I just finished up my second attempt at a Dutch baby (aka German pancake). I don't get it. It's a very simple recipe and ingredient list. I used the correctly sized cast iron skillet this time. I used pretty strawberries and free-from-mold raspberries, and nada.
Unlike the first try, in which the sides puffed up correctly, this one hardly puffed around the sides at all. But the entire thing puffed up. Not dramatically, but enough to be noticeable. It browned on top nicely and I determined it was done even though it did not have that trademark puff.
I was also curious to see if the texture, consistency, and density of this was the same as the first. Yes. It is. I cut myself a wedge while the thing is still piping hot and sure to burn my mouth but I didn't want to wait thinking that if it cooled, it might change the texture.
Still dense. Not as greasy as the last one. I liked the berry combination better this time. But still not fantastic. I'm wondering if there is a misprint in the recipe because it seems like there is far too much butter and that's what's causing the problem.
Needless to say, I don't think I'll make another one. Dutch Baby 2 - me 0.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Mid-week report
I last told you about the dinner menu for the week. Thought I'd give you a progress report on all of it so far.
Sunday night was chicken piccata, one of Steve's favorites. I couldn't remember where I found the recipe when I made it last time, so I used the one from the Bon Appetit Easy, Fast, Fresh cookbook. If my memory accurately remembers the first recipe, then I would say I preferred the one I made Sunday night. I thought it was very simple and the sauce was excellent. It included fresh shallots, which I love, and just the right amount of lemon and capers. I did make a note to double the sauce for next time, though, because Steve "likes it saucy." The chicken was slightly overcooked but not too bad. No picture.
Monday night was more chicken but in a completely format. I have made this panko crusted chicken schnitzel before and we both really liked it. The last time I made it, I also included a lemon, caper, butter sauce and we ate it over pasta. This time, Steve wanted just the chicken part so we made sandwiches out of it. Think Chick Fil-A only better. The chicken was cooked perfectly - nice and crispy on the outside, juicy & tender on the inside - and we paired it with freshly baked brioche buns from one of the several local Italian bakeries in the area. Topped with some may and dill pickle slices. Yum. No picture.
On Monday afternoon, I made a fresh vinaigrette for the green salad we had on the side. Cook's Illustrated Sept/Oct issue has a "foolproof" vinaigrette recipe and variations. Well, foolproof obviously doesn't apply to me. I'm making up the dressing and just plopped in the oil. As soon as I did it, I knew how dumb that was. The whole point of the dressing is to make a nice emulsion, which requires that the oil be whisked in slowly. Duh. Poured this made-wrong-but-still-perfectly-edible batch of dressing into a container and put in fridge. Attempt number two went perfectly and even hours later when we used the dressing, it hadn't separated at all. The dressing I made incorrectly had separated into obvious layers. No picture.
Also on Monday afternoon, I made the Dutch Baby that I saw in the July issue of Food & Wine. (I don't normally buy or read F&W, but I bought it at the airport on my way to ALA. I used to buy Bon Appetit for airplane reading, but as I now have a subscription, I had to get a different food mag.) Dutch Baby was new to me and it sounded tasty and easy to make. The recipe said that Dutch Baby is also known as a German Pancake, which still didn't make it any more familiar to me. Here is the link to the recipe I used. The picture accompanying the recipe led me to believe that this would be a puffy, light breakfast/dessert food. Hmmm. I must have done something wrong because mine looked nothing like the picture. Here is what is should have looked like:
Mine turned out to be sort of right looking. The sides of my Dutch Baby stood up and were nice and puffy. The middle however, was another story. The middle never rose or puffed, and looked like I had offended it somehow. The middle had a dense custard-pudding consistency that sat in the tummy like lead. I also only used blueberries, so mine didn't have the cheery, colorful mix of berries that was recommended. I bought raspberries to use but when I opened them - only ONE DAY after I bought them - they already had a nice growth of black fuzzy mold. (I think they must have been purchased that way and I just didn't check them carefully enough.) Don't get me wrong, the whole thing tasted just fine, but it just wasn't pretty to look at and since I've never had a Dutch Baby, I wasn't sure if the consistency was right. I have poked around online to look at other recipes and photos and actually mine might have been right. Several sites describe it as being fluffy, but others say it has a more of a Yorkshire pudding consistency. Who knows. I'd like to try it again because I may have also made a crucial mistake. The recipe said to use a 10-inch CAST IRON skillet. Of course, I had read that, but when I went to prep a pan, I for some reason grabbed the All-Clad 10-inch skillet. I have no idea why. Between the pan mistake and the vinaigrette emulsion mistake, my head was clearly not in the kitchen on Monday afternoon. The cast iron shape and material might really make a difference, so I'd try this again using the correct pan. When I served this to Steve, he wasn't terribly enthused, but I dolloped on a huge amount of fresh whipped cream and he ate it. It isn't one of our favorite desserts, but it will do until I make something else. No picture of this possible mistake.
Tuesday night was pork tenderloin with pineapple, lime, and chile glaze. This took a little longer than I anticipated to make, but it was pretty good. The recipe asks for TWO pork tenderloins to make FOUR servings. I didn't think this was necessary so we only used one, fairly large, tenderloin. The recipe also calls for red jalapenos. Well, I forgot to look at the produce stand on Sunday for these, and our corner grocery store only sells green jalapenos in pre-weighed sealed packages. I would have happily substituted green ones for red if I could have bought just a couple loose. I didn't need a dozen jalapenos for the two tablespoons required. So we improvised with green Tabasco sauce, chili powder, and a can of green chiles. I don't think the end result was as spicy as it should have been, but it was wonderfully sweet with all that pineapple juice. The pork cooked up p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y. We ate slices of pork over white rice drizzled with more of the glaze. Green salad on the side with the dressing I didn't make correctly the day before. I didn't want to buy a six-pack of pineapple juice, or a large 32 ounce container, so I bought two cans of pineapple chunks in juice and used the juice from those to get my cup for the glaze. We ate pineapple for dessert and probably tonight and tomorrow. There is a lot of pineapple in two cans. No picture, do you get the pattern yet?
Tonight, I'm going to make the sweet corn soup. I was supposed to make the gnocci, but I have to first make the ricotta, which I will do today. The ricotta has to drain out in the fridge overnight.
