Saturday, September 25, 2010

Hi, I'm actually posting again

Well, the wedding is over, so I have a few brain cells back to share with the internet.

We went to a peculiar picnic this evening and I brought pizza. it was a multi stage process. I had made the dough ages ago (maybe 2 weeks even? A week and a half?) and it just didn’t seem to work. It didn’t seem to rise at all, and I could see bits of yeast still in the dough. My husband convinced me not to throw it out, so we wrapped it up and stuck it in the fridge. Tonight I had a last minute potluck to cook for, and I was strapped for time, so I decided to give this a go.

I hauled the dough out of the fridge, stuck it in a bowl with some extra oil, turned the oven on full blast, and stuck the bowl on top of the stove to warm up. I also, in a fit of madness, decided I’d try using the Serious Eats broiler method – yeah, great, try cooking something a way I’ve never done it before, for a party, with time constraints. Brilliant move! Anyway, the dough survived its sojourn in fridge-land well, and stretched and shaped beautifully.

I couldn’t find cornmeal, and I didn’t have parchment paper, so I decided cardboard and a whole bunch of flour would have to do. Of course, attempting to slide the pizzas (I ended up doing four rather amorphously-shaped small pizzas) onto the pans was no easy task, I ended up turning the air blue with creative uses of the word 'fuck' and needing to call my husband over to help me, so cornmeal and parchment paper are definitely on the shopping list now!

The broiler method was a dismal failure, sadly, as the pan was a bit too large for my broiler and my broiler is apparently unlike any other broiler I’ve owned and turns off when the door is open. Damn. On to plan B – stuck them in the oven at the highest setting for a few minutes.

The eventual pizzas were a tiny bit undercooked, but delicious nonetheless. My dinner companions were very complimentary. I made super basic ‘margherita’ pizzas – sauce from the tomatoes I jarred a couple of weeks ago (I just warmed it up with a bit of fresh basil, salt, and pepper), rounds of mozzarella, a bit of oil drizzled on top and fresh basil torn on top when they came out of the oven.

Anyway, sorry this is a bit boring and has no photos - my camera is currently being held hostage. Will try to get back to real posting soon.