The Hoax that is Baking

There are 3,546,561 bread recipes on the web. (It was a loose count. I could be off by one or two.) Why so many? It’s just flour, water and yeast, right? How many variations do we need? It makes me wonder if this baking thing is just a hoax, like the moon landings. I just have one recipe. I worked on it for a while, figured it out and it’s bullet proof. I use it for my pizza dough, bread dough and foccacia. Why stray? I could use that time for more productive things, like finally cracking that keychain Rubix Cube I got in sixth grade. And, no, I didn’t just peel off the stickers and put them back on in the right order.

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The Rise of Pizzalandia

When I start the country of Pizzalandia, this will be our flag. It has everything you would: bold colors, char marks from battle and grease stains from a well-fed people. On the surface, this pie looks simple, two ingredients: pesto and mozzarella. But, that math is screwy. Pesto is actually a +7: olive oil, garlic, basil, nuts, parmesan, salt and pepper.

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Pizza Progress: Something is Missing

This pizza has the sweet end of the flavor spectrum covered in spades: ricotta, reduced cream and roasted garlic. The mozzarella adds the prerequisite gooey-ness. But, it needs a bite. I have black pepper and red pepper flakes, but they aren’t doing it. I’m thinking arugula – a little bitter, spicy and a color contrast. Back to the kitchen!

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Pie Mechanic

I have been locked into making three types of pizzas. It’s hard to deviate when I spent so much time honing them to what they are today. I need to branch out though. Keep pushing myself. Every topping combination cooks differently. The fat content of different cheeses, the moisture content of the vegetables, the thickness of the crust. If you prepare them all the same, you aren’t doing the pie justice.

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