Cherries!

The price of cherries has dropped and its time to make something! When I make pie dough, I always make extra and freeze it, so I can come up with something quickly if the occasion arises. I was expecting a guest, so I decided to take those luscious cherries and make a turnover to go with tea.

To make the filling, use tapioca--its a good thang to keep in the pantry for just such occasions. For this little turnover, I used less than a tablespoon added to the washed, pitted cherries. My favorite cherry spices are cardamom and, of course, cayenne. Don't forget a small pinch of salt and a sweetner. I chose sugar. As you can see from the photos, I also sprankled the pie crust with a little sugar (as it had none) and a liberal dose of cinnamon. I rolled my crust very thinly, because I like it that way. However, I had a small fissure, visible in the photo, which is never any good but not the end of the world. After loading half the crust with the cherry mixture, I simply folded it in half, pinched closed, brushed with a little cream/water mix and sprankled more sugar and cinnamon on top. Since I had a fissure, I didn't add any slits on the top. Into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until nicely golden and the fruit has begun to bubble in the fissure (or slits, if you did it right).

No canned or frozen or dried cherry comes close to the divine flavor of the fresh fruit. We ate this turnover while it was still warm. It was so good, I forgot to take a picture of the finished turnover, and it wasn't until we were seated at tea, gobbling away, that I dragged out the camera!

Making Pizza - Part One

Earlier, I posted some ideas on how to load, or top, your pizza. Sometimes the toppings, well executed can save a crust that is too doughy, dry, or even somewhat flavorless. And thank God for that. However, the whole idea of pizza, in my baker's head, is the bread.

Here we go: No matter what kind of flat bread I make, the ratio between wet and dry is roughly 1.333 x 3. You can wing if after you've made it a while and go mainly by touch--how the dough feels. Otherwise, in a bowl, wisk together:

a package of yeast (I prefer dry grains and often use quick rise)

about 1 cup water (warm to touch--about 110 degrees F)

about 1 T salt (I like kosher salt)

(you can add herbs and chilies into your dough, too!!)

Let it sit for a little while to "proof," until you are assured the yeast is active. It will start to look slightly thick and foamy or bubbly.

Add

about 1 T extra virgin olive oil

about 3C flour (all kinds available--but you can find some really tasty whole wheat these days.)

For hands on: (one hand holds bowl, the other works dough) use your fingers like claws and "wisk" the dry into the wet, working the sides of the bowl, to incorporate all the flour. Work it quickly here so you don't end up with all the dough on your fingers. As it comes together, form it to a ball and push, or knead, with the heel of your hand. Push away from you, and then use your fingers to fold this toward you, flattening the ball onto itself, and then knead. This constant kneading with heel of hand, then folding over with fingers continues till it is smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky. This can take as little as 3-5 minutes, but sometimes longer, depending upon how spot on your ratio was. Push the ball with your finger. If it is hard to push, add a few drops of water and knead it in. Don't over do the water, though. Its easy to go from too hard to too soft. However, that can be corrected by--yup--adding a sprankling of flour. Bottom line, smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky.

Place your little dough ball into a slightly oiled bowl and turn the dough, so it is all covered with oil. Cover the bowl lightly with a large plastic bag or a clean dish towel. Instead of hands, you can use your kitchenaide with a dough hook, and it's done in very short order.

This can be refrigerated overnight or even frozen (use plastic, then, and then when ready, contiue with these instructions). Otherwise, let it rise 2-3 hours (depending on what you can afford timewise--I find it can be very forgiving but the best dough takes its time).

Once risen, remove from bowl and roll and stretch on a floured surface. Don't over do it. The mass should look still be thick enough to handle because it will need to be transferred to an oiled baking sheet where you can further stretch. You're looking for something really thin, like 1/4". Certainly you can toss it, use a peel with corn meal, top, and put directly onto an oven tile, but I make pizza bigger than the surface of my tile, so I use a pan.

Then I brush the dough lightly with olive oil (unless this is your only topping besides, say rosemary, for example, in which case, use more liberally) If I want a sauce or multiple sauces, I use them sparingly, letting the olive oil and toppings get their share of glory. If you add sauces, toppings, cheese, etc., then drizzle that with olive oil, too. I put my pan atop my oven tile, but a plain old oven rack will suffice. Bake in hot oven (and if you have a spray bottle, hit the oven burner with several squirts of water for a little steam). Hot is 450 degrees or more. Time for 450 is about 11-13 minutes till it looks really yummy.

For more in-depth information on how to layer more and more flavor into your topped pizza, see my earlier post regarding a southwestern style pizza.

Texas Pizza

HOW TO DO IT

This segment is devoted to flavoring your pizza. In this regard, extra virgin olive oil is key. After you've got your crust laid out, brush it nicely with olive oil. If you wish to then use a sauce, it will go on top of oil coat.

For this Texas pizza, I'm using a basil pesto which I purchased from Central Market. It is the closest to my own recipe but a little more cost effective (a good sprig of fresh basil alone costs as much as this small portion I purchased for my pizza). However, for my Tejas flavor, I need to augment with--yes a bit more olive oil, lime juice, and some of my favorite dried powdered chilis. When you apply it to pizza, don't overdo it. Too much sauce can kill a good pizza. You should still be able to see the dough underneath.

Now for the veggies. They, too, need a good coat of flavor--here, you can see how I'm building in some more Texas flavor using cumin. Let this sit for a minute or two before you place them on pizza. Same with onions--pump the flavor. If you want to add fresh sliced serano for real hot fun--add it here. Let 'em absorb their condiments before putting on pizza. Try not to overload the pizza with too many veggies.

Now the cheeses. I stuck with Italian--the mozz and parmesan. Then, I sprankled one last layer of chili powder--a bit more Chimayo and a dash more Habanero. If you've salted through all layers, you won't need to add salt to top, because parmesan is salty. Then--oh yes--drizzle on a bit more olive oil. Bake in hot oven.

DELICIOSO!!

Peach Pie Frenzy

MUST HAVE PIE!

By, then, I was hopeless but for the fact my summer fridge is always full of fruit. I set my sights on peach, but only had three left--but I had lots of nectarines. I left the skins on, as they were organic. Forget agave nectar--forget sugar free--this pie is for the House, and it's gonna get sugar sprankles inside the crust (which had no sugar) after I rolled it out. Also, added more cinnamon. Then down went the fruit concoction (my secret ingredient is vinegar) with sugar, of course. Since I only had one dough ball (it is for the House, after all, and enough must be enough), I pulled the rolled dough towards the center, wrapping it until the fruit was encased. Brush with cream and water, sprankle liberally with cinnamon and sugar, bake at 400 degrees and wait...then...well, what summer-sweet, fresh-fruit bliss. Ahhhh....

The Agave Nectar Prototype

Strawberry Pie sugar free was the challenge. The customer wanted me to use Splenda, but as a natural foodie, I chose to work with Agave nectar. Not as pricey as I had expected. I tried a small shot in the whole wheat pastry crust (made with butter, baby). For the filling, I was more liberal, but still undercut the sweetner, because I didn't want to compromise the texture of the filling. I hate a runny filling. This pie was baked off at 6 am and delivered by 9. Shari just had to cut into it, even though it hadn't set. Of course, I had to sample for science. It only takes one taste with a decent pie to set off a pie-baking frenzy.