Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza

So, I made some pizzas the other day. The dough was kind of a hybrid between a New York thin crust and an American style crust. I dig Goat Cheese on pizza and this was no exception.

Assembly was as follows....

Dough> Olive oil and minced garlic> Caramelized onions> Mozzarella> Asiago> Sausage> Goat Cheese> Thyme

Dough Formula as follows....

Flour (100%): 377.65 g | 13.32 oz | 0.83 lbs
Water (62%): 234.14 g | 8.26 oz | 0.52 lbs
IDY (.5%): 1.89 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.63 tsp | 0.21 tbsp
Salt (3.0%): 11.33 g | 0.4 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.36 tsp | 0.79 tbsp
Oil (3.0%): 11.33 g | 0.4 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.52 tsp | 0.84 tbsp
Sugar (3.0%): 11.33 g | 0.4 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.84 tsp | 0.95 tbsp
Total (171.5%): 647.67 g | 22.85 oz | 1.43 lbs |
TF = 0.101
Single Ball: 323.84 g | 11.42 oz | 0.71 lbs

Bonus cheese pizza pic!!!

Calzones!

So I made some Calzones the other night. Turned out quite nice, first time I've made calzones since I've been working with these improved dough skills. Used a dough recipe very similar to my pizza dough. Kristin's was filled with Mozzarella, romano, goat cheese, fresh spinach, cremini mushroom, sundried tomato, and red onion. Mine was filled with Mozzarella, romano, pepperoni, mushroom, and green pepper. I baked them on by stone setup at 550 degrees for 10 minutes or so. After the came out I brushed them with a little butter and sprinkled on some parm. Served with some homeade pizza sauce of course!

Pizza anyone?

NY Style 6-11-10

Pizza anyone? So a little over a month ago I ordered some unglazed quarry tiles to use as pizza stones, and Nat (yes his name is Nat) at McSwain forgot to put my order in and so I just got my tiles a few days ago, and of course had to try them out. They actually worked out really well, and I got a nice char on the bottom of the pie that I have not been able to get with my other crappy stones.

Here's a pic of the setup.

I made some NY style pie with a 48 hour cold temp ferment using this formula.

Flour (100%): 420.75 g | 14.84 oz | 0.93 lbs

Water (63%): 265.07 g | 9.35 oz | 0.58 lbs

IDY (.4%): 1.68 g | 0.06 oz | 0 lbs | 0.56 tsp | 0.19 tbsp

Salt (2.25%): 9.47 g | 0.33 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.97 tsp | 0.66 tbsp

Oil (1.5%): 6.31 g | 0.22 oz | 0.01 lbs | 1.4 tsp | 0.47 tbsp

Sugar (.5%): 2.1 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.53 tsp | 0.18 tbsp

Total (167.65%): 705.39 g | 24.88 oz | 1.56 lbs | TF = 0.11

Single Ball: 352.69 g | 12.44 oz | 0.78 lbs

I preheated the stones for about an hour at 550. Dough was stretched and topped with some sauce that I made the day before from some pureed whole Italian tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flake, and Italian seasoning that I “bloomed” in some EVOO, and also added a good does of Kosher salt and a little Agave nectar to sweeten it up. Pizza was topped with a blend of diced part-skim mozzarella, sliced whole-milk mozzarella, and a little shredded white cheddar. The whole-milk mozz was from Trader Joes and I was pretty impressed by it, good flavor and stretch to it, I’ll definitely be using it again. It was the first time I’ve ever added any kind of cheddar to a pizza, it was nice, gave it a little extra flavor, I didn’t use much, maybe a ¼ cup on each pie. My pie was topped with spinach, pepperoni, sausage, thinly sliced criminis, red onion, a drizzle of EVOO and some grated parm. Kristin’s was pretty much the same except no pep and added pineapple.

All in all some pretty good pies, enjoy the pics. Not sure why they don't show up full size, you'll have to click on each one to get the full pic.

Deep Dish Part Deux

Deep Dish Deux

So I gave the Deep Dish another shot and had much better results, but still have a little room for improvement. I bought a Deep Dish Pan, tweaked the recipe a little bit, and did not cook it quite as long. Crust turned out a lot better this time, but needs a little more flavor and needs to taste a little more “buttery.” I reduced the amount of sausage to two links and its was the perfect amount. For cheese I used the 7 ounces of provolone again, but also added about 4-5 ounces of mozzarella as well, which turned about to be a pretty good mix. Also had pepperoni, green pepper, and mushroom in there. Sauce stayed the same. Here’s the dough formula…

Flour (100%): 206.47 g | 7.28 oz | 0.46 lbs

Water (47%): 97.04 g | 3.42 oz | 0.21 lbs

IDY (.4%): 0.83 g | 0.03 oz | 0 lbs | 0.27 tsp | 0.09 tbsp

Salt (1%): 2.06 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.43 tsp | 0.14 tbsp

Olive Oil (5%): 10.32 g | 0.36 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.29 tsp | 0.76 tbsp

Corn Oil (18%): 37.16 g | 1.31 oz | 0.08 lbs | 8.26 tsp | 2.75 tbsp

Butter/Margarine (1%): 2.06 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.44 tsp | 0.15 tbsp

Total (172.4%): 355.95 g | 12.56 oz | 0.78 lbs | TF = 0.126875

AP= 80%= 165

Semolina= 20%= 41

Next time I will increase the salt a little, increase the butter, and decrease the corn oil. I think I’ll also use less semolina next time.

