December 2011 Monthly Challenge: "Peppers!"

[buceriasdon]

Craig, I use a premium can of tuna. I switched to water packed after trying oil packed first, more neutral I found.
Don

[norma427]

My guess is that most of the water is coming from the mushrooms. I don't know what you could do besides sautee them first. Or, nuke them maybe?

CL

Craig,

Thanks for telling me you guess the water is coming from the mushrooms.

Norma

Norma, Agaricus bisporus, the common buttom mushroom is near or oven 90% water. A quick saute in unsalted butter might help. Go very light on the butter. Don't use salt to season, it will make the mushrooms soggy. I can't imagine the jalapenos are the cause of the excess moisture your experiencing.
Don

Don,

I didn’t know the correct name for common mushroom is Agaricus Bosporus and the water content is near or over 90%.  Thanks for your advice on how to take some of the water out of the mushrooms.  The only problem I would have is at market, (since I don’t have an exhaust hood)  I can’t fry anything there.  I do have a hot plate, but that is only used to heat water, or something similar.  I will use your tips at home though for mushrooms.

Thanks!  Sorry, I didn't mean to clog up this thread with my mushroom problems.

Norma

[Tscarborough]

The finer you chop them the more water they will put off (mushrooms and japs).

[CDNpielover]

OK so my attempt at a pepper pizza was an utter failure.  I was trying to make a dough based on a roasted pepper bread recipe that I had, and made some adjustments to make it more in line with a pizza dough.  calculated the weights for a 15 inch pie.  then, the recipe called for kneading in chopped roasted peppers and letting rise again before baking, however the recipe didn't mention anything about the excess water that this would add - and I overlooked that when I was doing my calculations days ago.  so when I added in the peppers, the whole thing just turned into a big pile of goop.  i thought about adding more flour, but that would throw off all of my other percentages so I just said "screw it" and decided to use the dough for making bread instead.

so that sucked.

my wife is now on the way to the store to get a parbaked crust (why is there no puking emoticon as I would insert it here).

I do have a roasted pepper and habanero sauce that I will use, with mozza/provolone/white cheddar, brocolli, sauteed shrooms and proscuito - but of course i'm not gonna post this piece of crap here!

maybe i'll give it another try later this month.  it would be easy enough to adjust my %water to account for the water content of the peppers.  we'll have to see though as i'm a bit discouraged at this point LOL!

[CDNpielover]

on the upside, i did make a really nice load of roasted pepper bread   

[TXCraig1]

As frustrating as it is, and believe me I know how frustrating it is, I always learn more from my failures than from my successes.

CL

[buceriasdon]

CDN, thinking back over the last year's Monthly Challenges I can recall a few dismal failures along the way. Just goes with the territory.  Like Craig, I learned from them. I roast my own peppers on the stove burners turning with tongs to blacken. I've never seen bottled roasted peppers here. Place them in a sealed bag and allowed to cool. I wash the skins off under a faucet, chop or puree and drain in a strainer to get rid of the excess water. I look forward to your next effort.
Don

[Bill/SFNM]

CDN, thinking back over the last year's Monthly Challenges I can recall a few dismal failures along the way. Just goes with the territory.  Like Craig, I learned from them. I roast my own peppers on the stove burners turning with tongs to blacken. I've never seen bottled roasted peppers here. Place them in a sealed bag and allowed to cool. I wash the skins off under a faucet, chop or puree and drain in a strainer to get rid of the excess water. I look forward to your next effort.
Don

The whole point of these monthly challenges is to inspire you into experimenting and venturing into new territories - to try something you have never done before and might not have otherwise attempted. Failure comes with the territory and is just as important as success in improving your skills.

[buceriasdon]

 A friend dropped by the last time I made pizza for Alejandra and I so my pizza was gobbled up before pics were taken. Roasted red pepper and basil pesto with shrimp. I add quite a bit of garlic and red pepper flakes to this pesto as I find the pesto a bit sweet otherwise. That's why sometimes they are called sweet peppers. Very tasty pizza.
Don

[norma427]

Don,

Your roasted pepper and basil pesto with shrimp pizza looks very tasty!    Did you use a different formulation for your dough? 

