mayonnaise mixed with some salsa to taste over the top or serve a romesco sauce on the side.

The chile-garlic paste will keep for a few days in the fridge so you can cook extra potatoes and make these a few times, or use the paste in other dishes to add some spice.

I know it’s not usual to use King Crab in crabcakes but I had some on hand and they were delicious.

King Crab Cakes

• 1 cup cooked king crab meat, picked over for shells
• 1/2 cup red onion minced
• 1/2 cup celery minced fine
• pinch of old bay seasoning
• pinch of chile powder- I use Rick’s homemade mmm
•  a couple of teaspoons of mayonnaise
• about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of moist bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• panko bread crumbs to coat
• salt and pepper to taste
• chile mayonnaise or romesco for serving

Mix all except the panko crumbs until you have a light mixture that will hold together when pressed lightly. You may have to adjust the bread crumbs but don’t add too many or you will make the crab cakes heavy. Form small cakes and coat with panko crumbs. Fry in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat in a little olive oil until cooked through and browned on all sides. Serve with a bit of chile-mayonnaise or romesco sauce.

I made a nice Pom spritzer – with Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice and a bit of San Pellegrino sparkling water and lemonade to go with these one night. Janny from Pom Wonderful was nice enough to send me some a while ago. I do really like and use their very healthy product and have posted about it before, we make a lot of Pom martinis and cocktails around here. I also like it in smoothies, have used it to make granola, had it over cereal and we even add it in a splash to our water with meals for a refresher. There is always a bottle in our fridge.

Try using some in Sangria- I made a pitcher of that on another night that we had Tapas.

Pom Sangria

• one bottle nice Spanish red wine like Rioja
• 1- eight ounce bottle Pom Pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup orange brandy or Gran Marnier
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• Sparking mineral water such as San Pellegrino to taste
• Sliced fruit- oranges, lemons, limes or even grapes and peaches etc.

Mix the first 5 ingredients making sure the sugar dissolves. Add sparkling water to taste to dilute or add fizz. Add the sliced fruit and enjoy responsibly.

Do you ever enjoy an evening of Tapas- what are your favourites?

xo

WHAT GETS YOU COOKING? 

Macy’s 12 episode podcast series starring Tyler Florence will inspire you with delicious recipes and you have a chance to win a trip for two to San Francisco for a $2500 kitchen shopping spree with Tyler Florence in the Macy’s Keeps America Cooking Video Contest!

This contest sponsored by Macy’s to win a trip to San Francisco to shop with Tyler Florence on a $2,500 shopping spree and a hosted podcast linked to his series.  Nicole from M80 productions contacted me to let me know and asked me to share this with you all too. All you have to do is make a video cooking one of your favourite recipes and share it on the site to be entered to win. The deadline is  April 3, 2009.

Details here at the M80 newsroom or here at  www.macys.com/keepitcooking

Contest overview:
The “Macy’s Keeps America Cooking” contest will be based completely off of user-generated video submissions and viewer-rating of their favorite video or recipe. Entrants are asked to create a video based on an original recipe that demonstrates “What gets you cooking? Is it the magical people in your life? Or the fresh ingredients at your local market?” Each video should be 2 minutes or less, and, similar to how Tyler ends his podcasts with “From my Mill Valley kitchen to yours, Macy’s keeps it cooking,” submitted videos should also end with the line “From my (location) kitchen to yours, Macy’s keeps it cooking!”

Prizes
- The Grand Prize Winner of the contest will receive:
o a trip for two to San Francisco to cook with Tyler
o shopping spree with Tyler for new kitchen products using Macy’s gift of a $2,500 gift card
o a feature spot on their own Macy’s Keeps It Cooking podcast that will show them cooking with their new Macy’s kitchen products
- Nine runner-up winners will also be selected and will each be awarded with a $1,000 gift card from Macy’s
- If winners include mention of what they like about their local Macy’s or macys.com in their videos, they will also receive an additional $500. Winners will be selected on or around April 30, 2009.