More tales to tell.
Sunday night was chicken piccata, one of Steve's favorites. I couldn't remember where I found the recipe when I made it last time, so I used the one from the Bon Appetit Easy, Fast, Fresh cookbook. If my memory accurately remembers the first recipe, then I would say I preferred the one I made Sunday night. I thought it was very simple and the sauce was excellent. It included fresh shallots, which I love, and just the right amount of lemon and capers. I did make a note to double the sauce for next time, though, because Steve "likes it saucy." The chicken was slightly overcooked but not too bad. No picture.
Monday night was more chicken but in a completely format. I have made this panko crusted chicken schnitzel before and we both really liked it. The last time I made it, I also included a lemon, caper, butter sauce and we ate it over pasta. This time, Steve wanted just the chicken part so we made sandwiches out of it. Think Chick Fil-A only better. The chicken was cooked perfectly - nice and crispy on the outside, juicy & tender on the inside - and we paired it with freshly baked brioche buns from one of the several local Italian bakeries in the area. Topped with some may and dill pickle slices. Yum. No picture.
On Monday afternoon, I made a fresh vinaigrette for the green salad we had on the side. Cook's Illustrated Sept/Oct issue has a "foolproof" vinaigrette recipe and variations. Well, foolproof obviously doesn't apply to me. I'm making up the dressing and just plopped in the oil. As soon as I did it, I knew how dumb that was. The whole point of the dressing is to make a nice emulsion, which requires that the oil be whisked in slowly. Duh. Poured this made-wrong-but-still-perfectly-edible batch of dressing into a container and put in fridge. Attempt number two went perfectly and even hours later when we used the dressing, it hadn't separated at all. The dressing I made incorrectly had separated into obvious layers. No picture.
Also on Monday afternoon, I made the Dutch Baby that I saw in the July issue of Food & Wine. (I don't normally buy or read F&W, but I bought it at the airport on my way to ALA. I used to buy Bon Appetit for airplane reading, but as I now have a subscription, I had to get a different food mag.) Dutch Baby was new to me and it sounded tasty and easy to make. The recipe said that Dutch Baby is also known as a German Pancake, which still didn't make it any more familiar to me. Here is the link to the recipe I used. The picture accompanying the recipe led me to believe that this would be a puffy, light breakfast/dessert food. Hmmm. I must have done something wrong because mine looked nothing like the picture. Here is what is should have looked like:
Mine turned out to be sort of right looking. The sides of my Dutch Baby stood up and were nice and puffy. The middle however, was another story. The middle never rose or puffed, and looked like I had offended it somehow. The middle had a dense custard-pudding consistency that sat in the tummy like lead. I also only used blueberries, so mine didn't have the cheery, colorful mix of berries that was recommended. I bought raspberries to use but when I opened them - only ONE DAY after I bought them - they already had a nice growth of black fuzzy mold. (I think they must have been purchased that way and I just didn't check them carefully enough.) Don't get me wrong, the whole thing tasted just fine, but it just wasn't pretty to look at and since I've never had a Dutch Baby, I wasn't sure if the consistency was right. I have poked around online to look at other recipes and photos and actually mine might have been right. Several sites describe it as being fluffy, but others say it has a more of a Yorkshire pudding consistency. Who knows. I'd like to try it again because I may have also made a crucial mistake. The recipe said to use a 10-inch CAST IRON skillet. Of course, I had read that, but when I went to prep a pan, I for some reason grabbed the All-Clad 10-inch skillet. I have no idea why. Between the pan mistake and the vinaigrette emulsion mistake, my head was clearly not in the kitchen on Monday afternoon. The cast iron shape and material might really make a difference, so I'd try this again using the correct pan. When I served this to Steve, he wasn't terribly enthused, but I dolloped on a huge amount of fresh whipped cream and he ate it. It isn't one of our favorite desserts, but it will do until I make something else. No picture of this possible mistake.
Tuesday night was pork tenderloin with pineapple, lime, and chile glaze. This took a little longer than I anticipated to make, but it was pretty good. The recipe asks for TWO pork tenderloins to make FOUR servings. I didn't think this was necessary so we only used one, fairly large, tenderloin. The recipe also calls for red jalapenos. Well, I forgot to look at the produce stand on Sunday for these, and our corner grocery store only sells green jalapenos in pre-weighed sealed packages. I would have happily substituted green ones for red if I could have bought just a couple loose. I didn't need a dozen jalapenos for the two tablespoons required. So we improvised with green Tabasco sauce, chili powder, and a can of green chiles. I don't think the end result was as spicy as it should have been, but it was wonderfully sweet with all that pineapple juice. The pork cooked up p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y. We ate slices of pork over white rice drizzled with more of the glaze. Green salad on the side with the dressing I didn't make correctly the day before. I didn't want to buy a six-pack of pineapple juice, or a large 32 ounce container, so I bought two cans of pineapple chunks in juice and used the juice from those to get my cup for the glaze. We ate pineapple for dessert and probably tonight and tomorrow. There is a lot of pineapple in two cans. No picture, do you get the pattern yet?
Tonight, I'm going to make the sweet corn soup. I was supposed to make the gnocci, but I have to first make the ricotta, which I will do today. The ricotta has to drain out in the fridge overnight.
More tales to tell.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Going to be a homemade week
This morning, Steve and I put together our dinner menu for the week. With the exception of breads, I'm going to make everything from scratch. For instance, one night we are going to have ricotta gnocci. I'm going to make the ricotta with which to make the gnocci. Ricotta appears to be extremely simple to make, so why not try it at least once? Other first attempts will be made, including a Dutch Baby (aka German pancake) with berries. Cook's Illustrated also has a recipe in their Sept/Oct issue for a skillet lemon souffle, which I would really like to try, but I've had my eye on this Dutch Baby recipe longer so it will be made first.
We will grill at least one night this week - flank steak with egg salad and Romaine salad with vinaigrette. Homemade vinaigrette. I'm going to try several vinaigrette variations this week for our salads.
Pineapple and lime glazed pork loin, panko crusted chicken schnitzel, sweet corn soup, and chicken piccata round out the week. Actually, the piccata is tonight. Everything is going to be with green salads or other veggies. Pears, berries, and pineapple will also be on hand.
