And some days the family resemblance just stands up and hits you about the head and shoulders

[omorka]

The new bread machine works! I tried it out tonight, but I didn't want to make a full loaf of bread (I'd never eat it all, and the Spouse is under the weather enough that he's not eating much at all). So instead I made pizza dough.

I thought I had a pizza pan, but I can't find it, and I remember it being fairly badly scratched, so perhaps I got rid of it somewhere along the way. So I made vaguely oblong pizzas on cookie sheets; one of them came out almost rectangular.

Oh, did I ever mention that my parents' traditional Sunday night dinner is a homemade pizza? They traditionally make it with a very specific set of ingredients, and I deliberately didn't use any of them.

Didn't matter. Apparently it's the crust that does it, and mine was, while not identical to theirs (I used olive oil, and I don't think they did), close enough in taste and texture to bring back slightly unpleasant memories. (Having said that, the pizza itself was decent.)

So, before I do that again:

1) Bake the damn thing longer than 12 minutes. Yes, that bakes it through and melts the cheese, but it still leaves the squishy part in the middle.

2) Roll out the dough a lot thinner next time and brush it all over with olive oil.

3) Add salt before the cheese next time.

4) Buy a better pizza pan. Preferably one with sides, so you can do deep dish.

5) Use at least some whole wheat flour in the dough if you're not also doing a foccacia bread.

6) In fact, buy a pizza stone and a peel while you're at it.

7) And for the gods' sakes buy a damn pizza cutter.

Comments

[bassfingers.livejournal.com]

It's ALL about the dough... Specifically, the Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Dough from the book American Pie by Peter Reinhart.

5 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar or honey (I've tried both, ended up preferring how the sugar turned out)
2 tablespoons table salt or 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (I use 3 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt, left over from my pretzel making days.)
1 teaspoon instant yeast (or 1 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast, added to warm water prior to mixing with the other ingredients)
2 tablespoons olive or vegetabel oil or solid vegetable shortening (I use the olive oil)
1 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon room-temperature water (70°F) (well, since I'm using warmer water to mature my yeast, mines not room temperture, though sometimes I'll split the water, and do the yeast in the 3/4 cup warm and have a cup of room temp...)

BIG MIXING BOWL and do it by hand, no bread machine or electric mixer with dough hook necessary (though a dough hook could work too...)

Combine all ingredients and mix until it starts to get tough (about 4 minutes). Add flour if its too sticky, add water if it doesn't stick enough. Let rest for 5 minutes and then mix another 2 or 3.

Divide into 4 balls (I do 6 since we make individual pizzas), coat each in olive oil and put in a ziplock bag. Freeze the ones you're not going to use in the next 24 hours, and put the ones that are going to be used in the fridge.

Even the ones you're going to use soon, you'll want to let rise overnight in the fridge. They really won't grow in size significantly, but it give time for the magic to happen.

Day of the pizza, get the dough out a few hours before you're ready to start working with it. About an hour before you're ready to cook, preheat the oven at 500° with a pizza stone in it. Prepare the pizza on a wooden peel, stretching the dough until it is very thin, before adding toppings, make sure there's either cornmeal or flour on the peel. Top as you like it. Cook 10 minutes at 500°.

I've been using the recipe since March or April and have really enjoyed the results.

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

Ohh! I gotta try that recipe for breadsticks.

[bassfingers.livejournal.com]

If doing as breadsticks, I recommend brushing the top with an egg prior to baking, to brown the crust a bit more.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Egg will give it a glazed look, too - if you're not going for that, try brushing the crust with cold water (for a crusty outside) or olive oil (for a chewy one).

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Hmm. The only difference between this and the one I used (other than that mine makes a batch about 3/4 this size) are the proportion of salt and the rising time. I will try playing with that particular quantity (rising time is not, sadly, an option for me).

And I'll admit, while I'm a believer in the therapeutic effects of kneading dough by hand on occasion, I like using the machine for that, even if the results on this particular trial were a bit stickier than I might have chosen (turned out okay when I greased my hands properly).

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

I agree with all but item #6, which seems a little over the top.

As a bread fanatic I think a little whole wheat helps add texture. Rolling the dough really thin is important, but I'm a big fan of doing it by hand.

[bassfingers.livejournal.com]

I dunno, the pizza stone has, in fact, changed my pizza process dramatically. (And they're not that expensive...)

[omorka.livejournal.com]

The difference in texture for a New York-style pizza between a metal baking sheet and a stone is actually quite noticeable. (For a Chicago-style, yeah, it's a trivial addition, since it needs a deep-sided pan anyway.)

By "by hand," do you mean "not using a rolling pin," or something else? I totally agree on the whole wheat question - I actually prefer a loaf that has 2 cups white bread flour, 1 cup whole wheat, and 1 cup rolled oats to one that has 4 cups white flour. I just wasn't sure how the whole wheat was going to work as a pizza crust. Now I have a better idea (although I think the oats wouldn't do much for the olive oil).

(And thanks for answering the memory question; I was going to nudge you on that . . .)

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the rolling I cannot abide. I think dough needs a good kneading and stretching, but rolling can take the life out of many types of bread.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

I must respectfully disagree. We have a pizza stone that lives in the oven. It is a must for pizza making. Just remember to spread cornmeal over it before you place the dough, so that the finished pizza will slide off easily.

Pizza stone! Pizza stone!

:)