Now for this week’s Tyler Florence Fridays:

This is a busy week for me- my son, Ryan, is coming home on leave tomorrow and things are a bit stressful and hectic at work so I went the easy route with Tyler this week.  If you look through his book “Dinner at My Place” you’ll find lots of little helpful recipes for sauces, seasonings and dressings- bits and bobs, odds and sods. This Creamy Pesto Dressing is what I made using his Creamy Dressing Base on page #244. 

For most salads our standard dressing in house is very similar to the French Vinaigrette he gives on the same page -except I add more shallots and usually use Sherry vinegar. I rarely buy bottled salad dressings- they are just so easy to make at home and so much better than a stale sauce in a bottle. Tyler’s base is a great jumping off point for any number of variations when you are craving that type of dressing.  add roasted garlic, salsa, fresh or dried herbs, pesto, roasted peppers, pureed roasted veg, fresh veg, or any other flavour your little heart desires.

The base is basically equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream with a little fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to brighten and round out the flavour. If you have time make your mayo (I think there is a good recipe in “Stirring the Pot”) homemade- if not Best foods/Hellman’s would be my choice.  When you’re in a time crunch adding 3 Tablespoons (or to taste) from a bottle of prepared Basil pesto makes a quick dressing. It’s not a bad dipping sauce for artichoke leaves or roasted asparagus either.

Let’s check out the other TFF offerings here!

xo

Recently, I decided to host what I affectionately like to call a “crafternoon” -an afternoon of laughter and creativity. I invited my Mum, my sister who lives close by (Sherry) and one of my best friends- (Bonnie). We had lots of fun, good food and laughter. These  along with a little glue, glitter and some pretty paper were happy remedies for some of the stress of our world at the moment. 

A couple of years ago I did the same thing on a little larger scale with about 13 invited guests. I decided to scale back a little this year but didn’t want to miss out on it all together.

One of the things I’ve decided to do this year is to finish projects that are not completed but have been hanging around for some time waiting on me. I also have a tendency to pick up pretty yarn, paper or other craft and art supplies but not make the time to use them. So I’ve decided that my friends and I should get together and do this kind of thing more often.

Sherry was kind enough to bring over her Cricut machine (it’s an electronic die cutter) it makes cutting out shapes and lettering a breeze. I may have to put one on my own list after this because it was so fun to whip up the parts for our Valentine’s cards-custom made out of the paper we chose right there on the spot.  Mom brought some adorable 3-D shapes for Valentine’s including a “love bug” or two. Bonnie learned that she actually likes using stamps and ink.

Here’s the menu and I have to confess I am missing some pics because I was having a good time and forgot to take them before some of the food was gone

• Crab Dip and chips /crudites and Stonemill Spinach and Artichoke Dip (purchased)
• Petite Rolls (Bonnie called them “roll Poppers”
• Spinach Salad with warm Bacon Vinaigrette
• Gabi’s Wild Rice casserole
• Chicken Royale -my way
• Strawberry Daiquiri Punch
• Elvis- Love Me Tender Cake
• Butterscotch Pots De Creme

Crab Dip for chips or crudites

• 1/2 pound of cream cheese

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 cup mayonnaise

• 1 minced green onion

• 2 cloves minced garlic

• garlic salt to taste

• a large pinch of Old Bay Seasoning or fish herbs

• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 3 dashes smoked Chipotle Tabasco sauce

• 3/4 to 1 pound minced cooked crab meat well drained

• Z’atar

Mix all ingredients except green onion and crab together in mixer or food processor. Stir in green onion and crab. Chill for a couple of hours to meld flavours. Sprinkle Z’atar on top. Serve.

Petite Rolls -sorry no pic but I promise they were tiny and cute ;(

• 1/2 cup sugar, divided

• 1 cup lukewarm water

• 1/4 pound butter, melted and cooled

• 3 eggs

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour plus more if needed

• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Dissolve 1 teaspoon of the 1/2 cup sugar into the lukewarm water and sprinkle the yeast over. Let sit until foaming to proof. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the 1/2 cup butter, eggs and proofed yeast. Beat until well combined. In a medium bowl, combine the 4-1/2 cups of flour the remainder of the 1/2 cup of sugar and the salt. Add to the wet ingredients and beat well. If necessary add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, but remains soft and slightly sticky. Place in a greased bowl, turn to coat the dough and cover. Refrigerate for 8 hours. Remove from the fridge and let the dough come to room temp for 1/2 hour before rolling out to 1 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a well floured 1 inch cutter and place almost touching into a parchment lined and greased and floured jelly roll pan. Let rise, covered in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in bulk. Preheat the oven to 400F and bake for about 12-14 minutes or until golden. Brush the tops with butter while warm and serve.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