On a related note, I picked up by Deep Dish Pan from a restaurant supply store. I highly recommend going to one some time. Wide variety of products at good prices and most are open to the general public. The one in Cincinnati is www.wasserstrom.com

First Deep Dish

Deep Dish

So here is my first go at a deep dish. It was edible the crust was not so good. It looks really good in the pictures, but the texture was all wrong. Deep dish dough in theory is a lot easier than traditional pizza dough. You basically just mix all the salt, yeast, water, and 80% of the flour together, wait 20mins, then add in the remaining flour and the oil, mix to combine, and boom- Deep Dish Dough. Here is the dough formula I used.

Flour (100%): 204.01 g | 7.2 oz | 0.45 lbs

Water (48%): 97.92 g | 3.45 oz | 0.22 lbs

IDY (.4%): 0.82 g | 0.03 oz | 0 lbs | 0.27 tsp | 0.09 tbsp

Salt (.5%): 1.02 g | 0.04 oz | 0 lbs | 0.21 tsp | 0.07 tbsp

Olive Oil (5%): 10.2 g | 0.36 oz | 0.02 lbs | 2.27 tsp | 0.76 tbsp

Corn Oil (18%): 36.72 g | 1.3 oz | 0.08 lbs | 8.16 tsp | 2.72 tbsp

Total (171.9%): 350.69 g | 12.37 oz | 0.77 lbs | TF = 0.125

Semolina 20% = 41 g

AP 80% = 163 g

Per the instructions, 20% of the total flour was Semolina. This was enough dough to make one 9in pie, with the crust going 1.5in up the sides. I cold fermented mine in the fridge over night, and then gave it two hours at room temperature to come up to 60 degrees or so. I greased up a spring form pan and pushed the dough in.

First I layered the provolone. I used 7 ounces, and think that next time I will use that plus some mozzarella. Then went the sausage. The technique is basically to make a thin patty of raw mild Italian. I used 4 links and it was too much, next time I’ll try 3, or possibly 2. Next was a layer of pepperoni. Then some chopped green peppers and red onion. Topped that all off with some chunky sauce that was made from 1 can of 6 in 1 tomatoes, that I drained most of the water out of. I added some honey, garlic power, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and olive oil. The sauce actually turned out really well and was probably the best part of the pizza. Topped that with some grated parmesan and into a 450 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. It was a good first effort, but still needs some work.

I'll give you one guess...

Double Post City

Guess what? I made Pizza last night, crazy huh? It turned out really well. I used my basic dough recipe with a couple small tweaks. For my sauce I bloomed the garlic and red pepper in EVOO and added an Italian seasoning mix that I got, with a little extra oregano. I mixed that with a can of 6 in 1 crushed tomatoes. 6 in 1 tomatoes are really great, next time you make something that calls for crushed tomatoes you should pick some up. The Biggs by me has them in the Italian section, but I hear they can be a little hard to find. I used a combination of pre-shredded and fresh Mozz. I made a meaty topper and veggie. The mead had sliced pepperoni and mild Italian sausage under the cheese, and some big chunks of bacon on top. The veggie had spinach under the cheese, and chopped green bell pepper and thinly sliced mushroom on top.

Last weeks Pizza

I made pizza again last Friday. The dough turned out really well, I'm getting pretty good with stretching it and what not. I was a little dissapointed overall though. I used a different kind of cheese, which I do not think was as good, and I used different tomatoes for my sauce, that were a little too watery. The sauce was good though on it's own. I heated some EVOO, then I added a boatload of garlic and some chili flake and the oregano to "bloom" the flavors. Mixed that with the tomato puree, some salt, sugar, and some fresh basil. Made it a couple days before to let the flavor come together. I'll be making this style again next week cause Kristin's step dad is coming over, then I'll be switching to DEEP DISH.

Cheese Pizza

Well, I made some cheese pizzas last night and was very please with the dough this time around. Here's the recipe...

