Posts Tagged ‘pizza kings’

Schiacciata with Mozza-egg and Caviar

april 2015 1653ii

 “The opposite of success isn’t failure, it’s conformity.”

                                                                                            Alan McMillan, author and motivational speaker

I love eggs, but in my busy schedule I’d neglected to post one of my successful and non-conformist pizzas that I made in April. It was an ode to spring with those little orbs of life that bring so much flavor to a great pizza.  Let me tell you how this delicious monster was constructed!

I decided to make a long  schiacciata of naturally leavened, high-protein dough made with Manitoba wheat, then made a  mozzarella egg, (Just like the one I posted earlier) chicken skin bacon, Osetra and salmon caviar with Teleggio cheese and sweet, pungent spring ramp leaves. I then topped it in Sardinian fashion with grated Bottarga di Muggine; the dried egg sack from the grey mullet. It was once known as the poor mans caviar and has that wonderful whip-crack of umami you get with salty caviar and is particularly delightful on wheat, either pasta or, in this case, a pizza.

This is the time for all you pizza bloggers, purists and know-it-all “seafood doesn’t belong on pizza” scumbags to just go away. I love seafood on pizza and with cheese. Life is good, you are haters and no one likes you. Ha!

april 2015 1603ii

It took a lot of strength to hold myself back from dipping into the caviar while taking this picture.

april 2015 1588ii april 2015 1589ii april 2015 1590ii april 2015 1610ii

I bake off hundreds of pounds of local, King Family Farm chicken each week at Avalanche Pizza Bakers and subsequently have a lot of chicken skin on hand. To make the chicken skin bacon, pre-heat an oven to 475. Take the cooked chicken skin off making sure to get as big a piece as possible, season with paprika, Chinese five spice powder, garlic powder, coloratura (Sicilian garum or Thai fish sauce), fine pepper and a little salt to taste. Adding a little teriyaki will produce a very nice char on the skin, just be careful not to overcook. Put the seasoned skin on a parchment lined tray and place another sheet of parchment on top of the skin, then weigh down with another similar tray and place two to three aluminum foil bricks on top. I have many trays in my pizzeria and just pile four trays on top. Cook in the oven for only 8 to 12 minutes. Keep taking a peek so as not to burn it. When nicely “baconized”, cut with scissors to resemble bacon.

april 2015 428ii april 2015 436ii april 2015 439ii april 2015 002ii

Now for the Mozzarella egg. Pre-heat the oven to 475, (or do this while the chicken skin bacon is cooking) Using fresh mozzarella from a log instead of mozzarella in brine, cut several pieces and overlap on parchment pressing down to form an oval the size of a Hobbits hand. Quickly heat up the mozzarella and press again once hot. When just melted, push an indent into the lower middle, crack and egg and place the yolk in the indent. Using a spatula, pull the top over the bottom and lightly press down to shut. Let cool and judge just how much it looks like a cooked egg! Or see just how much you have screwed it up and try again.

april 2015 1605ii april 2015 1613ii

Using a 20 ounce dough ball, bang out an oval. This may take some time but let the dough proof in between pulling. You will get there eventually. Place the Teleggio and chopped ramps on the dough and place in a 550 degree oven. If you are doing this at home, try to get your oven up to 500 with either a pizza stone or a preheated, upturned, heavy cookie sheet on the middle rack. Use parchment to transfer the pizza to the sheet pan.

april 2015 1633ii april 2015 1624ii

Cook for 12 to 14 minutes until cooked. Take out of the oven and place the cooled mozzarella eggs on the schiacciata. Put this back in the oven for two to three minutes. DO NOT COOK THIS TOO LONG OR THE MOZZARELLA WILL SLIDE OFF THE YOLK!

april 2015 1635ii april 2015 1641ii

When the mozzarella egg has sufficiently warmed and the pizza is cooked, place the chicken skin bacon, caviar and microplane the Bottarga on the pizza…

april 2015 1652ii

 

…cut into the mozza egg and have an ooze-tastic taste of eggsistential delight.

april 2015 1658ii

Why did Chicken Skin Pizza Cross the Road?

To get to the land of Pizza Innovation up on madness street!

Actually, I’ve had many people asking me to make an ultra crispy, thin-crust, non-gluten pie with vegetarian toppings on it so here it is!

Now before you leave and think I am (totally) insane, I gotta tell you that this pizza is the BOMB! Crunchy chicken to the core followed by creamy cumin and a hint of acid with garlic and the savory crunch of pine nuts.

I first started this train of thought because of all the local chicken I use for my pizzeria. I get it from King Family farms of Albany, Ohio as well as all natural ground pork for our house-made Italian sausage. After roasting, the chicken skin is taken off and we have been fond of making chicken crispies. So there it is, lets make this bad boy.

Roast several chickens and take the chicken skin off of them.

   

Place in a round pizza circle on parchment paper, overlapping as you go. Place parchment paper on top of the chicken skin then place several other same sized trays on top of the chicken skin tray. You can also use a brick as long as it is something to flatten the skin as it cooks.

 

Cook at 475 to 500 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes until crisp and just past golden brown. Pick up to test for crispness and set aside to cool.

   

Mix the ricotta, lemon and cumin seed in a bowl then brush the sauce on the cooled chicken skin crust. Place the provolone and garlic cloves on the pizza, then the pine nuts.

 

Place pizza back in the hot oven for only 10 to 12 minutes to only melt the cheese, (longer if you have to). Pull from the oven and top with fresh cilantro and crunch you way to chicken paradise!