Thai Pizza

For Solstice, I tried a new kind of pizza. We liked it so much we had it again on Sunday!

I read a bunch of recipes online and via pinterest and used this one as my model.

For the pizza crust (see our favorite crust recipe here or) buy some from your favorite grocery store. The sauce is peanut sauce from the international aisle at Publix. The original recipe had chicken; we substituted shrimp which we coated it in peanut sauce before adding to the pizza. Our major change was adding cilantro - not key - leave it off if you hate it - but if you love it, the more the better as it adds just the right fresh bright note to each bite of pizza!

Approximately 1 pound pizza dough (we used about 3/4 of a batch of our favorite Crusty Pizza Dough)

5 ounces peanut dipping sauce (we used Tsang Bangkok Peanut Sauce - see photo below), divided

12-15 cooked medium shrimp  

1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded Napa cabbage
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
cilantro, peanuts, fresh lime and sriracha sauce for topping

flour and corn meal for prepping the dough and baking

Prepare the oven. We place our bigger pizza stone on the bottom rack and preheat the oven to 450. Sprinkle some corn meal on the pizza peel so the pizza will slide off easily. Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface and then move to the pizza peel.

Prepare the slaw. In a medium bowl, combine the lime juice, vinegar, ginger and garlic and then toss the veggies in the dressing - the carrots, cabbage, scallions and basil.

Toss the shrimp in about 1/3 cup of peanut sauce and set aside. Spread the remainder of the peanut sauce on the pizza crust, just like you would with tomato sauce. Top the sauce with the mozzarella and then arrange the shrimp on top of the cheese. Slide the pizza into the oven and bake for about 8 minutes, until you can see the crust is set up and the cheese has melted. 

Take the pizza out and cover it with the veggie slaw. Put the pizza back in the oven for 2-3 minutes, just to heat the veggies through. 

Take the pizza out and cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Top each slice as you like - lots of cilantro for me and sriracha or other hot sauce if that's your jam!

The finished product!

 

Peanut pizza sauce

A Festival of Pizza

Our house has been a festival of pizza lately. We had friends over Friday for make-your-own-pizzas, had leftovers on Saturday and made more dough and another round on Tuesday!

At T's request, we became the proud owners of a second pizza peel. Our original one is on the left (purchased for Solstice 2011) and the new bigger one is on the right (below). Having two allows us to prepare two pizzas for the oven at once.

the oven with both pizza stones - pizza only on the top stone.

my Tuesday pizza - olive oil, roasted vegetables (grape tomatoes, zucchini and onions), mozzarella and goat cheese.

After seeing Chuck on Chuck's Day Off (on the Cooking Channel) use parchment under his pizza (in the Cheese Guy episode), we decided it would make it easy for the pizza to slide off the peel and onto the stone. I'm pretty sure Chuck cooked his pizza in the oven right on the parchment though. It definitely made it smoother getting the pizza in the oven, but the crust didn't crisp up as well as it did without the paper. We'll have to try it right on the rack!

See our favorite pizza crust recipe here.

Solstice 2011 Recap

Solstice Moon from Syracuse Cultural Workers

Celebrating the winter solstice is one of our favorite family traditions. We have a huge fire with the Yule log, eat home made pizza and sleep in front of the fire with mattresses dragged out from the bedrooms. The actual Solstice this year happened at 5am on December 22nd so we had our festivities that evening, partly because Thomas had school on the 21st. The weather almost did not cooperate - at lunch time Thursday it was 77 degrees! Luckily, it cooled off when it got dark out (or at least fell into the 60s which is cool enough for us!). 

In the morning, T and I drove out to Monticello to Johnston's Meat Locker. We picked up some of their house-smoked sausage and a natural pork butt to smoke on Sunday. At 2:30 T and I made pizza dough (recipe here), then went to visit the chickens we help take care of. Back at home, we prepped our pizza toppings (fresh pineapple, mushrooms, and ham) and got the oven ready for pizza baking. 

To make pizza baking more exciting, I bought us a pizza peel. T loves to do things "Big Bite" style (the way his Food Network chef Idol Guy Fieri does) and this is one of Guy's go-to tools. The way it works is you keep the pizza stone in the oven while it preheats, then slide the pizza off the peel onto the stone to bake it. Easier said than done! For the first pizza, I didn't get enough cornmeal on the peel and couldn't get the pizza to slide off. I took the stone out of the oven, set it on the stove top and from there I was able to move the pizza on to the stone and put it in the oven. Taking it out when it was done was a snap! The crust turned out nice and crisp too. 

