S'mores Pizza, Please

S'mores Pizza, Please

The day has finally arrived; the last day of spring break vacation in Tucson and the long awaited testing of my S’mores Pizza, Please pizza.  I can’t even think about food at this point and, speaking of points, I believe I have used my Weight Watchers points through the end of next week!  What can I say?  Old habits die hard and mine are like vampires, not easy to kill! The s’mores pizza has graham cracker crumbs mixed with sugar and melted butter, marshmallow crème, chocolate bars broken into pieces, more graham cracker mix and a topping of miniature marshmallows.  Sound sweet enough?  When it came off the grill, it looked like heaven – big puffs of browned marshmallow and melted chocolate; a gooey delight.  Then I took my first bite.  It was so overpoweringly sweet that when I swallowed it, I felt like a cat choking on a fur ball.  Gag, gag, and gag!  The children had distinctly different opinions and critiques about this dessert pizza; Margaux said the marshmallow crème was too puffy and too much, Eli, on the other hand didn’t look up for several minutes.  He ate, and ate and ate….enjoying every warm, gooey mouthful.  Finally, I told him I was afraid he was going to get sick, but he assured me he wouldn’t and that the pizza was delicious; oh, and not too sweet at all.  That child has my father’s cast iron stomach; he didn’t get sick, he didn’t get hyper…go figure!  So the vacation ended on a high note (sugar high) and I will revise the recipe before re-testing.  It will have only a thin coating of marshmallow fluff on the partially grilled crust as per Margaux, and will have larger pieces of chocolate so that it more resembles the look of a real s’more, as per my sister Elaine.  Eli had no suggestions; his attitude being you can’t improve on perfection.  That’s our boy!

SPRING BREAK PIZZA TESTING MARATHON

Once again, it is spring break at OES (Oregon Episcopal School) for my sister’s two grandchildren, and their annual trek to Tucson is in full swing.  Eli and Margaux, soon to be eleven and thirteen respectively, have grown at least six inches each since their last visit and their appetites have kept pace with their height.  I took one look at them and knew that the official taste testers for my kids’ pizza recipes had arrived.  However, I had no idea that a plethora of pizzas would pass through my grill and oven like rabbits being chased by a coyote.  We feverishly packed four days with taste testing new recipes; tough work, but somebody has to do it!

I assembled the ingredients for the first test, Mags and Eli’s Hawaiian Pizza, and invited the children to make their own pizzas.  They did an amazing job of stretching and shaping the dough and then carefully crafted each pizza to their own specifications.  Margaux used the ham sparingly and Eli used just sauce and pineapple.  I know what you are thinking, who makes pizza without cheese? It doesn’t make sense to me, but that is the beauty of these recipes – you can easily make them your own by eliminating and/or adding ingredients as you like.   As you can see from the picture below, they did a fantastic job and were quite pleased with the results. 

Mags and Eli's Hawaiian Pizza

                                               



Maui Kazaui Pizza



While the children assembled their pizzas, I prepared the Maui Kazaui Pizza for the adults - my sister, my nephew Mark and me.  I call this the adult version of the Mags and Eli’s Hawaiian Pizza because I planned to finish it by drizzling warmed pineapple liqueur over the pizza and igniting it – KAZAUI!   Once I shared this detail with my sister and nephew, the ‘discussion’ began.  Elaine is a scientist and emphatically stated that liqueur, warmed or not, once dispersed over the baked pizza, would be absorbed and would not ignite.  She suggested igniting the liqueur and then pouring it over the pizza.  Now doesn’t that sound safe?  Thankfully, my nephew agreed that pouring flaming liquid out of a small vessel onto a pizza was an accident waiting to happen so I tried it my way.  As you may have guessed, it did not ignite; in fact, the only thing it did was make the pizza a bit soggy in the spot where I tried to puddle it up and ignite it.  I hate to admit it, but Elaine was right – I guess you can’t argue with science.  In spite of that fact that one or two of the pieces were a bit soggy, the overall taste of this pizza was outstanding.

The Maui Kazaui Pizza is a grilled pizza that has a base of orange marmalade mixed with soy sauce that is topped with a layer of camembert cheese.  The cheese is then topped with pieces of smoked ham, bits of grilled fresh pineapple and more cheese.  Layers of sweetness, smokiness and saltiness, interspersed with the soft creamy bite of the camembert cheese is Polynesian perfection.  When I re-test this recipe, I think I will soak the warm grilled pineapple in the pineapple liqueur before placing it on the pizza…how bad can that be?