I'll keep you posted on how everything turns out and will try to have pictures, but you know how I am with pictures.
We will grill at least one night this week - flank steak with egg salad and Romaine salad with vinaigrette. Homemade vinaigrette. I'm going to try several vinaigrette variations this week for our salads.
Pineapple and lime glazed pork loin, panko crusted chicken schnitzel, sweet corn soup, and chicken piccata round out the week. Actually, the piccata is tonight. Everything is going to be with green salads or other veggies. Pears, berries, and pineapple will also be on hand.
I'll keep you posted on how everything turns out and will try to have pictures, but you know how I am with pictures.
Friday, August 7, 2009
August 6
August 6th is the anniversary of Hiroshima, the day after Marilyn Monroe's death day (8/5/62), and the day before Philippe Petit walked on a tightrope between the Twin Towers in 1974. I also happens to be the birthday of three people I know: My dad's (a milestone age was reached), Amy's husband's Gareth's, and Steve's birthday (also a milestone age). While I was not able to celebrate with Dad or Amy & Gareth, I did celebrate with Steve here in Brooklyn. I invited a few friends to join up at Clover Club for cocktails after work and then we went out to dinner to Chestnut. After that, we came back to the apartment for dessert - Boston Cream Pie.
A couple weeks ago, I asked Steve what sweet he wanted for his birthday and he immediately selected BCP. I've never made a BCP, but good ol' America's Test Kitchen has a recipe for it in their Family Baking Book. While none of the individual components were difficult to make, the total prep time for this cake is long - try 6 hours. Make the cake. Let cool at least 2 hours. Make the pastry cream. Chill in refrigerator 2 hours. Make the glaze. Let that sit 20 minutes before using. Assemble cake. Chill for 2 hours before serving.
Needless to say, I started this creation around 9:30 yesterday morning. Made the cakes first. Beautiful "foolproof" sponge cakes. I weighed the cake pans as I filled them to get evenly distributed batter. When Steve made my birthday cake back in April, I sorta teased him about getting too precise when he weighed the batter between the pans. But as I stood in the kitchen yesterday trying to eyeball the evenness of the batter, I realized he was smart to weigh it. So I got the scale out. The recipe said the cakes should brown a little bit but to remove them from the oven if they pass the toothpick test. My cakes didn't brown at all but passed the test so I pulled them. After I removed them from the pans, I then worried they weren't baked enough.
Since the cakes only have to bake for about 12 minutes, I wasn't able to really start on the pastry cream while they baked. After separating eggs, and prepping the ingredients, the cream came together perfectly. EXCEPT when I broke a cardinal rule of baking - I turned my back on the stove. My two cups of milk were in the saucier coming to a simmer. As any cook knows, milk will look like it's not doing anything for quite a while and then very quickly reach that simmering point. Well, when I turned back to the stove, my milk was just about ready to boil over the edge of the pot. So I ended up with scalded milk. Since I didn't have more milk, I had to use it. I could definitely taste the scalded milk in the cream but hoped that once the cake was put together, the other flavors would cover that taste up.
After the cream was chilling, I cleaned up the gargantuan pile of dishes I had created during these two steps. Then I spot cleaned the apartment because there was a chance that guests would be over in the evening. Got the recycling and dirty cat litter ready to take downstairs later. I also kept one eye on the clock, because I had to leave the house at 3 for an Egmont event which involved librarians & other book people and mint juleps. More on that later. I was going to be cutting it close because I wanted to get the cake assembled and chilling before I left.
Finally got as much done as I could and hopped in the shower around 2. Put on my nice clothes for the Egmont event. Donned an apron over my black dress and proceeded to VERY CAREFULLY whip up the chocolate ganache glaze. After that sat for the required 20 minutes, I assembled the cake. By now it is most definitely 3 o'clock and I'm late leaving the house. But I got the cake together, glazed it, and got it in the fridge. Took off apron, grabbed bag and was out the door. I arrived at the Egmont event just as they were arriving, so my timing couldn't have been better.
The Egmont event was actually the last event on a day-long itinerary. Egmont has a new book coming out this fall by a well-known young adult author. It is historical fiction set in NYC during the Civil War. A key plot point is the draft riots that took place at this time. So, Egmont put together a very unique and special bus tour for librarians and book people that visited historical sites in NY that tied into the plot and story of the book. They also involved a NY Historical Society historian and the author. As my status with Egmont is a bit nebulous, I did not go on the bus tour, but did meet up with the group at their last stop for refreshments. Feedback about the bus tour was glowing and enthusiastic, and it was nice to have mint julep with the group. I left this event close to 5:30.
Scooted home, changed clothes, and Steve got home about 20 minutes after I did. We then went out to Clover Club where friends met us for those great cocktails CC serves up. It was another nice time there. CC is running summer specials 5-7pm on select drinks and bar eats. We ordered deviled eggs, pigs-in-a-blanket, and olives. I think we each had about two very-easy-to-drink cocktails before we decided more food was needed. I had another Moscow Mule, which was served in a freezing cold, old-fashioned, copper and enamel mug. The ice didn't even melt.
Departed the bar for Chestnut. The last time we ate here was during the winter. Chestnut has a very seasonal menu, so there were plenty of new options. There were one or two things that must be popular no matter what time of year it is because those items were still on the menu. There were five of us. We split the entree special - baby back ribs - between all of us. These were very good. Steve had eaten Chestnut's ribs during the Smith Street Festival earlier this summer and really liked them. These were just as good and were rubbed with a somewhat atypical spice blend. We definitely tasted coffee in the rub and tamarind. The ribs were also served with a tamarind sauce and really excellent cole slaw. The overall flavor of the ribs was spicy, a little bitter, a little sweet, and a little smoky.
I also had squash blossoms stuffed with curried chick peas. These were cooked very well, and the filling pleasantly flavored, but the batter could have used some more salt or other seasoning. Overall, these were bland. The second dish I ordered was the chicory, aoli, pancetta, and egg salad. I thought there was a bit too much dressing, but I loved the flavor of it. Chicory is a bitter green but the salty pancetta in the dressing played really well with this bitterness. The egg was a perfectly soft boiled egg, lightly breaded and fried, and then the yolk was injected with truffle oil. D-e-c-a-d-e-n-t to say the least. Reka also ordered this salad. We all marveled at the perfectness of the eggs.
