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Home » Pizza

Pizza

Everything is a sign + Roasted squash pizza

August 16, 2013 by Edlyn

Like this past Sunday when I told myself 10 times that I will not be able to carry another cooler filled with stuff and put it on a dolly and then roll it to “our spot”, a place marked with chalk initials, all on a downhill slope. Everything was escaping from me. My lower back (use your knees), my grip, the dolly, and reasons why I was doing this.  But I did it anyway because it seemed logical. If I quit, I’d get fired and that would seem illiogical. So I did it. When the time came to wrap things up, we undid what we just did a few hours earlier. Un-canopied the canopy, unhooked the generator, unplugged the boom box, propped it back up on the dolly and rolled it to the van…you know, the opposite. A couple serenaded me while I toyed with this new word I learnt: “Cambro…caaam-bro…*very fast* cambro…” Cambro. They sounded good together. They stayed till I finished the heavy lifting, ukulele sounds coupled with my half-panting, half-not so much.

They were a sign. A good sign.

That was the beginning and the end. The middle was a different sort of test. With a brain so easily confusable (not a word, I know), I got my first lesson in giving the customer what s/he wants. And while I did that, I made small talk about Pushkar and fish that aren’t scared of humans. I think those are called koi but I never said that because I associate koi with ponds and a bunch of overfed fish swimming really close and touching tails. Groups of living things doing living things give me the shivers. Okay then. While I had to ask people at least 2 times what they wanted to eat, I found sneaky not-so-“I’m a little slow” ways to do it. I was the most scared of giving a vegetarian chicken but, I made it, with one near miss (not related to vegetarian-y things). Then Diane came along. She wanted to trade a birch dream-catcher she was making under the tree for a bowl of quinoa. She smiled really big and introduced herself, telling us she was walking around the market trading food for the dream-catchers. I asked her if she was very creative and she said she’d like to think so. She got her bowl of sunshine vegetarian quinoa and my boss got a dream-catcher.

That was a good sign too. A very good sign.

The last round of picking up the place we fed people was pushing up the cart up the hill so it could be hooked back up to the van. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have time to go buy some veggies and use my $1 discount but I was ready to go back and do dishes, in a strange twist of events. Before we could start, the Hmong flower vendors that were in no hurry let us pick a bouquet of flowers I don’t know the name of. They were poofy and they were probably dahlias. They spelt glory every way you looked at them and they were mine. If you’re wondering if that was a good sign too, it was.

I liked that sign.

We walked up to the cart one last time, ready to heave/ho and I hear: “Hey you want one too?” I looked up because I probably was looking down at the time. I also looked up because when somebody says “hey”, it could mean anybody. Unless there’s a person named Hey. In that case I’d look up and back down a bit faster. But “hey” was me. Did I want one? Yes, Diane. Y.E.S. I want a dream-catcher! I want all the dream-catchers that you made at summer camp out of birch because you know why? I’ll tell you why. It matches my flowers and also because that…THAT was the best sign of them all.

Roasted squash summer pizza

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New favourite pizza dough alert. If for any reason it doesn’t work for you, please let me know. I will be happy to go back to the drawing board for you. That’s what I’m here for after all. Happy chow-downing.

Ingredients

For the toppings

  • 300 gms summer squash/zucchini (about 2 medium sized squash)
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp fresh oregano and thyme, chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated (use more or less if you please)
  • 1/2 cup caramelised red onions (optional)
  • 1/4 cup black olives, chopped

For the dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup atta (durum wheat flour), plus more for dusting and kneading
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 tsp raw cane sugar
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

file IMG_7366 file2IMG_7412

You can start the pizza party by turning your oven up to 400 degrees F, which is this house take 2 shouting matches at 2 different times of the day, leaving me with very little sleep and just a few hours to use the oven until the home space turns into our very own furnace. *Currently baking eggplant on the sofa*

Slice the zucchini and summer squash into 1/4 inch thick rounds and season with all the spices and herbs apart from the cheese  and onions. Once the squash is coated well, place on a baking sheet lined with foil and roast for 20 minutes until the edges brown and the squash looks crinkly. Let it cool before peeling it off the foil.

While the squash is roasting, have yourself a dance party. Once you’re done, it’s time for pizza pizza dough. Fill a bowl with the warm water and add the sugar to it. Stir to dissolve and then put in the yeast. Don’t stir it this time. Let the yeast take it’s time to dissolve. Yeast is the boss of you. Breadmakers all over the world will agree. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 5-13 minutes. It should look a bit frothy before it gets mixed into the flour. While the yeast is sitting around being the boss, put the all-purpose flour plus the atta (durum wheat flour) in a large bowl. Using your plain ol’ fingers mix it with the salt and the olive oil. To this add the yeast and again, mix, mix, mix with thy fingers (it’s really more fun this way). It should all come together at this point and form into a nice soft, elastic, dough that can be easily shaped. If it doesn’t and it’s still too sticky, add more of the durum flour to it, a little by little till it’s easy to work with. Knead the dough in  the bowl for 5 minutes….no less and no more. Then cover it with a tea towel and put plastic wrap over the bowl. Place in a warm spot in the kitchen to let the yeast work it’s magic. The warmer the spot, the better the rise. I usually stick the bowl in a corner in the kitchen cupboard. Leave it there for a minimum of 1 1/2 hours to 3-4 hours.

