"There are years that ask questions, and years that answer."- Zora Neale Hurston


 The other night I made a big ol pizza to celebrate life...and my acceptance into the University of Gastronomic Sciences in the Piedmont region of Italy! I'll be attending the school in March for a full year in pursuit of a Master in Food Culture and Communications. I'm only a bit excited. Once I arrive, this here lil blog will be shifting to all things Italian. No one hates it. In the meantime, here's a recipe for some tasty pizza dough.

  Victory Pizza  

This dough recipe is realll easy. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. In a small bowl, combine the yeast with warm water. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Like pasta, every pizza dough will be different. You may need to add in some extra flour if you find your dough is too sticky. Once you've reached a desired consistency, place yer lil bundle into another bowl that has been greased with olive oil and cover with a damp tea towel. Allow the dough to rest in a warm place for at least two hours.

Once your dough is well rested, you can roll it out on a floured surface and then transfer it to a pizza stone or cookie sheet. There are a bunch of toppings on these pizzas, which can be a great and a terrible thing. The key to crisp pizza (at least in my book) is to broil the pizza after the dough has finished baking and to limit the amount of wet ingredients you choose as toppings. This includes soft cheeses, watery vegetables, and excessive amounts of sauce. For the record, I was hungry when I made these so I put greedy amounts of cheese on each. They were not as crisp as they could have been, but they were still mighty fine.

I hope you try out this recipe and send some of your creations to Hallee. She'll devour them, and then she'll proudly display your underwear in front of house guests.

Recipe

2 c AP flour

1- 1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp instant yeast

1 c lukewarm water

1- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil for coating

     Tell the ones that need to know: we are headed North

    I'd like to formally apologize for a few things:

1. I'm sorry my posts have been so sparse lately. I'm basically hibernating by this time of year.
2. I apologize that I haven't been posting a ton of well-described methods and recipes; that time will come again.
3. I regret not initiating some type of 12-day cookie mini-blog. I guess I'll just do, like, a 9 day pickling thing in January. 

     Part of the reason why I haven't written in a while is due to some recent traveling. I spent the better portion of last week traveling to Cambridge, Boston and Portland, ME. Although I have visited Maine before, this was my first trip to Portland, and was I excited! So excited, in fact, that I only slept 5 hours prior to my 8 am bus to the Land of Port. Foolishness. Here are some of the things I did there that are definitely worth reporting. 

Bam Bam Bakery

Let's be serious, I'm not the first person to get excited about visiting gluten-free bakeries. However, it seems like everything offered up in Portland is just a little bit better than I expect it to be. Bam Bam was actually an impressive amount better than I thought it would be. My friend suggested I get a pumpkin whoopie pie with maple filling. I thought this was an odd choice until I remembered reading that Maine claims to have created the whoopie. Pennsylvania is also making this claim. If you look up "Liberty" in the dictionary, there's a picture of Rocky Balboa eating a whoopie pie. Case closed. We also bought a loaf of white bread which was sickening (read: fabulous) when toasted with copious amounts of budder. 

Boone's Fish House and Oyster Room

One of my maine objectives while visiting Portland (see what I did there?) was to obtain the tastiest of tasty lobstah rolls. I devoted an hour a few days before to finding the perfect joint. I was dead-set on going to Fishermen's Grill, but we took a detour and ended up at Boones. No one hates it. I ordered the L roll while my gluten-free companion requested the crab roll sans roll. What a trooper. What I got was an appropriate portion of lobster, lightly dressed in mayo, nestled in a bed of shredded iceberg, wrapped in a buttered split-top bun. I drowned the fries in malt vinegar and unapologetically decimated my plate.

(This is actually a picture from Fishermen's Grill. I ate my roll before I could manage a photo.)

The Speckled Ax

I don't normally get too uppity about my coffee selection. Give me some iced Dunks any day of the week and I'm a happy bear. That's not to say that I do not appreciate a responsibly sourced and excellently prepared cup of the stuff. The Speckled Ax had a small, albeit appealing selection. Unfortunately, I could only select one kind in decaf. To this I say, no matter. My iced single-origin coffee was probably one of the best I have ever had. Sorry, Dunks, I don't deserve you.

Gimme dat coffee!

I also obviously bought a butt-load of maple roasted nuts and candy to bring home. Portland exceeded my expectations and certainly deserves a visit if you're in town. If you're not, it's only a 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Boston, where I also ate tasty tacos at Dorado, some dank-per-usual fried rice from Brown Sugar, splendid sushi by FuGaKyu, addictive brioche from Tatte Bakery,  and boozy ice cream from J.P. Licks. All and all, I ate a bunch of great dishes and only gained a pound. Or two. Who's counting?

December, Baby.

A shout-out to all my internet honies: I hope your Thanksgiving was a smashing success! Mine was so successful that I've been in a food-induced hibernation ever since, leaving me unable to post anything. You'll be happy to know this bear has awoken and is back on track. I should probably start off slow and catch you up on all the tasty things that my Thanksgiving encompassed. 

Mmmmmm...pickled radishes. My preferred form for snacking on.

On to the dates stuffed with fontina and rosemary, which were then lightly sprinkled with sea salt.

Sue's corn pudding! My friend's mother's recipe was well received. 

Parker House rollz. Little, glorious pillows of joy.

Mom's pumpkin pie. Good thing she always makes two.

Buttermilk Pie! More like yogurt pie, amirite? Jokes aside, very good for a new addition. 

Ahh, the pear tart. Three desserts are enough for eight people, right? 

This, my friends, is a small sampling of our spread that should have been intended for a small nation. Alas, we are gluttons and enjoy exiting the dinner table via log roll. I'm going to throw a few recipes at yous guyz. Let me know if you want any of the other ones!

Recipes:

(This recipe for Parker House Rolls came from Bon Appetit and has not been adapted.)

• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 large egg
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter

·      Whisk 1 envelope active dry yeast and 1/4 cup warm water (110°-115°) in a small bowl; let stand for 5 minutes. Heat 1 cup whole milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until just warm. Combine 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt in a large bowl. Add warm milk; whisk to blend, breaking up shortening into small clumps (it may not melt completely). 

     Whisk in yeast mixture and 1 room-temperature large egg. Add 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until dough forms. Knead dough with lightly floured hands on a lightly floured surface until smooth, 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

·      

     Preheat oven to 350°. Melt 1/4 cup unsalted butter in a small sauce-pan. Lightly brush a 13x9-inch baking dish with some melted butter. Punch down dough; divide into 4 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface into a 12x6-inch rectangle.

·      

     Cut lengthwise into three 2-inch-wide strips; cut each crosswise into three 4x2-inch rectangles. Brush half of each (about 2x2-inch) with melted butter; fold unbuttered side over, allowing 1/4-inch overhang. Place flat in 1 corner of dish, folded edge against short side of dish. Add remaining rolls, shingling to form 1 long row. Repeat with remaining dough for 4 rows. 

     

     Brush with melted butter, loosely cover with plastic, and chill for 30 minutes or up to 6 hours. Bake rolls until golden and puffed, 25-35 minutes. Brush with butter; sprinkle flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) over. Serve warm.

     Pickled Radishes

     6 radishes, quartered 

     1/2 c rice wine vinegar

     1/2 c water

     1 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed

     1 tsp caraway seeds

     1 tsp salt

     celery leaves

     Mix all of the ingredients (sans radishes) in a vessel that has a lid and shake to combine. Add the radishes and place in the refrigerator for at least four hours.