New Year's Day Pizza and Banana Bread Cupcakes
Our tradition has always been, since my daughter can remember, to have pizza on New Year’s Eve. This year my daughter’s boy friend wasn’t able to attend so we put off the pizza until he could – on New Year’s Day.
So pizza was the first bake of 2013 and after Pure Ugly Panettone for the last bake of 2012, we wanted to start off right. We went back to our real old non SD, non whole grain dough at the daughter’s request. Seem’s like kids get anything they want now a days.
We did a 3 day build for the poolish, that Italians call a biga, with just a pinch of yeast to try to get some extra flavor in the dough and refrigerated the levain for 24 hours.
We made the dough and, after a two hour bulk ferment, we refrigerated it for 24 hours too, all in hopes of getting a flavorful dough that would stretch thin enough to read a paper though and not tear. We added our usual sun dried tomatoes, fresh rosemary and garlic to the dough an hour before use.
It all worked out beautifully, my daughter loved the crust as did her boyfriend but, even though it was a fine workable dough that stretched easily and thinly like no other, I have to admit it didn’t taste as good, or have the depth of flavor, as the SD whole grains variety.
The pizza turned out very well and the toppings included all the usual suspects; Mojo de Ajo, hot and mild sausage (not home made this time), caramelized onions, caramelized; button, shiitake and crimini mushrooms, green and red bell peppers, poblano and jalapeno peppers, kalamata olives, pepperoni and 7 cheeses.
My wife agreed it is the best crust yet so I guess we have to make 2 kinds from now on to suit everyone.
Comments
Nice looking pizza DA ... inspiring, as we are are having friends over for pizza tonight ...
Best wishes for the new year
Cheers,
Phil
Night went as well down under as it did in AZ. Pizza is one of the the universal foods like bread and broccoli - well maybe not broccoli unless you put it on pizza!
Cheers for the New Year and for you and yours!
Mr. D,
Yes, these kids do get everything they want these days....especially when we only get them under our roof on holidays. My daughter prefers IY in certain things too and I have to fight with myself to keep my hands off of the sd jar when putting one of her favorites into production....Luckily she loves whole grains so I only have half the battle you do :-)
This looks scrumptious!
Happy New Year to You and Yours!
Janet
delicious Janet and the next day some of the younger generation had it for breakfast the next day and lunch too!! Too much of a good thing I say but pretty normal for college kids I suspect. My daughter likes whole wheat and SD just not in her pizza dough too much. She has to be ill from my perspective but no remedy is in sight. Her boyfriend liked the breads with all the seeds, soakers and sprouts in them better than the rest - just like me - so he is for sure a keeper.
My daughter will be back to school tomorrow and my wife is already upset about that. They will miss their daily walks/runs together where their iPhones use GPS map out their route, calculate times, minutes per mile and just about everything else you would want to know about the jaunts. Amazing! Plus they can games against each other while they walk too. Pretty soon the iPhone will be making bread and laminated doughs - but who would want that?
Happy New Year to you and yours Janet.
Nice Pizza DA....I'm off to China for two weeks so no good pizza for me! I look forward to reading about some of your 2013 bakes to keep me gong.
Happy New Year!
Ian
you Inan. Have a fun a safe trip to China. Got a couple of Mega Grain Soaker SD breads in the fridge that have some of your sour cream in them for a change. Finally got around to using it in bread.
Safe Travels
Thanks DA.
Made it to Hong Kong in one piece. Except for the crying baby the flight was uneventful and I actually managed to get some sleep for a change. Just took a walk around downtown Kowloon and stopped off for a snack in a local coffee shop. Note to self: don't get fried shrimp on soft rolls again.....it was like eating brine shrimp I used to use to feed my tropical shrimp on a roll. Tasty for the fish, but not tasty to me!
Look forward to seeing your upcoming experiments. Hopefully I can get this website in the mainland. In the past I used a program that allowed me to circumvent the blocked websites, but I don't have it on my new laptop.
Keep on baking my friend!
Ian
My mouth is watering loooking at the photos, D. The crust cooked so nicely!
-Brad
pizzas up, I par bake the docked crust with Mojo de Aho on top for 3 minutes, then top them and throw them back in the oven for another 5-7 min or so. That is as close to very hot WF pizza oven that I can get with my GE. These were so thin and crispy the slices never went limp!
Thanks for commenting Brad! Happy Baking in 2013.
Though that would be a classier way of saying that my assistant has her nose pressed against the computer screen and is drooling onto my keyboard! Looks like those bread gremlins have gone back to wherever they should stay. They will be in a major pout of frustration when they see that bread pudding and/or the French Toast. The pizza crust looks crackingly great, and those cupcakes would be so good anytime of the day...or even a midnight snack? Everyone seems to like the thicker crust here but that thin crust has to be outstanding. I hadn't thought of par baking, what a good idea. I just took some Overnight Country Blond out of the oven. Sisterly challenge of the week, plus a Lemon Anise Tea Loaf. Last night made my version of the rose for a King's Cake with almond filling and Mardi Gras colors of sprinkles on top of the glaze. Almond filling was on Youtube that is linked to the rose site- by Chef Ciril Hitz. 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons butter, 1 egg, 1/3 cup almond flour, 1 teaspoon bread flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Much faster than grinding almonds etc. Now for the funny part. I used the Sweet and Rich Challah for the dough because it was fast. If I had just thought of dividing the dough and making a loaf of Challah and a Rose it would have been a little more practical. After proofing, it almost filled the cookie sheet. Half is now at the Fire Hall, hopefully being enjoyed like a giant cinnamon roll. Nice shredy dough and great taste though.
Can't wait to see sister's breads!
Barbra
Barbra
being baking busy with my 84 hour multi-grain SD bread - just posted while you baking the normal i bake of Country Blond plus a Lemon Anise Tea Loaf (I know I would be drooling over that) Plus a King Challah Rose that is almond filled and Mardi Gras topped - a real to die for! You have been a 4 B'er (Busy Baking Barbra Bee)!! The fire fighters must be in heaven.
Can't wait to see pictures and write up for it all and your sister's contribution to the weekly Blondie Bake.
You are off to a great 2013 and baking up a storm too!