Pizza Experiment #6

In which I become a mad scientist.

I have done variations on experiment 5, none of which were truly worth noting.  While making those variations, the thought of attempting a beer batter variant occurred to me.  Problem is, neither my husband or I drink beer.  However, there is this hard cider that has been sitting in the back of the fridge, just awaiting my realization that it wanted to be pizza crust.

I did finally come to agree with my husband that the dough is consistently lacking the kick of butter.  I have been trying to avoid putting butter on after the fact because it is a hassle, and messy.  So, instead , I have swapped out the Olive Oil for butter.  But then I was all like... butter?  Feh, I got this fancy new stuff Chef Robert Browned Butter Garlic and I want to experiment with THAT!

While I am at it, I shall rearrange the writing of the recipe to more accurately reflect the creation process.

So... here is the concoction that is

Pizza Experiment #6

1/2 c. warm water (100-105 degrees)
1 T. dry active yeast
1 t. brown sugar (for the yeast)

Combine 1/4 c. water with yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast, set aside until foamy (about 5-10 minutes) 

2 c. flour
1/2 c. Woodchuck Hard Cider (Granny Smith was used this time)
2 T. Chef Robert Browned Butter Garlic (or butter... probably)
2 t.  Russell's Original Spice Blend (or Salt- though a little less salt to compensate)
2 generous pinches of. Corn meal (for spreading dough)

1. Mix cider, melted butter garlic (making sure the temperature doesn't go over 105)
2. Add flour, salt, yeast mixture to the cider, butter mix.
3. Preheat the oven at 425˚
4. Knead for a few minutes until doughy.  
5. Move to a bowl sprayed with olive oil (to prevent sticking), cover with loose plastic wrap and let stand for 10-15 minutes.
6. Dust parchment paper with corn meal, and spread the dough out on parchment.  
7. Add desired toppings.
8. Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone using the parchment for a smooth transition.
9. Bake at 425˚ for around 10 minutes- until cheese is just turning golden. 

RESULTS
No picture today, but this was by far the best crust I have made to date.  The flavor was fantastic!  The texture was great!  I look forward to trying this one again- changing out the cider for other liquids... like Coca Cola, or some sort of beer.

Pizza Experiment #5

In which I have decided to try and punch the living daylights out of our taste buds.

#4 was an improvement over #3... but still, the crust was too too bland.
Kris has twice suggested now that I do a garlic butter brushing onto the edges of the crust.  I am trying hard to develop a recipe that does not require that added step, because dammit- the rest of this is effort enough without me having to go and make yummy garlic butter as well.  (Not to mention the additional dishes THAT would make.. we don't have a dishwasher dammit!)

Changes this time are that I doubled the "salt," added another half teaspoon of garlic, removed the rosemary, and replaced it with balsamic vinegar.  Also, I picked up some "Better for Bread" flour, and am using that for the first time tonight.  (I've been using All Purpose until now) And the final change is that I noticed after the pizza had been in the oven for 9 minutes, that the oven was set to 450 instead of 425.  Shock horror!

Pizza Experiment #5

1/2 – 3/4 c. warm water
1 T. dry active yeast
1 t. brown sugar (for the yeast)
2 c. flour
1 T. Olive Oil
1 T. Balsamic Vinegar (its called experiment for a reason folks!)
2 t.  Russell's Original Spice Blend (or Salt- though probably a little less salt)
1.5 t. chopped Garlic (I use the freeze dried stuff)
1 T. Corn Meal

1. Combine 1/4 c. water with yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast, set aside until bubbly (about 5 minutes)
2. Mix flour, salt, garlic, then add the oil, and the balsamic vinegar
3. Preheat the oven at 450˚
4. Stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture, adding water until it forms a ball you can work with. Knead for a few minutes until doughy.  Cover with cloth and let stand for 10 minutes.
5. Dust parchment paper with the corn meal, and spread the dough out on parchment.  
6. Add desired toppings.
7. Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone using the parchment for a smooth transition.
8. Bake at 425˚ for around 10 minutes- until cheese is just turning golden. 

RESULTS:
Well... finally the crust had some flavor!  But, the crust was ridiculously hard to cut, and was at times unpleasant to chew.  I am going to assume that was due to the accidental higher temperature, though it could be the new flour.

Kris's review remains a steady "good, but nothing exceptional."   After getting that review, the follow up questions revealed that he was unaware that I had made the dough from scratch... which led to a "it was better than last time" praise.  Improvements none the less.

 

Pizza Experiment #4

So...
Pizza Experiment #3 turned out pretty well.  The texture was great, but overall the flavor was bland.

