notes from my food diary

These series of photos taken about a week ago.  When there was sun in Oregon.  When the weather was in the upper 80’s and lower 90’s.  In other words, perfect and gorgeous days welcoming the summer.  Not like this week’s weather, blecchhh…, where the sun hid behind the clouds and the temperature never climbed past lower to mid 60’s.  Fortunately, when I’m writing this, the sun decided to come out and the clouds disappeared somewhat. 

That day I was thinking of taking some photos for Click! event which the theme for this month is Stacks.  I could bake some cookies and stack them, but they’d take my time away, I wasn’t in the mood.  I was looking for something simpler, something easier to do with the time on my hands at that moment.  I did make some pizza for dinner that day because since I discovered a good recipe for pizza dough, I’m always in the mood for making pizza.  And that pizza saved my day.  I figured if I stacked pizza slices together, these could make a nice stacks.  I spent sweet time in the backyard taking these photos…

I threw some oregano leaves and chive flowers with the slices since I love the color combination of the purple and green.  My two chive plants grow big this year along with my oregano and sage, they’re sprouting beautiful purple flowers.  I’m somewhat lazy doing any gardening this year, but I’m hoping to get tomato and zucchini plants this week.  Hope it’s not too late!

Some of you might know that I have this book, which is an indespensable book for me.  I’ve been looking at it last week, flipping through the pages, looking for some inspiration of what to make for Friday’s dinner.  I’ve found several recipes that I wanted to try, but this one recipe sounded so good.  It’s called Cheese Pizza Torta with five different types of cheeses.  Hmmm…just the right fix for my cheese craving soul.  It calls for a pizza dough but because I have a bread machine, making a pizza dough is relatively a quick process.  Hubby helped me grated the cheeses while I made the homemade pizza sauce.  The book gives me a recipe for a quick and quite tasty pizza sauce, which I’ve made several times.  Once you try a homemade pizza sauce, you’ll never go back to the bottled one. 

I’ve thought I read the instruction carefully but when the torta finished baking, it turned to be a slight disaster.  What happened was that I didn’t foresee that the torta would be brown on the outside, but not quite done in the inside.  Since the torta had 3 layers of dough, I should’ve tent (maybe?) the torta so the inside would get done perfectly.  It wasn’t stated in the recipe so I didn’t think of it.  Only after I cut the torta that I realized it wasn’t all the way cooked.  The very top dough rose, but the second layer of dough was didn’t quite rise and was mushed together with the cheeses.  The bottom layer didn’t puffed as much either.  Quite frankly, I haven’t figured out what I did wrong with the layers.  Grrr….  And what’s more, I didn’t make a good job braided the edges of the torta.  Yes, I was a bit pissed because the dinner was slightly ruined, and we had to nibble around the edges to eat that.  The cheeses melted wonderfully though, it’s a good combination.  I will vow to make this cheese torta again without making the same mistakes!

Not to be defeated by the failed torta, I devised another solution to use up the cheeses that I have.  The goat cheese package was already opened and was already halfway used, so it better be used right away.  So I chose calzone.  That’s right…. who doesn’t like calzone anyway?  Besides, calzone were not as daunting as torta!   I only had to do another pizza dough, rolled it into rounds, put a dollop or so of pizza sauce and dumped some cheese on it.  I brushed the edges with egg glaze, closed to form half circle, brushed the surface of the calzone with egg glaze again and lastly sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese.  These were placed in a greased baking pan and they went into a 350 degree F oven for about 25-30 minutes.  In the end I was quite happy that even though I failed at making the torta, at least I made the calzone successfully.  I will gladly share the recipe for cheese torta here because I know out there, there’s people who can make perfect torta with only one try!

Update (September 29, 2008):  I’m sending this picture below for Click! event this month since the theme is perfectly chosen:  Crusts.  Please see this link for more info.