Sloppy Jen's Pizza



My plans for dinner the next evening were swiftly swept aside when, after hearing what was on the menu, Margaux tilted her head while giving me the sad, puppy dog eyes and brave half smile look as she said, “Auntie Linda, I thought we were having Sloppy Jen’s Pizza tonight.”  Oh boy, I was not going to win that battle!  So, Sloppy Jen’s it was.  I pulled the dough out of the freezer, whipped up a batch of sloppy Joes mix, grated some cheddar cheese, sliced some peppers and was ready to test another pizza.  The kids enjoyed hearing the story about their second cousin Jen, for whom this pizza is named.  Jen was a rather sloppy eater when she was a kid, so much so that I could always tell what she had eaten during the day by the telltale stains on her outfit when she came home from school.  She loved the nights we had Sloppy Joes for dinner because it was one of the only times she could make it through the meal without being chastised for dropping food on herself – eating a sloppy Joes sandwich is a messy job for most of us so I usually gave her a free pass on manners those nights.  I must say that today Jen has impeccable manners - I guess all my ‘reminders’ paid off in the long run.  Interestingly enough, the only criticism on the Sloppy Jen’s Pizza came from Margaux who thought it wasn’t juicy enough.  She, like Jen, prefers her sloppy Joes really loose and messy.  I only used half the sloppy Joes mixture on my test pizza to avoid too much sogginess in the crust, but it would be equally delicious if you loaded all the mixture on the dough and ate the finished pizza with a fork and knife. 

The BBQ sauce and ketchup give the beef a nice sweet/tangy taste which can be enhanced by using more BBQ sauce on the finished pizza.  These two children have some amazing appetites and I had to nix their idea of making the S’mores Pizza, Please pizza for dessert.  They would have to wait for one more night and settle for ice cream sundaes.

                        

S'mores Pizza, Please

OK ... I'll say it ... UNCLE!!!!!!

Desert Snowstorm Prompts Pizza Testing

It was 4:17 AM Sunday, February 27^th when the sound of the wind whistling through an unlocked window awakened me.  I got up to secure the window and couldn’t believe my eyes as I peered outside into the darkness.  It took a few seconds for it to register, but yes, I was seeing snow.  Beautiful, fluffy snowflakes were coming down at a pretty good clip, covering the ground and blanketing cacti, trees and shrubs alike; the Sonora desert looked pristine and magical.  The wonder of the scene brought me back to our winters in Connecticut, and the magnificence of freshly fallen snow and the bitter cold, and the incessant shoveling, and the ice; reality check – that’s why we left Connecticut.  For some reason, seeing the snow set me to thinking about Christmas back east, and since nearly every one of my holiday memories is somehow connected to food, I found myself thinking about Christmas dinner.  I could almost smell the large, luscious roasted prime rib of beef, each slice crowned with cool, creamy horseradish sauce.  Our feast also included a casserole of cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, puffed in the oven until golden brown and a full array of vegetables; each regally dressed for the Christmas feast.

The Big Horseradish Twice Baked Potato Pizza is the reinvention of our traditional Christmas dinner.  My fine Christmas china is replaced by yeasty pizza dough upon which the rest of the fabulous feast bakes to perfection.  I just couldn’t get the memory of this meal out of my mind so I decided to test the Big Horseradish pizza before I actually went out of my mind.  Since I successfully incorporated pizza into my Weight Watchers meal plan last week and lost 2.4 pounds, my fear of taste testing pizzas for Pizza Memoirs has somewhat diminished.  I do remain acutely aware that portion control is key.

The Big Horseradish Twice Baked Potato Pizza

This pizza truly replicated our prime rib dinner in its original form with one exception; the taste of the steak was a bit subdued.  It didn’t stand out as the entrée course of a dinner should.  The roasted garlic paste base, melted Gruyere and horseradish mashed potatoes melded perfectly, providing well rounded flavor with each bite.  Recipe revisions include placing smaller spoonfuls of the mashed potato mixture on the pizza, leaving room for the taste of the steak to come through in each bite; and making sure the steak is rare when sliced and placed on pizza.  In reality, I would be perfectly happy leaving the steak out altogether and placing larger dollops of the mashed potatoes on the pizza; the potatoes were that good!  I could then classify it as vegetarian – doesn’t that sound healthier? 
Thank God I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers.


The Perfect Bite



Lobster Pizza Revisited

After taste testing the Fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Pizza for the first time, it was unanimously decided that I had to go back to the drawing board if I wanted to include that recipe in my cookbook.  As you may recall, the Fabulous Fortieth pizza had a base of garlic paste, topped with manchego cheese, chunks of lobster, caramelized onion, and more cheese.  Somewhere between the overpowering taste of the roasted garlic paste and the sweetness of the caramelized onion, the delicate lobster was like a single clam at a lobster bake – totally lost.  This was not the fabulous lobster pizza I expected. 

