Daring Bakers October Challenge: Pizza! Pizza!

I didn't know Sherry Cermak from What Did You Eat?, I joined the Daring Bakers for the July challenge just before she died.  However it is evident that she has touched so many in our little community.   Sherry was supposed to host this month's challenge, along with Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food and Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums, and just nine days before her death had shared her idea for her challenge choice.  Rosa decided to honor that choice and submit Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough recipe for the DBers as a tribute to Sher.  So in October, we were all baking our pizzas like "real pizzaiolos!"

The only restrictions were - we had to use both a sauce and toppings on our final pizza... and... well... we were supposed to take a picture of us tossing the pizza dough.  Right.  That didn't happen.  But I did borrow a camera so I could show you these lovely picks.  Click here for Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough recipe.  Don't be scared that it requires two days to complete - really it is only 15 minutes on day one and a few minutes on day two.

My dough on day 2.  This is when I realised that the yeast I used was old and the dough ball was EXACTLY the same size as it was when I put it in the fridge.  But it still tasted great!

A bit blurry, but that is because I was so excited to get all the toppings onto this baby!  Yes, I know it said that 3 or 4 toppings including the cheese were plenty, but if I am making pizza, it HAS to have extra cheese.  Two kinds.  And I had to have the turkey bacon.  And the onions.  And the broccoli to make me think that this was going to be healthy.  If I had mushrooms in my pitiful fridge they'd have gone on too, so there Peter Reinhart!

The finished product!  Not so bad for a first time, ja?

I found this to be a really fun challenge, and it was so easy I don't think I will ever buy pre-made pizza or pizza dough again.  I'm already contemplating my next pie... white sauce, blue cheese, carmelized onions, and maybe apples or pears... hmmm.

Fall goodness from the freezer

As I mentioned earlier, I am moving, and trying to eat everything out of the fridge so it doesn't have to be transported or thrown out.  Yeah, that was the plan.  Did I succeed?  Not so much.

I ran out of food.  A week early.

I know, for most people this would not be an issue, but for little old me all by myself it is hard to guesstimate these things.  I usually end up with way too MUCH food.  Recipes are generally made for four or more, and who wants to eat the same thing for lunch and dinner for three days so none of it goes to waste?  Freezing is usually an option, but despite my last posting about brownies I try to make sure I am eating fresh, organic, locally sourced food.  Freezing negates the fresh part.

Though I am sure I could stand to miss a few meals, I also need to keep my energy up for the marathon last minute packing job I am going to be doing on Wednesday night.  I broke my rule about fresh organic local and walked myself into the closest Vons to buy some frozen dinners.  They come on their own plate (no dishes to wash or unpack) and I know ahead of time how many I need, just count the days and there you have it.  I braced myself for the horrific choices I would have to make and decided I would just buy whatever was on sale.  I know!  So wrong of me but if I am buying frozen dinners what difference does it make, right?

Wrong.

Just by accident I found the Eating Right" store brand.  Sure, its not great, but it is far better than many frozen dinners out there.  I just purposely did not look at the ingredients label to see all the preservatives.  And they have great options, like this one, "Butternut Squash Ravioli".  When it is microwaved it looks exactly like it does on the box with the great colors from the veggies, which I found to be crisp unlike the soggy mess you usually find in a frozen dinner.

Who knew?

When only Cocoa will do...

I am in the middle of packing and moving (long story) so I have been trying to use up everything in my fridge before I head out next weekend.  So what happens when you have a hunkering for some chocolate, all you have is cocoa powder, and can't run to the store?  After you curse yourself for insisting no cheap chocolate enters your house - if you are going to have chocolate make it the good stuff! - you do the next best thing, you make Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownies.

Alton has never done me wrong, and this was no exception.  They were somewhat cakey yet still gooey in the middle.  And easy?  Oh yes.  This one found a home in my recipe box.  Seriously, grab yourself an ice-cold glass of milk and be ready for the rich chocolately goodness.  I warn you though, this recipe was meant to be followed to the "T".   Use kosher salt, not table salt.  Make sure the sugar is sifted not packed.  It really makes the difference in the way it all comes together.

Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownies

soft butter, for greasing the pan

flour, for dusting the buttered pan

4 large eggs

1 c sugar, sifted

1 c brown sugar, sifted

8 oz melted butter

1 1/4 c cocoa, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 c flour, sifted

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 300*F.  Buter and flour an 8-inch square pan (This is the only substitution I made - I used a 9-inch round pan.  It was fine.)  In a mixer willed with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow.  Add both sugars.  Add remaining ingredients and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into the greased and floured pan and bake for 45 minutes.  Check for doneness with the tried and true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean.  When its done, remove to a rack to cool.  Resist the temptation to cut it until its mostly cool.  (Mostly cool is a subjective term, isn't it?  But the longer you wait the more it stays together.  Its good as crumbs but even better as a real brownie.)