Five-Cheese Pizza Torta

Makes one 8-inch torta

3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal or coarse semolina, for dusting

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 ounces)

1/2 cup Italian fontina cheese, shredded (2 ounces)

1/2 cup smoked provolone, shredded (2 ounces)

3 ounces soft goat cheese or feta, crumbled (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1 recipe pizza dough (enough to make 2 thin 12- to 14-inch)

1/3 cup homemade tomato herbed pizza sauce or commercial marinara sauce

Fresh ground black pepper

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for glaze

Place a baking stone on the lower third oven rack and preheat the oven to 375 degree F.  Grease an 8-inch springform pan and dust with cornmeal or semolina.

Combine all the cheeses, except 1/4 cup of the Parmesan in a small bowl and toss together.

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface.  Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.  With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to very thin 9-inch rounds.  Carefully place 1 round in the prepared pan and press the excess dough up the sides of the pan.  Spread with half of the tomato sauce.  Sprinkle with half of th cheese mixture and a few grinds of pepper, leaving a 1-inch border all around.  Brush the edge of the dough with the egg glaze.

Position the second dough round on top, again pressing the excess dough up the sides of the pan, spread with the tomato sauce, and sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese mixture and a little more pepper.  Brush the edge of the dough with the egg glaze.

Place the last dough round on top.  Bring the edges of the two bottom layers of dough up to the top, and roll the edges together in sections to seal in the cheeses; the edges will naturally form a rope pattern.  Brush the top all over with the egg glaze and sprinkle with the reserved 1/4 cup Parmesan.

Immediately place the pan in the oven and bake until thoroughly browned, about 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven to a wire rack and remove the springform sides.  Let rest for 10 minutes.  Slide the torta onto a cutting board, cut it while hot with a serrated knife, and serve.

Source:  adapted from The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger

To make calzone (this is only an approximate recipe):

After you have your pizza dough ready, divide them into 5 to 6 balls of dough.  Let them rest for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until they have risen about 20% in size.  Roll each ball of dough into about 9-inch round.  Put a dollop of tomato sauce in the middle of the dough, sprinkle with the cheese mixture & a few grinds of pepper.  Brush the edges with egg glaze and enclose it so it forms a half round shape.  Brush the top of calzone with egg glaze and sprinkle with Parmesan.  Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.  Place them in a baking stone and bake in 350 degree F oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Another round of Klub Berani Baking’s challenge, this time it is Pizza. It is something that I’ve been doing for a while though the recipe is slightly different than the ones I usually make. Lots of times I made pizza with tomato sauce as a base, but this time I decided to go sauceless. I made two types of pizza because when I prepared them, my parents were still visiting and they needed to eat too One was a vegetarian, it was topped with spinach, Gorgonzola and pine nut. The second one was topped with artichoke, goat cheese and sausage. They became our New Year’s Eve dinner eventually.

Even though my pizzas were sauceless I put garlic oil on the pizza crusts to let them have additional aroma that’s flavorful. It really helped and something that I have to remember to use it all the time I make pizza.

I didn’t encounter any difficulties while making these so everything went smoothly. I did made a slight adjustment to the recipe in regards to the way they’re baked. Before the toppings went onto the pizza, I brushed the dough with garlic oil, baked in the oven for about 8 minutes, took it out and proceeded with the toppings. I baked it again for another 8-10 minutes in the pan. Since my toppings were pre-cooked I just had to make sure my dough baked thoroughly. Least but not least, if oven temperature is not hot enough, crank it up to 450°F.

Pizza

Pizza base:
1 sachet (@ 7g = 1/4 oz = 2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ½ cups bread flour (high-grade flour)
Salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in a small bowl with 200ml (6 ½ fl oz) of tepid water. Stir well and set aside for 10 minutes, or until the mixture froths.

Place the flour and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture and olive oil. Mix until a firm dough forms.

Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5-7 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1-1 ½ hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 210C (415F, Gas Mark 6-7).

Punch down the dough with your fist to release the air. Divide into two or three equal portions and roll out or press to a thickness of 4-5mm (¼ in). Transfer to lightly oiled pizza trays.

Top with your choice of toppings and cook for 15 minutes. Then slide the pizza off the tray onto the oven shelf and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, to crisp up the base.