Flour (100%): 422.64 g | 14.91 oz | 0.93 lbs
Water (63%): 266.26 g | 9.39 oz | 0.59 lbs
IDY (.4%): 1.69 g | 0.06 oz | 0 lbs | 0.56 tsp | 0.19 tbsp
Salt (2%): 8.45 g | 0.3 oz | 0.02 lbs | 1.76 tsp | 0.59 tbsp
Oil (1%): 4.23 g | 0.15 oz | 0.01 lbs | 0.94 tsp | 0.31 tbsp
Sugar (.5%): 2.11 g | 0.07 oz | 0 lbs | 0.53 tsp | 0.18 tbsp
Total (166.9%): 705.39 g | 24.88 oz | 1.56 lbs | TF = 0.11
Single Ball: 352.69 g | 12.44 oz | 0.78 lbs

I used 90 degree water to make the dough and added the IDY straight to the flour this time. The dough temp when I finished kneading was 76 degrees. The dough went into the fridge for about 16 hours. Now for the gross part, I used my bathroom as a "proofbox." I have a small 1/2 bath that I opened up the heat vent all the way and shut the door, the ambient temp was about 76 degrees in there. Don't worry, the bathroom was not used while the dough was in there I let the dough rise for about two hours and it got up to 62 degrees. The dough stretch nicely and was pretty easy to work with.

I definitely got the rise and airiness that I was missing last week, best crust that I've made so far. I roasted a head of garlic and mixed that with olive oil for the "sauce." I topped that with shredded asiago, fresh mozzarella, and goat cheese. I finished it with some EVOO, salt and pep, fresh thyme, freshly grated nutmeg, and some freshly grated parmesan after it came out. Pretty frigging delicious IMO

Here's a link to some more pictures.
http://s624.photobucket.com/albums/tt326/jw31990101/Cheese%20Pizza/

Pizza Pics

Pizza Update

Pizza!! Update

So, due to Urban’s impatience, I’m updating the pizza post. I made the pizza’s last night and they turned out pretty well. The dough was much improved but still not exactly where I want it to be. It was nice and thin, had a good flavor, and the right amount of chew, but it not have the crunch or airiness that I was looking for. I’ll ask the crazies on pizzamaking.com where I went wrong. On to the pies…

For both pies I used a raw sauce that I made with a can of 6 in 1 crushed tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pinch of sugar, and oregano. It was good, but not great, still needs some tweaking. For the first time I used Boards Head Whole Milk Mozzarella, which was the only whole milk mozz that I was able to find at Biggs or Kroger. The whole milk ups the grease and ooey gooey factors. The cheese was good, but I think I like the flavor of fresh mozz a little more, I’m thinking half and half next time.

My pizza had Boars Head pep that came as whole a whole stick. It was way better than any pre sliced pep that I’ve ever had, and it was only $2.99. I also had some hot Italian sausage that I browned up a little bit first and some jalepenos. The wife had sausage, roasted red peppers, sliced mushrooms, and pineapple.

All in all the tasted great and I ate way too much, but my crust still needs a little work. Haven't figured out the best way to do pictures yet, I'll post a few in a separate post.

Pizza!!

Pizza!!

So I’ve been really getting into making pizza lately. I came across an online forum, www.pizzamaking.com that is full of people that are crazy about making pizza. I’ve decided to start Pizza Fridays so I can perfect my Pizza making skills. So the people on this forum are crazy, they are like pizza scientists when it comes to the dough and it’s rubbing off on me. Let’s just say for my dough today I used the dough calculator to calculate my recipe based on thickness factor and dough hydration. Here’s my recipe…

Flour (100%): 425.45 g 15.01 oz 0.94 lbs
Water (62%): 263.78 g 9.3 oz 0.58 lbs
IDY (.3%): 1.28 g 0.05 oz 0 lbs 0.42 tsp 0.14 tbsp
Salt (2%): 8.51 g 0.3 oz 0.02 lbs 1.77 tsp 0.59 tbsp
Oil (1%): 4.25 g 0.15 oz 0.01 lbs 0.95 tsp 0.32 tbsp
Sugar (.5%): 2.13 g 0.08 oz 0 lbs 0.53 tsp 0.18 tbsp
Total (165.8%): 705.39 g 24.88 oz 1.56 lbs TF = 0.11
Single Ball: 352.69 g 12.44 oz 0.78 lbs

I made my dough tonight. I measured the flour and water by weight. I mixed the water, yeast, salt, and sugar together. Then I added about 80% of the flour and mixed that together and let that rest for about 15 minutes. Then I added the oil and the rest of the flour and mix it in. After the dough came together I kneaded it by hand for 8 minutes until it was smooth. I weighed out two dough balls that I stuck in the fridge in Tupperware with some oil on them. I’m cold fermenting them in the fridge for 24 hours then tomorrow I’ll let them rise at room for about 2 hours. This is the first time I’ve made dough like this and it looks damn good so far. I highly recommend measuring flour by weight. So if you wanna get crazy with some pizza, go to www.pizzamaking.com I’ll post my finished pies tomorrow. Oh yeah, and my name on the forum is “Pizza!!”