This blog is about bread. There shall be no posts on raspberry meringues nor recipes for choco-licious biscuits. It will be a cold day in hell before I bake a tiramisu or post pretty pictures of fairy cakes with frosted pink icing.
That being said I do occasionally compromise these principles in some vain attempt to win over the wife. This week I’ve attempted to impress her with home made pizza. We share happy memories of Italy and only last year passed through Naples and Sicily on our honeymoon. An educated palate however is not the same as a discerning palate. Her favourite purvayor of pizza remains the pizza delivery guy from our local Pizza Hut.
Here’s my attempt at New York style pizza following a recipe from American Pie by Peter Reinhart.
[An excellent book. I recommend it highly]
Pizza No. 1
My review
A very tasty pizza. It’s about the standard of a decent independent pizzeria. However, it’s miles away from being an outstanding pizza.
Pizza No. 2
This attempt didn’t turn out quite so well.
I spent too much time pulling and dragging at the dough. In the end I achieved a thin base but also squeezed out most of the gas. But my really big mistake was in not waiting for the oven to fully reheat. I tried to compensate with a little extra cooking time but this just turned the crust to cardboard.
I gave this pizza to the wife. I’m not always Mr Nice Guy.
Wife’s review
When you’ve got nothing nice to say it’s better to say nothing at all. I think she had a hard time chewing the ‘cardboard’ base and an even worse time swallowing the $20 I’d spent on cheese. A regular pan from Pizza Hut only costs $14 bucks so I’d lost the battle before I even began.
[Kneadyguy's two cents on pizza: For me, the difference between good pizza and awesome pizza is the crust. Great pizza is bread-like at the rim with charred, cracking skin and big pockets of air. It has a mild, rustic taste and a sweet, smoky aroma.
Or, in the case of Pizza Hut it's stuffed with processed cheese. Either type is great]
6 responses so far ↓
blh // June 30, 2008 at 7:47 pm |
from my experience of baking i think i can offer a little tip which might help…tear the chesses (certainly), pound the dough, (of course ) and rough up the vegtables (they had it coming)….but most importantly -shred the receipts.
Kelly // June 30, 2008 at 7:55 pm |
Come to New York. The pizzas here will make you cry when you eat pizza hut again.
kneadyguy // July 10, 2008 at 10:32 am |
That was some expensive, mediocre pizza I just cooked. Thanks for the support Brian. Are you still cooking? You’ve got no excuse with all those wonderful foodstuffs your wife brings back from Spain.
Hi Kelly. A little websurfing does indicate that New Yorkers are the most pizza obsessed people in the world. It must be a huge step up from Singapore. But I wouldn’t run down your roots. Don’t you miss the spicy drumlets from home which are genuinly spicy, or the aged delivery uncle hidden under layers of black biker gear, who looks confused and defensive when you offer a tip?
blh // July 14, 2008 at 5:26 pm |
just survived a visit by the Parents in law, the most memorable feature of these visits are the inaugaral opening of the luggage on arrival- the bags are packed full of spanish goodies- chorizzittos (little spicy sausages), cheese (that can irradiate a kitchen if left at room temperature), home grown vegtables (i distinctly remember tiny carrots with their plumes on) and lots more that Esther hasn’t shown me but will appear over the next week or two- to put it mildly i mostly loose control of the kitchen during these visits –
although they did appear to enjoy a rubarb and apple crumble i put together,
“Crumble” is for some reason a desert they had never encountered before- Spanish deserts are of the dry/honey-sweetened variety of all arabic influenced nations, not for them the coarse sweetness of oven baked fruits etc.
James // July 16, 2008 at 4:41 am |
Shred the receipts.. hehe. I like that.
I read this article in wired a couple of months back about guys flying from NY to San Fran with suitcases filled with pizza, all carefully packed in a specific way to fit the most slices in. The pizza there is meant to be pretty phenomenal. It’s too damp in San Francisco to do it properly there. That and having decades of burnt pizza in your wooden burning oven works miracles.
I really hate Pizza Hut pizzas. Dominos is dreadful too. Anything done at home is always a big improvement.
Matt // October 17, 2008 at 10:30 pm |
Tiramisu! Tiramisu!!