Chestnut is a nice restaurant. We enjoyed the food again. We were able to walk in and get a table without any wait. They have what appears to be a lovely garden lit with hanging lanterns, but they didn't have any tables available out there so we were inside. The temperature last night was very pleasant and sitting outside would have been nice. Chestnut has floor-to-ceiling glass doors at the front of the dining room which were open letting in the nice night air. Service was pleasant but we did encounter quite a noticeable lull between two of our courses. The bill was extremely reasonable. However, three of us did not order entrees but two appetizers instead. Between the five of us, our alcohol order included a bottle of wine, a single glass of wine, a beer, and a cocktail. We did not have dessert.
Dessert was the Boston Cream Pie back at our apartment. Ah, you forgot about the BCP, didn't you? By now it's just about 11 o'clock. Everyone is a little tired, but the siren's cry of cake is too much to resist. After cutting it, all the layers looked right. And we gobbled our pieces up. Delish! Couldn't really tell I had scalded the milk (I could tell). The cake I worried about being undercooked was just perfect. The glaze was rich and tied everything together.
The bottom line is that Steve had a nice time and really enjoyed his cake.
Here are some not-so-pretty pictures of the cake since I forgot to take pictures BEFORE it was cut and devoured.
The unmarred side:
The hacked into side:
I think we'll have an egg white omelet with goat cheese and olives for lunch today. I have six egg whites as a result of the cream only needing the yolks yesterday. Even though the completed, assembled cake was chock full of eggs - 9 yolks, 2 whole eggs, 3 whites - it was surprising low on butter and sugar. Of course, while light on butter, it was heavy on milk fat as whole milk and cream were ingredients. Oh well.
August 6 also happened to be the day that the film crew for Eat, Pray, Love was in the neighborhood. While I didn't spot any celebrities - Julia Robers, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup, and James Franco are all listed as being in the film - it was fun to see all the trailers and crew. They appeared to be filming inside the restaurant Robin Des Bois, which Steve and I ate at not long after we moved here. It's very close to the apartment and the movie crew had parking blocked off all down our block, the block parallel to Baltic (Warren), and the block on Smith where the restaurant is.
A couple weeks ago, I asked Steve what sweet he wanted for his birthday and he immediately selected BCP. I've never made a BCP, but good ol' America's Test Kitchen has a recipe for it in their Family Baking Book. While none of the individual components were difficult to make, the total prep time for this cake is long - try 6 hours. Make the cake. Let cool at least 2 hours. Make the pastry cream. Chill in refrigerator 2 hours. Make the glaze. Let that sit 20 minutes before using. Assemble cake. Chill for 2 hours before serving.
Needless to say, I started this creation around 9:30 yesterday morning. Made the cakes first. Beautiful "foolproof" sponge cakes. I weighed the cake pans as I filled them to get evenly distributed batter. When Steve made my birthday cake back in April, I sorta teased him about getting too precise when he weighed the batter between the pans. But as I stood in the kitchen yesterday trying to eyeball the evenness of the batter, I realized he was smart to weigh it. So I got the scale out. The recipe said the cakes should brown a little bit but to remove them from the oven if they pass the toothpick test. My cakes didn't brown at all but passed the test so I pulled them. After I removed them from the pans, I then worried they weren't baked enough.
Since the cakes only have to bake for about 12 minutes, I wasn't able to really start on the pastry cream while they baked. After separating eggs, and prepping the ingredients, the cream came together perfectly. EXCEPT when I broke a cardinal rule of baking - I turned my back on the stove. My two cups of milk were in the saucier coming to a simmer. As any cook knows, milk will look like it's not doing anything for quite a while and then very quickly reach that simmering point. Well, when I turned back to the stove, my milk was just about ready to boil over the edge of the pot. So I ended up with scalded milk. Since I didn't have more milk, I had to use it. I could definitely taste the scalded milk in the cream but hoped that once the cake was put together, the other flavors would cover that taste up.
After the cream was chilling, I cleaned up the gargantuan pile of dishes I had created during these two steps. Then I spot cleaned the apartment because there was a chance that guests would be over in the evening. Got the recycling and dirty cat litter ready to take downstairs later. I also kept one eye on the clock, because I had to leave the house at 3 for an Egmont event which involved librarians & other book people and mint juleps. More on that later. I was going to be cutting it close because I wanted to get the cake assembled and chilling before I left.
Finally got as much done as I could and hopped in the shower around 2. Put on my nice clothes for the Egmont event. Donned an apron over my black dress and proceeded to VERY CAREFULLY whip up the chocolate ganache glaze. After that sat for the required 20 minutes, I assembled the cake. By now it is most definitely 3 o'clock and I'm late leaving the house. But I got the cake together, glazed it, and got it in the fridge. Took off apron, grabbed bag and was out the door. I arrived at the Egmont event just as they were arriving, so my timing couldn't have been better.
The Egmont event was actually the last event on a day-long itinerary. Egmont has a new book coming out this fall by a well-known young adult author. It is historical fiction set in NYC during the Civil War. A key plot point is the draft riots that took place at this time. So, Egmont put together a very unique and special bus tour for librarians and book people that visited historical sites in NY that tied into the plot and story of the book. They also involved a NY Historical Society historian and the author. As my status with Egmont is a bit nebulous, I did not go on the bus tour, but did meet up with the group at their last stop for refreshments. Feedback about the bus tour was glowing and enthusiastic, and it was nice to have mint julep with the group. I left this event close to 5:30.
Scooted home, changed clothes, and Steve got home about 20 minutes after I did. We then went out to Clover Club where friends met us for those great cocktails CC serves up. It was another nice time there. CC is running summer specials 5-7pm on select drinks and bar eats. We ordered deviled eggs, pigs-in-a-blanket, and olives. I think we each had about two very-easy-to-drink cocktails before we decided more food was needed. I had another Moscow Mule, which was served in a freezing cold, old-fashioned, copper and enamel mug. The ice didn't even melt.