Source: The Perfect Cookbook. David Herbert. Viking. Victoria, Australia. 2003

Spinach, Gorgonzola and Pine Nut Pizza
Makes 1 large pizza

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 12-inch diameter pizza crust
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach leaves, thawed, drained well, squeezed dry
1 tablespoon Garlic Oil (see recipe)
4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
3 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (about 1 ounce)
Pepper

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until very tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, sauté; 2 minutes. Add spinach to skillet and cook until liquid evaporates, separating spinach leaves with spoon, about 3 minutes. Cool.

Place crust on baking sheet. Brush crust with Garlic Oil. Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes. Top with spinach mixture. Sprinkle Gorgonzola and mozzarella over spinach. Top with nuts. Season with pepper. Bake pizza until crust is golden brown and cheese bubbles.

Artichoke Pizza with Goat Cheese and Sausage
Makes 1 large pizza

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 13.75- to 1/4-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained
1/3 cup roasted red bell peppers from jar, drained
20 Kalamata olives, pitted—I omitted this
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce)
1 12-inch diameter pizza crust
1 tablespoon Garlic Oil
1/2 cup (generous) crumbled soft fresh goat cheese (such as Montrachet,; about 2 ounces)
Pepper

Sauté sausage in heavy medium skillet over medium heat until cooked through, crumbling sausage with spoon, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer all sausage to paper towels and drain.

Combine artichoke hearts, bell peppers, 12 olives (if using) and basil in processor. Using on/off turns, process until finely chopped. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in sausage and mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Place crust on large baking sheet. Brush with Garlic Oil. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes. Spread artichoke mixture over crust. Dot with goat cheese. Top with 8 olives (if using). Season with pepper. Bake pizza until crust is golden and mozarella bubbles.

Garlic Oil
Makes 1/4 cup

1/2 cup olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, pressed

Combine olive oil and garlic. Cover and chill overnight. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before using.

Source: adapted from Bon Appétit: Tastes of the World

There’s nothing more satisfying than to make your own pizza. This recipe proofs that you could make a pizza at home more delicious than store-bought ones. Homemade pizza is perfect for inviting friends over, you let your guests choose the toppings. With the dough made in advance and pre-baked, baking the pizza would be a breeze.

The only difference between store-bought and homemade pizza would be if you have a pizza stone or not. Preheated pizza stone helps the dough turns crispy and sturdy, while if you don’t have a stone the crust would be a little softer. You could use a preheated baking pan that acts like pizza stone. This recipe uses this technique and results are satisfactory.

I’m trying a sauceless pizza with whole wheat and basil dough. The pizza is simply adorned with shredded Fontina and Mozzarella with tomatoes and kalamata olives. I think this makes a perfect entry for Käse event hosted by Zorra

Fontina, Olive, and Tomato Pizza with Basil Whole Wheat Crust
Yield 6 servings

Dough:
1 tablespoon honey
1 package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoon)
1 cup warm water (100° to 110° F)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces), divided
1 cup whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons stone-ground yellow cornmeal

Remaining Ingredients:
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced (about 1/2 pound)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Fontina cheese
3 tablespoons chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon pine nuts, coarsely chopped—- I skipped this
Cracked black pepper (optional)

To prepare dough, dissolve honey and yeast in 1 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until soft and elastic (about 6 minutes); add enough remaining all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to keep dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly sticky). Knead in fresh basil just until incorporated. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees F), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough).

Roll dough into a 12-inch circle (about 1/4 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Place dough on a rimless baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim. Lightly spray surface of dough with cooking spray; cover with plastic wrap. Place dough in refrigerator.

Position one oven rack in the middle setting. Position another rack in the lowest setting, and place a rimless baking sheet on the bottom rack. Preheat oven to 500° F.

Remove plastic wrap from dough and discard. Remove preheated baking sheet from oven, close oven door. Slide dough onto preheated baking sheet, using a spatula as a guide. Bake on lowest oven rack at 500° F for 8 minutes.

Arrange tomato slices on paper towels. Cover with additional paper towels, and let stand 5 minutes.

Sprinkle Fontina over crust, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Arrange tomato slices and olives over Fontina; sprinkle with Mozzarella. Top with pine nuts. Bake on middle rack an additional 8 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese melts. Garnish with cracked pepper if desired. Cut into 12 wedges.

Source: Cooking Light magazine, date unknown