Margherita Pizza

Andrea accuses me of trying to eat Pizza everyday. She finds quite a bit of humor in the fact that I think Pizza is the perfect food. It has all the food groups, if you put a meat topping on it when cooking it. I've eaten Pizza in A LOT of places. Delivery, chains, mom and pop joints, big places, small places and in-between places. As the search for Pizza has gone on, Dough Pizzeria in San Antonio has taken on the role of the best pizza in the history of ever. I've been fortunate enough to do a good bit of traveling to San Antonio over the last three years. I love you baby. But I've always had this quest that I could make one heckuva Margherita Pie at home for myself. The quest has now concluded.

I stumbled across a great dough recipe last year when I was laid off. 101 Cookbooks is a blog that provided me with a wonderful jumping in place. I loved the way it turned out when I first made it while needing something to do around the house during that time period. She labeled the post "Best Pizza Dough Ever Recipe" and I would agree. At least with respect to what I can cook up at home. The Kitchenaid loves to go to town on this one. I followed it to the letter of the law. No improvisation on my part.

Since then, I've been searching for a great sauce. I tried one, and it was good. But it wasn't great. Well, I think I finally did it. I read this sauce recipe at Chef Maestro the other night. It looked simple. I thought I could do that. My problem is that I always tinker with stuff. This was no exception. What made it fun was the discovery of Kroger's Private Selection San Marzano Style Tomatoes with Basil. Yeah, I know. That's cheating. PBBBBTTTT! It made life easier. This discovery plus finding the fresh mozzarella in the expensive cheese case meant it was on like donkey kong. This is how the sauce shook out.

1 large can of Kroger's Private Selection San Marzano Tomatoes with Basil
2 small cans of Tomato Paste
Several Garlic Cloves
Kosher Salt
Onion Powder (I should have used fresh onion, but I was stupid)
New Mexico Red Chili Powder (any chili powder would work, but I love this stuff!)
Olive Oil
Dried Oregano
Sugar

I sauteed the garlic in the olive oil until it was starting to brown ever so slightly. I then added all the other products. I started with a couple of teaspoons of each spice, but ended up adding more of everything with the exception of the sugar. Shoot me for not being precise. I started breaking up the tomatoes in the sauce as it simmered over low heat. I pondered using the stick blender, but that was not necessary. It all broke down nicely over probably 15 minutes. Adjust the onion, salt and chili powder to taste. I don't like sweet, so I probably pushed the envelope the other way. Allow the sauce to cool before you assemble the pizza or it won't cook right.

The final phase in this is the ultimate construction and cooking. I cranked our oven up as high as it would go, which is 550 degrees. Call me names. I don't care. I just know that real pizzerias have their ovens upwards of 1000 degrees. I would have gone higher if I could. Shape your dough. Thin is good. Don't worry. It will be ok. I then spread a thinish layer of sauce over the top. Sprinkled with kosher salt. Slice pieces of the mozzarella to lay on top. Place a few pieces of fresh basil along with an olive oil drizzle and you slide that bad boy into the oven. I baked for approximately six to eight minutes.

I must say, I was quite pleased. I was so geeked up I forgot to snap the pics. Sorry. I poured a glass of cab and sat down to enjoy with some red pepper flakes sprinkled on top. Well done. Well done! My best pizza effort yet and I can't wait to do it again. This becomes a pretty easy and cheap way to have dinner. Never mind the left over sauce will work perfectly with some angel hair pasta hanging around in the pantry!

Roasting Pans and Rutabaga

Andrea and I have begun using the roasting pan quite frequently. We have discovered that using it can be genius in producing flavors and not soiling every dish in the kitchen to produce dinner. I saw a recipe on The Amateur Gourmet this last week for a Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables that looked quite intriguing. Number one, it calls for a roasting pan. Number two, roasted chicken is good for me. Number three, it had LEEKS! Number four, I can't say that I had ever eaten a Rutabaga. I saw them in the Kroger and wondered how to cook them. Viola! I have a chance to check them out in a pretty low risk format. I'm home tonight by myself and decide to get to work.

List of Vegetables In The Pan
Rutabaga
Small Red Potatoes
Smallish Yellow Onion
Medium Carrots
Leeks
Butternut Squash
Garlic

I cut the vegetables into similar size pieces. Carrots were halved. Leeks were split in half, almost. Be sure to clean them quite well! Onion was quartered. Squash and Rutabaga both had the outside peeled off and then cut down into pieces that were approximately the size of the red potatoes which were left whole.

I tossed them in a third of a cup of vegetable oil with kosher salt and black pepper. I also put some smashed and peeled garlic and thyme sprigs in the bottom of the roasting pan with them.

The chicken was whole, but I took the neck and all the other more interesting inside bits and discarded them. Not a big fan of the liver and such. I placed some smashed and peeled garlic along with thyme sprigs and salt/pepper in the core of the chicken. I then rubbed it down with a tiny bit of oil. Placed it in the pan on top of the vegetables. Once there, I put four or five pats of unsalted butter on top. I preheated the oven to 475 and slid the pan in the oven.



This also gave me a chance to use my super-sly remote thermometer that I received as a Christmas present from my brother-in-law. Side note. This little gem is greatness. The thermometer end sticks in the meat in the oven or grill and runs a wire out to a transmitter which sends the signal to my digital readout. Its got a flashlight, timer and target temps for all types of meat. Well done Jim!

I left the chicken at 475 for twenty-five minutes as directed by the recipe. I then backed the oven down to 400 for another forty-five minutes. I had the chicken registering 160 degrees per the recipe and the juices were running clear. I pulled this bad boy out of the oven to let it rest.



This turned out to be quite a tasty process. The chicken was absolutely delicious as well the vegetables. I need to eat more rutabaga. It was very good and blended well with the other root vegetables. The even better news is that I have leftovers!