Departed the bar for Chestnut. The last time we ate here was during the winter. Chestnut has a very seasonal menu, so there were plenty of new options. There were one or two things that must be popular no matter what time of year it is because those items were still on the menu. There were five of us. We split the entree special - baby back ribs - between all of us. These were very good. Steve had eaten Chestnut's ribs during the Smith Street Festival earlier this summer and really liked them. These were just as good and were rubbed with a somewhat atypical spice blend. We definitely tasted coffee in the rub and tamarind. The ribs were also served with a tamarind sauce and really excellent cole slaw. The overall flavor of the ribs was spicy, a little bitter, a little sweet, and a little smoky.
I also had squash blossoms stuffed with curried chick peas. These were cooked very well, and the filling pleasantly flavored, but the batter could have used some more salt or other seasoning. Overall, these were bland. The second dish I ordered was the chicory, aoli, pancetta, and egg salad. I thought there was a bit too much dressing, but I loved the flavor of it. Chicory is a bitter green but the salty pancetta in the dressing played really well with this bitterness. The egg was a perfectly soft boiled egg, lightly breaded and fried, and then the yolk was injected with truffle oil. D-e-c-a-d-e-n-t to say the least. Reka also ordered this salad. We all marveled at the perfectness of the eggs.
Chestnut is a nice restaurant. We enjoyed the food again. We were able to walk in and get a table without any wait. They have what appears to be a lovely garden lit with hanging lanterns, but they didn't have any tables available out there so we were inside. The temperature last night was very pleasant and sitting outside would have been nice. Chestnut has floor-to-ceiling glass doors at the front of the dining room which were open letting in the nice night air. Service was pleasant but we did encounter quite a noticeable lull between two of our courses. The bill was extremely reasonable. However, three of us did not order entrees but two appetizers instead. Between the five of us, our alcohol order included a bottle of wine, a single glass of wine, a beer, and a cocktail. We did not have dessert.
Dessert was the Boston Cream Pie back at our apartment. Ah, you forgot about the BCP, didn't you? By now it's just about 11 o'clock. Everyone is a little tired, but the siren's cry of cake is too much to resist. After cutting it, all the layers looked right. And we gobbled our pieces up. Delish! Couldn't really tell I had scalded the milk (I could tell). The cake I worried about being undercooked was just perfect. The glaze was rich and tied everything together.
The bottom line is that Steve had a nice time and really enjoyed his cake.
Here are some not-so-pretty pictures of the cake since I forgot to take pictures BEFORE it was cut and devoured.
The unmarred side:
The hacked into side:
I think we'll have an egg white omelet with goat cheese and olives for lunch today. I have six egg whites as a result of the cream only needing the yolks yesterday. Even though the completed, assembled cake was chock full of eggs - 9 yolks, 2 whole eggs, 3 whites - it was surprising low on butter and sugar. Of course, while light on butter, it was heavy on milk fat as whole milk and cream were ingredients. Oh well.
August 6 also happened to be the day that the film crew for Eat, Pray, Love was in the neighborhood. While I didn't spot any celebrities - Julia Robers, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup, and James Franco are all listed as being in the film - it was fun to see all the trailers and crew. They appeared to be filming inside the restaurant Robin Des Bois, which Steve and I ate at not long after we moved here. It's very close to the apartment and the movie crew had parking blocked off all down our block, the block parallel to Baltic (Warren), and the block on Smith where the restaurant is.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Peach cake delight
Yesterday, I whipped up a delicious, summery, easy peach cake and posted the picture of the finished result to Twitter and FB. Thanks for all the responses to the pic! Here it is again in case you don't do the whole Twitter and FB thing:
I also promised to post the recipe for this cake, so here it goes.
Rustic Peach Cake
from Cook's Country, June/July 2008 issue
Serves 6 to 8
"Since overly ripe peaches will make the cake soggy, look for barely ripe peaches that give slightly to the touch."
Peaches
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 medium peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 8 wedges
Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons sour cream (I use reduced fat and it's fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried peaches or apricots, chopped fine
1. For the peaches: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch springform pan. (However, I use a 10-inch because it's what I have and the cake turns out a little thinner, but still good.) Combine sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl; reserve 2 tablespoons sugar mixture. Add peaches to bowl with remaining sugar mixture and toss to coat.
2. For the cake: Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat sugars and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until incorporated. Reduce speed to medium-low (or low in my case). Slowly add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Scatter dried peaches over batter, then arrange sugared peaches in circular pattern over the top. Sprinkle reserved sugar mixture over peaches.
3. Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes (I found that the 10-inch springform needs a cooking time of about 32 minutes). Cool at least 1 hour in the pan on a rack. Remove from pan and serve. Cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for 2 days.
My experience with this cake is that it does need to be eaten quickly. It will get soggy after a couple days.
I also promised to post the recipe for this cake, so here it goes.
Rustic Peach Cake
from Cook's Country, June/July 2008 issue
Serves 6 to 8
"Since overly ripe peaches will make the cake soggy, look for barely ripe peaches that give slightly to the touch."
Peaches
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 medium peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 8 wedges
Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons sour cream (I use reduced fat and it's fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried peaches or apricots, chopped fine
1. For the peaches: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch springform pan. (However, I use a 10-inch because it's what I have and the cake turns out a little thinner, but still good.) Combine sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl; reserve 2 tablespoons sugar mixture. Add peaches to bowl with remaining sugar mixture and toss to coat.
2. For the cake: Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat sugars and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until incorporated. Reduce speed to medium-low (or low in my case). Slowly add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Scatter dried peaches over batter, then arrange sugared peaches in circular pattern over the top. Sprinkle reserved sugar mixture over peaches.
3. Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes (I found that the 10-inch springform needs a cooking time of about 32 minutes). Cool at least 1 hour in the pan on a rack. Remove from pan and serve. Cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for 2 days.
My experience with this cake is that it does need to be eaten quickly. It will get soggy after a couple days.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
We celebrated the 4th with food, of course
How did your holiday weekend go? Ours was fun but way too short. I kicked off the weekend on Friday with TNTE club. They came over for a night of playing Shanghai (a card game that is ridiculously tension filled. "It's just a game!") and food. We had a feast of fresh figs, perfect strawberries, veggies, warm olives, cheeses, bread/crackers, and grilled pizzas. I made two.