• 4 cups Spinach washed well and dried thoroughly

• 1 bunch green onions, sliced

• 1 bunch radishes, sliced

• 1 can Mandarin oranges in light syrup, chilled and drained well (or one navel orange sectioned with juice over the bowl)

• 6 slices bacon, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• freshly ground black pepper- several grinds

Combine the spinach, green onions, radishes and oranges in a large salad bowl and keep chilled. Fry the bacon pieces until crisp starting in a cold frying pan over med low heat.Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt together and add to the pan (don’t breathe in the vinegar fumes) stir until sugar dissolves. Add to salad in bowl and toss gently. Serve immediately.

Gabi’s Wild Rice casserole

• 4 cups mixed white and wild rice cooked and cooled.
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can artichoke bottoms or hearts chopped
• 2 small cans sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup concentrate
• 1 can cream of chicken soup concentrate
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup pecan halves

Mix all of the ingredients together except pecans. Stir well to combine, spread in a buttered 9×13 inch baking dish, top with pecans. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 375F, remove foil and bake until pecans crisp- about 10 minutes more.

Chicken Royale- my way

• 8 half chicken breasts, pounded flat to a uniform 1/4 inch thick

• 1 package Boursin cheese, divided into 8 pieces

• 8 ounces cream cheese, divided into 8 pieces

• 1 cup finely chopped pecans (or enough to coat the cheese balls)

• 16 leaves washed spinach

• 16 slices of Prosciutto

• salt and pepper

• 1/2 cup rose or white wine

• 1/2 cup raspberry vinegar

• 1/4 cup raspberry jam

• 2 Tablespoons butter

Mix each piece of Boursin with a piece of cream cheese (to make 8 total) into a walnut shaped ball. Roll in the pecans until coated. Salt and pepper chicken and place 2 spinach leaves in the center of a pounded chicken breast piece, top with a cheese ball. Pull the breast around to cover the cheese. Wrap a piece of prosciutto around the breast and cross with a second piece of prosciutto to completely enclose the seams. Place in a baking dish. Repeat with all remaining. You should have eight chicken packets. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 30-40 minutes or until chicken is done. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the wine, vinegar and jam and cook until boiling. Serve over the chicken.

Strawberry Daiquiri Punch

• one 8 ounce package frozen sliced strawberries

• 1 can frozen strawberry daiquiri mix

• 1 can frozen pineapple juice

• 24 ounces sparkling lemonade

• 12 ounces ginger-ale

• water and ice to taste

Elvis’ Love Me Tender cake

This is just a concoction. I’m just going to give you the link to Epicurious for Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake recipe. But do make it. Then slice a pint of fresh organic strawberries lengthwise to make “hearts” macerate with vanilla sugar and some Gran Marnier or Orange Brandy. Make a fresh ganache (heat cream until boiling pour over equal amount of chopped choc add a small knob of butter and a little Amaretto if desired) use Valrhona Alpaco or other really good chocolate and enjoy!

Butterscotch Pots de Creme

I didn’t get a pic of these either although they were to die for -if it hadn’t been bad manners we all would have licked our wee lion’s head ramekins clean on the spot. I will be making these again- when my waist can recover. The recipe is on Epicurious too here’s the link- Butterscotch Pots de Creme. I used dark brown sugar instead of the pricier Demerara and raw sugar for the Turbinado listed. If they were any better with the other sugars I’m not sure I could take it. Mmm oh my…..

Well that’s it for the Valentine making bash! I send you all lots of love!

xoxo

P.S. I am not making the super Spinach dip that all of the other Craving Ellie crew are making today I have a huge Costco purchased tub leftover from the above and really can’t justify making more. I will try the recipe another time though- I promise. And I send my apologies to Cathy at The Tortefeasor for not playing today  but I do love her site- go on check it out. And for a list to check out the other Ellies’ Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip here.

xo

Gabi