Pizza #1

Homemade Pizza that is. I am happy to report that this attempt did not fall under the failed list and was achieved with a good amount of confidence. I like to think I've come quite a ways since my first baking days. A year or two ago my thoughts going over a pizza or bread recipe would have been like this:

- What the heck is yeast?

- Knead for how many minutes?! How do I even knead? 

- Eh, I don't really want to use that much flour. (Although, I'm still this frugal)

- No dough hook... no hope.

But I can tell you now that what might seem like a hard and troublesome process is actually no trouble at all. 

Bloom your yeast for 5-10 minutes. Your water should be warm(warm to the touch, you don't need a thermometer). Not Scary at all.

Once your dough pulls away from the sides, turn it out onto a floured surface.

With your hands(thats right, you don't need stand mixer), knead that sucker for about 5 to 8 minutes until it forms a smooth, uniform ball.

Let the double in size in a warm place. The oven is my place of choice, along side a bowl of steaming water to help the rising process. Just DO NOT TURN ON THE OVEN.

Once risen, punch it in the face. 

 

Flatten out the portion of dough and spread it out to the desired size and thickness. I was able to spread mine out to the size a standard baking sheet by pressing out the edges with my fingers.

Top it with whatever you want. This one has sausage, pepperoncini, artichoke hearts, onions, red bell pepper, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and parmesan.

Basil would have been my garnish of choice, but the cilantro on hand end up mixing up the flavors and tasting great. I sprinkled the bottom and edges of the dough with cornmeal. My crust turned out thin and crispy with just 12 minutes in a HOT oven and it's pizza time my friends.  

Pizza Dough

from Cooking Channel

1 3/4 cups warm water (105-110 degrees, or warm to the touch)

1 envelope(2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

2 tsp sugar

3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for greasing

3 1/2 - 4 cups white whole wheat flour (use bread flour if you have it, otherwise all-purpose will work)

2 tsp salt

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar and let bloom for at least 5 minutes. Mix in oil.

In a larger bowl, combine flour and salt. Gradually pour in water mixture, stirring with a spoon or wooden ladle. Once the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead up to 8 minutes or until it forms a smooth ball. 

Place the dough in a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place for 2 hours. Once doubled in size, give it a punch and divide the dough in half or quarters. You can wrap the remaining dough with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge or freezer. 

For Pizza:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Flatten out a portioned piece of dough(I used half) and place it on a greased baking sheet. Spread it out to your desired shape and size then top it with whatever you want!

Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size, until the edges are golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before eating.

Macarons. Totally Last Year (But Still Delicious)

Well I think I can safely say that the french macaron trend will stay on for bit longer. I like them.

I jumped on this bandwagon (as Joy would Say). Unlike cupcakes, which I haven't even made yet. Not that I have been planning on making them anytime soon. Im not sure why, but I have never caught on to the cupcake frenzy. Perhaps it's that fact that the sight of a full-out cake makes me drool as opposed to a bunch of mini cakes or maybe it's the annoyingly, copious amount of cupcake shows on TV(although... I'll still watch them if there is nothing else on). But enough of that! Let me tell you how I got my macaron on.

So apparently I am too lazy to take my hand held mixer out of the drawer, but not too lazy to beat egg whites by hand. I don't understand it, but it works for me. Beat them egg whites until they are frothy McFrotherson.

Add some sugar, and continue beating till you get a glossy and ribbony consistency.

At this stage you can choose to add or omit food coloring. I had some burgundy on hand and added little bits at a time. (Wanted to past the stage of it looking like Pepto Bismol)

Now this might be where it screwed things up a bit. See those chunky bits? My almond flour, was still like ground almonds than actual flour consistency. The heaviness of the almonds might of deflated my egg whites a bit which might of been why some of the cookies sunk when I took them out. So go ahead buy some almond flour from any grocery. But you can also try to make some yourself by putting a cup of whole raw almonds in a food processor and pulsing until you have small crumb. 

Pipe 'em! No piping bag? Use a sandwich bag and cut a tiny bit off one end. Voila! 

What is interesting about the process, is that you need to let the piped batter sit for about 15-20 minutes to form a skin before baking.

No, they were not as uniform or clean cut as the ones you see in a bakery. But not bad for a first try I think.

 Oh yeah, and I attempted to make homemade almond joys. But I'll share once they've been perfected.

Look at my pretties! Be warned this recipe makes A LOT. But then again, you're going to want to eat A LOT. I was in the kitchen from 10am to 6pm making food (and nibbling on chocolate chips and ganache). But I cannot think of a better way to end the year than to bake my heart out and make a delicious meal for my family when they come home from work.

The possibilities are endless with these. Any color, flavor, and filling will work. I filled mine with ganache and grape jelly. Then I ate them. A lot of them.

Then said goodbye to 2011

Macarons
from Food Network

Click here to get the recipe!