And now for #4!
Tonight, I used the recipe from last time, but made ta couple additions to potentially punch the living daylights out of our taste buds.  Another thing I did differently tonight was that I spread the dough out on parchment paper, then used the parchment to transfer the pizza onto the stone.  This was a tip given to me by my dentist on Monday.  How evil of him to start a discussion about making homemade pizza as he is giving me a Novocaine shot to do a filling! 

Pizza Experiment #4

1/2 – 3/4 c. warm water
1 T. dry active yeast
1 t. brown sugar (for the yeast)
2 c. flour
1 T. Olive Oil
1 t. salt (though, really used 1 t. Russell's Original Spice Blend... BEST STUFF EVAR)
1 t. finely chopped fresh Rosemary (she choppin' rosemary!  She chop!  Ungh!)
1 t. obliterated Garlic (I used the freeze dried stuff and chopped it nearly into dust... I felt all cheffy, even though I know I was doing something very uncheffy)
1 T. Corn Meal

1. Combine 1/4 c. water with yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast, set aside until bubbly about 5 minutes.
2. Mix flour and salt, then add the oil.
3. Preheat the oven at 425˚ -
4. Stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture, adding water until it forms a ball you can work with. Knead for a few minutes until doughy.  Cover with plastic wrap or another bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.
5. Dust parchment paper with corn meal, and spread the dough out on parchment.  
6. Add desired toppings.
7. Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone using the parchment for a smooth transition.
8. Bake at 425˚ for around 10 minutes- until cheese is just turning golden.

 

Halfsies on the cheesies.  Fresh moo cow Mozzarella on the left, and baa goat Mozzarella on the right.

Pizza Experiementation Continued

Making another pizza from scratch again, and writing the post as I go.

Here is the recipe I am going to try tonight.  It is a blending of a couple of recipes... one that I have already tried, and another one that I have just come across on ze internets.
Recipe A + Recipe B =

RECIPE C

1/2 – 3/4 c. warm water
1 T. dry active yeast
1 t. brown sugar (for the yeast)
2 c. flour
1 T. Olive Oil
1/2 t. salt
1 T. Corn Meal

1. Combine 1/4 c. water with yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast, set aside until bubbly about 5 minutes.
2. Mix flour and salt, then add the oil.
3. Preheat the oven at 425˚ -
4. Stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture, adding water until it forms a ball you can work with. Knead for a few minutes until doughy.  Cover with plastic wrap or another bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.
5. Dust a pizza stone with corn meal, and spread the dough out on the pizza stone.  
6. Add desired toppings.
7. Bake at 425˚ for 10 or 15 minutes- until cheese is just turning golden. 

Now that I have nailed down my recipe, here are the "secret" variation I have up my sleeve- fancy yuppie flavored salts.  Tonight I am going to use the Spanish Rosemary infused salt.  

Off to the kitchen I go....

26 minutes later, I am between step 4 and 5.

I have this tendency to up the salt measurements when making food, because my husband likes his food to have a lot of flavor.  I put in the .. oh.  OH CRAP NOT AGAIN!  I mistakenly thought it was a teaspoon of salt, not a half teaspoon- which I realized just now as I came to update the post.  Crap.  Oh well.  The Spanish rosemary salt is very mild... so it would probably would have been fine.  If only I hadn't added a heavy sprinkling of the Hawaiian sea salt to amp it up a bit.  SALT-AY!  We'll see how it goes, but I am prepared for another (all too common) over salt mistake.

9:09 pm, and I took it out of the oven about 5 minutes ago.  As per our usual, half Goat Cheese Mozzarella that lactose intolerant me can eat,  half regular cos cheese for Kris.  I convinced Kris to give fresh mozzarella a try, and he opted for the italian seasoned marinated stuff.  Pretty sure he is never going back now.

If nothing else, it appears that I have finally figured out how to spread the dough out all nice like on the stone.

Just gotta wait for it to cool a bit so I can cut it up and see how bad the salt level is.

 

Post eating... it was pretty damn good!  The doubling of salt was not at all perceptible, in fact... even I want a little more flavor out of my crust.  Perhaps I shall add a garlic'd butter brush on the crusts next time.  But the crusts were super fluffy, and a nice texture- if maybe a little dry.  Maybe more olive oil?

In the end, I baked it for about 12 minutes, and while it was fully cooked, Kris and I both agreed that it would have been even better.

Hey Mom!  I'm getting better at cooking!

