Archive for the ‘Pizza Recipes’ Category

When a Fold is Knot Enough

I do alot of tying and folding with all sorts of pizza and breads. Here are a few. These delicious “O Face” pizzas (above) are very popular. They are the spawn of two elements; Very large blobs of sourdough and not enough time to ball, wait and form a disc before cooking. These have my favorite combination of cured baby bok choy and Tokyo Turnips wtih Gochujang, miso and teriyaki with pumpkin seeds atop aged provolone. (Don’t laugh- the flavor is spot on!)

Traditional bakers shutter at this horrendous baking activity. I admit that this may go against forming the perfect alveoli or cell structure, crust… bla, bla, bla, but this is delicious and really cool. I call it “Pane Groviglio,” (tangled bread) and is a prime example of when a bread crosses the line to pasta, then encased like sausage or crepinette. I first flattened and cut strips from an aged sourdough keeping them separate then tossed in a cured local pork belly that I roasted with Baharat spice, pine nuts, Jerusalem artichokes, cilantro and lemon zest. Then I wrapped and tied with caul fat after topping each batard with basil. This is a tricky bake but if you are crazy enough, you can pull it off.

  

Look at that anti-crumb and crisp, porky crust. DEElish.

There are some other breads and pizzas that I twist, tie, slice and stuff like this spelt “Cornetta” with lovely local Vest Farms carrots that I par-roasted and wove into this dough.

Talk about a mega-fold. This is our “Gorilla Bread” which I make in some old Detroit pizza pans. Like Monkey Bread, its a amalgamation of dough, sweetness, spice and nuts. This contains copious amounts of maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, pecan and walnut. I have to skewer these to keep them in line but this works well to stick them in large pumpkins like a pin cushion.

Dr. Seuss is in the house! One of my favorite knotted pizzas is this “Quattro Nodi” or four knot pie with some great summer cherry tomatoes from Cowdery Farms, Green Edge Gardens basil, aged mozzarella and fior di latte mozzarella with Corto extra virgin olive oil.

 

Here is a traditional, non-traditional Stuffed Simit wtih almond, cashew, local Integration Acres Feta, za’atar, fresh spinach, sesame, mint and pomegranate molasses. First it is sliced with a razor blade then folded over and over again, brushed with the molasses and sprinkled with sesame.

These are one of my favorites. The traditional Pain Tordu or twisted baguette or batard is twisted into a new flavor profile with two things I like best on high hydrated ciabatta dough- Chinese five-spice and sesame. The fragrance and taste is incomparable.

“Tangled up in Ramps.” (Pain tresse au poireau sauvage) This is a springtime wonder as a folded and knotted batard with dough impregnated with King Family bacon ends, Harmony Hollow Ham, cracked peppercorn and Integration Acres Caprino Pecorino.

Well, there you have a few of my twisted creations. Now, I’ve gotta remember how to tie my shoes. See ya

 

 

Daikon Wonderland

Winter is certainly the time of year for beautiful radishes. The colors of the wonderful daikon are tremendous, especially on pizza. Yes, that might sound like heresy in some tradionalists circles but I think the beautiful crunch of cured daikon like tha pizza above are brilliant. This “Super Radish Pie” I made with a 50-hour cold-fermented sourdough with natural starter and dressed with a celeriac, (celery root) and purple kholrabi pudding with roasted garlic. I then topped it with Gruyere, Manchego and aged mozzarella. Just out of the oven I dressed it with organic, salt-sugar-cured “Green Meat” diakon (aka- Chinese “tsingato or luobo green” and Japanese “minowase”) from Primatera Farms and the fat organic purple daikon I get from Shade River Organics. The highlight of every bite is the sriracha mayonnaise on top.

 

Unlike many root vegetables I put on pizzas and breads, daikon doesn’t de-colorize if you don’t add to much acid like lemon or vinegar. The Turkish-style Pide, (pee-DAY) above with Peruvian Purple potato and turmeric-garlic roasted celeriac took alot longer to roast before pairing them with the simple combination of Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma.

This summer, the fine folks at Shade River Organics have supplied me with purple daikon. I just love the purple color and have shredded it for an after-oven topping on to striking effect on this Kimchi-Bacon roulade with provolone, Barbari Spice, King Family bacon ends, cilantro, sesame and some kimchi made with Cowdery farms napa cabbage, gochujang and ferment mother.

The taste of daikon varies from year to year as hotter temperatures make for spicier daikon. Farmers are using large daikon to replace lost nitrogen in soil and even at Ohio State University, they are experimenting with daikon growing in between rows of corn. I love to combine the different colors of daikon in cubes for our Vegan Boxes that we sell alot of.

These boxes (above) consist of local cabbages and greens, cured and roasted root vegetables as well as any other vegetable that doesn’t fit those descriptions. I also add a salsa verde or asian-flavored dipping sauce and some za’atar manoushe.

My new favorite this winter is the Green Meat daikon. I just love the flavor and that beautiful round of green is gently acidic and gets spicier as you gobble your way down into the white part of this root.

This week, I am combining two kimchi/pickling techniques with cubes of the tri-colored daikon. First I cubed them like traditional Kkakdugi then cured in salt and sugar, ginger and garlic and added some Calabrian Chilies for a nice heat and kept it for four days. Tomorrow I will add some scallion and water to the mix and wait for fermentation to occur like a classic Dongchimi or Korean Radish Water Kimchi. This will make a great vegan side…or maybe I could add some bacon…ha!