Pizza Anarchy

[Jet_deck]

I'm trying my first sauce tonight.  In your picture, have you stick blended it yet?  Just curious where I need to be at with mine.

PS. I hope to someday be at your cullinary level to make pizza by the cup. Hats off to you, chef!

[Tscarborough]

Yes, it is blended and done there.  After chilling, I will just strain off some juice and it is ready.  For my regular sauce the consistency is about the same as chunky spaghetti sauce.

[Tscarborough]

Here is the "kids" sauce underway. It is my "normal" sauce, a little sweet for most I would guess.  2ea 28oz cans of peeled tomatoes, 3 tbsp turbino sugar, 1 tbsp of sea salt, 1/4 of coarse black pepper, and about 15 leaves of torn basil.  After this cooks down at around 200 degrees, I will probably add a couple of crushed cloves, then it hit with the stick blender and remove any excess water.  I taste and add salt, pepper, and sugar throughout the process to get the perfect balance.

[Tscarborough]

Here is the finished "normal" sauce, signed off on by the younger daughter.  I added 2 more tbsp of sugar and 2 crushed cloves.

[jeff v]

2 crushed cloves.

I'm all for pizza anarchy, but are these garlic cloves or clove cloves?

[Tscarborough]

Clove flowers, as a rule I don't put garlic in my pizza sauce, marinara excepted.

[Tscarborough]

A few shots of last night's bake.  I did all pepperoni, some with baby portabello mushrooms, some with onion. I also used some feta cheese along with mozz and Oaxaca. The marinara sauce was very good, and yes that is an upside down pizza on my walkway.

[Tscarborough]

Saturday has been designated as pizza day this week.  For this bake, I am going to make my regular dough early Saturday morning, bulk ferment it for a couple of hours, then ball it and let it sit for another 5 or 6 hours to rise at room temp.  If I remember, I will weigh the ingredients.  I plan on 8ea 14" pies.

So far, I plan to make bacon, onion, and baby portobello mushroom pizza w/mozz and provolone, chicken fajita pizza (thin sliced, marinated grilled chicken breasts with green and red peppers, onion, and sauce containing cumin and cayenne) w/ jack, and probably some type of Italian sausage with spinach and cherry tomatoes with mozz and feta.

I plan on making my normal sauce, but will up the basil and sugar quite a bit.  For the chicken fajita pizza, I will start with tomato sauce, Mexican oregano, cumin, cayenne pepper, and probably some hot paprika on top of the normal ingredients.

[Tscarborough]

OK, I made 2 identical batches, with the exception that I put a tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme in one:

590g KABF
205g semolina
690g water
1 Teaspoon  sea salt
28g ADY

I mixed the yeast into water with 1 tablespoon of turbino sugar and let rise for 10 minutes.

I will let them double for an hour or 2, then break them down.

[Tscarborough]

Each batch after kneading and before splitting was right at 1530grams.  I split it into 7 big balls (@380g)and 2 little balls (@190g).

[Tscarborough]

I forgot to say that I did not measure by weighing, I weighed what I measured.  That is, I used my standard dough:

4 cups KABF
1 cup semolina
etc.

So what are the percentages and the thickness factor on those balls?

The big balls will be 14" pies, the smaller ones will be 11".

[Tscarborough]

Mama talked me out of my plan for spicy sauce for the chicken fajita pies, so just this one:

2-28oz cans of store brand sauce
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp of turbino sugar
2 teaspoon of coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon of sea salt
A big handful of minced fresh basil
4 clove flowers, crushed
a pinch of oregano


The fire is lit, the sauce is simmering, so hopefully in an hour or 2 I can eat some pizza!

Still have to cook the fajita meat, the Italian sausage, chop the vegetables and the cheese, AND watch UT get beat by OK and Kyle Busch win at Kansas.

[Tscarborough]

A few pics.

[Tscarborough]

More.

[Tscarborough]

Friday pizza is tough.  I made the dough and sauce last night, my "normal" for both.  I also pre-built the fire so all it needed was a match when I got home after work.  That still does not leave much time for a good heat soak of the oven, especially with the in-laws in town and hungry after their long drive.

Home at 5:00, vegetable prep in 20 minutes, plus another 30 for the wood to burn down and it was time to go.  Only 4 pies on this short bake, and while the oven cleared, it did not stay hot (above 700) long.  At any rate here are the pies and a photo of my pizza dogs shooting lasers at me to mind bend me into giving them pizza bones.

1.  Actually the last pie cooked, sopressata, mushrooms, onions, and basil, cooked American style crust because of the 500 degree oven.

2.  The best of the lot.  Quattro Formaggio (Moz, jack, parmesan, and provolone), with roasted garlic, thyme, and a little onion. 

3.  Margherita!

4. Sopressata and Onion.

[parallei]

Great looking pies and photos.!  Plus, you gotta love the pizza dogs.  They look like they're good at their work.  I trust they succeeded in scoring a few bits of crust.  My old guy was an always appreciative audience.

[Tscarborough]

I have nothing to much to do tomorrow, other than watch UT get spanked and then watch a pretty good race at Charlotte, so i decided to experiment a little, make some doughs tonight and see how they cook.  I plan a nice long 3 or 4 hour burn to get rid of some tree sheds, have a few friends over and cook some pies.

Here is what I did for dough:

A) 2 cup KABF
    2 cup AP
    1 cup semolina
    1/4 ounce ADY in 1 cup of water with 1 teaspoon of sugar
    2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh thyme
    1 teaspoon of pickling spice
That will be 4 14" skins

B) 1 cup AP
    1 cup WW (wild wings tortilla flour, an unbromated lye soaked, dense flour)
    1/2 cup semolina
    1/8 ounce ADY in 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
    2 tablespoon EVOO
    1 tablespoon crushed fennel seed
    1/2 tablespoon sea salt
That will be 1 14" and 2 12" skins

C) 1-1/2 cup AP
    1 cup semolina
    1/8 ounce ADY in 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
    1 tablespoon hot hungarian paprika
That will be 1 14" and 2 12" skins

I used the thyme and paprika mainly so I could tell the doughs apart, since after cooking none of the spices I have ever added really made much difference.
   

I let them all bulk rise for 2 hours at room temp, worked them, divided them, and put them in the fridge.

[Tscarborough]

Well, I chickened out on the dough...I made 4 more 14" balls from my normal KABF/semolina mix and will let them warm ferment for the rest of the day.

The sauce is normal too, although I did add some paprika to it, since that seems to be the theme for the bake.


For toppings, I have a bunch of things, so we will see what gets made by the guests.

[Tscarborough]

Clockwise from the top:

oregano
paprika
basil
black pepper
clove flowers
turbinado sugar

[Tscarborough]

Some pics.  I invited over the guys who helped me build the oven.  They are the Boys from Minnesota, and if  it involves butchering wood, I call them.  We did 12 pies in a couple of hours while watching UT and the Texans win, and the beginning of the Charlotte race.

1. My neighbors pie, he marinated shrimp and added pineapple. It was damn good.
2. Italian sausage and onion to spec for the better half.
3. Quattro Formaggio with corn, black beans, shallots, garlic, basil, and onion
4. Sopressata and baby portabellas.