Posts Tagged ‘athens’

Nothing Better than Grilling Pizzas with Kids

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Yesterday, I was honored to take part in Junior Chef School at the Athens Farmers Market. This installment was about grilling pizza and all that was needed was the dough, a little sauce, some patience and some great kids. The grill was hot and the char was awesome.

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The managers of the Athens Farmers Market, Jan and Kip helped with the event and Joel Fair, my Managing Partner, also killed it with his pizza finesse.

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As we stretched and tossed dough, I realized  how much this is. These bright eyed kids took to the gluten like real pros and followed every instruction I gave… the most important being: “Have fun!”

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Kids have a way of getting under your skin when your a cranky, middle-aged, know-it-all like me. These mini-humans turn all the anxiety and stresses of the day into a pile of laughter, like the little girl who approached me and said, “This is fun… oh, by the way, you say ‘dude’ a lot.”

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As the day ran on and each grilled pizza bubbled with melting mozzarella and provolone, the look of empowerment on each kids face said it all. They each had made something delicious by themselves with no help from adults. That is what memories are made of.

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There truly is no better way to spend the day than with kids and pizza! Semper Pie…dude!

 

 

 

Spanish Coca with Peruvian Purples and Manchego

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Long, airy, charred and bubbly. That’s what this wonderful crust presented my pie-hole last week whilst baking a night-load of breads for the Athens Farmers Market.

The luscious potatoes complemented this 60 percent-hydrated dough perfectly with and underlayment of fatty Red Wattle lardo and sharp Spanish Manchego cheese then topped with a mango pudding, Spanish olive oil and sea salt. Life cannot offer up a better combination of pizza cooked at close to 700 degrees!

Enough said: this is how I made it. (yes, I realize that my mood wasn’t in the best picture frame at this time because of all the baking ahead of me.) Gomen Ashai.

And here’s the coca being pulled from the oven and finished.

If you are ever graced with the ability to cook with the purple potato, I urge you to try this flavor combination and as the Spanish say…Buen Provecho!