vengroff

That is the best looking one I've ever made! I was careful to make the hole dead center in the larger piece before sticking the tête on. And after I put it on, I poked my finger all the way down, all the way around it to kind of anchor it. I was taught to do that in my pastry class, and it actually worked this time. This dough was so beautiful to handle. You should have seen the ones we made in class. Everyone's was lopsided. The smaller ones looked like little turtles or something! ← For the smaller ones, I'm a big believer in not seperating the head from the body. Instead, you can roll them with your hands to form a small head and a large body connected by a thin strand of dough. Then you flatten the body, form a hole in it with your finger, and pass the head up through it. You get a lot more stability that way and the heads tend to remain well-formed and not fall over to the side. There are pictures of this technique in BBA, but unfortunately they aren't great.

Chufi, I think you might also get better results if you used a stone instead of a baking sheet if you can find one. What probably happened is you got a lot of oven spring during the time the dough was in the temperature range where the yeast is active. On a stone, the thin crust would pass through this range more quickly, keeping the dough from puffing up so much. That's my theory, anyway.

If you are looking for a cocktail, don't overlook the Zig Zag.

It was delicious. The nougat layer in particular was outstanding.

Exactly. They are commonly served with, and dipped in, a soft-boiled egg. That's what made me think of them as I dipped a strip of the crust into the egg.

I'll give that a try with some of the dough I put in the freezer. As you can see, I'm a fan of super-thin crust and toppings, but I won't knock the bubbly approach until I try it. I'm also curious how much of this has to do with the stretching technique vs. how close you go to the edge with the sauce and toppings. Anyone planning to go the other way and do a full-on deep dish Chicago style pie?

Here is my recipe for pain a l'ancienne pizza dough. As I mentioned above, it uses AP flour and a bit less hydration than Reinhart's version.

Pain a l'Ancienne Pizza Dough Serves 6 as Main Dish. This formulation is adapted from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice. It uses all purpose flour instead of higher gluten bread flour, and a lower hydration, but the technique is similar, including the slow cold ferment for 24 hours. It is the basis for the pizza's I made in the pizza cookoff thread. 425 g All-purpose flour 280 ml ice-cold water 8 g salt 3 g instant yeast (sometimes labeled bread-machine yeast) olive oil in a spray container semolina or corn meal your favorite pizza toppings Put all four ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix with the paddle on low speed until combined, about one minute. Scrape the sides down if flour sticks to them. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium low for another five minutes. The dough will be very wet and sticky, almost like homemade ice cream right out of the machine. Spray a bowl with olive oil, place the dough in it, spray that, then cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 24 hours. Three hours before you want to bake the pizza, remove the dough from the fridge and allow to ferment for two hours at room temperature. At this point the dough will still be soft and wet, but will be bubbling as the yeast springs to life. Divide the dough into six pieces, and with heavily floured hands roll each into a ball. Spray with oil, place in a large dish. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to ferment for another hour. While fermenting, preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 550F, or hotter if your oven will do it. With floured hands, place a ball on a floured work surface and flatten into a disk about 5" in diameter. Roll with a rolling pin or toss and stretch, depending on your ability and experience, until about 12" in diameter and just two or three mm thick. Place on a peel dusted with semolina or corn meal. Top lightly with tomato, cheese, and/or your favorite toppings. Bake on the stone for 5-6 minutes or until the edges of the crust are crisp and golden brown and the cheese is bubbling steadily. Repeat with the other five pizzas, or refrigerate or freeze the dough for later use. Keywords: Intermediate, Dinner, Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian, Bread, Stand Mixer ( RG1230 )

Pain a l'Ancienne Pizza Dough Serves 6 as Main Dish. This formulation is adapted from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice. It uses all purpose flour instead of higher gluten bread flour, and a lower hydration, but the technique is similar, including the slow cold ferment for 24 hours. It is the basis for the pizza's I made in the pizza cookoff thread. 425 g All-purpose flour 280 ml ice-cold water 8 g salt 3 g instant yeast (sometimes labeled bread-machine yeast) olive oil in a spray container semolina or corn meal your favorite pizza toppings Put all four ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix with the paddle on low speed until combined, about one minute. Scrape the sides down if flour sticks to them. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium low for another five minutes. The dough will be very wet and sticky, almost like homemade ice cream right out of the machine. Spray a bowl with olive oil, place the dough in it, spray that, then cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 24 hours. Three hours before you want to bake the pizza, remove the dough from the fridge and allow to ferment for two hours at room temperature. At this point the dough will still be soft and wet, but will be bubbling as the yeast springs to life. Divide the dough into six pieces, and with heavily floured hands roll each into a ball. Spray with oil, place in a large dish. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to ferment for another hour. While fermenting, preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 550F, or hotter if your oven will do it. With floured hands, place a ball on a floured work surface and flatten into a disk about 5" in diameter. Roll with a rolling pin or toss and stretch, depending on your ability and experience, until about 12" in diameter and just two or three mm thick. Place on a peel dusted with semolina or corn meal. Top lightly with tomato, cheese, and/or your favorite toppings. Bake on the stone for 5-6 minutes or until the edges of the crust are crisp and golden brown and the cheese is bubbling steadily. Repeat with the other five pizzas, or refrigerate or freeze the dough for later use. Keywords: Intermediate, Dinner, Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian, Bread, Stand Mixer ( RG1230 )

After the egg pie, I still had five more pizzas worth of dough to go. I sprayed four with olive oil, dropped them in zipper bags and tossed them in the freezer. The last one I used to make an anchovy and oregano pie. It started much like the other pizza, with a thin crust topped with raw ingredients. In this case it was chopped tomato, oregano, mozzarella, and anchovies. Five minutes in the oven, and the toppings had melded into one bubbling mass, with some nice golden coloring. The saltiness of the fish over the sweet tomatoes was just fantastic. Finally, the crust, which I realize I forgot to show much of up to now. It was thin but crisp in the center, and nicely inflated around the edges, with irregular charred patches to bring in an extra smoky flavor component.