I used my same trusty dough recipe, but I divided it in two. The first was a traditional red sauce & cheese pizza. The second was topped with leftover balsamic caramelized onions, olives, rosemary, and garlic oil.
Let me go back two days. As part of my Bon Appetit week two weeks ago, I planned to make steak sandwiches. For one reason or another, we didn't get around to making them when planned. However, it was too good a recipe to pass up, so I finally made them Wednesday before the holiday weekend. These were far from healthy, but extremely delicious. We used half a flank steak, rather than pricier filet Mignon, sliced very thinly. Topped with Camembert, bacon, and these too delicious for words balsamic caramelized onions. Wow. They are fantastic to use for just about anything that needs a rich, savory kick. I did a whole onion, so we had lots of leftovers.
Here's how to do the onion:
1) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium heat.
2) Add 1 large onion, thinly sliced; saute until soft and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.
3) Stir in 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons (packed) of brown sugar, reduce heat to low, and cook until onion is brown and sauce is thick, stirring often about 20 minutes.
4) Season with salt and pepper. (Definitely add the salt!)
Anyway, I used these onions to top the pizza. Both pizzas turned out pretty well. I had a little bit of trouble flipping one of them because it got stuck just a little on the pan, but otherwise, things turned out alright. Could have also cooked one of the crusts just a little bit more as it wasn't crispy enough.
Friday was also my first attempt making cookies n' cream ice cream. I think I almost nailed it right out of the gate.
Cookies n' cream ice cream
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy or light cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
2 eggs
about 2/3 of a package of Oreos (I used reduced fat Oreos, for what it's worth)
Heat the half and half over low-medium heat until just to boiling point. Let cool 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs until well incorporated. Continue to whisk until temperature reaches 170 degrees. (I use my candy thermometer to check the temp, but my nose always tells me when it's getting close to 170 because the egg smell starts to change and smell more like cooked eggs. You don't want to have scrambled eggs in ice cream.) Remove from heat and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, overnight is better. While chilling, prepare your Oreos. I put one row of Oreos in a zip top bag and pummeled it with a heavy rolling pin. This pulverized them. Maybe a little too much, I realized. So I chopped each cookie in another row of Oreos into eighths. After chilling, remove mix from fridge and whisk in remaining cup of cream. Freeze using ice cream mixer according to manufacturer's directions. By hand, mix in the pulverized Oreos and the chopped Oreos. Transfer ice cream to containers and freeze until you can't stand it anymore and have to eat some.
I originally used 1 cup of sugar, but we all agreed it made the ice cream just a little too sweet. I think reducing by a quarter, or maybe even a half, would be just about right. Other than being a little too sweet, this tasted great. Cookies n' cream is one of my favorite flavors anyway and it's pretty hard to screw up.
On Saturday, we decided we wanted to use the other half of that flank steak for our 4th of July dinner. so Steve grilled that up after marinating it briefly in oil, chopped onions, garlic, cilantro, salt & pepper. I made a new recipe called black bean confetti salad I found on the Smitten Kitchen blog. Yum! Easy to make and tasty, good cold or room temp, and makes enough to take to a party, this salad is one I'll make again and again. Smitten Kitchen is not a cilantro fan, but Steve and I both like it so I added some but could have added more. So if you like cilantro, be generous with it. We also had two ears of corn in the fridge, so we decided to grill those, too. Having never grilled corn before, we looked up some tips. After soaking it for about 30 minutes in water (husks & all), we moved them to the grill. Steve removed much of the husk except for the inner layer. The husks gets very charred and we thought we were burning up the corn, but the husks sort of act like a little steamer. Our kernels got caramelized and charred. Most of the husks burn away, and a quick wipe with a paper towel got the remaining bits.
We washed all of this down with margaritas. Here is our feast:
Later that night, we were able to see the fireworks from our roof. This surprised us very much as we didn't expect to be able to see any. I don't think the ones we could see were the big Macy's fireworks. The ones we saw were more towards Liberty Island and New Jersey. They were good and went on quite a while.
On Sunday, we had delicious leftovers for lunch. After having more of the flank steak for lunch topped with the bean salad in sandwiches, we cooked up a pork tenderloin with many of the leftover ingredients from the weekend. On the stove, Steve cooked the pork medallions with oil, salt, pepper, onion, cilantro, and lemon juice (I was out of limes). I made rice with butter and mixed in a little bit of cooked garlic. I mixed in the left over bean salad for a quasi Cuban-style rice.
Monday was a blur and not interesting food-wise. Today is Tuesday and I still have a heap of work to do before I leave for Chicago on Thursday. I'll be out of town until next Tuesday, and Steve will have to fend for himself. I suspect he will have lots of soup. That's what he usually eats when I'm out of town.
I'll try to remember what I eat and where while in Chicago. There are so many good places there!
I used my same trusty dough recipe, but I divided it in two. The first was a traditional red sauce & cheese pizza. The second was topped with leftover balsamic caramelized onions, olives, rosemary, and garlic oil.
Let me go back two days. As part of my Bon Appetit week two weeks ago, I planned to make steak sandwiches. For one reason or another, we didn't get around to making them when planned. However, it was too good a recipe to pass up, so I finally made them Wednesday before the holiday weekend. These were far from healthy, but extremely delicious. We used half a flank steak, rather than pricier filet Mignon, sliced very thinly. Topped with Camembert, bacon, and these too delicious for words balsamic caramelized onions. Wow. They are fantastic to use for just about anything that needs a rich, savory kick. I did a whole onion, so we had lots of leftovers.
Here's how to do the onion:
1) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium heat.
2) Add 1 large onion, thinly sliced; saute until soft and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.
3) Stir in 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons (packed) of brown sugar, reduce heat to low, and cook until onion is brown and sauce is thick, stirring often about 20 minutes.
4) Season with salt and pepper. (Definitely add the salt!)
Anyway, I used these onions to top the pizza. Both pizzas turned out pretty well. I had a little bit of trouble flipping one of them because it got stuck just a little on the pan, but otherwise, things turned out alright. Could have also cooked one of the crusts just a little bit more as it wasn't crispy enough.
Friday was also my first attempt making cookies n' cream ice cream. I think I almost nailed it right out of the gate.
