Pizza Night!

Saturday is a natural night for pizza, apparently. In Nashville, my dear friend/relative BookCuz was hunkering down to homemade 'za just as we were preparing for the same here in Seattle - some connections run so deep that you end up sharing experiences from thousands of miles away. I promised her a pictorial review of our dinner, so here goes!

Pizza night begins with a poolish - a long fermented yeast starter, that eventually becomes dough for very fine pizza crust.

It's alive!



The Man of the House used a new recipe, and this one was decidedly more wet and tricky than the ones he's used in the past -




Mise en place ("everything in it's place") for the pies -



We also used this absolutely PERFECT wee tomato - the only one our garden produced:



We made 4 pizzas - first, a classic Margherita, with fresh mozzarella, the aforementioned tomato, fresh basil, and homemade tomato sauce - before:



After:



My favorite is the unlikely-sounding, but utterly scrumptious potato, blue cheese, caramelized onion, bacon, and rosemary - before:



After:



This one was baked with the homemade sauce and fresh mozzarella, and when it came out, we topped it with paper thin slices of prosciutto and some fresh arugula:



Finally, we had a great bacon and egg pizza - the eggs are cooked soft, so you can take the crust and dip it into the yolk-y goodness:



At some point BookCuz and I will be in the same city (we're hoping for the holidays), and we'll finally get a chance to break bread again. When we do, I'm hopeful that she'll eschew her usually healthy and reasonable eating habits so I can make something really good!

Unrequited Love

In all the times I've been to the Ballard Market on a Sunday, I've never eaten at Veraci Pizza.



I'd love to, but the line is always (always!) 20 deep. They seem to be efficient, don't get me wrong - it's just that I'm usually too eager to snoop around and see what's new to feel like queuing up.

I'm intrigued by their colossal wood fired oven on wheels -



The pies look delicious, and are whipped up to order on the spot -





I'd love to try it, and I'm a little sad I haven't - but that's OK.

Because there are worse things than staring at the pizza as you're walking through the market planning dinner with your lover in the early summer on a Sunday.*

*My deepest apologies for both shamelessly plugging the production at my day job while simultaneously butchering the genius poetry of Stephen Sondheim.

And then there's Mod

If you work in downtown Seattle and need a quick, nummy lunch, I highly recommend Mod Pizza (at 6th & University).



They truly are super-fast, and really fresh. My fave is the Salad Pizza (greens, veggies, chicken, and asiago on one of their thin, flame-kissed crusts). I'm of the opinion that a crust can never be too crisp or too thin, so these cracker-like flatbreads suit me fine. I will note though, that many of my co-workers prefer a more middleweight crust, and they really don't dig this one. One of these will set you back $5.54 (a screaming deal), and only about 5 minutes. Incidentally, you can order from the adorably-named menu of choices, or build your own for the same, standard $5.54 price.

They make hand-spun milkshakes, too. The real deal - actual ice-cream, whizzed up to order (a little thick for my personal taste, but good).

The best part is the cake stand next to the cash register, piled high with a pyramid of foil-wrapped Ding Dongs. I clearly remember mourning when the slick plastic film wrappers replaced my treasured thin foil. My beloved Grandmother kept a special kitchen drawer stocked with these shiny, forbidden treats, and I've never quite lost my taste for them. When I visit Mod for lunch, I always get one and think of her.

Yay ! It's Pizza Night !

Yay! It's Pizza Night !
Pizzas are lots of fun to make, and everyone like pizza. Right? Mix up some dough, sweet talk your neighborhood joint for some, even a bunch of premade shells are better than nothing. But you should really try to make your own crusts. Check out Crust & Crumb by Peter Reinhart, a seriously great book. Get a bunch of sauces and toppings all ready, and get everyone in on the action. Top them with whatever you like. Here's a couple that I made.

Prosciutto and Argula
Pear, Caramelized Onion, and Valdeon ( a Spanish bleu)
Roasted Red Pepper, Finocciona Salami, and Fresh Rosemary
Caramelized Onion and Andouille

(clockwise starting at top left)

One thing you really need is a pizza stone or some unglazed tiles in your oven. I just leave mine on the bottom shelf all the time. They're indispensable for getting the crust just right, and they also help your oven maintain an even temperature. You can also make up a bunch of these, just slightly under cooking them, cooling and wrapping them, and then popping them into the freezer.. So next time when your jonesing for pizza, you just pull them out, toss them into a hot oven for 10 minutes or so. Quicker than any delivery guy.