Norma

[buceriasdon]

Thanks Norma, That's my kinda of pizza. I think what others might like better, and I may try it myself one day, is to use a spicier sausage, what have you, because of the sweetness of the roasted red pepper pesto. No, that is my usual dough however it was baked in my new mini oven, though it is a work in progress, today's trial bake went quite well, I was very pleased with the crust. Next time more heat. this was at 650 degrees F. GM Better for Bread from Wal Mart, 60% hydration, yeast and salt. I slowly add flour to the water, then rest for a bit, holding out the salt till the end, then add the sea salt dissolved in a touch of water and then finish mixing in my KA. 200 gram dough ball. Made the dough early this morning, kept in my reefer, then two hours at room temp. I do like overnight CF a bit better.
Don

[norma427]

Thanks Norma, That's my kinda of pizza. I think what others might like better, and I may try it myself one day, is to use a spicier sausage, what have you, because of the sweetness of the roasted red pepper pesto. No, that is my usual dough however it was baked in my new mini oven, though it is a work in progress, today's trial bake went quite well, I was very pleased with the crust. Next time more heat. this was at 650 degrees F. GM Better for Bread from Wal Mart, 60% hydration, yeast and salt. I slowly add flour to the water, then rest for a bit, holding out the salt till the end, then add the sea salt dissolved in a touch of water and then finish mixing in my KA. 200 gram dough ball. Made the dough early this morning, kept in my reefer, then two hours at room temp. I do like overnight CF a bit better.
Don

Don,

I thought your crust on your pizza you posted looked different.  That is why I asked if you used the same formula.  Your mini oven does look very promising.  Many butchers in our area make many kinds of sausage.  Some are really hot and some do have peppers in them. 

Thanks for telling me how went about mixing your formula with Better for Bread flour and what you baked your pizza in. 

Norma

[Tscarborough]

Nice pizza, Don!  Here is my first entry.  It is a little subtle regarding the peppers, but they are there, little globes of red bursting with make-you-cry love.  Chile petins, my favorite.  Also a heavy load of crab meat and chimmichuri, over a 50/50 blend of provolone and Monterrey jack.  7 day dough with a store marinara sauce.  Pics of dough in my PA thread.

[buceriasdon]

Tom, Su pizza es muy rico! I'm going to have to give chimichurri a try, sure looks tasty. An aside I rarely see pequin chiles here in my part of Mexico, I think they are used in more northern cuisine.
Don

[cosgrojo]

Ok... So my work made my planned 48 hour cold ferment turn into a 72 hour ferment. The dough: two red bell peppers, one yellow bell pepper... Roasted, peeled, seeded, pureed (added some water to thin it out), then strained. Used the roasted pepper liquid as the "water" for the dough. 24 hour bulk ferment, then a re-ball, and then 48 more hours in the fridge. The dough smelled awesome!!!

I decided to attack this Iron Chef style, make "pepper" be involved in every aspect. Habanero cheddar cheese, freshly grated. Maple syrup glazed peppered bacon. Queso fresco infused with chiles. Tricolor (red, yellow, orange) bell pepper compote. I also made a finishing sauce (thank you tscarborough)... Pablano chimmichurri (made with garlic, cilantro, parsley, pablano peppers, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a little honey). Noone but me wanted the finishing sauce... No body believed me that it would cool it down!

It is really hard not to feel very happy with myself... Not just because of the concept, but it was sooo good. I am still recovering from the "chile rush" that I get when I eat something that spicy.  The dough was really good. Soft, crispy, chewy, and tender at the same time... Best specialty dough I've made.

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n579/cosgrojo/69f3f770.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n579/cosgrojo/2f20f20f.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n579/cosgrojo/e56cd842.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n579/cosgrojo/24f201ae.jpg

http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n579/cosgrojo/9ffc29cc.jpg

I hope you guys like it!

[TXCraig1]

cosgrojo,

Looks really good to me. I can see why you're happy with it!

CL

[Tscarborough]

Oh yeah, nice. 

[parallei]

Norma,

Concerning the water in the shrooms:  If your oven in the shop is going anyway, consider slicing the shrooms, placing them in a sheet pan (or whatever) drizzling with a bit of olive oil, a pinch of thyme and baking for a few minutes.  You'll need to keep an eye on them, but this has worked for me in the past at 500 deg or so.

Paul

[norma427]

Norma,

Concerning the water in the shrooms:  If your oven in the shop is going anyway, consider slicing the shrooms, placing them in a sheet pan (or whatever) drizzling with a bit of olive oil, a pinch of thyme and baking for a few minutes.  You'll need to keep an eye on them, but this has worked for me in the past at 500 deg or so.

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for your tip on how to get the water out of the mushrooms in the deck oven. I guess the same method could be used for peppers.

Much appreciated!  

Norma

[buceriasdon]

Ok. So for tonight's pizza I used caribe chiles stuffed with homemade chorizo. I forgot that before I chopped the black olives more. A homemade slow cooked tomato sauce followed with Pepper Jack cheese,thin sliced onions and the stuffed peppers with oregano sprinkled as garnish, I was going to use cilantro but it went bad on me. I did switch back to my standby Mexican flour for this one.
Don