Thus, the recipe revisions began and the second taste test took place last night.  I adjusted my original recipe by eliminating the roasted garlic paste, using as a substitute the melted butter in which I sautéed sliced shallots, garlic and red pepper flakes.  I also eliminated the caramelized onions and used the sautéed shallots which imparted a much more delicate onion flavor.  Manchego, a fatty Spanish cheese made from ewes’ milk, complimented rather than overpowered each of the other delicate ingredients.  I used two 5 ounce Brazilian lobster tails which was more than enough, allowing for a nice chunk of lobster in every bite.  The finishing touches of chives, freshly grated lemon zest, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper added to the depth of flavor, the zest providing a nice high note.  I drizzled a bit of white truffle oil over all, but it added nothing as far as I could tell from the two small squares I consumed.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I did have two squares of that incredibly luscious pizza and still managed to stay on my Weight Watchers plan.  I have learned that the problem is not the actual food one eats; rather it is the amount of that food shoveled into the mouth that causes the problem.  You actually do not have to give up any one food; you just need to eat realistic portions.  Oh God, now I sound like my mother…that’s scary!  At any rate, it’s working for me.

A new strategy I used at the ‘Fabulous Fortieth’ taste testing dinner was to serve a fresh salad with the pizza.  Can you believe this strategy is new to me?  Well, growing up in my big Italian family, pizza was a balanced meal in and of itself.  You had your grain, your vegetables, your meat and your dairy….no need for salad to balance that equation.   My salad of spring greens, sliced red pears, crumbled blue cheese, toasted walnuts and light vinaigrette paired perfectly with the pizza and saved me from reaching for a third piece; I reached instead for more salad.  As I slowly ate my salad, I was able to sit back and watch my guests enjoying every last morsel of pizza left on the serving board.  I then knew that my recipe revisions were spot on and the Fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Pizza would indeed be included in Pizza Memoirs. 



The new Fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Pizza ~ Taste the Love



Two Charlies Tackle Taco Pizza

My husband Charlie would eat pizza seven nights a week if I made it for him.  He is always ready and willing to go off his diet and ‘take one for the team,’ when I ask him to taste and evaluate one of my new pizzas.  He is equally willing, however, to simply savor and enjoy one of his old favorites should the opportunity present itself.  Last night was one of those too good to be true opportunities; I offered to make him a pizza to share with one of his friends. 

Normally, I would be right in there looking for my fair share, but I want to test a lobster pizza on Sunday and cannot justify eating pizza twice in one week.  Yes, I know Sunday could be considered a new week since I began Weight Watchers on a Saturday; trust me, I mentally ran through all the justifications for eating that pizza numerous times.  But I am getting stronger in my resolve to focus on a long term weight loss goal and not so much on instant gratification.  Hold on, I think I need a ‘Bravo’ sticker!    http://www.weightwatchers.com/

Charlie invited his friend Charlie over to share the pizza with him and I decided to make them a pizza named for our daughter, the Jenny Loves Tacos Pizza.  Jenny always had a deep and abiding love for tacos.  Given a choice, she would choose tacos over any other food and argued it was suitable for any occasion from celebrating straight ‘A’s on yet another report card to choosing a theme for her next birthday party.  Most kids brought cupcakes to school on their birthday to share with classmates; not Jenny, she brought tacos.  Jenny is now all grown up and friends and colleagues know her only as Jennifer or Attorney Groves, but there is a piece of little Jenny who is still very much alive and she confessed to me quite recently that she still loved tacos and could probably eat fifty if given the chance.

When this pizza comes off the grill or out of the oven, each slice is like a taco shell that is filled with perfectly seasoned meat and gooey cheese.  What it becomes after that is entirely up to the individual. 

Toppings are set out allowing each person to craft his or her own perfect ‘taco’ pizza. It was great fun watching the two Charlies as they each chose their toppings and ever so carefully layered them onto the pizza slices, smiling in anticipation of tasting the finished product. 

Here is my recipe – have fun customizing your own perfect taco pizza slice.

