Hi everyone. Happy middle of the week.
Today for Kathy's Food Wednesday post. I have a meal we make usually once a week in my house. It's pretty obvious what it is.
I have this cast iron pan which I love and almost always make my pizza in. I can use it in the oven, but I can also put it right on the grill when the weather is warm. It actually crisps my crust up even better on the grill than in my oven, but in the winter, I just use the oven.
We don't always use the same toppings, but last week we used pepperoni, onions and some chopped up left over chicken. I would have added some green pepper, but we didn't have any.
I almost always make my own crust, usually sourdough. It's a good way to use my discard sourdough and then feed my culture. Here's my dough recipe, which basically comes from King Arthur Flour.
1 cup sourdough starter
1 tsp. of yeast
a dash of salt
1/2 cup or 4 ounces of warm water
10.5 ounces of flour
1/4 cup or one large unmeasured handful (how I measure this) of assorted harvest grain blend-you can add more or less depending on how much "crunch" you want in your dough
Here's the harvest grain blend product I use from King Arthur flour; photos are from their website. I know there are other ones out there that are probably just as good, but I haven't tried them.
I usually like to make my dough in the morning and let it have a slow rise in the fridge. I take it out a couple of hours before dinner time. I have also made dough and let it sit in the fridge for several days before using it.
Do you use a scale when you bake? I never did until I went to a one week basic pastry school several summers ago. I really prefer it, but most recipes here in the US aren't written that way. One thing I learned in this class is how much 1 cup of flour can actually vary, depending on the type or even brand of flour you use, but not with the the scale. I also like the scale because I can use recipes in metric. It does open up a whole range of recipes. And it brings back my lab days measuring out things on a scale in various science labs. Hee hee. For me at least, I love my little kitchen scale.
I do know that generations of bakers didn't have scales and also made some yummy things, so I'm not writing about scales to make anyone think my baking is better with one or other's baking isn't good without one.
That's it for me today. Thanks Kathy for hosting this link up also.
12 comments:
Miriam makes a great homemade pizza, but certainly not once a week! Ours is primarily vegetarian, but does not suffer from lack of meat. We are not vegetarians I should point out, but in recent years we have cut out red meat, eat far less meat altogether, and fish is on the menu a couple of times a week. Fish on a pizza probably wouldn't work! Shrimp might! In our house we both cook, often together, but there are dishes I make and dishes she makes, and pizza is one of hers. I wouldn't have a clue how to make the dough - and I don't plan to learn! I first had pizza in Naples where it originated, when I was twenty, and there it is very simply. It's basically dough, olive oil, tomato sauce and cheese, fired in a wood oven and sprinkled with basil. With a glass of red wine it was fabulous! Hugs from pizza-deprived David.
This looks like great pizza, Erika, I have kitchen scales, but I never use them because I am a lousy cook (grin).
Good morning, what a delicious looking pizza. and I Love your cast iron pan-perfect. I always make my pizza dough too, but now just for my husband's pizza and then I make a gluten free version for my crust-which I have started using a gf bobs red mill mix-so I know it will turn out-haha
In gluten free baking they also say to use a scale for the flours for better accuracy-I have never done that but I can see how it would make a difference. Have you noticed that with baking with King Arthur's unbleached flour most cookie-etc recipes need less flour than called for in the recipe?-so their flour must be heavy. I should get out my scale and weigh it first.
Thank for this wonderful post with recipe and for sharing with us on Food Wednesdays hugs Kathy
Oh, boy. YUM!!!!! This looks to die for!
We didn´t have real pizza in ages.
Yes, when it comes to dough I use the scale, otherwise... pfffft. As I think.
The result certainly sadly is... I cannot repeat, LOL.
Hugs and to yum.
A wonderful post. We too have pizza quite often. Yours looks SOOOO yummy good. Have a great day today.
My husband is our pizza maker. Homemade pizza is best, isn't it!
Love pizza. I use AP flour and bake it on a pizza stone. I haven't had good luck with sourdough. I have a kitchen scale, but use it for portion control.
Great toppings and perfect crust..that looks like a perfect pizza!
Your pizza looks wonderful, so yummy! Hugs, Valerie
Nope i've never used a scale ... Your pizza looks YUMMY! So yummy... I love pizza.. Its right up there on my favorite food list..you? My husband keeps trying to make sourdough bread like his mother used to make... he has tried a few times but no success yet... He does not use a starter... doesn't know what i'm talking about when i mention starter... Is it possible to make sourdough bread without a starter?? Do you know?Hugs! deb
That looks unbelievably delicious! Rick uses a scale all the time for bread. I do when I'm cooking a Brit recipe in grams but not always.
Gee Erika, blogger is playing its tricks again. I left a whole comment here about pizza and it seems to have disappeared into the ether.
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