Forgive me - I bring you food

Has it been so long?  I suppose it has.  Been busy looking for a job, moving out of the house my landlord is selling, you know, life, but that is no excuse.

To make it up to you, and in honor of the wonderfully cool weather, here is my new favourite warm autumn salad.

Warm Salad of Roasted Squash, Prosciutto and Pecorino  - Jamie Oliver, from Jamie's Kitchen: A Cooking Course for Everyone (p 41)

1 butternut squash

olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

dried chili flakes

heaping tsp coriander seeds

20 slices prosciutto or parma ham

4 handfuls of arugula

6 T extra virgin olive oil

4 T balsamic vinegar

1 small block Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375*.  Carefully cut your butternut squash in half, keeping the seeds intact.  Remove the two ends and discard them.  Cut each half into quarters and lay in a roasting pan.  Rub with a little olive oil.  With a mortar and pestle pound up a flat teaspoon each of salt, pepper and your chili and coriander seeds.  Scatter this over the squash.  Roast the squash for half hour or until soft and golden.  Allow to cool a little.

Lay the prosciutto on 4 plates - let it hang over the sides and encourage it to twist and turn so it doesn't look neat and flat.  Tear up your squash and put it in and around the ham.  Sprinkle over the seeds and the arugula/  Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, add a tiny pinch of salt and pepper, and use a vegetable peeler to shave over the Pecorino.  Easily done!

Calabacitas Casserole with Polenta and Cheese

I have been trying to get more veggies into my diet lately, and sometimes I am more successful than others.  I am great about going to the store or farmer's market and filling the crisper drawers with fruits and vegetables, but more often than not I end up tossing them out because they have gone bad waiting for me to become inspired and make that wonderful vegetable soup I had been planning but never made.  SO I have taken to only buying what I need for the next two or three days at a time, and that has helped tremendously.  Rather than go to the grocery store, I go to Rutiz Farms for organic, pesticide-free veggies.  It is seasonal, and I can actually see the field the food was grown in steps away from the stand - you can't get any more fresh!  So while I was at the stand this week, I bought some summer squash and zucchini.  I admit, they aren't the sexiest choices out there or the most exotic, but I had never prepared them myself other than grilling the zucchini on its own.  What a shame, I know.  And that is what I had intended to do with the basket I brought back on Tuesday.

However, there were far too many for me to eat on my own.  I had no idea what to do with them.  Then my sister pointed me towards this great recipe from Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals  - Calabacitas Casserole with Polenta and Cheese.  Hmmm.  Sounds interesting.  And I could use up most of the squash as well as the tube of polenta that was sitting in my fridge.  I was sold!

What I like about this recipe is that it can easily be made without using processed food.  I could make the polenta on my own if I wish (this time I didn't), I could use fresh tomatoes instead of canned stewed (which I did), and I cut the cheese way back.  And when it was through I was left with a glorious dish that could be used for a main course or as a side dish.  The leftovers didn't last long at my house this week!  Next time I might cut out the cheese all together and instead stir in some bulgarian yoghurt as a binder.  In any case this made it onto my list of meals I will make again.  As Rachael says, YUM-O!

Calabacitas Casserole with Polenta and Cheese - from Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups corn kernels, defrosted
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 green chile pepper seeded and chopped or, 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
2 small to medium zucchini, diced
1 small to medium yellow squash
1 large yellow skinned onion, chopped
1(14-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
2 teaspoons dark chili powder, just over 1/2 a palm full
Salt and pepper
1 (16-ounce) tubes prepared polenta
2 cups, 10 ounces, shredded Monterey Jack, available on the dairy aisle in pouches
3 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves or flat-leaf parsley
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, corn, garlic and chiles. Saute 3 minutes, add zucchini and yellow squash and onions, season with salt and pepper, chili powder; cook 7 to 8 minutes. Add stewed tomatoes and heat through. Transfer to baking dish. Cut 1 tube of polenta in 1/2-inch slices lengthwise. Top vegetables with polenta and cheese. Place in hot oven to melt cheese and warm polenta, 8 to 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro or flat-leaf parsley.