Ingredients:

1 recipe	Taco Seasoning Mix (recipe follows)
1 pound	Ground beef, 80% lean *
½ cup ½ cup	Water Tomato sauce, divided – recommended brand – Hunt’s
8 – 9 ounces	Prepared pizza dough at room temperature
4 ounces	Shredded cheddar cheese, or smoked cheddar cheese
6	Scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced
4 ounces	Monterey Jack or Jalapeno Jack cheese, shredded
1	Small sweet white onion, minced
½ cup	Black olives, sliced
1	Large, ripe tomato, seeded and finely chopped
	Sour cream
	Taco sauce
	Shredded iceberg lettuce

Directions:

1.   Prepare taco seasoning mix and set aside.

2.   Heat a 12” skillet, over medium-high heat.  Add beef and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until beef is cooked and lightly browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.  Drain fat from beef mixture. Add water, ¼ cup of the tomato sauce and Taco Seasoning Mix, stir to combine.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove lid and simmer 5 minutes longer or until most of liquid is absorbed.  Set aside to cool.          

3.   Roll, stretch and shape dough into an unrefined circular or rectangular shape approximately 12 to 14 inches according to basic directions.  Spread ¼ cup tomato sauce on the dough then sprinkle with the cheddar cheese leaving a border of approximately ½ inch.

4.   Spread cooled taco filling over cheese – I recommend that you use only one half of the mixture, but feel free to load it up if you so desire.

5.   Top with scallions and Monterey Jack cheese.

6.   Bake on a preheated Pizza Grill or on a pizza stone in a preheated 500 degree oven, rotating pizza after 4 minutes to prevent sticking.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until crust is firm and golden and topping is bubbly.  You may need to bake for an additional few minutes if you used all the beef taco mixture; and you will definitely need to use a fork and knife to eat your pizza once you add your toppings.

7.   Remove from the heat and cut into squares or wedges.  Set out taco sauce.  Place onion, olives, tomato, sour cream and lettuce in small bowls. Allow each person to top his or her own taco pizza piece with toppings of his/her own choice.  As Jenny would say, ‘this is a very personal matter.’

*Tip:  You can use the heated leftover taco mix and the condiments for a tasty “Taco Salad” the next day.   Guess what Charlie is having for dinner tonight!!!

Taco Seasoning Mix   Yield 2 Tablespoons (approximately)

Ingredients:      

2 teaspoons     instant minced onion (dehydrated minced onion

½ teaspoon     instant minced garlic (dehydrated garlic flakes)

1 teaspoon      kosher salt          

1 teaspoon      chili powder         

½ teaspoon     cornstarch

½ teaspoon     crushed dried red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon     Mexican oregano (crushed)           

½ teaspoon     ground cumin

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and spoon mixture into a small airtight container. Store in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months.

 

Successful Weight Loss and Pizza Testing - Oxymoron?

“Never trust a skinny chef,” is a saying many people, myself included, whole-heartedly believe.  Chefs who carry a few extra pounds just seem more believable as one would assume the weight is there because they continually taste food they are preparing until it is properly seasoned and texturally balanced. When someone approaches calorie intake with reckless abandon so he or she could pour heart and soul into preparing the perfect meal, how could you not trust that person?  In my case, though, most of the weight I have gained over the last 40 years has not been from the necessary tasting of foods to determine if they were properly seasoned, rather from indulging in eating excessively large portions of all that fabulous food. 

Nearly two years ago I began writing Pizza Memoirs, have created nearly 100 recipes and have tested and retested more than half of those recipes.  That’s a lot of pizza!  Since the testing began, my weight has not been creeping up gradually; it’s been more like a marathon.  Before I knew it, I had 60 pounds to lose!  What?  How did that happen?  It wasn’t that long ago that I promised myself I would lose the 40 extra pounds I was carrying.  I was officially depressed and convinced myself that I had two choices; I could finish testing recipes for my book or I could lose weight.  I remember the day I was discussing this dilemma with my daughter and she stopped me in the middle of one of my ‘poor me’ sentences.   “Not for anything, Mom” she said, “but you can tell if a pizza is good without eating an entire half.”  Shortly thereafter I went back to Weight Watchers. 

Pizza testing has resumed and I did perfectly well with eating a single piece of the zucchini pizza I tested.  Being a little obsessive about not going over my allotted daily points, I counted one slice as 10 points and reserved my extra 49 points that week just in case that slice was more than 10.  This sounds a bit silly now that I see it in writing.  I have yet to calculate points for each of my pizzas as that would be a bit too time consuming, but it can be done. The pizzas I have created have good, healthy ingredients and can fit nicely into any healthy eating plan – in moderation! 

The next pizza up for testing is the Fabulous Fortieth Anniversary Pizza; shallots, lobster and manchego cheese.  How bad can that be?  Check back next week for the recipe.  Thanks, L. 

