Hi,

A friend tested recipes for Modernist Bread. He got the entire set gratis.

Regards,
Cathy2

I got Modernist Bread for free also, but having pored over the entire set and trying many recipes, I would gladly have paid full price. It has many, many shortcomings, but still worth the slog. But the pizza section is so weak, it is easy to understand why they are making a new book.

Bill/SFNM wrote:I got Modernist Bread for free also, but having pored over the entire set and trying many recipes, I would gladly have paid full price. It has many, many shortcomings, but still worth the slog. But the pizza section is so weak, it is easy to understand why they are making a new book.

I had a feeling you might have been in that category, too. Just a hunch!

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:I had a feeling you might have been in that category, too. Just a hunch!

Different category. Several years ago I registered the domain, modernistpizza.com, with the intent to blog on the subject. Never got off the ground. Myhrvold wanted the domain for his upcoming book so, after some back-and-forth on the price, I accepted his final offer with the proviso that he throw in a copy of the books.

C2, Bill--

I think your conversation should be moved to "Other Culinary Chat" in the thread "LTH dominates" !! Bien fait, Bill!

Geo

This was just posted on NPR's website. It tells you why brick ovens bake the perfect Italian style pizza.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... -style-pie

Going pan style today, something like Old Forge or Sicilian style. Not usually my favorite, but I was in the mood for it. This one turned out bang-on to what I wanted: crispy bottom, pillowy crumb, great contrast between the body of the crust and the outside of it. Just a no-knead 75% hydration dough I started on Saturday morning (and baked up today, Monday), topped with 6-in-1 tomatoes, a mix of cheap-ass Sargento mozzarella (or whatever was $2.99/lb at the deli) and 11-year-old Wisconsin cheddar (that needed to be used up), Pete's market Mild Italian sausage, and some red chile peppers from the garden:

looks incredible

Binko, fantastic!

G Wiv wrote:Binko, fantastic!

I'm just hoping I can replicate it consistently! This is the first time this style of pizza has turned out exactly right for me. Usually what happens is either the bottom doesn't crisp up enough (even though I generously oil it) or the crumb is too dense. I think all it was was being a little more patient on this one, being careful about gently applying the ingredients after the final in-pan rise (so as not to knock it down too much), and baking in a 475F oven for a bit longer than I usually do (closer to 20 minutes rather than the 12-15 most recipes I've used--and I still ended up running it under the broiler for two minutes to get a little more topside browning). Oh, and I also cooked on the very bottom rack instead of the middle rack that I usually use. Don't know how much that made a difference to getting that bottom of the dough crispy and fried, as there are other variables I've changed, but I'll need to remember that detail for next time, too.

We've been branching out with our pizza a little lately.
A couple of my recent favorites:
A riff on lahmacun/lahmajoun/lahm bi ajeen (ground lamb topping with pomegranate molasses, herbs/spices, tomato...) with buffalo mozzarella and pine nuts (added after picture was taken.



Butter chicken with pickled jalapeños and buffalo mozzarella--probably my favorite pizza in recent memory. We'll definitely be making this again...

thaiobsessed wrote:Butter chicken with pickled jalapeños and buffalo mozzarella--probably my favorite pizza in recent memory.

Both look great, butter chicken with pickled jalapenos and buffalo mozzarella is calling my name.

We made a bulgogi pizza over the weekend. In the foreground is the bulgogi and bacon half (our child's request) and the background half is bulgogi, scallions, roasted poblanos, roasted shiitake mushrooms. The sauce was a mix of tomato sauce and ssamjang. We've been making a lot of bibimbap variations so I keep a container of 'homemade' ssamjang in the fridge (made with gochujang, doenjang, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, honey and scallions). We topped this with mozzarella. This pizza was actually a bit of a fridge clean-out but I really liked this combo and we will definitely be doing this again.

Gorgeous... but no kimchi? Or is that added after baking like one would arugula?

Gorgeous... but no kimchi? Or is that added after baking like one would arugula?

We discussed that this would have been a great addition but didn't have any--this pizza was spontaneously created to use leftovers from Korean-ish tacos (which also could have benefited from kimchi).
Next time...

Yay for morel season!** We found about 20 of these little guys over the weekend which was plenty for 3 pizzas. My favorite was the one pictured below (roasted asparagus, morel, sausage, chive on a whipped cream base). The child requested morel, asparagus and bacon on a tomato sauce base (which was actually pretty good). Pizza #3 was pistachio, morel, whipped cream, chive.





**edited to add: Thanks Cathy2 for your tips on finding morels. We found this year's haul at the spots where we found morels last year.

looking good^

Anyone have a good, reliable pizza crust recipe https://fastinternational.org/parkway-pizza-evansville/ that doesn't require flour from Italy or other exotic ingredients?

A local market has a good commercial dough-ball but it's not always available. I like it because i bake it on a silicone baking sheet in an aluminum sheet pan, stretch it fairly thin and it comes out with a little crispness but isn't cracker-like. I've tried recipes from places like King Arthur's Flour site and others and many listed as 'crisp' become more like a cracker. I'd rank the dough-ball I buy when available as not as good as that of a pie from a traditional pizzeria but better than any frozen brands I've tried.

