Pro Pizza Dough

Makes: 4 crusts
Total time: 1 1/4 hours or more
Preheat oven: 500 degrees with baking stone in oven
Bake: until crust is nicely browned, 10-12 minutes

Dissolve; stir in:
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 t)
1 cup warm water (105-115)
1 t. honey
1 T extra virgin olive oil

Add, knead, let rise, press out:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 t. table salt

Dissolve yeast in water in the mixer bowl. Stir in honey and let stand 2-3 minutes, or until the liquid begins to bubble. Add the olive oil and stir. Add flour and salt to the yeast mixture. Use a paddle attachment just to mix, then change to a dough hook. Knead until the dough comes cleanly away from sides and clusters around the hook, about 5 minutes. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface and briefly knead by hand. The dough should be smooth and elastic; when pressed, it should slowly spring back and not feel tacky. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm spot to rise for 30-60 minutes. When ready , the dough will stretch when gently pulled. Divide dough into 4 pieces; shape into balls, pulling down sides and tucking under as you work around the ball 4 or 5 times. To remove air bubbles, roll each ball under your palm until smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap coated with nonstick spray and let rise another 30-60 minutes. Press dough out on a lightly floured surface. Turn the dough, pressing on its center, to gradually spread it to a 7-8" circle, or roll it out to 10-12" for a larger, thinner crust; press around the edge for a thicker, raised rim. Transfer to a pizza peel dusted generously with cornmeal or flour, brush dough with oil, then top.

After forming the dough balls, they can be covered and refrigerated for 1-2 days. Just punch them down again when you're ready to roll them out. If you don't have a peel, use the back of a baking sheet to transfer pizza to the heated oven stone.

Pizza without slug topping

If I had to pick only one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it would be pizza. Homemade pizza without slugs. :)

Sushi and Miso soup

Make some Sushi rice. Yes, use Kombu and season your own vinegar... then slice some Scallions, Cucumbers and Daikon radish. and the seafood of your choosing. For our purposes here, Chris and I had Shrimp, minced Clams, Tuna and Lox (cured salmon). Assemble in your favorite way.

Cheese Boy

Ethan helped me grate some Cheese today.

:p

Bacon Guacamole Burgers

So I'm working on my parent's house.
Supposedly getting it ready to sell.

A fine example of my work.

Well, my younger brother Josh comes over to their house for lunch, pretty much every day, because he works close. So last week we worked out a plan together for Bacon Guacamole burgers this week...
They turned out rather well.

Can't forget the sautéed onions!
They're in the top five as far as burger toppings go...

:)

It's what's for dinner.

But it'll do for lunch in our case.

Beer Can Chickenz

In honor of the Solstice, I roasted up a couple beer can chickens.

I keep thinking they're talking to each another.

Y'know, something like this...

On a Sunday in the snow when there's nothing much to do...

Actually, I'm glad today is the solstice. It all gets better from here. Although I don't mind the cold. It's a pain, yeah. But it'll help kill off the bugs... and it'll help next year's seeds germinate... y'know, that kind of thing. There's a bigger picture going on. And I don't mind. It makes the rest of my life tolerable.

Bring on the chicken!

The Bounty of the Sea

Roadmap:
First, purge your shellfish... then you warm a small amount of olive oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and saute till golden and aromatic, add diced yellow peppers, green onions(whites only, reserve the green for later) and your favorite hot peppers. Saute til tender. Add shellfish and your favorite chopped smoke grilled sausage, some dry white wine and simmer covered till shellfish open. Toss with the greens from the onion, sliced grape tomatoes and fresh chopped cilantro. Slice fresh crusty bread, rub with garlic clove, drizzle with E. V. O. Oil and toast in a pan or on a grill. Serve with your favorite beverage, adult or otherwise. For me it was a toss up so I had a little of both "Kung Fu Girl" Riesling and a wonderful redhook "ESB".