Posts Tagged ‘kimchi pizza’

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

 

 

Kimchi and Pizza; a Match Made in Heaven!

late summer 2014 080ii

Kimchi, the traditional condiment of Korea combined with cheese on a pizza or (as above), on a Turkish Pide? Yes, yes, yes I say. The textural crunch and aggressive flavor of kimchi is a perfect match for combinations of cheeses such as aged provolone and mozzarella, gruyere or even cheddar curd. Combining kimchi with textural foils like nuts and crusts is heaven especially with fatty meats such as bacon, guanciale and even Prosciutto di Parma, (Yes, that may be construed as sacrilegious in pizza Puritan circles but it sure is a killer taste!)  I like kimchi with sweet fruits such as orange, blackberry and even pear. In fact in my high-volume pizzeria, I’ve made kimchi a distinctive part of my menu-mix with two pizzas that sell well: The Crouching Kimchi, Hidden Chicken has Mandarin orange, Teriyaki, Local King Family Chicken and Cashew and the Chicken Yakitori has an Asiago-Bechemel as well as Onion, Teriyaki, Chicken and Mandarins.

summer 2014 222ii

Lets start with what gives Kimchi all the attention these days. The turn-on for most people like me is the fermented zing you get when crunching on a nice piece of kimchied cabbage or root like daikon. The turn-off is this same spicy zing for folks who are not used to it…simple as that!

late summer 2014 665ii late summer 2014 669ii late summer 2014 671ii

Here I took a boatload of Amish Daikon from Chesterhill, Ohio and cubed it to make Kkdugi, (daikon kimchi…daaaa). I just salted the little cubes for twenty minutes then squeezed the salt out and dried them as best I could then I added Korean pepper paste, raw garlic and Thai fish sauce with a few anchovies for a rough and tumble marinade. After adding some fresh hot peppers, scallion and cilantro, I let the soaking daikon sit at room temperature until my wife said, “Get that crap outta here.” So I finished up with the jar outside. After twenty-four hours to kick start the fermentation at higher temperature, I set in my refrigerator.

summer 2014 212ii summer 2014 213ii

Last week I was glad I had the Kkdugi because I added it to some great Asian long stemmed Taiwan Bok Choy and also known as Wa Wa Tsai that I obtained from Deep Roots Farm.

summer 2014 217ii summer 2014 219ii summer 2014 221ii

The preparation for this beautiful kimchi was fairly simple: I made a kimchi sauce with Thai fish sauce added to Korean pepper paste with Sicilian anchovy and a few dashes of Sicilian Garum, (fish sauce). Then I threw in a handful of raw garlic, juice from three lemons and grated ginger. Then I salted the cabbage and tossed for thirty minutes until it became just limp then rinsed, squeezed and transferred to another container. I then added some shredded carrot, scallion and the Kkdugi for a final mix.

summer 2014 226ii summer 2014 228ii

Then it was to the jars for the final ferment-set and a cool trip to the fridge for a few months.

Here is how I made the Turkish Pide at the top of this page:

late summer 2014 054ii late summer 2014 056ii

First, I cooked some polenta then mixed Parmesan and roasted sweet Toro peppers from Cowdery Farms into it. I let it cool and then rolled it up. I salted some romaine lettuce, let it wilt then rinsed and squeezed the juice out.

late summer 2014 067ii

I then combined some napa cabbage kimchi I had with the romaine and formed a roulade with the polenta and for a spicy-sweet finale, added some pickled Cowdery Cherry-bomb peppers to the top of each roulade! This made a fine packet ready for cooking!

late summer 2014 073ii late summer 2014 078ii

When the time was right for baking, I used an 83 percent hydrated, high protein dough that aged for 30 hours in cold holding and formed a Turkish style pide. I placed some aged mozzarella and some Gruyere on the Pide with the extra polenta and more sweet-roasted peppers.

late summer 2014 079ii

I hope you can try using kimchi on pizza.

late summer 2014 081ii

It’ll give you another dimension of taste to your menu…after all who doesn’t want more spice in their life?