Once the dough has risen, pull out the bowl from the cupboard and punch it. Free all the air and split the dough in half. You can make 1 pizza from half of the dough and freeze or refrigerate the rest depending on how soon you will use it. Leave it in the fridge for no more than 3 days and freeze it if you plan on keeping it for longer. The ingredients I’ve stated above work well with half the dough.

Grease a baking sheet with olive oil and taking half the dough, spread it around on the sheet using your hands. It might resist a bit in the beginning by reclaiming it’s shape but it becomes more pizza-like eventually. Once you’ve shaped it, loosen it up once from the bottom of the sheet. This means you just lift it up and put it right back down. This will help it not stick to the pan after it’s cooked. Brush the top of the pizza with olive oil and the top it with the squash, olives, caramelised onions (if using) and parmesan cheese.

So pretty right?

Bake the pizza for 20-25 minutes until the edges of the bread brown lightly. Pull it out of the oven, let it cool just a tad, slice and serve.

IMG_7433

 

Filed Under: savoury Tagged With: Pizza, roasted vegetables, seattle, vegetarian

BBQ chicken pizza + A short story made long

February 27, 2013 by Edlyn

What is it about BBQ chicken, smoked so perfectly that makes you feel so impure, unholy and in need of a soul cleanse?

Nothing.

That was a trick question. Do not fall for it again.

Yesterday I felt like Awesomepants was in need of a treat. No, not THAT kind. The food kind. I’d like to think I can do no wrong when it comes to making dinner. Ninety-eight per cent of the time, it works. The other 2 per cent is a lady who wishes she didn’t feel so compelled to feed her partner wholesome green produce (I’m sorry b, I really care) and who wasn’t a cliche when it came to the grill. I’m not scared of it, no. There’s something about a warm living room and couch with a husband making dinner that seems a lot more appealing to me.

As if coincidental to my plan, we got rid of our grill on Sunday. Who knew that grills grew pretty moulds in rainy conditions? Not me. I definitely wasn’t paying attention in Biology lab when there were pickled snakes to look at.

Since I can’t grill chicken, nor do we own a grill anymore, I decided to to this local BBQ joint downtown. It’s small, nondescript and looked just like one of those places that you never know existed because it’s such a well-kept secret. I always noticed the “Eat Ribs” sign from the bus station, where my wandering begins and ends.

DID SOMEONE SAY RIBS? << Sure fire hugsband reaction.

Off I went to the bus to carry home his favourite food. I knew he said he wanted a protein shake for dinner (No.) so I made peace with all that BBQ lovin’ and got a mix of chicken and ribs. (Fewer..like 3) Ribs: (More) Chicken = perfect ratio for world peace.

Good chicken makes me happy. Good leftover chicken makes great pizza. Great pizza makes me happy. Good happy makes pizza chicken. Happy chicken pizza good.

There’s always a method to this madness.

PS: You don’t have to add the BBQ chicken if you don’t have any. This pizza works just as well without it.

Image

Ingredients

For the pizza bread:

  • 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup warm water
  • 1/4 tsp honey
  • 2 cups (10 oz) whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp olive oil

For the toppings:

  • Shredded leftover BBQ chicken
  • 1 Roma tomato
  • 4 oz mozzarella cheese
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Dry basil
  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped fine
  • A handful of cilantro leaves
  • 1/4 cup of red onion, sliced very thin

Add the yeast to water along with the honey and let it sit for 7 minutes. I might have let it sit for 2 more minutes because I forgot. You can give me dirty looks…Image

…but I won’t see them! HAHA. I like you guys! Stay.

In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and olive oil and mix it up with your bare hands.

Like a caveman! Except, I don’t think cavemen ate bread as much as they did wooly mammoths. I say go bare because it’s the only way you can truly feel the dough. You’ll know what it lacks (too sticky, more flour, too dry..etc) and you’ll use more of your instinct to give it that. Hands are the future, people.

This is my hand.Image

To this mixture, add the yeast+water mixture and knead the dough until it all comes together. Once this step is complete, cover the bowl and place it in a nice warm space 40 minutes.

It won’t rise much or at least to noticeable levels. Don’t worry about that. Take it out of the bowl and knead it for 5 minutes, working the dough nicely. Put it in plastic wrap and into the fridge so you can work on the toppings.

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Slice the tomatoes horizontally and place them in a bowl. To the bowl add, about a teaspoon of olive oil to coat the slices, the chopped garlic, dry basil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and let it sit for 5 minutes. Slice the mozzarella and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Back to the bread, take the dough out of the fridge and flatten it with your hands. Do this as far as you can and then take a rolling pin to it. Grease a baking sheet (because that’s what I used) with olive oil and put the dough on top. The sheet I used was a perfect fit. I had to cut very little off the edges. If I had to guess, the final rolled-out dough was about 1/2 an inch thick. I pressed it down a little bit more with my fingers once it was on the sheet.Image

Brushed some more olive oil on top of the dough and then add the tomato slices + the juices from the bowl it was in. Lay out the cheese very strategically so there’s cheese in every bite. Though I’ve stated the amount of cheese to be used, it’s just a guideline. You can go crazy. Finally, add the chicken and red onion.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the bread is crisp along the edges.

Sprinkle the cilantro on top for some flava.

Slice.

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Take so-so presentation picture for blog.

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Attempt to eat pizza with fork.

Realise foolishness.

Bare hands. Future. Remember?

Filed Under: food Tagged With: BBQ, bread, chicken, cooking, dinner, In Washington, Love what you do, Pizza, Real-est housewife, Thing things

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