So, I’ve been doing quite a lot of experimenting with that sourdough starter from Day 32.

…this would be six loaves rising.

 

Now my creative, bakery-cart wheels are turning and I’ve got a hankering to make something I’ve never had before, but it sure sounds good:

Candied Pecan
& Sweet Cherry
Sourdough

I’ve never candied pecans,
and I may change the cherry to raisin,
but this would be day one
of my little culinary adventure.

Here we go…

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Ingredients:

• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg white
• ½ pound (2-1/3 cups) whole pecans

 

Throw the sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl

and mix it till it looks like beach sand.

 

Then, whip the egg white until it’s nice and frothy

and coat the pecans with it.

 

Toss the coated pecans in the sugar/salt/cinnamon mix
and throw the whole lot into a slow cooker.

 

Cook (covered) on high for an hour,
gently stir and turn them in the pot,
and cook for another 1/2 hour to hour,
watching so they don’t burn.

 

Lastly, dry them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment:

 

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Verdict:

Holy hazelnuts, these are tasty.

The hardest part of this endeavor is saving enough to put in the bread…I may have to make another batch.

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Remember the Green Ice post? I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve had a protein shake nearly every day for 5 years. It’s reliable, healthy, consistent, and I can get moving in my day without thinking about what to eat. No-brainer.

Today, as I began to wake up, before I’d even opened my eyes, I felt fatigue like an ocean around the raft of my bed. Exhaustion was waiting for me on the other side of sleep, and I didn’t want to rise into it, no matter how loudly my alarm implored.

“Oh, do not attack me with your watch!”
-Jane Austen

It totally ticked me off.

 

The only thing that made me pull those covers back (which I still did in one of those ninja, roundhouse-kick, slam-the-comforter-down-onto-the-pillow-with-your-leg, and swing-yourself-sideways-to-a-sitting-position sort of ways) was a resolution to start the day off with something DIFFERENT.

 

Routine is comfortable AND confining.
Habit can be rewarding AND enslaving.

 

And today, I wanted to break my norm, and declare victory over the weariness that laces my days like smoke from an extinguished candle, reminding me of a lightness that was there, and is no more.

No.

Today, I set the protein shake aside.
I did’t want to walk into this day the same as all other days.

Today I want to taste.

I want color. The whole palette.

 

So this:

became the medium boiled egg that inspired this:

and today I ate color for breakfast.

 

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Welcome back.

Did you let your crust rise for 1 to 3 days? It’s a fun little science experiment as the yeast activates slowly under a cold rise and you get little gremlin air pockets all over the skin of the dough…

We’re ready for baking day.

An hour before baking, take your dough out of the fridge and cut it into thirds. If you’re not planning to make all three pizzas, you can freeze a third or two-thirds for another night.*

With each of the three sections, gently form them into a ball with cupped hands. DON’T KNEAD the dough. You want as much air to remain in the crust as you can.
Cover them with oiled plastic wrap and let them rest.

Preheat your oven to 500°. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven prior to preheating.**

 

While you’re waiting, make whatever pizza ingredients need pre-cooking (i.e. sausage, ground beef, bacon, chicken, etc.); chop and prep the rest (veggies, etc).

After one hour, your oven should be good and hot, and your dough will have relaxed and come to room temperature. Lay a large square of parchment paper on the counter. Flour your hands, the parchment, and one ball of dough. Start expanding it into a circle.

You can do this in all sorts of ways:

1. For the less adventurous, place the mound on floured parchment paper and gently pull out the sides, using your fingertips to flatten and spread the dough, until you’ve reached your desired pizza circumference.
2. For the conservative risk-takers, you can pick the mound up, and constantly turn it like a steering wheel, gently pulling out as you spin.
3. Once it gets big enough, the dare-devils amongst you can do this:

Okaaaaay….

back to business.

 

Once your crust has met your desired circumference and thickness, it’s time to assemble.

For traditional flavored pizzas, these are my favorite store-bought sauces:

 

I also love a good pesto on a Margherita pizza, and have even been known to use mayo and ketchup as a base for a bacon cheeseburger pizza.

(yes,  those ARE pickles on that pizza…)

 

Really, you can do ANYTHING here.

 

Assembly is generally in order: sauce, then cheese, then fixin’s.

 

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Once assembled, slide the pizza (parchment and all) onto the hot stone or oven rack. Bake until it’s well browned and bubbly, around 8-10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

This is a fig, prosciutto, and blue cheese pizza with raisin-shallot chutney and olive oil base.

 

SO GOOD!

 

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*Once frozen, thaw in the fridge for a day before baking.

**I’ve heard of people grilling the pizza as well. If you try this, send details on what worked. I’ve never done it!

In advance, I’m sorry.

If you make this and come to realize how easy it is to make the best crust for any given pizza in your own kitchen, and also come to understand that because you make your own killer crust you can now make ANY flavor of pizza and create your most favorite, signature ‘za in all the world, I’m sorry.

You will have become addicted (as I am)
and will gain at least five pounds of gluten weight (as I have.)

Before getting started, don’t plan pizza night on the day you make the crust. It will rest in the fridge (at least a day) for a cold rise. 

Shall we begin?

Ingredients:

(this will make 3 – 12″ pizza crusts…)

• 1 lb, 10 oz. bread flour (4 ½ cups)
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• ¾ teaspoons active yeast
• 1½ Tablespoon garlic infused olive oil (you can use plain EVOO, as well)
• 2 teaspoons, plus and a pinch of salt

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Combine the flour, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl and slowly stir in 2 cups of ICE COLD water.

Stir it until no dry flour remains,

and then give it a quick knead to make it a solid lump.

Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Then add the olive oil and salt,

and knead it until it makes a satiny, silky, sticky ball of goodness.

 

Tips:

1. You can use a bread hook, but it usually just slides around the middle of the dough clump and annoys you by not incorporating the entire dough.
2. Throw a little olive oil on the counter while you knead or just rub a drop in your hands like lotion and it will prevent sticking.

 

Throw the kneaded dough into a large bowl with a lid or tightly covered with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for at least 1 day, or up to 3 days.

It’s gonna be SO good. (More to follow…)

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