I decided not to give up and the second pizza went onto the stone much more easily. Hurray! 

While the pizza was baking, C & T built the big, beautiful fire! We had a lovely evening together in front of it.

Here's to longer days and shorter nights ahead!

Greek Pizza

For the lab reunion party Saturday, we served make-your-own pizzas with some special twists, including our Mexican Pizza and a new "invention" that turned out really well, Greek Pizza.

Here's how we made it.

Start with regular pizza dough (our recipe is here). Splash some olive oil on it, and spread it around evenly.

Add cooked, crumbled ground lamb and hummus. We put the hummus in a small plastic sandwich bag, seal it, cut off the corner, and drizzle it all over.

Prepare the tomatoes by slicing and drying them on a paper towel.

Add feta cheese and banana peppers (and Kalamata olives... we ran out, they are too delicious!)

Sprinkle a little mozzarella on top and the add the tomatoes.

Bake on the bottom rack in a preheated 450 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes.

Let cool on the counter for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

Mexican Pizza

Our neighbor-son helped me make up a Mexican Pizza recipe we really love!

Crusty Mexican Pizza Dough
1 heaping teaspoon dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 1/4 - 4 3/4 cup flour

Sauce
1 cup mild Pace salsa, pureed until smooth

Toppings
A. Taco Meat (prepare as usual)
1 pound lean ground beef
3/4 cup water
1 packet taco seasoning (McCormick)
B. fat-free vegetarian spicy refried beans
C. extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
D. shredded lettuce
E. large plum tomato, seeded and chopped
F. low-fat sour cream
G. guacamole
F. sliced jalapenos (we used the jar ones)

Directions:
Crusty Mexican Pizza Dough
Swirl the bowl with hot water to warm. Shake out excess water then pour in the 1.5 cups water and stir in the yeast until it dissolves. Add salt, olive oil, corn meal and about 3 cups of flour. Turn to speed 2 on your mixer (using dough hook) for 1 minute.

Continue adding flour (1/2 cup at a time) until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. If the dough is sticky keep going. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes.

Place is greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. [While the dough is rising, brown the ground beef, drain, add water and seasonings to make the taco meat.] Punch dough down. Preheat oven to 450 and place rack in the bottom slot.

Divide into thirds. Put 2/3s in the fridge in a sealed ziploc gallon-size bag with the air pushed out. (This makes enough for 3 thin-crust pizzas.)

Give your 15" (diameter) pizza stone a light spritz with non-stick spray, then roll out 1/3 of the dough thinly on the stone. Top with the pureed salsa and then crumble about 1/4 of the taco meat in an even layer on top. Put about 3/4 cup of refried beans in a sandwich ziploc bag, seal, cut off the corner and squeeze out stripes on top of the meat. Then evenly cover the top with grated cheddar cheese, being careful not to use to much (don't want it to run off the pizza while baking).

Bake on the bottom rack at 450 for 8-12 minutes, until the crust is crisp and the cheese is fully melted.

Remove from oven, cool five minutes, add jalapenos if you like, then cover the top liberally with shredded lettuce. Sprinkle that with chopped tomato. Then scoop 1/4 - 1/3 cup of sour cream into a sandwich ziploc, seal, cut off the corner and squeeze in stripes on top of the lettuce and tomato; do the same with the guac.

Slice and enjoy.

Crusty Pizza Dough

This is our go-to recipe for pizza dough!

1 heaping teaspoon dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105-115 F)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl. Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups of flour. Attach bowl and dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and mix 1 minute.

Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes. If it's too sticky, keep adding more flour. It shouldn't stick to your hands too much.

Place in a lightly-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover, let rise in warm place, until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour. Punch down and prepare as normal. Bake in 450 degree oven. Yields 1 large (14-16 inch pizza) or 2 smaller ones.

If you like a crisper crust, include 1/4 to 1/2 cup whole wheat flour with the all-purpose flour.

Adapted from the recipe book that came with our first KitchenAid mixer in 1995.