Cookies n' cream ice cream
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy or light cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
2 eggs
about 2/3 of a package of Oreos (I used reduced fat Oreos, for what it's worth)
Heat the half and half over low-medium heat until just to boiling point. Let cool 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs until well incorporated. Continue to whisk until temperature reaches 170 degrees. (I use my candy thermometer to check the temp, but my nose always tells me when it's getting close to 170 because the egg smell starts to change and smell more like cooked eggs. You don't want to have scrambled eggs in ice cream.) Remove from heat and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, overnight is better. While chilling, prepare your Oreos. I put one row of Oreos in a zip top bag and pummeled it with a heavy rolling pin. This pulverized them. Maybe a little too much, I realized. So I chopped each cookie in another row of Oreos into eighths. After chilling, remove mix from fridge and whisk in remaining cup of cream. Freeze using ice cream mixer according to manufacturer's directions. By hand, mix in the pulverized Oreos and the chopped Oreos. Transfer ice cream to containers and freeze until you can't stand it anymore and have to eat some.
I originally used 1 cup of sugar, but we all agreed it made the ice cream just a little too sweet. I think reducing by a quarter, or maybe even a half, would be just about right. Other than being a little too sweet, this tasted great. Cookies n' cream is one of my favorite flavors anyway and it's pretty hard to screw up.
On Saturday, we decided we wanted to use the other half of that flank steak for our 4th of July dinner. so Steve grilled that up after marinating it briefly in oil, chopped onions, garlic, cilantro, salt & pepper. I made a new recipe called black bean confetti salad I found on the Smitten Kitchen blog. Yum! Easy to make and tasty, good cold or room temp, and makes enough to take to a party, this salad is one I'll make again and again. Smitten Kitchen is not a cilantro fan, but Steve and I both like it so I added some but could have added more. So if you like cilantro, be generous with it. We also had two ears of corn in the fridge, so we decided to grill those, too. Having never grilled corn before, we looked up some tips. After soaking it for about 30 minutes in water (husks & all), we moved them to the grill. Steve removed much of the husk except for the inner layer. The husks gets very charred and we thought we were burning up the corn, but the husks sort of act like a little steamer. Our kernels got caramelized and charred. Most of the husks burn away, and a quick wipe with a paper towel got the remaining bits.
We washed all of this down with margaritas. Here is our feast:
Later that night, we were able to see the fireworks from our roof. This surprised us very much as we didn't expect to be able to see any. I don't think the ones we could see were the big Macy's fireworks. The ones we saw were more towards Liberty Island and New Jersey. They were good and went on quite a while.
On Sunday, we had delicious leftovers for lunch. After having more of the flank steak for lunch topped with the bean salad in sandwiches, we cooked up a pork tenderloin with many of the leftover ingredients from the weekend. On the stove, Steve cooked the pork medallions with oil, salt, pepper, onion, cilantro, and lemon juice (I was out of limes). I made rice with butter and mixed in a little bit of cooked garlic. I mixed in the left over bean salad for a quasi Cuban-style rice.
Monday was a blur and not interesting food-wise. Today is Tuesday and I still have a heap of work to do before I leave for Chicago on Thursday. I'll be out of town until next Tuesday, and Steve will have to fend for himself. I suspect he will have lots of soup. That's what he usually eats when I'm out of town.
I'll try to remember what I eat and where while in Chicago. There are so many good places there!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Grilled Pizza
Yesterday it didn't rain. The sun was actually out. I heard on the news that it has rained something like 19 days of the last 23 in NYC. And on the days it hasn't rained, it's been gray and dreary and cool. I really haven't minded the weather at all. I'm at home most of the time so going out in the rain isn't an issue for me. What I have missed thanks to all this rain is the grilling.
We had a get together at the beginning on the month and that was also the start of the establishment of NYC as the east coast Seattle. During our grilling get together, it rained. It wasn't a bad rain and we were able to get the cooking done before it started. We and our guests squeezed together under our massive outdoor umbrella and kept eating and talking while the gentle rain came down. It was actually really quite nice. One of our guests said, "I bet everyone who can see us is jealous." (There is a high rise condo building across the street and almost all those tenants could see us on our roof.) Despite the rain and slight chill in the air, we really did have a nice time. It felt so relaxed.
But yesterday, when the rain stopped and the sun was actually shining throwing sunbeams into the apartment (the cats were confused by it's sudden reappearance. I think they had forgotten it even existed), I knew we were going to grill for dinner.
I've been wanting to try pizza on the grill and it sounded like the perfect thing to do. I made the dough late in the afternoon as it needs some time to rise. A couple days ago I started prepping for the possibility of pizza for dinner cooked either on the grill or in the oven, so I went over to the butcher on Court Street to pick up some Italian sausage. What a great butcher! We have two butcher shops close to us. One on Smith Street, which I've been to several times, and one on Court, which I hadn't been to yet. The Court St. shop is more upscale and carries only prime cuts of meat. There is an homage to the old-time butcher shops with a sprinkling of sawdust on the floor just inside the front door. I don't think any of the beef cuts they have are under $10 a pound, and apparently, they were having a sale yesterday. Beautiful meat. There is also a small selection of cheeses, olives, and pantry items. But it was what was in the back corner of the shop that caught my eye. A beautiful Himalayan cat sat tucked into a corned silently and patiently watching the shop. I kiss-kissed to her and she came trotting right over to me. All cats respond to the kiss-kiss. I gave her some rubs and she gave some back and then decided it was enough that she greeted me and I acknowledged her, and she went right back to her corner. Then I bought my $3.98 worth of house-made (I assume) Italian sausage and continued on my errands.
The next shop on my list was the Smith & Vine wine stop for some Prosecco. Picked up that and another bottle of a summer white, and went across the street to the cheese shop, Stinky Bklyn. I was on the hunt for some fresh buffalo mozz for the pizza. Eight dollars later, I was in possession of a beautiful, grapefruit-sized ball of house-made buffalo mozzarella. Yum.
So after I got my dough rising, I went to work on prepping the toppings. I removed the sausages from their casings, crumbled and browned them. Sausage was excellent - very little fat and extremely flavorful. Sliced the cheese and sampled a bit as I went. Delicious. Made garlic oil and plucked leaves from our basil growing in a glass of water on the windowsill.
