Text 2483, 116 rader
Skriven 2013-07-17 11:38:08 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: Picnic reflections :)
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Thursday:

We started the picnic Thursday afternoon with the arrival of Nancy, Dale and
Gail, and Michael.  My three dogs seemed to recognize people this time which
was a relief to me :)  There was of course the initial carrying on when anyone
went in or out, but in general I could see they recognized people from their
last visit.

Cold cuts/loaves of bread and a non-gluten almond-flour cake with Lemon icing
were served.  Since we ate rather late in the day that day, in the evening I
made some hamburgers with Wegman's organic/grass-fed ground beef.  I normally
chop onions, garlic and vegetables in this, along with a tablespoon or two of
olive oil, since grass-fed beef is typically very very lean.  This time I
skipped the extra vegetables (like celery, or squash) and just included chopped
garlic, a chopped onion and some olive oil.  3 minutes on each side, and they
were done.

Ice-chests were moved in and secured in the dining room behind a child-proof
gate to keep pestering nosey dogs from eating the ice :)

Last time, I had a large pot of sauce and meatballs waiting, but this time I
decided to skip that given the heat we were supposed to get this weekend.  I
figured we'd have plenty to eat once 'the cooks' got going.

I wasn't wrong. :)

Friday:

I think Nancy started cooking the beef tongue she brought, simmering it for
several hours that night, cooling around midnight, and heating it up again on
Saturday morning.

During the day I made two gluten (all-purpose flour) pizzas, one with
mozzarella and campano tomtoes sliced and a touch of pepperoni (no sauce), the
other covered with sauce, layered with prociutto, genoa salami, ham and
mozzarella.  Meanwhile, Michael made a great cheese crust pizza in my wok
(handy since I didn't have a single 'non-stick' pan in the house (g)).  He
layered the cheese crust with campano tomatoes and mozzarella and it was
fantastic.

Flour Pizza crust:

4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 Tablespoon salt
1 1/3 cups very warm water
1 Tablespoon olive olk
sprinkling of olive oil on the top of the shaped crust

Put the flour, yeast and tablespoon of salt in a kitchen-aid mixer with flat
beater.  Mix well with the beater.  Add the warm water, tablespoon of oil and
change the beater to the dough hook.  Knead with the dough hook for 10 minutes,
or until you see air holes develop in the dough when it's rubbed with your
fingers.  Gather the dough into a ball and put it in a microwave-safe bowl.
Pour about 1/4 cup oil in the bowl, and turn the dough ball to coat it with the
oil.

Microwave proofing:
In a rush?  Try using your microwave to proof the dough.  First, bring two cups
of water to a ferocious boil in the microwave.  I used 1 quart mason jar for
this.  When the water is boiling, turn off the microwave and place the
microwave safe bowl and dough in the microwave.  Microwave for two minutes at
1% power.  Shut the microwave off and leave the dough undisturbed in the
microwave with the door closed for about a half-hour.  The dough will continue
to rise during this period.

Fold the dough to distribute the yeast when done.  Cut it into two balls of
equal size, one for each pizza.  Cover with an oiled cloth.  Coat two pizza
pans with olive oil.  Preheat the oven to 400F.

Pizza Sauce
1 bottle Bionaturae strained Italian tomatoes 2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion chopped
salt, pepper to taste
2 teaspoons dried oregano (plus more to taste) 2 teaspoons dried basil (plus
more to taste) 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Garlic salt
fresh basil leave chopped

Chop the onion, mince the garlic, heat the olive oil in medium size saucepan or
10" skillet.  Add the garlic and saute until golden. Add the onion and saute
until translucent.  Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and red
pepper flakes.

Bring the sauce to a low boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 25
minutes.

Take one ball of dough and work into a circle with your hands, gently
stretching the dough.  Place the stretched dough on one of the pizza pans, and
using your fingers work the dough out to the edges of the pan.  Make a rimmed
edge along the outer edge of the pizza pan so the toppings don't spill over the
dough.

Sprinkle the shaped crust with olive oil and using your hand, make sure the oil
coats the entire pizza shell.  This helps keep the dough from getting soggy
from the sauce/toppings.

Meat lovers Pizza:

Cover the pizza shell with sauce, about 1 cup of sauce.  Spread evenly over the
dough.  Cover the sauce with any combination of Italian cold cuts like
prociutoo, then salami, then virginia ham, and top with about 1/2 pound of
chopped Italian Mozzarella cheese.  Shake basil and oregano, garlic salt,
pepper, and peccorino cheese over the top.  Drizzle the pizza lightly with
olive oil.

Bake in the pre-heated 400F oven for about 20 minutes, or until the top is
melted and the bottom of the pizza is light brown.  Cool for about 10 minutes
and cut into 6 pieces.  Serve with red-pepper flakes on the table.

Take care,
janis

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