The Eclairs that weren't

It is time for another Daring Baker's Challenge... my second, and this month things did not go as planned.  I was so excited when I saw that Meeta and Tony had chosen Pierre Herme's Chocolate Eclairs as our challenge this month., it was just the sort of thing that I had hoped to learn when I joined this wonderfully talented group of bakers!  When I think of eclairs I think of the wonderful patisserie that was jut around the corner of our hotel in Paris on Rue Jean Lantier.  My companions and I would stop there every day and look in the window at them, waiting until our final morning in Paris before buying one and eating it as we gazed out over the Seine.   Oh to be back there if only in my mind - this would be a great challenge!  I even bought a pastry bag and tips just for the occasion.  I knew the month would be busy, I knew I would have to wait until the very last night to do them.   I bought all the ingredients and had the instructions in place.  And even though I dropped my camera last week and rendered it completely useless I was determined to carry on.

But I didn't, it just didn't get done.  Sigh.

So these beautiful eclairs will always remain beautiful and oh so tasty in my mind.  Perhaps I will make them later in the week, when things have settled in and I am ready to be transported back to Paris.  In the meantime, here is the recipe if you can't wait to put that stamp in your passport:

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough. All recipes below from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 eclairs)
½ cup (125g) whole milk
½ cup (125g) water
1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature

In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to theboil.Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to mediumand start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth. Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time youhave added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted itshould fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.
Notes: Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately. You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined bakingsheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
2 cups (500g) whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75g) sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.
Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.
Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.
Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.
Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.
Notes:The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
(makes 1 cup or 300g)
1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.
Notes: If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
 in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.
It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)
4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (250 g) water
½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens. It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.
Notes: You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Goodbye Sugar Demons

Have you ever felt like no matter what you do, your body wants just the opposite?

That is where I was on Thursday.  I wanted to eat right, I really did, but the sugar cookies I baked to donate to the local cancer center were screaming at me: "They don't really need four dozen cookies, do they?  It would be ok if you had a few..." That was when I knew things were really out of control.  When a sugar cookie made from store-bought cookie dough is screaming at me and it hasn't even been iced yet, that says something.  And when the leftover pasta salad that should last for the next two days doesn't make it through today's lunch, and you are still hungry, that isn't right either.

Truth be told, food is one of those things that has always tempted me.  It is the easiest way for the devil to get his claws into me and tether me to this world.  While I am not diabetic, sugar has always been a problem in my diet.  When I have sugar in any quantity it opens the door for me to want more.  And when you look at the ingredients of nearly everything that comes in a bag or box or jar at the grocery store you see sugar as an added ingredient in some form.  The only way for me to control my sugar cravings is to be mindful of what I eat - cook at home, using whole fresh ingredients.  For me, there cannot be just one Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwich, I want all of them in the package.  If there is bread in the house, even just for guests, I will eat it.  Did you know there is sugar in your bread?  or in your tomato sauce?  or your salad dressing?  Until I started looking at labels I didn't know just how many things contain sugar or corn syrup. (Everything also contains soy products, which I can't have either, but that is another story).

The only thing for me to do is to cut out the sugar, once and for all.  But that is easier said than done.  Have you ever experienced sugar withdrawals?  Yikes.  I have been struggling with that for the last month or so - trying to eat right but then my body rebelled and I found myself with two slices of toast covered with sweet sticky honey.  Or driving through the drive thru for a cold creamy shake.  Or stopping at Starbucks for my latte (lactose) with vanilla (pure sugar).  I couldn't break free.

I was lucky.  My sweetheart and I had planned a spiritual fast for this weekend, it had nothing to do with my eating or sugar devils that had hold of me.  But as we fasted, I knew that something was changing.  On Saturday, I woke up hungry.  Very hungry.  Too hungry, in fact.  There are many days that I skip breakfast, start working, then look up and realize it is nearly dinnertime and I have yet to eat anything.  There was no reason for me to be that hungry.  Suddenly, everything started to revolve around food.  All my thoughts were of what I wasn't going to eat.  The apple fritter that was sitting on the kitchen counter at my sister's house begged me to it it.  I swear I could smell the cooking food from the restaurant down the street.  I began to realize that this was not a physical hunger, that it was a spiritual hunger, and a strong one at that.  Those sugar devils were not happy that I wanted them to go away, that is for sure.

But you know what?  They eventually went quiet.  My body is not screaming for sugar anymore after three days.  When I break this fast tonight, I am going to be eating grilled tomatoes and onions and zucchini.  There will be a small bit of chicken as well.  THAT is what I am craving tonight, not sugar.  It has taken a three-day fast to reset my body and make real food exciting again.  I am looking forward to the new adventure!