The Story of the Slipped Disks, part 2

So.. where was I?  Oh yeah!  The hospital.
The only parts of the hospital experience worth sharing are-
When they came to have me due a "road test" - It took 20 minutes to get me into a seated position, and didn't need a mirror to know that there was absolutely no blood in my face, that the pain was so intense I was going into shock.  I remember being frustrated that I was having to cry soooo many times for them to please please help me to lay down again.  I was in a cold sweat, and... well, it was horrible.

They gave me more medication, some more time passed, and the second time we attempted a road test, between the high level of medications in me, the dickish doctor making it abundantly clear that I was taking up valuable space, and sheer determination, I was able to get up and walk a loop around the large, central nurses station.  Natalie was the name of the wonderful nurse that helped me that night.  She was awesome.

Our dear friends Kris and Gretchen were kind enough to come pick us up and bring us home when the taxi we called failed to appear.

That day was more painful than any of the ovarian cyst ruptures or surgeries I have had.  The only experience more painful was being stung by a Portuguese Man of War jellyfish.

It has been several weeks now, and with the exception of some movements that remind me I am not fully healed, I feel pretty damn good.  I have been doing physical therapy 2 times a week- with core muscle work , and an underwater treadmill.

The Story of the Slipped Discs.

Ok, so I lost all blogging momentum for a while.  It happens.  Meh.

Meanwhile...
While working on some of the finishing touches to get our old condo ready to put on the market, I injured my back.  It was either spending several hours on my hands and knees shhpackling the inside storage compartments of the 2 window seats , or the acrobatic limbo style move I made to get up from cleaning under the bathroom sink.  Probably both... since the MRI showed I slipped THREE discs, all at my lumbar.

This happened on Sunday February 5th.  It hurt, and it was hard to walk that night, but overall, it was just a tolerable "aw crap I jacked my back" situation.  Those happen to me from time to time, and usually get better in 3 to 4 days.

By the following Saturday, I was finally starting to feel like I could be normal again.  We went to a going away party for Shanna and Raphael.  Two of the sweetest, most thoughtful people I have ever had the pleasure of working with.  Like Kris and I, they were one of a shrinking number of married couples at Griptonite.  It is a strange thing to have all your co-workers know you, and your spouse so well.  I can only imagine the assumptions people make about us.  *shudder* 

Following the dinner, Kris and I went to Target to get stuff.
OOH!  Sale on vats of laundry detergent!  That doesn't spoil!  Let's get two!
Putting them in the cart from the shelf? No problem!
Putting them in the cart from the cash register?  TWANG.

Though, to be clear, it wasn't an actual twang.  There was just a kind of - ungh.  Walking to the car was painful, but not to the point where I was making sounds or anything.

We get home, I go straight for the bed, and I stayed there until morning.  (Uh.. this, in retrospect, was a bad idea)

Sunday morning, I try to get up.  Can't.  I have Kris come over to help... we get me to a seated position.  SCREAM.  SCREAM.  SCREAM.  No, really, SCREAM.  I lay back down.  Kris brings me the phone and I call the nurse help line.  They suggest taking 2 Aleve, putting a heating pad on it, and wait an hour before trying to get up to go to the bathroom again.

An hour later, Kris helps me as I cry my way to the bathroom.  I need to pee and I will be peeing in the toilet today thank you very much.  Each step hurting more than the last.  The act of sitting? SCREAM!  Trying to even wipe myself?  HA!  (Yes, this is yet another trademark TMI Tamara story.  My husband is a saint.)  Getting up?  SCREAM SCREAM!  I scream with each step back to the bedroom.  I somehow end up back in the bed, and am confronted with "The Pain"

It would feel appropriate to say that it was the worst pain I have ever endured, but the pain from being stung by a Portuguese Man of War jellyfish will probably always take top honors.  This, however, was DAMN close to that.  I literally could not stop screaming.  Kris was flinching with each scream that came out.  I was able to find the presence of mind to cry out the word "Ambulance" in between screams.  Kris wanted to avoid calling 911, so he called the nurse line to see if they could arrange for an ambulance.  Sadly, my dear husband was told that he had to call 911 to help his wife.

My lead EMT, Josh, was a force of soothing calmness.  Damn he was awesome.  I don't remember the other people's names, but they were all awesome.

It was my first ambulance ride ever.  Damn, those things are rough and bumpy.  I had always envisioned that they would be cushiony rides.  NOPE.

Part 2: The Hospital and Beyond coming whenever the hell I get to it.

Almost Six Feet Worth O Crazy!

Bringing on the spring with my State of the Union (and its punditry aftermath) one of a kind, dead Easter Bunneh Scarf!!!