Then started work on the drink. Bon Appetit had a recipe for a "Strawberry Muddle" that I wanted to try. I hulled and chopped the strawberries, sliced the lemon, muddled all of it with simple syrup, and put the glasses in the fridge to complete when we were ready.
Steve came home and julienned a green pepper and I got our salad ready. He left to get the grill going and I rolled out the dough. A while ago, I bought a special pan with a long handle that is for grilling pizza. I know it's cheating to use a pan rather than putting the dough directly on the grill, but I wanted to give this a try. The pan worked beautifully! We cooked the dough in two steps. First, we grilled one side until it got color on it but before it burned. It cooks pretty fast over the high heat fire. Then we carefully flipped the dough and added the sauce and toppings. Then we put it back on the fire and grilled until the crust was colored on the bottom and the toppings were hot. We covered the grill while it was cooking but checked on it frequently to avoid burning. The fire Steve had going last night was very hot - which is good for pizza - and I was worried about it burning the crust before the toppings were done. As a first attempt goes, everything worked out pretty darn well. The crust was crispy but certainly not burned, and it was cooked all the way through. Our toppings were hot and the cheese got oozy. I would have liked to add a little bit of onion or some olives, but there is always next time. Here is the pizza cooking on the grill. It's not quite done yet. The dots along the crust are the pattern the bottom of the pan makes.
Before we put the pizza on the grill to cook, I also finished the drinks by adding the ice and Prosecco. At first, we really didn't taste much of the strawberry or lemon. I think I used glasses that were too big and diluted the fruit flavor. But by the time we got to the bottom of the glass, the flavors were great - sweet, lemon-y, and the strawberries were fizzy. We didn't finish the Prosecco last night so Steve said when he gets home today (half-day Fridays!) he's having another one.
It's raining again today.
We had a get together at the beginning on the month and that was also the start of the establishment of NYC as the east coast Seattle. During our grilling get together, it rained. It wasn't a bad rain and we were able to get the cooking done before it started. We and our guests squeezed together under our massive outdoor umbrella and kept eating and talking while the gentle rain came down. It was actually really quite nice. One of our guests said, "I bet everyone who can see us is jealous." (There is a high rise condo building across the street and almost all those tenants could see us on our roof.) Despite the rain and slight chill in the air, we really did have a nice time. It felt so relaxed.
But yesterday, when the rain stopped and the sun was actually shining throwing sunbeams into the apartment (the cats were confused by it's sudden reappearance. I think they had forgotten it even existed), I knew we were going to grill for dinner.
I've been wanting to try pizza on the grill and it sounded like the perfect thing to do. I made the dough late in the afternoon as it needs some time to rise. A couple days ago I started prepping for the possibility of pizza for dinner cooked either on the grill or in the oven, so I went over to the butcher on Court Street to pick up some Italian sausage. What a great butcher! We have two butcher shops close to us. One on Smith Street, which I've been to several times, and one on Court, which I hadn't been to yet. The Court St. shop is more upscale and carries only prime cuts of meat. There is an homage to the old-time butcher shops with a sprinkling of sawdust on the floor just inside the front door. I don't think any of the beef cuts they have are under $10 a pound, and apparently, they were having a sale yesterday. Beautiful meat. There is also a small selection of cheeses, olives, and pantry items. But it was what was in the back corner of the shop that caught my eye. A beautiful Himalayan cat sat tucked into a corned silently and patiently watching the shop. I kiss-kissed to her and she came trotting right over to me. All cats respond to the kiss-kiss. I gave her some rubs and she gave some back and then decided it was enough that she greeted me and I acknowledged her, and she went right back to her corner. Then I bought my $3.98 worth of house-made (I assume) Italian sausage and continued on my errands.
The next shop on my list was the Smith & Vine wine stop for some Prosecco. Picked up that and another bottle of a summer white, and went across the street to the cheese shop, Stinky Bklyn. I was on the hunt for some fresh buffalo mozz for the pizza. Eight dollars later, I was in possession of a beautiful, grapefruit-sized ball of house-made buffalo mozzarella. Yum.
So after I got my dough rising, I went to work on prepping the toppings. I removed the sausages from their casings, crumbled and browned them. Sausage was excellent - very little fat and extremely flavorful. Sliced the cheese and sampled a bit as I went. Delicious. Made garlic oil and plucked leaves from our basil growing in a glass of water on the windowsill.
Then started work on the drink. Bon Appetit had a recipe for a "Strawberry Muddle" that I wanted to try. I hulled and chopped the strawberries, sliced the lemon, muddled all of it with simple syrup, and put the glasses in the fridge to complete when we were ready.
Steve came home and julienned a green pepper and I got our salad ready. He left to get the grill going and I rolled out the dough. A while ago, I bought a special pan with a long handle that is for grilling pizza. I know it's cheating to use a pan rather than putting the dough directly on the grill, but I wanted to give this a try. The pan worked beautifully! We cooked the dough in two steps. First, we grilled one side until it got color on it but before it burned. It cooks pretty fast over the high heat fire. Then we carefully flipped the dough and added the sauce and toppings. Then we put it back on the fire and grilled until the crust was colored on the bottom and the toppings were hot. We covered the grill while it was cooking but checked on it frequently to avoid burning. The fire Steve had going last night was very hot - which is good for pizza - and I was worried about it burning the crust before the toppings were done. As a first attempt goes, everything worked out pretty darn well. The crust was crispy but certainly not burned, and it was cooked all the way through. Our toppings were hot and the cheese got oozy. I would have liked to add a little bit of onion or some olives, but there is always next time. Here is the pizza cooking on the grill. It's not quite done yet. The dots along the crust are the pattern the bottom of the pan makes.
Before we put the pizza on the grill to cook, I also finished the drinks by adding the ice and Prosecco. At first, we really didn't taste much of the strawberry or lemon. I think I used glasses that were too big and diluted the fruit flavor. But by the time we got to the bottom of the glass, the flavors were great - sweet, lemon-y, and the strawberries were fizzy. We didn't finish the Prosecco last night so Steve said when he gets home today (half-day Fridays!) he's having another one.
It's raining again today.
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