Judging A Book

I'm going to let you in on my big secret - none of my ideas are actually original. I get inspired by an instagram post here, a meal I've eaten there... and I'm constantly on the search for a better recipe for every thing I've ever made before - so I keep a notebook of all noteworthy recipes and constantly make notes and tweaks. This notebook will probably be my greatest achievement in life. 

My research typically takes me to google, where I'll do an image search until I find the perfect texture/crumb I'm looking for (because there are a million different recipes for everything!). 

Case in point - I have previously been a huge fan of Bobby Flay's recipe for pizza dough - and based on the google search results, so has most of the internet. It's decent, no lie. But I wanted something more than decent, so I combed through google images and found the perfect crust:

Would you LOOK at that. This is the crust I've been looking for all this time.

I adjusted the recipe I found from Double Thyme - I was looking to add some whole wheat flour to my crust and found additional tips from Feeling Foodish on how to recreate the best NYC style pizza, so obviously I did that. 

You Will Need:

2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for work surface

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast (Yes, 1/2 teaspoon!*)

1 1/3 cups ice water

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for work surface

1 1/2 teaspoon table salt

*I definitely recommend reading through the Tips from Feeling Foodish - most pizza dough recipes will call for more yeast, but it's really not necessary. This dough is by far the best homemade dough I've had!

In a food processor, process the flour, sugar, and yeast until combined, about 10 seconds. With machine running, slowly add the water through the feed tube and process until the dough is just combined and no dry flour remains, about 20 seconds. Let the dough stand for 10 minutes.

Add oil and salt to dough and process until dough forms a sticky ball that clears the side of the processor, about 30-60 seconds. Remove dough from processor and knead briefly on lightly oiled countertop until smooth, about 1 minute.

Shape dough into a tight ball and place in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.

An hour before you're ready to bake the pizza, adjust the oven rack to the second highest position. Set your pizza stone on the rack and heat oven to 550 degrees. Remove dough from fridge and divide into four pieces. Shape each quarter into a smooth ball and place on a floured surface, covering with plastic wrap and let stand for an hour.

Shape dough - check out the video below for tips! The directions were easy to follow and my dough came out perfectly!

Top your pizza, slide pizza carefully on your pizza stone (I use a pizza peel coated generously with corn meal) and bake until crust is browned and cheese is bubbly, about 10-12 minutes. 

Today was actually Momma Tong's birthday! So we had family over and did a pizza bar. I had all the veggie options on one platter, then different sauces, cheeses, and meats on other platters.

Pizza bar is always a hit! Everyone can top to their own taste and it's also a great way to use up any odds and ends in the fridge or freezer.

That's another thing about me - I'm a bit of a food hoarder and I don't like wasting food, so I will literally freeze everything. Odds and ends of smoked bacon, chorizo, pesto... and the fridge is even worse - a bit of onion here, a clove of garlic there... So pizza bar is the best way I can think of to use up everything!

This go-around, I made a buffalo chicken pizza! Pizza sauce, mozzarella, blue cheese sauce, buffalo wing sauce, red onions, and spinach. It was everything. Look at that crust!!! Thin and crispy!

In my future, I will most definitely need an outdoor brick pizza oven type situation.  Now that I've found the perfect dough - this pizza needs to happen all the time!

Have a Happy Weekend!