Inspired by all the great hints and photos I decided to give Neopolitan pizza a shot. I used a modified version of pain a l'ancienne. I made it with AP flour, which was the lowest protien flour I had. Initially, this stuff is wet wet wet. I went a little heavier on the flour to bring it to the feel of the p a l'a I've made with higher gluten bread flour. It still has the consistency of yougurt. After 24 hours fermenting in the fridge and then another 2 at room temperature, it's a bubbling blob of goo on the bench. I cut the dough into 6 roughly even pieces. It would have been more exact if I weighed them again, but I just went by eye. Next came the rounding. It's essentially impossible to apply too much flour to your hands before rounding the dough. I used the standard roll technique, sticking the bottom of the dough to the bench and then spinning it in a cupped hand. Believe me, rounding the dough with one hand and focusing the camera with the other is no picnic. I gave up, put down the camera, and rounded the other five. I then sprayed them with olive oil and set them aside to proof for another hour. Meanwhile, I prepped a little Italian flag of chopped tomatoes, garlic, and torn basil leaves. The tomatoes were San Marzanos. I removed them from the juice they were packed in, and then chopped them to make the sauce. No additional liquid was added. Once the dough balls had proofed, I dusted the peel heavily with semolina to prevent sticking. I then rolled out one ball of dough to about 12" (30cm) in diameter, and just a few millimeters thick. I transferred it to the peel with heavily floured hands, and topped it with the chopped tomatoes. I then added sliced and well-drained fresh mozazrella and the chopped garlic. Finally, the base complete, I added the one ingredient I had been craving since I first mixed the dough the day before, a single raw egg. I had been preheating the oven ever since I set the dough balls aside to proof, and it was now blazing hot. The last number on the dial is 550, but it didn't stop turning until it was just shy of where 650 would have been if it were marked. I'm not sure what temperature it finally reached, but my digital remote thermometer tops out at 572 (300 C) and it had long since give up and started flashing "Hi" over and over again like it was trying to greet me. I slid the pizza quickly onto the stone--perhaps a bit too quickly, as the egg slid forward a bit and was now off center. I knew there was nothing I could do at this point but shut the oven door and set the timer for five minutes. When the buzzer went off, the crust was crisp, the cheese bubbling, and the egg cooked through. I pulled the pizza and garnished it with a little torn basil and some cracked black pepper over the egg. Here's the final result, plated and ready to eat. The tomato and cheese had virtually merged in the intense heat of the oven, forming a protective layer two or three times thicker than the crispy crust itself. This is my Italian variant of the British breakfast standard soldiers and eggs.

Paley won. Congratulations to him. But he's also the only one I'm unfamiliar with. What's his place like?

The cheese is under the eggs. Primarily, I guess I avoid drying by simply not baking it for very long -- around 5 minutes. And I like to use a fair amount of tomato on the pizze with eggs, so perhaps the steam mitigates any drying. ← Just to be clear, the egg goes on top raw, just before the pizza goes in the oven, correct? In the short time in the oven, the egg cooks, but doesn't overcook or dry out.

Egg-topped pizza is also one of my favorites. Sadly it's almost never seen in this country.

Thanks! I used the pain de campagne formula. What else would you use? L'Ancienne? Or some sort of sourdough? ← I was thinking of trying the french bread formula. I think the ancienne would probably be too wet to effectively cut and shape.

I wonder if the Oregon legislature is aware of how most factory-farmed chickens live out their short miserable lives. I guess it's easier to pick on something pretentions like foie gras than something most of your constituents eat several times a week.

I got them at Sur La Table in Seattle. $0.75 each. They don't, however, seem to offer them on their web site. If I was doing this in volume I'd hope to get them for a lot less, but I have no idea where.

Those epis look great. Epis has been one of my favorite breads for a long time. Which formula did you use for them?

The Yakima Valley and the Red Mountain Appelation are easily reachable from Seattle in two to three hours. I know people who have done it as a long day trip, but I think it's worth an overnight stay. Some of the places I've liked are Apex, Portteus, and Terra Blanca, but there are several dozen more along about a 50 mile stretch. See http://www.winesnw.com/yak.html for some additional details. Walla Walla also has a good cluster of wineries worth visiting, but it's quite a bit further drive.

I had ramps with halibut at Union in Seattle tonite. We'll see what the next three days hold.

Dungeness crab for the Douglas v. Morimoto battle would be my vote.

Gotta go with the Miles combo--burger and onion rings.

Has anyone tried pain a l'ancienne pizza? I've had good luck with baguettes, so I'll probably give it a try.

Like a wine cellar. Approximately 55 degrees and 70 percent humity.

I've always found the service at Salumi friendly and unpretentious, from Armandino right down to the newest guy on the sandwich line. The only thing exclusionary about the place is the table, which is almost always full. I met Mario once, briefly, when I lived in NYC, and he seemed to be a similarly affable guy.