EZ dough

I have a new favorite pizza dough. Not only is it ridiculously easy if you have a standing mixer, but it also puffs up way better than the dough I was making before.

It was featured in a recent NYTimes food section article and I made a double batch for pizza night at our house (and had leftovers and another unused ball of dough for later in the week). The only thing that I changed about the recipe was that I rolled it out on parchment paper which makes it so much less messy (and risky) to transfer the pizza from the peel to the stone. In the past I've floured or cornmealed the peel and done the "quick jerk" method to tranfer the pizza to the oven and it never works as well--some toppings always go flying. Parchment means much less swearing.

Pizza Gallery

The classic (for the boy critter)

red sauce, regular mozzarella and pepperoni
Review: he was happy which is saying something

The classic (for grown-ups or kids who aren't scared of food)

San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzerella, chopped fresh basil.
Review: needed garlic or onion. Flavors were supposed to be "pure" but I thought it was a little flat.

The schwoop schwoop (with arugula and butter lettuce salad)

dried black misson figs, gorgonzola, caramelized onions and a little bacon, drizzled with balsamic when it came out
Review: good, but I should have at least doubled the quantities of caramelized onions, maybe even trippled it. Some rosemary would be good too. I didn't think the bacon was very noticable so I'd probably skip it next time.

The G3 (my favorite)

A knock off of a Silvio's combination: grapes, gorgonzola, green garlic with some mozzarella (the standard rubbery stuff) for the goo factor
Review: Excellent. Pungent, salty, sweet, gooy, garlicy. I could see some prosciutto also being good here.

The recipes I improvised from are here:
dough
the schwoop schwoop
classic for grown ups

The only thing I can't figure out how to improve about pizza night is how to sit down. Since only one pie at a time goes in the oven and our whole family can't agree on anything in the pizza department I end up standing in the kitchen for most of the night customizing pizzas and serving people. Granted, I do this with a large glass of wine in hand, but still, I'd love to find a way to feel less like the kitchen wench. Ideas anyone?

mmmmmm....

Sometimes you just need to take a little break from the oatmeal/granola routine.

I went to my first Zingerman's Mail Order Friday warehouse sale yesterday and bought two packs of the Arkansas peppered bacon ($7 each, normally $16). Man is it good. I don't eat bacon that often (for which my heart thanks me) but when I do, I like to make sure it is the good stuff. Occasionally I get it from the Farmer's Market or pick up the Niman Ranch bacon that Trader Joe's usually has. But this stuff is even better. It probably won't be as appealing to my kids--more for me!--because it is heavily peppered, which I love. But we'll see. They aren't awake yet, despite the bacon fumes wafting through the house.

At the sale, I also bought a pound of the Ig Vella's Dry Jack cheese, something I remember from being a kid in the Bay Area ($10 instead of $24), a half-pound of the 1-year cheddar ($4 instead of $7) and two packs of the Vampire Gummies for my kids ($3 instead of $5). The girl critter happens to be on a Vampire kick (she disguised two of her stuffed Pokemon with fangs and wings and brought them along to the sale) so I couldn't resist. And hell, if I get bacon, they can have some candy, though I did have to draw the line at the Italian Chocolate Cigar that she wanted and that was still $12 (normally $20).

Click here to see a list of what was on offer yesterday. It changes weekly (I signed up for their weekly e-mail while I was there) and I can see a new Friday tradition beginning. The stuff at the sale still is expensive when it comes to my regular food budget, but considering the quality and the discount and the treat factor, it seems like a pretty good deal. Not to mention all the samples the girl critter managed to stuff into her squirrel-like cheeks...