Posts Tagged ‘stuffed fougasse’

A Year in the Pizza Life, 2010 (Part 2)

Here are some more pictures of people, places and pizza from my life in Athens, Ohio and around the world, 2010. I hope you enjoy them.

Four different types of schiacciata, all delicious

Team acrobatics during the World Pizza Championships

Local freshwater scampi pizza

Bruno di Fabio with his pizza that won "Best of" at Pizza Expo

Domenico Crolla's Chanterelle pizza (I couldn't just let it sit there)

Italian pizza competitors, World Pizza Championships

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Chorizo Pizza

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Joe Carlucci, winner of 2010 Pizza Pizzaz at the North American Pizza and Ice Cream Show, Columbus, Ohio

Stuffed spingtime fougasse with Amish asparagus, mustard, ricotta, pistachio

Chicken Yakitori Pizza

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The Goon preparing six appetizers in the Heinz Beck Trophy competition, Italy

Pizza romana in Rome, Italy

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Kids love pizza, and the Goon loves being very, very uncool!

Tomato and squash fresh from the field (note the floured pizza shoe)

Where we stayed in Positano, Italy

Loads of Turkish-style Pide (Pi-DAY)

Eric Corbin, expert pizza acrobat (Placed third in the world with a broken foot)

Mid-summer organic schiacciata

Late fall meaball pizza with Alto Cucina tomatoes, basil and local chorizo-peppered bacon meatballs

The Goon and his soldiers foraging for woodland edibles

A boat-load of Amish aspargus fresh from the field

Bruno and an Italian autograph seeker, World Pizza Competition (Nice shirt)

Local ham and bacon bialy with cilantro and aged cheddar

The winning pizza (pre oven) at the International Pizza Challenge

Joel Fair, General Manager of Avalanche Pizza, with his curry fougasse

Pizza a due chef at the World Pizza Championship

Three Sisters pizza (Yes it's cooked; the light was tremendous)

Me and Gigi, my Italian pizza oven judge

Giuseppe with our "Alici Marinati" or marinated anchovies, Positano, Italy

Probably the greatest pizza chef in the world, Tony Gemignani

Big ass bread, my Flinstone Wheel

Pete Shew from Shews Orchard with late season persimmons

Springtime aspargus and prosciutto pizza (With a nod to Tony Gemignani)

What a small-time pizza guy sees when he looks down.

Bakesgiving for United Appeal

Wow!  That’s all I have to say about this years bake-fest to benefit United Appeal of Athens County. I am so thankful for all the people who came out from 5:30 a.m. until noon to buy our bread products.  By our unofficial count, Avalanche Pizza raised over $2500 from the people of Athens on Thanksgiving day.

John Dillon, (left), United Appeal Board member and AFSCME Union President, came in at 3 a.m. and formed a monstrous amount of spelt rolls. Randy Davis (right) became adept at forming ciabatta, egg-washing croissants, proofing ciabatta and together, he and John even made some pizzas.

Aaron Thomas, United Appeal Board President, did the dirtiest job of washing hundreds of trays that had piled up over the night. He took time away from his business, Class A Sounds, to help in this great cause.

Even got the sheriff’s department came by to show their support. Is it me, or does Aaron (middle) look like he’s been cuffed?

Joel Fair, Patty Nally and Danny McVicker volunteered to work through the night to produce some great baked goods. Patty nailed her fabulous croissants and even the stuffed croissants filled with nutella, pecans and bananas. Joel and Patty did a great job making croissants, baguettes, ciabatta and baking over 500 loaves.

A special shout out goes to Chris and Angie Pyle, who donated coffee for us, and to Constantine Faller, who donated cheese to be sold. Robin Barnes of Power 105 F.M. was spectacular for getting the word out, along with all the fine folks at the Athens News. Starline Organics donated vegetables. We used Harmony Hollow ham in some of the fougasse.

If you see this man, hold him (please use bailing wire.) He is my dad, Tom Gutekanst. He played a major role in what he called “testing the product,” which entailed consuming at least 17 cheese-topped croissants while exclaiming “This better be imported Brie!”  Then he ran off through the darkness.

Here are a few sights of this year’s bake for United Appeal of Athens County. Here’s a video of a burnt out middle aged freak who, despite his goonish appearance and spacy presentation, can still handle baking all night (barely).

See you next year!