Pizza Progress

Not so very long ago I posted some information about my goal to improve my pizza crust.  I've been working with a really simple and tasty recipe and have been happy with it.  But then I read some web articles that recommended using a food processor and gluten flour to reach the chewy NY style crust I'm striving for.  And we've been watching some Food Network videos of Alton Brown (love science + food!) and have picked up some additional tips.  We tried out some of these tips over the weekend.

1)  The food processor.  I swear by it.  I love my stand mixer, but the dough I've been getting out of the food processor is like satin and easily passes the window pane test.  I got this tip from the Pizza Lab web article I shared previously.  I decided to go back to my old recipe this weekend and, lo and behold, it also suggests the food processor!  I was just so stand-mixer-centric that I'd never even noticed the alternate instructions!  This crust held up nicely to the process of sliding off the peel without sticking.  Ample corn meal surely helped.

2)  A HOT oven.  This goes without saying but years ago my Pampered Chef pizza stone shattered in the oven when I tried to preheat it to the 500+ degrees that is recommended.  I bucked my reluctance and decided to give it another shot with my replacement stone.  This stone is well seasoned and the other one was less so, that may be the difference.  In any case, we set the oven to its max: 550 degrees F.  I think we'll let it go just a minute or two less next time (it continues to cook for a period after it is pulled from the oven) but we achieved a nice cracker-crisp underside and still great breadiness to the edge.

3)  The cheese.  Alton Brown puts his cheese directly on the crust and then splashes it with sauce. This worked beautifully and we actually felt that the proportions worked out better in this manner.  We used both less sauce and less cheese.  But we used better cheese.  In this case better was also more expensive but totally worth it.  Fresh mozzarella rounds and very finely grated fresh Parmesan...can't be beat.  For anyone doing the math, it is less expensive to build your own (assuming you have some staples in your pantry: flour, yeast, tomato sauce and paste) and you get a far superior pizza.  Maybe not at first, but even our early efforts were tasty and we love the process of cooking together which is priceless.

4)  The beverage.  You can, of course, drink whatever you want.  But we have been lovin' on the Tahoe Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines.  If you're under the legal drinking age and reading this, then I recommend grape KoolAid.  Or Mountain Dew if you're feeling bold.

www.jerianne.rnohomes.com