Equipped for Successful Pizza Making

When my mother made dough for her wonderful yeast breads, she had a measuring cup, a bowl, a big wooden spoon (which doubled as a paddle when we did something she didn’t like!) and a board on which to knead and shape her dough into breads and fantastically fragrant cinnamon rolls.  Even though you can make an amazingly good yeast dough with only a few of the simplest kitchen utensils, having some basic tools of the trade can make life so much easier when it comes to making that dough and turning out a perfect pizza every time.  Think of this as your wish list, adding tools as your enthusiasm for pizza making grows.

• Gas Grill / Oven that heats to 500 degrees Fahrenheit

• Pizza Grill / Quarry tiles or a pizza stone for the oven when baking pizzas indoors. I recommend the Charcoal Companion PizzaQue Stone Grill.

• Scale – I find that weighing ingredients is much more accurate than using measuring cups when making my pizza dough, as flour can be compacted in its container.  If you must use measuring cups, fluff the flour first then spoon it lightly into the cup and level it off with the back of a knife.  I also find it easier to use a scale for weighing topping ingredients like cheese.

• Glass measuring cup – 2 to 4 cup size. 

• Instant read thermometer – This is very useful when dissolving yeast granules in water that needs to be 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.   It is important not to guesstimate the optimal water temperature because if the water is too hot, it can kill the yeast; if it is too cool, it will slow down the development of the yeast.  Since I leave nothing to chance, I always have my instant read thermometer handy.

• Mixing bowls – I like earthenware bowls, but you can use glass, stainless steel or whatever you have on hand.  It is helpful to have a large bowl for dough rising and several small bowls for preparing and storing your pizza ingredients in advance.

• Electric mixer – with a paddle for mixing and a dough hook for kneading.  My heavy duty Kitchen Aid mixer is a true work horse that has never let me down.  I must admit though, I now make all my dough with my food processor.  http://www.kitchenaid.com

• Food processor – These machines never cease to amaze me.  I recommend a heavy duty, large capacity machine with a dough blade, like the Cuisinart 14 cup food processor http://www.cuisinart.com/ .   It takes only minutes to mix dough ingredients and one to two additional minutes to knead the dough.  This is truly revolutionary – especially to anyone who has ever tried to make dough using only a bowl, wooden spoon and good old-fashioned elbow grease.

• Mezzaluna – This versatile kitchen utensil has a single or double, very sharp,  curved blade with a handle on each end.  The curve of the blade resembles a half moon, or ‘mezzaluna’ in Italian.  Mezzalunas come in varying sizes; small ones are great for chopping herbs and the large ones are sometimes used to cut pizzas.  The ideal chopping surface is a concave board, but any wooden cutting board will suffice. To safely use your mezzaluna, grasp firmly by both handles and carefully rock the device back and forth across your herbs or vegetables. Although I do have a rather large cutting board, I prefer using the mezzaluna when chopping herbs to avoid permanently staining the board. 

• Rolling pin – Pizza dough can be flattened with your fingers and stretched into shape all by hand.  Should you prefer to roll your dough into shape, I recommend using a long French rolling pin which is a thin, hardwood cylinder with tapered ends that has some good weight to it.  A standard rolling pin can also work if that is your preference.

• Pastry brush – An indispensable tool for evenly distributing oil over pizza dough before baking and for brushing the outer rim of crust after removing pizza from grill or oven; a simple step that assures a beautifully glistening crust. 

• Grater – Microplane graters are quite versatile for finely grating anything from hard cheese and citrus zest to ginger and nutmeg.  I limit my use of box graters to using the large holes for shredding softer cheeses like mozzarella.

• Pizza peel – This tool facilitates transferring your assembled pizza to and from the grill or oven.  You can also use a rimless baking sheet for this job, but the absence of a handle can make transferring you pizza a bit tricky.

• Pizza cutter – Whether you use a wheel type or a mezzaluna as described above, be sure to purchase something that is sturdy and that fits well in your hand.

This list may seem a bit overwhelming to a novice pizza maker, but keep in mind that you can make fabulous pizzas with only a handful of the tools listed above.  You can use purchased pizza dough and eliminate the need for a mixer, food processor - well - most of the items listed above.  For years I purchased my pastry brushes in a hardware store buying the 2 inch disposable ones that come packaged in cellophane. The bristle brushes, not the foam applicators!  A good sharp knife can do the work of the mezzaluna and pizza cutter if you are careful and if you have a bottle of wine in the house, you can cross the rolling pin off your list.  As you can see, where there's a will, there's a way.  And do get a pizza peel; they are such fun and you look so accomplished as you jerk that peel from under your pizza planting it smack in the middle of your smokin' hot pizza stone.  Enjoy the process.