As I blasted through last weekend baking like a madman from nine ’till nine on Friday night into Saturday morning, I made a spectacular stuffed ciabatta that tasted like heaven. Patty Nally, my stellar baking chef was first to come up with the combination of spent grains (from beermaking,) cocoa, blueberries, honey and almonds- stuffed with almond cream.

This stuffed bread is not gonna be on the agenda during my demonstration at the Las Vegas Pizza Expo- ((insert shameless plug here… Didn’t you know that my demonstration “Calzone’s Stromboli and Beyond” is on Tuesday, March 13th at 12:30 in the Demonstration area?  Please come on down and bring the hunger for some awesome stufed grains!))

Here is the video of me making a ciabatta (or is it a batard) and again; Please forgive the loopy appearance of the Goon, it’s 4:30 in the a.m and I’m in my seventh hour of forming and burning the gluten. Oh, and I do not know where the “Ta Ta.” came from.

O.k, that was the prep, then I proofed the dough and sent them into my oven at 474 degrees for 15 minutes then shut them off and waited for another 10 minutes.

O.K., after all this baking  at Avalanche, we headed out to a fierce bread sale at the Athens Farmers Market. Fierce is the only word that you can choke out when your face is frozen. Luckily we sold out in three hours.

“Vive la difference!” Want a breath of fresh pizza air-go to Co. Pane in New York City.

Last weekend, I dragged my wife south along the crowded streets of Manhatten to a destination that I had been waiting to visit for a few years now- Sullivan Street Bakery. We almost walked by the small storefront in Hells Kitchen that, (my baker-hero) Jim Lahey owns and operates and after opening the door we were rewarded with a face-to-face introduction with a beautiful long Pizza Bianca, Jim’s famous Pizza Potate, Pizza Funghi and a very fresh Pizza Pomodoro, not to mention the breads, OHHHHHH the breads!

My wife would have waylaid my idea to come down to Hells Kitchen if I hadn’t mentioned the fact that Jim Lahey is the “inceptor,” or “proprietor”, so to speak, of the “No Knead Bread Recipe.” Now, annoying as it is to me, it must be a thorn in Jims side to have this recipe referred to as “Frank Bruni’s no knead recipe.”  Dianne Rehm (on National Public Radio,) reffered to it this way whilst interviewing the guy who wrote that book about 52 loaves. The guy, who is not a professional baker, pompously blasted Mr. Lahey’s recipe as misguided. My wife did indeed follow Jim’s recipe to the letter and I have since enjoyed some of the best loaves I’ve ever had.

Now, back to Sullivan Street…I am somewhat egotistical about my Pizza Bianca prowess, AND I hate to admit when other bakers/pizza guys make something better than me. So, I’ll say it now, Sullivan Streets pizza bianca was the best I’ve ever tasted AND better than I’ve ever made. My wife fell in love with the potato pie and we wanted to spend the whole day there but move on we did after I bought a t-shirt.

After heading south, we  past a corner restuarant and my wife alerted me to the fact that it was a pizza place. “Oh my god Debra, it’s “Co.”, Jim Lahey’s pizza place.” So, after rolling her eyes and saying, ”Here we go again…”,  we went in and had a great pie called the “Popeye” (fresh spinach, pecorino, gruyere, mozzarella, cracked black pepper and some bodacious garlic.) It was cooked to perfection- not the usual “You should only do pizza this way” perfection, but MY perfection- a perfect amalgam of toppings up to the edge of a light, airy and blistered crust. No pretentions, just a fabulous pizza made with the diner in mind, not just the pizza maker.

No, thats not an artsy attempt to show the “Popeye.” Black truffle oil damage, low light and sticky steam from a future blog entry about sorghum has killed my camera. This pizza rocked our world!

I was then lucky enough to get introduced to the staff and the chef at Co Pane. His name was Matthew Aita and he gladly let me film a pie being cooked. Jim must be doing something right because all the guys in his kitchen have been with him for years and hold the same amount of respect I have for this great guy. Most have graduated up from dishwasher to stalwart pizza guys. Matt was obviously dedicated to fulfill Mr. Lahey’s vision of making pizza that he had experienced in Italy and is determined, as he put it, to “Use the pizza as a landscape and use the toppings to dress it with flavor.” One thing struck me as telling about Matt was his admission that great pizza had “Become his obsession.” Now that’s a pizza guy that I like!

Here ya go with a fabulous Boscaiola pie with sausage, red onion, chili, mozzarella and mushroom made by guys who are making thier own rules, thinking outstide the pizza box and turning everyone on to some fabulous pies. Thank you everyone at Co., Matt Aita and Jim Lahey! 

October in Athens, Ohio should be spelled P-I-Z-Z-A. In fact this is the simple reason I wasn’t able to commit to proofing and firing as many breads as I usually do. We love our late night (correction…early morning,) pizza customers. They sometimes pass out before the pizzas arrive but are right on the mark with many intriguing topping combinations.

John Ivanek was a stellar bread maker/seller on this fine day.

Despite the rush, I’d like to thank the guy who called consistantly from 4:15 until his last call at 6:10! Now that was some dedication to ordering a pizza. Each call consisted of a tooth-gnashing minumum of 13 rings, some reached upwards of 20 rings. I salute you!

The gorgonzola, pear, arugula, Prosciutto di Parma was a big hit with my gooey balsamic glaze.

I put more local spelt flour in the Flintstone wheels and ciabatta this week because…it tastes better. This week also, Matt Starline of Starline organics turned me on to some really fresh ground organic rye which I paired with caraway seeds, roasted garlic and sundried tomato.

Chef Kenny Shooley, helped alot and wasn’t as annoying as most chefs tend to be.

These La Manchia pizzas were an especially nice taste treat that sold well. Manchego cheese atop spinch with late season heirloom tomato, chilantro, onion, green pepper and topped with a little fresh mozzarella.

We still have access to an amazing amount of fresh, organic vegetables here in Athens which equates to some bodacious pizzas. I pair them with the beautiful Valarossa tomatoes from Stanislaus like the Foccocia Siciliana (right.)