I'm looking for something that you can make thin yet still has a 'bready' quality to it rather than being cracker like.

Drorki wrote:Anyone have a good, reliable pizza crust recipe that doesn't require flour from Italy or other exotic ingredients?

A local market has a good commercial dough-ball but it's not always available. I like it because i bake it on a silicone baking sheet in an aluminum sheet pan, stretch it fairly thin and it comes out with a little crispness but isn't cracker-like. I've tried recipes from places like King Arthur's Flour site and others and many listed as 'crisp' become more like a cracker. I'd rank the dough-ball I buy when available as not as good as that of a pie from a traditional pizzeria but better than any frozen brands I've tried.

I'm looking for something that you can make thin yet still has a 'bready' quality to it rather than being cracker like.

www.pizzamaking.com is your friend. I've learned so much about dough/sauce and other methods to get the pie I want. Italian "double zero" flour is not recommended for home oven use, only for super hot 800 degree ovens which cook quickly. I'm partial to the King Arthur all purpose flour, or even the bread flour (blue bag) for my dough, but the yeast and rest periods are also crucial. Good luck!

Nice article about pizza, wasn't sure where to post it.

How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

I made my 1st wild yeasted pizza last night.

I used the recipe and technique Ken Forkish outlines in Flour Water Salt Yeast for the dough and the sauce.

It was good.

Image is at link since it is a few seconds long video. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_WNpQ0FRPU/

Something that I always wondered about. When getting pepperoni on a pizza, there seems to be various styles. I have always found the smaller coins that end up curling up into a saucer type round when finished cooking on the pizza to have the best flavor. The grease sits in the "saucer cup" and is spitting grease a bit when served. Are these cut right from the bulk cylinder as opposed to pre-cut pieces? Thanks.

Puckjam wrote:Something that I always wondered about. When getting pepperoni on a pizza, there seems to be various styles. I have always found the smaller coins that end up curling up into a saucer type round when finished cooking on the pizza to have the best flavor. The grease sits in the "saucer cup" and is spitting grease a bit when served. Are these cut right from the bulk cylinder as opposed to pre-cut pieces? Thanks.

Serious Eats did an article about this...

https://slice.seriouseats.com/2012/12/t ... -curl.html

Thanks, that covers the topic deeper than I could have expected. And, the curled pep just tastes better.

Spring pizza:
Morels, sliced asparagus tossed in ramp pesto, caramelized onions

Thaiobsessed,

The white base on your pre-cheese pizza, is that whipped cream? I remember you mentioning using whipped cream in past, what does it do for a pizza?

My family are big whipped cream aficionados, I do wonder what their reaction might be.

Thanks!

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Thaiobsessed,

The white base on your pre-cheese pizza, is that whipped cream? I remember you mentioning using whipped cream in past, what does it do for a pizza?

My family are big whipped cream aficionados, I do wonder what their reaction might be.

Yes! Whipped cream has become our go to for white pizzas (we have mostly been doing white pies recently though I am digging vodka cream sauce as a base, too).

thaiobsessed wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Thaiobsessed,

The white base on your pre-cheese pizza, is that whipped cream? I remember you mentioning using whipped cream in past, what does it do for a pizza?

My family are big whipped cream aficionados, I do wonder what their reaction might be.

Yes! Whipped cream has become our go to for white pizzas (we have mostly been doing white pies recently though I am digging vodka cream sauce as a base, too).

Do you prefer this over, say, ricotta? Or is it just a matter of availability? Do you season it at all? I can guess that it's lighter than ricotta, which is intriguing. But is it sweeter? Not sure I'd be into that. Really nice pies, btw.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

thaiobsessed wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Thaiobsessed,

The white base on your pre-cheese pizza, is that whipped cream? I remember you mentioning using whipped cream in past, what does it do for a pizza?

My family are big whipped cream aficionados, I do wonder what their reaction might be.

Yes! Whipped cream has become our go to for white pizzas (we have mostly been doing white pies recently though I am digging vodka cream sauce as a base, too).

Do you prefer this over, say, ricotta? Or is it just a matter of availability? Do you season it at all? I can guess that it's lighter than ricotta, which is intriguing. But is it sweeter? Not sure I'd be into that. Really nice pies, btw.

=R=

Thanks Ronnie!
So when I saw the whipped cream mention in one of Nancy Silverton's recipes in her Mozza cookbook, I thought 'hmm, I'll use mascarpone or whipped ricotta or creme fraiche instead'. Then I read the background on the recipe. Apparently, Silverton learned about using whip cream from a restaurant near her home in Umbria (tough life) and had the same reaction but decided to give whipped cream a try. Whipping the cream increases the volume and means you aren't actually using that much cream. Also, with the aeration, the water evaporates more quickly than if you just put cream on the dough. We were skeptics (now converts). For some reason, it really works!
I wonder if they used whipped cream at Great Lake because their pizzas with cream had a similar texture/flavor and I'm not sure you get that from just putting cream on (would love to hear if anyone has insider knowledge on that)...

Becca are you guys using store-bought whip cream or whipping your own? If it's the latter, that would answer Ronnie's question about the sweetness - you could just leave the sugar out.