The Perfect Thin-Crust Pizza Dough

Literally, THE PERFECT thin-crust pizza dough. I've been searching for a good recipe for a while and this recipe rivals pizza from my favorite restaurant. Many thanks to my professor who shared the recipe with me (he was making an analogy between cooking and teaching).

Thin-Crust Pizza Dough
makes two 13-inch pizzas


3 cups bread flour (16.5 ounces) , plus more for work surface
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/3 cups (10.5 ounces) ice water
1 TBS vegetable oil, plus more for work surface
1 ½ tsp table salt

1. In food processor fitted with metal blade, process flour, sugar, and yeast until combined, about 2 seconds. With machine running, slowly add water through feed tube; process until dough is just combined and no dry flour remains, about 10 seconds. Let dough stand 10 minutes.

2. Add oil and salt to dough and process until dough forms satiny, sticky ball that clears sides of work bowl, 30 to 60 seconds, Remove dough from bowl, knead briefly on lightly oiled counter-top until smooth, about 1 minute. Shape dough into tight ball and place in large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.

3. One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to second highest position (rack should be about 4 to 5 inches blow broiler), set pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. Shape each half into smooth, tight ball. Place on lightly oiled baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart; cover loosely with plastic wrap coated with nonstick cooking spray; let stand for 1 hour.

4. Coat 1 ball of dough generously with flour and place on well-floured counter-top. Using fingertips, gently flatten into 8-inch disk, leaving 1 inch of outer edge slightly thinker than center. Using hands, gently stretch disk into 12-in round, working along edges and giving disk quarter turns as you stretch. Transfer dough to well-floured peel and stretch into 13-inch round. Using back of spoon or ladle, spread ½ cup tomato sauce in thin layer over surface of dough, leaving ¼-inch border around edge. Sprinkle with cheese and other toppings. Slide pizza carefully on to stone and bake until crust is well browned and cheese is bubbly and beginning to brow, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pizza half way through. Remove pizza and place on wire rack for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

The blog has gone stagnant...

...and I've been too busy (and/or addicted to my local taco cart and pumpkin curry hole-in-the-wall) to cook anything lately! So I've got nothing of my own to contribute, but I thought I'd share a friend's new food blog. Some simple, tasty-looking stuff on there already, and she's pretty excited about the new project, so I'm sure there's much more to come. Plus, good music included!


Eating the Beats

Inspired by Kelly's last post....

This past Thanksgiving I learned that after all these years of avoiding the sweet potatoes, I actually like them a lot. This recipe was inspired by those delish potatoes (thanks mom) and Kelly's last post (LOVE curry).

Coconut Curry with Yams and Chickpeas

olive oil
couple cloves of garlic
about 1/2 inch piece of peeled and grated ginger
half an onion
1 yam or sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup chickpeas
1/2-1 tsp of the following:
cumin
coriander
turmeric
paprika
cayenne
curry powder
about half a can of light coconut milk


Heat oil, saute garlic and ginger for minute or two. Add onion and yams and saute for about 5 minutes. Add pepper and saute a couple minutes more. Add spices and stir 2 more minutes until well mixed. Add chickpeas and a little bit of water, turn heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until yams are soft enough for your liking. Add coconut milk and simmer another 5 minutes. Deeelicious over qunioa.

For those who stock curry powder in 1 lb. bags...

In the fall, I eat a lot of easy meals of roasted root veggies and winter crops. If you've never tried it, I recommend a generous sprinkling of curry powder, salt, and pepper.

This one, made this afternoon, is a mixture of acorn squash, sweet potatoes and yams, cabbage, carrot, garlic cloves, onion and apple, with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds and dried cherries. So good, so easy. Happy fall, Haacks!

Sorry it has been awhile since I have visited this site! Here is a great brie appy:

Place brie, topped with banana slices (thin) and slivered almonds on top, in oven and heat at 300 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until brie is starting to ooze out the side. Serve with your favorite crackers or a homemade crustini (old baguette pieces drizzled with olive oil, placed in oven until crisp). Great with a refreshing glass of wine!

Pumpkin Muffins

A new favorite. Not as sweet as your typical pumpkin muffins--but oh so delicious!

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-3 tsp baking powder

-3/4 tsp cinnamon

-1/2 tsp ground ginger

-1/4 tsp salt

-1 stick unsalted butter, softened

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-2 large eggs

-3/4 cup pumpkin puree

-1/4 cup almond milk (or milk)

-Sunflower seeds, optional

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside. Fit a regular muffin pan with liners. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gently fold in the pumpkin puree and the milk. Add the flour mixture and blend into batter.

3. Divide the batter among 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Bake until muffins are puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Simon & Garfunkel soup

No joke, this soup was the product of some afterwork vegetable roasting and a well-timed playing of "Scarborough Fair" on my radio. I had planned to put the extra pumpkin, cauliflower and cabbage back in the fridge, but decided I'd make a soup instead. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...

Ingredients:
I didn't measure anything, but
-about 1/3 head of cabbage
-about 1/2 head of cauliflower
-half of a small pie pumpkin
-a few sprigs broccoli
-a carrot for good measure
-generous sprinklings of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
-pepper for oomph
-little lemon juice
-salt to your own tastes. Or use vegetable broth


Boil all ingredients until they're soft. Let them cool a bit, then throw them in the blender until smooth. Add 2/3 cup milk, return to pot, re-boil for a couple of minutes, then enjoy. I like mine with a dollop of yogurt, sprinkling of fresh parmesan, and some crusty bread.