I have yet to venture into cake in any serious way, probably because I fear such a gigantic, imposing topic. But then every great pig-out starts with the first bite. Since berries are bustin’ out all over, I think something simple, that marries well with any kind of berry, would be appropriate this week: Yellow […]
READ ONAlright, there isn’t one. I didn’t have time to make Napoleons this weekend, I’ll confess it. The big Napoleon eater, a colleague of my wife’s, couldn’t make it for dinner Saturday night. We rescheduled for next week, by which time I should be able to get my act together.
READ ONOne other thing I meant to remark upon: flavor. While the flavor of this two-day pizza was pretty darn good, it didn’t have the depth and distant tang of the naturally-leavened pizza I tried about three weeks back (I know, I didn’t tell you, but a baker has to have at least some privacy). How […]
READ ONYes yes, my source from Napoli didn’t let me down. Friday night’s effort was none too bad, though it paled in comparison to the real deal I ate two weeks ago in Chicago. One problem was that I didn’t let the dough rise quite long enough after I shaped my pies. The edges were flat […]
READ ONOne thing that’s not essential, but darn nice to have if you’re making Neapolitan-style pizza is Italian flour. The kind you most often see recommended is called “00” flour. As to what exactly that is, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion. Search around the web a little and you can find all […]
READ ONConsidering that real Neapolitan pizza is such an important source of pride and income among certain Italians, it’s probably not all that surprising that the Italian government has enacted laws to protect it. Which is to say, just like the French designate what is and what is not authentic French vino with their Appellation d’Origine […]
READ ONSo I’d better get after this too. I’ve got a lot of ground to cover today. I was up at the crack of dawn today finishing up my dough. Overall the recipe seems very good, if a tad wet, so I cut the water down by an ounce or so. More on the process as […]
READ ONIt’ll be interesting to see what direction Panera goes with the pizza concept. I love this line from the article: “Dough, in all its guises, seems to be a Panera specialty.” Gee, ya think? Seems Mr. Martin could use a couple weeks in Cabo to get his edge back.
READ ONEnough with all this history stuff. The weekend’s coming up and I have Napoleons to make! The assembly instructions in this week’s recipe from About.com are ridiculous. I’m not sure I even understand them. Roll out dough into a triangle? Wha…? The great thing about Napoleons is that they can pretty much be whatever you […]
READ ONIt’s not terribly easy to nail down the precise origin of pizza. At it’s essence it’s a flat, round bread, of which there were countless varieties in and around the Mediterranean dating back to at least 4000 BC. I say “at least” because 4000 BC is the rough date at which anthropologists believe yeast was […]
READ ON